Chapter 13: Songs of Heroes Born

Our pilot dropped us all off in the the parking lot in front of the apartment. Travel time between Nashville and Boston had hardly been longer than the trip from Dearborn. At almost double the distance, Doug had been able to use a higher, trans-orbital corridor, and we were up to Mach 9 at our peak, he said.

The apartment smelled great! Grandma McKesson and Cor were both in the kitchen, and something classical, Vivaldi I think, was playing on the stereo.

"Andy! You're just in time!" Cor called from the kitchen.

What rescue can I perform for my Damsel?" I asked.

"The coffee table, sofa and the recliner all need to find their way into the spare room. We have a table and chairs coming for the living room so the twenty or so people who will be here for dinner can all sit down at the same time."

Thankfully the spare bedroom, which once doubled as my study room and library, was a straight shot from the living room, otherwise getting the sofa in there would have been a difficult task.

Greg and I grabbed the sofa and Ren and Thistle grabbed the recliner. That left the coffee table as the obvious target for Starlight, who hoisted it right up and into the room. That left the inevitable dust bunnies and loose change to clean up, but it was pretty spotless. I still owed Nicco for being such a neat freak.

There may not have been a right angle problem getting things into the spare room, but anything coming up the stairs faced a serious 90 degree left turn to get in the apartment door. The small covered shelter at the top of the landing would present a problem as well.

It turned out to be a non-problem, as I'm sure Grandma and Cor knew all along. The delivery crew brought up a modular assembly of plastic pipes and joints that fit together like every plumbers dream, and then slid apart like a trombone's slide until they had the length they wanted to match the size of the room. The real hardwood table sections connected to the two upper horizontal pipe sections, sliding together as if they were on rails, which in essence they were, and once they had enough top pieces to cover the length of the pipe assembly, they fastened some sort of locking mechanism at the starter end, tightening and locking the sections into place. The entire process was so fascinating, I missed the arrival of the chairs entirely. It wasn't until the tablecloth was in place and the chairs were being set out that they even registered.

"There ya go folks!" The supervisor who had directed the construction said at last. As Cor signed the receipt.

"Thank you!" I said. "That was fun to watch!"

"You geek!" Cor teased.

Cor pulled a pile of Lobster Salad Sandwiches and chilled pear slices out of the fridge for lunch. For the next thirty minutes there was only the sounds of people eating and sauce being stirred.

Eventually Cor said it was time to check the costumes.

We went into the bedroom first, and quickly stripped out of our Earth normal wear and with a quick thought, we were both wearing our Arbor leathers. I had my Wizard's cloak, and quickly grabbed NeedleThorn from its place by the bed.

"Ta daa!" Cor called as we came back out of the room.

We got some serious complements from Greg and Grandma, and Starlight and Thistle pretended to be impressed as well of course, but their reviews had been prearranged.

Thistle and Ren went next. Thistle changed into his actual performance outfit from Arbor. Not the 'dress up' one he would wear at the Grand Hall in Beletara, but what he called his 'Troubadour' costume, which was a mix of silk and lacquered lizard skin. The entire thing was done in bright red and black. The large floppy hat was an interesting touch. With a guitar slung over his shoulder it looked very impressive in its own right.

Ren's costume resembled her Midnight leathers, but modified. They were more flexible, and skin tight, with a heavy cape, a mask and gloves with stiff, wide cuffs. A pair of pistols were holstered to her thighs, in a Lara Croft-ian touch. The eyepieces of the mask were something solid and black, like the darkest of sunglasses. On the chest was a white circle with a thick black line cutting to the center from the top. I realized it was a visual representation of a clock with the hands showing midnight.

Wow!" I said out loud.

<You wear this when you go to that place where I can't reach you, don't you?" I thought.

<Yes, when I am Midnight there.> She returned.

"Okay, Starla, you're next." Cor announced.

She took Starlight into our bedroom, and popped her head out a moment later and threw me a small package.

"Here, make sure Greg is wearing these instead of whatever he's got underneath his clothes now."

It was a pair of our Legion armor underclothes, the mesh shirt and boxers. I turned to Greg.

"Go put these on in the bathroom. You can leave whatever you were wearing in the hamper."

Greg didn't say anything, but he looked the question, so I answered it.

"Do you want the good news or the bad news?" I asked.

"Ooo-kay... What's the bad news?"

"You Halloween costume is going to be somewhat form fitting."

"And the good news?"

"So is Starla's."

That got me a grin and a smile, and Greg headed into the bathroom. I went back to attacking my second Lobster Salad sandwich. When Greg emerged a few minutes later, he was wearing a completely different kind of smile.

"Man, I don't know what these things are made of, but I like 'em! Tell me I don't have to give them back."

"You don't have to give them back." I echoed.

Starlight's outfit took a little time, as I knew it would, and Cor wanted to do the big reveals together, so we all had to close our eyes as she rushed her into the bathroom with orders to wait until called.

"Greg!" Came her call.

"Well Greg, you would've killed to be alone in a room with Cor and down to your skivvies a few months ago. Here's your opportunity." I teased.

Twenty minutes later, we were told to turn our backs and wait for the signal.

"Okay, you can turn around." Cor said.

"Wow!" I said.

"Oh My God!" Ren said.

Standing in front of us were Angel and Phoenix from the X-men. The comic book versions, not the movie ones. Greg wore the red and white 'Archangel' version of the Angel costume. The one with the halo on the chest. Starlight wore the green and gold Phoenix costume, complete with the sash. They both looked amazing.

"You haven't seen anything yet, wait till the guests get here. We'll blow their socks off!"

The mention of the guests got us back to reality. It was 3:30 pm. We still had four hours until dinner. This was just a test run. In the same order we'd put them on, we changed back into our original outfits, though Greg said he did not swap the new mesh underwear for what he'd thrown in the hamper.

There were a list of things to do. We needed to wash all the dishes we were going to use. Grandma and Cor had bought several sets of festive wear, having used the need for place settings and silverware as an excuse to spend some time at the Crate & Barrel in the Harvard Square Mall. We were washing stoneware and flatware and wine glasses for twenty-four, all brand new. Once the dishes were under way, I was put in charge of finding the wine of course.

"Tim! Come help me haul up the wine from the wine cellar."

"You have a wine cellar?" Thistle asked.

"Well, officially its the garage, but we've never parked the car there."

We ran down the stairs and into the garage, but I immediately popped us into the storage room of the Tower. Grandma was making spaghetti and salad for dinner, and I"m sure we would have a real Italian bread to go with it rather than the typical garlic buttered French bread a lot of people had with theirs.

I picked up a small box, what was called a wagon box on Arbor, that contained four bottles of Korellian Blue Sail and handed it to Thistle. I grabbed two more boxes just like it and jumped us back to the garage. I double checked the boxes and the bottles before we took them up. There were maker's crests burned into the wooden boxes, and the same crest was pressed into the wax seal that covered the cork wrapper, but no writing. Nothing that would be mystifying to Greg or our other guests.

We got the bottles into the kitchen and I wiped them down and cleaned the wax and the wrappers off the first four bottles. I wiped down the boxes as well and placed the four prepped bottles back in the opened box and set it in the center of the table. We wouldn't open them until just before dinner started.

"Do we have something to offer people to drink while they're waiting for dinner?" I asked.

"We have apple cider in the fridge, and we're mulling some spiced cider on the stove as well." Grandma answered.

"I should put on some music." I said, the Vivaldi having ended quite a while earlier.

"Andy, do you mind if we practice for a while? We have new guitars we are desperate to touch." Thistle asked.

So for the last couple of hours, as we were giving everything a second cleaning and straightening, we were awash in the sounds of Thistle and Starlight and their new guitars. They were still playing when we heard our first knock at the door.

I opened the door and discovered the Captain and Tenille standing at the door. It was Arne Walker and Jenea Brill. Arne had a portable keyboard on a strap around his neck and a truly attrocious fake mustache on his upper lip. They immediately broke into a passable version of 'Love will keep us together', but we only got eight bars before they both lost it and started laughing. We gave them some cheery applause, and ushered them in.

"We're early, I know." Jenea said. "I thought we might come by and help get ready, but I think we underestimated the crew you would have."

"We also were upstaged musically before we even got in the door." Arne said, nodding to Thistle and Starlight, who were still sitting with their instruments in their lap. "You two are amazingly talented."

"Thank you." They both said simultaneously.

We began the introductions with Grandma McKesson and Serenity, though I was pretty sure Arne at least had met her once before somewhere along the line during my school years. I introduced 'Tim' as Ren's boyfriend/significant other and 'Starla' as his student. Greg I introduced as a friend of ours who we had recruited as an escort for Starla.

"Starla, I love your hair!" Jenea said.

"Thank you." Starlight said, touching it tentatively. "I'm getting used to it, I think."

"Starla is normally an absolutely gorgeous natural blond, but we've colored it for the first time as part of her Halloween costume." Cor offered.

"Speaking of which, why aren't you all in costume?" Arne asked.

"Because you are early!" We all chorused.

"Okay, here we go again." Cor said. "Andy and I first."

We repeated the process of changing into our costumes. Cor and I got first chance to impress Arne and Jenea, and then Ren and Thistle. I thought we were going to have to do the back turning bit again, but Starlight whispered in Cor's ear, and she took Starlight and Greg into the bedroom at the same time!

<Don't worry, they will get dressed facing away from each other.> Cor sent. <There wont be too much peaking, I'm sure.>

When they came out together, Arne and Jenea were completely stunned.

So where Morrie Scheufelt and Dave Hamlin when they arrived with Nat simmons and Idrena Symanski. Morrie had come as Johnathan Steed, and Nat as Diana Rigg, or more precisely as 'Mrs. Peele', the characters from the old British spy show The Avengers. Dave and Idrena had come as Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale, the spies from Pottsylvania who were always after Rocky and Bullwinkle.

"Nice spy theme." I told them.

Yuri Stepanovich and Chester Magill arrived with Yuri's girlfriend Katerina and Daria Kensington. Yuri and Chester came as Mutt and Jeff. The difference in their heights made it a natural, but it was a pretty esoteric reference in this day and age. Katerina and Daria came as Jane Curtin and Gilda Radner from the Original SNL cast.

"Vague and esoteric at the same time. Nice touch!" was my comment.

Zoo Shimizu and Stretch Reeder came with Audra Brooks and Traci Stevens. Zoo was Donald Duck, Audra was Daisy Duck, Stretch was Mickey Mouse and Traci was Minnie Mouse.

We teased them unmercifully for their Disney-dependence and lack of creativity, but their costumes were very well done.

When the clock chimed seven, there was a knock at the door and Grandma McKesson's driver was there to pick her up. It was Nicco!

After a nice round of hugs and hellos, Nicco agreed to wait long enough to let Grandma help serve the meal. I had uncorked the first four bottles earlier to give them a chance to breathe, and poured some for everyone while Grandma was serving the appetizer, something called capreze, which was a very nice dish of mozzarella, tomato and basil leaves.

The main course was spaghetti alla puttanesca, which definitely had more of a spicy kick than the average spaghetti. It was served with a piping hot and fresh from the oven bread that Grandma called Le pagnotte di Enna. Made from semolina flour, it was a heavier Mediterranean-style bread.

With the food served, Grandma gave kisses to Ren, Cor and I and then left with Nicco. There was a lot of effort made to let her know she was welcome to stay and would be missed, but she was on a timetable of some kind, I could tell. Once the door closed there was a long stretch of silence, as the only sound was people savoring their food.

"You're Grandma sure can cook." Came Chester's voice from down the table.

"And she hardly looks old enough to be your Mother, let alone your Grandmother!" Audra added.

"I've been in their attic." Cor said. "They all have portraits up there."

Dessert was another Italian treat. You can't have a Sicilian meal without having cannoli for dessert Grandma said, and having been instructed by her, Cor filled the cannoli at the table for everyone.

"Grandma McKesson says no self-respecting Italian would eat a pre-filled cannoli." She explained.

While she was filling the fried pastry shells with the ricotta cream, Thistle and Starlight pulled their chairs back from the table and picked up their guitars. They took turns playing little pieces, probably exercises, softly while we ate. I opened a couple more bottles of the wine. Dinner had been a leisurely affair, it hadn't been all slurping and chewing. We had a bit of fun with the worrywarts talking about the Mars expedition, and we talked about the upcoming holidays.

Folks were generally home if they could swing it, for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. Of course for Yuri, Idrena and Kioshi, Thanksgiving was no big deal. But Christmas was a big holiday for everyone, so that was a common concern.

"We will be gone most of that time, I'm pretty sure." Cor said. "We might get back in time for Christmas, but it'll be dicey."

Geez! More to think about. What day was the Winter Solstice this year? December 21st or 22nd, I was pretty sure was usually the date, but I wasn't sure which one it was this year. Either way the Midwinter's Eve Festival performance in Beletara was going to be one of those two days. Arbor wasn't one of those places that maintained a geographical congruity with Earth, but it was on the same seasonal cycle, so Midwinter's Day there would be Winter Solstice here.

<Don't worry! We'll work it out.> Cor sent. She must've seen something in my expression.

<Thank you Damsel.> I sent in return.

Once we'd finished the meal and had our chance to sit and visit, we turned our attention to the dishes and the rest of the dinner's aftermath. Starlight was totally in love with our dishwasher.

We didn't finish with the cleanup until nine. The parties would have started by now. It was time to get moving.

"Costumes everyone." I called. Most folks had taken some parts of their costumes off for dinner, not wanting to get them stained or else not able to eat with it on.

"Who needs makeup?" Cor called.

I grabbed my cell phone and called our driver.

"We'll be ready shortly."

"On my way." Came the reply.

"When you're ready, everybody gather outside at the back of the driveway!" I hollered. "Damsel, you can lock the door on your way out!"

"Yes, my mighty Wizard!" Came Cor's call from the bathroom.

"Greg, lets get out there." I said, tapping him with NeedleThorn.

There was a small back yard that we used to share with the other renter before he left. For the moment we had it to ourselves. I opened the gate and walked in. I spun NeedleThorn around idly a few times, letting some of the simple forms come back to me. Nicco and I had spent a lot of time in this little grassy spot practicing over the past few years.

"You're pretty good with that staff." Greg said. "Especially considering that heavy cloak and leather suit."

"I spent a lot of time practicing in this spot, so I just fell into it without thinking when I walked through the gate." I said. "My lease is up at the end of the year and I don't think we'll be coming back."

"That's too bad." Greg said.

"No, not really." I explained. "The people are what is important. They wont be left behind, just this simple little Cambridge apartment."

I pulled myself back to the events at hand and turned to Greg, letting NeedleThorn continue to spin through the forms.

"Greg, do you have any problems with heights? Do you get car sick easily?"

"No." He answered. "Why?" He asked, suddenly suspicious.

"Well, Cor did tell you there were some special effects that came with your costume, right?"

"Yes."

"And what is my family famous for, and what do I have a degree from MIT in?"

"Gravity?" Greg answered, sure of the answer but unsure of the direction of the conversation. Suddenly it came to him. "Oh God No!"

"You got it buddy." I said, dropping low and sweeping NeedleThorn through the legs of an imaginary foe. I stood back up and brought NeedleThorn to rest. "You have to be braver than Starla, don't you? She's got some special effects too."

We finally had everyone collected at the gate and Cor escorted Starlight into the enclosed area. I gave Cor the nod to proceed.

"What our young Phoenix and Angel characters here have on are, up to a point, traditional costumes. However, there is a dramatic difference. First. You've all noticed that our Angel has no wings, right?"

She got a round of affirmative noises from everyone.

"We shall have to do something about that." Cor continued. "Greg, switch in the first position please."

Greg had obviously flipped a switch. Angel now had wings. Gloriously huge white wings that stretched out, a good twenty feet, and up before slowly retracting and folding up into place along Angel's back. There was applause!

"Now our young Phoenix is also missing something, her flaming hair, is she not?" Cor said once the applause had died down.

Another round of affirmative noises followed.

"Starla, position one, please." Cor asked. Suddenly Phoenix had her signature white eyes and flaming hair.

After the applause died down Cor whispered into both Greg and Starlight's ears before proceeding.

"Now, that would be impressive enough to win most costume competitions, but we're MIT geeks, were not happy with the easy win when we can go the extra mile, are we?"

"No!" Came the answer in a roar.

"Angel!" Cor yelled.

Suddenly Angel was airborne, his wings extended and flapping slowly until he was ten feet above our heads. He held there for a good ten seconds or so, his wings continuing to beat, and then slowly he seemed to let himself drift back to earth, where his wings returned to their folded position.

"Phoenix!" Cor yelled, before anyone had a chance to react.

Suddenly Phoenix too was in the air, her entire body outlined in flame, and behind her and in the air above her, the famous Phoenix flame figure. She too held her position briefly, then the Flame phoenix flickered out and Phoenix returned slowly to the ground.

There was a long, long silence as the crew digested what they had just seen, then they exploded! Who knows how long the cheers and applause would have lasted if our shuttle driver hadn't honked his horn from the front end of the driveway.

"We are so going to kick ass in the costume contest!" Arne said with enthusiasm as we climbed aboard.

On board the bus, en route to campus, Cor explained that the holographic effects were partly due to some skilled application of matched and layered gravity fields.

"That represents the halfway mark towards the technology needed for our new environment suits for the Mars mission." Cor said.

Into the silence she added, with a teasing tone.

"You may all think I've been off gallivanting around with Andy, But I've been working. What have YOU been doing?"

The darkened bus was very quiet the rest of the way to campus. I had a feeling that when we all saw each other again after the holidays, Arne and the crew wouldn't be empty handed.

... And yes we did win every event, hands down. Greg got a Phoenix-level scorcher of a good night kiss from Starlight too. The rowdy college guys never stood a chance.

"Here!" Speck said softly. "This looks like a game trail of some kind, running atop the entire ridge line on this side of the valley."

"We've been watching it since we first noticed it, and its not a game trail, at least not an active one." Cloud added.

I bumped up my 'Wizard Sight', which I had discovered it was called in the book on Arborian Wizards I was reading. It was really a combination of things, but it was something Wizards learned how to do. Similar to my own Light sensitivity and Gift-based senses in a way, it was an easy way to see if something had any trace of Arborian Magic in it, or some recent contact with something or someone that did. Once again it wasn't a coincidental similarity. Light, Gift and Dream were the three legs on which Magic stood.