She entered like a queen, taking her spot in front of us and assessing us in a way that seemed to read our souls. Maybe she was? I wasn’t exactly clear on her powers, so anything could be possible.

  Finally she nodded and said, “Welcome to your first day of class, students.”

  There was a nervous chuckle. I thought, how embarrassing for that person, then noticed Lamb’s eyes on me and realized I was the one doing the chuckling, so I stopped. She simply smiled and continued.

  “What I want you to do first is close your eyes, right there at your desk,” Lamb said. “Close your eyes—yes, you too, Laurel. Now, whatever your strengths might be, push yourself beyond that. Focus on your inner core, and push out with everything you have. This is not going to happen overnight. You won’t in the next five minutes understand what I’m talking about, but it’ll happen, with patience and practice. For now, just do as I say.

  “Focus on your breathing, on who you are and every emotion you’ve experienced in life. Some say to ignore your emotions. When fighting, for example, if you let your rage get the best of you, you’ll get sloppy.

  “But here, with what I’m trying to teach you, it’s all about emotions. Find your true self. Block out the mind, block out everything it’s trying to teach you, to correct—instead, let the heart take control. When you truly feel it, when you learn to listen to your heart, that’s when your true powers can begin to unlock themselves.

  “And from there it’s all about practice. Leveling up. More practice.”

  She paused, letting us focus on our breathing. I tried listening to my heart, but it seemed to be racing about with my mind in a game of tag, neither truly letting the other fully be. Instead, they each had to compete for my attention, and the minute one had it, the next was trying to take over.

  I ground my teeth and actually heard them make a squeaking sound, so opened my eyes to see if anyone had noticed.

  Lamb smiled at me. “It’s okay, you can all open your eyes now. Charm, do you see how challenging this will be?”

  “Definitely.”

  “Keep practicing, every minute you get. Even in class, when listening to me or others—you can listen with your ears, try to be with your heart.” She turned, picking a girl from the front of the class, one I hadn’t met yet, with black hair shaved on the sides. “Kineses, right? Is it safe to assume your powers have to do with psychokinesis?”

  The girl shrugged. “Of course.”

  “Right. And what is the degree of your power at the moment?”

  Kineses glanced around at us, clearly annoyed at being called out, but then indicated an empty desk and, moving her hand up, caused it to lift into the air.

  “Wonderful. Marvelous.” Lamb wasn’t watching, however, instead continuing to watch the girl. “And… teleportation?”

  The girl blinked. “Of course not. That’s not—”

  “Actually, it is part of what you could possibly be capable of.” Lamb went to the front of the class and hit a button on a section of the wall, turning it into a screen. From there she swiped her hand a few times, mumbled some words, and then turned back to us. On the screen was a very detailed skill tree, similar to what we’d seen in the hall the day before, but much more intricate. “As you might guess, this contains the various skills associated with powers of psychokinesis.”

  “Shut up,” the girl said, more in a mumble of disbelief. “There’s easily a hundred skills there.”

  “More, and yes.” Lamb beamed. “This is what I’m trying to get across to you—all of us have powers beyond our simple comprehension. We each fall under main classes, classes which I’ll be able to show you, to help guide you along your path. When you’ve been able to unlock your true potential, these and possibly other skills will be at your disposal, skills even I’m unaware of yet.”

  “And how do you know all this is really possible?” Trell asked.

  Lamb simply smiled, at first. Then she laughed. “Trell, this is my power, don’t you see? Or my main power, anyway. I can essentially see each of you and what you’re capable of. You, for example, are able to assert influence over others in terms of their moods. Scary, for sure. But not nearly as scary as what you could become—you can effectively enslave people, even the dead, creating armies of mindless zombies to do your bidding. Not something I’m sure I want to help you achieve until I’ve learned your true soul, but there are many steps in the process.”

  Trell was leaning forward, very interested now. By Oram, I hoped she didn’t ever actually get that kind of power.

  “Come, now practice together, simply focusing on your powers and your core.” Lamb walked among us, smiling at each of us encouragingly. “Tell your partner what you feel. Listen first to yourself, then listen to your partner. See if you can learn through them what you are doing wrong yourself.”

  I turned to Laurel and she grinned, taking my hands in hers. Not sure if this was part of it, I glanced around and saw it wasn’t, but… okay. Her eyes were closed now, so I did the same.

  Pulses of energy seemed to flow through her fingers, warming me, and I found my mind able to relax more than before. Still, images of the guild filled my mind, memories of people we’d hurt, eyes full of betrayal. I hadn’t been raised with exactly the best moral examples surrounding me. But this place could be different. In this place I could find a new beginning.

  After several moments of us focusing, Lamb cleared her throat, then told us to discuss with our partner.

  “What about you?” I said, nervously, not sure if I should take my hands back yet or not.

  Laurel smiled and shrugged. “It’s a mess up there, but I think I’m figuring it out. Like a rose garden that needs to be pruned, but will always have thorns. You?”

  “Rose… garden. Right.” I laughed. “If you’re dealing with a rose garden, let’s say I’ve got a bunch of stomped-on roses that have then been set on fire. Now, if I could figure out how to bring them back…”

  She laughed, too. “I like that. Explain.”

  “Oh, er…” I hadn’t expected to have to give more here, so glanced around and said, “It’s, you know… A life of trying to work our way out of poverty. Tough times. Stuff like that.”

  Shit, why did I lie? She could tell I had, and it hadn’t even been a creative or very detailed lie. It was plain in her eyes. Others continued discussing, but we simply sat there, her eyes boring into me.

  “Sorry,” I said, breaking our silence.

  “Might want to be sure you’re being honest with yourself,” Laurel said, eyeing me worriedly. “And then… maybe those around you.”

  I frowned, but then glanced up to see Lamb approaching to give us some focused attention. Only, as soon as she reached us she stopped, eyes up and past us.

  “Oh,” Lamb said, giving us an apologetic nod.

  The students all turned, and there was Headmistress Angeline in the doorway.

  “If you’ll excuse me,” Professor Lamb said, and went over to share hushed words with the headmistress. After a moment, she turned back to us with a frown. “Charm, Laurel… if you wouldn’t mind.”

  I stood, hating the extra attention, and made my way to the hallway with Laurel following. We found the two ladies there, with a third standing timidly behind the headmistress. Upon first glance I didn’t think much of the woman. Young, attractive in that innocent way. Pretty was a better adjective. And then I saw the way the headmistress glanced down at the woman, and my eyes followed, going wide.

  Wings were tucked behind her. Strange wings—not like an angel, but reminding me of some creature I’d seen in one of those mythology books, but couldn’t quite place at the moment.

  “Your type,” the headmistress said, turning back to me and then Laurel. “You’re an… experiment.”

  “Experiment?” I spat back, not liking the sound of that.

  “Headmistress,” Professor Lamb said, her voice showing her distaste in the choice of words.

  “I should say,” the headmistress frowned, turning back to Lamb, then Laurel. “We haven’t had many of your kind in the past. You, the others with the horns. Harp here is joining the group, and I know there will be some uncertainty around you all fitting in, so I thought I’d introduce you to each other. Stay close, yes?”

  Without even waiting for a response, the headmistress gave Professor Lamb a nod, then turned and walked off.

  “Sorry for that,” Professor Lamb said, glancing back at the class, then to us three. “Even some of the staff could do with lessons on embracing diversity. My apologies.”

  “Nothing I’m not used to,” Laurel replied, and Harp nodded.

  Laurel didn’t seem bothered, but that didn’t begin to reflect my emotions. “What the—I mean, how…” I frowned, clenching my jaw as I worked out how to voice my frustration. “I mean, how can a headmistress of this place act like that?”

  “You have every right to be confused, or insulted, for that matter.” The professor moved into the hall away from the doorway, giving us the sense of a more intimate conversation. “However, the fact remains that many are going to feel the way the headmistress feels.”

  “So we just ignore it?” I asked.

  “No. You fight it—by proving to them there’s nothing to be afraid of. There are all sorts of supers out there, including some who can become actual animals, others who can grow small or big, and of course some who can essentially create new stars. It’s insane that anyone would be afraid of someone based on looks, in a galaxy like ours. Yet… it still happens, somehow. My goal would be that, for everyone here, it ends with you all.”

  I wanted to make some comment about how perfect-looking she was, how she could never possibly understand, but it wasn’t like I was exactly ugly. And she was trying, after all.

  “Whatever it takes,” Harp said.

  The professor nodded, then motioned back to class. “Get in there, before the others think I’m giving you all special attention. If there’s one thing supers hate more than outsiders, it’s someone else getting more attention than themselves.”

  How true, I thought as I laughed and followed Laurel back in. The students stared, especially when a couple noticed Harp’s wings and started gossiping about them in hushed tones. But when Professor Lamb had taken her spot at the front of the class again, everyone turned back and gave her their full attention.

  I was happy to get back to trying to meditate and reach our inner core and all that stuff that, had anyone other than a Supralines teacher told me to try, I would’ve thought stupid. But there I was, eyes closed, nearly focused. However, my mind was working overtime it seemed, annoyed at the way the headmistress had treated us. But whatever, I’d get there eventually.

  13

  Following Lamb’s class, where unfortunately we didn’t get into the leveling up and skill tree stuff too much, we were sent to check in with Professor Zilch for physical training and education. I took my seat in the semi-circle on the floor around the professor, who stood with his feet apart, hands behind his back.

  Once we’d settled and quieted down, he asked us each our names. Introductions finished, he waved his hand in a way that turned on a holo screen next to his head, showing a similar image to what we’d seen at the return to school ceremony the day before. It was one of the colonization ships, heading through the gateway that led them to the Oram star system.

  “There was a time when none of us had powers,” Zilch started, turning the image and then speeding it forward, showing camera views from inside the ship as people stepped out for the first time. We’d all seen such footage many times over. Next he flashed to an image of two supers squaring off in a duel, one of them starting to grasp tendrils of air that turned red and whipped about at his bidding, the other moving fast and with a martial prowess beyond belief. As they fought, he continued, “Now, we are unbalanced. Some of us are like gods, others don’t even have powers, or have powers that are about as useful as a mole on your nose. Mutations, if you will.” He seemed to consciously not look my way when he said that, and even stalled, likely thinking he might have used better words. “In my class, while I can’t do anything about moles, I can show you what it means to fight without powers. I can help you get to your best fighting capacity, to ensure that if and when you reach a point where your powers aren’t enough to win a fight, maybe your fists will.”

  Trell scoffed, but the professor didn’t take any notice. At least, I didn’t think so until he turned to her and grinned. “Sparring time. Let’s see how you do when you don’t have your powers.” He pointed to Trell and then me. “You two.”

  “How’s that fair?” Trell said. “You going to cut off her tail?”

  That earned her a couple of giggles, but not enough to really matter. What it really did was cause me to be in the ring with a smile on my face, ready to show her how this worked.

  Most supers are trained in fighting techniques, naturally. They’ll spend their lives fighting for justice and all that’s good, so they’d need to know how to throw a punch. Many trained in evasive maneuvers against fireballs and whatnot, too. But in the guild, we didn’t just fight, we learned to fucking kick ass. It wasn’t just about landing a hit, but getting the hit in and getting out unnoticed. Leave the opponent on the ground crying, not knowing what happened.

  That wasn’t going to work here, considering I had no powers and everyone was watching, but I was still determined to have a good time.

  She came in for a punch that I easily dodged, though I found fighting without my speed quite annoying. I countered with a kick to her thigh that felt slow to me but seemed to catch her off-guard and nearly sent her to the floor. We circled a moment longer, each gauging the other’s ability and fighting stance, and this time I came in first—playing a bit tricky, I twitched my ears to get her attention, then waved my tail to distract her again.

  But I didn’t move yet. I waited until she started to turn to the professor in contrast, and then I was in, tackling her to the ground and locking her in a side armbar. She cursed, kicked up and managed to roll with it, which was actually impressive.

  Her strike hit my forearm, and then I got her twice in the head with my elbow before rolling her so that she was on her back and I had a knee in her ass, keeping her from wrapping her legs around me. I landed a good punch to her side. She growled and went for my head, trying to grab me and pull me close, maybe for some sort of choke hold, I imagined, but I leaned back with that knee pressing against her tailbone, breaking her grip.

  When I caught her with another punch she screamed in anger and rolled out of the hold, leaping to her feet and ready for more. I was kicking her ass, but if I ever had to survive with powers nullified on a long-term basis, it would drive me insane.

  Trell threw a wild punch. At least my reflexes were still up to speed, along with my ability to see telegraphed strikes like that one. I stepped into it, caught her arm and swept her, slamming her to the floor.

  I pounced, prepared to commence with beating the shit out of her, but the professor caught my wrist.

  “Enough.” More strength came from him than I’d imagined possible. Or, maybe this was what it felt like to be normal against a man stronger than me. A strange sensation, for sure.

  When I stood, I felt my power and speed return in the form of an ease of movement and clear head. It was like a long-lost pet had returned, and I felt whole again. What a relief! Taking a seat, I was more than happy to watch two others get in the ring, and sat back as Olena and a short lady I hadn’t met started throwing strikes at each other. Olena could actually hold her own, which I suppose shouldn’t have been surprising, considering the fact that her aunt was a teacher here. The other girl had strength, but lacked form, and in the end Olena won the sparring match.

  It was all good fun, and at least one or two of the girls seemed to look at me with more respect as it came to a close. I’d take it.

  Between our next classes, I split off to find Ice, but there were no updates and she was annoyed at me for risking us being seen together too often. Laurel spotted me meandering, dragging my heels a bit at the idea of going to the class about superhero values, but the look of excitement in her eyes was enough to push me through.

  Only, as we walked to class, I had the realization that we’d kissed the night before. It was possible that meant something more to her than it did to me. Did she expect me to hold her hand or something? Probably not, but my mind was wandering like this when we bumped into those girls from the day before, the ones who’d given me a hard time before the orientation ceremony.

  “What’ve we got here?” The three ladies started to form a circle around me.

  “Back off,” another voice said, and I turned to see Trell and Olena stepping up behind me. At first I thought she was joining in, but then realized what she’d just said and the glare she was giving the other girls. Had she just come to my defense?

  The three girls considered her, scoffed as if they couldn’t be bothered with us, then walked off.

  “Thanks…?” I said, turning to Trell with skepticism.

  “Hey, if anyone’s going to give you a hard time, it should be us,” Trell said, grinning. “Can’t have them taking away all the fun.”

  “Also, we were impressed with your moves,” Olena added.

  “Yeah?” I shrugged like it meant nothing, which was far from the truth. “You too.”

  They nodded before ducking into the class ahead. A glance back showed the other girls had actually kept on moving, and I made a note that maybe Trell and Olena could get a second chance. The prospect of having more friends here made the idea of going to my next class even more exciting, if that was possible.

  14

  The first day of classes had been everything I’d expected and hoped it would be. When they’d let us out after another welcome over dinner, I promptly passed out in my bed, feeling like there wasn’t a worry in the world.