Starsick

001 to be a hero

CHAPTER I
to be a hero

There were no heroes on Calixta. There was never any need for them. Their civilization was young, small, and isolated, hidden behind nebulae and rogue asteroids. Heroes existed in stories; the legends Calix and Crisolix from the old planet, the Solarim, and the Suns, the Seas, and the Clouds that danced between them. Children learned from birth that the Suns were their eternal protectors. That 'their radiance surmounts all shadows.' Those stories were central to their culture, they were what kept them alive. Perhaps that idealism is what led to their downfall, maybe believing in folktales made them weak.

Joyce isn't sure whether she still believes in those stories or she clings to them for fear of losing them forever.

She thinks of the stories she grew up with, the heroes she's convinced watch her from afar. Costumed in the garnet and silver of the Calixtan flag, the emblem of the Twin Suns across her chest, bearing the name of a champion. Heck, she was even sporting a swollen lip and a constellation of bumps and bruises; she was a hero now. A hero who could barely control her powers, got thrown into the walls of stolen spaceships and fell on her butt more often than not. It was a strange feeling. None of it ever felt right.

Oh, what would those great heroes of lore think of her now, hiding out in the disgusting bathroom of a "luxury" space cruiser? Perching on the window ledge, she watches distant stars move in and out of view as the ship moves through deep space. It was gross and smelly in there, and the floor was sticky, and she could only make out the outline of things scattered around the room in the dim light. The less she thinks about the hobbies of the people who owned this thing, the better.

Take note, sometimes being a superhero is super boring, Joyce winces as the voice of her mentor reverberates in her skull. Her mental links were getting better, she'd managed to increase the range, but couldn't seem to figure out what to do about the feedback.

I'm sorry, is saving the lives of innocents boring to the great Green Lantern?

There's a brief moment of silence. I said what I said. There's a lesson about bureaucracy here.

Two and a half weeks ago, Joyce might've laughed at that, but they had already been out, somewhere, in space for almost three weeks. A few days of training on Oa had turned into let's go bust some space crime! Then busting space crime turned into dealing with weird intergalactic piracy laws and breaking into a stolen ship and just waiting there for a while. It's training, it'll make her a better hero, maybe even as great as the dang Green Lanterns themselves, but for right now, she would rather be in bed.

Any idea how much longer this is going to take? The longer she sat there, the weirder the place began to smell. She'd been there long enough to have braided her dark hair, then decided the braid wasn't good enough and redid it about fifteen times. Nausea from the artificial air and just her general surroundings were starting to set in.

Let me tell you a little thing about one of the most important qualities a superhero can have, patience —

You, Hal Jordan, want to talk to me about patience? Hilarious.

Okay, well, I don't know how much longer it's going to take, it's not like you've got places to be.

(Okay, cranky.)