*Disclaimer: I do not own the characters Donatello, Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Raphael, Splinter, April O'Neil, or Casey Jones. The rest of them are mine; please don't borrow them without permission. Thanks!
Chapter 7: 20 QuestionsMichaelangelo:
I was feeling a lot better since we called home and found out Splinter was alright. We'd tried calling April, but there was no one home so we left a message. I wished I could see the look on her face when she got home and listened to that one. We didn't tell anybody what had happened to us, just that we were okay. I personally didn't want to have to explain to anyone else what I didn't understand myself. Don, Raph and I had been sitting here talking with Panaceia and Athena trying to figure it all out. We'd explained our whole story to them and they were trying to fill us in on how we'd gotten here, exactly. As usual, I felt like an idiot because I just wasn't getting it.
"Wait a minute, wait a minute…let me see if I have this right. You're telling me that some jerks snagged us off the street during a fight none of us remember, took us to their lab, and for no apparent reason decided we really didn't need our shells anymore…and you don't know who, or why, or how?
Panaceia:
"Yes, that is what I'm saying. We weren't exactly expecting to find the four of you there, so we didn't worry too much about gathering any information other than what was in the computer files. We do have reason to believe that what was going on in that building was part of a larger organization. Two of our sisters are actually out right now looking into it, but it's difficult since there was no name on the building and no company name on any of the files."
Raphael had been looking annoyed throughout the conversation. "Okay, explain this to me again about you guys and your sisters…"
I shared a quick look with Athena before I began. I wasn't sure exactly how much information that I should divulge, but I also felt that they deserved the truth. After all, they were going to be here with us for a while it seemed.
"There are five of us. We were all rescued as infants from mothers who did not want us. Rhea, our "mother," raised us until we were 15, and then she left because she had to return to her home. She still guides us though, but now she does it remotely. We were all named after ancient Greek goddesses. Iris, Psyche, Nemesis, Athena, and Panaceia. We don't necessarily embody our namesakes, but in some ways we do. Iris was a messenger goddess. She's the "big sister" of the five of us. She takes charge in most situations, and she doesn't take much crap from anybody. Psyche was the goddess of the human soul. That's pretty accurate for her, actually. You'll meet her later and you'll get a better picture. Nemesis was the goddess of justice and Neme, that's what we call her, is the epitome of her name. She has very strong ideas of right and wrong and you don't ever want to come across her if she feels you're in the wrong. She's got a mean streak like no one you've ever seen. Don't get me wrong though, she's a sweetheart as long as you're on her good side and she can be pretty open minded when she wants to be. She and Psyche are out checking into leads on that laboratory right now. Of course you've already met Athena, the goddess of war and wisdom. She'll tell you her name doesn't fit her, but the rest of us beg to differ." I didn't have to look at Athena to know she was giving me one of her patented looks. "And I'm Panaceia, goddess of healing. I don't think anyone will argue about the appropriateness of that."
"You know how ridiculous that all sounds, right?" Raphael had gone from annoyed to amused.
"Well, yes, I suppose, but no more so than being four mutated turtles living in a sewer studying martial arts and having been named after artists of the Renaissance."
Raphael glared at me. Well, so much for amused, we were definitely back to annoyed.
Donatello, however, certainly wasn't annoyed. He'd been sitting there soaking everything up like a sponge. Obviously having a good grip on the whole story, he was ready to fill in the holes. "You said earlier that you weren't exactly human. What exactly are you then?"
Athena:
"Oh, I didn't say we weren't human. I just said we weren't like any humans you'd ever known before. When Rhea rescued us as babies, she basically ran our genes through the wringer. No pun intended." Mikey was the only one who seemed to have caught it, anyway. "She wanted us to be…perfect, for lack of a better word. She also unlocked a few gene codes for us that basically jumped us up the evolutionary ladder a few rungs. So we're human; we're just the future version."
I could almost see the wheels turning in Donatello's head. I anticipated his next question.
"So you're wondering what that means exactly? Well, it means we run faster, jump higher, hit harder, and we can do things with our minds that humans now pretty much only dream about."
"Like what?" Michaelangelo asked.
"Well, take that thing you call "sixth sense," for instance. That really and truly is a sixth sense for us. We use it every day, all the time. It's what lets us stay one step ahead of people, but just not each other." I threw Panaceia a grin; she knew what I was talking about.
"So can you read minds and stuff?"
"Well, yes…and no. I can't get into your head and tell exactly what you're thinking, but I can get a "feeling" from your thoughts." Raphael suddenly looked worried, and just a bit defensive. I thought I'd better qualify that last statement. "We don't just go around reading minds though; it takes a good deal of concentration so we only do it if we really need to for our own safety or others'. It's an ethical thing."
"Oh." Michaelangelo yawned, although he was obviously very interested in the conversation. It reminded me though that they were only beginning to heal and they still needed lots of rest. Panaceia seemed to have been thinking the same thing.
Panaceia:
"Well, if you can possibly hold the rest of your questions for morning, I really think we could all use some rest and some time to process what we've learned about each other. We'll have plenty of time for questions later."
Donatello looked for a moment like he might argue with me, but thought better of it. We got them settled and left. I had a feeling they would keep talking after we were gone, but that was okay. They needed some time to themselves.
Without a word, Athena and I both turned right to go check on Leonardo. We had finished his final treatment and now had him lying comfortably on a bed…well, comfortable being a relative term. He still had as many monitors on him as before, tubes and wires everywhere. We checked and double-checked every stat until we were satisfied that we could go get some much-needed rest as well.