A Taste For Chicken

Halcyon - Part Six

Miss Toni let out a soft laugh, unsure of where to begin. She reached behind her and retrieved a tiny waterproof box from her little hideaway. Her frail, wrinkled fingers fumbled with the clasps, prompting Hawks to step in and open it for her. Grateful, she flashed him a warm smile before gently placing the box into his waiting hands.

The box contained a variety of tiny objects. Among them, there was a fragment of a lace dress, a few wedding pictures, and a precious wedding ring that held memories of her own past. The remaining contents of the box consisted of dried flowers, small trinkets, and photographs capturing the different stages of Halcyon's childhood. Hawks knelt down, slowly looking through the small tokens.

"The first time I saw her," Toni began, "Was when she was around four years old. She was here all alone."

"Here as in... This side of town?" Kiwi asked, taking a seat beside Toni and reaching into the box. Kiwi looked at a small rusted toy car, a sad smile on her face.

"Yes, here." Toni nodded, "All by herself, the poor little thing was a mess. Dirty hair and a filthy little dress, nice quality dress at that. She was terrified, hiding out inside of an old car that had burned out on the side of the road."

Toni smiled a little, "I couldn't get her to come anywhere near me at first. I tried my best, but she'd clearly been treated roughly by other adults. Her hunger over powered her fear eventually. She came to me so hungry she was shaking, nearly a week later."

Hawks' brows furrowed as he looked at the photos, in not a single one was Halcyon smiling as a child. It squeezed at his heart, that feeling of being completely abandoned something he knew all too well.

"She'd been dumped here by her parents." Toni continued, "From what she told me back then, she wasn't good enough for them. I think they were aiming for one of those designer quirk babies, you know? One with the perfect blend of their own quirks? But she didn't manifest a quirk of their liking, and so they dumped her here."

"Disgusting." Owl hissed, lifting his sunglasses as he leaned against the wall. He glanced at his son for a moment, then shook his head, "How a parent could even consider something so barbaric is beyond me."

"How did her quirk manifest at first?" Hawks asked.

"She was able only to turn her arms into fire." Toni chuckled, "No wings, no talons. Not the Phoenix you know at all. But, it wasn't long before she was able to fully transform."

"So Phoenix was the first one?" Hawks asked, "When did she get the others?"

"It's hard to say." Toni sighed, "See, she never really felt safe staying with me permanently. She would disappear for weeks at a time. We worked together around here to watch out for her, but I think it was too hard for her to get attached when the people who'd loved her so easily threw her away."

"When she was around ten, Kingfisher began to train her." Toni explained, "That's when she really was coming into her own with her abilities. Kingfisher was very good to her and once she started to do her hero thing on her own he supported her."

"So, then I have to ask." Hawks said, "Why not send her to UA or something? Or any of the other hero schools?"

"Well, as I'm sure you know already. Her records are completely scrubbed." Toni explained, "Everything about her birth is a mystery. She doesn't even know what her birth name was anymore nor what her parents even looked like." Toni sighed before she continued, "And as advanced as we are, it's still extremely difficult for those without means to establish anything. Without a home address or income, I couldn't legally adopt her. A good number of us also tried to gather funds to get her squared away, but it just wasn't enough. The city tried to have her taken into foster care, but after two years she'd run away from that home and come right back to us."