October 4, 493 U.C.

With the precision of a surgeon, I carefully added a drop of vinegar to my concoction. It began foaming up like a volcano. While immature, it was entertaining.

“Casey, send me to the meeting room,” Dad said as he walked into my room.

I studied his suit. “You have a hair.” I gestured to a strand that ran across his sleeve. “And why can’t I come?”

Dad plucked it off. “Casey, don’t start. You know why.”

Damn. I wanted to investigate. I decided to send a recording device and tracking devices instead.

Dad studied the potion. “I’ll send orders. What’s your status on increasing mana absorption?”

I stood up and shrugged. “Nothing worked,” I replied. The library had been explicit. Doing anything like that would result in a disaster. I didn’t want aberrations. It didn’t elaborate, but the horror genre had not encouraged me to test it.

“Push it,” Dad said. “We need it now.”

“I’m trying.”

“New spells?”

“Nope,” I lied.

“Very well. Send me over.”

I reached over and sent him to the basement. Then I froze time, liberated recorders and trackers, and then planted them all over the place. Finally, I headed for my room and debated breaking other rules. I was tired of being grounded. I put in my ocular computer and debated. My inner devil told me to visit Daniele.

A smile crept onto my face. Then I headed over there and knocked.

Daniele smiled. “Come in, Casey.”

“Thanks.” I walked inside. Then I waved at her mom.

“Hello, Casey. Aren’t you grounded?” Denise asked.

“Yes,” I admitted.

“Why did you get grounded?” Denise polished the counter.

I quickly lied. “I was out past curfew.”

“Oh? With whom?”

“Dani… Ryan,” I said and regretted my life choices.

Denise stopped cleaning and walked over. “What really happened?”

“I can’t talk about it.” I blushed. My go-to excuse was right in front of me, but I couldn’t use it here.

I flushed further as she got close and inspected me. I was wearing long sleeves. That did not help her suspicions. Her eyes locked onto my gloves. I rapidly took them off and showed her my hands.

“Gloves?” Denise asked.

“Chemistry… Just experimenting.”

“You know that you can trust us, right?”

I really hoped that was true. I was going to need a replacement home if I had to toss my entire group in jail. So, I smiled and nodded at her. “Thanks.”

“You can come to us anytime, Casey.” Denise turned and headed toward a closet.

“Why gloves?” Daniele asked.

“I was using chemicals.” I blushed and regretted forgetting about them.

“Want to lose the sweater too?” Daniele asked.

“No, thanks.” I couldn’t do that.

“Stop by whenever you’d like, Casey. I mean it,” Denise said as she grabbed her purse.

“Thanks, Doctor Drake.” I waved as she walked out. Then I followed Daniele to her room, walking into the cheery pink place. I studied it all and took a look at her plushie collection again. She has so many!

“Gloves?” Daniele asked again as she shut the door.

“Dad wants me to find a way to grow magic faster. I have no idea. I was just messing around with chemicals and didn’t want to burn myself or anything. I wanted to make a volcano.” I giggled.

Daniele ignored my giggles. “Why did you get grounded?”

I paused without turning toward her. “They got mad at me for not doing something they asked. Then they got mad for the same reason again.”

“You aren’t going to do what they are saying, right? You won’t attack, right?” Daniele asked with a growing frown. “I can’t let you do that, Casey.”

I blanched. “Of course not. But it might make Dad mad again. If so, I’m coming back here. He already said that school was next to go.”

Daniele grinned at me. Relief shone on her face. “I’m holding you to that. If he asks for that, come here. We’ll figure it out. I can ask Ama.” She looked at me.

It was my best option for the cleanup plan. “Let me think about it,” I said softly.

Daniele took a seat next to me. She leaned back onto the couch and looked at her posters. I followed her eyes and wondered what she was thinking.

“How are things? Daron?” I asked.

“It’s annoying. Ama got me a fake card, but it doesn’t matter. They all think I’m going to be a guardian.” Daniele paused. “Should I get rid of them? I’m going to be one.” Then she shook her head and stared at me. “I’m sitting next to one! This is so strange.”

I giggled. “Do what you want. What else is bothering you?”

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Daniele pulled a pillow into her lap. “Sometimes I wonder if Daron just likes me for the same reason.”

“I wish I knew the answer,” I said softly. “The one thing I have learned is that people will do just about anything for magic. It’s turning my life into a nightmare.” I let out a long breath and considered stopping the awakening potion supply. That would tip off dad. I frowned and debated options.

Daniele spoke after a minute. “I would have done anything before I knew I was getting it. No wonder the fae suspect you.”

“Yep. We stand out like sore thumbs.” I leaned against her. “Want to play something?”

“Sure. I can beat you at cards.” Daniele giggled.

I scowled, vaulted up, and took her pink deck. “I don’t think so!”

“Fine. I’ll play yellow since you are metal anyways.” She smirked at me.

“You’re on!” I began setting up my deck.

Daniele began setting out cards. “Where’s your dad?”

“Villains’ meeting. They forbade me.” I groaned as my phone buzzed.

Raptor: Rescue!

I pulled it up and frowned. “Good grief.”

“What’s up?” Daniele asked.

“I have to go save some turnips. Sorry. I’ll be back in a minute.” I teleported, used haste, and got ready rapidly. Then I teleported and bolted through some desert on Starb. The sandy ground churned beneath my feet while the sun beat down. I could feel my lips chapping.

In the distance was a group of people who were busy fighting some felines. They were tan, like coyotes. Or they would have been if they weren’t aglow. They had claws and teeth like saber-tooth tigers of old. The felines looked terrifying.

One of them suddenly surged forward straight at me. The rest joined it. Shit. Panic flashed through me as I summoned hatchets. I hate other speedsters. They charged and sprinted towards me, loping through the sands.

I took a defensive stance and used my body enhancement spell. Spinning away from a pounce, I lashed out with my axe, slamming it between the ribs. Then I dove to avoid the next. Rolling through the sand, I vaulted up and chopped.

The sandsaber twisted to avoid the strike. I swung again, smashing into its leg. Blood spurted from the wound. Spinning, I kicked the leaping one, slamming my foot into its skull.

We both flew in opposite directions. I twisted. Claws ripped into my side. Jaws smashed down on my ankle. I screamed bloody murder as Time Stop kicked in.

With water streaming from my eyes, I grabbed my emergency supplies. I used the medgel and bandaged my wounds. Then I grabbed the medcast and slapped that on. I screamed as it realigned things.

Tears ran down my cheeks as I waited for the fiery pain to dim. I looked out at the mess. I had no desire to continue fighting fairly. There were two dozen of the things. I also was pissed at the group. It was their fault, and I had warned them over and over. A thought crossed my mind. How the guardians treated them would be revealing. So, I went over to the nearest police station and stole stuff that had trackers.

Returning, I dumped the trackers in their pockets and sent the group home. Then I turned back and began invoking a new spell. Four more were added for good measure. Then I moved away and resumed time.

A crack rang through the air. Lightning chained through the group of felines, burning through them. The smell of burned hair and flesh hit my nostrils as I dashed up to finish off the stragglers.

The few that managed to survive tried to run. I teleported, chopped, and teleported again while growling at them. The last crumpled in a heap.

Everything remained quiet. Any bugs nearby stayed quiet. The birds were flying far above. It was clear they wanted nothing to do with me. I grabbed carcasses and crystals. With one final look at the sandy dunes, I teleported home and changed back into my attire. Then I teleported into Daniele’s room, causing her to vault off her chair.

“Sorry,” I whispered.

“Are you alright?” Daniele asked with a horrified look on her face.

“Just some cats. It’s fine. I got them bandaged with medgel. And I have a medcast.” I gestured at my leg.

“It’s not fine,” Daniele hissed. “What happened?”

“I got a rescue call for people advancing. Those sandsabers were fast. They had at least a tier-five haste spell. I got bit and clawed a little.” I shook my head. “It’s fine.”

Daniele shook her head. “You should go to the hospital.”

“I’ll be alright. I heal fast.” I smiled at her. “When you get healing magic, that’ll be nice. I wonder what that would be like.”

“Be careful, Casey.” Daniele went quiet as realization suddenly hit. “How many times?”

“You don’t want to know,” I whispered. “Do you remember the first videos of Platinum?”

Daniele’s mouth dropped open. “You almost died!” she hissed.

I gave her a sad look. “Guardian life isn't easy.”

Daniele’s expression did not soften. “Did your dad make you do it? Did he make you do this?” Her eyes were blazing furiously.

I swallowed and shook my head. “He just wanted me to grow. It’s fine, Daniele. Sometimes guardians get hurt. You’ll find that out. We aren’t immune to damage. That bug broke my ribs. It took days for those to heal.”

“Why did you have those bruises on your legs?” Daniele demanded. “Cats didn’t do that. And what’s under your sweater?” She let out a long breath and shook her head. “Casey, can we please go to the guardians? I could talk to them.”

I swallowed. “Can you just ask what will happen to you and your potential kids. And then maybe how they'd be treated or if anyone like that exists?” I asked softly while my throat began to swell. Water began to run into my eyes. Am I really going to do this? Am I going to lose Dad? My family? With tears in my eyes, I looked at the floor.

Daniele reached over and patted my shoulder. “I'll find out. We'll figure it out.” Daniele smiled at me. “Come on. Let's play.” She turned back to the cards. Grateful for the distraction, I picked mine up and proceeded to get trounced again. Finishing that, I went to pick up Dad and my recorders.

As soon as Dad left, I popped them in my computer and pushed play. All that greeted me was static. That was when I realized they were clearly using noise cancellation tech. I groaned and began pulling up locations from the trackers. Half the trackers were killed by something. That was a real buzzkill. Some did remain. I let them log things while trying to salvage anything from the recording. It didn't work, but I spent a fair amount of time trying.

Current Level 11 Current XP 81.54% Current Max Mana 14863.63 Regen per minute 22.52 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.