Fan Fiction ❯ Middle-Aged Magical Girl Mahonna ❯ Parent-Teacher Conference ( Chapter 3 )

[ A - All Readers ]

There was nothing.

No up. No down. No direction of any kind.

Nothing solid on which to stand.

No air to breathe.

Nor any need to breathe at all.

There was only light. Bright, streaking, piercing, horrible light.

Streams of light swarmed around, it took all the effort possible to avoid it them.

Avoiding them was a must. Creatures, some human looking, some not, who were so much as brushed against a light stream suddenly had their entire body disintegrate into nothing.

Creatures… Yaness… There was little pity or sadness for them.

The others, however, were another story.

One person, master, teacher, was unaccounted for. She had not been seen since everything was pulled into this place.

The other, friend, caretaker, had just been spotted. That friend reached out her hand. Trying to grab the one reaching towards her. Just as their fingers touched, she let out a cry of pain. While they tried to get to one another, the companion had been impaled through the stomach. One of the streamers had struck her. Her body began to shine and break up. Her last spoken word the name of the one with her.

“OMIGA!!”

Omiga’s eyes snapped open. She was breathing heavily, her heart was racing and her entire body was shaking. The eyes that had opened so suddenly had begun producing tears.

Keeping her balance despite her shaking arms, Omiga pushed herself into a sitting position. She stared at her hands, which wouldn’t quit shivering no matter what Omiga herself wished of them. She crossed her arms, clamping her hands tightly to her shoulders, and stared into the darkness of her room. In the moments between opening her eyes and being fully awake, the room had alarmed her at first. Now that rational thought returned, she remembered how she had come to be in such a strange place.

Two days had passed since her arrival into this world. In that time, the family with which she now resided had worked to make her more comfortable. Or rather, to make the person they believed was staying with them more comfortable.

The Archer family, save for its matriarch, Miranda, believed Omiga to be a three-year old child named Allison. A disguise created by Miranda to hide Omiga, who was almost completely defenseless due to giving the other woman most of her own magical power. Over the past two days the family had gone through old possessions of the Archer childrens’ to find things that would suit Allison. Among them were toys, clothes (mostly once belonging to the Archers’ now teenage daughter, Darcy), and the bed in which she sat.

The first night, she had slept in Miranda’s son’s bed. Now Shane Archer lay there once more while Omiga sat in a bed more suited to someone of Allison’s age. An old crib that had once belonged to the children in their infancies. The bars on the side were lowered as much as possible so Omiga could get in and out without difficulty. Though at the moment Omiga had no desire to go anywhere, even back to sleep.

During this night and the two before it, Omiga had suffered nightmares of the death she witnessed before her very eyes. Alfeta, one of Omiga’s constant companions growing up as well as one of her closest friends. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment as she remembered the first night she had awoken. She’d given a small shout, though it had done nothing but wake up Shane, who replied by throwing a stuffed toy at her.

Omiga laid herself back down, but didn’t close her eyes. She didn’t wish to sleep, to experience that horror again. Yet, she knew she had to at least attempt to rest. Tomorrow Miranda’s children would go to their respective schools, while her husband went about his own work. It would be their first real chance to actually get Miranda some practical training in the use of her new powers. Up to now, all Omiga had managed were a few explanations and lectures about magical history and nature on rare occasions she and Miranda had found themselves alone.

Omiga had to rest, and she knew it. At the same time she couldn’t willingly put herself back to sleep. Just as it had been the past two nights, when this same thing had happened, there was only one recourse. She looked to make sure Shane was both sound asleep and turned away before she did anything. When that was confirmed, she pulled the blankets in her bed over herself, covering her small body completely. Preparations complete, Omiga began her spell.

She held out her two bottom-right fingers and chanted her spell. She began running the hand over her left shoulder, where a nasty bruise still remained. She knew it was bad, as she still remembered the look and accompanying scream of horror that struck Darcy when, while helping Allison change clothes, she had caught sight of it. Omiga’s healing spells had already reduced the most severe of Omiga’s injuries. However, she could not get everything at once and was only now getting to the more minor cuts and bruises that the natural healing process hadn’t had a chance to reach.

A side-effect of Omiga’s transfer of power to Miranda was that Omiga’s own magical reserves were very low. Too many spells, even minor ones, would easily result in magic fatigue. Healing spells, among the most complex known, knocked her out in a matter of seconds. And so they did here, as the light from Omiga’s fingers faded. She felt herself lose consciousness, exhaustion rendering herself unable to muster the strength to even keep her eyes open. Whether she wished it or not, Omiga returned to the realm of sleep and dreams.

The slamming of a door jarred Omiga from her sleep. She was again shocked momentarily by her surroundings. She currently sat in the middle of three rows of seats in a vehicle. In front of her were two seats, the left of which Miranda sat, behind the wheel that control the van’s motion. Omiga noticed the right seat was vacant. She looked outside to see Darcy had closed the door. Noticing she was awake, Darcy poked her head back into the car and gave Omiga a cheerful “Bye-Bye, Allie!” before running off to join a couple of girls wearing similar clothing to her own white blouse and blue skirt.

As she drove away, Miranda didn’t appear to be looking at Omiga. Though Omiga could tell the older woman was sneaking glances at her through the mirror placed in the center of the front window.

“How have you been?” Miranda asked her once they were able to talk freely.

“Seeing as I seriously considered posing as a family pet, probably better off than I could be.”

Miranda laughed, “True. But you’ve seemed so tired since you’ve been here. Are you sleeping all right?”

“No.” Omiga answered, “I’ve been having nightmares… about…” Omiga didn’t finish her sentence, nor did she have to. Miranda understood that Omiga’s experiences coming to this world had been rather horrible. “That’s only part of it, really. Some of my exhaustion has been from using my magic.”

“How are your wounds coming?”

“Almost completely gone.”

“Good. Still, I intend to have you checked out as soon as Elspeth finds us a doctor we can trust.”

Omiga nodded.

“Where’s Shane?” Omiga asked when she noticed Miranda’s younger child wasn’t present.

“His school is closer than Darcy’s so I dropped him off first.”

“I was asleep that long?”

“You were out cold before you were even buckled into the car.”

“Oh. I’m surprised Shane didn’t try to prod me awake.”

“Oh, he tried. Darcy kept him from bothering you, though.”

The two Archer children had reacted in very different ways to the sudden arrival of little Allison. Darcy had taken to the little girl right away, seeing her as the little sister she never had. She hovered around Allie almost all the time over the weekend. She had also enthusiastically gone through her old clothing to find things that would fit and look good on Allie (It was when trying on those outfits that Darcy had seen Omiga’s bruises). She had also dug out old toys of her and her brother’s and tried to entertain Allie with them whenever she saw the child on her own. Omiga, seeing a good opportunity, made a point of preferring toys like memory games or word games, to help her better understand and learn the local language without magical aid.

Five year old Shane, on the other hand, took the exact opposite view. He viewed Allison more as an enemy. A rival for his mother’s attention and affection. He was hostile to Allison from the start, seeing her as the little sister he’d never wanted. Where Darcy had stayed close to Allie to dote on her, Shane kept close to make sure nobody forgot he was there. He had thrown fits whenever he recognized toys that were once his among the ones the family had pulled out for Allison. Whenever Miranda had tried to get herself and Omiga alone, Shane would almost always find them and insist on being included in whatever they were doing. Miranda, seeing a good opportunity, made a point of using the situation to make Shane do things, such as taking baths and naps, that he would normally have put up a fight against. So far, that had been the extent of his attitude and, for the most part, he ignored Allison, and she him, whenever possible.

“Between Darcy and Shane, it’s amazing we got any chances to discuss your powers.” Omiga commented.

“Give it time.” Miranda assured her, “Eventually your novelty will wear off and they won’t stay around you so much.”

Omiga, fully awake now despite of a yawn or two, listened to the radio to pass the time to whatever destination Miranda had picked out for their training. The voices that reported news explained that in the brief few days since the first Yaness incident, only a few more had been seen. Those had often run away or been captured or killed by human soldiers. Also, in those few days, a large amount of the city’s population had tried to leave the city. However, soldiers were keeping a guard around the city’s borders. They had called it a “quarantine.” Nobody in or out until the situation could be ascertained.

With little else in the way of options available, the people of the city went on with their daily lives as much as possible. Though they were understandably more cautious than they likely were otherwise. Many businesses, apparently, were closing earlier and authorities had been encouraging people to remain indoors, particularly after nightfall, and to not hesitate to call for help if anything odd or unusual appeared. As Omiga pondered these developments she felt the van slow and eventually stop.

“We’re here.” Miranda announced. She got out of the car and helped Omiga out of the seat she’d been strapped into before grabbing a bag Miranda had filled with items Omiga told her they would need. Together, they made their way out into a large grassy field.

“Carson Memorial Park.” Miranda announced, gesturing to a sign next to the area where several cars rested. To Omiga’s embarrassment, Miranda chose to carry her rather than let Omiga walk to wherever they were headed.

“We’ll get there faster this way.” Miranda insisted, then, with a content look on her face, “I haven’t been here in a while. Not since Shane started school.”

Miranda made her way through the park, heading for an area where several trees stood. Omiga saw several signs along the paved walkway they traveled, but she had no idea what any of them said. While magic enabled her to understand the spoken words of others, there had yet to be a spell developed that enabled easy reading of written words. Fortunately, it proved better suited to her disguise than not. As there was no expectation for a toddler to know how to read in the first place.

Miranda left the paved path and went down a dirt path for a minute. Soon after, though, she left the beaten path entirely. Eventually, the pair found a thick cluster of trees. As Miranda stepped through the miniature forest, ducking under branches and avoiding small holes in the ground, Omiga realized Miranda had been right. Omiga would have had a hard time navigating this place in her current body. Finally, Miranda stopped as the trees gave way to a small, circular clearing.

“When Darcy was little I’d bring her to this park.” Miranda explained as she set Omiga down onto her own two feet, “She loved exploring every new place she could find. If I tried to stop her she’d just cry and try to sneak off when I wasn’t looking. Rather than keep fighting it, I just let her explore and stayed close by. One day, I followed her here. It’s pretty secluded from the rest of the park, and you would never expect anything like this looking at it from the outside. From one end to the other it’s about twenty feet, so that should give us enough space for little stuff.”

“Yes. This will do fine.” Omiga said as she marveled at the area. She had yet to get fully used to just how big everything was in a child’s body. She couldn’t help thinking just how large the clearing was, and at the same time she knew that she probably wouldn’t find it quite as large were she in her original body.

“So, shall we get started?” Miranda asked.

“Yes.” Omiga replied, “I think a good first step is to go over what you already know.”

With what little alone time they had managed, Omiga had taught Miranda some of the basic principles regarding magic use. However, Omiga was unsure how much of it Miranda retained. Therefore she wanted to be sure that was thoroughly covered.

“Sounds good.” Miranda said as she sat down on the grass.

“First of all,” Omiga began, “Nearly all known spells and incantations fall into one of the four magical elements. Which are…”

“Land, Air, Water, and Flame.” Miranda answered, there were enough Earth fantasies that used that principle that Miranda knew that one easily.

“Correct. Furthermore, every living creature has some inherent magical ability. That inherent ability will also always lean more towards one element than the others. In my case, for example, my most potent magic tends to be of the Flame element. You, Miranda, seem to have a natural gift for Land magic.”

“You mentioned that over the weekend, but I didn’t get to ask. How do you know that?”

“One’s affinity can be determined by what magics they wield most easily. I only taught you one Land element incantation, the transformation spell, Minec. However, when you fought that Yaness, you brought up an earthen wall to protect yourself out of instinct.”

“So based on that, you think I use Land magic best?”

“Not just that. There’s also the fact you used the Minec spell perfectly. When I told you the incantation, I never expected you to transform so completely. I had anticipated something closer to a fusion of your and my forms. Instead, you achieved my shape flawlessly.”

“Except the eyes.” Miranda said. Her eyes had remained their normal brown instead of becoming Omiga’s bright green.

“The eyes are a window to one’s soul,” Omiga said, “No matter how good you are at transforming magically, you will never be able to change your eyes. Your transformation was perfect. For that reason I was willing to let you transform me. Possessing a clear aptitude for it, you would have little trouble and I would be in little danger.

“Each element has its own unique properties and effects. However, all four draw on the environment around you for their power. What all this means is that your magics will be weaker or stronger depending on both your surroundings and your own natural abilities.”

Omiga paused briefly to make sure Miranda understood everything. When Miranda asserted that she did, Omiga brought up her hands, closed into fists, to begin the next portion of the lesson.

“As you might expect, magic is no easy thing to harness. To enable easier focusing of magics, sorcerers are taught very early on to use their fingers in certain arrangements. Each arrangement is associated with a particular element. First, there is Flame.”

Omiga extended the index and middle fingers of her right hand.

“Water.” The first two fingers went back and were replaced by the ring and pinky fingers.

“Air.” Index and middle fingers of the left hand.

“Land.” Left ring and pinky.

“So, if I understand this correctly,” Miranda began, “This means that the Minec spell was Land, Enko Chakram Flame, and the Funori is Wind?”

“Precisely.” Omiga said, pleased Miranda was grasping this quickly.

“I have a question.” Miranda said, raising her hand. Omiga nodded.

“You said that your surroundings can determine how strong or even usable certain magics are. What happens when you’re in a situation where your best magic is useless?”

“In that situation,” Omiga began, “You can draw upon your own body for power.”

Miranda gasped slightly, not liking the sound of that.

“Should Flame magic be unusable, you can create it through the heat existing within your body. The same for Water, should you be far from any large bodies. Air and Land aren’t so problematic, as there is almost always some of each nearby anywhere one goes.

“But as you’re likely thinking, there are significant dangers to powering your magic in such a way. Using too much of your own body’s water could leave you little more than a dried husk if you are not careful. And more than one Flame user has frozen to death by carelessly using up their body’s heat.”

“So those are strictly last resorts, then?” Miranda asked, shuddering at the images Omiga presented her.

“Exactly. On that note, normal magic use presents some risk, as well. You noted that I’ve been very tired the past few days.”

Miranda nodded. Omiga had napped almost as much as a real toddler over the weekend.

“That is because I’ve been dedicating what little magic I possess right now towards healing my injuries. Magic Fatigue is the result of using too much of your power at once. Your body forces you to rest so that used energy can restore itself.”

“And right now you have so little, it doesn’t take much, does it?”

“Right. You probably should not have to worry too much. You have both my magic and your own innate power within you. Both together give you a much higher than normal reserve of magical energy.” Omiga grinned, “It is main reason your Funori tends to knock over things.” Miranda couldn’t help blushing, “Normally when one uses that incantation, all others nearby feel is a slight draft.”

"Really?” Miranda asked, blushing more. Omiga grinned.

“Well, now, let’s get started. Did you bring what I asked?”

“Of course.” Miranda replied as she reached into the bag she’d been carrying. She pulled out several bottles of water, tennis balls, and a frisbee. Omiga had them begin training with the frisbee. Miranda simply threw it, aiming for tennis balls thrown by Omiga. The intent was to improve her aim with the Enko Chakram. As Omiga pointed out, it was a potent spell (one which, she couldn’t help but brag, was actually her own creation) but worthless if you couldn’t even connect with it. Miranda wasn’t having much luck. She seemed to get closer to hitting as time passed, but not once did she actually connect with the ball she had aimed at.

“That’s fine.” Omiga said, sounding content, “It took me weeks to get the aim down perfectly. We’ll keep practicing, but so long as you’re coming close you should be able to hit fairly large opponents. Meanwhile you can also use the Chakram as a melee weapon like you did against the first Yaness.”

Miranda’s next exercises involved actual use of spells. Refining her ability with the ones she knew already. Minec proved easy, and even fun for Miranda. She transformed herself into several forms including her husband, her children, and Miranda herself when she was a teenager. After trying out some made up forms Miranda and Omiga moved on to the Air transportation spell, Funori. Funori proved far more difficult. For all of Miranda’s effort, she simply could not bring down the force of the wind her spell caused. Omiga eventually resorted to wrapping her arms around a tree so as to avoid constantly having her toddler-sized body thrown around. Fortunately, though she could not lower the power, Miranda did improve her aim with the spell, often winding up exactly where she wished to.

“I suppose that’s to be expected.” Omiga had said regarding Miranda’s trouble with the spell, “It’s not the easiest spell to begin with. Plus if you’re aligned to one element, then you’re naturally going to have difficulty with spells of its opposite. There’s also your lack of experience and control to consider. Hopefully, we’ll manage to do something about that last part today.

“We’re now going to move on to new spells. I have two for you to try today. One’s a Land spell, the proper version of what you did in your first fight. You should have no trouble with that. The other’s a Water spell. It’s basic level offensive magic. Be aware, though, that Water magic can be complex, so it will be difficult to learn. However doing so it will help you with your control.”

Omiga proceeded to teach Miranda her second Land spell. The incantation, Kabal, created the same uprising of earth to act as a defensive wall for Miranda. Controlling it properly, Miranda learned she could move the protective ground at will. She could make it move side-to-side, grow or shrink to different heights, even completely surround her. With some concentration she even managed to make it change shape, creating small sculptures with the spell. As with Minec, Omiga let Miranda have her fun. When the woman finally stopped with the magic sculpting she sat down in front of Omiga, who had taken the time Miranda practiced to place several plastic water bottles onto the ground.

“Our next spell is Riet.” Omiga explained as she twisted off the cap of one bottle, “What it will do when used properly is take a small amount of water and shoot it as an arrow would fire from a bow. Riet!!”

Omiga brought up her right ring and pinky fingers and thrust them forward as she gave the word. Miranda jumped back as the water inside the bottle broke out of it and shot forward in a line into a tree. When the spell was done, the tree had a narrow hole drilled into it. Miranda told Omiga ‘bullet of water’ was a more fitting description than ‘arrow of water.’

“Wow…” Miranda said as she crawled over to the struck tree to examine the hole. When Omiga called her back to try, the woman kneeled in front of a bottle and held out the water magic fingers. She concentrated until they gave that glow that Omiga knew to be magic in use.

“Riet!!” she cried as she thrust those fingers forward.

The bottle jiggled.

“Not bad.” Omiga said, and assuring Miranda that she meant it, “I’m not expecting much to come out of this at the start. This spell requires a good level of basic control which you lack. Hopefully, as I said earlier, learning it should get you most of that control. So you’ll now spend the rest of our time practicing the spell.”

“All right.” Miranda said. Omiga watched as Miranda repeatedly tried to make the water in the bottle shoot out as Omiga did. The first dozen attempts didn’t prove any better than the first one. But soon Miranda at least had the water leaving the bottle. Omiga had Miranda continue until the woman began showing signs of exhaustion. While the particular sensations are not quite the same, constant magic use can be just as wearing on the human body as constant physical activity.

“You’ve done very well, Miranda.” Omiga said proudly, Miranda, staring at the bottle of water, didn’t seem convinced, “I mean that. You have two spells of her own element mostly mastered. Can properly use a single spell from a second and third element, one of which is your opposite. And you’re well on the way to obtaining a spell in the fourth element. For a person who’s had no magical training for a large part of her life, that’s very impressive.”

“Yes. It is indeed.”

Miranda and Omiga looked up and into the branches of a nearby tree. Sitting in it was a man, or rather a creature resembling a man.

“A Yaness!” Miranda shouted.

“Correct.” the creature said as he leapt down into the clearing. Omiga got his first look good look at him. Like most Yaness, there was a noticeably reptilian aspect in its appearance. This one’s skin was blue in color and, where the first Yaness Miranda had fought had been large and hulking, this one was lithe and had the look of someone who could move with great speed. It wore no clothing (most didn’t) which showed many scars and healing injuries. Like Omiga’s injuries, they were likely from the entry to Earth.

“I’ve been watching you two for a while now.” it said, looking at them with acid green eyes. Omiga cursed herself for not noticing it sooner.

“What do you want?” Miranda asked it.

“At first, I was going to just stay hidden.” it replied, “This was a good hiding place, and it wouldn’t do to draw attention to myself, tempting as the prey may be. However, what the little Mahonna told you is right. Your skills are impressive. Too good, in fact. If I’m to have a clear shot at this strange world, I should take care of you before you become a serious threat.”

With that, it attacked. Just as Omiga had predicted, the Yaness moved with speed closing the gap between himself and Miranda in barely a second. Miranda’s instinctive use of Kabal brought an earthen wall to block the attack. The creature saw the wall appearing and quickly sidestepped it, trading the slice to the torso it had prepared its talons to perform for a spinning kick into Miranda’s stomach.

Omiga watched in horror as Miranda was knocked backwards and fell to her knees, clutching her stomach and coughing.

“Miranda!!” she cried out. This only served to get the Yaness’ attention. It turned its eyes to her. Again with that speed, it charged itself at Omiga.

“No you don’t!” she screamed as she brought her right hand forward. Omiga concentrated what magic she could onto that hand, creating an orange glow around it. Just as the Yaness was in front of her and ready to strike, the orange glow around Omiga’s hand exploded in a wave of blinding heat. Now the Yaness clutched its stomach, burned by the blow Omiga had dealt. But it was not seriously hurt, only angry. Omiga began to stagger.

Damn it… I can’t even do that much?! she asked herself as the Yaness came at her again.

“Kabal!”

A stone dome appeared and surrounded Omiga, protecting her from the slash the Yaness attempted. She heard it scratch the barrier’s outer shell. The barrier faded as quickly as it had appeared, once again receding into the ground. But Omiga was in no danger, the Yaness was no longer concentrating on her. Its full attention was now on Miranda.

“Riet!!” Miranda screamed, holding out the fingers for water magic. The plastic bottles laid out on the ground around them suddenly burst, all the water within them going toward the Yaness at piercing speed. The Yaness saw the water coming and dodged just in time. Jumping straight up and dodging the stream of water which instead hit a tree, leaving a nasty gash in its side. This act appeared to confirm the Yaness’ earlier assessment of Miranda. It no longer wasted time in going after her. It charged again. Miranda didn’t move. She appeared frozen in place.

“Miranda!!”

Miranda could never remember being more frightened in her life. This Yaness was very different from the one she had fought before. That first had just been a hulking beast, one that had been threatening her daughter. Miranda had been scared, but it paled in comparison to what she felt now. Faced with a creature with obviously more intelligence and without a daughter to protect and bolster her will to fight, she was terrified.

Her senses had returned only when the monster had turned his sights on Omiga. She had seen Omiga hit him with a spell before starting to tire out. She had pulled up a barrier from ground and rock to protect the girl just in time.

I have to try and fight! Miranda told herself I’m the only one that can!

Miranda had used the first spell to come to mind, the one she had been practicing until that moment. She tried to use the Riet spell. To her surprise, Miranda had found herself using it as intended. Her surprise faded to horror when the Yaness dodged the strike. The creature stared for a moment at the damage Miranda had done to the tree. Then he turned his gaze to Miranda and attacked.

“Miranda!!” Omiga screamed.

What happened next Miranda wasn’t entirely sure. Her fear had gotten to her, rendered her numb. She did not act until the monster was right in front of her. At that moment, in her mind, her only thought was to keep that monster away from her.

“Riet!!” she screamed, again using the spell clearest in her mind. This time, however, the spell behaved differently than it had. Instead of calling on water from the bottles or some other source, a powerful jet of water shot out of the blue glow on Miranda’s fingertips. The Yaness took the blow in the chest. Miranda watched as he was knocked flat on his back.

Miranda’s head suddenly began to ache. She felt very dizzy and was having trouble standing. She tried to regain her composure as she noticed the Yaness getting back to his feet. Shaking, her vision blurring, Miranda braced herself as best she could for what would come next.

BANG

The Yaness stopped. He didn’t fall. He simply ceased running as though something had happened he couldn’t quite believe.

BANG BANG

Miranda watched the monster’s body spasm twice. More shots rang out, the Yaness’ body twitching each time until they ceased. When there were no more, the creature fell to its knees, then again to his face. When he fell Miranda briefly saw an expression of surprise on his face. From the trees behind the Yaness, a man emerged.

He looked young. Clean-shaven and with short brown hair lighter in shade than Miranda’s. He kept his pistol aimed at the Yaness. When the creature showed no signs of moving the man put his weapon in a holster under his shoulder, hidden inside the dark blue suit he wore. He and Miranda stared at one another for several moments. Miranda suddenly began to panic again. What was she supposed to say? How did she explain all this?

What was he supposed to say? How was he going to explain all this?

He would have to come up with something, that was for sure. The woman stared at him, clearly frightened. And in these situations, the victim almost always sought reassurance by asking questions he wasn’t allowed to answer.

The problem was briefly held off thanks to a loud cry. The woman immediately snapped out of her daze and ran to the little girl, whose crying instantly ceased the moment her mother picked her up.

“Ma’am?” he said, “Are you and your daughter all right?”

The woman looked at him.

“Y-Yes,” she stammered, her voice sounding dry and scratchy, forcing her to clear her throat, “We’re fine, officer. Th-thank you for arriving when you did.”

“You’re welcome, ma’am.” he said, “But ma’am, you shouldn’t have come here. With things as they are now you really shouldn’t wander into places like this clearing. What were you doing here?”

“W-What was I doing here?” she repeated, “Um… I mean…”

The toddler in her arms suddenly began speaking. A long string of babbling that seemed to have the woman transfixed. So much so she waited for the baby to finish before answering herself.

“I-I’m sorry, officer.” she said, “I just wanted to bring my daughter to the park for some fresh air… she wandered off and I followed to keep an eye on her… I wasn’t even thinking about anything like that monster.”

He sighed. It was shocking how oblivious people could be sometimes. Still, she seemed uninterested in asking him anything. In fact, her body language suggested she just wanted to get out of here. He was happy to oblige, as getting the civilian out of the way would make his job much easier.

“Ma’am, you should probably get going now. I’ll see to this.” he said, pointing to the creature.

“Yes!” she said, jumping on the out he was providing, “I’ll do that! I’ll go now! Um… Bye!” she said. She grabbed the diaper bag sitting on the grass and ran off without another word.

Miranda, using Funori, had gotten herself and Omiga back to the van as quickly as she could manage. She didn’t want to remain near that cop or whatever the man in the blue suit was any longer than necessary. Soon as they were in the van Miranda rifled through the bag and found some water bottles that had survived the fight. She immediately twisted the cap off one and began gulping down the water, paying no heed that as much of it fell down the front of her blouse as into her mouth. She had never felt this thirsty in her life.

“It’ll wear off in a little while.” Omiga said, climbing into the car seat in the back seat.

“What’s wrong with me?”

“You’re dehydrated.” Omiga said, “That last Riet was fueled using your body’s moisture.”

Miranda didn’t answer, instead preferring to hunt down the remaining bottles. She found two and began to drink them up as fast as the first. When the third bottle was empty, she let it drop onto the car floor. She’d get it later. Right now, she had something else on her mind.

“Omiga,” said Miranda, looking at her trying to work the seat belts through the rear-view mirror, “How soon do you think you can take your powers back?”

She hated herself for asking it. But this fight had rattled her, she wasn’t sure she could do this much longer. She needed to know how much longer she had to keep it up.

Miranda began to worry when Omiga hesitated with her answer.

“I’m sorry to say it,” she said, “But, Miranda, that part will be up to you.”

“What?”

“The Ukor Sphiba is an incantation that is normally used by a teacher with a novice disciple.”

“You called it the Instructor’s Spark before.” Miranda said, remembering that first day.

“Yes. The way it works generally is the teacher puts their magic into the student. This allows the student access to simple spells and enables them to better learn the basic lessons of magic use. The process is reversed when the student’s own magic exceeds what is given, forcing the spark magic to return to its owner.”

“So… I have to, at some point, use more magic than you gave me to start with? Ohh…” Miranda groaned, she planted her head on the steering wheel as she realized the problem, “You gave me nearly all you had!”

“Exactly. Normally, the Spark is performed with a very minimal amount of magic. But I gave you as much a I could without serious risk to my own life… I will admit…” Omiga said, eyes downcast, “I was not thinking very far ahead when I did that. My only thought was that you not be killed during what should have been my battle. ”

“Yes… the same for me.” Miranda confessed. She hadn’t figured that out until midway through her first battle what this arrangement might be. That left only one option, then.

“Guess all we can do, then, is train.” Miranda said, “The fact is, we got ourselves into this mess because we were rash. So the only thing to do now is fix the damage. The sooner I can manage enough magic the sooner you can get yours back.”

“You’re right.” Omiga said, looking at Miranda, “First thing tomorrow, we’ll resume your training.”

“Fine,” Miranda said as she turned the key to start the van, “Meantime, how about we call it a day and go home?”

“Sounds good to me.” Omiga agreed.

Miranda pulled the van out of the park and headed back to the Archer home.

He began as soon as the civilians were clear. He went to the body of the monster, which lay face-down, its back riddled with bullet wounds. These things had tough hides, but they weren’t unkillable, at least. He pulled a cell phone out of his jacket pocket and dialed a number.

“It’s me.” he said, introductions on this line were unnecessary, “I’ve bagged another one. Carson Memorial Park. Yeah. No. Civilians, a woman and child, were being attacked, but they’re safe and away now. Okay. I’ll wait here until the clean-up crew arrives.”

He hung up the phone and put it back into his pocket. He walked around the monster, one of the many that had appeared in Carson three days ago. They were unlike anything he had ever seen since he joined the agency. Given what they routinely saw, that was saying something.

He gave the creature a kick onto its back to get a closer look.

Wait a second…

There was a hole in the monster’s shoulder. Something big and heavy had pierced it. He rolled the creature over again to check its back. None of the bullet wounds on its back corresponded to the wound on the front. In fact, the front didn’t have any exit wounds from his bullets. Nor was there a hole on the back of the shoulder. That meant that, whatever had hit the beast, it had happened from the front. He ran through the trees, rushing to exit the clearing. However, as he came out of the trees, neither mother nor child was anywhere to be seen.

Logically, the creature most likely was already injured before it had encountered them. Yet for some reason he couldn’t help thinking about the woman and that little girl.