“I know you’re supposed to lead this tour,” the professor said, “but would you mind if I accompanied you to the first classroom?”

  “Uh, no, of course not,” Lima said, but she frowned, looking back at the tall girl with black hair, who was smiling like she’d won some victory.

  “Oh, don’t confuse this,” the professor said. “I’m here to see that my niece isn’t being a problem, not to see she gets special favors. Is that understood, Olena?”

  I turned, noticing that a lot of these girls didn’t have super names yet. Mine had been given to me by my adopted parents, and many of the rogues received such names in our early years. My guess was that these girls had experienced much more sheltered lives up to this point, and so it made sense that they wouldn’t receive their super names until later. Or maybe there was some ritual where the professors chose them, in which case I almost wished I didn’t have one already.

  This lady who’d told us nepotism wasn’t going to be tolerated already had a good deal of respect from that one implied statement, and I stood tall, hoping to earn her affection.

  “Girls, this is Professor Lamb,” Lima said, and the professor gave us all a nod before gesturing for Lima to lead the way.

  We started walking, and right away Professor Lamb began asking about each of us. I was now somewhat familiar with Laurel, Ice, Lima, Trell, and Olena, but as we walked I heard a few other names I wasn’t able to remember at the time. They had stories about coming from Arolla and Horang, both of which I’d heard stories about but never had the luxury of visiting. Too rich for my blood—too well-defended for that of our guild. About three quarters of the girls had gone to the junior classes of Supralines, which was actually less than I had expected.

  “And then there’s my niece,” Professor Lamb said, gesturing to Olena. “If only my brother had raised you right, you might not have such a big head.”

  When Olena’s hand darted up to feel the size of her head and her eyes went wide, I got a fairly good idea of the level of her intelligence. She frowned as Trell pulled her hand away and hissed that it wasn’t what the professor meant.

  “Sorry, Olena, I don’t mean to be rude,” the professor continued. “Please do try to behave this year, though.” Turning to the rest of us, she added, “As her circle, I’m counting on you all to help her through tough times. Can you do that?”

  Everyone mumbled their agreement, though I was probably the quietest, only saying anything at all because I didn’t want the professor to see me not responding. She smiled and gestured to the hall we were in. I hadn’t even been paying attention, but now I looked around at the way the torch-lined walls flickered with the firelight, and the various indicator screens along the way.

  “This hallway was done in a specific way per my guidance,” Professor Lamb stated, showing us screens that had levels, lines with various images labeled skill trees, and images of bodies with what looked like energy flow indicators. “You see, what I’ll be teaching each of you is how to level up, in a sense. I’ve taken old methods used in Earth training programs and games, and applied them here for our learning purposes.”

  She stopped at one of the skill tree indicators, and tapped the screen to zoom in on it. “What you have here is a standard warrior skill tree, starting off with some enhanced power, rage skills, advancing in different directions depending on the student. If your powers are mostly related to strength, this would be a good one for you.”

  “I don’t understand,” I blurted out, never the type to hold my curiosity at bay. “We actually have these in us, or it’s some tech you’re going to give us?”

  The professor smiled patiently. “Not exactly either. See, my powers allow you all to level up, in a sense. What they actually do is help you to advance on your own, to uncover skills you already have the ability to do, but don’t know how to harness. In the traditional sense you won’t actually be leveling up, per se, though it’ll look very similar, and I’ll be able to monitor your stats.” She leaned in, as if sharing a secret. “That said, I’m working to sort of level up my ability to work in this regard, hoping that one day I’ll be able to actually assign you each real skill trees and your own popup screens to track your power.”

  “Fucking A,” Ice said, then instantly put her hand to her mouth.

  Professor Lamb chuckled, waving the comment off. “Dear, we’re ladies here but nobody’s going to get offended at the use of expressive language. Especially when we’re discussing something as Fucking Amazing as what I’ve just told you.” She winked, then motioned us on.

  Ice glanced my way with an impressed look. Of course the girl would be impressed by a teacher merely expressing being okay with swearing. I rolled my eyes, and Laurel grinned my way, on the same page, apparently.

  “What I really hope to accomplish,” the professor continued, “until that time, anyway, is to help each of you look inside, connect with that inner sense of self, and help you learn to grow into the superhero you are meant to be.”

  Each word that came out of her washed over me like waves of warm water, filling me with a sense of awe and inspiration. I was totally ready for her class, and could barely believe I was going to be part of this.

  She took us to a painting of a mountain surrounded by clouds at its peak, a storm in the sunrise so that it looked like pink clouds swirled as if by magic.

  “This is what I want for you—that inner sense of peace, and chaos… controlled, embraced.” Professor Lamb turned to us, hand on her heart. “Together, we’ll get you there.”

  “Until you escape this place,” Olena said with a glare. “Everyone knows you’re trying to go Citadel on us.”

  The professor looked caught off-guard by this, but her smile didn’t falter. “It would be a great honor for myself, or any of you, to be able to serve at the Citadel. Would you turn down such an opportunity?"

  Olena simply continued to glare, until finally Lima spoke up. “It’s my life’s goal.”

  “Very good,” Professor Lamb said, and then turned, looking past us to another group of girls coming. “For now, I’ll leave you to it. Time to tell them what I’ve shared with you. Keep it in mind, and whenever you get a chance, please do start trying to get in touch with your inner self, right?”

  We all nodded, agreeing to do so, and watched her go.

  “Whatever,” Olena said.

  “It’s really cool,” Lima said, ignoring the brat. “We’ll see how it works tomorrow on your first day of classes. For now, I’ll take you over to the field to see where the real magic happens.”

  “Ooh, Mehen!” Trell spoke up, for the first time looking excited about something. That being the case, I found myself slightly less interested.

  All of that changed, however, when we turned the corner that led us out to one of the many circling viewing points, where we could look down and see the field. It was a spiral, shaped in the style of the Ancient Earth game by the same name—I think from Egypt. While that was a stone game, this version had hoops in the air that the ball needed to be thrown through, and spiraled inward until the final hoop remained. I wasn’t completely familiar with the game, not enough to know all the rules, but knew that the ball had to go through the hoops consecutively, and each team would set up defenders in strategic ways, usually appointing a flying or aim-focused super to have responsibility for the ball, with the other as an alternative.

  It was complicated, but from what I heard a blast to watch.

  Seeing it now before me, with the various banners of our houses arrayed around the circle and hanging from marble, I knew there was no way they’d be keeping me from attending the first game.

  “We have any Mehen players here?” Lima asked, glancing around.

  The girls were suddenly eager to talk about how they knew everything about the sport, about how their powers would help win. One with short blonde hair said she could phase-walk through objects and people, like a ghost, and control objects with her mind. That ended it. Nobody could compete with her being the most amazing Mehen player, if what she’d claimed were true. I had my doubts about her ability, but not because of her powers. It was the way she glanced around nervously, that made me think she might freeze up in front of a crowd or when the pressure was on.

  It was a familiar concept to me, as I’d frozen and nearly gotten my sister arrested on my first team job with the guild. It had been the moment I’d sworn to never back down, to be brave and not give a shit. From the moment we escaped, I’d been a different person.

  Walking on again, Lima kind of breezed past several other classrooms, including one with a grand crest above it with a lion, shield, and sword.

  “Here you’ll learn heroics, where Professor Shield—yeah, real original—goes over past superheroes and how they’ve demonstrated the values of our school, including posthumous Citadel Medal of Bravery awardees.”

  That one could be fun, but at the moment sounded like a real snooze fest when compared to Professor Lamb, or watching Mehen. The next classroom, however, piqued my interest. We walked into a large room with tall ceilings and pads spread out along with walls of weapons. There were spears, swords, shields, and all manner of weapons.

  “Martial arts?” Ice said, glancing my way briefly with a look of concern.

  Back home everyone knew I was a bit of a badass, but that was all speed and power. My skill was a bit lacking, but then again so was everyone’s there. Not many of them had studied the art of fighting, and many had dismissed it as being useless in an age when you could simply shoot someone or use powers to evaporate them.

  “I don’t get it,” Olena said, taking the stance of so many of those rogues. If she only knew I was comparing her to them in my head, she would’ve been quite offended, judging by her demeanor.

  “You’ll see,” Lima replied with a laugh. “Believe me, there will be times when your powers won’t be enough, or have been nullified—yes, it happens. And when you’re here, in the ring? Well, guess what Professor Zilch’s powers are?”

  “Nullification,” Laurel answered without delay.

  Lima smiled and pointed at her. “Bonus points for you, if there was such a thing as points. But yes, that’s right.”

  “Oh, god,” Olena said.

  Trell laughed. “How barbaric.”

  How these girls had ever made it through the junior classes of Supralines was beyond me. The rest of the tour consisted of a couple more random classes, common rooms, our own dorms, and then ended back in the great hall.

  “That’s it for today,” Lima said, giving us all a pleasant smile. “Some of you have traveled insane distances to get here, so the school lets you rest on your first day, get to know one another, or whatever you want. Stay out of trouble—you don’t want to earn a bad rep your first day, and you don’t want me looking bad, because then I ensure you will feel it. Not a threat, just saying that my role here is to look out for you, and you’ll want me to fulfill that role. So… good luck.”

  With a wink, she spun on her heels and walked off to join some of the other tour guides who were forming to go about their second-year orientation, leaving us to it. Trell and Olena took off in one direction, Ice giving me a look and then going off to meet up with her new group of friends, leaving Laurel and me with a few of the other girls.

  Getting to chat with them more was exciting, but there was no ignoring the way they’d look at me or Laurel when we spoke. One of them found a way to start talking about how she’d hooked up with a boy from Rocadium back when she was at the junior school, and how he knew all about the Citadel and their leveling up systems, based on Lamb’s powers. It was fascinating, until one of the girls found a way of turning the conversation into some sort of game where each girl would brag about their sexual exploits. Still fun, but since I didn’t have much to add, I found my mind wandering, eyes meeting Laurel’s. She shrugged, also seeming to ignore one of the girls going on about liking it in the ass. Not a big deal, but when they all turned to me and I said I didn’t have much to share, their eyes showed that they guessed that to be because of my tail and ears.

  Well, fuck them. I’d had enough, and had to excuse myself. Being judged was one thing, but layering that over my excitement was another. At the moment, I wanted to revel in the pleasure of my situation. I wanted to celebrate, somehow, to take all this in and shout my joy from the rooftops.

  For a while I wandered the halls, trying to stick to the less crowded ones. I found a courtyard with a statue of the Elder Xin, and stared up at him, noticing the way his stern eyes seemed to stare right back through me. He was a legend, the type of superhero everyone else aspired to be like. Being at the academy greatly increased my chances of meeting him in person, and that thought in itself gave me an extra bounce in my step.

  I was heading for my room to get situated and take some down time, when I heard a stifled sound from nearby. A yelp maybe? Worry filled me that someone was being hurt, maybe bullied by the same pricks who’d been mean to me, so I went toward the sound cautiously.

  It was coming from a door that was slightly ajar. I nudged it open a little further, not meaning to peek but curious. Instead of bullying or any sort of suffering, there was a girl staring at a projected image of her acceptance letter to Supralines and… moaning? I leaned in, trying to get a better look to be safe, then froze. She was in her chair, shirt up around her collarbone as one hand caressed her petite breasts. Her other hand was in her pants, fingering herself.

  This was a first for me, and the fact that she was staring at the acceptance letter, not a picture of some guy—or woman, for that matter—made it all the more fascinating. Humorous, maybe, if not for the fact that it was kind of hot.

  While the feeling was familiar, I hadn’t even thought to masturbate over the idea of being here. Was I missing out?

  I made for my room, determined not to stop for anyone, already feeling the wetness in my panties as I imagined what I’d been watching.

  When I was there next to my new bed, I reached down, uncertain. With a glance around to make sure I was alone, I pulled open the window. From there I could see one of the towers of the academy, its purple marble shining in the waning light.

  I was here at Supralines, so fuck all the haters. My hand pushed through my tight supers outfit, fingers playing with my short, curly hair as I hesitated. Was I really doing this? Why the hell not, we needed to reward ourselves for great accomplishments, and getting into Supralines was one of the best. At least, that’s what I told myself as my fingers moved down, finding my opening. It was already wet, and as I pushed my middle finger in, first moving it around and then finding my clit, massaging it, I found my mind wandering to Laurel. An odd thought, for sure, as I was one hundred percent into guys. Still, I couldn’t help imagining her face between my legs, her tongue gently lapping at my clit. My fingers pretended to be her, my mind going with it.

  “Mmm,” escaped my lips. I glanced around again before moving back to my bed, laying down and arching my hips up as I worked circular motions on my clit, then went lower and pretended my fingers were hers, thrusting into me. One became two, then I tried for three—that hurt too much, so two it was.

  I was moaning, moving my hips, and then brought my fingers back to my clit to finish it off. With a long, muffled moan, I let out a breath and lay there, feeling a sense of confused bliss. Confused because I had just imagined a woman while touching myself. Bliss because damn, it felt good. More confusion because a part of me wanted to run out and find Laurel and continue the moment.

  No, I told myself. I was here to find my sister… all that other stuff would have to remain in my imagination.

  For now, I took another deep breath, smoothed out my clothes, and lay back to take a nap.

  10

  I woke to find Ice staring at me with a humored, one-eyebrow raised expression.

  “What?” I asked, rolling over to better sit. I was still groggy, the room spinning.

  “In your sleep.” She hesitated, then chuckled. “You were caressing yourself, moaning something… maybe a name?”

  “Who’s name?” I asked.

  She arched an eyebrow. “Laurel.”

  My eyes went wide. Shit, I needed to get a hold of myself. What was that lady doing to me?

  “Don’t worry, I won’t tell a soul,” Ice said. “At least, as long as you’re nice to me.”

  “It was a dream, that’s all,” I said, hoping that would be enough for her to leave it alone.

  Judging by the look she gave me, I doubted it. But at least for now, she waved me over to the far window. I managed to stagger over there, my body still in sleep mode, and leaned against the wall to look out at the school. Glancing down, I could see a walkway below with several girls in blue and green moving along, laughing.

  “I don’t know what to think of this place,” Ice admitted. “Shit, back home I would’ve mocked anyone who said a place like this could really be so… like this.”

  “Perfect?” I offered.

  “Don’t be predictable. No, not perfect. It’s too ‘perfect,’ in that sense, and yet it has its problems. In fact, I’d be willing to bet the problems go much deeper than you realize.”

  “Aside from a few cases of blatant prejudice against supers like me,” I shrugged, “I’m not convinced.”

  “Right.” She stared at me a moment, then said, “My evening was spent studying the layout of this place. Also, the guys checked in and they think they might have a lead regarding your sister. Someone who might have seen her less than a week ago.”

  I stood up straight, alert. “No shit?”

  She nodded. “The guys are trying to find more. Fuck, they’re good. I’m going to ask around while trying not to draw attention. You do the same.”

  My mind was still reeling with the idea that we might have a real clue, or at least something to go on. She took off, leaving me to finish waking up and wonder how I was going to go about learning anything in this place. Nobody seemed interested in talking to me, except maybe Laurel and Lima. It was incredibly unlikely the former knew anything, as she’d only just arrived, leaving Lima as my only hope if I didn’t want to approach strangers.