Athena, Hero of Earth, stared at Pip with a mother’s unapproving glare, which made sense, considering she was in fact Pip’s mother. But it absolutely was not fair, considering the things Grandma Thalia had told her about Athena’s childhood.

“But Mom,” Pip moaned.

“No.” The spear vanished, leaving nothing but a few grains of sand behind. “You’re grounded. We made the consequences clear to you well before tonight.” She reached out a hand to Pip, one larger than Pip’s entire head. At 5’2, Pip barely looked like she could be Athena’s daughter, and she didn’t expect she’d suddenly hit a growth spurt and grow two whole feet over the school year. No, she’d be going to the hero program this height, which was a tiny bit depressing. “Let’s get you home.”

With a sigh, Pip reached up and took her mother’s hand, letting the hero haul her to her feet.

They walked through the empty warehouse, accompanied by only the scuff of Athena’s sandals and the quiet padding of Pip’s lucky shoes. Pip continued to clutch the glass soldier to her chest, saving it to add to her trophy shelf.

“How did it go?”

“Huh?” Pip looked up at her mother, unable to see her face in the dark.

“How did the fight go?” Athena asked. “You were in the summoning ring. I’m assuming you fought.”

“Oh, yeah, it went well,” Pip said, a smile breaking out across her face. Her mom would be proud, even if she didn’t approve. “It wasn’t hard, really.”

“I see,” Athena said, the words coming out as a low rumble. “That’s not good.”

“It’s not?”

“No. I would have hoped it was at least a challenge for you.”

“Why?” Pip’s nose wrinkled as she tried to think about it. Wasn’t it good that it was easy? It meant that Pip was good at what she did.

“Because if it was hard, at least you would have learned something.”

They walked the rest of the way in silence, making their way out into the dimly lit gravel parking lot surrounding the warehouse which had previously been filled with cars. The only car there now was the family minivan, sitting with the side door open and waiting for her. Not even the passenger door, which meant Pip had to sit in the back. Like a child.

She slid into the back seat, slamming the door shut as she slumped in beside a car seat, refusing to do her seatbelt. In the passenger seat, Athena’s hero partner Odysseus looked back at her with an apologetic look.

“Sorry, kid,” he said.

“Where was it this time?” Pip asked. She’d looked everywhere before leaving the house. There shouldn’t have been a tracker on her.

“Your aglet,” Odysseus said.

“Damn, there’s even a whole song about not forgetting your aglet and I still missed it.”

Athena squeezed herself into the driver’s seat and they took off, rattling down the gravel road in silence.

The car clunked and rattled. The engine whirred. Odysseus let out a long breath through his nose, sinking into the passenger seat. Pip shifted, waiting until they hit the actual road before the itch got to her and she clicked on her seatbelt.

At the click of the seatbelt, Athena opened her mouth as if to say something, then shut it again. Great, that meant she was waiting to give Pip the lecture until they got home, which meant Mum would be involved too. Just absolutely perfect.

Ten minutes later, they pulled down the long driveway up to the house, driveway gate closing behind them. Athena stopped in front of the near-mansion, cutting the engine and staring at the windshield for a few moments before turning to Odysseus.

“Thank you,” she said. “Do you want someone to drive you home?”

He shook his head. “I’m good, thank you.” He opened the door to the car and then vanished, popping into existence somewhere miles away. Most likely his apartment. Which left Pip alone with Athena.

“Let’s get inside,” Athena said.

Pip slid open the door to the minivan, stepping out into the dark and staring up at the front door. Lights shone through the windows; Mai was obviously still awake. Pip was screwed.

“You think you could just… ground me now and we skip the lecture?” Pip asked, looking up at her mom hopefully.

“You’re already grounded, and no, your mother has… a lot to say.”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“It’s not fair,” Pip complained, following her mom toward the door. Athena’s steps left little aftershocks behind, like mini earthquakes, a side effect of the sheer strength of her ability. “It’s not even like I did anything that bad.”

“You went to an illegal fighting ring to compete against dangerous supers and win dirty money, snuck out of the house on a school night, and missed your mother’s tea party.”

“Oh, shit.” Pip sucked on her teeth. That explained why Mai was so upset. “That was tonight.”

“It was,” Athena said. She opened up the door and stepped to the side, motioning Pip through. There was absolutely no escaping.

Pip stepped into the large entryway, music playing softly from the other room. She slipped off her shoes, leaving them on a mat by the door, and tucked Fredrick onto a shelf to keep him safe until after Mai’s lecture. It wasn’t a good idea to remind Mum what she’d been up to tonight.

Taking a deep breath, Pip readied herself for a lecture and walked through the entryway, entering into a large kitchen and dining area and spotting her mother immediately. A traditional Chinese tea set sat on the counter, untouched. As cluttered as the house could be with people, Mai never left anything out that could be put away, which meant it sat out just to drive the point home to Pip.

“Sorry, Mum,” Pip said, hanging her head and staring down at her painted toenails. “I forgot.”

“About the rules? About your grandparents coming? About your curfew?” Mai crossed her arms over her chest, waiting for a response. Athena may have been a modern giant and a world renown superhero, but Mai was the more intimidating one. She may have been shorter than Pip but she had a presence like that of one of the most important people in the world. And she had to, considering she was a normal human in a world of supers, with six super children.

“All of it,” Pip muttered. “I’m sorry.”

“And the worst of it all?” Mai demanded. “You don’t even realize how dangerous what you did is?”

“I mean…” Pip bit her lip before deciding to say it. She was already grounded, it couldn’t really get worse. “It’s not that dangerous. I can defend myself perfectly fine, Mum”

“You know how to fight with swords and knives…” And bows and spears and more, Pip added mentally. “But you are still just a child. You’re a seventeen year old girl who decided to sneak out and go fight in a warehouse for fuck’s sake. Can you not understand how that might end badly?”

Pip opened her mouth to protest. She’d been trained on how to defend herself since she was small, plus she’d really adapted to armed combat. It was their family’s specialty, and Pip would be able to hold her own amongst them soon. Especially with all the work she’d put into developing her core and her power.

Athena spoke before she could.

“Your mother is right,” Athena said. “Just because you have powers doesn’t mean you can put yourself in dangerous situations like that. Especially illegal situations. You realize how that could hinder your chances at the hero program, right?”

“Hey, I wasn’t the one betting on the fights!” Pip wasn’t stupid. She’d done her research—a quick internet search—and determined that competing in a Summoners fight wasn’t illegal. The only illegal part was if you put down a bet.

“But the winners get a prize pulled from that pot, don’t they?” Athena asked. “And that’s beside the point. You snuck out and did something illegal, just because you could. That’s not the way supers should act, especially not ones who want to become heroes.”

“I have to practice somewhere!” Pip threw up her hands, glad now she wasn’t holding Fredrick anymore. They just didn’t get it. Pip had to train somewhere, train in more than just weapons. She was good with weapons, she was good with hand to hand. What she needed was more practical than that. She needed to know what it felt like to fight. To pit her willpower against another super. To use her brains to win a fight, not just a practice spar. To challenge herself.

“And if you weren’t failing half your classes, then you’d still have that privilege,” Mai said pointedly.

“It’s not like these classes even matter!” If she was old enough now, she’d already have dropped out, no matter what her parents wanted. Because highschool didn’t matter, not to her. She wasn’t going to go to college and become a doctor, or a lawyer, or anything like that. She would become a hero, like everyone else in her family. It wasn’t like Mai had needed a degree either, since she was an artist. “I’m going to be a hero, who gives a fuck if I can do calculus?”

Athena laid a broad hand on Mai’s shoulder as the small woman wound up for her retort, stepping into the argument. “There are a number of heroes who use math or science to their own gain, and plenty of villains as well, but I understand where you’re coming from. I do, believe me. But we want you to have options. Being a hero isn’t for everyone.”

“But I want to be one!” Pip’s voice rose, desperation coming through. This was all she’d ever wanted to do, why would they ask her to do anything different? They knew this. They’d always known this.

“And I’m not saying you can’t be or shouldn’t be,” Athena said, continuing to speak before anyone else could. “But there is more to life than being a hero. Not to mention, being a hero isn’t forever. People get hurt. People step down. It’s good to have something to fall back on.”

Pip scoffed and shook her head. They were just making the arguments out of principle. Nobody in their family had died or retired or stepped down, at least not until they were at retirement age and ready to relax and play. And even then, they stayed involved with the hero world, going into administration or teaching. She was going to be a hero; there wasn’t reason to think about anything else.

“But,” Athena began again, catching Pip’s attention and hope once more. “In the interest of fairness, how about this? You fix your grades enough to graduate highschool, and I will get you supers to fight. Not just sparring and training. You want to be a hero, and I’ll help you. But you have to stop all this.”

Pip bit her lip to stop herself from shouting in excitement and waking up her siblings and simply nodded. She could do that, and she hated breaking the rules like that anyway. All she’d wanted was a good fight. “I can do that.”

“Good.” Athena nodded once, and gave Pip a soft smile. Pip couldn’t help but grin back, the excitement too much to contain.

“When do we start?” Pip asked.

“Hold on,” Mai said. “You’re still grounded.”

“Mai is right,” Athena said, growing stern once more. “You’re still grounded for the stunt you pulled tonight. You’re going to get caught up with all your homework, ask your teachers what you can do to fix your grades, and make it up to your grandparents for missing their visit.”

“And then I get to train?” Pip asked, leaning forward on her toes as she waited for the answer.

“And then you get to train,” Athena confirmed.

This time, Pip couldn’t help herself, even if it did make her moms angry. She let out a whoop of joy and pumped a fist in the air. She’d make a hell of a hero yet.

She just had to make it through highschool first.