Chương 30: Bk 1 Ch 27: Constraints

"We should've stopped him," mutters Anja angrily.

"How fucking dare they treat him like that?"

"Jesus," says Dillon as they approach the rest of us.

"Guess I know why he never invited us over, now."

"Yeah," agrees Riley.

"Damn. That really sucks. His parents are crazy."

"Absolutely batshit," agrees Tyler.

"Sucks that the party had to end like that," says Dillon.

"Well, it was nice meeting you guys anyway."

"Yeah, same," I agree absently. Everyone else says goodbye as well, and they head out shortly afterwards. Emily doesn't leave. Instead, she marches straight up to me, crossing her arms.

"So, what are we gonna do about this?" I chuckle slightly, then sigh.

"I'm not sure. It's… I'm not sure how much he's told you, but it's kinda complicated."

"You mean because he's Apollo?" For a second, everyone stares at her.

"... Wait, he's fucking what now?" asks Tyler. I facepalm.

"Ems, you can't just say stuff like that." She at least looks abashed.

"Sorry. I thought you all knew already. He's not very good at hiding it, I'm surprised Riley and Dillon haven't figured it out yet."

"Did… Did all of you know about this?" asks Tyler, glancing around at us.

"... Yeah, pretty much," I say, shrugging awkwardly.

"I figured it out last fall," agrees Lisa.

"Gabby asked him if it was alright to tell me," says Alex. Cassie leans over and whispers something to him, probably something about how the boss told her. He nods, although he still looks a little dazed by the revelation. I huff a sigh.

"Well anyway, now that that's out in the open, the problem's not just that his parents might hurt him. Really, they can't hurt him, at least not physically. But if they push him too far, and he snaps… Well, I don't think anyone wants that, even if they deserve it."

"I can't imagine Elliot hurting anyone," says Emily, frowning.

"That's just not who he is."

"Maybe not intentionally, no," says Anja, looking grim.

"But, I mean… I've seen him lift an entire tree while he's transformed. When you're that strong, even a little accident can be real, real bad." Emily hesitates, then nods.

"Well, all the more reason why we can't let it come to that, then. We need to talk to him, without his parents there, figure out if he actually has a plan or if he just panicked."

"There's another problem," I say.

"Have you ever seen Elliot's house?"

"No," she says, shaking her head.

"It's fucking big. There's a wall around the whole property with an actual gate, and I'm pretty sure there's security guys like that asshole with the sunglasses who live onsite. You can't exactly just walk up and knock on his window."

"I can talk to him at school on Monday, find out what's going on. I'm just worried about what'll happen in the meantime."

"... I'm not sure if there's anything we can do before then," I say. I could certainly fly over, but his parents are bound to be ultra-vigilant right now, and any hint of contact between Apollo and Schwarzschild would make everything about a thousand times worse.

"I think we might just have to trust him to handle himself, at least for the next couple days. If worst comes to worst… Well, I'm sure we can figure something out."

"What about ABRA?" asks Emily.

"They're supposed to help in situations like this, right? That's what they always say."

"Elliot's already registered," I point out.

"They don't seem to be doing such a great job so far." Really, it's possible that ABRA would help, but it'd also bring a lot more attention down on Elliot, and that's dangerous. I want to keep them uninvolved if at all possible.

"... Alright, but I'm still going to suggest it to him when I see him," she says, frowning slightly.

"And I still don't like leaving him there, even for a couple of days."

"Neither do I, but it was his choice, even if it might've been a bad one," I say. She nods reluctantly.

"I'll let you know how he's doing after school on Monday, then." She hesitates, realizing that she doesn't actually have my number anymore, but not wanting to ask for it. Anja comes to the rescue.

"Can I give you my number? I'd… like to know how he's doing ASAP."

"Yeah, of course," says Emily, smiling.

"Also, um, can anyone give me a ride home? I guess I can always call my parents, but then I'd have to explain the fight with Lucas."

"I can give you a ride," says Alex, almost suspiciously quickly.

"Thanks," says Emily, taking the likely interrogation in stride. As we get ready to leave, Anja comes over to whisper to me privately.

"I'm gonna keep watch on Elliot's house tonight. I won't, like, try and talk to him or anything. I just… If anything happens, I wanna be there." I hesitate, then nod.

"Alright. Be careful." Anja calls me Sunday morning, just to let me know there weren't any obvious disasters. That's somewhat reassuring, but I share her frustration at not knowing anything solid. I go on a little hike with Alex before work, which helps to take my mind of things, and also helps deal with the issue of Emily.

Alex is torn in a few directions; Emily is a hard person to dislike, and she's also the exact sort of person Alex wants to help, but deep down, I don't think she's thrilled at the notion of Emily coming back into my life even tangentially. There's no pretending that me and Emily don't still have a connection, but I make it very clear that Emily would never accept my identity as Schwarzschild the way she has, and that does a lot to reassure her. Monday afternoon, I wait nervously for Anja to call again.

Thankfully, she doesn't keep me waiting for too long.

"Elliot was at school today, Emily says he seems like he's doing okay," she tells me.

"She couldn't talk for long, she wants to meet tonight, some park near her house? She said you'd know where it is." I let out a breath of half fondness, half irritation. Yes, I certainly do know the park she's talking about. Me and Emily spent quite a few nights stargazing (and "stargazing") there. I can't object to the suggestion, since it's both convenient and relatively private. It's probably a good thing that Anja will be there too, though.

"Yeah, that works fine. Want me to pick you up?"

"Sure, thanks." I drive instead of flying, always irritating, but I don't want to add any extra complications. We get to the park a little past 11. It's not a fancy park, just a few picnic tables in a clearing with trees on three sides, a couple of acres in total. Emily's already waiting for us, sitting at one of the tables. She's wearing something much more practical tonight, just jeans and a sweater.

"Hey," I say as we join her.

"Hi. Thanks for meeting so late."

"S'fine. I always stay up late anyway."

"I figured that probably hadn't changed," she says, smiling slightly.

"Been a while since I snuck out, I'm glad I still remember how."

"It's like riding a bike, you learn once and you never forget," I say, grinning. Anja clears her throat.

"So, how's Elliot?"

"He's… alright. More or less," says Emily, focusing.

"I think it's been harder for him than he wants to admit, but it's not as bad as I was afraid of. So, after his parents got done yelling at him and belittling him, they dragged him to a meeting with the head of the Gottfried Clinic, Mr. Fletcher. Apparently they've pretty much been letting Mr. Fletcher… I don't want to say 'raise' him, that's giving them far too much credit, but they've been letting him manage Elliot for the last couple of years while they spend all their time flying around the country."

She doesn't hide her disgust at all; mistreating others is the one thing that's guaranteed to make Emily mad, especially when it's someone you're suppose to care for.

"He said they're furious with Mr. Fletcher as well for failing to keep him under control, letting him rearrange his schedule some. There was a lot of shouting, all Mr. Fletcher cares about is that the money keeps coming in. Eventually they threatened to take Elliot somewhere else, so Mr. Fletcher gave in, agreed to all their conditions about keeping a tighter leash on him. But then yesterday, when Elliot went into the Gottfried Clinic for work, Mr. Fletcher called him into his office as soon as he arrived.

He started acting all sympathetic, or at least trying to, asking Elliot if he's happy at home and that sort of thing. Elliot thinks his parents threatening Mr. Fletcher like that made him decide they're a liability, so now he's getting ready to double cross them. So he offered Elliot a new contract which would get him away from his parents, and Elliot agreed."

"Did he actually sign anything?" I ask immediately.

"No," says Emily, shaking her head.

"Mr. Fletcher said it would take a few days for his lawyers to draw it up."

"Right. Good," I say, frowning thoughtfully.

"I know a good lawyer, he helped me get away from my parents. If Elliot can get a copy of the contract, I can have him take a look at it."

"You really think Mr. Fletcher would be an improvement over his parents?" asks Emily skeptically.

"Yeah, I do. I met Mr. Fletcher once, briefly. He's a callous asshole, but if all he cares about is the money, he's predictable. Elliot's parents… I'm sure they care about the money too, but I think what they really care about is power. Like, who the hell gets that offended by a kid taking one day off for his birthday? It doesn't make any sense unless they see Elliot more like… more like their TV or something.

You expect your TV to keep doing what you told it to do until you tell it to do something else, if it starts changing the channels or adjusting the volume on its own, you're gonna get angry. It's not about the party, it's about Elliot acting like a person instead of an appliance."

"Fuckers," mutters Anja.

"Whatever contract Mr. Fletcher offers him will probably be a total ripoff, yeah," I continue.

"But as long as it's just money, it doesn't really matter that much. There'll be plenty of time to deal with him later, when Elliot isn't getting subjected to constant abuse."

"I guess I can see that, yeah," says Emily, frowning.

"But what about ABRA? I tried to convince Elliot to go to them and report the way his parents are treating him, but he didn't want to, and he wouldn't really explain why." I share a brief glance with Anja. This will be a little tricky to navigate.

"It's like… His parents are awful, but ultimately, they can't actually force him to do anything. ABRA can. Maybe they would help, but once they get involved, all the decisions are kind of out of his hands. Whatever they think is best, that's what's gonna happen. If they think he should move somewhere else, he'll have to move somewhere else. If they decide he's at risk of becoming unstable, they'll take his talisman, and there's not really much he could do about it."

"That seems a little cynical, even for you," says Emily.

"Elliot's healed literally thousands of people, and he's never hurt anyone or caused any problems. If there's anyone ABRA should bend over backwards for, it's him."

"I'm surprised you're so willing to give them the benefit of the doubt," I deflect.

"Honestly, I'm surprised you're okay with Elliot being Apollo in the first place." She looks away and sighs.

"... I wasn't real happy about it when I first figured it out. But, well, let he who is without sin cast the first stone, right? And even if he was wrong to accept magic in the first place, he's done nothing but good with it since then. I just… couldn't accept that someone like him is an agent of evil, no matter what Pastor Michaels says. And ABRA… I think they're trying their best. I started actually reading some history after I found out about Elliot.

I never really understood just how close the country came to completely falling apart before the Registration Act was passed. Did you know that for every magical the government killed under the Interdiction Act, they lost more than eighty police officers and soldiers on average? And that's not even counting all the civilians killed by both sides. It's just awful. If that's the cost of wiping out all magicals, I wouldn't want to do it even if it were possible."

"I'm glad," I say after a moment.

"Hating magicals really never suited you at all. But, well, I feel like I can understand why a lot of magicals might not trust the government, when the only reason the government stopped killing them was because it realized it was losing."

"Maybe you're right. I guess it's his choice, anyway. So, you think he should take Mr. Fletcher's offer, then?"

"Assuming it's not completely unreasonable? I think that's probably the best option right now, yeah. Tell him… Tell him to ask for a copy of the contract he can look over, but make sure he doesn't say anything about talking to his own lawyer, Mr. Fletcher probably assumes he doesn't have one."

"Right," says Emily, nodding.

"Can you… tell me anything else about how he's doing? How his parents are treating him?" asks Anja.

"I know he's being watched really closely. He couldn't even stay and talk for a few minutes after school ended, his parents' driver expected him out immediately. Apparently his parents are planning on staying in town for a whole month to keep a personal eye on him, he said it's the longest they've stayed here in two years. He says not that much about his actual schedule has changed, though. Between work and school, he still shouldn't be seeing his parents for more than an hour or so a day."

"... I guess that's good, at least," she says.

"He actually asked me to tell you specifically that he's doing okay, and he'll see you as soon as he can," says Emily.

"Couldn't you have led with that?" grumbles Anja, but she still looks pleased.

"Maybe I'll skip school tomorrow and go over to Saint Maria's at lunch."

"It's a closed campus, sorry, you can't just walk in," says Emily, smiling slightly.

"I'm sure he'll appreciate the thought, though." Anja's silent for a moment.

"... Thanks for doing all this. You seem like a really good friend."

"Of course. I hope we can be friends too, after this is all over."

"Yeah, I'd like that."

"... We should probably go before it gets too much later," I say after a few seconds.

"I guess it's still a school night," agrees Anja All of us stand. Emily and I look at each other awkwardly for a moment.

"It's been good to see you again, Ems," I say eventually.

"... Yeah. You too." I smile and turn to leave.

"Hey, Gabby. Wait a moment." I turn back, a little flutter of dread mixed with anticipation in my stomach.

"I just… I just wanted to say I'm sorry. You were right, back then. I… I really, really tried to be the person they wanted me to be, but it just… never felt right. And… When I saw you again, I couldn't keep pretending any more. I… I should've gone with you. Instead, I screwed everything up, and hurt you so bad, and it was all for nothing anyway." I let out a sigh.

"... You know I never blamed you, right? You didn't hurt me. They hurt both of us. And I think you got the worse of it. I… It's in the past, now. No point in dwelling on could've beens. The only thing we can do is keep moving forwards from where we are. But I'm glad you're not trying to cut pieces of yourself off anymore. I… I hope you find a place where you can be happy too."

"... Thanks. I hope so, too." I turn and leave without saying anything else. As we walk back to the car, I pretend I can't hear her crying behind us. Emily doesn't try and meet with me in person again, instead using Anja as a go-between. I think Anja's a bit annoyed by it, but she doesn't complain since it is all for Elliot's sake. She delivers the contract Mr. Fletcher's drawn up on Wednesday, and I then deliver it to Mr. Sterling.

He spends the better part of an hour carefully going over it, regularly stopping to make notes or look something up. When he's finished, he dusts his hands lightly and says, "Well, I suspect you won't be surprised to hear that this contract is hideously exploitative. Aside from that, though, nothing seems especially problematic." I nod.

"What are the details?"

"As you can see, the very first section clearly states that Apollo will receive sixty percent of all profits from his work, while the Gottfried Clinic will receive forty. However, this refers to profit after all operating expenses have already been deducted, as buried here on the third page. Then, on the fourth page, operating expenses are defined as any responsibility the Gottfried Clinic has towards Apollo. You may have noticed that the large majority of the contract concerns those responsibilities.

As they've written things, every single one of those responsibilities is an opportunity for them to skim a bit off the top. I'd guess that in reality, Apollo will see less than ten percent of the money he brings in, perhaps even less than five percent."

"There's also the section concerning breaking the contract. Mr. Fletcher wasn't quite as greedy as he could have been, he limited himself to a five-year contract, although it does state that the contract will merely be 'reviewed' at the end of that period rather than actually ending. No doubt he'll attempt to keep things as they are, but he wouldn't have any actual legal power to do so at that point.

However, if either party breaks the contract early, they'll be entitled to financial compensation due to lost income. Given that the bulk of the Gottfried Clinic's income now relies on Apollo, that would at least in theory allow them to sue for several hundred million dollars per year remaining should the contract be broken."

"Yeah, that sounds about right," I say, snorting.

"You said in theory, do you think they wouldn't actually be able to enforce that?"

"Absolutely not. The fact that Apollo is still a minor already muddies the waters significantly, a good lawyer could argue that that invalidates the entire contract, which is why they'll want him to sign again after being emancipated. But the larger problem is that ABRA tends to treat contract law the way a tank treats a barbed-wire fence. Under the Registration Act, any contract deemed to be detrimental to a magical's wellbeing, with quite broad wording, can simply be nullified at their discretion.

If it came down to it, Mr. Fletcher would likely settle for whatever compensation he could get. However, I suspect you're no more eager to involve ABRA than he is, which does create some difficulty."

"True. But he doesn't know that."

"He does not, and it might well be possible for Apollo to bluff him because of it. If I can ask, though, what exactly are your intentions with Apollo? Exactly how dangerous would it be if ABRA did take a more active interest in him?" I frown slightly, considering.

"Right now, probably not that dangerous. As far as I know, there's absolutely nothing linking him to the Sun Eaters. The biggest problem is that he's grown a lot more powerful in the last few months, enough to raise eyebrows if it was noticed. But it seems like they haven't been keeping a real close eye on him, so the more likely assumption would be that he'd just been slowly growing all along. In the future… It's hard to say.

If he keeps growing at the same rate, it'll eventually get suspicious even if they do assume it took a lot longer than it actually did. And I'm not planning on doing anything to overtly link us together, but there's a always a chance it'll happen anyway. The other issue is just that he's not a very good liar. If they do start grilling him for whatever reason, he might let something slip without even realizing it."

"A risk best avoided if possible, then," says Mr. Sterling.

"If Apollo does decide to terminate the contract early, it might be best to deal with Mr. Fletcher through… alternate means."

"Agreed."

"Aside from that, I see nothing here that should cause problems for you. The only requirement placed on Apollo is that he continue to heal a certain quota of monthly patients, with quite a bit of flexibility in terms of his schedule."

"Good. I'll pass the word the along. Thanks for the help."

"My pleasure, as always. I'm glad to see you intend to keep things interesting." I have him write up a little summary I can hand over, just to make sure nothing gets lost playing telephone. Mr. Fletcher doesn't let any grass grow under him, and Anja tells me on Friday that things are already in motion.

He's going for maximum aggression, not just filing for emancipation on Elliot's behalf, but also filing a number of lawsuits against his parents, alleging that they misused funds which were supposed to be held in trust for him. The plan is to get them to agree not to contest his emancipation as part of the settlement. In the meantime, he's already secured a condo for Elliot to stay in, along with a couple of full-time security people.

It's not an ideal situation, but it's a lot better than the current one, and like Mr. Sterling said, the fact that Mr. Fletcher is also trying to avoid involving ABRA is quite useful. The plan is for Elliot to leave for work as usual Saturday morning. His parents are in the process of replacing most of his previous drivers and security people, who worked for the Gottfried Clinic, with their own, but they'll still be driving him to the clinic.

Once he's safely there, they'll inform his parents of the incoming lawsuits, timing it so that they won't be able to respond with legal action of their own until Monday. Mr. Fletcher is giving him the rest of the day off, partially as a carrot, but also because it's likely that his parents are going to cause some kind of huge scene again and he wants Elliot out of the line of fire.

Emily suggested that we all take him out for lunch afterwards to celebrate and make up for the ruined party, and then help him move into his new place. Anja's already agreed, and I agree too, passing along the invitation to everyone who knows who Elliot is. We meet around 11: 30, at a sit-down burger place around half a mile from the Gottfried Clinic. I arrive with Alex, finding Emily, Anja, and Lisa already there. Emily is back to her usual self, carefully hiding any mixed feelings she has about being around me.

She does mention that she broke up with Lucas when I ask her how it's going.

"Honestly, I probably could've handled it better, but I just didn't really have the time, with the whole thing with Elliot," she says.

"I'm sure he'll get over it," I say, shrugging.

"Maybe it'll be a little bit of a reality check for him, even if it wasn't actually because of anything he did."

"Yeah, someone needs to tell that kid it's not the 1950's anymore," agrees Anja. Cassie and Tyler show up a few minutes later. I've been catching Tyler giving me weird looks all week; I think finding out he's been unknowingly hanging out with a magical for months might have made him start wondering if anyone else he knows is secretly a magical. I'm not too worried in general, he's in a uniquely good position to figure things out, but I should probably sit him down and have the talk pretty soon.

"Yo. Where's Elliot?" asks Cassie.

"Dunno," I say, frowning slightly and checking the time; it's already 11: 39.

"You told him 11: 30, right Emily?"

"Uh huh," she says, nodding.

"Maybe something came up, something else they want him to sign or something."

"They'd better not be trying to pull a fast one," mutters Anja darkly. We all start getting increasingly concerned as he continues to not show up. He finally arrives a little before noon, just as we're debating whether we should go check at the Gottfried Clinic ourselves. I can tell immediately that something's gone wrong; he's practically radiating anxiety, glancing nervously around even as he's obviously relieved to see us.

"Hey, what happened?" I immediately ask as he joins us, not yet sitting.

"I'm really glad you guys are still here, I couldn't think of anywhere else to go," he says.

"I, uh… I think I just screwed up really bad." We quickly agree to go outside so we won't be interrupted, to the annoyance of the servers.

"Okay, what's going on? Did those assholes at the Gottfried Clinic try something?" asks Anja once we're alone in the parking lot.

"No, no, it's not that. It's, uh…" He takes a deep breath and lets it out.

"I never actually made it over to the clinic at all. My… My parents somehow found out about Mr. Fletcher's plan before they were supposed to, before I left this morning. They… They tried to take my talisman."

"They fucking what?" growls Anja. My reaction is similar, although I contain it better; all magicals have an instinctive strong reaction to the thought of having our talisman taken.

"First they just demanded I give it to them, told me I'd proved I wasn't responsible enough to have it. And I said no, so they tried to actually take it, and I… I transformed so they couldn't grab it, and then they started threatening to call ABRA and tell them I was rogue, so I… I panicked, and I…" he swallows.

"I, uh, tied them up. With a house plant. And also all the staff and security. I… think I kind of went a little overboard. Most of the inside of the house is kind of covered in vines and stuff now. And… And then I didn't know what to do, so I just ran, and came here." I have to suppress a little giggle. It's really not a funny situation, even if my immediate reaction is relief that he didn't accidentally kill anyone.

This is just as bad in some ways, because there's no way to hide his expanded capabilities from ABRA now.

"Did you walk all the way here?" I ask after a moment.

"Yeah," he says, nodding.

"Sorry I'm late, it took me a while. I thought about, like, taking the bus or something, but I've never actually taken the bus before." Emily steps forwards and hugs him.

"It's fine, you don't have to apologize for anything. We're just glad you're okay. We can figure this out, together. Was anyone hurt?"

"No, I made sure everyone was okay before I left," he says.

"But they've definitely gotten free and called ABRA by now, and I- they'll probably exaggerate everything and tell them I'm dangerous and stuff, ABRA's probably already looking for me by now-" The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"Hey, it's okay," repeats Emily.

"You didn't do anything wrong. How about… How about if we all go and talk to ABRA together? We can back you up, tell them how awful your parents were treating you, they can't say you're dangerous when we're all with you." My first impulse is to argue. But… It's too late to keep ABRA uninvolved now, which means Elliot's only options are to turn himself in like Emily's suggesting, or commit to going fully rogue. I step up and put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's your choice. Whatever you want to do, we'll back you up."

"Yeah," agrees Anja.

"Don't worry, we're not letting anyone take your talisman, no matter what." He shifts nervously for a second.

"I…" He looks back and forth between us all, running his hand through his hair, then eventually takes a deep breath and lets it out.

"Okay. I'll… I'll talk to ABRA, and hope for the best. Can, um, can one of you give me a ride down to their office?"

"Hang on," I say, holding up a hand.

"You're sure that's what you want to do?" He looks at me for a moment, then nods.

"Then I think you should try and go directly to Chimera instead. She'll definitely be involved by now, if it's been reported."

"... Oh. Why?" he asks.

"Because I think she's more likely to be sympathetic. If we go down to the police station, the first thing they'll probably do is tell the rest of us to fuck off. She seems like the type to not worry so much about procedure." It's a significant risk, but right now, the most important thing is that Elliot gets a good outcome with ABRA. If he doesn't, things will get messy regardless of whether Chimera is there to start with or not. He thinks for a moment, then nods.

"Okay. I'm not sure how to find her, though."

"Just call 911 and tell 'em you want to meet, I'm sure they'll let her know," I say, shrugging.

"... Alright. I guess I can just tell them I'm gonna go back to my house?"

"Sure, that probably works."

"Are you sure you'll be okay going back there?" asks Anja.

"Yeah, I- I'll be fine. I don't… I don't think it'd be any easier anywhere else."

"Okay." We start looking around for a payphone, finding one at a 7-11 half a block down.

"You sure about this?" asks Anja quietly as we walk.

"I think so," I whisper back.

"It gives him the best odds. And if worst comes to worst, I'm pretty sure the three of us together would be enough to make her back off. That's an absolute last resort, though."

"Right," she agrees, nodding. We try not to crowd Elliot too badly as he picks up the phone and dials.

"Um… Hi. This is… This Apollo." A pause.

"I know, that's why I'm calling. Can you, um, can you let Chimera know that I want to talk to her? I'm gonna go back to my house, I'll be there in like… fifteen minutes or something." Another pause.

"No, I want to talk to her first. Just… tell her where I'll be, okay? Right, thanks." He hangs up and lets out a big sigh.

"Well, I guess we probably should keep her waiting."

"You sure you want me and Cassie with you?" asks Tyler.

"We're not really the most photogenic."

"I wouldn't worry too much about it," I say.

"Chimera's not the cops. I've met her before, I don't think she's gonna care how you look."

"You don't have to come if you don't want to, but I'll take all the support I can get," adds Elliot. Tyler and Cassie quickly glance at each other and nod.

"We'll be there, then."

"When did you meet Chimera?" asks Emily. I grin.

"Last summer at the fair. I got her to sign my boob."

"You- Of course you did," says Emily, half amused and half exasperated.

"I guess that explains how you know she doesn't worry about procedure." After a little debate, we decide to all take Emily's car, since she's borrowing her mom's minivan. Elliot sits up front to give directions, and the rest of us pile in back. It's not a long drive, and Elliot's not the only one who's nervous.

Part of me doesn't want to come at all, but I don't want to abandon Elliot, and I also don't want to have to explain my reluctance, especially to Emily; she knows me too well to buy whatever excuse I try to give her. I'll just have to do my best to stay in the background and hope she doesn't pay any particular attention to me.

"Damn, you weren't kidding about his house being big," says Cassie with a whistle as we approach. I'm a bit surprised at the lack of cop cars on the street, but I guess it makes sense that Chimera would tell them to clear out. If he's cooperative, she'll want to preserve his privacy as much as possible, and if he's not, she'll want them out of the way. The gate out front is a fancy electric one, and Elliot gets out to punch in a code. There is one cop car left here, parked discreetly around the side of the house.

Emily parks behind it, and we all pile out.

"Do you think I should transform?" asks Elliot nervously.

"Does Chimera know who you are?" I ask.

"I mean, I kind of assume so at this point, but I've never actually introduced myself to her like that."

"Up to you, but I'd say probably so, then. Might make things less awkward."

"Right," he says, nodding, and does so. The people who've never seen him in costume before do their best not to stare.

"Um, I guess we should go inside? It's kind of a mess, though, and I'm not sure where Chimera is."

"Anywhere you want is fine." All our heads jerk up, finding Chimera perched on the edge of the roof. Huh, so that's what it feels like for everyone I do that to. She doesn't have her swords summoned, which is at least a slightly positive sign. After a second, she hops down, landing about ten feet in front of us.

"I was glad to hear you called and wanted to talk, but I wasn't expecting you to show up with your entire harem in tow." Elliot blushes and stutters. I can't suppress a snort, and Cassie outright explodes into laughter. Even Emily has to fight down a few chuckles before saying, "I hope the fact that you're telling jokes is a good sign, but could you please try and take this a little more seriously?"

"Yeah, fair enough," says Chimera, and I'm sure she's grinning behind her mask.

"Alright. I'm still not sure exactly what kind of shitshow I've walked into here, and I'm definitely gonna need to ask some questions, but first impression? I seriously doubt you're gonna be in any trouble, kid. I've seen plenty of rogue magicals before, and this isn't that. If it were, there would've been a whole lot more bodies when I got here, and your little fanclub would be running away screaming." Everyone breathes a little sigh of relief, myself included.

"Why don't step around back, get a little more privacy?"

"... Sure, okay," says Elliot. Chimera lets him take the lead, and we all follow him around the house to a gazebo in the massive backyard, well out of view of any of the neighbors.

"So, first question," says Chimera as we all sit on the benches.

"Do all of you know Apollo's civilian identity?" Emily seems to have decided to be the spokeswoman, and I'm happy to let her.

"We do."

"Right. That's already a bit of a headache, cause technically there's a bunch of NDAs you're all supposed to sign, but it makes things easier right now, so we'll deal with it later. So, let me start by telling you what happened from my perspective, and then you can tell me your side of the story. First thing I heard about all this was the downtown office calling in a Code 90, saying that Apollo here attacked his parents and some other bystanders."

"Bullshit!" snaps Anja.

"He didn't attack anyone, his parents tried to take his talisman!"

"Easy there, tiger," says Chimera. Anja blushes and shrinks backwards a little, belatedly remembering that she's supposed to be avoiding attention.

"I just said that's what they told dispatch, I didn't say I believed 'em. Anyway, I fly over immediately, arrive on the scene in under five minutes. Turns out, I wasn't actually the first one here, though. I walk in the front door, and the first thing I find is a couple guys having a screaming match, yelling something about lawsuits. Took a little while to get 'em both to shut up and talk one at a time.

One of them was your dad, and the other one was some guy from the Gottfried Clinic, they sent him over when you didn't show up this morning and they couldn't get through on the phone. When I asked how many people were hurt or dead, your dad wouldn't give me a straight answer, and I figured out pretty quick the answer was 'no one.'

By that time, my bullshit detector was going off, so when the police got on the scene, I just had 'em take everyone down to the station, said it was for protective custody so they wouldn't cause a fuss."

"Once the place was clear, I had a look at the all that kudzu crap you left behind. That's something I'm definitely gonna need to ask about, but I've read your file, I know there's no reason why your magic couldn't give someone turbocancer if you wanted. The fact that you managed to restrain everyone without any injuries instead, that requires a lot of control, and that was plenty to tell me you weren't actually going on a rampage.

So I called in to cancel the Code 90, had them downgrade you to a person of interest rather than an active threat. Also reported both your parents and the Gottfried Clinic for potential violations of the Registration Act, they've already opened an investigation. Way too soon for any results, but when they hauled in the liaison to the clinic to answer some questions, she shut her mouth and started asking for a lawyer. That's when I knew this was gonna be a proper shitshow.

So I'm hoping you can all help me cut through some of the bullshit, here. Let's start with what she said, did your parents actually try and take your talisman?"

"... Yeah," says Elliot, nodding.

"First they just demanded I give it to them, and when I said no, they actually tried to grab it, I had it as a pendant. That's when I transformed and, uh, tied everyone up."

"Perfect," says Chimera.

"That means they're already in deep shit, cause you never try and take a magical's talisman yourself, it always backfires. If a magical's legal guardian is ever worried that they're on the edge of going rogue, the correct action is always to call us and let us handle it, and they all would've signed forms to that effect when you registered. Should be a piece of cake to have everything you did labeled as self-defense, so take a deep breath and try to relax.

Now, you don't have to tell me the whole story right now if you don't want to, cause you're gonna have to repeat it all to the investigator anyway. But I've been around the block a few times, and I'd be happy to give you some advice on what your options are going forward." She shrugs.

"Up to you, no pressure." Elliot glances around at us; Emily gives him an encourage nod.

"Okay. Sure," he says after a moment.

"So, uh… I guess it started at my birthday party a week ago…" It quickly becomes clear that it did not in fact start at his birthday party a week ago, because he keeps needing to go back and explain earlier events. The rest of us pitch in regularly, especially Emily, telling him that no, the thing he's brushing over is not actually normal and should be elaborated on.

The story is disjointed and messy, but that's fine; it makes it less likely Chimera will notice any of the things he's leaving out, and he more or less manages to get the point across. I avoid drawing attention to myself, and to my quiet relief, she doesn't seem to remember me from the fair last summer. When he finally wraps things up, Chimera lets out a long sigh.

"Yup, like I figured, a proper shitshow. I gotta apologize to you, kid, we really dropped the ball on this one. There's supposed to be multiple failsafes to make sure shit like this doesn't happen, but it looks like the people who weren't actively being bribed were just asleep at the wheel. I can promise you heads are gonna roll over this, but I'm not blameless either. We've met, what, like half a dozen times, at least?

And I never noticed anything wrong, I just figured you were naturally a little uptight and jumpy."

"It's okay, it wasn't your job," says Elliot.

"Maybe not specifically, but my job is protecting people, and not just from the black masks," she disagrees.

"But all we can do now is try and make it up to you, starting with throwing the book at your parents." Elliot frowns.

"I mean, I don't… I don't need you to, like, get revenge for me or anything."

"It's not about revenge," she says, shaking her head.

"Here, lemme explain a little. You know what the single largest predictor is for whether or not a new magical registers? Their relationship with their parents. It's a bigger factor than even whether they draw Virgo's notice from a positive or a negative experience. Kids who feel safe going to their parents with their problems virtually never go black mask. So a big part of the Registration Act is making sure that underage magicals have good home lives.

There's all kinds of requirements for their guardians designed to make sure they're happy, or at least content. And if the parents are failing to do that, ABRA won't hesitate to offer the kids other options."

"I'll be honest, I think a lot of kids in your position would've snapped, and the fact that you didn't speaks well of you. But your parents were still absolutely playing with fire, and that's not something we can just ignore, we need to make it clear that this kind of shit won't fly. Now, they were also almost certainly violating the parts of the Registration Act regarding the employment of magicals, and that means a lot of their money is probably legally your money.

So the other thing we're gonna do is get it back for you. That's what this is about. They stole from you, it's not vindictive to want it back."

"... Okay. I guess that makes sense," says Elliot, still frowning a little.

"I just… I dunno. That's, like, a lot of money, right? I mean, like, a lot of money. I guess I don't really know what to do with that much money. My parents always told me I wasn't responsible enough to deal with it yet, and like, even if they just said that cause they wanted it, they weren't really wrong."

"You should give yourself more credit," says Emily.

"You've handled magic just fine, haven't you? Can any amount of money really compare to that? I'm sure it's a little overwhelming, but there are people who can help you figure out the details. What matters is that you're trying to do the right thing."

"Your friend's got it right," agrees Chimera, nodding.

"You don't have to manage everything yourself, we can help you find people who know what they're doing, people you can actually trust. And I guess that kinda leads into the conversation of what you wanna do now. First, though, I gotta ask you about the magic you used today, cause it might be relevant. Growing plants fast enough to be useful in combat was listed in your file as a possible extension of your magic, but only a possible one. How long have you been able to do that?"

"... I dunno. A while, I guess," says Elliot, shrugging.

"I like to practice my magic on plants. It's easier, and safer. There wasn't really, like, one moment where I could suddenly do it, I've just been slowly getting faster for a while." Chimera hmms.

"Can you show me?"

"Uh, I mean, I can't clean it up, I can only make stuff grow, not shrink."

"No worries, I can handle the clean-up, I won't leave your yard a wreck."

"... Okay, I guess I can, then." He gestures to the side, and a patch of grass around ten feet across erupts into flailing vines, swiftly growing into an enormous, knotted tangle.

"Damn," mutters Cassie appreciatively next to me.

"Impressive," agrees Chimera.

"So, first off, I should warn you that they're gonna want you to come in for testing again. You're not in any trouble, but it's important that we understand exactly what every registered magical is capable of. With that said… You ever think about joining a strike team?"

"What?" asks Elliot, caught completely flat-footed.

"Come on, I'm nowhere near powerful enough for that!"

"Maybe not yet, but you could be if you keep growing," says Chimera.

"That's the most common reason why trainees wash out, they plateau too soon. If you're still getting stronger after, what, four years? Your limit might be a lot higher than you think. And the other common reason is that they're judged to be too unreliable, but if they didn't kick me out, you'll be just fine." Everyone laughs a little.

"I mean, I'd need to think about it," says Elliot after a moment.

"Yeah, of course. It's a big commitment, not something you should do just for the hell of it. I wanted to put the idea in your head now, cause when you go in for testing, they're probably not gonna be real subtle about pushing you to sign up. We do genuinely need everyone we can get, but the high mucky-mucks also tend to get nervous about even registered magicals who get too powerful without reporting directly to them. Just remember that they can't actually force you to join." He nods.

"Alright. Thanks."

"Sure. Anyway, lemme tell you about your other options. If you were younger, we'd definitely try and put you with a new legal guardian, often a foster family who's already had a kid become a magical. That's still an option if you want, but since you're already seventeen, the easier thing is probably just to get emancipated. That was what you were already aiming for, right?"

"Uh huh."

"Well, we can make that happen no problem, if that's what you end up deciding. Now, there's also the issue of the Gottfried Clinic. Don't worry about whatever contract you signed, it's already pretty much guaranteed to be nullified due to the circumstances. They didn't step in it quite as badly as your parents did, but we could still potentially make life real unpleasant for them.

Or, if you want to keep working there, we could probably pressure them into some major internal changes, make things a little more pleasant for you."

"... Well, I, um…" He glances over at Emily, and she gives him an encouraging smile.

"I was sort of thinking about maybe separating from the Gottfried Clinic eventually and starting my own charity instead?"

"Oh?" asks Chimera curiously. I'm curious as well, this is the first I've heard of this.

"I mean, I don't really know anything about how I'd do it. But, well, I don't really like charging people so much to heal them, and it's not like I really need the money. And it seems a little wasteful to use that whole big fancy building, when all I really need is a regular room. I think I do wanna keep healing people, just… more on my own terms."

"Good for you," says Chimera.

"That's definitely something we can help you get started, and we'll need to be involved anyway, any organization employing a magical needs an ABRA liaison. Do you want to cut ties with the Gottfried Clinic immediately, then?" Elliot thinks for a while.

"... No. No, that wouldn't be fair to the people who've already made appointments. And… Mr. Fletcher did try and help me, kind of, even if it was for selfish reasons. They'll have to rework their entire business when I leave, I'll give them a little warning. I'm sure it'll take a while to set up a charity anyway, I can keep working there in the meantime."

"Generous. Just make sure you let us know right away if they give you a hard time at all, alright?"

"Alright."

"Anyway, I know you've had a long day already, but I do still have to take you downtown so we can start getting this whole shitshow officially straightened out. I'll give you a few minutes first. The rest of you…" She glances around.

"Thanks for being here for Apollo. This had the potential to turn ugly, but instead, everything should work out just fine. He's lucky to have friends like you. If any of you are willing, I'd appreciate it if one or two of you could come downtown as well, so your perspective makes it into the official report. But you should be aware that if you do, I won't be able to pretend you weren't here, so you'll have to sign some NDAs about Apollo's civilian identity."

"I can do it," offers Emily immediately.

"Um, I'll have to drive everyone back first, though, cause we took my car."

"Not a problem, you can head down to the station yourself any time in the next couple of hours. Just ask for the ABRA office, I'll let them know to expect you. Don't think I caught your name yet?"

"Emily."

"A pleasure. Thanks for doing this." She stands, offering her hand, and Emily hesitantly shakes it.

"Just lemme know if you want like an autograph or anything. Or, actually, I still gotta clean up Apollo's yard. Got any requests?" It takes Emily a moment to figure out what she means.

"Oh, um… Can you… Can you really turn into a dragon?" she asks, blushing slightly. Chimera takes a few steps back, out of the gazebo, and I'm sure she's once again grinning behind her mask. Then, she glows green, and a moment later, the same emerald dragon I briefly fought is crouched on the grass, its head barely a foot away from Emily and nearly as big as her entire body. She squeaks and jumps backwards, blushing even harder. Several others jump too, even Elliot. Chimera chuckles, her voice now a deep rumble.

"Behold! My armor is like tenfold shields, my teeth are swords, my claws spears, the shock of my tail a thunderbolt, my wings a hurricane, and my breath death!" Emily is still bright red. It takes her a second to speak, but her voice doesn't tremble.

"Truly songs and tales fall utterly short of the reality, O Smaug the Chiefest and Greatest of Calamities!" Chimera roars with laughter, literally.

"Finally, someone else who's read the book!"

"It's, um, it's one of my favorites," agrees Emily.

"Good taste," rumbles Chimera.

"Anyway…" She turns her head to the side, opens her jaws, and breaths a controlled but still impressive burst of fire onto the tangled patch of overgrown grass left by Elliot. The entire thing immediately catches, and she bunches the burning tangle together with her claws to stop it from spreading, the flames apparently doing nothing to her. It only takes thirty seconds or so to burn down to ash, and she carefully pats around the edges to make sure the fire's all out before turning back into a human.

She gives us a little bow, and we all clap enthusiastically, even me. I can't see myself ever getting bored of magic, no matter how familiar it gets. As promised, Chimera gives us a few moments to ourselves. Everyone quickly gathers around Elliot to congratulate him.

"Damn, man, are they really gonna give this entire place to you?" asks Tyler.

"I guess so?" says Elliot, shrugging.

"I don't really know what I'm gonna do with it, it's way too big to just live in by myself."

"Well, let us know if you're looking for roommates," says Cassie, only half-joking. Once everyone else has backed off a little, Anja comes up and gives him a big hug.

"I'm really glad everything worked out."

"Yeah, me too."

"Sorry I didn't offer to come down to the ABRA office with you. I just…"

"No, it's okay. I'm glad you kept a low profile. Honestly, I'm sorry for dragging you into this in the first place."

"It's not your fault! I couldn't just-" She shakes her head, laughing slightly.

"Well, whatever, it all worked out anyway." Meanwhile, Alex comes up next to me.

"Hey, uh… Would it be okay if I invited Chimera to come speak at the GSA?" My first impulse is to say no, avoid any extra contact with ABRA. But… She hasn't shown any sign of recognizing me so far, or really paid any particular attention to me at all. And there are bound to be a lot more kids I can blend in with at any talk she gives at school. The risks are honestly fairly minimal, and there could potentially be some opportunities, too. Also, it'll make Alex happy.

So after a moment, I nod and say, "I think so, yeah. Just be careful."

"Sure," she says, nodding back. She turns and walks over to Chimera, and I approach a little closer so I can listen.

"Hey, uh, can I ask you something?" Chimera puts her hand to her mouth for a second before answering, or at least where her mouth would be under her mask.

"Yeah, of course," she says.

"Sorry, I just… I absolutely adore baby butches."

"Hey!" says Alex, blushing slightly, and I cover a laugh with a cough.

"I'm eighteen, how old are you?"

"Classified, sorry," says Chimera, her smirk almost audible.

"Anyway, what can I help you with?"

"Well, uh, my name's Alex, I'm the head the GSA at West Franklin High. I was wondering if you'd be willing to maybe come and give a talk, about gay rights specifically?"

"Absolutely," says Chimera with zero hesitation.

"I'm actually really glad you asked, the regulations stop me from making that kind of request myself. There's a bit of a process you'll have to go through, cause the request has to come from the school administration. Is that something you think you can swing?"

"I think I can probably swing that, yeah. The teacher who sponsors the club is an oldschool activist, he takes zero shit from the administration."

"Nice, I'll look forward to meeting him. Just have the principle or someone contact the ABRA office downtown, I'll make sure it all goes smoothly on our end. Any preference for time?"

"Uh, right after school would probably be best, but any day is fine."

"Great. I'll be looking forward to it," says Chimera.

"Anyway, me and Apollo should probably get going here, so we can wrap this shit up."

"Sure, of course," agrees Alex.

"Thanks a ton."

"My pleasure." Elliot leaves with Chimera shortly afterwards, both of them getting a ride with the cops. The rest of us pile back into Emily's minivan. I'm still a little nervous, but I really can't see Chimera trying to pull a fast one. I'm not convinced the ABRA bureaucrats will be quite as reasonable as her, but it sounds like a lot of them have got egg on their face right now, and that should hopefully make them a little more accommodating. As for all the eyes that are suddenly on him…

I've been as careful as I could be. I'll just have to hope it was careful enough.