This story is meant to be fairly wholesome and for most viewers. However…
*This story includes numerous LGBTQ characters, with transgender main characters.
*Some heavy themes, particularly homelessness and searching for a lost friend, are found.
*There are depictions of assault and abuse some may find troubling.

Roland’s Story (Part 2)

=== September 4, 2022 ===

Roland had been everywhere in the inner city, three times over. But looking for a person in Fireleaf Hills was always like trying to find a needle in a haystack. He found himself in an alley in between several skyscrapers. It looked like a spot was recently occupied – there was even some warmth to the ground. Could she have just been here?

“Ariel! Ariel!” Roland cried out. “Please, it’s me! Roland!” No response, only a slight breeze. He looked down in defeat. “Dang it. I’ll find you, Ariel…”

He was about to walk out of the alley when he spotted a couple of men in black coats. He quickly ducked behind the dumpster in the alley. More of those ‘suits.’ Best to not let them see him…

And he certainly recognized the one wearing glasses: that was the same man who “helped” him with student loans years ago. They met several times since, and each time, Roland wound up getting his butt handed to him by the scrawny man. He clearly had training of some sort.

He thought he hid well enough…

“Oh, lookie what we have here…” the bespectacled man growled sinisterly. “Grab her.”

The partner lunged forward and grabbed Roland, throwing him to the ground. “Well, hello again, Heather.”

“Roland. A boy,” he shot back, even from his vulnerable position.

“Those boobs say otherwise,” the faker loaner remarked snidely.

Roland sighed. “Yeah, yeah, I get it. You hate trans folks. Look, I’m really not in the mood for you to toy with me before you inevitably kick me bloody, so why don’t you just get on with it?” he groaned.

“If you insist!” the man remarked.

Roland braced himself as the kicks came in. Honestly, those didn’t hurt so much as the laughs. It really got under his skin that they were enjoying this. Every time. Clearly, they didn’t care about the optics of beating up a homeless person who appeared to be a woman.

“Hey! You leave them alone!” screamed a woman.

Roland opened his eyes. The fake loaner looked pale. His cohort hadn’t even turned around yet before he was sent flying. A dark-skinned woman carefully stepped over him and grabbed the fake loaner by the chest and hoisted him up against the wall.

“Oh, shit, not you…” he quietly muttered.

“Good, you know my reputation. If I catch you beating up another innocent person – especially this one – again, you and I are going to have a much more violent conversation. Get me?”

He nodded frantically.

“Now GET, you two, before I change my mind.” She dropped him to the ground.

They scrambled head over heels to get away from the woman and darted off. The woman held a gloved hand out to Roland. “Hey, are you okay?”

He took it, and she lifted him up. “Yeah, you caught it before it went on too long… Still going to be sore, but at least I’m not bloody this time…”

“Ooh, I hate those guys. I really have to be careful who I arrest around here. I hate letting guys like that go, but it’s better I make sure you’re okay.”

“Wait, arrest? What, a citizen’s arrest?”

“Oh, sorry! I’m Jupiter, an FBI agent.”

“The FBI, here?”

“Well, part ongoing investigations, part I actually live here. Some call me crazy, but-“

“No, I saw it, they seemed afraid of you!”

She blushed. “Yeah, well, you have to be strong to be someone like me living here…”

“Of course. I hate to say it, but that’s not the first time someone has saved my hide. Roland Mitchell,” he said, holding out his hand.

Jupiter shook it. Roland noted something seemed odd about the hand, but it was hard to tell with her gloves.

“Oh! Trans man. Sorry, I thought…”

He looked down at his enormous chest. “Yeah, these things suck. Still, treat me like a guy, and I’ll be fine. Back pain aside.”

“Of course! Where I come from, trans acceptance is a given. Still, I got a job to do, and that means being in this sometimes awful place… Still, what are you even doing out here?”

“Well, there’s a trans girl… Ariel. I’m looking for her. She’s my friend, but it sounds like someone declared her dead a month ago. I know for sure she’s not, and I’ve been trying to find her.”

“Oh my! Hey, Maybe I can keep an eye out? What does she look like?”

“Black hair, pale blue eyes, similarly just trying to present as herself. Clothes are a little ratty, being homeless like me.”

“Aie. Homeless too?”

Roland nodded.

“I hate this city. That ‘kick ‘em while they’re down’ mentality comes right from the top, I’m pretty sure. Still, I’m sorry you have to go through that.”

“Well, that’s the first time I’ve seen that fake loaner who took all of my family’s money be afraid of anything…”

“Wait…” She looked down the street and then back at him, pointing in that direction. “You mean I just let a man who committed grand theft go? Crap.”

“How were you supposed to know?”

Jupiter sighed. “You’re right. Still, I’ll know to take him in the next time I see him. Thanks for the tip.”

“That should help get one jerk off the street. But, it seems like those black suits run the town. Police don’t do anything about them. They go wherever they please and do whatever they please. I don’t get it…”

“At least you know they’re dangerous. I wish I could say more, but-“

“No, you’re fine. Probably stuff I don’t need to worry about. I already have enough to worry about as it is…”

“Fair. Hey, if you need, I could offer you a place to stay… I have plenty of space at home…” Jupiter offered.

“Thanks, but no. Until I find Ariel, I can’t accept that. I want to make sure she’s safe first. And I’ll live in the same conditions she does right now if I have to.”

“You’re… You’re really dedicated to your friends, aren’t you? I can respect that. I admit, you’d fit in well with the people I know. One day.”

“That’s nice to hear. Thank you.”

Jupiter nodded. “Well, I should let you go. Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“I’ll be fine. Not my first run-in with guys like that, and it probably won’t be the last.”

“Well, maybe they’ll think twice next time if they know I saved you. Just drop the name ‘Jupiter Artimus,’ and they’ll probably let you be. Can’t guarantee it, though.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, thank you!”

“Don’t mention it! And if you’re in trouble again and I’m in the area, I’ll have your back!

“Thanks! See you around, Jupiter!”

“You too, Roland! Good luck finding Ariel!”

Roland smiled and nodded before walking away. Jupiter, meanwhile, had something to ponder…

“Black hair? Pale blue eyes? That sounds like Haylie and Duke’s kid…” she quietly muttered. “Could that be why Joel disappeared over a year ago? Because he’s actually Ariel?”

=======

“Wait, September fourth is the day I became…” Ariel realized.

“So, were you there?” Roland asked.

Ariel nodded. “I’m so sorry!” she cried. “If I knew, maybe you would have found me if there had been a little more time, and maybe you could have come with me, and-“

“No, Ariel, you’re okay! Sure, it wasn’t easy, but I’m here, and so are you. That’s all that matters to me.”

Ariel wiped away her tears. “Alright… Thank you…”

“You know, though, since coming to CHU, I did learn something…”

“Oh?”

“Jupiter Artimus. She’s a mermaid FBI agent! She’s a part of the supernatural division. She’s known as one of the most powerful merfolk Adepts when it comes to combat. I was chatting with a mermaid, and I didn’t even realize it! To think, if I took her offer, I might have learned about the magic community much sooner…”

“Well, you seemed to think something was off about the hands…” she reminded him.

“True. Still, now I’m finding out there are magical folks everywhere, hiding in plain sight. And Jupiter is one of the badasses taking the fight to bigots and extremists. They knew her, and now I know why!”

“Know if she ever caught the fake loan guy?”

Roland shrugged. “Maybe I’ll see her again, and I’ll ask.”

“Well, I now know who siphoned all that money…”

“The DMR. The Department of Magical Resources, who apparently run Fireleaf Hills. Those were the ‘black suits’ we were always having trouble with. I guess they’re not just content to make magic folks miserable…”

Ariel paused. “Roland, are you SURE you want to go back? It seems like you’re adjusting so well here…”

“As long as you’re in Fireleaf Hills, I’ll be there too. I know you won’t let anything happen to me. Just, if you and Heather move out of there, take me with you, okay?”

Ariel nodded. “And, you know, Roland, I could, you know… Make you a boy for real now…”

“Oh, I am WELL aware. It’s a kind offer, Ariel, but… I want to prove I can do this myself. I want to go as far as I can under my own power. Maybe one day, when I’ve gotten as far as surgery and hormones can take me, I’ll ask you to get me the rest of the way. Until I say otherwise, please, let me try.”

Ariel nodded. “I can respect that.”

“Thank you!”

“So, that’s just the first day I was a genie. Anything else?”

“Well… I met your dad, alone.”

“Wait, seriously!? When!? HOW!? I thought he was as spoiled as mom!”

“Then I have some news for you…”

END OF PART 2

By Erica Chrisman (CrystalSeaDragon44)