What Little Remains Of Terpsichore Ironheart

"Summer, what the fuck happened?!" I demanded.

We'd reconvened back at the house, and while me and the rest of the party were being interrogated by the Paladins, Mom and Dad went off on a mission to rescue Summer from whatever jail cell they were keeping her in, which had apparently gone off without a hitch, because they were all waiting for us at home by the time we'd rushed back on a pair of motorcycles.

"I got got," Summer said, shrugging. "I mean, you know how it is. You've got power, you start using it, and if you've got some basic decency, you use it to help out the little guy. Well, here I find out that my people, distant they may be, are gettin' conquered and colonized and imperialized by the fuckin' Mayonnaise Guild, and naturally, I start talkin' to people to see what I can do to help. Well, as it turns out, I'm not as sneaky as I thought I was, and I got caught in a sting last week. Thanks for gettin' me outta there, by the way. I, uh... Kinda have to ask you for another favor, though."

"Which would be?" I asked.

"I gotta get back up to the Mesa Verde to talk to some people," Summer said. "Let 'em know what happened, and all that. But, well, I'm a wanted woman, so... I'm gonna need you to smuggle me back up there somehow."

"...Well, of course I have to do another roadtrip back up to Mount Fate," I said quietly. "This is..." I trailed off, and turned to regard my father. "...Heeeey, Dad, Father Dearest, are you busy?"

"Yes," Dad said flatly. "Don't get me wrong, Catherine, I would love to help you out some more, here, but I very much am busy with keeping Greenwood Village running."

"Mom? Spare a teleportation?"

"I don't have that kind of magicka right now," Mom said, shaking her head. "I also don't know where Summer's destination is."

I took a deep breath.

"Cat-" Summer began.

"FUCK!" I all but screamed, nearly folding myself in half with the force of it. "God dammit! GIVE ME A FUCKING BREAK!"

I was so fucking tired. So fucking sick of it all. I just wanted to enjoy my New Year's, I wanted to see my family, and read my comics, play with my toys, eat my uncle's cooking and hear more of his stories...

"Oh, this is bad," Summer whispered, making me realize I'd fallen to my knees and started crying like a little girl.

It was a shameful display. I was bigger than this. A grown woman. I was supposed to take care of people, to help the people who needed it, and here I was, throwing a pissy fit because someone else's personal crisis was mildly inconvenient for me?

And yet, no matter how much I tried to steel myself, gird my loins, and grow the hell up... I just couldn't stop crying.

Dad scooped me up in his arms, pulling me into a tight hug. Part of me rankled at this- this was what he did when I was a child, he shouldn't be doing this, and I shouldn't be doing this either- but the rest of me, the part of me that couldn't stop wailing, latched onto Daddy like a drowning cat and buried my face in his shoulder, getting snot all over his shirt like I was ten years old again and my rat just died.

"Oh, Cat, honey-" Dad began, before Uncle Frederick cleared his throat. "What?" I didn't have to turn far to face Uncle Frederick, and see what he was doing. "Wait, what?"

"You said you weren't a Black Dragon!" Rebecca accused, staring at her older brother.

"I lied," Frederick said, as he stood up from his wheelchair, his skin shedding its wrinkles, and deepening in color. By the end, he looked much like his little sister- noticeably olive-tinted skin, with hair as deep and rich a black as the purest onyx. And, on his fingertips, there were the sharp claws of a dragon. "But that's not relevant right now. What is relevant is that my niece needs my help, and I'm not going to refuse that call. So, Napoleon. Tell the people that your older brother is sick and can't make it to the festivities. And while everyone is wishing me well, and hoping I make a full recovery, I will be taking Summer north to the Mesa Verde."

"...How long?" Napoleon asked, quietly. "How long have you been hiding this from me- how long have you been lying to me?"

"Three centuries," Frederick said flatly. "And Catherine, I'm the source of your dragon's blood- I injected you with twenty milliliters in your sleep when you were five."

"Are you fucking-" Napoleon began, before I interrupted him.

"I... I should come with you," I said, blinking away tears, as I slowly extracted myself from Napoleon's embrace. "If you go on your own... I'm one of Mnemosyne's chewtoys, these days. It won't work out if I don't make at least some effort to participate."

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"'Participate' is a beautifully flexible word," Silas said. "It allows for you to bring two adult Black Dragons and a fellow juvenile half-dragon on this journey, and allow us to handle anything you're not up to."

"Excuse you, young man," Rebecca began.

"Were you going to deny your niece's literal cry for help?" Silas asked.

"I... well, no, but I was going to phrase it differently," Rebecca said, huffing.

"So, Catherine," Silas said, turning to face me. "Consider us fully at your disposal."

"Hey, uh, question," Summer said. "In what way are y'all Black Dragons? Because I can believe you're mixed, but the only one of y'all who doesn't pass the paper bag test is a half-orc."

"It's dragon stuff," I said, closing my eyes. "We'll... We'll explain it later."

"Catherine," Napoleon began. I could tell, just from the sound of his voice, that he was enjoying this moment about as much as I was- all these big revelations over the past few days had all added up to him no longer being in control of his life even within his own house, and he hated that.

It was one of the more annoying traits I'd inherited from him.

"I'll live, Napoleon," I said, wiping my eyes. "Don't worry about it."

He looked away, closing his eyes. There was shame, there. As Silas had pointed out... I'd made a literal cry for help, and Dad had said no. There was just... He and I both understood that I was perfectly capable, and that he was legitimately busy, but ultimately, I'd begged him for help and he'd said no.

We were going to have to talk about that, at some point.

"Okay," I said, blinking a few times. "I've... gotten that out of my system. I'm alright now. God bless autohypnosis; I do not want to be carrying that into whatever Mnemosyne has planned for me. Gotta walk in with both eyes open, y'know."

Napoleon stood there, silently, for a good moment.

"I'm sorry," Dad said, finally, as he turned away, choking down his anger and wounded pride. "I hope Mnemosyne lets you go, one of these days. Nobody deserves that kind of treatment."

"It has its upsides," I said. "But... yeah, it also sucks. It's life, though. If life was already fair, The Mother wouldn't be necessary."

"One more adventure for the Bad Chicks, huh?" Emily asked.

Once again, I remembered Emily's desire to get kidnapped so she could watch her kidnappers get it in the neck. It was not exactly difficult to surmise what would happen if I took her with us.

"Actually," I said carefully, affixing my new regeneration talisman to the inside of my duster. "I think we shouldn't all go. Faith isn't expected anywhere, and me and Talia have reasons to be stuck inside, taking care of Uncle Frederick- who will, officially, be sick, but not dead. But you, Emily..." I trailed off. "...well. I think now's as good a time as any for you to head back home and see your blood-mother again."

"...Oh," Emily said, quietly.

"I'm sorry, honey," I said, patting her on the shoulder. "It's only for a day or two. I promise. Even if this whole business takes longer, I will be back tomorrow, and I'll rescue you from your annoying family."

"It's a promise," Emily said, closing her eyes.

"Right, well..." I hummed quietly. "Okay, I'm gonna take my motorcycle and drop Emily off at Redwater Palace, and then rush back here. In the meantime, Frederick, Talia, Faith, and Summer, you four load up the van with whatever you think we'll need. Mom, when I get back, I'm gonna need you to teleport the van- with us inside it- as far north as you can manage without overshooting Mount Fate, so nobody sees us leaving town."

"Will you need the long gun back?" Dad asked.

"There's many like it," I said. "That one is yours. Anyone comes by to give us a hard time, make sure they're buried in a matchbox."

"I don't need a gun to do that," Dad said.

"Fine, whatever," I said. "We don't have time for this. Emily, you got all your stuff packed up?"

"I do, yes," Emily said, patting a bulge on one hip where a Bag Of Holding sat underneath her robes.

"Alright, let's get going."

---

"Sir Ironheart," Duchess Melody Redwater said, as I pulled into the front drive of Redwater Palace. "I see you have returned my daughter to me, at long last."

"My family wished to host her for a small New Year's Eve celebration this morning," I said, a formal and respectful tone in my voice, as Emily dismounted. "It has now concluded, and Lady Emily is now being returned to your custody. Will you permit me to visit her soon?"

"As her sworn guardian, you are of course free to be with her whenever you so desire," Melody said. "I would, however, suggest waiting until after midday tomorrow to come visit her; she is likely to sleep late after tonight's festivities. Unless you wish to stay and participate?"

"Afraid I can't," I said, letting the formal tone drop with a sigh. "Uncle Frederick's sick, and I gotta go back and help look after him."

"And you're choosing to not keep Doctor Redwater around for that?" Melody asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"It's nothing too serious," Emily said. "And... I'm a trauma surgeon, not a general practitioner. I can't do much to help him that Talia or Napoleon can't do themselves."

"Oh, and while I'm here," I added, before reaching into a pocket and pulling out a small gift box made of ectoplasm. "This is for you, Duchess. Happy New Year's." I tossed it to her, and she caught it adroitly, before tucking it neatly between her breasts. "I'll see you around, once Frederick's feeling better."

"Take care," Melody said, as I kicked my motorcycle back to life and peeled off.

---

I got back home, tucked my bike back inside my pocket, and hustled in through the front door, rather than the garage door. Everything and everyone was ready once I got back, and all that was left was to pile into the van so Mom could teleport us out of town. She couldn't send us that far, only about ten miles- she had other things she had to do today, and magicka expenditure scaled with distance- but, well, she was the only one in the house who knew how to teleport, and we had to work with what we had.

"Straight north?" Volex asked, her ass parked firmly in the driver's seat.

Ten miles was enough to escape the watchful eyes of Redwater, anyhow. None of them would notice our flying van, hovering about ten feet above a cornfield, especially not if we kept away from population centers along the way.

"Roads," I declared, "are for chumps."

Volex grinned.

"Hit it."