Walking past the building, Pinn closed his eyes and sighed through his nose loudly. Therapy was already stupid, but super therapy was super stupid. He couldn’t imagine a world in which it made sense that someone that studied regular human psychology could understand the world of someone that suddenly manifested incredible power.

  Spinning back around, he walked past the door again, hating himself for every delay he created. By the standards of his appointment, he was still a few minutes early, but he knew that he would have to psyche himself up to go inside. He walked by the door again. It chimed suddenly, opening from the inside.

  “Pinn?”

  “Yeah,” Pinn sighed.

  “Hello, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Doctor Mayfield. You don’t have to walk out here waiting for the appointment. You’re free to come sit inside, if you like.”

  It was worse than Pinn thought. His therapist was younger than him, he couldn’t even rely on the experience of life. Flat glasses on his face, he looked to be twenty-something at the oldest. His hair was gelled up into a tall, rolling wave and his shirt looked like it could have used another pass under the iron. Plus, “doctor” already felt like a stretch. Not all therapists were psychologists, and plain therapists weren’t doctors.

  “Okay. I mean, sure,” Pinn said, making his way inside and cringing to himself.

  The office was simple, a single-man operation who had a hard time matching the decor all together. The brown recliner sat next to the green and white striped couch that sat under an abstract painting of pastel colors. The office ahead of the waiting area looked like an interrogation room with its small size. The magazines on the coffee table were years outdated, possibly copies that Mayfield dug out of a family attic before tossing into his office.

  Mayfield went directly to the back of the area and opened the door to the office inside. At least that looked like the chairs and art matched in aesthetic. The furniture matched and the walls were lined with his degrees.

  “You want to get started, or do you have last second things to manage before your appointment?”

  Sighing, Pinn shrugged and shook his head. They entered the room where Pinn sat upright on a long couch and Mayfield took a nearby rolling chair.

  He placed a notebook on top of a laptop. “Some of my clients prefer physical paper to a digital device when I take notes, so that they know I’m not getting distracted. Do you have a preference, Pinn?”

  Shaking his head, Pinn already felt like he was being patronized despite him being perfectly reasonable. Maybe it was the term “client” instead of “patient.” Or maybe it was the use of his name so often.

  Mayfield placed the notebook aside and popped open the laptop. “I like to allow my clients to guide the discussion, especially for the first appointment. Is there anything in particular you’d like to go over?”

  “I thought I already filled out a topic online.”

  “You’re allowed to change your mind, Pinn.”

  “Can you stop that?” Pinn sighed.

  Mayfield lowered his laptop, giving Pinn full attention. “Stop what?”

  “Saying my name after every sentence, my friends don’t even say it that often.”

  “Of course. How often do your friends use it?”

  Pinn frowned slightly. Half his friends didn’t know his name. But that was definitely not a topic he wanted to go over in therapy.

  “It’s fine if you don’t want to answer the question, but this only works if we have something to talk about. As a reminder, everything we speak about will remain confidential.”

  “All right.” Averting his eyes, Pinn ran his hands over the velvet texture of the couch. Swallowing, he came to the conclusion that tearing the bandage would be a lot easier than drawing it out. “I’m Lightcrown. Or, I was, anyway.”

  When he didn’t hear a response, Pinn looked up and was satisfied to see a genuine look of shock on Mayfield’s face.

  Closing the laptop entirely, Mayfield nodded to him. “Can you show me?”

  Nodding, Pinn summoned the power for the flame on his head. Or, he tried to. It didn’t appear. Blinking, Pinn tried again, never having had an issue with it before. Not even a spark. Looking down at his hands, he tried to summon lightning, flame, wind, even just some Strength to pick up the couch one-handed.

  Nothing.

  “The flame on the head will be plenty,” Mayfield said patiently, “But really, I’m just looking for any evidence. As far as I understand, Lightcrown is dead. And has been for years.”

  Like a tornado in his head, Pinn torpedoed through the Rolodex of powers in his arsenal, activating everything at once. He hadn’t tried to use this much power since the Silent Scream, but still he sat silently in place. His leg bobbed restlessly, and he drove his nails into his knees, unable to figure out what happened. He hadn’t tried using his power since the wedding. Had something gone wrong since then? Hit by some Awakened power that turned off his own?

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Eyes flitting up to Mayfield, he narrowed his focus on him. “Are you Awakened?”

  “No, power never found itself my way. Is there a reason you’re not proving you’re Lightcrown.” Mayfield pulled his laptop back open.

  “I can’t. Something’s blocking my powers. This has never happened before.”

  Mayfield made a note and Pinn winced. Delusional? Liar? What kind of impression had he made?

  “Let’s chalk it up to performance anxiety,” Mayfield suggested, looking up from his screen.

  “But it’s never happened before!” Pinn continued to try to flick the switch in his brain to throw on the fire.

  “Is this something that distresses you?”

  “Of course! Why wouldn’t it?”

  “I’m just trying to get an understanding.” Mayfield took another note. “The reason people believe Lightcrown has been dead for years is that he hasn’t been around since the tragedy.”

  “Yeah, but…” Pinn trailed curiously.

  Lack of power meant the lack of control was gone. There were a lot of implications behind his Awakening block. Floating mentally, he could feel himself zoning out from the session as he explored this new, powerless sensation.

  All his concerns about another side-effect going off were gone if all powers were gone at once. He could finally just live, go about his life and not be concerned about the consequences of his own abilities. And he wouldn’t have the guilt of having the power to help, but refusing to do so.

  No power, no responsibility.

  Tapping at the keyboard brought Pinn back to the therapy session, Mayfield taking quick notes. Blinking to himself, Pinn realized that maybe therapy wasn’t such a waste of time after all. If he ruled out the wedding, then this session took his powers away from him. He could live freely, only behind the walls of this office.

  “What was the question again?” Pinn asked.

  “We were hovering around what kind of discussion you wanted to have.”

  “Do you normally have sessions with Awakened patients?”

  Mayfield smiled, lowering his screen. “I’m not at liberty to discuss other clients with you or anyone.”

  “Oh right. Are you a doctor?”

  “We really should be focusing this appointment on you.”

  “I’m trying to make an assessment of whether you’re someone worth coming back to for another appointment. You a therapist or a doctor?”

  “They’re not mutually exclusive,” Mayfield said, a hint of offense in his voice.

  That was all Pinn needed to hear. Mayfield wasn’t actually a doctor. Confidently, he lounged back in his seat, suddenly feeling in control of the conversation.

  “You just pretend to be a doctor?”

  “I never claimed to be one! I only ever market myself as a licensed therapist! Which I am!”

  Pinn squinted at him. “You introduced yourself as ‘Doctor’ Mayfield.”

  “I have a PhD,” Mayfield murmured.

  “Oh, you are a doctor. Sorry.” Pinn lowered his head sincerely in shame, then scanned the walls behind Mayfield. He could feel Mayfield go red when his eyes lingered on one degree. “Doctor in history?”

  “I don’t see how this is relevant.”

  “Was therapy a fall back when history didn’t work out?”

  “No! Pinn. You’re not taking this seriously. It feels like you’re doing everything you can to avoid talking about yourself, and it started when you conveniently couldn’t produce proof of being Awakened.”

  Pinn pursed his lips, impressed. Mayfield got a reasonable assessment of him in very little time.

  “Yeah, I think I’m good. I got what I wanted out of this. I’m just assessing you for the future.”

  “You’re assessing me?” Mayfield asked flatly, taking a loud note behind his keyboard.

  Pinn said nothing, watching Mayfield closely. Scrutinizing his typing, he questioned his capabilities as a therapist. If he didn’t needle the doctor so much, he might run a decent session, but Pinn was feeling in a playful mood. If he was real with himself, he was a bit rude, too. The lack of powers fueled him with glee and he could hardly help himself.

  Mayfield sat quietly, searching Pinn’s eyes for more to draw out. Pinn smiled back pleasantly. Tapping his knees lightly, Pinn sputtered.

  “Are we done?”

  “If you’d like to be.” Mayfield opened a palm toward the door. “But I’m here if you have more to discuss. I’m not trying to get rid of you, even if you’re treating this like a game.”

  Pinn stood, then hesitated. “Can I ask you a question and you’ll be honest with me?”

  Mayfield nodded, looking serious as Pinn’s tone changed.

  “You don’t actually believe I’m Lightcrown, do you?” Pinn asked.

  Mayfield hesitated, glancing at his notes, then back to Pinn. “No, I don’t. Perhaps Awakened, but not Lightcrown.”

  “Okay. I mean, good. Thank you, I appreciate it,” Pinn said, feeling even more delighted.

  “I’m glad you got something out of this.”

  “I did. In fact… I’m surprised to admit that therapy actually worked.”

  Mayfield frowned slightly. “This isn’t usually a one-session kind of thing.”

  With a respectful nod, Pinn made his way out of the office without another word. Exiting the building and returning to the sidewalk, he increased his pace to a brisk walk. Quickly making his way a block down the road, Pinn urgently wanted to test his theory.

  Opening a palm, he focused until a spark of electricity jumped between each of his fingers, dissipating in his palm as a sharp wind blew by him as a side effect. Nodding to himself, Pinn confirmed that Doctor Mayfield was Awakened. He could turn off other people’s powers. Or maybe it was an unintentional block in his vicinity. The doctor must have only had a few sessions so far in his career to not have figured that out, yet. Or maybe the kind of people who went to super therapy were ashamed of their powers. Kind of like him.

  Looking up and making his way to the homeless shelter, Pinn had a surprised smile on his face. The therapy session, even if a little unintentionally, proved both insightful and beneficial.

  He finally had a goal. No one needed him. There were plenty of Awakened people and groups like HUE to save the city. The city believed Lightcrown to be retired. The brief experience of powerlessness convinced him that he would be content to be free of all of them.

  Finally, he could hang up the flame and let the world operate at its pleasure.

  He just needed to find a way to turn off his powers permanently.