Fate Kaleid Liner Prisma Taylor

"Install," I said while holding the Caster Card. The magic circles and lights of the card enveloped me and I was engulfed in prana and soon enough I had become Caster. I was wearing a blue kimono-style robe tied with a black and gold sash, with gold-trimmed black lining visible at the hems. The leg covering part of the robe-is it a skirt? Anyway, it was a bit short, only going down to about mid thigh, but I had blue leggings going up to meet them so it wasn't so bad. The thick sandals would take some getting used to, but they weren't as thick as the pair the corrupted Caster had been wearing so… Yeah, this wasn't so bad.

"Oh, you look amazing Princess!" Opal exclaimed. Opal had become the symmetrical eight-stoned black, blue and golden mirror that Caster had summoned just before I defeated her. The mirror flashed and there was suddenly an image of Opal on the reflective surface. "So cute, yet so formal and professional looking. Could you pose for me," she asked, "like a proper young lady?"

"Maybe later," I answered. "We've got to get this done," I said in reference to the security upgrades that needed to be done. Honestly, I was still… "Besides, something feels weird but I can't quite put my finger on it." Opal laughed but I paid her no mind. I left my room and went down to the basement-Opal had said that what I'd wanted to do, I'd have to start with the foundation.

Once in the basement, I started thinking and trying to feel for Caster's magic. Archer's skill and Noble Phantasms kind of just… came to me, like I'd gained his reflexes and muscle memory, and Berserker is just a rush of power and madness and euphoria so I can't really describe how I use her powers, but Caster...whoa, there it is. "Holy shit!"

"Language, Princess," Opal chided with a sigh.

"Opal, seriously," I said, "Caster can do so much stuff."

"Focus, Princess," Opal began, "remember what it was that you were trying to do. We can take the time to study Caster's magecraft later."

I heard Dad coming down the stairs. "Taylor, are you alright? You really need to stop experimenting down here without-" I got the impression that he was staring at me and turned to look at him.

"What?" I asked

"Are you aware," Dad began slowly, "that you have a long and fluffy tail?"

I looked behind me at said tail, fluffy and foxy as it was. "Well, that explains the weird feeling." The tail had been moving fine on its own but now that I was aware of it… seriously, how the? My ears twitched, and… then I realized that they weren't in the right place. I reached up to the top of my head and felt two pointy, fuzzy fox ears. The mirror Dad had brought down here, the first time I'd transformed, demonstrated that I had, in fact, become a foxgirl. "How was this not the first thing I noticed?"

"Who knows," Opal answered, "now since you're already in front of the mirror..."

"If it's so important I'll pose for you later," I said as I summoned forth some of Caster's paper talismans from my sleeves. "But seriously Opal, business before pleasure."

"Taylor," Dad asked, "what are you doing?"

"Upgrading the security system," I answered as I slapped a talisman down on the center of the floor.

"Is this still about last night?"

"Yes!" I shouted. When I'd gotten home last night and told dad about what Armsmaster said, he'd laughed off the idea of us being attacked in our house. Something about the house being far more secure than it looked, and the villains not being around for so long by being stupid enough to attack such a powerful cape in their home… I'm not that strong, am I? "Look, Dad, I'm scared. Opal told me about how magecraft can protect a place." Dad glared at the wand-turned-mirror. "Caster's witchcraft can do so much… I can't do the best protections without components we don't have and I'm pretty sure that kind of snake is extinct so I can't do the best one regardless, but a few charms and wards… Please?" I looked at him with the most pleading eyes I could manage.

After a moment of meeting my gaze, Dad looked down. "Fine. Just, don't go crazy with it."

I smiled. "Thank you."

With that said, I got back to work, placing a few more talismans on the walls and floors of the basement and then working just a touch of magic via a few principals of Japanese witchcraft and a few choice words that I couldn't quite understand. Witchcraft felt different from what I did with Opal. Now that I'm used to doing magical girl stuff with Opal for a while, I've sort of gotten a feel for what it felt like when mana was flowing through my body and when my "magic circuits" were in use, and then the magic is out there being worked into the shape I want. With Caster's witchcraft, it was like the entire spell was being done in my body and then just sort of poofing out fully finished. It was a weird feeling.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Dad grab something, some old knick-knack that he kept down here, but I was a bit too invested in what I was doing to pay him much mind. "Okay," I said, "that's done." I took a deep breath, working Caster's magic was more tiring than I'd expected to be. "Once… once I catch my breath, I'm going to have to put a few more talismans upstairs. One at each window, one at each door, and… Opal, do you think we'd need to put any on the load bearing walls?"

"Eventually, if we want maximum durability for the house," Opal replied, "but it's not a priority. When we're done placing seals on the windows I can show you how to set up a bounded field around the house tonight and that should be sufficient for now."

Dad seemed oddly uncomfortable for some reason but he didn't say anything or stop me from heading upstairs to secure the doors and windows. A few more talismans here or there and a bit of what I'm pretty sure is muttered Japanese and the house was as secure as I could get it without a bunch of expensive reagents and figuring out which of the house's walls were load bearing.

"Princess," Opal said once we'd placed the last talisman at my bedroom window, "the thought occurs to me that you've probably been seen out and about with your friend Lisa." My eyes widened. "If the risk to your loved ones is as great as you and that Armsmaster fellow think it is, then she might be at risk too."

Oh god. "Opal, we wouldn't be doing this if you'd just let me wear a mask!"

"Princess," Opal said, "please calm down. Magical girls don't wear masks. If I'd known how big a problem identity situations like this where, I may have made an exception, but… Something like this has never happened before. My sisters' wielders were fine going about maskless and, from what I've been told, the closest thing to this was one of their friends asking why Ruby's master was cosplaying at school. Actually, that's quite the amusing story. I'll share it with you later when things are less serious."

"Opal," I growled.

"Sorry. And I'm sorry about… this, but all we can do now is cover up our mistakes and make sure to protect your loved ones as best as we can." The mirror that Opal had become tilted. "Or we could preemptively destroy any and all threats to them with all the might of the Heroes and Gods of Legend. That would solve the problem pretty handily."

"Or people would go after Dad or Lisa because I 'destroyed' one of their friends. Look, let's… I'm sorry I snapped at you… I've got to call Lisa."

I went downstairs and found Dad back at the living room. He was looking at some crystal thing-the knick-knack he'd grabbed? "Dad, I need to to make a call." We didn't have cell phones in the house. Mom had died while texting and driving, and that had led to an unofficial ban on the devices in the house. "Something occurred to… I might have to ward another home."

"The Barnes?" Dad asked.

Oh crap. "N-no. Emma and I had a falling out back before high school started. We haven't really been close ever since. I don't think she's in danger." And I sure as hell wasn't telling her that I was a cape. Especially not one named Princess.

"Oh," Dad said as he put away the nick nack. "I'm sorry to hear that. You two used to be so close." And there's more salt on my barely healing wounds. "Does she know about the-"

"I don't think so," I lied, having caught what he was about to ask. "But I made another friend recently, and we've been seen out and about together, so if somebody finds out about who I am now they'd be more likely to go after her."

"Okay, well, you know where the phone is." As I turned and left I saw Dad briefly look at Opal.

After trying to decide, for a bit, how to hold the phone considering the altered position of my ears, but once I decided that I was overthinking it I just bit the bullet and dialed Lisa. "Hello?"

"Taylor?" Lisa said. "Look, this really isn't a good time."

"Lisa, It's important, and I don't think there's ever going to be a good time for this, and I don't think it's something I can explain over the phone, and-"

"That important?" She half-asked. "Alright, just… come over in about an hour."

"Okay," I said, "I'll um… see you then" I finished awkwardly. We exchanged goodbyes and hung up.

F/KLPT

Lisa lived in one of the nicer apartment complexes in town. It didn't exactly have a gate, but it was in a nice neighborhood and there was a tough looking guy in a chair sitting by the parking lot entrance. There wasn't really much to mention up until I got to Lisa's building and she buzzed me in. The walls were sterile, like the people who owned the building were a bit too thorough in trying to make the place seem like a safe and clean place to live, and I could smell some kind of cleaner so whoever was in charge of that had been through here recently.

When I got to Lisa's door, I knocked and she let me in. I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but whatever it was Lisa's apartment was a touch cozier than that. Furniture that looked nice, but was clearly comfortable and meant to be used. There were some nice pictures on the walls- a few paintings, a photo of a boy who looked kind of like Lisa, one of two older people-her parents, maybe? And one of Lisa with two boys-a dark-haired pretty boy and a handsome young black man who my eyes lingered upon.

"I can introduce you to Brian sometime if you'd like," Lisa said while gesturing to the young man in the picture, "now what is it that's so important?"

"Um… I'm not sure that there's a good way to say this, but… I'm...I-"

"Oh dear," came a certain noble lady-type voice from my hair. "Princess," Opal said as she floated out into the open, "the poor girl is going to think you're trying to come out to her-not that there's anything wrong with that, of course, but still. I told you we should have rehearsed."

"-a cape," I finished lamely.

"...so that's who you were talking to in the dressing room," Lisa said in what sounded like mild curiosity. She seemed otherwise unsurprised.

"That's it?" I asked. "Your new friend tells you she's a cape and..." I wasn't disappointed, per se, but still.

"I kind of suspected something was up with you," Lisa explained with a chuckle, "not necessarily this but still. So," she said more seriously, "I'm guessing that you're not just telling me this to be telling me this. I mean, if I'm wrong then I'm flattered you'd trust me enough to reveal your secret identity, but after earlier..."

"Well, since somebody," I glared at Opal, "won't let me wear a mask, I've recently been informed that there's a good chance that people could find out who I am and come after me or the people I care about, so..."

"Don't heroes and villains have rules about going after each other at home," Lisa asked, "or their friends and families?"

"The master of arms doesn't think so," Opal answered.

"Well, there's a little something I can do to keep people from getting you here," I explained, "it's not perfected but it'd give me peace of mind if I did what I could to keep you safe, you know, just in case something was to-."

"OooOOOoooHoo!" Opal suddenly exclaimed.

I turned and found her shuddering. Like, a lot. "Opal, what is it? Are you alright"

"Nothing to be concerned about," she answered quickly. The shuddering seemed to have stopped, so... "Just a sudden case of the willies, it's probably nothing."

I wasn't so sure, but Lisa said, "well, I'm not that concerned about someone getting me here, but if it'll make you feel better… As long as you're not like, putting booby traps in the drywall. I'll never get my deposit back if you do."

"Nothing like that," I said, "I'm magic, so I was just going to put up a few defensive spells."

"...Alright then."

"Opal?"

At my request, Opal deployed her handle and as I grasped her and made to trance she suddenly declared "Compact Full Open. Mirror World Circuits: Maximum Engage!" I had just enough time for my eyes to widen and try desperately to cover my chest and groin before I found myself nude in a white field of multicolored stars with Opal's mana flowing over my body in various ways and my hooker-princess dress popping into existence one bit at a time in such a way as to force me to uncover myself. Half a minute later, the change finished with Opal's declaration of "Transformation Complete: Kaleid Liner Prisma Princess!"

"Opal, what the hell!" I shouted with a glare at the stick in my hand.

"Proper magical girl etiquette," she replied, "dictates that when you transform for a friend you've just revealed yourself to, you use the full transformation."

"You didn't have to cover up," Lisa interjected, "you were glowing brightly enough that there was no way anyone could make out any details."

And then I started throttling Opal for not telling me that back when we did this the first time, to Lisa's laughter. "So," she said between guffaws, "you're a magical girl? Do you have rules you have to follow or are you one of the 'anything you can imagine within reason' types?"

"Little of both," I answered without taking attention from Opal. "By default, I'm mostly making energy constructs and blasting the crap out of stuff, but I've got these cards with specific abilities and Opal says I can do anything I imagine."

"Well, if you ever find yourself in need of ideas, I got the first two seasons of Bushido Magical Musashi in a collection of Aleph Import DVDs I got from a guy a few months ago." Opal laughed as Lisa said the name of what I assumed to be a magical girl anime. "I have a question though: that ship that got blown up at the beginning of January… That was you, wasn't it?"

My eye twitched. "That was an accident and nobody got hurt."

"Sorry, so what is it you want to do?"

I stopped throttling Opal and started looking through my card holster. Saber, Rider, Archer-there was Caster. I deposited the other three cards back to their resting place, stepped into a place in Lisa's living room with plenty of space, and held the Card outward. If Opal was so insistent on going the theatrical route... "Class Card Caster Install: Phantasm Summon!" I was engulfed by magic circles and mana and for the second time today I'd become Caster.

I'm not sure what Lisa had been expecting, but it apparently wasn't for me to turn into a foxgirl in Japanese formal wear. She looked so surprised and immediately rushed over to me and gave me a once-over. I started to get a bit uncomfortable around her third walk around. "Okay, Lisa, this is getting-" She pulled my tail. She just grabbed and yanked it and I gave off this high pitched squeaky "yip!" sound, completely against my will.

"It's real," Lisa said simply, as though in some kind of a trance.

"No shit Sherlock!" I quickly turned and wrapped the tail around myself before rubbing where she'd grabbed it. That hurt. "Don't go grabbing parts of other people's body."

"I'm sorry," she said, "it's just… it was so fluffy."

Opal laughed, but I paid her no mind. "It's fine, just don't do it again. Now," I summoned some of Caster's talismans, "Caster specializes in shapeshifting-which I haven't tried yet-and eastern style witchcraft. I can't do as much to your apartment as I did back home, but a few of these in key places and a few spells should keep you safe, at least while you're at home. I'll have to come back every so often to make sure they're still working, but..."

"Do I have to move the furniture or any pictures?" Lisa asked. I took a quick look around the apartment, and there wasn't anything in a particularly important location so I shook my head no.

I placed a Talisman on the living room floor-slid easily under a coffee table and out of sight, a few on each window, and one on the door. Then I started chanting Japanese words I still couldn't quite understand. More of them than I'd done at home-without a foundation, I had to be extra thorough to make sure the spells would stick. Lisa was paying close attention. She seemed so fascinated by the whole process.

"And done," I said and then took a deep breath, "you can cover them up if you have to, but be sure not to take them down or it'll break the spell."

"Okay," Lisa answered, "now what was it you were saying while you were chanting?"

"I have no idea," I answered, "I know what to do but I don't know why I have to do it that way or why it works, and the only thing I know of Japanese is that 'domo arigato' means 'thank you very much.' " And that was only because one of Dad's friends really likes Styx.

Lisa hummed. "Well, thank you for taking the time to make sure I was safe," she said, "I know a couple of people, who, if they were capes, would have probably left their civvie friends high and dry than trust them with a secret like this."

"Are you planning to blab?"

"Of course not," Lisa answered then crossed her heart, "promise. Now, um, I'd be careful using that… Card if you're planning to fight the Bad Boyz. I can't imagine Lung would take kindly to a white girl dressing like a fox spirit and casting 'spells' in Japanese she doesn't even understand."

"Yeah, that's probably something to keep in mind," I agreed, "besides, I'm not stupid enough to fight someone like Lung… Though if I did and somehow managed to take him down without dying, that'd give me mucho cred."

Lisa did not respond. "Princess," Opal interrupted, "never say that again. Ever."

"Yeah," Lisa added, "just... Don't." I grinned sheepishly. "So," she continued, "I was serious about that offer to introduce you to Brian."

"Can I think about it and get back to you later?"

F/KLPT

I'd spent the rest of the afternoon resting and relaxing after I'd finished with Lisa. Working Caster's witchcraft was a lot more exhausting than working magic with Opal. And something about Caster felt weird, even after I got used to the tail.

I was feeling fine by the evening though, and setting up that bounded field thing that Opal talked about hadn't been that hard, so when she mentioned that she'd sensed a Class Card I'd told dad about it and set out to get it. There were only two left, and the sooner we got this done the sooner we'd know if the Cards had something to do with the lack of mana on Earth Bet.

The Card was a bit outside of Brockton Bay proper, up in the mountains. I think it was technically in city limits, but it was like an entire other small city from the Bay, in addition to, you know, the mountains and wilderness. As I flew out to get it, I found myself being joined by another flyer.

"Hey, Princess!" the other airborne cape shouted, and I turned to see Glory Girl coming towards me.

"Um, hey," I replied lamely.

"You'll be happy to know that Ms. Wong and about six other girls were rescued the other night," she said, "so thanks again for your help with that thug."

"You're welcome," I said.

"So what are you doing," she said, "got a tip on something?"

"No, I'm just-"

"We're collecting a Class Card," Opal interrupted, "a very delicate errand that needs our complete attention so we cannot afford a distraction right now," Opal said, "so I'm sorry but we can't play with you tonight."

"Opal, you're being rude." Did she have to be so dismissive?

"Okay, I'm gonna ignore that: What's a Class Card?"

"Well, um… Imagine that there's some record of every hero and villain ever-like, going back to the very earliest recorded history." I started to explain, "and that record can be used to copy their powers. These cards can be used to use those power copies, but if you leave them alone they'll make a corrupted version of the hero or villain, and they can sometimes get out. Opal knows how to get to them, and even if they're not causing problems now it's not something we want to leave lying around."

"So… You're going to go fight some super strong ancient superhero so you can get their powers before some bad guy does or they get out and make a mess of things," Glory Girl sounded a bit incredulous. "Can I get in on that? It sounds like fun."

"Oh, Okay." That was-

"No," Opal interrupted.

"Opal, be nice. Things went well when Armsmaster helped us," I said, "so I don't see why she can't help."

"The master of arms is a trained professional and was already located where the Card was," Opal answered, "This… Girl whose name I didn't catch isn't much older than you."

"But Glory Girl is loads more experienced than I am." I countered, "and she can bench press a cement mixer. She'd be really nice to have around if this Card is another tough one."

"I don't want to have to explain all of this again,"

"Beat up guy, get card" Glory Girl interjected, "What's there to explain? Also, could you not talk about me like I'm not here?"

"Sorry," I gave a sheepish smile.

"Fine," Opal conceded, and I led Glory Girl to a wooded area, well outside the town, at the base of the mountains.

"Now, this is going to get a little bit… trippy," I said as I held Opal out and she began opening the way into the Mirror World. Glory Girl said nothing but looked down at the void and magic circles Opal created beneath us. She sort of stumbled a bit at the shift from the real world into the Mirror World. "Now," I said, "a lot of the cards aren't readily apparent when we first come in so keep your eyes open," I said. I held Opal out, ready to fire a prana cannon as soon as it was necessary as I began turning and looking around.

"So what kind of fight are we expecting?" Glory Girl asked, "will they like drop the card if you beat them hard enough or is this a 'to the death, they're not really people' kind of-"

I cut Glory Girl off when a dark figure suddenly manifested in front of me and, startled, I blasted the shit out of it. I couldn't even make out anything other than "dressed in dark clothes with a hood" before the servant faded away, leaving a card that said "Assassin" floating right there for me to grab it.

"Well," Glory Girl said, "that was anticlimactic."

"Yeah. Look, I'm sorry if I overhyped this," I said, "it's normally a lot more involved than that. They usually put up a lot more of a fight."

"Assassin is one of the weakest classes, Princess" Opal added.

"Eh, don't worry about it," Glory Girl said, "At least I got to see something-wha-urgk!"

I whirled in a panic and saw that a blood-soaked woman had driven a spear into Glory Girl's chest. As she pulled the spear back, Glory Girl hit the ground. Then the savage figure turned to me.