Heroes. Every day they fill our screens with their triumphs. We see them smile from billboards and the rooftops of skyscrapers. Our galleries are filled with the trophies of their victories and honored careers.

Everybody dreams of becoming one, everybody wants to stand with one. Movie stars go to dinners with them. Corporations beg the most famous of them to become their testimonials. Boys and girls grow with posters of them in their rooms. Who hasn't heard at least once of those of the like of Magma, the Eye, or Night Jaguar? Names that have inspired and continue to inspire entire generations with their heroism and bravery!

Men and women of virtues and strength, they have come a long way from the first of their kind. The XX-Century Man, who lived in a shack beneath a bridge and listened to police frequencies through an old radio. Today, the Hero Guild is a world-spanning organization, with locations covering all of America and reaching well overseas. There's no city that isn't familiar with the golden emblem of Guild-approved heroes.

Heroes. Super-heroes. They are the reason why we are safe from villains and the threats of the Black Sea. We see them stride across our streets and fly across our skies, each the bearer of phenomenal powers and well intentions, the face of our time. Thanks to them, people can live on with hope, rather than despair.

Truly, they weren't wrong those that said that we are living in the Age of Superheroes!

- from famous documentary "The Age of Superheroes"

Acquamarine hummed cheerfully as she pulled her water construct onward.

Shining white marble and soft blue fixtures made the immaculate expanse that was Sandpearl Plaza, right at the top of one of the two hills upon which Summer City washed over like a sea wave. The Plaza was a replica that couldn't compete with the original – Justice Plaza back in Central -, but the breathtaking sight over the sea more than made up for it. At least that's what she thought.

Also, she'd pick the sea blue over the gold every time. But maybe that was her being partial.

Another thing taken from the original was the statues lining the center of the plaza. Night Jaguar, the Eye, Iron Guard, Athena, Berserker, Storm Herald, Atlas, and of course, Paladin. The greatest heroes of the age, their features immortalized in four-meter-tall shapes of marble. As she moved beneath them, Acquamarine felt their gaze scanning her, judging her. She knew that, in her own little way compared to what those giants had accomplished, she was carrying their legacy. The thought made her heart swell with pride.

The statues had been adorned with the tropical flowers that grew only in the heat of Summer City, entwined with colorful ribbons in the tradition of the city. Acquamarine still remembered the day when Athena had encouraged the people of her city to add their own identity to what had been carried over from Central. She had been a little girl back then, but she still remembered the legendary heroine's smile as she took the wreath from her hands.

She couldn't forget. It was one of the memories that pushed her to where she was now after all.

Two blocks of marble stood between the statues, one in front of the other. They had been given to another art very popular in Summer City: painting. Once, the twin monuments were pristine white. Now, there wasn't an inch of them not covered by colors and shapes, a riot of paintings of many styles, all of them in the fierce shades of the city, with the masterpieces of great names of the art world standing beside the stick drawings of kids.

It was an image of brotherhood, of unity, and Acquamarine couldn't love it more than she already did.

Despite being midday, the plaza saw a steady stream of comings and goings. While the tourists had escaped the heat in the bars and restaurants of the surrounding neighborhoods, black suits, officers and heroes still walked between the statues after their own errands. They all greeted her respectfully as she passed, the greenest even stammering and flushing before what was essentially a celebrity.

Acquamarine waved at them all without stopping her humming. She laughed when a trio of newly arrived heroines scrambled to take a picture with her, stroke her pose as the camera flashed and then moved on, happy at how happy they looked.

Sometimes it felt nice to be her, if she had to say so herself.

The Watchtower of Summer City was a grand building. Metal, concrete and glass rose to form a wave-shaped building that caught the light like a jewel. This time, it had been Paladin himself that wished for the headquarters of the Guild in Summer City to reflect the spirit of the city rather than to be a reflection of its parent. And, to her delight, it had worked: the Tower was as cherished by the inhabitants as the uncorrupted sea itself.

Atop it, an abstract statue built out of silvered steel stood as an image of the Codex, the laws following which all heroes were to strive to conduct themselves. Shining like a beacon, it still was a grim reminder of duty for all those that would call themselves heroes, those that would take the fight to guard and better their society. Watching it, Acquamarine felt a familiar pang, a tightening of determination. That was their legacy.

Beside the main building, a tall edifice soared into the sky, shining with glass and the blue of the sea. It was the closest the Watchtower could come to proving its name.

An ample marble staircase led the way to the building's entrance. Fountains stood on each side, each formed by four dolphin-shaped statues pouring water into two wide pools. One of them was halfway being filled. That was for her.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

With a happy sigh, Acquamarine pushed her construct into it. Releasing her control felt like unclenching a muscle. The serpent lost its cohesion, returning to the water where she had summoned it from. Instantly, the water level of the pool rose to full.

Quick as a fish, Acquamarine made a pass around the pool, before emerging in a shower of droplets, laughing. People standing by the pool cheered for her, and she waved at them as she got out, grinning widely.

Without bothering to dry herself, she jogged up the stairs. Two great, sparkling double doors made for the entrance, a motto taken by the Codex engraved in bold golden letters above it. The golden was something left the same from the original, to remind all that, as much as Summer City had her own heart and soul, the Guild was still one, and that they were all connected. All of them heroes, beneath the Codex.

Watching it, Acquamarine felt something else familiar. A feeling of belonging. That was her home. It had been for the last six years, since she had taken the place of Water in the Elementals.

She wouldn't be anywhere else.

"I am home!" She shouted happily, pushing the doors open.

The entrance hall of the Tower was as grand as the face of the building and, thankfully, relatively calm, given the hour. Only a handful of suits crowded the desk, talking with the clerks for appointments and handing out demands. Lawyers, yuck.

QISS guards, a full complement of them, stood sweating in full battle armor by the walls, a few of them in mechanic suits. The security could look a bit too much, especially considering how that place was central station for all the heroes of the city, but Acquamarine knew better. It had happened a surprising amount of times that villains had tried to sneak in or attack the Tower in some way or another. And even heroes needed a place to lower their guard. They were still humans, and that place was supposed to be home for them.

Speaking of heroes, a few, immediately recognizable by the colorful outfits, busied the desk with their own requests, or moved to follow their own errands.

Everybody stopped what they were doing to glance at what the disturbance was. They resumed a moment later, a choir of more or less enthusiastic greetings flowing her way. It wasn't the first or hundredth-time Acquamarine announced herself like that.

She giggled, then shivered in delight as the conditioned air wafted across her damp skin.

Laughing, she made her way across the hall.

"Hey, Andre!" She greeted, waving at an uncomfortable-looking QISS suit.

Enclosed in his battle suit, the soldier made for a fierce spectacle, a few tons of metal shaped like a heavy-legged man. Heavy machine guns ringed its gauntlets, and it carried shoulder-mounted cannons. It was heavy-duty artillery, usually reserved for the army, but security for the Tower was a good enough exception. A battle suit like that one could take on a Level 3.

"Acqua…" Andre's voice came out mechanic, warbled by the suit's speakers. It was intimidating, or at least it would be if Acquamarine didn't get used to it already. The three LED lights the suit had for eyes moved on the trail of water behind the girl's feet. "You going to trail water all over the floor again, don't you?"

Acquamarine patted one of the mech's legs. It was almost as wide as her own torso. "Come on. It's just a few drops. What's that for us Summerers?"

The sigh was very well audible even through the speakers. "I'll send Larry to get a mop."

"Nonsense!" Acquamarine jumped up. "I'll get my report done and then I'll get back to mop it all up myself!" She laughed. "If it's such a bother!"

"You know we can't just leave it like that…" Andre's protest fell on deaf ears as Acquamarine just jogged past him, waving as she did.

The entrance hall was one of the two only parts of the Tower that the public could access. The other was the Gallery, a museum where all the memorabilia conquered by the heroes that had made their home there over the decades were put on display for all to see. Well, the less problematic at least.

The rest of the Tower was hidden behind a robust network of checkpoints, steel doors, veteran guards and heavy-duty security. Heroes with surveillance and scanning powers were employed in it, and all kinds of experts took their time to review each suspicious entry. The end result put the Summer Tower in the top ten best-protected locations of the entire continent.

It was quite an effort, but it was well worth it.

Forgetting what she had said to Andre and leaving a trail of water everywhere, Acquamarine took her time to visit the various underground floors the complex was divided into. She jogged past training halls where veterans heroes tested their powers against mechs and machinery, or trainees learned to familiarize themselves with their new skills. She passed research halls and laboratories, where experts and scientists worked to unveil the secrets of Transhuman physiology. Felt a familiar shiver as she passed before the thrice-bolted door leading to the wing dedicated to the study and containment of artifacts related to the Black Water. Grinned as new mech models stretched their legs in weapon facilities.

Everywhere she went, people greeted her, courteously, happily, enthusiastically, or just with plain familiarity. Everybody knew her there, and she made a point of remembering the names of everybody. They were all working for the same purpose after all. Her role might have been flashier, but it couldn't have ever been possible without the contributions of all of them. It was the least she could do.

At the same time a fortress, a training center for heroes, a study hall, a research facility and a vault for the most dangerous and sensitive research into the Black Water and Transhuman physiology, the Summer Tower was the beating heart of the Guild presence this side of the nation. Hundreds of people worked and lived there, sustained by facilities that essentially made the complex an autonomous little city.

To Acquamarine, it was home

She stopped often to exchange a word with that or this guard or scientist or hero, so it took her much more than it should have taken normally to reach her destination.

The wing she walked in had none of the traffic of the rest of the Tower, and security wasn't as tight. After all, if someone managed to get as far as there, the Tower might as well have fallen already.

A plush red carpet led the way to the silvered doors of a single elevator. Hopping inside, Acquamarine grinned at the panel. She swirled a little her hand before pressing it against the recognition pad, savoring the moment. It was a little guilty pleasure being able to go where very few else could.

"User: Acquamarine," a robotic voice said. "Welcome home, Water of Summer."

The heroine grinned widely at the little robot eye watching her from above the doors.

"I am home, Ace."

Autonomous Computer Intelligence, or Ace for its friends, replied by closing the doors and starting the elevator.

As Spitfire's latest jingle filled the air, Acquamarine took the time to take a look at herself in the mirror. Was her mask straight? Were her tails shiny enough? The last thing she wanted was to go around in patrol looking frazzled. Half of the business of the hero was looking good after all.

She tested a few new poses she was working on, before settling on one she was satisfied with. Laughing, she shot it at the camera watching her from the corner.

A ping announced the elevator reaching its destination, the last floor. Acquamarine hopped out as soon as the doors opened, wondering which of his fellow Elementals she would find on break.