A Magical Anomaly
Chapter 6 Part 1
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Your sleep is surprisingly dreamless.
One moment blackness takes you as Elly’s voice fades into the background.
The next your bleary eyes awaken to the world again.
You’re a little surprised that there wasn’t anything more to your sleep…
No vision of past you’s.
No vision of your future.
No weapon calling out to you from the void beyond.
…No girls either.
You shake the disorientation from your mind. The cotton wool dulling your thoughts slinking away slowly as you take in your surroundings.
You’re on something soft, and white. The faint beeping makes you think its a hospital bed.
The stark white walls and pristine floor tell you the same.
As does the array of medical equipment sitting around you.
You’re tempted to question how long you’ve slept.
But you honestly feel like you need more.
Your heads still a little foggy.
Every muscle in you body throbs with painful heat while every bone feels like they’re full of lead, or something suitably heavy.
A mental groan echoes out into nothing as you abandon your attempt to sit up. Slumping into the pillow under you with a sigh.
At least the beds comfortable.
Though you could really use some water.
You turn your head towards the small table near your bed.
And your eyes meet those of a shadowy mask.
A literal shadowy mask…
What?
A figure… made of literal inky shadow leans against the wall, a thick coat of pitch black… something hangs over their body, and you can’t tell if they’re a man or a woman underneath. Kind of reminds you of a trench coat... or just a long coat in general.
A hood is pulled up, and a pitch black void greets your roving eyes. A small white star where one eye would be is the only identifying feature.
You stare at them, and they seem to stare at you.
The staring continues.
And continues.
You don’t know how much time passes.
But all of a sudden you blink.
And they’re by your side. The glass of water in their six fingered hands as they offer it to you.
You look at them. And then the water.
It takes a monumental amount of effort to force yourself up. Muscles screaming in overexertion, but you manage to sit up as they offer the cup to you.
It takes a few minutes, the figure accidently pouring the cup too far and spilling some water, and then you choking as the icy cold liquid stuns you.
But you manage to drink the glass.
Success!
The glass is back on the table when you blink again.
Not a sound from its placement or the figure settling back on the wall.
A few moments of comfortable silence pass.
And then Elly snaps into view. Not there one moment, and then in eye sight as she hovers slowly around you.
‘Are you well Fillia?’
You give her the mental equivalent of a nod. Too tired to do anything more despite however long you’ve been asleep.
‘It has only been a day in normal time. I would not worry.’
You glance carefully down at your form. Clad in a slightly blue hospital gown, and a small blue ribbon on your neck…
Huh, you don’t remember that being there… You were wearing a purple one you think…
‘I’ve taken the liberty of acquiring one for you. Memory reading is a rather useful ability I am told. I believed it would be better for your comfort if it was there.’
Once more you thank Elly. A glance at your scarred arm sending a surge of FEAR that reassures you that everything's still the same.
Weird how it does that…
Family visited?
The question causes Elly to smile. The figure in black shifting slightly as they cross their arms over each other.
‘They did indeed. You were resting while they were here. It was… quite an interesting sight. I don’t believe I’ve seen a corporate employee so terrified before.’
A raised eyebrow has her continue.
‘Apparently, someone from a company called T-Technologies arrived. It has been eight hours since they did so, and six since they left. They offered an apology for your T-Brace device malfunctioning and took care of your fees for this establishment. They also offered to upgrade all of your family's devices for free. A rather precious offer I am told.’
Elly rolls her eyes as she sits down on the table.
‘I severely doubt that will do anything in your particular situation. Those of your… circumstances do not mix well with basic teleportation circles under the best of situations.’
You’re a little confused.
But the word ‘Null’ does ripple through your mind. Elly nods as you repeat it.
‘Yes, a Null. I’m quite intrigued that the Fae decided to name a class of Magical Girl around the phenomenon. Though, having witnessed what the empowered effect of one can do, I can see why they did.’
She flutters up, moving towards your chest before placing herself on it. Your don’t even feel her on you as she folds her legs and adjusts her position.
‘I do believe I have quite a lot of information to share. Including clearing up some information that was previously not revealed to me… I must say, knowing about Nulls certainly allows for a much higher level of access within the Fae Archive.’
You tilt your head ever so slightly, trying to avoid the pain.
It’s a secret?
‘I believe, yes and no, is the correct phrase. To those who have never met a null, they are not made aware of their existence, but those who have, are made intimately aware.’
You nod as you wait for her to continue.
‘You, Filia Solthoth, are a natural Null. What does that mean? It means you are one of a tiny fraction of humanity that is born with absolutely no magic in your bodies. No mana, no ability to store it, and technically no ability to use any in your surroundings. The lack of mana, means you are easier to injure, easier to get sick, and much harder to heal with mana based medicine. Yet, despite all these negatives, some positives do exist. It’s astounding to be honest.’
You look at your pale skin, and a few pieces click into place. Being a Null probably explains that then. Maybe your weird glowing eyes…
‘Not exactly related to your Null… Nullitude? Is that a word? It shall now be. Ahem, not exactly related to your Nullitude, but it has something to do with your body yes. We shall get onto that later. I originally stated that there were seven main classes of Magical Girl. That is the truth. Yet I have been informed that seven is not the end. There are fifteen currently known types of Magical Girl, organized by their colour they are-’
You hold out a hand for a moment, giving yourself a moment to organize the information, and then let her continue.
‘Right. We have Reds, Blues, Greens, Yellows and Purples. Those were who I told you of before. To reiterate, Reds were your frontliners. Blues your offensive magic casters, Greens your defenders, Yellows your Enhancers… yes Enhancer sounds much better then Buffer, and Purples your Weakeners… that still needs work.’
You nod at her.
‘The last of the two main classes, are known as Nulls-’ she points at you ‘- and another class known as Saints. Typically, a Null is clothed in black articles of clothing. A secondary vibrant colour used as accents. A Saint on the other hand, features white as their primary colour, and one of the three primary colour’s as a secondary. Gold is also used liberally in their outfits.’
She takes a breath. A tiny wine glass appears in her hand as she sips on some liquid that shines every colour at once in a blinding glow.
‘Nulls and Saints are best described as polar opposites. Saints feature the most potent magical abilities of any type of Magical girl, but they are hyper-specialised healers in most cases, such that the most powerful can bring back the recently deceased. If not chasing a healing discipline, they are focused on a single profession with such ability that no one else other than another Saint can equal them. Nulls on the other hand, should not be able to use magic. At all. No mana, no mana storage, no generation, nothing.’
You look at your hands, where the purple light flared when you were fighting, then meet Elly's gaze as she grins.
‘At least that’s what should happen. Magical Girl transformations tend to break reality a little bit. Nulls gain the ability to cast magic, at the expense of prohibitively slow regeneration among a range of other problems-’ She sighs ‘-The most odd of which, they don’t get access to the Magical Girl System. Are you familiar with what humans call video games Filia?’
You shrug, ignoring your burning muscles, Alice had chattered on about them at one of the magical girl related stores you’d visited. Something about a new magical girl based game… you think.
Elly nods. Taking another sip of the glowing liquid in her wine glass.
‘Yes well, the Fae decided to, for lack of a better word at this moment, hijack, that idea. Magicals gain access to a modified reality of sorts, its twists their forms and very souls such that they can be categorized and influenced. Which in turn allows for their abilities to be represented in a numerical format. They also gain access to techniques and abilities that are referred to as Skills. A Null does not gain access to these bits of the system… I am still trying to figure out why… but it might explain the rather high rate of Nulls going rogue.’
She sighs but continues on as more liquid flows from her cup.
‘There’s much more I could explain about the system. Some rather interesting intricacies among them. But for the sake of time, and as we have much to talk about, I shall keep it brief. A Null, if they had access to the system, would have access to a skill known as [Magic Resistance EX]. Mostly. You are not invulnerable to magic. But your absolute lack of mana means that the mana that impacts you has little to latch on to. No particles of neutral mana to convert into ice mana, nor fire mana ect. Add in the fact that Nulls naturally absorb mana from their surroundings despite not being able to store it. And you are basically a magical black hole when it comes to mana.’
Powerful…
‘Quite… it does however, mean that you cannot cast spells. And that any abilities you have will have to be from your equipment… Or your cores… but we can go over your cores in a little bit. They are quite a… long topic.’
Your head hurts a little from all the information. But you do your best to simplify it. And then you stop as you realize something.
15 Magical girls? You only said seven?
Elly nods, finishing her glass and throwing it away with a graceful toss. It vanishes into a shadowy mass in midair.
‘I did indeed. The main classes are the most common type. The others are… a little odd. Some are combinations of classes, others branch out entirely. We have Pinks, Oranges, Magentas, Violets, Cyans, Browns, Greys and Limes. Pinks… pinks are ridiculous…’
She puts a hand on her head and shakes it as the book snaps into existence, pages ruffling as she rolls her eyes.
‘I would not fully trust the description. But Pinks are best described as a merging of a Saint and a Red. Incredibly powerful magic paired with heightened physical abilities. They’re not as strong in close combat as a pure Red, nor as insanely magically potent as a focused White… In return, they can destroy most enemies in a single, powerful burst of magic. The book calls them a, and I quote, Pocket Nuke, and also includes warnings to not let a Pink cast any spell above a tier 2 inside or near a cities limits. They passively increase a spells tier by three. With ten tiers in total… they are incredibly strong. But also equally rare. Orange’s are more common, and work as a physical all-rounder type. Strong defense, strong offense, but little magical ability other then the baseline. Very dangerous up close. Not as much of a threat at range. Magenta combines a Reds proficiency with melee with a Purples weakening, usually focused on a single target. Violet is similar to a Magenta, but magic based rather than physical based. Cyan’s are… odd’
She hums quietly as the book rustles through pages. You spot the figure in black on the opposite all, still leaned up against it and barely moving. One foot on the wall and tapping soundlessly against it.
‘They are referred to as Controllers, usually with magic that can corral or generally influence where enemies are grouped together or act. Strong mental based magics as well in most cases. Browns combine a Greens raw defensive power with a Yellows ability to enhance, but focuses it inward. An even better Tank according to the book, but much slower as well…’
She takes a breath and lets it out.
‘Almost done. The last two are utility focused. Greys and Limes. Limes function as crafters of sorts. Lacking much of the direct combat capability of most magical girls. But they are usually incredibly smart, creative or both. They make most of a Magical Girls equipment, or repair and enhance it. I imagine this, Azure, you faced will have to take her blade to one such Lime in order to have it mended. Normal human means will not suffice unfortunately… if we did not have to talk about Greys, that would be an excellent segway into talking about your equipment versus normal magicals… Oh well. Greys are less front line focused. Functioning in most cases as infiltrators or scouts… Amusingly. The System rewards human on human conflict. Not as much as saving human lives of course. But it does allow a strong Grey plenty of bonuses… They tend to be employed by human governments in most cases as spies or saboteurs. Nulls take a little of their stealth capability, but not much else.’
She finishes by closing the book.
‘There’s a little more, but its not that important. Yellows function as trackers, same with Greys as an example. But I believe I’ve delivered quite a lot of information in a short period of time. I shall wait a little while for you to absorb it all. Tell me when you are ready to continue, and we can talk about equipment among other things.’
She flutters up and stretches, letting out a groan before lounging on the air itself.
You spend a bit organizing what you’ve learnt. Closing your eyes to help as you do so. Its definitely a lot… but it's useful you think. Knowing your enemy always is…
You think (Both can be picked)…
[ x ] You have more questions (Ask as many as you want~ Will try to answer all that I can)
[ x ] You think you’re ready to learn more… The exposition is real…
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