It happened quickly, and if Jon hadn't been expecting it, she hadn't have even realized anything had happened at all. It was like a shiver that went up her legs, then up her back, and ended at the top of her head. And it preceded a sense of clarity. Like when you're listening to music, but someone outside is using a leafblower and you can hear the dull hum, but suddenly the leafblower turns off and the music just sounds so much better. Or when you're streaming a video online and it suddenly jumps from SD to HD. The world jumped to HD for Jon in that moment. And it stayed that way. More colors, more textures, more sounds. Everything was just a little bit more.
"Is that it?" Jon asked. "Do I have magic now?"
"Yes," the shoes replied, "you have magic. It should feel instinctual, but I want you to be careful how you use it at first. There are rules."
"Right," Jon nodded. "I can't use magic on anyone who doesn't consent, unless they've used it on my first."
"That's the big one."
"So I'll practice on myself. Who wants to be a girl named Jon, anyway?" She closed her eyes for a moment to concentrate on changing her name, but quickly realized that wasn't necessary. There was no ceremony to magic, it was just an extension of her own mind, and all she had to do was will a thing for it to happen. All she had to do was decide what name felt like her own, and it would be so. "Okay, shoes, what's my name?"
"Lillian McMillan," the shoes replied.
A giddy squeal escaped Lillian's lips. "It worked! I get it! Okay, I think I know what to do."
"You need to scry for the spell that was cast on me," the shoes suggested.
"Right, and then trace it back to the source. And since it ended up affecting me, I can cast some appropriate spell on that individual to hopefully dissuade them from that kind of recklessness in the future."
"Exactly."
"Okay, so the spell was supposed to target Karyn. But Karyn doesn't have access to any magic, so it had to be unprovoked. It looks like... Sarah Gibson?" For a moment, Lillian had to remind herself who Sarah Gibson was. The girl kept to herself most of the time, but she didn't seem like a trouble-maker. However, she had definitely been the one who used magic on Karyn. She used an enchanted sock puppet. And, as Lillian dug a little deeper, Sarah had also used magic on her own sister the night before. It was a more benign spell, but still. Someone like this using magic so recklessly, and contrary to the rules of magic, was dangerous.
"I think I know what I need to do," Lillian declared to her shoes.
