Chapter 8: The Fun and Games of a Magical Girl
"Tra-la-lu-lu-la~" The spry and whimsical Selina trots through the halls of her school bright and early in the morning.
Free to her own devices for the time being, she curiously pokes her head around for something to do.
She has no interest in sports, or gymnastics. The library is such a daunting labyrinth of options for her to pick and choose from. And the other facilities offer little interest either.
She ultimately wanders into the computer room where a few digital artists are working, and other students are wrapping up citing sources for their homework.
She, however, dramatically sneaks over to a corner computer and inserts a USB stashed inside of her blouse.
With a beaming smile she rapidly taps away at the keyboard to continue writing a story, a grand epic about a magical girl with a so-so familiar and abraca-mazing name: Selina Perlwhite.
In today's exploits, the amazing magical girl is on a quest to quell an icy volcano with the aid of the very wise but diminutive Lei.
But she ran into that so dastardly problem that plagues all writers.
"Oh goodness! I forgot where I was going with this…!" So with a panicked gasp, a few knocks to the noggin, and a brief stress-induced expression, Selina whisked her USB away from the computer and trotted out on a quest to reclaim her brilliant ideas.
"Oh wondrous words of mine, through what source did thy inspiration strike?" Selina's venture saw her wandering out to the schoolyard, where sweaty boys and girls alike were running track and taking in the delightful fall air.
A quick blustery walk saw Selina approaching the fence, where the master of mischief herself, Violet, laid upside-down on the fence with the help of her shoes.
Her shirt bundled into a wrinkled heap against her…rather generous chest now that she noticed. Not comparable to the likes of Erin, a far cry from it in fact, but certainly-
"Hey, magical girl, wassup?" Violet's carefree greeting caused Selina to blush free from her wandering mind.
Then, with a smile as complimentary as a rainbow on a sunny day, she clutched her hands close to her chest and said, "Greetings, my fellow crusader! What peril finds you this lovely morning?"
Violet laughed and played along with her tone, "'Tis a peril of my own making! I wanted to see if I could do an ab crunch while upside-down!"
Violet tucked her hands behind her head and tried lifting, but with a heavy grunt she flopped back down and looked a little dizzy.
"Is it working?" Selina asked.
"They make this look easy on TV…" Violet mumbled.
She then glanced back and put a heavy emphasis of trust in her voice, "Hey Selina, do me a favor. Grab my back and legs and help me down from here."
"It shall be done!" Selina enthusiastically marched over and grabbed hold of her friend, but upon removing her from the fence Selina had to grunt a lot to lift her gently to the ground.
Once it was over Violet sprung up and slapped Selina on the shoulder as thanks, "Good work!"
Selina rose while rubbing her back, howling with the ache, "O-Oh my goodness, I am not used to such…labor."
Violet clicked her tongue and reached out, "Oh crud! Sorry!"
Selina forced her posture upright with a crack from her back and a squeal from within, "'T-Tis fine!"
"Ha ha, maybe I need to teach you how to do squats!" Violet jokes.
Selina shook her head and pumped her fists up earnestly, "I am most displeased with that vegetable of the gourd variety!"
"Not squash you dingus, squats!"
"Aaaaah, of course. My apologies. I find my mind…fluttering around like an aimless butterfly at times," Selina then widened her eyes and gasped, "Ah, right! I had come out here to reclaim my lost ideas!"
"Ooooh, a new way to dole out justice?" Violet said with sultry intrigue.
Selina told her straight, "No no. 'Tis for my fanfiction."
Selina then plopped her hands over her mouth and gasped.
"Fanfiction? Oooooh, spicy! Tell me more!" Violet said, leaning in closer while Selina backed up and shook her hands.
"N-Not yet! We're moving too fast!" She insisted.
Violet immediately pulled out and groaned, "Awww, bummer."
Then with a playful tilt of her head she remarked, "You know what gets my brain going? Food! Let's have an early lunch!"
"Ah, my stomach doth mourn the lack of toast this morning. Verily well, my fellow crusader! Lead the way!"
The two of them got into the cafeteria and found a table all to themselves.
Violet had a very impressive lunch box with a built-in cooler, which held her MASSIVE sandwich, full of the whole deli tray's worth of meats and then some, and at least two types of cheese and three condiments.
Selina…brought a PB&J, chips and a banana.
Violet glanced at her serving and was raring to go with a comment, "You know, for an extraordinary magical girl, your meals are always so…ordinary."
"Oh, I make do with what I can."
Violet pouted and then sprinted over to the utensils, coming back with a knife that she plunged into her sandwich to cut a quarter of it off.
She then handed it off and said, "Go on, I insist!"
"V-Verily certain…?!" Selina squealed with delight.
"Absolutely! It'll be less calories for me to burn off too."
The two bit into that sandwich together, and Selina's hair shot up as her eyes widened, "Oh my goodness! The flavors packed into this are overwhelming my mouth!"
"Ha ha ha! See? Try something new more often!" Violet then enjoyed more of her sandwich for a bit.
Selina turned to her and remarked, "It was most fortuitous of me to have met you, Violet. You are an incredible friend."
Violet's cheeks puffed and she swallowed her foot tightly.
Selina then smiled and threw out another compliment for good measure, "And might I add, your body is very impressive too!"
A streak of red crossed Violet's face and her irises shrunk as she looked away, "B-Bluh…! What're you sayin', ha ha! Golly gee, Selina, you're a natural s-smooth talker…!"
Selina puckered her lips and tilted in confusion, "I'm a…what…?"
Violet shook her head and returned to normal, "No fret."
After they finished their meals Violet patted her stomach and groaned, "Aaaah, needed some pepper…"
She then turned her head and saw Selina melting into bliss, "So, did you find your ideas?"
Selina smeared her drool on her sleeve, "No, but I am compelled to write a chapter about food now."
"Drat…!" Violet blurted, "I mean, other new ideas are GREAT! But drat it all still!"
"Oh well, 'tis no worry! My upload schedule tends to be erratic anyway." Selina admitted sincerely.
"Ha ha! Alright then," After letting that conversation settle, Violet quickly suggested, "So, wanna go fight for justice?"
"Would I?!" Selina declared like a little kid.
Not a few minutes later and the two were patrolling the halls with sunglasses on and their hands in their pockets…Well, Selina pretended she had pockets anyways.
Violet took a slight lead and whispered, "Alright, so…! I've been monitoring the football team's routine lately. Ever since we took them by surprise in the locker room they've been going a longer route to try and trip us up."
"Mmm hmm, mmm hmm…" Selina nodded along.
"Jokes on them though, I like this cat-and-mouse shit…!" Violet said with a meaty grin, "So what we're gonna do is get access to the locker in the corner and stuff it full of my patented bubble bombs. If we time this right, they'll go off and flood those overly masculine dunderheads with bubbles the moment they round the corner!"
"Interesting…! But what of the locker itself?"
Violet waved a thumbs up triumphantly, "No biggie! Code's already been memorized, and the locker's empty this time of day!"
Violet then rushed ahead to said locker and started typing in the code while Selina stood watch, poking around the corner for any sign of the team.
After a few moments Violet growled, "Aaaugh, no, this isn't working."
"'Tis something the matter?" Selina peeked back.
"I thought I saw all four numbers. Maybe this was refreshed this morning? Grrrr…!"
Selina saw Violet working hard to make this possible and thought back to her earlier comment about her being 'ordinary'.
"...Even now, I still don't stand out enough."
Without a hint of hesitation, Selina nudged her way in front of the locker and remarked, "Please, let me try."
She then raised her hand and following a deep breath, summoned a sapphire star tipped wand out of a fancy flurry of sparkles.
Violet gasped, and though Selina partook in a smile from the joy in her eyes, she was careful not to overdo it lest they draw unwanted attention upon themselves.
She tapped the digital lock and whispered, "Lay secrets bear: Unlimited Recode…!"
The machinery clicked and whirred as it was filled with a starry glow from the wand. Then Selina backed off and remarked, "Input whatever you wish."
After Violet snatched up the opportunity to put in a funny code "8008" she saw the door unlock and it's empty interior laid bare, causing her to gasp again.
"Holy CRAP Selina, that was incredible!"
Selina's eyes lit up and she clutched her wand in both hands with the biggest smile.
Violet then stuffed some of her signature bubble bombs into the locker as the stampede of footballers could be heard around the corner.
"Ok! Armed and ready! Quickly!" Violet grabbed Selina by the arm and dragged her behind some lockers near a classroom door.
Selina poked her head up and remarked, "You're taking this verily well."
"Magic is cool! What can I say?" A simple, but very Violet answer.
The footballers rounded the corner and the bubble bombs burst out of the locker, consuming them with their soapy, popping goodness!
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" Shouted Bang.
Violet then popped out of hiding and declared, "Ha ha! Better luck next time, Tom!"
As is tradition, Selina followed her out of there. But it didn't take long for their grand escape to be foiled by Lunalei barring their path, a brow rising and her arms crossed.
The two mischief makers dug their heels in to stop, and Violet innocently tucked her hands into her pockets, "H-Hey, teacher, nice weather we're having?"
Lunalei closed her eyes part way and partook in the conversation in a humored tone, "Yes, partly sunny with a chance of bubbles, so I heard."
"Craaaap…" Violet clicked her tongue and before she said a word Selina stepped up for her.
"'Twas little harm done! We even made sure to not damage anything!"
Lunalei glared, "Causing emotional distress to your classmates is not what I'd call 'making sure'."
Violet chimed in, "Well maybe if those meatheads did a little thinking with their brains instead of their roided up dicks we wouldn't have to-"
"No excuses," Lunalei remarked patiently, "If your classmates are causing you trouble, you talk to your teachers about it, not take matters into your own hand."
"Why wait for grown-ups to do something when I can act now?" Violet argued.
"I'm your teacher. I will be there for you when you need me most." Lunalei said, her voice empowered with certainty.
Violet softly remarked, "...Really?"
"Really," Lunalei remarked, "Understood?"
Violet and Selina found themselves nodding.
With a tiny smile, Lunalei turned around and started walking away, "Then come to class. Otherwise, you'll likely lose out on your education for the day if word gets out to the vice principal."
Selina smiled anxiously and bowed, "T-Thank you big…t-teacher…!"
After Lunalei had gone far enough away, Violet commented on her with a hint of awe, "You know…she's different."
Selina remarked in kind, "She has always been marvelous."
Violet turned and murmured, "You say something?"
"N-Nothing of the sort!" Selina insisted.
"It sounded like praise." Violet pushed the topic.
"And only such as much!" Selina's weird turn of phrase made Violet giggle.
After that passed, the two of them walked with Violet putting her hands behind her head and sighing, "I was having trouble on our last homework assignment. You know, the one about the 2020 Societal Upheaval?"
"Oh yes, twas a very bloody incident." Selina said with a straight face.
"Well on a whim I wrote a comment saying I didn't understand one of the questions, and what did our teacher do? She handed me a note with an URL to a video I could watch to help me out. And you know? I liked it!"
"It really felt like, you know, she was speaking to me personally."
Selina pouted and hung her head, "She takes her teaching very seriously. 'Tis a shame so many of our peers see her only for her short stature."
"...Yeah." Violet nodded.
After the rest of the day ended up being largely uneventful, Selina parted ways with Violet and took a string of buses, not hired by the school, into Seattle.
She then took a short walk to the abandoned warehouse district and hit the third one down the way.
With a few jolly knocks she jostled her bag and heard a voice on the other side.
"Password?"
Selina said in a glorifying tone, "The Great and Spectacular-"
"Marvelous!" The voice was annoyed.
"Marvelous Cu'u." Selina finished
The voice then remarked, "Ok, barrier's open."
Selina slid open the door and walked inside.
The interior was derelict with the support beams in the rafters bent and rusted. The windows were shattered and the frames creaked. There were boxes of untouched supplies left in the corner, and a massive recycle bin in the back.
But in the center of the room was a totally functional couch, a half-made mattress, a table made of a giant spool and round board, and a fridge running off a scavenged generator.
"Whew…" Selina let off some steam…quite literally! It was pink and magical.
Her hair color turned brown and its length normalized. Her overall body shrunk to that of a normal thirteen year old girl, and so her clothes got a little loose.
She grabbed her skirt and tightened the band, then waved her wand to change her shirt into a white buttoned one with pink sleeves and a star over the left side of her chest.
"Welcome back!" Said the earlier voice, now falling down.
It belonged to a very impish girl around her age with green and pink small dragon wings, pointy ears, and a single fang poking out of her mouth.
Her skin was pinkish and her eyes and short hair were green. She wore an exotic feather shawl and skirt with green thigh highs and sleeves, red heeled shoes, and a skintight top with a thin diamond cut between her belly button and neck.
She put her arm on Selina's? back and dragged her towards their humble home, "I'm sure you worried about me. But you'll be happy to know I kept myself busy conjuring us up some new entertainment."
The girl scurried over to the couch and pulled out a black metal sphere with a lot of different colored glass pockets.
"Behold! The Peering Eye of Multiple Dimensions!" The girl shouted with aplomb.
Selina? clapped her hands, "Oh neat! That's one of those contraptions that can shoot out beams of light!"
The girl immediately slumped and groaned, "No you doofus, i-it…"
She thrust it back into the air, "It only APPEARS that way because your magic senses aren't as good as mine!"
"Oooooh!" Selina? clapped her hands as the girl beamed with pride.
"So if I COULD see it?"
The girl wagged her hand out, "Don't get ahead of yourself. You're light-years away from the magic potency of the Marvelous Cu'u Bella!"
Selina? tilted her head and blinked, "But light years are a measure of distance…"
Cu'u then pointed at her and proclaimed, "Then get to sprinting, Stella!"
"R-Right!" Stella then dropped her bag off on the mattress and plopped onto the couch. The good ol' musty couch…
Cu'u sat by her and flopped her feet onto the table, causing the board to tilt. She scrambled over and balanced it, then put her feet down gently.
"Ahem…! So, I guess I'll allow you to tell me how your day went." Cu'u said with her wings fluttering into relaxation.
"Well, Violet and I delivered a healthy helping of justice to those poor masculine infected boys!" Stella said with glittery eyes.
Cu'u remarked, "Nice!"
"I even got to show off some of my magic!"
"NOT nice!" Cu'u sat up and accidentally kicked the table board into her face.
"...Grmbl grmbl…" She pulled it off and slapped it down onto the spool, then brushed her hand out in a commanding fashion.
Stella ignored how badly red her face looked as she got down and pulled out her wand, whispering "Melder!" which caused the spool and board to fuse together with magic goop.
When she got back up Cu'u crossed her arms and remarked, "Tell me it wasn't a big spell…"
"Oh no! I only used Unlimited Recode!" Stella said.
"Oh that's it? Pffft and pshaw!"
Cu'u was ready to lean back when Stella said, "I mean, Violet was really impressed when I showed off!"
Thus caused her to spring back up and flap her wings madly, "She SAW you do it?!"
Stella clutched her wand against her chest and stared blankly, "Y-Yes?"
Cu'u murmured, "What'd I say?"
Stella glanced around for a bit until remarking, "Have fun with magic, but don't get caught."
"B-But she liked it!" Stella said.
Cu'u slacked her jaw and wondered, "Ya mean she wasn't…freaking out?"
Stella blinked a few times and remarked, "Now that my head's on straight, it IS weird how calm she was."
"No joke. We should be the only two magic users on the planet at the moment." Cu'u enforced with 7her incredible ability of accurate certainty.
"...Meh, whatever. Just be more careful from now on. You're trying not to get caught by your siblings, remember?"
"They'll never catch on." Stella said in disappointment.
Cu'u sat down and asked, "Anything else?"
"Nope!" Stella proclaimed.
"Good! I was getting bored anyways. Pull out the spell book and let's have some fun."
Stella grabbed the book from under the mattress and hauled it onto the table. It was as thick as her torso, but at least not as heavy as Violet.
It was brown with a pool ball embroidered cover and bronze, silver and gold trims on the pages to represent difficulty.
Stella flipped to the bronze pages and scanned around, "Ummm…"
"Here we go! Waterga!" She pointed it out to Cu'u.
"Water magic? Sounds dull. Why that?" She commented.
Stella pumped her fists, "I want to take a bath. It's been months!"
"So? We got a cleaning spell." Cu'u pointed out, causing Stella to feverishly shake her head and lean forward passionately.
"It's not about being clean, it's about the feeling! Hot water soaks into your pores, and you get all cuddly wuddly in your bathtub!"
"C-Cuddly wuddly?" Cu'u said with mild intrigue.
Stella nodded, "And you can light scented candles! And bathe in steam!"
"ST-Steam?!" Cu'u's wings were starting to flutter. And after trying, and failing, to look cool she crossed her arms and said, "W-Well I guess i can give the OK to try it. Lemme find us a tub!"
Cu'u settled on a small metal basin and after putting it down and sitting inside she snapped her fingers, "Ok Stella! Fill 'er up!"
Stella glanced at the book and mumbled the incantation to herself a few times and then clutched her hand and shouted, "Ok!"
She then gestured her wand around like commanding the flow of a river, and channeled her power within through the wand.
"Purge thy impurities…Waterga!" Stella thrust her hand out and the magic gathered into a sapphire flash that expanded outward.
Cu'u raised her head in bewilderment, "...Purge thy…?"
Her eyes bulged as a massive water comet went speeding her way.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Cu'u was swallowed up and slammed into the wall.
Fortunately the magic barrier reinforced the warehouse…
Well, fortunate for the warehouse anyways.
Stella winced and then took another look at the spellbook, then calmly remarked, "Whoops, that was attack magic."
Cu'u, pinned to the wall by the basin, kicked her way free with her eyes paralyzed in fear, "Y-YOU THINK?!"
She peeled out one limb at a time as Stella flipped the pages following the citation, "Ah, this is the spell for water generation."
She then gently raised her wand and murmured, "Let's try again."
Cu'u slapped Stella directly on her face with her wet hand and growled, "Nope! I'm good. You have fun."
She then slouched her way to the back, "I'm gonna dry off and cry…"
Stella successfully got a bath in, though the water was lukewarm. After magicking up some fresh clothes she then had Cu'u comb her hair.
Cu'u was still bitter, "Honestly, learn to read girl. You're 13."
Stella remarked, "But you didn't notice it either."
Cu'u winced, "I-I was testing you and you failed!"
"Aww…" Stella hung her head.
"...Gaaah, fine. It wasn't a bad cast at least." Cu'u mumbled under her breath.
"I'm still messing up." Stella fixated on her gloom.
Cu'u scoffed, "Ok ignore my praise. Not like you're lucky to get it or nothing…"
"My big sisters are still incredible. If I want to stand out, I have to do better."
She replayed Violet's praise in her head until her gloom vanished into a smile.
She then lifted her head and twirled in her seat, "Cu'u. I promise to stop messing up as often."
Cu'u remarked, "Ha, if you just listened to me more often, MAYBE you'd have a chance of being as great as me."
Stella nodded, "I want to be as great as your mom someday!"
Cu'u covered her eager face with a towel and dried it off, "Pffft, yeah right. Nobody's as cool as her. Not even my other mom."
Cu'u wasn't a normal girl. Duh right?
She's the daughter of Neptune and Priscilla by magic. Neptune, also Stella's teacher, called her a homunculus.
She's quirky and very smart in the ways of magic.
How did these two come together in this abandoned warehouse exactly? Why is Stella also Selina?
That's a story…for another day.
Next Time: The Dark Side of the City