Chapter 22 On That Day

(Fiona)

We were back in Chicago. I was both relieved and disappointed at the same time. Familiar territory was nice, but I found that I really liked traveling, and was excited to go on to New York.

After we arrived, we decided to scout out some good places for a new base. Raven suggested a house down the street from where we used to live. I wanted to be closer to the city, to save travel time. Dane just told us to pick a spot, and wherever it was, he'd buy it. Duncan looked amused by our squabbling.

Kerata wanted to be somewhere with easy access to roads, and everyone agreed that we wanted it to be a bit nicer in the furnishing department.

I was circling my favorite perch, the top of the Sears tower, when an idea suddenly struck me. Excited, I flew down to our favorite bagel shop, and changed in the back, then ran inside and skidded to a stop in front of my friends. "Dane, how much money do you have on that thing, exactly?"

He frowned. "Well, it changes every day, but I'd say it's usually in the neighborhood of several billion."

Every single mouth at the table dropped open. I wrinkled my nose. "Gross guys! You realize you all still have food in there, right?" Everyone's mouths snapped shut at the same time, and more than one person winced.

I blinked several times at Dane. "Billion. with a 'B'?"

"Yep. With a 'B'."

A grin slowly spread across my face. "Well, then, how would you all like to live in..."

~~~

Several hours, and many phone calls later, it was all arranged, to the delight of everyone involved. Well, nearly everyone.

Finally, we set out for New York.

And let me tell you, flying over Pennsylvania is just as boring as driving over it. One loooooong, straight stretch of highway beneath me, allll the way from one side of the state to the other.

I nearly fell asleep flying. Which had never happened to me before. Dane had to slap my neck a couple times to wake me up. I think I scared him when I stopped flapping...

After several hours, and many deer sightings later, we finally reached our destination.

My first impression of New York city was of color. Lots and lots and lots of color, spread over every surface, draping every corner, reflecting off of every window, the city looked like a vibrant jungle. Then the first wave of sound hit me, and I nearly tumbled out of the air. During the last few days, I had noticed that every city we had been to had it's own unique sound. Chicago's sounded like business. Like everyone had a purpose, a place they were going. Los Angeles sounded like lots and lots of people, just generally talking and shouting and making noise, with the ocean as a constant background. New York.... New York sounded as much like a jungle as it looked. It sounded meaner than Chicago, noisier than LA, and had an overall tone of EVERYTHING. As if one of every kind of person in the world had been packed into a tiny tin box. Which pretty much describes New York.

New York sounded like a coin. It sounded like the entire city was striving towards something. Like every person had something they wanted to do. Half the city was part of a huge struggle, a losing battle, to make it to a goal. The other half was made up of those who had succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. And in between, there was a constant current of those who went from one side to the other in the blink of an eye. New York was a giant game of Chance, where anything was possible, but not as much was probable.

The ground throbbed with the beat of music and the sound of construction and the rumble of wheels and the pounding of millions upon millions of feet. The air hummed with electricity, thousands upon thousands upon millions upon billions of volts of electricity used up every second. The air thrummed with it. The wind brought a million scents to my nostrils, everything from hotdogs to expensive cologne, to plastic, to rubber, to metal. Sweat and grime and grease and dust pervaded the air, the toil of those who turned the wheels that made the cogs of the city grind on. The general, overall sense was one of chaos. Nobody who lived there could see the big picture, because the picture in front of them was so bright and dazzling and confusing, that they were completely blinded.

Then, suddenly, I hit a spot of calm.

Right in the center of the city, there was a hole.

A huge square, gray-tiled and fountained, lay like a shadow in the middle of the color. An afterimage. A monument.

I knew exactly what it was.

Ignoring Dane's questions, I soared down and landed gently in front of the long, square outline, ignoring the screams and startled cries around me. Hundreds of people lined the square, and flowers littered the ground like confetti. The fountain itself was a deep hole, a pit where the foundations of two of the greatest structures in the world once stood. The twin towers.

For a moment, I simply stood, staring at the long, black wall that lined the fountain. Carved in it, in bone-white letters, were the names of every single person who had died here, on the very ground on which we stood.

Images raced through my mind. Smoke. Fire. A groan that shook the foundations of the earth itself. The entire city, united under a banner of smoke and ash and a million pieces of fluttering paper, like the spirits of the dead, and those yet to die.

I could feel everything, see everything that had happened. The memories were not my own. It was like I was tapping into the very earth of the place, digging up all the horrors and the pain and the blood and the death. Without even thinking about what I was doing, I lifted my head, towering high over the gray, silent memory of what once had been, and let out a long, low, keen, that shook my bones and vibrated the ground around me. It was as if all the souls of the lost were voicing their disquiet, their rage and pain and despair, through me. I lifted my wings, and on my back, Dane bowed his head, as we each gave our tribute to the many souls who had died, and to those who had died to save others, on the very place.

Every person in the square bent their heads, bowed down, some even knelt. Tears ran freely. I could tell that at once, everyone in the gray memorial was feeling what I felt. Slowly, I let the keen die away, becoming lower and lower, until it was just a subtle vibration in the ground.

For a moment, everything was silent. The noise of the city seemed muted here, muffled by the sadness and anger that pervaded the air. My eyes snapped open. They want vengeance.

My head shot forward and I let loose a pillar of flame. It rippled across the surface of the water, creating a huge cloud of steam, an echo of the billowing clouds of smoke that had once risen from this spot.

I snapped my wings back, stretching them to their fullest extent. Cutting off the stream of fire, I roared to the air, "Terrorists! Murderers! Traitors to your race! You thought to cow us, to bring us low! In your arrogance, your insanity, you thought that you would break us by destroying our greatest monuments to progress! Well..." I lowered my head, my voice becoming smooth, dangerous, with a hint of a snarl. The crest on my neck rattled and rose. "Well, you will see. The wrath of a country will be on your heads. You haven't broken us. No! You have done the opposite. You have united us in our hatred for you, and all you stand for. You would build your houses our of our bones and laugh! Well, our bones will become your tomb, your cage. You will never win this war that you have started. Not so long as we are united!"

A cheer went up from the surrounding crowd. And a crowd it had become, as more and more people scrambled to catch a glimpse of me, to hear what I said. The crowd's response was thunderous, it shook the ground and made the air tremble. Those who had been weeping now bared their teeth in fierce smiles, their eyes intense.

I gave one final roar, and took off over their heads, rising up above the buildings. I looked down, and I saw people hugging and crying, people greeting total strangers as if they were friends, saw others striding off purposefully, as if they had made a decision and were going to act on it. I saw a small group of people join hands and begin swaying back and forth, singing. Soon, more and more people joined in, until the song rose up like a thunderous tide, and everyone in the city stopped to listen.

Ohhhh say, can you see?

By the dawn's early light!

What so proudly we hail,

at the twilight's last gleaming!

Whose broad stripes and bright stars,

through the perilous fight,

o'er the ramparts we watch,

were so gallantly streaming!

And the Rocket's red glare!

The bombs bursting in air!

Gave proof through the night,

that our flag was still there!

Oh, say, does that star-spangled

banner yet wave?

O'er the land of the free!

And the home of the brave!

~~~~~~~~~~

This chapter is dedicated to the event of 9/11, when for a single day, the hearts and minds of every American, great and small, was, for once, United.

And to my grandmother, who died twenty-four hours before the event.

This chapter was written on 9/11/14