Mount Justice
September 25, 06:00 EDT

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Cecilia woke with a start the next morning, covered in sweat and her covers strewn all over the bed. The alarm clock on the desk beside her bed - both a blessing and a curse - screamed angrily to get ready for the day. Cecilia slammed her hand against the small device, pressing the button that M'gann had shown her the night before. The loud, blaring noise stopped, allowing her racing heart and mind to catch up to all that had happened.

She had had a nightmare - which is why the alarm clock had partly been a blessing. In the nightmare, her mother and father had accused her of murdering them, then her brother had wept that he was being replaced by her new friends, and then the strange foreigner had buried Cecilia and her new friends alive in Mount Justice.

Gripping her doll tightly, she wondered, trembling and dismayed, 'When will I be free of this? Why must emotion and grief be difficult?'

'Because you do not want to let go,' something inside her realized. Dismay turned to loss and confusion, 'But holding on is not a bad thing. My family would not wish to be forgotten.'

'But holding on is a bad thing when it weighs you down, and they would not wish for you to be caught in the past. You must move on, yet remember. Continue with a lighter load, and therefore a lighter heart,' that same deep part of her soul argued. Now Cecilia just felt conflicted. She didn't want to move on, even though she knew that she had to. She didn't want to give up the memories of her past, just like she didn't want to revisit them. She had to do something, but anything she did ended in pain and guilt, nothing led to a painless road and everything hurt.

After waiting a few more minutes than she ought to, lamenting the loss of her mother's comfort and wisdom, Cecilia forced herself to move into the day, making up her mind. For the first time, she grabbed the new set of clothes someone had left on the end of her bed, trusting Artemis's promise that they wouldn't get rid of her original Roman attire. Then she headed for the showers, which both older girls had shown her the previous night.

Thanks to the crash-course instructions they had given her, Cecilia managed to clean herself without too many bumps and emerged from the showers half an hour later wearing a plain, blue shirt that was a touch too big, khaki shorts, and some sandals. The weirdest part was the shorts, which were very uncomfortable for someone used to wearing a dress.

Once she had dropped off her old clothes in her room, Cecilia headed to the kitchen, where M'gann had promised a special treat. Connor was already there, cutting a slice of bread topped with some powdery white substance and the same sticky brown liquid that were on her pancakes. Cecilia looked over at M'gann and noticed the cracked eggshells that the older girl was throwing away, the sliced bread loaf on the counter, the now empty pan and bowl, and the two plates stacked with bread slices in a similar condition to Connor's.

Cecilia didn't even notice the mind link go up until M'gann handed her one of the plates, "Eat up! I made French Toast, so I hope you like it."

"Thank you," Cecilia told her as gratefully and sincerely as she could. Then she began to eat, truly thankful for everything. Including the excellent food.

"It's Saturday, so everyone should be over soon. Assuming that Batman doesn't give us anymore missions, we should have most of the day off," M'gann announced before she began eating her own French Toast. Connor shook his head, "Black Canary wants us to train some more, and I know that Cecilia has a private tutor coming today."

"Hello, Megan! I'd forgotten about that. I guess we'll have to cancel the shopping trip, then."

Both Cecilia and Connor nearly choked on their food, and the latter asked, "What?"

"Artemis and I were planning on taking Cecilia shopping in Happy Harbor," M'gann explained, blushing lightly in embarrassment as she stuttered softly, "Since, you know, we thought that… um… She might want some new clothes..."

"Thank you," Cecilia again told her, this time in an attempt to distract her from her awkwardness. M'gann shot her a grateful glance before moving on, "Maybe we can all do something else after training instead. What do you think, Connor?"

The teenager in question looked unprepared for a split second, then his expression switched back to its normal neutrality as he thought. It was several minutes before Cecilia heard him answer, "Maybe we could watch a movie."

"That's a great idea! Maybe we could watch Hercules or something like that," M'gann beamed. Connor smiled slightly, evidently happy that she liked his idea. Cecilia looked at M'gann, then Connor, and then back to M'gann. "What is a movie?"

M'gann looked to Connor, who pointed to the television (if Cecilia remembered the correct word) in the living room, "See that? It allows us to watch moving, talking pictures that tell a story."

Cecilia had to keep herself from giving Connor a "you are out of your mind" look. This was the future, after all. They had showers, microwaves, hallways that generate living beings, and sliced bread. Who was to say that pictures couldn't walk and talk, too?

At this point, everyone was finished with their breakfast, so all three of them went up to the mission room together. They arrived just as the light was fading from one of the strange hallways, revealing Robin, who's appearance was announced by the same disembodied female voice that had announced Captain Marvel's arrival, "Recognized: Robin. B, zero, one."

Not having to run in terror from strange men this time, Cecilia jumped and looked around for the owner of the voice. Someone - Robin - laughed as she looked up at the ceiling, "There's no one there."

"Then where did the voice come from?" Cecilia challenged, crossing her arms. Robin gave her a concerned look, "It's an intercom. There are speakers on the ceiling that announce the name and designation of whoever just arrived. We really need to get it to announce throughout The Cave, though… Especially after yesterday..."

"Recognized: Kid Flash. B, zero, three."

"And what are those things called, anyway?" Cecilia asked, pointing a finger at the tunnel Wally had just materialized from. She realized then that no one present was wearing their usual outfits - aside from Connor, anyways. Instead, everyone had on clothes similar to Cecilia's, except the guys had on longer sleeves, and Robin was still covering his eyes.

"Recognized: Aqualad. B, zero, two. Recognized: Artemis. B, zero, seven."

"They're called Zeta-tubes. They transport people instantly from one place to another," Robin explained patiently, yet with some degree of either awe or excitement or pride. Wally zipped over and laughed, putting an arm around Cecilia, "It sure beats running!"

And once again, Cecilia was amazed by the inventions of the future. But any more questions were stalled by the female voice announcing, "Recognized: Black Canary. One, three."

"Good, you are all here. We're going to start training right away. Cecilia, your tutor is already in the room I spoke to you in yesterday. Can you find your way there?"

"Uh…"

"Hello, Megan! Black Canary wants to know if you can find your way back to the room she spoke to you in yesterday. Apparently, your tutor will be there," M'gann translated. Cecilia nodded promptly and immediately set out for the designated room, tired of having other people translate everything. She needed to understand the language everyone kept using. To her, it was no longer a want, but a necessity. She needed to move into the world that she was in now, whether she wanted to or not.

An older gentleman with graying hair, light skin, a stiff posture, and really old eyes was sitting in one of the green, cushiony chairs when Cecilia found and entered the correct room. She smiled at him and, despite her immediate guess on his personality, he smiled back and spoke in fluent Latin, "Greetings. I am Doctor Jones. As you can see, I have set up a small computer for you to use while I am teaching you the various subjects you will need in order to join a proper school with other students your age."

Cecilia was less confused listening to Wonder Woman explain electricity. Doctor Jones had lost her attention at "As you can see". But she did notice the small device in between the two chairs, which were still facing each other. As she sat down, the device projected an image - really just a white rectangle - into the air in front of her, blocking most of Doctor Jones in the process. Almost perpendicular to this image was a series of little squares in three neat rows, all with various symbols on them that Cecilia recognized to be letters. The letter "A" appeared on the screen, along with an apple, and Doctor Jones cleared his throat, "Let us begin."