September 22, 493 U.C.

Like an exhausted pack mule, I plodded out onto the streets on Monday morning. The weekend was a moving-filled nightmare from which there was no return. My weeping, wailing, singing, and groaning did nothing to ease the agony of relocating safe spaces.

It was an unspeakable agony that I will not relive in order to preserve my sanity. Instead, I shall say that I plodded out under the clouds and enjoyed it greatly. The wind mussed with my hair. The smell of the forest lingered, and I waved at some locals.

“Why are you wearing long sleeves?” Daniele asked with a frown.

“I helped people move. I got some bruises.” I yawned and enjoyed the air.

Daniele looked up at the sky. “Think it’ll rain?”

“Probably. It sure feels like it.” I turned and waved. “Hey, Daron. Did things calm a little?”

“No. How’d you do it, Casey?” Daron asked, studying me.

“Do what now?” I asked.

“Cheat the test.”

I rolled my eyes. “I didn’t!”

“Right. I don’t believe you. Why the long sleeves?”

“I helped at the butcher shop and got a little banged up.” I pulled my sleeves up. There were a couple of bruises.

Daron shook his head. “Or you were out fighting things and getting stronger.”

I huffed, throwing my hands up in exasperation. “There is no talking to you. Daniele, flirt with him.” I moved to the opposite side, using her as a human shield.

“Did you see the announcement?” Daniele asked.

“The one from the fae?” Daron asked. “Yes. Did she?”

That got my attention. I hadn’t been vigilant about the news. “Did I see what?”

“The fae want Platinum to contact them.”

Of course. They want to murder me. The silence grew. “Why?” I asked.

Daron studied me, searching for any tells. “They believe that she was the first self-awakened and want to talk to her to understand. They promised that she would be safe and wouldn’t be charged with a crime if she reached out.”

“Hmm.” I looked back at the sky. That’s not happening.

Ela fluttered out. “Please, Casey! Just trust us. We won't hurt you. Eluna says that she loves you and can’t wait to talk to you. She says to please let me talk to them.”

I blinked repeatedly while trying to process that one. What does that mean? Then the picture of a burned down house flashed into my mind. Who wants to hear your mom’s murderer say something like that? It was horrible. Water started to gather in my eyes.

“Casey?” Ela asked.

“Leave me alone, Ela.” I reached up and killed my ocular computer.

Daniele turned. “Has Lord Peter done anything else?”

Daron shook his head. “He sent some drones, but it’s just posturing. He can’t win that war. It won’t work. Casey is right about that. While magic gives you a nice edge, modern weaponry is still lethal to most guardians. There are a few exceptions, but we have guardians too.”

“Do you think we’ll have war again?” Daniele asked.

“Maybe,” Daron said. “They can awaken. We can’t. It’s an imbalance that will build. Worse still, they are selling the service and everything is a mess.”

“Good morning,” Lucy said as she walked up.

I waved. Grudges are a lot of work, and I had enough of that already. Instead, I sighed.

Britney sighed as she walked up. “Why are you with freshmen again, Daron? You can do way better, and I’ll get magic. I even ran into Viper once.”

Daron spun on a dime as he darted towards her. “Where? When?”

“A week ago when I was visiting Earth.”

“Do you have a way to contact her?” Daron demanded.

Britney winked at him. “Maybe.”

“How? I need it.”

“We can talk about it over dinner. I can’t talk with them around.”

“We’ll leave you to it.” I grabbed Daniele’s hand and walked forward. She was on the brink of laughing. I could see her fighting to try to keep her face neutral. Her smile kept getting too big and moving everywhere. It seemed like I’d befriended honest people. It was a real problem.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Daniele giggled. “Think she knows Viper?”

“For sure. They’re best friends and everything.” I giggled with her.

“You’re terrible.” Daniele erupted into giggles.

“That’s for sure.” I looked up at the sky as the humidity hit. “Are they pulling you?” I picked up my pace, moving to a jog.

Daniele nodded. “Before the end of the year. Casey, I’ll join the guardians.” She looked at me nervously.

I felt my stomach churning. That was going to mess up my life further. “We’ll figure it out. Find out why they are changing humans into fae. I need to know.”

Daniele jogged with me. “I’ll ask.”

“Thanks. Don’t push it hard, but find out before they do it.” At least I’ll finally get an answer to that.

Daniele looked up and then back. “Just know that you’re my friend.”

“You too, Daniele. And if your brother is a guardian, you owe me his plushie. And I owe you his plushie.” I giggled.

“He owes us both. Did you talk to Ryan?”

“Yes.”

“Can you?” Daniele asked.

“You know the answer to that, but let’s talk about school before we get into real trouble. How’d you do on math homework?”

“It was work!” Daniele’s eyes shot up as a raindrop hit the ground. Her jog turned into a run.

I ran alongside, vaulting over a pot that had blown over. Then I looked over as Daniele slowed.

“The news is blowing up. – Oh, good grief. Now he’s using Viper. He says that she could rip their towns apart.” Daniele looked up at me in confusion.

I groaned. “Forget that. What’s the response?”

Daniele burst into laughter. It’s about the kids and food, isn’t it? I sighed and caught a raindrop on my head. Her laughter continued unabated as we headed up the streets.

“What?” I demanded as we hit the final street.

Daniele giggled. “This is my favorite. ‘She’d show up and demand we surrender. We’d say that we’ll set terms over dinner. Then we’d feed her the best meal she ever had and keep her. Viper! Contact us; we’ll work out a nice deal. We have the best restaurants around!’”

My cheeks lit on fire, bathing the area in a warm, red glow. Like a thousand sunburns, my face did the same. I’m such a joke. Good grief.

“It’s better than having a reputation for those things,” Daniele said softly.

That helped. “That’s true.”

“Better to be known for liking food than for hurting people.”

I could hardly argue with that. Walking up the steps, we walked inside and headed to the airlock while the rain outside slowly increased in intensity. Students burst through the doors and joined up.

Walking through the airlock, I swapped my air canister in the machine. Then I studied my friend who seemed distracted again.

Daniele frowned. “There is another villain attacking.”

My phone buzzed. I grabbed it and saw the message.

Raptor: Earth rescue!

I clicked the link and frowned. It was just a video feed of the villain.

Me: Location?

I began trying to figure that out, but it seemed that the news was obscuring that fact. I started searching social media. Gunshots rang through my earbuds. I swallowed and looked at the feed.

Me: It’s too late, sir. I need real coordinates, not just an anonymous camera.

Raptor: Sanitize!

Me: What does that mean? I don’t know what that means.

Raptor: I’ll send instructions. It’s the cleanup procedure.

I looked back to the feed and saw the body lying there in a pool of blood. Some people nearby were being evacuated. My eyes started to water.

“They shot him,” I said softly, killing the feed. The guilt surged. I’d given him magic. Now he was dead and people were hurt.

“Do you blame them?” Daniele asked, looking away.

“No. I guess I can’t.” I began debating what to do while walking toward class. It didn’t seem like we’d made things better at all. There were villains now. We were on the brink of war. The fae were getting more involved, and I was still a fugitive.

I plopped into my chair and hardly looked around the classroom. Rain drizzled on the windows while I stewed. I had a growing desire to stop everything until I could get it figured out. That feeling kept growing while I sat there.

“Good morning,” Ryan said as she slid into a desk next to me.

I waved at her while trying to sort through it all. People entered and class started while I made a choice. I’ve been too naïve. It needs to stop. With that decided, I turned my attention to the teacher and the lesson.

Current Level 11 Current XP 37.23% Current Max Mana 11233.63 Regen per minute 17.02 Reputation 12600

Tier Skill Cost Tier 11 User Time Dilation (Haste)

- User experiences 256 seconds for 1 earth second.

- Force transference limited to 25%. 1 mana per earth second. Tier 7 Pocket Dimension

- 128 cubic meters of pocket space.

- Rapid stash and rapid draw.

- You may tether objects to your pocket space.

- Your pocket space cleans, preserves, and organizes items inside based on your will. 32 mana Tier 7 Time Stop

- Caster leaves spacetime. They may remove and place things back in spacetime.

- You may control the flow of time in the demiplane.

- You may summon in willing living creatures.

- This automatically triggers if you take significant damage.

- Recast to gain vision. 200 mana to cast.

Variable cost to move items in and out. Tier 7 Teleport.

- Teleports the caster or a willing creature.

- You may cast this on a willing or unwilling creature if they are within fifty meters.

- You may teleport inside an object, causing the matter to push outward.

200 mana for the caster.

400 mana for a willing creature.

1000 mana for an unwilling creature with no resistance.

- Short range casts cost less mana.

Tier 3 Attire Swap

- Locked to a single outfit. Current outfit set to Magical Girl Uniform.

- Attire cleaned on swap.

- Attire repaired on swap. 20 mana. Tier 3 Enhanced Body

- Caster’s body is enhanced by a factor of eight. 2 mana per caster second. Tier 2 Enchanting.

- Enchantments last twice as long. Variable cost. Tier 2 Potions.

- Potions last twice as long. Variable cost. Tier 2 Familiar Manifestation. 20 mana to cast Tier 2 Free casting

- Cast any spell you can replicate.

- Slotted Spell. Use half the normal cost of the spell to store a single spell for future use. Cast the spell for the remaining cost. Variable cost. Penalty of 8x mana.