The general idea, most of the time, is to try and catch miasmas before they become an actual problem. Usually this means that they're caught pretty early, though is the occasional time when things go slightly awry. Still, the vast majority of the time, civilians have little to fear, even if they get caught in the miasma.

-Lieutenant Colonel Mina Mertens, 42nd Regiment, 11th Magical Division, 2nd Army Group of the Tigris

It is generally accepted as best practice for all recruiters to try and talk their recruit through the first few days of contracting. This has varying degrees of success, though it is worth noting that some of the most famous mages in history succeeded without mentorship.

-Major Tiffany Edwards, C Company, 11th Regiment, 3rd Magical Division, 1st Army Group of the Mekong

Getting to the Sinclairs' view point required a bus pod to transport all seven people. Emma and Anna had somehow gotten separated over the course of the trip. Anna became the focus of Mimori and Heather, the three of them discussing something intensely nerdy. Emma was talking to Sarah on a variety of topics, mostly stories from Sarah about her deployments. Mei and Kanae were off to the side, watching the view.

Out of the corner of her eye, Emma watched her sister carefully. The thing with the eyelash was worrying her. Anna had been gone a long time to the bathroom, and ever since the magical girls had decided to hang out with them for the evening, she had seemed to get more… sad wasn't even the proper word. She just seemed… down. It wasn't that obvious to an outsider, but the fact that Anna hadn't gone all glittery-eyed when the conversation had turned to military supply chains was rather telling.

"So, Sarah, I take it you're all on leave," said Emma. She'd have to ask Anna about it when they got to the view point, but for now she needed to be polite. "You'd be at the front otherwise, right?"

Sarah nodded. "Yes, this is the third combat tour for most of us," she confirmed. "Except for Mei, she's been around for a couple more years."

"So I guess you've all fought together for awhile then."

"Oh, no," said Sarah with a smile. "You're nomenclator probably says we're all from the 7th Ganges Magical Division, right?"

"Yeah," answered Emma, nodding.

"You see, Divisions are broken into Companies, which are then broken into Platoons," Sarah explained. "I'm from B Company, Mimori and Kanae are both from C, Mei is in A Company, and Heather is in D. We're all very busy, so talking to people outside your company is uncommon."

"Oh," said Emma. "I, uh, I guess I should have looked that up."

Sarah smiled but dismissed that with an airy wave. "You didn't know you didn't know. The only thing you can do is try and see what happens, right?"

Emma nodded. "So, um, how did you all meet, if you're not from the same unit?"

"Mei felt like visiting Earth and asked around until she got a decently sized group going," said Sarah. "From there, it was just deciding a destination, and what better place to visit than the hometown of the Mitakihara Four?"

Emma nodded. "I can see what you mean, but London's definitely better."

"You've been there before?"

"I was born there," said Emma, gazing up the tower they needed to climb to the top of. It was made to utilitarian standard, faced with polyglas broken only by the occasional wide balcony. It was just like the ones Emma had grown up around as a child in London, gazing in wonderment at something so incredibly tall. "I...I miss it a lot."

Sarah nodded, a wistful smile on her face as they waited for the elevator to reach ground level. "I was born in New Taipei, you know. It was the single largest city on Hulei-5. We had the best fried chicken there. It was always served in a spicy, tangy sauce we made out of the region's peppers. The architecture wasn't like here, since we didn't need to conserve space as much, so we had all sorts of shapes and colors."

"Sounds cool," said Emma, grinning appreciatively. "Do you visit often?"

"Hulei-5... Hulei-5 was razed to the ground a few years back," said Sarah, face falling. "I made my contract during the attack. The military was pulling out to reinforce Optatum, and Hulei-5 was deemed nonessential. I got pulled out by a Magical Division only a few minutes before an antimatter device incinerated New Taipei."

"That's terrible!" said Emma, horrified. "I'm- bloody hell, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

"Don't worry about it," sighed Sarah, giving Emma a reassuring smile. "I've had three years to get over it, and my family is as supportive as they can be. As far as contracts go, I'm lucky. My wish meant something, and my family is behind me all the way."

"Do… do most girls get bad wishes?"

"No, no, it's not like that," said Sarah. "It's just that not all incubators have a good understanding of human nature. I'd tell you more but, you know, secrets."

"Ah," said Emma. She and Sarah fell silent for the remainder of the trip to the top floor, both wrapped up in their own thoughts. Sensing the mood, the others gave them their space and talked amongst themselves.

It seemed that becoming a magical girl couldn't be much worse than joining the military. At least, it seemed that way to Emma. There was fighting, there was death, and the statistics were probably terrible. But the statistics for a freshly trained Private in the Army were easy to find, and the attrition rate wasn't exactly good, anyway. Depending on how you were deployed, 1 in 3 soldiers died in a given offensive on the front lines of the Contact War. The sheer weight of firepower a squid offensive could leverage was only ever barely held back by human forces, and they paid for that with lives.

Sure, technically speaking, one hundred years from now, she'd have lived a "full life", but what exactly would that entail? Analyzing supply chains? That thought made Emma want to vomit. Football? She was certainly out of shape by now, and she wasn't sure how much of her old skill she retained. There were some things implants couldn't do, and civilian level ones didn't let you increase your speed and strength effortlessly like military ones could. She would need to work back to her previous level, and by then she'd be behind...

Emma grunted in annoyance and turned back from the polyglas wall that surrounded the elevator.

"What're you guys talking about?" asked Emma, moving to stand beside Mimori.

"Ah, we were just discussing about the differences between Samsara and Earth," answered Heather. "Caledonia and Mitakihara City, specifically."

"Caledonia's the capital of Samsara, right?" asked Emma.

"That's right," said Heather as the elevator doors opened with a ding on the 800th floor. "As an example, most of the buildings aren't more than 300 stories tall."

"Really? I'd have thought a planet like Samsara..?"

"Eh, the population's only something like three-and-a-half billion," answered Heather, as they stepped onto the roof. The sun was about an hour from setting, its yellowing light casting the greenspace and benches on the roof into shades of orange. "So if you're following standard Governance building philosophy, you can pack most of that into cities with three hundred story apartment complexes, right?"

Emma thought about it for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, because the packing density of a building's related to demand. Since demand isn't that high you can fit the same number into more buildings with less stories or vice versa."

"See, I told you that Logistics would be useful eventually," said Anna dryly. "And you said that you'd never get to apply it until you were fifty."

Emma almost stopped in alarm to ask what was wrong. Anna almost never spoke in that tone. Before she could, though: "You don't seem the type to go into something like logistics," said Heather.

"I'm not," said Emma shortly, before turning for Anna. Yet again, though:

"Well then why are you?" asked Heather,

"My parents disapproved of football as a career," said Emma.

"Oh. That's it?"

"Does there need to be anything else?"

"Well, usually there's some other factor," said Heather. "I mean, Mimori was supposed to go into international affairs, I think, before she got contracted."

"My options were either fight with my parents every single day or give up," said Emma flatly. "They're persistent and convinced they're right. What am I supposed to do?"

"I… well, I guess there's not much."

"Exactly," said Emma perfunctorily before she hurried after Anna, quickly catching up. "Anna, are you alright?"

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine," said Anna with a sigh and a nod. A forced smile appeared on her face. "This pretty cool, isn't it? Who figured we'd get to meet five magical girls at once?"

"It's a little surreal," agreed Emma, turning to lean her head on her hands. The northeast corner of the building overlooked a street of Governance-affiliated offices. Most of them appeared to be getting ready to end the day, with a steadily increasing rate of people. "But, are you sure you're alright? It looked like you were crying earlier."

"I'm fine, really," said Anna. "It's just, it looks like you'll be leaving soon."

Emma turned to look at her sister and blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"You are thinking about it, right? Joining the military?"

"In a hundred years or so, sure, but it's not like I can do that right now."

Anna returned the look with a steady gaze. She seemed resigned. "Everyone who knows you knows that you're not happy here."

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"Magical girls showing up out of nowhere, hanging out with the two of us and acting like they're no different from the other girls at school? Come on, Emma, you're smarter than this. You can see where this is going."

Emma wrinkled her brow and leaned back, looking at her sister with incredulity. "You're not suggesting..."

"I am."

"But why?"

"Does anyone ever know?" asked Anna with a shrug, looking back out at the office building, where the flow of people had gathered to its maximum.

Emma looked away from the street towards the cluster of magical girls to their right. Mimori was now arguing with Heather about something, with the ponytailed girl returning fire from a textbook she was looking up. She didn't see anything there that suggested that anything was going on. It was just a group of friends, hanging out. Surely there would be more signs, if Anna was right.

"I'm not sure you're correct," said Emma, turning back to her sister. "I think you're thinking too much about it."

"But wouldn't it be a perfect opportunity?" asked Anna, gesturing at the magical girls. "A big show to convince you of the validity of your choice, followed by a celebration with some girls you're already friends with?"

"You're being way too suspicious about this," said Emma resolutely, shaking her head. This was what she'd gotten worried over? Her sister overthinking things? "Let's just enjoy the moment. You're right, I'd join the military earlier if I could, and if it's through a contract, then at least I'll get added benefits. Whatever is going to happen is going to happen, after all."

"Very wise, Emma," said a voice in both their heads, causing both Sinclairs to jump. "You too, Anna, although I hope I can persuade you to making a contract this evening."

A furry white creature jumped up onto the railing. A red ring on its back could be seen briefly, before it turned to face them. A long tail and ears, the latter encircled by golden rings, trailed behind it as red eyes looked up at the two sisters.

Anna blinked at the Incubator, then turned to Emma. With a sigh and a shake of her head, she folded her arms.

"This is where I say 'I told you so'."

"Now don't be rude, Anna" chided the Incubator, dipping its head slightly. "It's not polite to hold things like this over your sibling's head."

Emma stared in shock at what had manifested in front of her.

"You... you're real," she said, reaching out with one hand and gently poking the Incubator in the cheek.

"Yes, I'm very real," the Incubator replied, nuzzling the finger gently in response. "I'm sure I don't need to tell you why I'm here."

"No, I... I gathered."

"Well then, do either of you have a wish?" asked the Incubator, tilting its head inquiringly. "You of course know that I can grant most anything."

"I-I don't, I mean I never thought that-," stuttered Emma, mind whirling as she tried to comprehend just what was happening. Anna had been right? How could she have known? And for that matter, she had hardly seemed surprised.

"Anna, how long did you-?"

"Didn't I say? I've seen this coming from a long ways away," sighed Anna, rubbing at her eyes.

"Here," said Sarah, appearing at Anna's shoulder with a handkerchief, causing the girl to start. "Sorry, combat training. It's habitual by now."

"It's alright," said Anna, dabbing at her eyes. "Ugh… I won't say anything to try and persuade you, Emma. Do what you think is right."

"Hey now, I'm not going to do something that'll make you cry like this," said Emma. "You get some sort of say in this. Besides, you can see it too, why don't you make a contract?"

"Heh, that's a really good question," said Anna. "I guess I just don't think my wish is going to be as important as yours, that's all."

"What do you mean 'not as important'?"

"Just, don't worry about it," said Anna sharply. She sighed, pulling herself together and sniffling. "I… I'm sure the Incubator will tell you, it's not a choice to be made with the influence of others."

"This is true," said the Incubator. "We, that is, we Incubators, try to keep outside biases from influencing contractee decisions."

"See?"

"I- sure. Maybe. I- I don't know," said Emma, still reeling. "What- what would I even wish for?"

"That's not something we can really help you on," said Sarah, pulling Anna behind her and withdrawing. "We'll give you some space to think, alright? Make sure your wish is a good one."

"Tell me what your wish is, if you contract," added Anna. "Alright?"

Emma nodded. "A-alright," she said, as Sarah and Anna walked back to the others. Anna was wiping her eyes, muttering something about waiting being the worst part.

"It's not an easy decision," said the Incubator. giving Emma a look that seemed to express centuries of understanding. "I've contracted many girls in my time on Earth, and very few were happy to make a spontaneous wish and jump into the contract."

"How long have you been here?" asked Emma, avoiding the topic.

The Incubator seemed to sigh, but humored Emma's question. "I have been here ever since the girls you know as the Mitakihara Four contracted. Indeed, I was in charge of their contracts."

"Wait, so you're-?"

"Yes, I am called Kyuubey," said the Incubator. "Though my kind would prefer not to take these names, it appears that our initial attempts to curry favor have stuck."

"Curry favor?"

"Is this really the time?" asked Kyuubey. "Ms. Sinclair, while I appreciate your interest, you really ought to decide whether or not you will contract."

"Why me?" asked Emma. She glanced to her sister as the latter talked quietly with the magical girls. "She's being brave about it, but it's pretty obvious that Anna would rather I stay here than go. I don't want to make her cry."

"That is a question that is difficult to answer," said Kyuubey, shifting on the railing restlessly. "The best I can say is that your potential is tied to your discontent with life. You find it all terribly dull, don't you?"

"That's true," said Emma, looking up at the late evening sky. Streaks of cloud, stained magenta, purple, orange, and yellow, sheeted the sky in rolling waves. Beyond was the upper atmosphere, then the vacuum of space. And from there, anywhere in the galaxy could eventually be reached with an FTL drive. There was so much potential. Anything out there had to be better than here.

"Your parents are also absent, and not precisely on good terms with you," continued Kyuubey. "You have one friend in Mitakihara, and both she and your sister are all expecting you to leave when you are of age, anyway. What ties do you have?"

"Expecting is not the same as accepting," said Emma, frowning and looking back to Anna. "These two years haven't been all that kind. Back in London, we at least had our own ways of life. Now, though, our lives are the same. You can't expect me to accept that Anna will be alright on her own."

"Ah, you misunderstand how the system works, these days," said Kyuubey with a shake of its head. "It's true that back when the Mahou Shoujo Youkai was not in existence, your concerns would be valid, and I perhaps would have left you to your lives. But now, magical girls take care of their own, and that extends to family members. Aside from the more public benefits, the MSY makes sure that they get the support they need to cope. Rest assured that Anna will not be abandoned when you leave."

"I.. alright." Emma took a deep breath, trusting Kyuubey to his word. She hadn't really done any research, and there was no time to do so now. But Sarah and Mei, girls like them… she trusted them, despite the little time she'd had to get to know them. The MSY, it was something like a huge magical girl union, wasn't it? And unions, from what she'd learned about history, usually didn't screw over their members. "Alright. I'll make a contract."

"Well then, Emma Sinclair," said Kyuubey, the sunlight striking him from the side and casting one eye into shadow. Both eyes glowed in the darkening light, fixing Emma in their gaze. "With what wish will your soul gem shine?"

Emma closed her eyes. She hadn't been sure what she wanted. She certainly didn't know what she wanted now. But maybe it wasn't about what she wanted, but what she could be? After all, making a contract and becoming a magical girl was not something you could take back. If you made a contract, then you had to follow through. Especially in war, where anything less than that would get you killed. Yes, that was something that made sense to her, something that she could hold close to her heart and carry forward for the rest of her life.

Emma opened her eyes, then said the most important words she would every say.

"I wish that I would make the best out of my life. I wish to not waste this opportunity."

Kyuubey nodded, its ears stretching forward.

"Wish granted," he pronounced, a light gathering in the center of Emma's chest, growing in intensity and kicking up a sudden wind. "Your soul has successfully reduced entropy."

There was a blinding pain that made Emma gasp. Along every nerve ending, every capillary, every muscle fiber, bright fire seemed to erupt, burning her from the inside out with the all consuming and irreducible force of a hurricane, ripping up and out from the depths of her body even as it fell into dust and ash and was swept aside...

And then suddenly, it was over, and Emma was whole and unhurt, standing exactly where she had been before, her soul gem glowing before her eyes.

"Take it," ordered Kyuubey, eyes closed in something almost like benediction. "It is your destiny."

With trembling fingers, Emma reached out and grasped the shining blue gem, wrapped in gold filigree and topped with a small, fluted knob. Her soul gem was warm to the touch, pulsating gently with her heartbeat. Idly, Emma noted that the patrol was passing by, the bright colors flashing in the gathering darkness.

She'd be joining them soon. Maybe not tonight, but chances were they'd want her to try a patrol before she left, to make sure she wasn't completely clueless at training.

Jeez, training. The war. Emma took a deep breath to calm herself as her mind whirled at the implications of what she'd just done.

"Hey, Emma, you alright?" asked Heather, stepping up behind her. "That was one hell of a wish, by the- whoa now, easy, easy…"

Emma's knees had abruptly decided to stop working. "Ah, sorry, sorry," she said sheepishly, getting her feet underneath her quickly. "I guess the weight of what just happened hit me all at once. Thanks for the save."

"Don't mention it," said Heather, letting her go. "Anyway, like I said, that was one hell of a wish. It's supposed to be a private thing, but, you know, magical ears."

"Yeah, yeah, that was really well done!" said Mimori, bounding over energetically. "Man, if only I coulda pulled that off when I contracted. You were super cool about it too, no stuttering or nothing!"

"Congratulations," said Kanae simply, nodding as she came over. "Well, hopefully."

"Don't be a downer, Kanae," said Mei, rolling her eyes. "It's true that some girls regret contracting, but you don't seem like one of them. Welcome to the fold, as it were, Emma. If you want, you can get a mentor, usually the girl who witnesses your wish. Technically speaking, that's all of us here, but Mimori's not really the mentoring type-,"

"Nope!" chirped Mimori.

"-Heather and Kanae are both in the Shock Battalions and aren't allowed for a few more deployments-,"

Heather and Kanae both shrugged. It was what it was, apparently.

"-and I've already got a girl I'm mentoring," finished Mei. "That leaves Sarah."

"Did someone call?" said the curly haired mage. Stepping forward, she curtsied with the edges of her jacket. "Emma Sinclair, if you'll have me, I would humbly request to be your mentor."

"Sure, but, aren't I supposed to ask you?" said Emma weakly. "I mean…."

"Well, technically speaking, yes," said Mei. "But screw ceremony. We're all happy with the arrangement, right? Right. Here, check it out."

A view window opened in Emma's field of vision, several lines of text upon it. Evidently, judging from the small tag along the side, it had been forwarded from Mei's implants.

Emma Sinclair (it said), Magical Girl, Second Lieutenant. Classification: unknown, Immediate Commanding Officer: Captain Mei Zhou, Primary Mentor (optional): First Lieutenant Sarah Johansen.

"Oh. Cool," said Emma, blinking away the window. "I.. I can do that now?"

"You mean share things mentally?" said Mei. "Yeah, it's a new feature. Comes with getting inducted into the military. But hey, we can get you caught up in a bit. Don't you have someone to talk to right now?"

Emma blinked, then started guiltily as she saw Anna standing off to the side, staring off at the horizon where the sun had set. Kyuubey had changed positions and was perched on her shoulder. They appeared to be having a conversation.

"Right," said Emma, nodding to the assembled girls. "Thanks for the help. Give us a moment, will you?"

"Absolutely," said Mei, shepherding all but Sarah away towards the elevator. "We'll meet you a floor down, alright?"

"Yeah," answered Emma. She turned to Sarah. "I guess you're my mentor now. What should I say?"

Sarah sighed and pulled out more handkerchiefs from her pocket. "You know Anna. You know her motivations and her desires. You'll need to stay strong, and hold your conviction close to you. Remember that she supported this decision, and that she will continue supporting you. She loves you very much, Emma."

"Y-yeah," said Emma, choking up slightly. The implications, the possibility of her death, leaving Anna behind… "I know." She took a deep breath. "T-thanks. I can take it from here."

"I believe in you, Emma" said Sarah, handing Emma the handkerchiefs. With an encouraging pat on the shoulder, Sarah left and called the elevator, joining the others a floor down.

Emma looked down at her hands, her soul gem having reformed into a ring while she wasn't paying attention. One fingernail had a blue vortex atop it, swirling inwards towards the center of the nail. With an effort, she stopped herself from tying the handkerchiefs into knots and made her way to Anna's side.

"Jeez, was I ever this slow when I first contracted?" asked Mimori over telepathy, sprawled out on a bench. "Get on with it, already, it's not that big a deal…."

"Give them their space," said Mei, in the same medium. "It's obvious they're close. Unusual for siblings."

"It depends," said Sarah, sitting demurely on a bench with her legs crossed and hands folded in her lap. "My relationship with my brother is perfectly friendly, for example."

"Yeah, and that one girl in C Company is happy that her family's cut ties with her for being a lesbian, so."

"She's an unusual case," countered Sarah. "In general, it's important to make sure each contractee's situation with their family is as good as it can get for them. Nobody needs that sort of thing hanging over their heads."

"Look, I'm just saying-," began Mimori, but:

"Oh, for the love of the Goddess, can we not talk about this?" thought Heather. "Let's just get Emma up to speed on the basics, then go watch that movie we were planning on. We can worry about metaphysical concepts later."

"She has a point," agreed Sarah, nodding in Heather's direction. "I can take care of it, and I'll ask for help if I'm not getting through, alright?"

The group nodded, falling silent. A moment later, the elevator dinged.

"How was it?" asked Sarah out loud. She glanced at Emma's hand, where the handkerchief were wrinkled and damp. "Many tears all around, I see."

"Just a little too much nostalgia," reassured Emma. "And some excessively morbid thinking on Anna's part."

"But we're ready to go to whatever you guys want do next," continued Anna. "Here, Sarah, your handkerchiefs."

"Thank you," said Sarah, folding them up neatly and placing them back in her various pockets. "We were just talking about our plans for the evening, actually. If you're up to it, how do you feel about getting some basic orientation business out of the way?"

"I'm alright with that," said Emma. "Anna, how about you?"

"Whatever you want is fine," said Anna. "I'll be off to the side, out of your way."

"Actually, why don't you stand with us," said Mei. "It'll be safer, I think."

"Do you really think so?"

"Yes, it's usually…"

"In any case, let's get started," said Sarah briskly. "Ladies," she said to the girls behind them. "If you have any tips, don't be shy."

"Don't worry, we'll be sure to tell you if you're screwing it up," said Kanae deadpan.

Sarah restrained the urge to roll her eyes and turned back to Emma. "Anyway," said Sarah, turning her back to the laughter at Kanae's comment. "Why don't you transform first, so we can see how you're kitted out? It's as easy as thinking."

"So… like this?" asked Emma, holding out her hand. She hadn't even finished the question before blue light rippled out of her soul gem, whipping across her body like wind breaking over a rock. When it was over, Emma had exchanged her clothes for a robe-based outfit, the lower hem trimmed back to the knee. While the top of the robes remained like their traditional counterparts, albeit slimmed to be more form fitting and with holes that showed her shoulders, the skirt had been cut into three sections.

At the front and back, the skirt dropped straight down, like a sash, and ended in a triangular cut like the end of a men's dress tie. It was wider at the back than at the front. The sides wrapped around behind the sash-like parts, cut at an angle so that they swept up and left her legs free to move. The robes' base color was white and dyed crimson along the edges of the cuts and the top of the arms and shoulders. The sashes had more dye than the skirt and arms.

The outfit was supplemented by a cuirass and two quarter-skirts of armor, tied around Emma's waist. Flexing her hands, Emma found that she was also wearing gloves of fine, grippy leather. A moment later, she realized that she had boots that came up to her knees, made of the same material but with a heavy sole, and brass fittings for the laces. Finally, she felt a weight on her right ear, and reached up to feel her soul gem shaped into a long earring, with beads and a tassel of crimson trailing down and onto her shoulder.

"Very nice," said Sarah, looking Emma up and down. "I'm almost envious, you look like some sort of medieval assassin."

"Maybe from a sim or something," said Emma, twisting around to examine more of herself. "I kinda feel like a dork in this. At least your clothing's, you know, normal and stuff."

"Don't feel too bad, Mimori's got a sparkly deal with miscellaneous unnecessary ruffles," confided Sarah. "It's really quite ridiculous, but she gets very impressive illusionary powers, so I guess it evens out."

"Hey, it's not that bad!" protested Mimori.

"No, it really is," countered Kanae with a smile. The two immediately got into something of a shouting match, with Mei and Heather not-so-subtly egging them on.

"Does that happen a lot?" asked Emma.

"Apparently yes," said Sarah, raising an eyebrow at the two bickering girls before turning back to her charge. "Let's see what your main power is next."

"The same way as I transformed?"

"That's correct," said Sarah with a smile. "Very good thinking, Emma, now let's see what you can do."

Emma took a deep breath and held out her right hand. The idea flickered into her mind like the answer to a test question she'd studied for.

"Emma wants a big boom," she said with a grin, a football-sized sphere howling into place on her palm. The outer shell consisted of finely spun fabric of clouds, pressing against her palm angrily as they tried to escape the grasp of the swirling vortex in the center of the ball.

Instinctively, Emma lofted the ball high in the air, then leapt after it. As the ball reached the apex of its trajectory, Emma twisted in midair to face the wall. Keeping her eyes on the sphere, she now rotated backwards, pulling one leg up to get just enough air to stay level with the ball, then swinging her opposite leg up and over to send the sphere hurtling downwards into a cluster of bushes.

There was a brief rushing noise of air being sucked into a vacuum, followed by the longest fraction of a second of silence Emma had ever heard.

The concussive wave that blasted out right after didn't even make her flinch as she flipped herself back over and landed in a crouch on the ground, wide grin splitting her face.

"Hell yes!" she cheered, pumping a fist in the air as fragments of plant matter rained down. "And it's a scissors kick from Emma Sinclair for the win!"

"A little warning would be nice!" said Heather sharply, everyone having ducked under a barrier generated by Mei. The impact of the vortex sphere had been much closer to them than it had been to Emma and Sarah.

"And perhaps a little forethought, hm?" said Sarah with a raised eyebrow as she reappeared at Emma's shoulder. "You've completely destroyed a perfectly good set of bushes, you know."

"Ah, sorry," said Emma sheepishly. Her football of boom had completely torn apart the cluster of bushes she'd kicked it into, cratering out the fixture that held soil and plant in place. Torn, in this case, was quite literal, as even a cursory examination of what remained showed deep gouges and rips from what was apparently wind rushing fast enough to stop caring about what was in its way.

"Still, I do have to admit, that was quite impressive," conceded Sarah after a moment, breaking into a smile as she shook her head. "You're going to be a force on the battlefield, that's for sure, and you've got a knack for aerial maneuver that'll prove useful."

"Aerial maneuver?" asked Emma. "Was that what that was? I just figured becoming a magical girl gave you better fine motor skills."

"No, a lot of it is your magic helping you along," explained Sarah. "A lot of it is instinctual, but if you consciously think about it, it's possible to get from the roof to the ground in about twenty seconds. Falling with style, as it were."

Emma looked out the polyglas windows, splattered now with fragments of plant and earth. That was really possible now? Maybe if she jumped to there, then there, and then-

"Don't even think about it, you'll get the training for it later," said Sarah, calling Emma's attention back to her. "For now, stick to trying to keep up with the others during a patrol, and you'll be doing well. Let's see what weapons you have."

"And tell us before you try and use them!" said Mei, before Emma could summon her primary weapon. "If I need to defend myself again, I'd rather be prepared for it."

"I, oh, sorry. Sure thing," said Emma with a nod. "Alright, here goes then." She flicked a hand out and summoned a halberd with a thought, grinning at the seven foot long, polished wooden shaft and the surprisingly small and light ax head at the end. This was combined with a long metal point at the end of the shaft, allowing her to spear as well as hack, and a long, gently curved spike on the reverse of the ax head. "Hehe, awesome!"

"Careful now," said Sarah as Emma swung it around in an arc, twisted and tossed it upwards in a high loop, caught it, and spun it back down to the ground, where she flipped it upright and planted it point upwards. "Don't let it go to your head. You should know the basics of fighting with it, but don't get careless. It's still a weapon, not a toy."

"I know, I know," said Emma, still looking at her halberd with an admiring gaze. "But man, does it feel good to use it."

"Jeez, you're such a jock," huffed Anna. She came over to examine her sister's weaponry. "You were just like this when we were younger, going on and on about the new football strategy you were planning."

"Ah, you played football as a child?" asked Sarah. "Were you planning on pursuing that as a goal?"

"I was, until we moved to Mitakihara," said Emma with a nod. "I've been keeping up with the literature though, and Anna and I play unguided chess as much as we can."

"Interesting," said Sarah, making a note for herself. "Well, in any case, there's nothing more for us to do here," said Sarah, dismissing her transformation. "Sparring is going to damage this place more than you already have."

"Alright then." Emma canceled her transformation as well, the halberd dissolving into bright motes of light as her soul gem reappeared on her finger. "Should I go home and tell my parents? They'll be home soon."

"It's probably best to do that sooner rather than later," said Sarah with a nod and a commiserating smile. "We'll drop the others off where we're staying and then go to your home."

Emma sighed. "Yeah. Let's get this over with."