~February 09, 2010~

"…mmph…" Sarah mumbled groggily as she slowly opened her eyes and saw a very familiar cream-colored ceiling staring back at her. She stared at the ceiling for a moment longer before she remembered what had happened. She quickly threw the covers off of herself and ran her hands up and down her body only to realize that it was her normal body…her normal male body. She felt herself start shaking as she started talking to herself. "It was just a dream, Sarah. It was just a dream. Just a dream. Just a dream." She began crying, but she didn't know why. At least…not for sure. Part of her thought that it was relief over those creatures in the darkness not being real. Another part though thought that it was sorrow over the magical girl part not being real. A chance to have the body that she felt like she should have been born with and it was nothing but a damn dream.

"Sarah? Why are you crying?"

She felt her breath hitch in her throat at the sound of that voice and saw Cypher staring at her from the chair in front of her computer. "You…then everything–"

"Yes, it was real. You are a magical girl, Sarah Anderson."

"What…what happened to us yesterday?"

"You all fainted after your fight yesterday. I transported each of your bodies back home so that you would be safe until morning and would not rouse suspicions among your families."

Sarah glanced down at her hands at that. "Cypher?"

"Yes?"

"Why do I look like me again?"

"As I said yesterday, the transformed state that each of you were in is the fighting form of a magical girl. I said specifically that those forms could be thought of as uniforms. When you fell unconscious yesterday, you returned to your normal form. Your body could no longer hold the form of a magical girl at that point."

"…how can I get it back?" she asked although she had a feeling that it sounded more like a plea. She was even more certain that it had come out as a plea when she saw what looked like Cypher's imitation of a human smile.

"Feel under your shirt."

Sarah put one of her hands down the top of her shirt and touched something cold. She grabbed the object with her fingers and pulled it out from underneath her shirt and felt her eyes widen as she looked at it. It was some kind of amulet with a ruby embedded in the center with writing all around it although she didn't have a clue what it said. After a moment, she noticed the loop of leather that acted as a chain just as Cypher began to speak again.

"Now, all you have to do is focus on the jewel embedded in the amulet. Focus your attention on it and feel the energy inside it. Feel it tickle the tips of your fingers."

Sarah did what she was told and began to focus on the jewel. After a few moments, she began to feel her surroundings become distant to her as if all that existed was just her and the power inside the jewel. She felt the energy leaking from the jewel and had to keep herself from giggling as it brushed against her fingers.

"Now, grab ahold of the energy. Grab it and don't let go."

She suddenly clenched her hand tighter around the amulet and she felt the fiery pain from yesterday again, but this time it suddenly froze before it could even begin to hurt her. Just like yesterday though, she could still feel it although this time it felt almost kind of comforting in a strange way.

"Now, pull your attention back from the jewel. Release your grip on the jewel, but don't let go of the energy."

Sarah slowly let go of the amulet and felt it drop to her chest. As she did so, she felt her surroundings suddenly come alive to her. The air, the feel of the bed against her back, the light coming through the window–to her, it felt like her senses being reborn.

"Okay, now look down."

Sarah did so and couldn't help but begin crying tears of what she presumed to be joy as she saw the clothes and body that she had seen yesterday. After a few moments, she was able to finally stop crying and undid the ribbons that held her hair up, causing the twin tails to fall down into a waterfall of hair that covered her body down to her hips. She ran her hands through the long locks before glancing down at the bustier and skirt, knowing from what she had looked at on the net, exactly what was underneath them.

"John! Are you up yet?"

"Oh shit…" she mumbled as she heard her dad's voice. "Yea…yeah! I'm up! Just getting ready to head to school!" she finally managed to yell back after a few moments. With that done, she listened for footsteps and was glad when she didn't hear any outside her room. She glanced down at herself and realized that no matter how much she wanted to remain as she was right now that she had to get ready for school. "Cypher?"

"Just let go of the energy."

Sarah nodded her thanks and saw the clothes, the hair, and the body swapped for her normal self in a quick flash of light. She felt her hands begin to shake again and tried to keep them steady as she told herself that she could make it through the rest of the day as John yet again like always. She slowly got off of the bed and made her way to her closet before grabbing a random t-shirt and pair of blue jeans. As she began to take off her clothes though, she froze as she finally realized that Cypher was still there in her computer chair.

"Do you want me to leave while you change?"

Sarah shook her head. "No, I just…could you maybe just look away? I mean, at least until I'm done?"

"Of course."

"Thank you," Sarah replied as she stripped off her clothes and began to pull on her new ones before a thought came to her mind. "Cypher?"

"Yes?"

"Yesterday and today…you keep calling me Sarah. Why?" she asked and could have sworn that she could feel Cypher smiling even though she could only see his back.

"Because it is your name, is it not? If you wish though, I could instead call you by the name the people of this world know you as…John."

Sarah bit her lip at the way her male name rolled off his tongue and had to force herself to focus on zipping up her blue jeans as she mumbled under her breath, "I don't want to be called John."

"Then I will refer to you as Sarah."

Sarah nodded as she finally finished changing clothes and headed into the bathroom at the far side of her room. As she went to work on brushing her teeth as well as the rest of her morning routine, she heard Cypher talking again.

"In regards to your question a minute ago, Sarah, you yourself revealed your name. Before yesterday, I had been following each of you to determine whether your essence was strong enough to handle the duties of a magical girl. And you, Sarah, have a tendency to speak your name over and over when you believe yourself to be alone."

"Essence?" she asked, subconsciously feeling her body freeze up at his words about 'following' each of them without any of them knowing.

"Inner strength. Determination. Willpower. Do you understand these concepts?"

"Um, yeah, I suppose so."

"Good. Then you can think of essence as being a physical manifestation of those concepts. The pendant that you now wear is a conduit for your essence to flow into the jewel and mix with the energy there that allows a physical transformation into your form as a magical girl."

"Okay, I think that I understand," Sarah said as she left the bathroom and noticed that Cypher still had his back turned to her, "and, um, feel free to turn back around if you want."

"Good."

With that one word, Sarah watched as Cypher jumped down from the chair and walked slowly towards her. "Um, where are you going?" she asked, although she had a feeling that she knew exactly where he was planning on going.

"To your destination. School. Academy, as you call it."

"Why?"

"Because your fellow magical girls will be there. I need to discuss things with them as I have with you and explain what I require of each of you. And do not worry, no one else will notice my presence beyond you, Nicole, and Alice. My very existence is masked to those whose essence is anchored and locked deep inside their minds."

"Okay," Sarah mumbled as she left her room and began to head downstairs so that she could grab her backpack and her shoes before heading off for school.