All of the Top Schools, get 'problem students', some get rid of the fast. Our Lady of Purity embraced them. -- Anon Guest
[AN: Throwback to this thing in case you were wondering]
Somewhere in the known universe, there is a paradise. Nothing sharp exists there. The weather is always balmy and pleasant. The sands are soft on the beaches, and the shells are always pretty. Somewhere, sweet water flows and the air is full of birdsong. This is not that place. It is, in fact, almost the exact opposite.
Rioting in the streets, buildings on fire, exploding, or in the process of collapse. Screaming and terror. Some survivors dragging the injured to a place of better respite. Grown men run in terror from a tiny little girl who is currently sucking her thumb as she surveys the latest example of pyromania with satisfaction.
A select group of students from Our Lady of Purity Preparatory School for Young Ladies of Distinction have done for this place. They are not done with it yet. After all, Planetary Takeovers are just one possible merit badge. There's also Rebuilding Society. These girls aim to collect.
"Cynthia!" One of the older girls waved, she had a hockey stick slung over one shoulder and boxing wraps around her hands. That had to be Geraldine. She of the permanently skinned knee. Cynthia waved back, still sucking her thumb. "Dear, we have a flock of rescues from what they call a bawdy factory in desperate need of something cute and small to hold. We've run out of kittens and puppies. Are you up to the task?"
Cynthia sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Yes, I know you're a tough and mighty warrior goddess, but these little lambs are scared of the sky."
Cynthia gestured for Geraldine to lead her onwards. If she knew lost lambs like she thought she did, they would likely braid her hair and put her in pigtails. Well. If it gave them something to distract themselves with... She pulled her thumb out. "Keep them from putting me in frills," she snarled.
"I do believe they're keeping the frills for themselves," Geraldine smirked. "Come on. Lots to do. You've been working on your Psychotherapy badge and it's high time you got it."
Cynthia had a low growl. She much preferred the more physical means of manipulating people.
"We'll turn these lambs into lions in no time," Geraldine reassured. "I know you'll show them."
Cynthia made a gesture that was half, You win, and half, Flattery accepted.
The lambs, girls from a contained facility that kept them from the world until they were 'officially' women according to the now-defunct rulings of Greater Deregulation Lower South East[1]. They were in a building that the other girls were using as a refuge. All the doors had been removed, but the interior was full of soft things. There was a yard where someone had collected the friendlier pot plants, and the lambs were free to wander out into it if they so wished.
They cowered inside the building, clinging to each other when they weren't fussing five at once per puppy or kitten. Their tearful faces lit when they saw Cynthia.
"Baby..." cooed one of them. "Look, is baby!"
Cynthia groaned and looked up towards Geraldine. Must I?
"We're trying to find more kittens, puppies, and soft toys. Help them feel safe, and help them calm down. Then you can work on helping them to be brave. One at a time, and little steps."
Cynthia would much rather help people feel safe with the aid of a rocket launcher and a watch-tower and everyone knew it.
"Buck up," said Geraldine. "Strengthen your weaknesses. It's the Purity Way."
Thus, Cynthia was more than a little grumpy as the lambs swarmed. She would never say it out loud, but the swarming and coddling hands felt... nice. Even if her future included having her hair dressed, it was nice to take a break.
My existence makes them happy, she reminded herself. My presence helps them be calm. Cynthia spent the time in coddling watching the lambs who were doing the coddling. Who was the leader? Who was the bravest, relatively speaking? Who could she use as an example to the others that outside wasn't that bad?
Most of the fighting had come to a halt when Cynthia found her lamb. Most of the others had fallen asleep, but this one was purposely staying awake and watching every open door with wary suspicion.
In lamb terms, she was halfway to being a Purity Girl already.
Cynthia carefully extracted herself from the sleeping cluster around her and picked her way to the watcher.
"Hello, Baby," whispered the lamb. "Whassup?"
Cynthia held out her hand and made a come-with-me motion.
Like most people when faced with a tiny cute girl wanting them to follow, the lamb followed, eventually taking Cynthia's hand to do so. It was Cynthia's confidence that lead the lamb to believe where they were going was safe. One had to trust a tiny little girl in pigtails, after all.
Even then, the lamb trembled and her hand grew clammy. She was still afraid of the sky, but Cynthia at least got her as far as gently petting the fronds of a fern. One lamb would talk to another. By nightfall, the whole lot of them would be out in this instant garden with their puppies and kittens. Learning how to not fear the world.
Our Lady Of Purity would take them under her rather disreputable wing, in the fullness of time. They would teach each and every one of these lost lambs how to command respect, as was their due.
In the meantime, that Psychotherapy badge was as good as hers.
[1] Anyone arguing that menstruation is the one true marker of womanhood should read up on Lina Medina [content warning - implied statutory rape, surgery mention, menstruation mention] and then go re-evaluate their lives.
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / Baramba]
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