Legion of 8

Chapter 11: Ella

Soon we arrived at the apartment and most people fell asleep straight away. However, after hours of sitting in Safiya's room and not being able to sleep, I decided to go out to the kitchen table and draw by the moonlight.
"Are you still up?" Jax stood in the kitchen doorway wearing PJ pants and an old T-shirt.
"Yeah, just trying to process everything that happened today," I said, barely looking up from my drawings.
He nodded, "I get that. I haven't been able to sleep either. Would you like some company?"
"Sure."
He looked down at my writing materials, which I had to admit, were strange, but it was the best I had right now: the backside of our Lava Java receipt and one of Coda's sketchbook pencils.
"I guess I forgot you lost your notebook and everything in the fight,"
He was right. I did lose it all. My spells, my drawings, even the book that was my only ticket out of here, "I still can't believe I'm stuck here."
It was the thought I'd been trying to avoid for the past several hours of drawing, but I knew I couldn't get it to go away completely. Sure, I didn't really have anything to miss back in the real world, but then again, it was all I'd ever known. I was so sure that I'd get back to it one day too.
To be stuck here was a whole world of unknowns. I would have to finish school at Acropolis and get a job and figure out the cohort thing. Maybe I would even have to tell everyone I was from the real world. And what would happen then? Would I be arrested? Would they kill me?
Jax didn't say anything at first, just put his hand on my shoulder and looked down solemnly, "I know, I wish things were different too. But I don't think the Esoteric are going to reopen the Cover for anybody. Especially after the chaos that just happened. They're going to be extra on guard."
"So what do you think happens to me in the real world then?" I asked, "Will I be missing?"
Jax thought for a second, "If you really are here permanently, my guess is that the Authorworld will delete you. Make it be like you never existed. But that's just my guess. Nobody really knows because it's never happened before."
I shrugged, "That's not so bad. I didn't have a whole lot to leave behind anyway."
He smiled, "On the bright side, you get to make a whole new life for yourself here. You get to keep your powers and choose who you want to be."
"I guess it's nice to have a fresh start," I put my pencil down and smiled back at him, "And you know, you're not a terrible person to be stuck with."
"Even after all of the crap I put you all through?" He glanced down and rested his head in his palm.
"Even after all of that, I think you did what you had to do," I said, "When it came down to it, you just wanted to protect us. And your past isn't your fault."
"You have no idea how long I've needed to hear that for," He smiled and pulled me into a hug, which I gladly reciprocated.
We stayed there for a moment before he pulled back and pointed at the drawing I was doing on the back of the Lava Java receipt.
It certainly wasn't one of my best drawings, given the limited time and questionable materials, but it was one of the only things I could think to draw at the moment: a silhouette of eight people interlocking arms as they stood in front of a cityscape with a large swirling portal in front of it.
"Is it us?" he asked.
I just nodded.
"I don't think I've ever gotten to see one of your actual drawings before," he picked the drawing up and looked it over, "It's beautiful! How would you feel about working with Coda to make a new Legion logo?"
"That would be amazing!" I exclaimed, maybe a little too loudly for three in the morning.
He laughed, "I'll have to see what she thinks of that idea, but to be completely honest, I'm really, really glad you're staying."
"You know, weirdly enough, I am too," I said, before going back to work on the drawing. Jax watched me as I drew. At some point, I put my head down to rest my eyes, but apparently, sleep got the better of me and I drifted off.
When I opened them in the morning, Jax, Safiya, Quillion, and Harvey were making breakfast in the kitchen.
"Good morning sunshine," laughed Jax as he took two Pop-Tarts out of the toaster.
"Morning," I groaned and lifted my head. It was awfully uncomfortable from having been in that position all night, but I still got up and went back to mine and Safiya's room to see whose clothes I would borrow today.
Eventually, I chose one of Coda's tops and a pair of jeans from De. I hoped maybe since I was going to be here for a while, I could get around to doing some of my own shopping one of these days.
After getting dressed, I went back to the kitchen and made a bowl of cereal for myself.
"How's Acer doing?" I asked Harvey.
He shrugged, "I've never had to heal a bullet wound before, so it wasn't a very clean heal, but he'll be okay. There will definitely be some scarring though."
Quillion chimed in from the kitchen table, "That's good. I'm proud of all of you by the way. Harvey for those awesome healing powers, De and Acer for their bravery and skills, Jax for facing your past like you did, Safiya for making sure I didn't go crazy while being mind-controlled, and Ella, you really came into your own with those spells!"
I smiled proudly, "I guess you gotta do what you gotta do."
It felt good to know that Quillion was proud of me. He was notoriously hard to impress, and I felt like I needed to earn back his praise after what happened at the tournament.
Eventually, De, Acer, and Coda filed into the kitchen too and Quillions's phone began to ring.
He looked at the contact name and glanced up at the rest of us, "It's Tara."
"Put her on speaker!" said Coda eagerly.
"Hello?" Quillion answered.
"Hi! Is this Legion?" The voice on the other side responded.
"The one and only."
"This is Tara from Intrepid. I'm just calling about some follow-up to everything that happened yesterday. There's a few orders of business that need to be cleared up. First of all, legal proceedings need to be done with Veritas to tie everything up. The justice system would like to question the eight of you to gather information and ensure your story holds up. If we could do that this afternoon, that would be perfect."
I gulped and glanced around the room at all of the other scared faces, before Quillion hesitantly answered, "This afternoon is fine. We don't have anything else going on."
"Awesome. Just show up to the Capitol building around three and I'll tell them you're coming," there was a sound of rustling papers as Tara searched for her next bit of information, "On a brighter note, if all goes well this afternoon, the cohorts and the school would like to do something to honor you all, so be on the lookout for a call from another representative about that."
Quillion smiled into the phone, "That's awesome, we'll be there at three this afternoon."
They said their goodbyes and hung up.
The questioning wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it would be. They basically just asked me a few questions in front of a person who had lie detection powers and got me to recount what had happened. I was careful not to bring up anything about the past or trying to get home because then I would have to lie, and I would certainly be in trouble for that.
Eventually, the trial ruling went through and though we were found guilty of multiple vigilante charges, it was seen to be warranted with the incoming supervillain threat, so we were in the clear.
    Superpowered court seemed to go through a lot faster, as there were many people with powers that could tell what happened or when someone was lying. The addition of Jason Esoteric and Professor Helen's stories certainly helped as well.
    After a week or so of wrapping all of the legal proceedings up, we were able to return to school. People who never even looked at me before were now coming up and congratulating us, while those who we beat in DR simply gave us dirty looks in the halls. Our professors didn't treat us any different though, because we still had the same amount of homework as usual.
    Later that week, we got a very official-looking letter in the mail from Acropolis Academy. It was printed on fancy paper and sealed with red wax and everything. De, who had gone to the mailroom to get our mail for us, was still marveling at it when she arrived in the kitchen.
    "We got a fancy letter!" she yelled back into the hallway.
    People came into the kitchen and we gathered around as she opened it.
    She cleared her throat and read it aloud in a fake-posh accent that made everyone almost die laughing, "Dear members of the newly formed cohort Legion, given your successes and help that you were in dealing with the recent supervillain threat to Acropolis, we would like to invite you to an Honorary Hero Hall of Fame Induction at the Acropolis Academy HOF ballroom on the second of December," her accent slipped as a smile crept into her voice, "Be sure to wear your cohorts chosen formal wear and please return this to the Acropolis Academy office as soon as possible with your RSVP. Thank you for your service, Caesar Olympia, Acropolis Academy Dean."
    The whole kitchen bounced up and down like little kids as Coda exclaimed, "We're going to be in the Hero Hall of Fame!"
    De stopped jumping for a moment and looked puzzled at the letter, "I don't think we ever chose formal wear for Legion, did we?"
    Jax shook his head and shrugged. All eyes then fell to Coda.
    "Oh boy. Here we go again," Coda rolled her eyes and went back to her room to begin her designs.
    The next day at school, Quillion returned our information and we got headshots taken to go on the wall. More congratulations and dirty looks from the rest of the school ensued, but I didn't care. Everything was flying by so fast that I couldn't be bothered to notice.
    Finally, the day of the induction ceremony arrived and we all eagerly gathered around Coda's door again as we waited for her to show us the formal wear she'd designed. The three of us girls pushed around each other as Coda opened the door and shut it behind her, carrying a black garment bag.
    "Can we see, can we see!" exclaimed De, practically bouncing on her heels.
    "I'm working on it!" responded Coda as she opened the zipper of the bag.
    Coda was truly a master designer. The dress inside the bag looked like a mashup of all four of our dresses from the gala, with the off-the-shoulder bodice of Safiya's gown, my tulle skirt, De's beading, and Coda's killer accessories. The whole thing was a gorgeous deep purple and all of the tulle parts, including the sleeves and skirt overlay, were teal, giving the bottom of the dress a shifting blueish color. A silver headband also rested on the hanger on the dress, resembling a circlet.
    "Coda, it's beautiful!" I exclaimed.
    "This is amazing!" Safiya gushed, "I don't know how you do it."
    "All in a day's work!" Coda smiled and got down the two other garment bags from her room, "Now go get ready! We absolutely can't be late for this one."
    Safiya and I went back to our room and changed into the two marvelous gowns that Coda had constructed. As Safiya zipped up the back of my dress in the mirror, she smiled and laughed to herself.
    "What's so funny?" I asked, cocking my head in the mirror.
    "Just the way things come so full circle and change so much at the same time," She smiled and we switched so I could zip her dress for her, "A couple of weeks ago, we thought we were never going to be in the Hero Hall of Fame and we thought you were going to have to go back home. And Coda thought she was only going to have to design one fancy dress."
    I laughed, "I guess it is kind of funny. I still have some mixed feelings about staying, but I'm glad that if I have to stay, it's with you guys."
    I finished adjusting her dress and she turned around and gave me a hug, "Well we're very happy to have you."
    As I made my way over to the bed to sit down and put on some heels De was letting me borrow, I snickered to myself, "Is there anyone else you're going to be quite happy to see tonight?"
    "What?" Safiya's face turned bright red before she looked down and tucked a strand of curled black hair behind her ear, "I guess you noticed."
    "Yeah, it's kind of ridiculously obvious," I slipped on one heel.
    "I could say the same for you," Safiya retorted, a stupid grin on her face.
    "Hey, I didn't ask," I laughed and tossed the shoebox lid at her.
    She caught it and smiled, "Well I hope we both get our fairytale moment tonight."
    From outside the door, I heard De yell, "Anyone have any spare bobby pins? Mine are missing and Coda already used all of hers!"
    Safiya and I both laughed and went to lend her some of ours. De and Coda's room was still full of chaos. Garment bags, makeup brushes, and shoeboxes seemed to be discarded everywhere.
    "Has anybody seen an extra tie laying around?" asked Quillion, half-dressed as he searched through the piles of fabric.
    "No, but I'll help you out," offered Safiya.
    I made my way past Coda, who was cutting holes in the back of Acer's jacket for his wings and found De at her vanity, trying to do her hair.
    "M'lady," I presented her the jar of bobby pins with a bow.
    "Thank you, darling," she giggled.
    I was about to make my way out of the room when Coda called me over, "Elle, could I get a hand over here?"
    "Sure!" I held the fabric taught as Coda took a needle and hemmed the edges of the wing hole in Acer's shirt, "Man, they're still not back to normal?"   
"Nope," Acer shook his head, which warranted a dirty look from Coda, who was still sewing, "I can still shapeshift everything else, but the wings won't go away."
    "It might be normal," suggested Safiya from across the room, "Sometimes people's powers change as they mature and get older. You might be stuck with them now."
    "Well, they can come in handy at least," Acer turned around and patted one wing, resulting in another dirty look from Coda, "You're not so bad little buddies. I guess you can stick around."
We all laughed as Coda continued to hem his suit. 
    We didn't have to take the tram this time, as Acropolis Academy had sent a special car for us, which arrived at our door and whizzed us off to the Academy, where other students and members of other cohorts exited their own cars and made their way inside.
    I realized I'd never actually been inside the Hall of Fame before, but it was everything I'd expected. The ballroom itself was huge, as I assumed it's where Acropolis held most of its events when it didn't need to be at the museum. Above the ballroom was a lofted glass hallway which was lined with clusters of portraits and plaques stating the names and faces of famous hero cohorts. On the most recent area in the timeline was a large black sheet, presumably covering our portraits.
    Inside the ballroom, people talked and laughed about. It was mostly older members of other cohorts and teachers, but there were students sprinkled here and there too. Coda quickly leaned over to me, "Here's the brief rundown of who's who."
    She pointed around so fast I couldn't even keep up, "Red and gold is Aida. Olympia is blue and red. Meraki is pink and purple. Eunoia is blue and black. Sybill is teal and silver. Epiphany is yellow and orange. Intrepid is orange and black. That guy in the orange and black suit that all the reporters are talking to is Cyrus Intrepid, an Acropolis Academy alum and one of the greatest heroes ever. I think that should cover most people and cohorts, but if you don't know, just ask."
    "Got it," I shook my head and surveyed the busy room.
    There were a few moments of socializing. I mostly stuck to either Coda or Jax's side the whole night, and we chatted with everyone, including Tara Intrepid, who wore a gorgeous black figure-hugging gown and orange gloves. We were also able to catch Professor Helen, wearing the traditional flowing Sybill dress and a silver circlet that almost matched the one Coda had designed for Legion.
    Eventually, in a break in the conversations, I spoke up to Coda, "I really have to thank you for everything you've done for me while I'm here. From helping me prepare for school and DR to these fabulous dresses you designed, you've really been a great friend."
    Coda smiled back at me, "You know, I have to admit I was suspicious of you when you first fell through our roof, but I'm really glad you're not a villain."
    "Thanks?" I laughed.
    "Hey, it's a compliment. But seriously, I'm glad we were able to become friends."
    Suddenly, a voice announced over the loudspeaker, "The ceremony will begin shortly!"
    The eight of us Legion members were ushered up to the balcony and positioned in front of our spot on the Hero Hall of Fame.
    Someone, who I assumed was Dean Caesar Olympia, got everyone's attention and began his speech, "We're here tonight to celebrate the accomplishments of one of the new cohorts in our midst. As you all know, the annual Hero Tournament was canceled due to supervillain activity. However, even though these eight heroes didn't get a chance to finish their competition, they still earned their spot tonight as they stepped up to the challenge in the defeat of the rouge supervillain cohort Veritas. Our group today includes Quillion, Coda, Deanna, Safiya, Ella, Jax, Harvey, and Acer."
    We all looked at each other proudly.
    "Would anyone like to say a few words?" The dean turned back to us and asked.
    Harvey and Jax exchanged a knowing glance before pushing Quillion to the front of the group.
    "Go for it, dude," whispered Jax.
    Quillion's face lit up as he made his way to the podium in front of the Hall of Fame. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, collecting himself and thinking of what to say.
    After a few moments, he began, "Thank you Caesar for that introduction and the kind words. To everyone here tonight, thank you all for your continued support and strength throughout the craziness of the last few weeks. It takes a legion of calm, collected heroes to help justice happen. That being said, thank you especially to Professor Helen Sybill and the Intrepid and Olympia cohorts for being first responders to the situation and helping us defeat Veritas. Lastly, thank you to all the members of Legion. You guys are truly the best friends I could ask for and this wouldn't have been possible without each and every one of us coming together. Thank you."
    The audience broke into applause and Quillion came down from the podium, beaming at us. It was one of the first times I'd seen him genuinely smile in a while.
    The dean took the podium again and continued on, "These young men and women have represented the skill, courage, knowledge, and sense of duty required of all future heroes. We can be confident that Legion will go down in history as truly a cohort to remember. And with that, I would like to immortalize them and their cohort in the Hero Hall of Fame!"
    There was a burst of applause as our portraits were unveiled and we were each presented with a beautiful medal with the Academy logo on it. We took the applause and soon made our way down to the banquet room again, where everyone in the world wanted to talk to us and take pictures.
    Even as we were all surrounded by cameras, the man whom Jax had told me was Cyrus approached our group and said, "Well done, Legion" with a congratulatory nod. Jax almost passed out.
    After a while, the party dispersed and I got a chance to sit down at a table with Jax. He scooted over closer to me and rested his elbow on the table, "Hey, I realized something. I never got to ask you on an actual date."
    "Yeah, you kind of just kissed me and then didn't talk to me for a few days."
    "Hey, it was life or death," he laughed, "But now, Ella Legion, would you go on a date with me?"
    This was the moment I'd wanted practically since I'd first met Jax. I smiled like a maniac, "Absolutely."
    His face lit up, "Great! So, do you want to go?"
    "Now?" I asked.
    He stood up from the table, "Yeah, why not? We can play hooky from this. The rest of the night will probably be boring toasts and dancing anyway. I'd rather do something fun."
    "In that case, sure," I also stood up with a smile, "Where are you thinking?"
    "There's this awesome spot on the boardwalk by the museum. We can walk around and get ice cream or something."
    "In this?" I laughed and gestured to the large ball gown around my legs that made it sort of hard to do much of anything.
    "Maybe we'll go change first," he laughed and we made our way out of the ballroom stealthily, hoping no one would catch us. Luckily, no one did and we were able to catch a tram back to the apartment, where I changed into my comfort outfit: sneakers, jeans, and a green cropped hoodie I'd managed to find in Coda's closet.
    As I stepped out of my room, Jax offered his hand and I took it, still grinning.
    We took the tram back to the boardwalk and walked up and down, laughing and talking about all the crazy events of the week over mint chip ice cream. Eventually, we got to the end and sat down on the edge of the pier, legs dangling over the ocean.
    "Well, what do you think of your new home so far?" Jax looked at me with a twinkle in his blue eyes.
    "I love it," I smiled, "You really know how to plan a date."
Jax chuckled to himself, "I always say no plan is the best plan." He slid his arm around me and I gladly rested my head on his shoulder.
    In that moment, everything was green. The water, the plants, my hoodie, the boats drifting about the harbor, and the glint of the moonlight bringing out the emerald in Jax's eyes that I hadn't noticed before. And everything felt perfect.
    As I looked out over the water, glancing at Jax every once and a while, I had a realization. I had found my home, found my family. Everything I needed was right here. I was safe. I was needed. And I was something else too; maybe something I hadn't felt for a really long time. Loved.

//Aaand we're done! Thank you so much for all the love! It really means the world to me! I hoped you liked it and keep an eye out for a potential sequel (maybe, still haven't decided) Bye y'all!//