LOOP TWO - CHAPTER SEVEN

“Forgive me, but what?” Morgan asked. Her question was simple, and yet it was the one Amber latched onto over the sound of her other two teammates asking questions and speculating aloud.

Amber paced. “Right, I guess I should start from the start. I’m Amber Green. I’m a magical girl, and my power allows me to manipulate time, just a little bit. I can rewind a few minutes into my own past. It uses a lot of magic, and in combat, it’s not as useful as you might think. I think all three of you are stronger, especially Morgan. Out of combat, it’s a lot more handy. I can go back to before an ambush takes place, and I can know about traps and stuff.”

“Alright,” Cassy said. “That’s cool and all, but what’s that about you dying?”

“I was getting to it,” Amber said. She had to be careful not to sound too testy. “My power sometimes activates on its own. Especially when... I guess it’s triggered by stress? A fight going wrong, someone attacking me out of nowhere. I’ve gone back without thinking about it when one of you got hurt before. I’m basically... the team’s ‘start over’ button.”

“Cool,” Cassy said.

“Thanks,” Amber replied. She glanced at Morgan, who was looking at her speculatively. “You can ask the Seelie for confirmation, if you really want. Or we could do some sort of test.”

“Not now, I don’t think,” Morgan said.

Jade looked at the taller blonde, then shrugged. “It’s okay. I think we can believe you.”

“Thanks,” Amber said. “So... my dying. Uh, last time I lived through today, I got to Agartha early, and I became friends with Morgan. She’s... nice. She was showing me around, and we went to the Administration building when it blew up. So I jumped back a few minutes, and Morgan managed to evacuate the building, but it still exploded. So, today I warned the Seelie about it.”

“The offices,” Morgan said.

“Those exploded instead. Or that’s what I gathered so far. I guess you weren’t involved this time?”

Morgan shook her head.

“Okay, I guess that’s normal. So, we knew that there was someone suspicious around the school, and all we really knew is that she--and it’s a she--has pink hair. I don’t know if the investigation got anywhere.”

“So pinkie came around and murdered you?” Cassy asked.

“No, no, it wasn’t like that. I saw someone suspicious between classes. So I followed them and found... Pinkie, placing a bomb in one of the school buildings. We fought, and I lost. I went back in time a few minutes and was calling you guys for help when I ran into her again. She was different. Dark hair instead of pink, uh, I think I recognized her, but it was fast. We fought, and, well, she killed me.”

“Damn,” Cassy said.

Amber winced, then she looked towards Morgan. “I really regret not spending more time training. I know that, uh, to you we’ve just met, but I’d really appreciate it if we could set up some sort of daily training routine.”

Morgan nodded slowly. “I wouldn’t mind. I work out daily already; adding a half hour to that for training wouldn’t hurt.”

“Are you sure?” Cassy asked. “Because it sounds like it would hurt a lot.”

“It’s not so bad,” Amber said. “And we need to be stronger. Or at least, I feel like I need to be stronger. I was beaten really easily. That girl, with the pink hair? She’s tough.”

“I guess we can see where you are,” Morgan said. “There’re some sparring mats in the gym; maybe we can take some time tomorrow, see where everyone stands in terms of combat ability.”

“That sounds painful and unfun,” Cassy said.

“Yeah,” Amber agreed. “But getting stabbed through the eye wasn’t fun either.”

Cassy’s face blanched. “Oh, shit. Yeah, that doesn’t sound good at all.”

Amber paced over to a free chair, and slumped down onto it. She smiled when Jade pushed a water bottle her way. “Thanks. So, uh, yeah. Any questions? I’m leaving a lot out right now.”

“When did you, uh, die?” Jade asked.

“On Wednesday. Four days from now,” Amber said. “More or less. It was just after ethics class.”

“That’s not a long time to train,” Morgan said.

“I don’t plan on going at it alone this time,” Amber said. That would be really dumb. I’m not going to do things the same way.

“What can you tell us about your opponent?” Morgan asked.

“Yeah, spill the beans on Pinkie,” Cassy said.

“She looks like she’s about our age, normal-ish magical girl. I... can’t quite remember what her clothes looked like. Uh, she does have blue-green eyes. Like seafoam colour. I remember those. And after the explosion, there was an investigation, but no one found her. I think she might be a shapeshifter or something.”

“Oh, that’s creepy,” Cassy said.

“There’s more. We joined the Flight Club last time. They do pilot training things. Cassy was keen on joining, and we all got in together. Anyway, we did a mission with team Glasir—that’s Cecilia and Jessica, and two others that you haven’t met. On the way back, we spotted a building—a sort of bunker—and when we went to investigate, we were attacked. They had a rocket launcher. In one timeline, they took out a helicopter. But that, uh, never happened.”

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“Was anyone in the helicopter?” Jade asked.

“Well, the pilots, half of team Glasir, you and I and two other magical girls from another team.”

Jade shivered. “Let’s not join that club then.”

“Aww, it sounds kind of cool,” Cassy said.

Amber tried a smile on. “We’ll make it up to you in other ways, I promise.”

“Is there anything you think we should know?” Morgan asked. ‘We’ve been asking some fairly aimless questions so far.”

“Uh, I don’t think so,” Amber said. “But, yeah, if I act a little strange, or know something about you that you haven’t told me, it’s probably just my powers. I’m sorry. I don’t mean to breach your trust or anything.”

“You can’t have learned that much in like, half a week,” Cassy said.

“I guess not, but still. I spent the first two days I was in Agartha hanging out with Morgan, and we talked a lot. It feels weird now? Like, we were basically getting along really well, and now the whole thing never happened.”

“I’m certain we can get along once more,” Morgan said.

“I’ll do my best,” Amber said. “We, uh, may have gotten off on the wrong foot the first time too. Just saying that to be entirely honest.”

Cassy snorted. “How’d that happen?”

“I think I insulted Morgan? She got testy with me, I snarked back, it kind of went downhill for a bit, but we ended up getting along. Morgan’s... just really good at being a magical girl, and I’m kinda not. Not yet, anyway.”

“I... see, I think,” Morgan said. “Maybe we can go over that some more in private then?”

“Sure,” Amber said.

“Hey, what about me? And Jade?” Cassy asked.

Amber laughed. “I think we mostly got along? We fought a bunch, but you like arguing and being snarky. And Jade is a lot of fun once you realize she’s only pretending to be shy and is actually really cunning.”

“Hey,” Jade said. “Don’t go around giving things away.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Amber said. “But, uh, yeah, I think that’s it.”

“So, you’ll help us on tests and things with your power, right?” Cassy asked.

“Sure,” Amber said. Oh wow, that look Morgan is giving me. “I can tell you when you haven’t studied or practiced enough, that way you’ll have plenty of time to improve.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Cassy said.

Amber shrugged. “I’m sure you weren’t implying that I’d cheat for you.”

Morgan cleared her throat. “I think we’ll have an interesting day tomorrow. Amber might know us all well, but we hardly know her, and we don’t know each other.”

“So you’re suggesting we do some sort of group activity?” Jade asked. “Get to know each other?”

“I think training for a few hours ought to do that well enough,” Morgan said.

Standing up, Amber stretched her back out, then shifted from side to side to unlimber herself. “That’ll be for tomorrow. It’s a bit late already.”

“Yeah, I could use some shut-eye. Hey, does this place have Wi-fi?” Cassy asked.

“It does, but it’s a little slow,” Morgan said. “The internet in the library is better. Did you get your academy issued phones yet? They auto-connect.”

“Not yet. I guess I won’t have any data out here, huh?”

Jade giggled. “I doubt it. I left my phone at home. It didn’t seem super useful out here. Um, which room’s mine?”

“You took that one last time,” Amber said.

“Oh, let’s switch it up then,” Jade said. “Cassy, do you mind?”

“I guess not? But, uh, why?”

“To make things different for Amber. Can you imagine living through the same day over and over? It’ll get stale,” Jade explained. “You could change rooms too, Amber? Morgan?”

“I think I’ll stay in my current room,” Morgan said. “I have things laid out already.”

“I wouldn’t mind,” Amber said. “That might actually be fun. Uh, speaking of, Morgan, can we borrow something to use as PJs?”

“I have some extra too,” Jade said.

“Wait, how?” Cassy asked.

Jade tugged on her scarf. “Magic dimension stuff. I carry all of my things with me. Not that I don’t trust the academy to lose my luggage or anything, but, well, this seemed easier.”

The girls stood and started to mill around. Cassy inspected her new room--formerly Jade’s--and Morgan rooted around for a few large shirts they could use as sleepwear. Jade’s offer was generous, but she was by far the smallest of them, and the clothes she had wouldn’t fit without some serious contortions.

“Right, well, good night, Svalinn,” Amber said.

“Good night!” came the calls of her team.

Amber flopped onto her bed, head bouncing off her pillow before she rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling.

It had been a surprisingly good day. Maybe even better than the first time she’d lived through it.

She hoped it would be the same in the morning.

***