“Are you putting… ninja turtle sheets on your bed?”


    Hearing that curious question, Jones pivoted from her work of doing exactly that and faced the girl who was to be her roommate here in the Heretic school of Crossroads. What she was doing here at all would have been a much more appropriate question than anything to do with her choice of linens. But, of course, the other girl didn''t know that. Nor did she know that the short black hair and slightly tanner skin that Jones was presenting herself with was quite a bit different from her normal appearance.


    “Hi!” she chirped. “Yup, the Turtles are the best. You’re Aylen, right?” Of course she was, Jones had gone through a lot of effort to make sure she ended up being assigned to a room with the intriguing girl. She was part-Reaper, part… something else. It was enough, even at a glance, to make Jones want to know more. Not that she would ask the girl anything directly about herself just yet. Whatever Aylen was doing (and she was pretty sure it had a lot to do with the imprisoned Reaper the Heretics called their Edge), it was her story. Jones wasn''t going to barge in on that and take over. If Aylen needed help later, that was a different thing altogether. But for the moment, Jones was content to wait and see what happened.


    Besides, she had her own mission to keep track of.


    “Yeah,” came the confirmation as the other girl moved to sit on her own bed. “This place is pretty impressive. Wait, I don''t remember. Are you, uhh, new to all this? What did they call them… Bystander-kin?”


    With a straight face, Jones cheerfully replied, “Yup, that’s me. Totally clueless. Didn''t know a thing about any of this until a few months ago. I was just going around living my completely ordinary, boring life and boom. Hogwarts letter down the chimney. Welcome to monster hunting school. Hope you like getting super powers and living on a tropical island.”


    Aylen gave a faint smile at that, nodding once. “Yeah… I was just as clueless about all this as you. Like I said, this place is impressive.” She gazed around the room as though taking it in before focusing on Jones once more. “How did your vision thing go, back in the lighthouse?” Immediately after asking, she amended, “Err, sorry if that’s rude.”


    How had the vision gone? Mostly it had amounted to Jones and the imprisoned Reaper having a conversation about what had brought her to the school, and what he himself was doing. The idea that he was continually ignoring the call to take his powers back for the catastrophic consequences it would have was rather concerning. On top of the large amount of concern she already had over the very concept of putting herself on an island with a bunch of people who had already imprisoned one Reaper and turned him into… that. If it turned out that Aylen wasn’t here to do something about that, Jones was going to have to, eventually. But it would keep for the moment.


    Even as those thoughts passed through her mind, she answered with a simple, “Oh, you know. I saw some old ancestor of mine having a fight with a couple Rakshasa during World War Two.”


    “Wow,” Aylen noted. “That sounds… violent. I--oh, uh, sorry, your name was… Artemis?”


    “Artemisia, actually,” the person who had never in her life been referred to as such before creating the false identity that had brought her to this school replied. “My parents named me after the Renaissance artist, Artemisia Gentileschi. But my last name’s Jones. Most people just call me that. It’s easier.”


    “Named after a renaissance painter, huh?” Aylen glanced to the colorful sheets on the other bed. “I guess that''s why you''re into Ninja Turtles. You guys have something in common.”


    Beaming, Jones replied, “Well, if I stick around here long enough, maybe I''ll have other things in common with them.


    “After all, I was promised lessons on how to kick bad guy butt, and I''d hate to have to ask these people for a refund.”


    ******


    She chose a scythe for her weapon, of course. How could she not? Even if it wasn''t her scythe, it was close enough. She just wouldn''t feel like herself otherwise. And if she was going to sit around this murder school for an entire year, or even longer depending on how long her mission took, she needed to keep touch with what made her who she was. Her uniqueness, her individuality and choices? Those mattered to Jones an awful lot after her time as part of the Reaper collective. She wasn''t going to let herself lose them.


    And now, with that scythe, she was meant to fight alongside Aylen to kill… a couple small Peridles. Although the term fighting was a bit of an exaggeration. The Peridles would mostly just stand there and wait to be killed so their regeneration could be harvested. The very first power for most of these students.


    “You think it’s gross?” Aylen asked, as the two of them stood together, watching the poodle-sized bugs.


    “I think it’s sad, mostly,” Jones replied, head tilting while she continued to examine the poor creature. “Sure, if a lot of these guys get together, they''re supposed to be able to do real damage or whatever. But with just a couple like this? They’re kinda pathetic. I mean, they’re not really a threat right now.”


    Aylen seemed to consider that for a moment before nodding. “Yeah, they can’t hurt anyone when they’re just like this. But I guess you should think of it in a science sort of way.”


    “Science sort of way?” Jones was intrigued. She had no idea where the girl was going with that.


    “Sure,” came the response. “You know, like how scientists have to do experiments with animals, mostly mice and that sort of thing, to develop things that can save a lot of human lives. It sucks and it’s gross in a lot of ways. But there’s been a lot of good that came out of that sort of testing too. A lot of people would’ve been dead without it. And… in this case, these Peridles don’t really have any individual feeling or thought. By… killing them, we get some of their power. We get their healing. So we can survive longer to help a lot more people.”


    She grimaced then. “That sounds like terrible justification, right?”


    “Better than some others I’ve heard,” Jones answered truthfully. Making a show of taking a breath, she walked up to the Peridles and drew the small handle (just slightly larger than her hand itself) from her belt. As she did so, the weapon expanded into her full-sized scythe. “Okay, so umm… we just… stab it?” Given they were undoubtedly being watched, she had to make it look as though she was squeamish about the whole thing. These Heretics might have been clueless and easily fooled in a lot of ways, but she had to assume that some supposedly completely normal Bystander-raised girl gleefully stabbing the Peridles without any hesitation would have made even them have a few questions.


    Moving up to join her in looking down at the helpless, if pretty large, bugs, Aylen murmured, “Yeah. Uh, hey Sovereign? Could you uhh…” Turning toward the cyberform bird, who had been perched on a nearby wall decoration while staring at the two of them, the girl gestured with her arm. “Join? Link. Merge.” A very slight flush tinted her face as she quietly admitted, “I haven’t really gotten the hang of th--”


    In mid-sentence, Sovereign flew straight at the girl. He landed smoothly on her outstretched arm before transforming himself into the full suit of armor that encompassed her body.


    “See that?” Jones pointed with her scythe. “That’s radical. So uhh, about who goes first. You wanna… paper rock scissors?”


    They did so, with Aylen winning. Stepping back, Jones watched as the girl essentially awkwardly stomped on the bug a few times. Despite that outward awkwardness, however, she noticed that the first stomp was clearly carefully calculated to hit the weak point of the creature’s shell just where it connected to its head. The thing was killed instantly without even having a chance to react or notice what was happening.


    Yes, this Aylen had killed before. She knew exactly what she was doing. And she was hiding that fact just as much as Jones was. Very interesting indeed. It was even more obvious than it had already been that Aylen was here on a mission. And Jones was still convinced that it had to do with the imprisoned Reaper. Given some more time, she would gently feel the girl out and try to gain her confidence. But she didn''t want to do so simply by revealing what she was. She wanted the girl to trust her for who she was first, which would obviously take some doing.


    Playing up her own hesitation when it was her turn, Jones very tentatively stabbed at the bug with her scythe a couple times while it squealed. As it died, she had to stop herself from absorbing its death energy. As tasty as it smelled, she was fairly certain that Aylen would have noticed something like that.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Studiously pretending she didn’t notice the other girl taking in the death energy herself, Jones turned to the door and waved. “Hey, we’re done! Someone else’s turn.”


    On their way out, they passed the next two coming in. Their teammates, Shiori and Koren. Seeing them, Jones offered a grimace and a wave. “Good luck, guys. They’re squishy but totally gross.”


    In the doorway, she looked back that way, eyes narrowing just a little. Seeing them had reminded her that she was here for a purpose. Yes, her mission. The entire reason she had come to this school. Interesting as this place was, she couldn''t forget that. Now that she had settled in and made sure no one suspected anything of her, she had to get to work.


    It was going to be a very interesting school year.


    *******


    “Hey there, Shiori!” Chirping those words as she dropped onto the couch in the rec room later that evening, Jones gestured to the controller in the other girl’s hands. “Mind if I play with you?”


    Shiori, who had been staring listlessly at the screen without making any motion to control the character for the past several minutes, jolted in surprise. She had been so lost in her own thoughts, it was doubtful she even remembered where she was for a moment. “Huh? What-oh, uh… umm… I mean, yes. I mean you can play without me.” Mumbling those words, she pushed herself up and added something about being tired before she started to leave the room, shuffling along almost zombie-like. Her focus had clearly gone back to the thing she had been obsessing over.


    Watching her, Jones considered before popping to her feet. Seeing the girl like that made her frown. Ninja Turtles didn’t let each other feel as lost and broken as Shiori obviously did. It was time to do something about that.


    So, Jones strode that way purposefully, putting an arm around Shiori’s shoulders. “Hey, I’ve gotta show you something. Trust me, it’s super-radical.” Before the other girl could protest or pull away, she guided her into the hallway and out toward the exit door before heading out away from the main set of buildings to a secluded area of the grounds.


    “Where’re we going?” Shiori hesitantly asked. She was very clearly trying to hold herself together, fighting back the tears that she had been about to release while walking off on her own before she had been commandeered.


    “Right over here,” Jones assured her. With half a dozen different gifts, she checked for anyone or anything monitoring them. Almost there… two more steps… there. They were out of sight of any active surveillance. In that moment, she turned to the other girl and quietly said, “This is gonna freak you out, but it’s okay.”


    With that, she snapped her fingers, transporting both of them off of the island and into a completely different location. It was a small, cozy room with a bed in the corner and walls covered by various pop culture posters, including a not-insubstantial amount of TMNT pictures and toys up on shelves.


    Shiori, of course, jolted in surprise and slammed into a nearby dresser. Her eyes were wild as she jerked her gaze around. “Wha--what the hell? What--where--hey!”


    Holding up both hands, Jones quickly apologized. “I''m sorry, I''m sorry. I couldn''t warn you ahead of time. That wasn''t cool. But I''m not going to hurt you, Shiori. I promise. I’m here to help you. That’s why I went to Crossroads to start with. You’re the whole reason I’m there. I mean… your sister is.”


    That made Shiori freeze, her eyes widening even more as she stared that way. Mouth opening and shutting a couple times, she managed a weak, “I… I don’t have a sister. I don''t know what you''re talkin about. You--you’ve got the wrong person. What do you mean I''m the reason you went to the school? What are you talking ab--what are you? Who are you?”


    “I’m Jones,” the girl flatly assured her. “Just like I said. Well, okay, not just like I said. There’s a few other things I left out. We’ll get to that. First, it''s like I said, I''m not here to hurt you. Your sister…” Pausing, she considered her words. “Let me guess, when you went through the Reaper vision, you saw what… you saw what your mother really is.”


    Reeling back as though she had been struck, Shiori opened and shut her mouth a couple times, a strained noise escaping her. “Wh-what? N-no, you don’t know what you’re--I mean you’ve got the wrong… I mean…” She looked around quickly, like a cornered animal.


    “Shiori,” Jones interrupted. “Look.” With that, she released the shapeshifting power she had used to make herself look more like an ordinary human. Immediately, her hair extended out to its full length, shifting from black to a very bright pink with the black being only at the tips. Her skin turned quite pale, and her hazel eyes went red.


    Shiori half-fell against the wall in her rush to get away, eyes bulging. She pulled her disc-like weapons out with a blurted, “Get away from me!”


    “Right, that was dumb.” Frowning at herself, Jones shook her head. “Probably should’ve warned you ahead of time. Except--never mind. Shiori, listen to me. I know. I know your mother is a vampire. I know she had to give you up for adoption. I know you grew up thinking you were a normal human. And I know that… seeing that in your vision freaked you out. It scared you.”


    Through all of that, the other girl had been rapidly and desperately shaking her head. But at the end, she stopped, cringing backwards with her weapons still raised defensively. “I… I… don’t know what I saw. I don’t know what I heard. I don’t… how… how do you…?”


    Speaking gently, Jones explained, “It''s like I said, I''m here to help you, not hurt you. I promise. Your sister asked for my help when she found out where you were, and… and where you were going. We’ve been friends for awhile. But Shiori, listen to me, okay? There''s something very important you have to hear. The most important thing you might ever hear right now. You are not a monster.”


    “I--my mom,” the other girl protested weakly. “You were right. I saw her. She''s… she’s a vampire. I--I’m one of them. One of the--”


    Reaching out to the nearby shelf, Jones plucked a Raphael toy down and held it out. “Is he a monster?”


    Shiori blinked twice before tentatively replying, “He’s a toy. He’s not real.”


    Making a show of gasping as though scandalized, Jones used her thumb and index finger to cover the action figure’s ears. “Don’t be rude.” She winked then, snickering despite herself before adding, “You know what I mean. In the fictional world, is he a monster just because of what he looks like? A lot of people would think he was, just by looking at him.”


    After a brief pause, Shiori shook her head. “No, he saves people. He’s a hero.” Belatedly, she amended, “A really grumpy hero.”


    Jones giggled at that. “Yeah, Raph can be a grouch sometimes. But that''s the point. He looks like a monster and a lot of people think he is. But they think he’s a monster without knowing anything about him. And them thinking he’s a monster doesn’t make him one. The only thing that can make someone good or bad is what they do, not what people think about them. Ignore everything Crossroads and everyone there told you about people that aren’t totally human. Ignore it. Dismiss it. I want you to think about one thing. Yourself. Think about what you’ve done, about what you want to do. Think about who you are, Shiori. Really think about it for yourself, not about what they said. Are you a monster?”


    A long moment of silence passed while the other girl slowly lowered her weapons and put them away. Her mouth opened and shut a couple times as though to speak before she caught herself and went back to thinking. Finally, after almost a full minute, she shook her head very tentatively. Her voice was quiet. “No… no.” Even as she said that, she flinched a little, as though expecting something terrible to happen in retaliation.


    “No,” Jones agreed. “You’re not a monster, Shiori. You are what you make yourself. People aren’t monsters because of how they’re born. Or because of how they’re mutated.” She added that last bit while giving the Raphael toy an underhand toss that way. “You’re a ninja turtle or a Shredder because of what you do.”


    Holding the action figure in both hands as she gazed down at it in silent wonder for several seconds, Shiori finally looked up to meet Jones’ gaze. “Who are you? What are you? How do you know… my… I really have a sister?”


    Smiling faintly, Jones moved to sit on the bed and patted the spot next to her. “Come on, I’ll tell you about her. She wants to meet you soon. When you’re ready. I’ll send her a message and she can come here. Not to the island, they’d detect her. But you can still meet her in this place.”


    The other girl still hesitated uncertainly for a moment. Yet her longing to know more about herself and her family, and to know that she wasn’t evil just because of her bloodline, won out in the end. With an audible gulp, she moved to sit on the bed, though a bit further away as she watched her companion intently. The Ninja Turtle action figure was clutched tightly in her hands like a lifeline.


    “Okay,” Jones began, “why don’t we start with who I am. And what I am. Then we’ll move to who you are. Oh, but hey…” With that, she snapped her fingers, summoning a box of piping hot pizza. “Maybe you should grab a slice.


    “This is gonna take awhile.”


    ******


    Hours later, the two reappeared on the island grounds, once more safely away from any prying eyes. Shiori, glancing around to take in the full scene, swallowed hard before turning back to Jones. Her mouth opened to say something, but no words came out. In the end, she simply stepped that way and gave the girl a tight hug. “Thank you,” she whispered, voice trembling a bit. “Thank you so much. I… can you really contact my sister? Um, Asenath?”


    “Of course,” Jones promised. “She didn''t want to overwhelm you by being there already. She wanted to make sure you had time to meet her on your own terms. Plus, I didn''t know for sure how long it would take me to get you alone so we could talk. She--your sister’s a pretty busy woman. She helps a lot of people. Last I heard, she was rescuing a girl who was kidnapped.”


    “She’s a… wait, can I talk about it?” Shiori looked around nervously.


    With a nod, Jones confirmed. “It’s safe. I’m blocking anyone who might overhear.


    “She’s a vampire, you said. A full vampire,” Shiori noted in a soft voice. “And she saves people…”


    “Vampire detective,” Jones proudly noted with a wink. “She’s basically a superhero. And--hang on.” Frowning, she turned away to look off into the distance.


    Following her gaze, Shiori whispered, “What’s wrong? Is someone--”


    “No one’s watching us,” Jones assured her in a soft voice, before starting to move. “I sense death.”


    Eyes widening at that, Shiori quickly followed. “S-someone’s dead?”


    “No, but they’re about to be,” Jones replied. She stopped, squinting in the direction of the dorms.


    “It’s that Isaac guy, and Professor Pericles,” Shiori noted, staring. “Who--”


    “Pericles,” came the response. “He’s about to die. Unless we stop it.”


    Without a moment of hesitation, Shiori started to move that way. But Jone caught her arm. “Careful. We have to be careful.”


    “We’re gonna save him, right?” the other girl pleaded desperately.


    “Of course we are,” Jones promised. “He’s not dying on our watch. But we have to be sneaky about it. Like ninjas.


    “So listen close, okay? Here’s what we’re gonna do.”