Super Supportive

ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-NINE: They Feasted

129

******

The chatter in the MPE buildings laundry room was energetic when Alden walked in with his gym suit over his arm.

After we eat, we could all go do something at the mall together.

Itll be late. We wont even make it to the restaurant until after eight.

Its Friday! Who cares if its late?

Marshas team is still in the gym. What do you think the faculty are doing with them?

They werent cohesive before, but that last run was too far, dont you think? They completely broke down.

We could go to the cinema.

Id rather shop. We have stipends now.

I already spent mine buying things for the dorm.

Alden headed for a cleaning cabinet that Rebecca had just taken her own suit from. While he put the garment on the mannequin and hung the cuffs on the pegs, he listened to his classmates chatter. Even Febri and Shrikes team, whod suffered two losses today, didnt seem too upset about it.

Olive was on the other side of the room grilling Haoyu about how hed been able to tell her apart from her illusions, and Febri was trying to explain to Konstantin that the team had had a plan to make a statement about solidarity that had been ruined because of their defeat.

We were going to almost win, he explained, and then we were going to have the last person refuse to cross the finish line. Because Sren isnt here. It was going to be a gesture.

A gesture like that Kon rocked back and forth. I see what you were going for, but that might make Sren feel uncomfortable?

Sounds patronizing to me, too, thought Alden. But I guess Sren might appreciate the effort even if its misguided.

He shut the cabinet and leaned against it. It made a faint humming noise as the cycle started.

Instructor Klein had asked team Vandy/Marsha to stay behind after class instead of heading to the locker rooms with everyone else. He hadnt said they were in trouble, but it didnt seem likely that they were being held back for praise.

Upon hearing that her group was being singled out, Vandy had looked so appalled that if Alden hadnt known what was going on hed have assumed something earth-shattering had just happened.

He felt a little sorry for them, and he was glad he was here instead of in their shoes.

Officially the end of another week. Nothing to do tonight but take a bus ride down to F, eat dinner, and hang out.

His team had won. His skill had gotten a workout. And hed just had a hot shower that he hadnt needed to rush through. Some of the guys had decided the swimming tank was enough of a bath.

It would be almost perfect if Maricel hadnt had to go.

He hoped whatever news shed gotten wasnt terrible. When the team had finished running the course, Fragment and the principal were both gone. It made him worry more, but they might have left for some other reason. Maybe they had last minute arrangements for the dinner or

Maricel!

Mari!

Are you all right?

Whered you go?

Some of the girls sitting on the benches by the door had spotted her first. Maricel had already changed out of her gym suit into a denim skirt and pink shirt.

Im good. Im so sorry! A friend called, and they were in trouble so I had to

A friend from home?

Are they okay?

Do you get to go back home to see them?

Its all fine. I told Instructor Fragment. Its taken care of. She headed toward the nearest available cabinet while Everly and Tuyet told her all about what shed just missed.

Maricel! Jeffy shouted. We fed them to Victory!

Why do people on your team keep saying that? Finlay asked Alden from the next cabinet over.

I think its our motto now.

Maricel looked over Everlys shoulder toward him suddenly, and her dark brown eyes met his. Her smile was more strained than happy.

[Everything okay?] he texted her.

He expected her to say yes whether it was or not. She hadnt been one to confide everything. Not since that first day theyd met, when she felt shed said too much.

Sure enough, she nodded.

[We really missed you on the course.]

People were still calling out fight highlights to her; Aldens name came up more than once.

Alden killed Winston, Haoyu said.

He went for the throat. Njeri sounded approving.

Finlay, would that have killed you, too? Jupiter asked. Can we kill you that way?

A lot of heads turned toward the Speed Brute.

What are you all planning to kill me for!? Finlay said. And how should I know? Nobodys ever tried to take my head off with a fishing line. We didnt do that kind of thing at my old school.

They dont train you for lethality during PE in Scotland? Alden asked. Imagine that.

Finlay laughed.

> Ignacio said. >

Thats true, Finlay agreed with a shrug. My visual processing and reaction time are better than his. I also try not to go at top speed when Im about to engage with someone. Liu Arielle says in battles she goes faster than a villain can understand, not faster than she can understand. Pushing it all the way is for getting to the fight in the first place, isnt it? Or when youre outmatched.

Do you like Arielle? Haoyu asked. Shes friends with my parents.

Shes my favorite, said Finlay.

Was she your favorite before or after she got her last few upgrades? Febri asked. Because she became a lot of peoples favorite once she started getting the special stuff.

Some Brutes think speedsters taking short range teleportation is unBrutely, said Rebecca.

Thats because those Brutes are jealous they havent reached the point where the System gives you the option. Finlay was gesturing animatedly. They all slack off on their training when they get old if you ask me. Liu Arielles kept up her leveling all this time. Shes going hyperbolic sooner or later. I believe in her. I believe in me! Im going to get that same skill one day.

Kon was walking around the room, touching random stuff lightly with his fingers and closing his eyes.

His object reading skill outlasted the spell impression that went with it by a significant amount. He was supposed to be burning both talents out every day, just like the rest of them, but since he never had opportunity in class, he spent a lot of time poking things throughout the day and psychically analyzing their recent history.

He pulled his hand away from the unused washing machine at the back of the room and looked around at Finlay. Im surprised you didnt go to Li Jean. She teaches there every now and then, and Im sure you couldve gotten in.

I did get in. But they invited me to watch some classes, and I decided it would be hard to follow along with the System translations and do my best in their gym. Felt like Id be stopping to read every other second.

While the conversation continued around him, Alden composed a message to Jeremy, describing his gym victory. Jeremy had hinted a couple of times that Alden wasnt going into enough detail about the superpowers when they talked, so he wrote more than he normally would have.

By the time he was done and his suit was clean, Team Vandy/Marsha had been freed from whatever lecture theyd gotten. None of them were speaking to each other, so if the subject of the talking to had been the importance of team unity, it had failed.

Mehdi looked like he was ready to hit someone. Maxs expression was completely unbothered and pleasant because he was a scary bastard, but somehow tension was still emanating from him like a poisonous gas. And as for Vandy, a couple of the girls said she was hiding in an empty classroom while she called her family and confessed to all her personal failings.

Winston was nowhere to be found.

Everyone with a sense of self-preservation left them to lick their wounds and get dressed by themselves. Alden vacated the building with most of the class, walking between Lexi and Haoyu as they headed toward the nearby street. The wind that had been blowing grit around the track earlier hadnt let up any, and there was a distant grumble of thunder.

One of the Celena North buses was waiting for them.

Alden sat by Jeffy, with Lexi and Haoyu across the aisle and Everly and Kon in front of him. As the bus filled up, Kon suddenly leaned out of his seat to look up and down the aisle.

Everyones in pairs. Are we going to make Vandys team all sit together in the back?

Ha! said Reinhard. Thats hilarious.

It is a little, said Kon. But theyre going to ruin our class dinner if they get any morehow they are.

I saved a seat for Mehdi! Helosa called from near the front of the bus.

Everly giggled.

We should pick out seats for all of them to reduce their tension, Haoyu said brightly. Winston and Alden can sit together. And Jeffy and Marsha. And Tuyet

Get an instructor! Astrid shouted. Theyve accidentally let someone evil into the program.

Yes, we need to kick Haoyu off the bus, Alden agreed.

******

Just after eight oclock, the bus put them all out at one of the side entrances for Rosa Grove mall. Despite a number of increasingly horrible seating arrangements being discussed, the class had opted for nonviolence in the end. Alden had gone to the back to save a seat for Max, whod stared silently out the window the whole trip. It wasnt a bad thing since it gave Alden time to get some homework done en route.

Mehdi had sat with Kon, while Everly had spent most of the trip trying to cheer up Vandy.

Marsha and Winston had ended up sitting together by default. He was pretending to sleep so that he didnt have to talk to anyone. But unlike the rest of their team, Marsha seemed barely bothered by the scolding theyd received. According to Haoyu, who could see her tablet from his own seat, she spent the ride watching best-of Meister fights compilations.

Alden was one of the last people to leave the bus, and as he stepped off, he was surprised to find that Maricel had hung back instead of heading toward the mall with Tuyet. Curious, he dragged his feet a little. In response, she dragged her own feet a little. Since everybody else was eager to get to the promised meal, they ended up lingering outside after the group had run ahead.

This section of the malls exterior had large advertisements playing on the walls. An Avowed famous for mountain rescues stood on a peak in a raging storm while the camera slowly zoomed in to show that her makeup was flawless, despite the water sheeting off her face. Bright red lips smiled, and the words still kissable appeared beneath her chin. Then the glitzy commercial faded to be replaced by images of children studying in a language academy.

Whats up? asked Alden, blinking against the wind as he looked down at Maricel.

Do you remember when I asked you about wizards changing our return destinations after a summons?

To somewhere other than Anesidora.

Yep, he said, keeping his voice light even though his stomach clenched at the topic.

Maricel took a deep breath. It was for somebody I met in intake. He still wants to leave. I wantedI was trying to find a safe way for him to do it, so he wouldnt choose a dangerous way again. I told him what I read online about escaping after a summons being possible and what you said about it probably being true. I thought he believed me. I thought I had convinced him to wait a while.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

She sounded unhappy, but Alden couldnt help feeling relieved that she hadnt been asking for herself.

The guy didnt listen? he guessed.

Maricel shook her head. He sent me a message earlier. He said he had everything he needed ready. He said it was my last chance to go with him.

Alden waited for her to continue.

Hes going in a boat. Its night. Theres rain coming, and the oceans very rough. Maybe thats why he thinks the patrols wont be able to find him this time.

Shes worried.

The authorities here do deal with stuff like this all the time, Alden said. And if you told somebody

I told Instructor Fragment. Maricel lowered her voice. She and the principal stayed with me while we called someone from SkySea guard. They asked me a bunch of questions, but I dont know anything. Only what I told you now.

Are you in trouble?

I dont think so. But maybe I should be. I couldve told someone earlier instead of trying to talk him out of it myself. They want me to keep trying to get in touch with him, so I text him every few minutes. But he stopped answering when he realized I wouldnt go with him. If something happens

A trio of teenagers with non-Avowed tags stepped through the nearby doors. They shrieked as the wind almost stole the large pizza box from one girls hands, then they all started laughing about it.

Hell be fine, said Alden. Theres no way this is the first time someones tried to use rough weather to slip past the patrols. It probably happens weekly.

Fragment said the same thing. And the man who interviewed me didnt seem worried, but

Plus theres always ETing. Alden remembered Lexi telling Kon exactly that about his rough-seas boat trip to Matadero the day of the party. If your friend capsizes, or if he gets lost, thats always an option.

She made a face. I know. And thinking about it that way makes me wonder if I was wrong to tell on him. What if he could have made it? And been happy? But because of me, hell get caught.

> said the advertisement on the wall. >

This isnt the first time hes run. Theyll put a lot of restrictions on him when they bring him back, Maricel went on. Hell hate me forever. Ithis is what I wanted to ask you. Once hes back, if he doesnt mind, will you try talking to him for me?

Why me? Alden had wondered the last time shed questioned him about escaping via summons. She seemed to think he had more insight to offer than he did. Im not an authority on getting off the island or being summoned or anything. There are much better people to

Youre one of us, Maricel said, taking a step closer to him. A globie. That really matters to him. And you dont hate it here, but you dont think other people are stupid or crazy if they do. Youre a nice person. And you know summoners even though youre our age. There arent any other people like that at all. Maybe hell listen to you.

I guess if that specific combination of qualities is her criteria there arent a lot of matches.

I meanIm willing to try I guess. No promises on my success at reasoning with anyone.

Thank you. Her shoulders slumped and she let out a long breath. Youre a better friend than I am. Im sorry. Ill try not to be so much trouble to you

Were good, said Alden. Ive thought you were cool ever since you went off on those assholes who were like, Ewa Rabbit and declared your intention to run across a planet to get back home.

She looked pained. Thats really not who I am most of the time.

I get that. It was a bad day for you. You were still cool. Now stop worrying. Let the professionals handle the problem. And take me to eat.

******

They feasted.

The restaurant was on the third floor of the mall. It wasnt a big spot. Forty-one students, six instructors, and one principal nearly filled the place up. Tables had been pushed together for them by a line of windows that looked out over one of the malls outdoor recreation areas. A wide, shallow fountain with embedded lights periodically put on a show for people walking past down there. Alden assumed the jets of water operated in time to music, but he couldnt hear it through the thick glass and the sound of everyone talking over each other.

Do you think all the garlic fried rice is yours? Lexi asked Alden.

I think everyone else had their shot at it already. He loaded his plate. I have waited patiently. Now they can fight me for it.

He spooned atchara beside his rice and eyed the fresh batch of lumpia that one of the servers had just set at the other end of the table. They looked like they were coated in caramelized sugar. Those must be dessert.

The stars were all meat dishes, including the crispy lechon that Haoyu had been so eager to try. But the restaurant had made a delicious jackfruit entree, too, so Alden wasnt suffering except from a bit of envy.

Principal Saleh was paying for everything, and the food kept coming. Dining with teachers had been stiff at first, but it soon became clear that this was more of a social, getting-to-know-you event in the facultys mind. The longer they went without talking about everyones performance and schoolwork, the more people loosened up.

Several seats away, Finlay was telling people about his father. He retired from being an electrician and bought a pub. Loses loads of money on it and drives my mum crazy, but he says its his dream.

Instructor Klein and I were on the same hero team for a couple of years when I first started out, Foxbolt was saying to Astrid. We didnt have a single superhuman incident with anyone over C-rank, but Berlin had just been selected to host a womb vault. Protesters were pouring in from everywhere, flooding the streets every day for months. And then when the building actually started, we were on guard duty 24/7.

Astrid looked baffled. Were that many people mad about it? I thought magical medical care wasnt controversial anymore.

Its not, Foxbolt said. In general. Artificial wombs are one of the most contentious areas remaining these days. Which is a bit odd considering they were almost universally praised when the Contract was first being hammered out.

Instructor Klein heaved a sigh. Most of you are thinking about careers that will lead you off the island, so you have to start paying attention to whats going on in the world. Those of you who were born here will find that a number of things our society considers completely benign are scandalous in other places and vice versa.

On that note, youll all get to take everyones favorite course twice, right before you graduate from the high school and in uni, Principal Saleh said, giving the people in her vicinity a wicked smile. Avowed Comportment and Representation.

We have to take the national manners class more than once? Reinhard asked.

Alden was sitting far enough away from them that he wasnt really involved in the conversation, but at that, he swallowed a lump of garlic rice and looked across the table at Lexi and Haoyu. Whats the national manners class?

Haoyu, who had just stuffed another bite of pork belly into his mouth, nudged Lexi demandingly with an elbow.

Its what it sounds like, Lexi said. They teach you how the government wishes youd behave and what they want you to say about certain issues whenever youre working or communicating with people off the island.

Kon, who had claimed the seat on the other side of his brother, rolled his eyes. Its the brainwashing class. The high council made it mandatory for schools to teach it a long time ago

More than a decade, Lexi said.

But people are still fighting about it during elections, Kon concluded.

Who decides what our national comportment should be? Alden asked.

Thats what the fights are mostly about. Haoyu took a sip of his water. When theyre not about whether or not something like that should exist in the first place.

Mehdi had been quiet and moody for most of the meal, so it was a surprise when he chimed in. Its not fair. The really old people lived however they wanted and said whatever they wanted when they got their powers. And now theyre suddenly trying to make all of these rules for the rest of us.

Vandy overheard him. But we have a country of our own here now. They didnt.

Another server dropped a plate in front of Alden, and he finally got his hands on the dessert offering. The crunchy, sugar-coated spring roll wrappers were full of banana. He took one and bit into it, giving himself permission to zone out while Vandy expounded about the unprecedented nature of Anesidora and the importance of careful lawmaking.

Marsha was watching Shrike spin a knife. Winston was picking at his food and avoiding everyones eyes like hed suffered a terrible humiliation instead of a combat death in the gym.

Dare I hope hell be less of a pain moving forward?

Max and Jeffy were sitting beside each other and answering Instructor Marions questions about where theyd grown up. Max was talking about South Africa like a normal person, in contrast to Jeffy, who was delivering unnecessarily obscure hints about his own home. Instructor Marion looked confused, and Alden couldnt blame him. About the only thing you could pin down from the ramble was that Jeffy had grown up in a house with grandparents and an uncle.

Hed just finished describing his former school as a place where there might or might not have been many people with mohawks.

All right. Marions tone said that hed decided going with it was the correct course of action. As for me, I grew up not far from where were sitting right now. I wouldnt be surprised if my parents are wandering around the mall at the moment. They eat out every night, and they like the food hall downstairs.

Max nodded. Are you second gen or

Third on one side, the instructor said. Second on the other.

That prompted a turn in the discussion as people started chiming in with their own Avowed lineages. Unlike Marion, most of the faculty present had been born off the island. The students, of course, had almost all been born here. And more of them had large families than Alden had realized.

Nobody was describing anything quite like the multigenerational Velra clan situation, but the number of people mentioning tons of siblings was more than he would have expected from a cross-section of peers back home.

Mehdi had three older brothers, an older sister, and a little brother. Tuyet was one of seven. Jupiter had a set of siblings all named after planets in their solar system.

Except they skipped Uranus and went straight to Neptune.

When Kon piped up to inform everyone that he and Lexi were expecting another sibling sometime in the next couple of years, his brother reached over to smack him on the back of the head.

Ow! What was that for?

Dont just tell everyone on the island our parents reproductive plans.

Kon rolled his eyes. Theres going to be a whole new person with our last name. What are we supposed to do? Pretend they found a baby growing on a tree?

Thats not the poin

Do you know if theyre going to have a girl or a boy? Astrid asked.

They let us all be surprises, so I assume its going to be the same for Number 4. Kon held up a fork threateningly when Lexi looked like he wanted to smack him again.

Alden filed that information away in his dont make assumptions file. If anyone had asked him, he would have guessed Lexi and Kon were designed. They were both aesthetically gifted even though they didnt have points in Appeal yet. Plus, if you ignored personality, style, and the fact that Lexi was crazy fit from keeping up his ballet physique, they would have looked very similar even by brotherly standards.

What about you Alden?

Alden looked at Astrid questioningly.

I know you dont have brothers and sisters, but do you have a lot of cousins?

No. It was just me and my aunt.

He thought that would be the end of his turn, but everyone was still waiting patiently, like they were giving him time to say more.

Really, you guys. Thats it for me on the family front. There might be some distant cousins thrice removed out there somewhere, but other than that

I have two close friends back home, he added. One of them is practically my brother.

He steered clear of saying, His parental situation was shitty. We basically raised each other.

Is it the friend whos keeping your cat? asked Haoyu. Whats his name? Is he going to come visit?

Alden suddenly realized hed dived headfirst into something more dramatic than hed intended. Okay. So, even the shareable portions of the Boe situation sound kind of

His names Boe. Im sure hell come visit eventually. Hes on my guest list. Alden tried to sound casual. I havent mentioned him before because hes not home right now. He ran away after my funeral.

Haoyu blinked. Lexi frowned. Kon squinted at him.

I managed to get in touch with him a few weeks ago, Alden explained. Hes fine. He said he would go back home as soon as hed figured things out.

This story had been supported by some of the fake phone calls Boe had insisted Alden make in public locations.

Nobody responded.

And theres my friend Jeremy. His parents are lawyers. He has a sister in marching band. Hes taking great care of my cat!

Thank you for being the sane one, Jeremy.

Alden searched his mind for other proof that hed had a mundane and solid social life before coming to Anesidora.

I regularly buy gifts for an alien chained to a desk in the Chicago consulate. Thats not exactlyah, screw it. Ill tell them about how Kibby is cooler than all the other younger siblings that have been mentioned tonight.

You had a funeral? Kon blurted.

Lexi looked over at him. You know everyone thought he was dead. What else wouldve happened?

I do know. It just never occurred to me that hed had an actual funeral.

Was it a good funeral? Astrid sounded fascinated.

I meanI wasnt around for it, said Alden, startled. But no. There were like a thousand people there, and I only knew a few of them well.

That is so weird, said Kon. It must feel really weird. Does it?

Was there a casket? Astrid asked. Or an urn?

Its only weird if I think about it. I havent had much time to bother. And according to my aunt, there was no casket, Astrid. Just a giant picture of me on a stand.

You deserved something more exciting than that, said Haoyu.

I agree, said Astrid. I could come up with a better funeral in five minutes.

The dinner ended with a lot of people planning increasingly absurd funerals for themselves.

Alden eventually found himself nodding along while Astrid described her wish to have her ashes launched off the top of Nautilus Needle at midnight by a magic cannon.

Haoyu wanted a statue made of himself and placed somewhere statues didnt belong in order to perplex as many people as possible. And Lexi refused to play along, which resulted in Kon planning a jazz funeral for him without his input.

When they left the table, their stomachs were full of food, and they were all laughing too loudly about their own dumb ideas.

Alden decided that was a nice combination, all things considered.

******

******

a few hours earlier

******

******

Jacob hadnt meant to call Maricel Alcantara. It wasnt part of the plan. But as the cruiser had set off, dipping down into a wave and making his stomach churn, hed suddenly thought, What if she regrets it?

This place that pretended to be a palace one minute only to show its true colors as a prison the nextshe thought shed be all right here, with these people, but how could she be? Everything got worse when you left intake, not better as people kept promising him.

So hed sent her a message. Hed tried to give her one last chance.

Shed refused, and hed forced himself not to answer any of her subsequent messages.

They would probably never see each other again.

Salt water spattered the windows as the man in the cockpit flipped switches and turned the silver wheel. Jacob sat with the others in the cabin. The boat was well-appointed, but he could hardly make out the wood floors or the galley. Supplies covered every surface. The dinette furniture had been removed to make room for something particularly large wrapped in a tarp.

There was food, of course, but mostly the boat was filled with magical equipment, spell ingredients, cases that Jacob was sure held weaponsall things that were difficult or expensive for people to obtain off Anesidora.

The bunks had been left intact, but theyd have to sleep in shifts if they wanted to use the beds. Three of the passengers were crammed onto the small settee right now, and a fourth was sitting on top of a large plastic bin hed proudly told Jacob was full of stolen potions. The fifth wasthere was no fifth.

> the man sitting on the bin had said.

Jacob was the youngest here. The man whod stolen the potions was around twenty-five. The strange one on the end of the settee who kept humming to himself and picking at a scab on the back of his hand until it bled looked a decade older. The girl with her soft, dark curls piled up on top of her head in a barrette had said she was nineteen and ready to see whats out there when they all introduced themselves. The other onethere was no other passenger.

The captain had graying hair.

I wonder if Im a part of the fight now.

He hadnt planned to be, but ever since hed first reached out to Superhumans at Large, hed felt like the stars kept aligning. Everything they asked for came to him so much easier than hed thought it would.

His eyes found his own contribution to the boats wealth of strange devices. The Submerger had a place of honor on the floor just beside the captain. The aquarium-like container sat on top of a crystal dial that was obviously made to hold it.

Jacob hadnt had to get that part. The captain had been in possession of it already, and he knew how to use it from a previous experience with one of these devices.

The Submerger would only be the second one SAL had obtained. They were calling him a hero.

I dont think they would be as impressed with me if theyd met Orpheus Velra themselves. Hed have sold Earth to the devil for a cigarette.

You need to relax. The girl bumped his knee with her own. Weve got a long trip ahead of us even with our friends meeting us halfway. If you stay this tense the whole time, itll be rough.

Arent you nervous, too? Jacob asked.

Not much.

> the captain said. >

He pointed down at the Submerger.

>

Jacob swallowed.

The captain smiled out at the darkening sky. >

*****

*****

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