Chapter 3: Common Day
Jessica was beating me. This time, she used a whip. I thrashed and flailed whenever it cleaved flesh from my back. I tried with all my might to scream out, to call for help, anything, but my voice never managed to escape, restrained by sheer terror.
I woke up in a cold sweat. Stinging pain ran up my spine as I rolled over to check the time; 6:48. It was early, but Mom would be in here soon anyway and I wasn’t looking forward to more sleep. Memories of last night returned as I slowly pushed myself up, hugged my arms around body, and shivered. I carefully slid off the bed, noting that my back only hurt half as much as before, and turned to look at the sheets; some blood had seeped through. I threw a blanket over to hide it. That would have to be washed out later. Did the bandages also need to be changed? I wouldn’t even know how, so I left them be. I was scared to think about everything that had happened, so I started getting ready for school. It would be a welcome distraction.
A pitiful face watched me from the mirror, and no amount of water was able to wash it away. Mom was surprised to see me up so early on my own, but she didn’t complain. I sat in my usual spot at the table and stared down at the eggs, bitter dark patches staring back up. I scraped them away. Mom got the news while I picked at the edible bits. I put as much focus on the TV as I could while they rambled about cold fronts and dropping temperatures. Jake wandered in and seemed confused by the unusual state of my plate, but he didn’t comment.
A young girl in orange clothes came on screen and I winced. Was that going to be me? Had she gone through the same thing? I didn’t want to think about it, so I pushed the thought aside and just focused on what she was saying. The red circle controlled by the machines grew a bit smaller, but progress was slow. Apparently not many powerful girls were in the area, explaining how the outpost was established to begin with. At least it was under control.
I finished my breakfast and continued getting ready, grabbing the first things I saw out of the closet and skipping makeup. It’s not like it made much of a difference anyway. Soon enough, we were headed out the door with Mom delighted to leave a little earlier than usual. I looked out the car window, memorizing every turn and sign on the usual route to school.
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A familiar voice greeted me by the lockers, “Hey, Becca.”
I turned and greeted her back, “Hey, Clo.” It was comforting to have her here.
Chloe looked at me with concern. “What’s up? Tired?”
“Yeah” I said, certainly having not slept well. “Tired.”
“Figure out how to be magical girls yet?”
I froze. Should I tell her? Would she even want to know?
“No, of course not” I lied. “What about you?”
Chloe sighed, “Nothing on my end either. Just why do they make this so hard anyway? Don’t they need more magical girls?”
Probably because they do horrible things to make you one. But I wasn’t going to tell her that. She didn’t need to know.
We headed to first period, and I tried my best to stay awake. We got our quizzes back, and my grade was about what I expected. It turns out yesterday was January 7th, so I guess that makes today the 8th. The lesson started, and apparently we’ve been learning about polygons. ‘Poly-’ meaning ‘many,’ because they’re made up of many lines. Would that make lines monogons? And what about something made up of many polygons, like a cube? And what about me, whose back was covered in monogons? I shuddered as darkness crept into my mind. No no no no no no no no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. No. No. I tried to focus on the lesson again; it wasn’t easy.
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History class went on another tangent today. Radios were invented in the year 18whatever, but we didn’t use those anymore. Wireless signals were vulnerable. The AI could intercept out messages, or it could transmit back lies and propaganda. The news even used to be broadcast wirelessly, with constant updates on any situation around the globe, but now we can barely tell what’s happening outside our own little town. At least the AI doesn’t know either. Does it care? Can it care? I wasn’t so sure, but the magical girls were winning and that’s what counted.
I sat down at the usual lunch table, and Chloe greeted me with the usual serious look.
“So Becca.”
“So Clo.”
“What’s the plan?”
I took a moment to act like I was thinking hard about it. Really, I already had something prepared, but I wasn’t about to ruin the mood. After all, it couldn’t hurt to play along, right?
“Well…” I began, “like I said before, we need a more specific goal. It might be easier to find a god if we know which one we’re looking for? Besides, it would be worse to get stuck with a bad fit.” I certainly didn’t like where I ended up.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Fine, fine, so we’ll pick a color. What are the options?”
I raised an eyebrow at this. “You don’t know the colors?”
Chloe looked at me like I was stupid. “Obviously I know the colors. I’m asking what they represent, like how blues are calm. They all have big fancy meanings that don’t matter because they’re magical girls anyway, right?”
That was certainly one way to view things. “Sure. So pink is love, red is justice, purple is…”
“Hold on, hold on. I’m not going to remember everything if you just ramble away.” Chloe opened her bag and got out a pen and paper, basically shoving them at me in her enthusiasm. “Here, make a list.”
So I narrated for her as I made the list:
“♥ MAGICAL GIRL COLOR MEANINGS! ♥
Pink = Love
Red = Justice
Orange = Mirth
Yellow = Aspiration
Green = Competition
Blue = Tranquility
Purple = Nobility
And Black = …”
I hesitated.
“Black = Compassion.”
I slid the page back over to her. That wasn’t what black represented. I knew that wasn’t what it represented. And what about the others? Was any of this true? I felt like someone was laughing at me, but when I turned around Jessica wasn’t there.
“And this is all we know about the gods, right?” I snapped out of my thoughts as Chloe spoke up. She was completely absorbed in the list.
“…Right.” I had an inkling as to why, but I didn’t need to voice it.
“So what am I?” She looked up, smiling ear to ear.
“Maybe… a yellow? You certainly aspire to be a magical girl.” I was getting a headache.
Chloe nodded, clearly satisfied with the answer, and then looked deep into my eyes, as if probing every corner of my soul.
“…Yeah” she said thoughtfully, “you’d be a great black.”
My heart stopped.
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The rest of the day was a blur. I managed to get through lunch, but the rest of what Chloe said went in one ear and out the other. Next class, I finally broke down and cried. I couldn’t tell them why, but my Spanish teacher was at least nice enough to send me to the nurse. I would have to apologize to her later. I used this chance to skip gym as well; there was no way I could get changed in the locker room. At least Chloe didn’t know any of this. Jessica did though.
I attended my last two classes, but they didn’t matter. None of it mattered. All that mattered was that school would end. I would go home, curl up in bed, and shut the world out. That way, nothing else could hurt me.
Jake looked at me as we got off the bus, seeming like he wanted to ask something, but I just ignored him and walked up the driveway. I went up to my room and locked the door, but when I looked at my bed I remembered the blood stain. So I just sat where I was, leaning against the door and hugging my legs to my chest. I thought about what happened today. About what happened last night. Everything I was trying not to think about. I never asked for any of this. I didn’t want any of this. It wasn’t fair. Why was I the one who had to deal with this? Chloe’s the one who’s been ASKING for this, so why couldn’t it be her? It just didn’t make any sense.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.
“Rebecca” Jake called, “your friend is here.”
Chloe? Why was she here? This soon after school ended? Didn’t she have club? I didn’t want to face her. She probably knew something was up, but I couldn’t just turn her away either.
“Alright, tell her I’ll be down in a minute.”
Jake dutifully walked across the hall, called out “she’ll be down in a minute!” and then shuffled back to his room. It was rude, but I could deal with him later; for now, I needed to wipe my face and at least look somewhat presentable. I prepared myself, opened the door, and walked downstairs. Waiting for me there, however, was someone I didn’t know.
“Hello?” I greeted her hesitantly.
She looked up and smiled a half smile. “Hey” she said, “I’m Megan. We met last night.”
Sirens blared in my head as she said this. Nothing good came from last night. I almost tripped as I stepped back, debating whether I should convince her to leave or run to my room. But before I could act, she spoke again, something calming in her voice.
“Yeah, I know that reaction well. Do you have somewhere to sit? We should probably talk.”
She… didn’t seem like she had bad intentions. Slowly, I breathed out, nodded, and showed her into the living room. She picked a chair on the far side of the room and I sat opposite her. I looked more closely as she got comfortable and folded her hands in her lap. Her blazer and skirt uniform belonged to a nearby all-girls school. She was tidy, without single crease or wrinkle on her clothes and blonde hair tied back in a neat bun. Her piercing dark blue eyes stared directly into me.
“So” she began, “where would you like to start?”
“Who are you?” I had a name, Megan, but that wasn’t an explanation.
She thought for a moment, and then carefully responded “I… shouldn’t say out loud. I’m the one who walked you home though.”
“Ah.” Nightingale. That made sense. I relaxed a little in my chair. “So why the visit?”
Checking up on me maybe? I can’t say I knew her well, but she did seem like the type. After all, she was at least somewhat concerned about me last night.
“Simply put, there’s a lot you still don’t know. I need to teach you. Prepare you for the job.”
My job as a magical girl. I looked away, but could still feel her eyes boring through me.
“Can I refuse?”
Nightingale sighed. “Unfortunately, no. You’ve already made an oath; that’s binding. I know how you feel, but trust me when I say you’re already past the worst of it. The rest is… better. And as long as you’re careful, it should be mostly safe.”
She seemed unsure, but I could tell she was being genuine. That even if things didn’t fit Chloe’s sparkly image, at the very least it wouldn’t get worse. I didn’t like the danger, or anything else this meant, but I should at least know what I was waiting for me, right? So I nodded.
“Alright, I’ll do it.”
Megan smiled, just a little bit. “Then it’s about time we head out. Tell your family we’re going to book club. I’m going to teach you about being a magical girl.”