I remember there was no clear moment when Emily and I officially started dating. For her sake, we spent a good couple of months pretending that spending every private minute furiously making out was a totally normal thing for two besties to do and not in any way gay. By the time we finally had the "What is this?" conversation, it was pretty clear that we'd already been together in all the ways that mattered for quite a while. Maybe that's more of a universal experience, though, because my relationship with Alex seems to be starting off similarly.

  In the week following our first date, neither of us makes any kind of official announcement, or even acknowledges out loud that it was a date at all. We just start sitting together at lunch, and holding hands in the hallways between classes, and saying lingering goodbyes to each other every afternoon. I start joining her in the weight room after school, which is honestly a terrible idea; I have no idea how much weight a girl my size should reasonably be able to lift, but the temptation of unrepentantly staring at Alex's sweaty, flexing biceps for half an hour is too much to resist. Fortunately, she encourages me to start off slow and careful with five-pound dumbbells. I make absolutely sure I'm alone before experimentally curling the forty-pound weights she uses a couple of times.

  Surprisingly, I find the slow progress really doesn't bother me at all. If someone had asked me a week ago if I'd turn down an opportunity to watch a hot girl get undressed, I would've looked at them like they were crazy, but I start changing on the opposite side of the locker room from Alex without even needing to discuss it. For one thing, it'll feel a lot less special the first time she gets undressed for me if I've seen her do it a bunch of times before when I just happened to be there. But also, she hasn't given me permission to watch, so therefore I'm not allowed to. I'm not quite sure what to do with these new feelings, but I'm not about to mention them even to Cassie, so I decide to just go with it for now.

  Alex and her friends get folded into Tyler and Cassie's friend group pretty easily. I find Nina to be a tad uptight; she takes her anti-authoritarianism pretty seriously, whereas the rest of them are a lot more casual about it, but there's still plenty of common ground. Will seems like a pretty chill guy, although not super adventurous, and I can tell he's a little uncomfortable the first time someone comes up to buy weed from Cassie. As for Alex herself, she's accepted pretty much instantly after she easily beats Tyler at arm-wrestling the first day.

  Friday night, my cell phone rings for the first time since we tested to make sure it works. I take a moment to shift into the mindset of Schwarzschild, then answer it with a simple, "Yes?"

  "Hey, uh, boss?" says Anna on the other end. "There was a, uh, a little problem at work today. Just wanted to let you know, in case you wanted to handle it personally."

  "I'm on my way," I say, and hang up. I transform, walk out to my balcony, and take off. It only takes me a couple of minutes to find Anna's place from the air this time, and I land in her backyard and knock on her door. It opens after around half a minute.

  "That was, um, faster than I expected," says Anna a little nervously.

  I don't answer the implied question. "What happened?" I ask instead.

  "It's Hailey. She got robbed tonight," says Anna, leading me through the kitchen and into the living room.

  Hailey is the punk girl with the blue mohawk. She's sitting on Anna's couch with a mug of tea, and looks like she's been crying. "Were you hurt?" I ask immediately.

  She shakes her head. "No, I'm… I'm okay. Just a little rattled, is all. Fucker pulled a gun on me."

  "Why don't you start from the beginning?"

  Apparently she'd gone to a show at the skate park under the freeway, a common location for underground music. Another dealer, a guy she vaguely knew named Asa, had objected to her doing business in what he saw as his territory. They'd argued, and she'd eventually gotten him to fuck off. But then he'd followed her after the show and ambushed her, taking her cash and remaining product.

  "What else can you tell me about him?" I ask when she's finished.

  "Don't really know the guy that well," she says, shrugging. "Bought weed from him once, like a year ago. Thought he was kind of an asshole, so I avoided him after that. I know a couple of people who buy from him regularly, though."

  "Good. That should give us something to work with."

  In the end, I don't need to do much except set things in motion. It's the first time I really feel like I have subordinates, people I can order to do something and have them do it. It's a little strange, but not in a way I mind. I put Cassie in charge, both because I trust her, and because she'll have an easy time blending in and won't arouse any suspicion. I assign Garret and Ben, a couple of Jess and David's other recruits, as backup just in case, and arrange a meeting between them and Hailey for the next morning. I don't attend myself, since it's a lot harder for me to stay low-key when it's light out. Eventually, I'll probably want to look into getting some safehouses where I can do business without putting anything important at risk. For now, though, the job is simple enough. All Cassie has to do is figure out where Asa lives by posing as a customer.

  Work is a little surreal, playing upbeat music for the usual group of twelve and thirteen year olds while knowing that my gang is out there somewhere tracking someone down on my orders. I check in with Cassie that night, but she hasn't had any luck yet. Sunday night, though, she's hit the jackpot. I meet the four of them a little after midnight, in the park near the river. "We got 'em," says Cassie when I arrive. "He was smart enough not to meet me at his place, but Ben tailed him afterwards, followed him home without getting noticed. It's just a few blocks south of here." She rattles off an address.

  "Well done," I say, nodding. "Take me there."

  We pile into Ben's car, since he's apparently been acting as the driver. I take the passenger seat, of course. Everyone else shoots me nervous glances as we drive. "Um… What are you gonna do to him?" asks Hailey after a minute.

  "I intend to run him out of town. But you're the victim. Would you prefer something different?"

  "...No. No, that's fine," she says, shaking her head.

  "That's the house, there," says Ben a minute later, pointing to a small single story place.

  I nod. "Pull into that alley," I instruct. Someone's driveway conveniently borders the house's backyard. A bunch of blackberry bushes create a pretty effective barrier, but not to me. I pull a handful of ski masks out of my backpack in whatever dimension it's currently stored in, holding them out. "Put these on." Hailey makes a face at ruining her mohawk, but does it anyway. We all get out of the car, and I summon my staff. "Everyone gather around me. This will feel like falling. Try not to panic. Put your hand over your mouth to keep quiet if you need to."

  Garret does in fact slap his hand over his mouth as we float into the air, stifling his shout. My field has grown significantly since I fought Firestorm, now expanding more than six feet in every direction. I lift everyone without any difficulty, floating us over the bushes and into Asa's backyard. Everyone except Cassie stumbles for a moment when I set them down. The lights are still on, so they're presumably still awake. I approach the back door and peer through the little window, finding a deserted kitchen. "I'll go first. Follow me in when you hear something."

  My spear blade pops out of the top of my staff, and I slide it between the door and the frame, slicing through the bolts. I pull the door open without turning the handle and float silently inside. The sound of a TV comes from further in the house, so I move forwards. I find a guy and a girl sitting together on a couch in the livingroom, watching some old Western movie. They're facing away from me, but the guy has a buzzcut and lots of piercings, which matches the description I got from Hailey. Good; it'd be really awkward if this had been the wrong house. I announce myself in the usual way. "Good evening."

  The both jerk up, spinning to face me. "What the f-" is all Asa gets out. A weak gravity field around their upper body knocks both of them over, and then a slightly stronger one pins them to the floor with three times their normal weight. Asa shouts, and his girlfriend screams, conveniently signalling the others to join me. Asa levers his head off the floor enough to look at me and says, "Oh, shit."

  "B-babe?" whimpers his girlfriend. "Who- What's going on? Who is that?"

  "Call me Schwarzschild," I answer. "I'm here to take back what your boyfriend stole from me."

  "I- I didn't know, I swear!" stammers Asa.

  "You were told the Sun Eaters are led by a magical. You simply didn't believe." Footsteps come from behind me as the others join me. "Search the house," I instruct without turning. "Cash, product, and guns. Make it fast."

  "Yes, Ma'am," says Cassie, and I can almost hear her grinning behind her mask.

  "Wait! Wait, you don't have to do this!" says Asa frantically. "I can be useful, I got a good set up here, I got reliable customers! I can make you a lot more money if you let us live!"

  "Money is easy to come by," I reply dismissively, slowly circling around them. "What I value is trust. Can you think of any particular reason why I would trust you after this?"

  "Just- just give me a chance! I'll prove myself, whatever you want!"

  "You already had your chance."

  I lunge forwards, stabbing downwards with my spear, careful not to let my own gravity field throw off my aim. The girl screams again. Asa just squeezes his eyes closed. He slowly opens them again after a couple of seconds, freezing when he finds my glowing spear blade embedded in the floor about an inch from his head.

  "You're no longer welcome in Franklin. You have until the end of the month to leave the city. If I find you here after that, or if you cause any more trouble for the Sun Eaters… Well, I'm sure I don't need to spell it out for you, do I?"

  "No, no, I get it," he says, starting to shake his head, then quickly aborting the motion. "We'll be gone as soon as we're finished packing!"

  "Good," I say, letting the blade vanish and stepping back. "Wherever you end up, I suggest you make better choices there." I glance over at the girl. "You've done nothing to offend us. You're welcome to stay, so long as that doesn't change." She just nods jerkily, too frightened to speak.

  I leave them pinned to the floor for now. After a few seconds, Garret comes up next to me holding a large bag of weed, probably close to a pound. "Found their set-up in the basement, with grow lights and stuff. Some decent equipment. Fair amount of the weed looks about ready to harvest, too."

  "Leave it. It's not worth the trouble. Just take the product that's ready for sale."

  "Sure," he says, nodding. "Think this is everything that was down there, then."

  "Has anyone found the cash yet?"

  "Got it right here," says Cassie, emerging from the hallway with a stuffed duffle bag.

  "Then we're finished. Tell the others it's time to leave."

  Aside from the drugs and the cash, Hailey and Ben found a pair of pistols and a couple boxes of ammo. I let my gravity field fade as we exit the house, floating everyone back over the bushes. "Good work," I say once we're back inside the car. "Take us back to the park for now. How much did we get?"

  "Looked like a shitload," says Cassie. "Probably close to ten grand, maybe more."

  "Decent," I say, hiding my excitement. "Is there a flashlight in here?"

  "Yeah, in the glove compartment," says Ben.

  I open it and search around until I find it, then pass it back to Cassie. "How is it sorted?"

  "Just wads with rubber bands. Lemme see… Looks like twenty bills per wad."

  I think for a moment. "All of you can take eight hundred for your help. Hailey gets double, as compensation. I'll take the rest."

  "...Goddamn," says Ben after a moment. "Not fucking bad for just spending the weekend driving around. Thanks, boss."

  "Good work deserves to be rewarded."

  "Um… Is it alright if I keep one of the guns, too?" asks Hailey.

  "By all means." I should probably make an effort to get more of the gang armed soon, so this kind of incident doesn't keep happening.

  "Thanks. Really. I… I wasn't completely sure about this at first, but you really do look after your people, huh?"

  "I certainly intend to."

  I get out at the park, taking the drugs and the remainder of the money with me, leaving Ben to drop everyone else off. I smile to myself in satisfaction as I fly home. I think I struck the right tone on all accounts tonight. Most importantly, I showed my people that I've got their backs. I doubt Asa will be a problem going forwards; I intentionally didn't clean him out as thoroughly as I could've. That combined with the way I scared the shit out of him should be plenty to keep him from throwing himself to the mercy of the cops, but that doesn't mean he won't tell anyone what happened. I want rumors about me to start spreading, as long as they're just rumors.

  I land on my balcony and head inside. Barren and shitty as my apartment is, there's not a great place to store my haul, but that'll be changing real soon. When I count the money, I find that there's still more than five thousand dollars in it, more than enough to finally buy myself some actual fucking furniture. I'll probably even have enough left over to get myself an old beater if I want, although driving always annoys me when I could be flying instead. Might be worth it just so I have a way to haul my DJ gear around, though. For now, I just throw the two bags in my closet.

  The next day after school, I drop the drugs off with Jess and David so they can get them distributed. I also beg their help actually getting some furniture. Technically I don't need it, I could rent a U-Haul on my own, but it'll make things a lot easier. Besides, a girl carrying an entire sofa up a flight of stairs alone might raise a few eyebrows. Jess is happy to help as always, and we make plans for Thursday afternoon.

  Then it's Tuesday, the day I agreed to go see Apollo with Will. I'm still not quite sure exactly what I'm looking for or hoping to accomplish, and maybe it'll end up being a waste of time, but it's worth it to hopefully settle my curiosity about him one way or the other. I take the bus over to the university in the evening. Classes haven't actually started yet, apparently college starts a couple of weeks later than highschool, but there's still plenty of college kids around. No one really glances at me twice as I navigate my way to the new medical building. There's a sizeable crowd gathered outside; apparently they haven't started letting people in yet. I poke around for a few minutes and eventually locate Will. "Oh hey, Gabby, you made it," he says with a smile when I tap him on the shoulder.

  "Yup. How long until they open things up?"

  "Well, the event's supposed to start at 6:30. I kinda figured they'd let people in before that, but maybe they're running late?"

  That seems pretty likely, since they don't end up even opening the doors until almost 6:40, and it takes the better part of twenty minutes for everyone to get inside. Our turn finally comes, and I have a curious look around. From the outside, the building is red brick like the rest of the university, with a continuous balcony going all the way around the second story. Inside is a wide atrium with a skylight roof. Double helix sculptures hang down from the ceiling, and there's an interior balcony as well, probably connecting to the one outside. Stairs leading up and hallways leading out are still roped off.

  A small temporary stage has been set up at the far end of the room. A handful of people are already standing on or around it, most of them men wearing suits. One of them isn't wearing a suit, or at least not that kind. Like before, Apollo is in a white tunic that leaves his arms bear, with gold bracers and boots. Having recently acquired a better appreciation for muscles, I can see why someone who likes guys would like him. He stands near the back of the stage, seemingly being ignored for the most part.

  Next to the stage are a few card tables. A couple of them already have people behind them, smiling men and women with stacks of promotional material for the university or the Gottfried Clinic. One is still empty, presumably the one where Apollo will be signing autographs later. Above them, a large and gaudy metal arm hangs from the bottom of the balcony; the logo of the clinic is a metal hand clasped with a flesh-and-blood one, a holdover from the days when their main business was prosthetics.

  People mill around as the room slowly fills up, some of them approaching the representatives behind the table for lack of anything better to do. "Come on, let's get closer to the stage!" says Will. I'm happy to follow him. Other people have the same idea, but we find a spot to squeeze ourselves off to the side, opposite the tables. We're only about ten feet away from Apollo from here, letting me get a better look at him. Again, I notice the only person paying any real attention to him is a guy in a suit and sunglasses who gives off big security vibes, and even that seems fairly perfunctory. Apollo does nothing but stand there and fidget occasionally, either from nervousness or boredom or maybe both.

  "He seems like he doesn't really want to be here," I comment after a minute.

  "Yeah, he's always been shy, and I'm sure he'd rather be helping people more directly," says Will, still looking at Apollo. "But it's important for magicals to, like, inspire people and stuff too, you know? A lot of people say corporate magicals are wimps for not fighting, but I think getting up in front of all these people takes a lot of courage too."

  I make an agreeable-sounding noise and nod. He's got at least a bit of a point; doing something you're afraid of takes courage, even if it seems trivial to someone else. I wouldn't call myself brave for picking a fight with Firestorm because I hadn't been scared of him in the first place, and the fight itself had been nothing short of exhilarating. If Apollo is nervous about getting in front of people and chose to do it anyway, then sure, it's fair to call him brave. But if it wasn't his choice, then real bravery would've been standing up to whoever told him he had to be here.

  Eventually, another guy gets up onto the stage, someone important by the way everyone else orients themselves around him. He talks briefly to a couple other people, then gets up in front of the microphone. "Good evening!" He waits a few moments for the crowd to quiet. "Good evening, and thank you all for joining us today, to officially open the Charles E. Fletcher Center for Medicine and Research. I'm Jonathan Moore, President of Franklin University. On behalf of the university and the community, I'd like to extend our deepest gratitude to our partners at Gottfried Clinic. Thanks to their generosity, Franklin University is poised to become one of the nation's premier universities for medical science and research, with benefits to the entire city and beyond. This state-of-the-art facility includes two lecture halls seating five hundred each, eighteen smaller classrooms, an extensive library and research archive, a student resource and tutoring center, and of course twenty-eight separate laboratories and examination rooms outfitted with the most cutting-edge equipment available. Over the coming year…"

  I start tuning him out. I guess it is pretty cool, what they've built here, and it probably will do plenty of good. But I don't for a second buy that the Gottfried Clinic donated however many millions of dollars it took to build the place entirely out of the goodness of their hearts. I'm sure the CEO slapping his own name on the building is only the start of what he's getting for his money. Whatever, it doesn't really matter. Obviously businesses are always going to try and get more money, and if they manage to a little good along the way, so much the better. I just wish I didn't have to stand here and watch them all jerk each other off about how great they are.

  After around fifteen minutes, President Moore hands the microphone off to Mr. Fletcher himself, so he can take his turn verbally masturbating. Apollo just stands there through the whole thing, not showing any real reaction aside from the occasional fidget. I can't help but frown slightly; he's not giving me a whole lot to work with. I certainly wouldn't tolerate standing there with no purpose except motivating people to actually show up and listen to these boring speeches, but I don't really know anything about him. All I have are vague suspicions. Maybe he's got a perfectly good reason to be here.

  Finally, after another speech from the dean of the medical department and the chief of the hospital, he gets called on. "...And with that, the real reason I'm sure plenty of you are here." Scattered laughs. "Please give a very warm welcome to Franklin's own miracle worker, Apollo!"

  The audience applauds and cheers loudly, much louder than they did for any of the suits. Apollo takes a few steps forward up to the microphone, waiting for the applause to die down. "Hey everyone, thanks so much for being here," he begins, mustering up a smile. "I, um, I'm glad you're all so excited to see me. I think being able to make someone's day better just by showing up is a kind of magic of its own. But, uh, but while I've got you here, I want to remind you all that I'm not the only hero in the world. All the doctors out there, all the students studying to, to become doctors, all the scientists, uh, figuring out new ways to help people, they all deserve your support just as much as I do. You all know how much I like helping people, but there's, um, there's a lot of people who need help out there, and there's only one of me. That's why it's so great that the Gottfried Clinic is doing this…"

  Unlike before, I pay careful attention as he talks. Like Will said, he's clearly shy, he's clearly nervous, and maybe there's nothing more to his slightly awkward and stilted delivery than that. But as I listen, it doesn't take long for me to become convinced that he didn't write the speech he's giving himself. The suits might well have speechwriters too, of course, but I have the distinct impression that Apollo didn't even get any input on what he's saying. That he's just repeating what he was told to without really meaning any of it. He's clearly not stroking his own ego like the suits were, so why would he spend just as much time blowing smoke up their asses? But it's only a feeling; it might just be my own biases talking.

  "...Another big opportunity created by this partnership is, um, is for, uh-" He trails off with a few stutters, blushing. He glances down at his hand, and a notecard appears in it for a few seconds before vanishing again. "I-is for, for highschool s-students interested in, uh, in studying medicine. T-they'll be able to, uh, g-get a head start through the, the university's College Now p-program…"

  I can almost see the spiral forming as his stuttering starts getting noticeably worse. Just embarrassment? I'm not completely unfamiliar, I've flubbed transitions between tracks more than once at work. It's always an awful feeling, and I've got the advantage of being able to take a minute to recover before I need to put on the next track. But as I watch him try to force down his growing panic, it's a different set of memories that feel more familiar, memories of realizing I said the wrong thing or asked the wrong question again, of desperately scrambling to find some way to fix my mistake before it blows up in my face. I hesitate for a moment longer, and then decide to trust my instincts.

  If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  My gaze sweeps quickly around the room, then settles on the gaudy metal arm hanging from the balcony, directly above the table where Apollo will likely be signing autographs in a few minutes. I raise my closed hand slightly, and my talisman appears in it. It's not strictly necessary, but I've found it makes it easier to focus. Learning to use magic while not transformed took quite a bit of practice. It's both much more difficult and vastly weaker, but I think it'll be enough. My field is only a couple of feet across, not quite big enough to cover the whole arm, and probably only increases its weight by a factor of two or three rather than twenty or thirty. I grimace, tighten my grip on my talisman, and bring all my will to bear. The field grows slightly bigger, slightly stronger.

  It's enough. The wires holding the arm snap, sending it crashing down onto the table beneath. The crowd prevents me from seeing exactly what happens, but the loud crunch sure sounds promising. Several people scream, the crowd jostling me as everyone rapidly backs up. No one keeps screaming, so I assume I didn't accidentally hurt anyone. The atrium does erupt in a loud clammer as people who weren't watching ask what happened, though, effectively cutting off Apollo's disintegrating speech. I smirk slightly in satisfaction.

  "What's going on?" asks Will.

  "Not sure, I think something fell," I reply quickly, already edging my way closer to the stage. What happens next should hopefully be revealing.

  "...Want their ass on a fucking platter!" Mr. Fletcher is shouting at someone from the university, the only reason I can hear him over the sound of the crowd. "Do you have even the slightest idea what kind of lawsuit we'd be looking at if that'd landed on someone?" The other person says something I can't hear, but it doesn't seem to mollify him much. More interesting, Apollo approaches him from the side and says something as well, and is completely ignored. "Well, find out, then!" shouts the CEO.

  The president approaches and says something, which seems to calm the CEO a little, or maybe he's just less willing to shout in his face. Again, Apollo tries to say something and is ignored. It's entirely possible they don't even hear him if he's speaking quietly enough, but they're certainly not going out of their way to pay attention to him, either. There's no more shouting, but I get lucky; the CEO breaks off after a minute to come talk to a man standing at the corner of the stage, just a couple of feet from me. "Johnson, get Apollo out of the way. Have one of your guys take him up to the second floor or something, and the rest can stay here and help clean up this clusterfuck."

  "Yes, sir," says Johnson as the CEO turns and stalks away. He gestures at another man, one of the guys wearing a suit and sunglasses. "Take Apollo up to the second floor and make sure no one bothers him until this is dealt with."

  The security guy walks over to Apollo, who's still standing a little aimlessly in the center of the stage. They seem to have a brief disagreement, but Apollo quickly gives in, following the guy towards the nearest set of stairs. Meanwhile, the president gets on the mic again. "So sorry about this, everyone. Anyone hurt? No? Alright, good. Just hold tight, I promise we'll have this cleaned up as fast as possible."

  "Damn, that sucks," says Will. "I think it's kind of cute when Apollo gets all embarrassed like that, honestly."

  I don't, but I don't voice my disagreement. "Well, I actually need to go find a bathroom anyway," I say. "I'll be back in a little bit, okay?"

  "Sure," he says, nodding.

  I slip through the crowd as quickly as possible, trying to keep half an eye on where the security guy is taking Apollo. Once they reach the interior balcony, they turn towards the back of the building, heading down a second floor hallway on the right side of the building. I leave the building a moment later, heading around the right from the outside. The sun's down, but it's not quite fully dark yet, so this'll be a little risky. Speedwalking around the building, I find a lawn dotted with trees near the back corner. One of the trees is quite close, its branches going over the path and ending just a few feet from the building. That should do.

  I glance carefully around. There are a few people in sight, but none real close or looking my way. I take a running jump at the tree, pushing off the trunk to grab one of the lower branches, and pull myself the rest of the way up. I liked to climb trees even as a kid, and with my increased strength it's become completely trivial. I scramble up until I'm in the middle of the foliage, as well concealed as I can be. With one more careful look around, I transform.

  The upside of the fact that it's not completely dark is that the brief flash of light which accompanies my transformation is much less noticeable. I wait for twenty or thirty seconds just in case anyone noticed something anyway, enough time for them to hopefully decide they made it up. Then I carefully poke my head out of the top of the tree. Four people in sight; the closest is on another path forty or fifty feet away. I wait for him to pass behind another tree. Everyone else is headed away from me. I fly out of the tree and dart across to the roof of the building.

  It's four stories in total, taller than most of the nearby buildings, but I still stay low to the roof to minimize the chances that someone will see me out a window. I have to stay close to the edge, though, or this whole thing is pointless. I make a circuit, peering down at the balcony beneath me. If they went into an empty classroom or something, I won't be able to find them, but I bet all those doors are still locked. The doors out to the balcony might be locked too, of course, but they're big glass doors that don't really look like they're intended to be locked. A minute later, I'm proven right. The main balcony wraps all the way around the front of the building, but there's another, smaller balcony at the back which isn't connected. I arrive just in time to see the security guy making a quick circuit of the balcony, while Apollo leans against the railing.

  "Alright, stay here until the mess is cleaned up. I'll watch the doors and make sure you aren't bothered," he says after a minute. Apollo's only answer is a shrug.

  The security guy vanishes under the overhang extending out from the building, and I hear a door close. I wait a few more seconds, and briefly reconsider whether I really want to do this. It's entirely possible that Apollo will go running straight down to the local ABRA office to tell them about me. That would really be more of an inconvenience than a disaster, though, since they'll almost certainly figure out there's a new magical in Franklin within a few months at the longest anyway. Again, I decide to trust my instincts. I silently float down and land on the overhang, and dismiss my staff to appear less threatening. Then I say, "Good evening."

  Apollo whirls. When he sees me standing on the overhang, his eyes widen in panic. An ornate golden bow materializes in his hand with a glimmer of white light. I raise my own hands, palms open. "Easy. Just here to talk, not to fight."

  "Who- who're you?" he demands.

  With his weapon out, I have a much better sense of his relative threat. I think he might be stronger than Firestorm, but only barely. "Call me Schwarzschild. I suggest you put that away, before your friend notices."

  He glances down at the doors, and the bow quickly vanishes again in white light. As I suspected, he's very much used to doing as he's told. "I- I don't recognize you. Are you registered?" he asks nervously.

  "What would you say if I wasn't?" I ask curiously.

  "I, uh…" He scrambles for a response for a few seconds. "I shouldn't be talking to you. Unregistered magicals are dangerous." His eyes suddenly widen. "Did- did you make that thing fall?"

  "Yes."

  "Just so you could get me alone?"

  "Partially. But also because you looked like you weren't enjoying yourself very much. Now no one will remember that you didn't give your speech perfectly."

  If I've misread the situation, that'll probably come off as a weird thing to say. But then he says, "...Oh. Um… Thanks, I g-guess," and I know I'm right.

  "Why do you let them treat you like that?" I ask.

  "What d'you mean?"

  "I think you know. Otherwise, you wouldn't be so afraid of making a mistake."

  He flinches. "I- It's not like that. I just- I have a lot of responsibility, I have to hold myself to high standards."

  "So no one else is holding you to those standards, then? If you had choked out there, no one would've punished you for it?"

  "What d'you know about it?" he challenges, although his obvious nervousness spoils it a bit.

  I smile slightly, gently. "Virgo chooses us for a reason. Maybe some magicals out there attract her through happiness, but you and me aren't that lucky, are we? I know what it's like, to live on a tightrope. One misstep, and down you go."

  He looks away, not responding for quite a while. "Why do you even care?" he says eventually. "You're probably just another person who wants something from me. What makes you any better than them?"

  "What do you have that I would want?" I retort. "Healing? You know I don't need it. Money? I can make plenty on my own. They," I wave my hand in the direction of the building, "horde money because to them, it's power. But I have real power." I demonstrate by briefly floating into the air, spreading my arms and letting my coat flare out behind me. "So do you. I care because the way they exploit you for it offends me. So again: Why do you let them treat you like that?"

  "...Just because we have power doesn't mean we know what to do with it," he mutters, crossing his arms. "I tried it once, you know. Striking out on my own. You know what happened? Umbra found me. She… she almost killed me. Would've, except she said I wasn't worth the trouble. Maybe… Maybe they are exploiting me, but that's better than getting myself killed. And I'm still helping to make the world a better place."

  That actually explains quite a bit. I doubt Apollo was ever the most confident kid, and a near-death experience like that probably shattered whatever boost magic might have given him. "Fear is nothing to be ashamed of," I say after a moment. "But you're afraid of the wrong thing. We all stop aging at some point, and we don't get sick. In theory, there's no reason why we couldn't live forever. Imagine an eternity of being treated like a stage prop, getting wheeled from place to place, acknowledged as a person only when you're berated for the slightest mistake, and all to make someone else obscenely rich. I don't believe in the afterlife anymore, but that sounds like Hell to me. That's what you should be afraid of."

  "It's not that bad," he objects, but it sounds pretty feeble. "It's not forever. I'll have more say in things once I turn eighteen."

  "Why? Because the law says so? Why should we care what the law says? You have all the say you need right now. You have the power. They need you. If you don't like how you're being treated, all you have to do is threaten to stop making money for them, and I guarantee they'll change their tune real quick. But it won't happen on its own. Your choices when you turn eighteen will be the same as they are now. You can act, or you can do nothing and let things stay as they are."

  Again, he's quiet for a while. "...Look, whatever you really want, you're not gonna get it, okay? I'm not- I'm good at one thing, and it's healing. Everything else I try to do, I mess up somehow. Just… Just leave me alone."

  I don't let myself sigh. Even at my lowest points, I never considered just giving up the way he apparently has. But even if I don't really understand how he let himself be driven to this point, his complete lack of confidence still gives me something to work with. "I already told you. I want to stop a fellow magical from being mistreated. So if I can't convince you to stand up for yourself, I suppose I'll just have to take matters into my own hands. Maybe I'll visit Mr. Fletcher in his bedroom tonight, have a little chat with him, lay down a few rules."

  As expected, Apollo buys my bluff completely. "No! You can't, you're just gonna make everything worse! Please, there's nothing you can do to help, just go away!"

  I nod thoughtfully. "You're right, they might blame you if I did that. Better to just arrange an accident, take him out of the picture completely. Maybe a car crash?"

  "W-what? You- you can't just- You're talking about killing someone!"

  "I certainly can. It wouldn't even be very difficult. What mean you is that I shouldn't. So give me a reason not to."

  "I- I'll call ABRA, I'll tell them about you, they'll send a strike team after you!"

  "Yes, I suppose going to ABRA and telling them how you're being mistreated would be a solution, even if it wouldn't be my first choice. They do have a vested interested in keeping their registered magicals happy."

  "What? No, that wasn't what I meant!"

  "Wasn't it? Don't you think they'll ask you about me, what my interest is in you? Do you think you'll be able to fool them? Honestly, I'm surprised they haven't noticed already. Whoever they have watching you must not be doing a very good job."

  He stares at me for a couple of seconds. "You… You're just bluffing, aren't you? You have to be."

  I smile and shrug. "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. Why risk it, when all I'm asking you to do is take the slightest stand for yourself?"

  "Maybe I should start by standing up to you."

  "By all means," I reply, my smile widening. "If you want me to go away, then make me." Of course, he doesn't do anything. I let the silence linger for a few seconds, then speak again. "Let me offer you a deal. Answer a question for me, honestly, and I'll leave you alone."

  "...What question?"

  "If you could be doing anything you want right now, what would it be? Tell me what you enjoy about it, why it makes you happy. And then tell me why it's for the best that you're here instead."

  "And then you'll go away? And you won't mess with Mr. Fletcher or the Gottfried Clinc or anyone else?"

  "Promise. But only if you're honest."

  Slowly, he nods. He's silent for a while, thinking. "...I mean, I- I guess I'd probably just hang out with some friends. I'm always too busy to see them outside of school. I got to go to a birthday party last summer, we played Goldeneye all night. I wish I could do that more often."

  Ah, jeez. He's so pathetic, I feel like I'm bullying a kitten, even if it's for his own good. I'm pretty familiar with labor laws for minors, they've got to breaking basically all of them if they're working him to the point that even hanging out with friends for a few hours is a big deal, not that mundane laws really mean anything when magicals are involved. Also, I make a mental note that he does actually go to school. "It must be hard to keep friends, when you can't ever accept any invitations and can't tell them why," I remark.

  "Yeah. But, I mean, it's for a good cause. I'd have to be really selfish to just sit around playing video games when I could be saving people's lives and healing crippling injuries."

  "I suppose it would be pretty selfish to waste time on trivial things when you could be healing people instead. Things like, say, standing around on a stage for a couple of hours just so you can stroke some rich people's egos."

  "I- That's not- It's… it's still for a good cause, ultimately." He sounds a lot less sure than he did before.

  "Is it? Speaking of selfishness, how much money does the Gottfried Clinic make every year off your hard work? How much of that do they give to charity? How many starving children in Africa do you think Mr. Fletcher's salary could feed? Does anyone ever tell him that he needs to sacrifice his happiness for the greater good?"

  "I…" He trails off, then huffs a sigh. "Look, fine, you've made your point. I'll… I'll ask for a little more time off. Okay? Is that good enough?"

  I consider him for a second. I think I've at least planted a seed, but it'll probably take a while to sprout. I decide to push a little further. "What will you do if they say no? If they try to guilt trip you the way you were just guilt tripping yourself?"

  "I- I'm sure they'll give me at least a little. Really, they're not as unreasonable as you think they are, it's not like they don't work long hours too."

  Unreasonable isn't the exact word I'd choose. I remember reading once that part of taming elephants is teaching them that they aren't strong enough to break the chains holding them when they're young. By the time they're fully grown and capable of breaking the chains whenever they want, they've already stopped trying. Unless Apollo's handlers are complete idiots, they understand that their control over him is an illusion. It's not just about squeezing every last possible cent out of him, it's about constantly stomping on his confidence and self-esteem to make sure he never realizes the same thing.

  "How about this instead?" I say. "Don't ask them for anything. Start by just doing something you aren't supposed to. Ever tried sneaking out your window?"

  He blinks a couple of times in confusion. "What? No, of course not. Sneak out to do what?"

  "Weren't you just wishing you could spend more time hanging out with friends?"

  "I- How would that even work? I can't just, like, show up at one of their houses in the middle of the night."

  I shrug. "I'm sure you could figure something out. Ask around, see if anyone's hosting a party. If you want an easy option, though… You could try making a new friend, someone who doesn't need to sleep and can also fly."

  I think this conversation is giving him whiplash, and I'm a little amused in spite of myself. "...You… want to be friends?" he asks slowly, staring at me. "Why?"

  "Why shouldn't I? I have a lot of friends, and a few close friends, but there's one thing I don't have in common with any of them."

  "But- All that stuff you said…" He trails off, then huffs a laugh. "You were just messing with me, weren't you? You were never actually gonna kill anyone. Right?"

  He doesn't sound completely sure about that, so I grin slightly and say, "Of course not." I'm not even lying; killing anyone actually rich or important would bring down way more trouble than I can handle right now. "It worked, though, didn't it?"

  "...I guess so. But… How would that even work?"

  I'm asking a lot of him; I need to show him that I'm willing to make an effort, too. "Pick a landmark, somewhere to meet. I'll wait there for you from, say, ten to eleven. I'll wait every night for the next week. If you haven't turned up by then, I'll assume you'd rather not be friends after all." If we just arranged a single meeting on a specific day, it'd be too easy for him to chicken out. This way, I'm putting less pressure on him up front, but he'll feel a little bit guiltier every day he doesn't show up knowing that I'm waiting for him anyway.

  "And… what would we be doing?"

  Destroyed self-esteem or not, he's still a teenage boy, and unfortunately for Will, I don't think he plays for the other team. I shouldn't wait too long to correct any misconceptions he might have, but for now, I just grin and say, "Magic, of course. The fun kind."

  "I…" He looks away for a few seconds. "...Okay. Uh, you know where the park up on Osborne Hill is? Not like the flower garden, but with the picnic tables and stuff?" I nod. "Does that work? As a spot to meet?"

  "Perfectly." I hesitate for a moment, then say, "Thanks. For putting yourself out there. I've been hoping to make friends with another magical for a while now."

  "...Yeah, sure," he says, scratching the back of his head. "Thanks again for the distraction, back in there. And, uh, thanks for kicking my ass a little bit, too."

  "My pleasure," I say, giving him a smile. "I guess I'll see you around, then."

  With that, I float back up onto the roof, retracing my metaphorical steps from earlier once I'm sure the coast is clear. As I walk away, I grin happily to myself. I hadn't really come here with any kind of concrete plan, just to see if I could learn anything and maybe create an opportunity for myself. Things seem to have worked out about as well as I could've hoped for. I think Apollo has real potential, if I can help him locate his spine. The fact that he's registered is a little awkward, but I was planning on keeping my activities low-key as much as possible anyway. Besides, helping him out of the trap he's stuck in will feel good for its own sake.

  I stroll around the university for about ten minutes instead of heading back in right away. I don't actually want to get Apollo's autograph, he'll certainly be looking at every single girl who comes up to him to try and figure out if any of them are me, and I might already stick out in his memory from last time. I can't exactly explain that to Will, though, so I wait until I'm pretty sure Apollo is back inside before slipping back in myself. As hoped, there's a nice long line. I spot Will near the front, but I head for the back instead. He finds me after a few minutes, having already gotten an autograph.

  "Oh, there you are, Gabby! What are you doing all the way back here?"

  "I looked for you, but I didn't see you. Damn, did you already get in to see him?"

  "Uh huh," says Will, smiling broadly. "He even remembered my name! I think he's in a better mood than he was earlier, I'm glad that accident didn't ruin the evening for him."

  That's good to hear, but I feign irritation and huff a sigh. "This line is moving pretty slow, not sure if I feel like waiting around."

  "Really? I'm happy to wait with you, if you want."

  "Nah, that's okay. My bus comes in about fifteen minutes, and the next one isn't for another hour after that. Kind of a bummer, but I do already have his autograph."

  "Alright, if you're sure. I was kinda hoping you'd give me an excuse to see him again."

  "Sorry," I say, laughing. "It was still cool to see him, though."

  We part ways at the university bus stop, and I head home. I spend the ride considering why I did what I did, what I'm hoping to get out of it. I wasn't lying to Apollo; the way he's treated really does offend me, and I really do want to make friends with other magicals. Magic is special, and deserves to be treated as such. Maybe that's all it'll end up being, and if so, I think I'm fine with that. But I've been thinking about what I want out of life a lot these last couple of months, and I think I want to be more than just a solo act. I want my own team. If things go well, I might've just met the first member of it.

  Huge thank you to my patrons:

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