Breathe in the Embers

Part 26

Azimuth Academy, even decades after its inception, was still not a building that reflected the awe it’s reputation inspired.

Martin knew the whole story. It had been the first publicly funded school for Special Powered Individuals, and there had been little money. A lot of those working here had been taking very low salaries, especially for their level of renown, because of their personal interest in seeing it succeed. Compared to the private academies opened at the same time, such as their rival, Sunspire Academy, it was a hole in the wall.

It still was. Or at least, there were still holes in its walls.

Azimuth had been founded in an old insane asylum, which always struck Martin as delightfully indelicate, considering that those with powers were facing much of the same stigmatization that the insane once did. Still, it was large, sturdy, secure, and most importantly at the time, cheap. So a very special school sprouted in a very mundane place, and grew to have one of the most stellar reputations in the SPI world due to their first several graduating classes. A full year hadn’t even passed before a dozen of the students were famous for their sometimes questionable heroics. They had been kids though, and as they aged, the eyes of the world already upon them, even the media had to admit they became real heroes.

With a heroine such as Phoenix as the principal, Calibur himself on the staff along with Bastion and Aviana, it was little surprise the school had prospered. At least to Martin. Many others were astonished by the success, for they had been the most vocal doubters. Now there was no room to doubt the effectiveness of this process.

The results spoke for themselves.

“Martin are you alright? You’ve been in this kind of stupor for like, several minutes now.”

Martin sighed, turning his eyes from the school as they approached it, his thoughts returning to the mission at hand. “Yeah, I’m fine, just a lot of thoughts and feelings attached to this place for me.”

“I thought you hadn’t been here before?”

Martin sighed, then smiled. “I never thought I’d get here at all.”

The campus on the outskirts of the Trenton suburbs was not a sprawling one. They hadn’t expanded beyond the original building complex, and seemed to have done precious little to update the place. There were obvious patches in the concrete and plaster, the bars had been removed from windows, but overall the school still had the creepy, probably haunted, air of a decrepit asylum. Martin thought it added to the charm and gravity of such an institution, but he knew that many were baffled by the design aesthetic. Or rather, the lack of one.

As they approached, it became clear that the damage to the exterior walls had not been neglected intentionally. It was just very recent damage. The old patches that pockmarked the concrete walls spoke volumes of the reason for the whole rundown appearance.

It must be hard to maintain a pretty building when the students kept accidentally, or maybe intentionally, knocking parts of it down.

“Ah, hello!” a chipper voice called as they approached the doors of the main building. A man stood there who looked vaguely familiar. He was in shape in a track runner kind of way, but looked like he might wander off after any stray, passing butterfly. Or something shiny. “You must be Margaret and Martin! Welcome to Azimuth. My name is Comet, I’m the gym coach, and I’m supposed to be giving you your tour today!”

Ah, Comet. That’s why he looked so familiar, or his costume did anyway. Comet was something of a joke in the super hero community, not because he was useless, he actually did pretty well, but because he had a rather unfortunate power. He was able to leap incredibly high… and had absolutely no ability to survive returning to Earth. Hence, his name.

They said he broke several bones in each leg the day he discovered his power.

Martin grinned. “I’m sure the tour will prove to be most interesting.”

Especially now.