Jenny had left for school, with Melanie beside her. Jenny was dressed in a uniform, and Melanie in normal clothing. She was starting to notice the difference as they approached the school, and saw the other children dressed in similar patterns.
"What is is that I am accused of?" Asked Melanie.
"Huh?" Jenny turned to her confused. "N-Nothin'," she said very confused. "Did someone say somethin'?"
"Mother said this would be a trial period." she said uncertainly. "Trials are for the.. accused?"
"Oh... no it ain't like that. We're jus' gonna see how you do in school, an' I'll be keepin' an eye on you. That's all."
Melanie thought a bit about that then nodded. "I observe and interact little to prevent issues?"
"No! Please- er- you should talk to people. Jus' not act... weird?" Jenny said biting her lip. Maybe this was a bad idea after all. Still... she was confident that they had to bring Melanie out at some point.
Artemis rushed over to Jenny, clearly quite worried. "Jenny! Did you get into a magic girl fight?" She asked quite worried.
Jenny shook her head. "No, but I saw that there's a dark moon now up there. But I haven't done anythin'." She was quite worried herself. "Wasn't it one of the other magic girls?"
Tetra came out from a little hiding spot in Jenny's bag. The little cat girl shook her head. "I thought it was... but now I'm not so sure. It didn't feel right at all." They were all still trying to get the feel of magic, but it was not a concept they had experience in. Even their guardians who seemed to have greater specific knowledge had trouble when something new came about. Imagining what was going on with knowledge they didn't know how had came about was like stumbling in a dark room, and finding the exit to an even darker night.
Melanie looked up at where the dark moon could just about be seen... Her expression was a mix of curiosity, but also something sad. To see such a thing but be do distant, eyes were... such strange organs. "breech," she said in thought.
"You know something about it Melanie?" Asked Jenny. "Can you tell us?"
Melanie considered that question very carefully. "No."
The group was stunned. "Why not?" Asked Jenny a little upset about that.
Melanie tilted her head. She had to explain now why she met this conclusion. "There's no way to define what happened. That's why it happened. I can not tell you what happened cause there ain't a lot I can say." She hoped that would pacify their expressions. Why did it hurt to see them upset at her like that?
Suddenly Jenny was surprised to see Lilly rush over to them. The little squirrel girl seemed a little excited, nervous and so many other shades in between.
"Jenny! Magic! Magic stick! It- they moon! Julian an- wolves an- God Magic! I-"
"Slow down slow down," Said Jenny calming her.
Tetra sniffed suddenly the air. "Hmm.. Something sweet... she's been eating a lot of sugar. Nuts of some sort?"
"Er- yeah," She said with a slight twitch as she took them out of her pocket.
Melanie eyed them curiously. "Brazilian," she stated. "Not from here. How you get them?"
"Er.. gift." the squirrel said putting them away. "But Jenny- I got into a fight an... an... I used my stick! It's really got magic."
Tetra on hearing this, got more concerned, as did Artemis. "So.. you was the one doin' that weird blue light?" asked the moon girl.
"Yeah!" Lily said excited. "I didn't know if it would work but it did! I jus' drew numbers on the ground an... there was this big flash of light an Julian- he- he's the dark moon!"
Melanie glanced up again then and Lilly. "An Annihilation event," she said. As Lilly took out the blue stick though Melanie stared at it, tensing ever so slightly. If it had that effect... then this stick was...
"Why are you afraid Melanie? It's just a blue stick," asked Artemis.
Meanie bent her legs on the ground, and started to draw something. It looked like an odd pattern of some kind, with strange chevrons at the bottom. Something that could almost look like an equation or a story? "Cause of this. Can not say why. Can only show."
The picture didn't mean... anything to the others.
Tetra however seemed to get a vague idea of what Melanie was trying to say. "So, she's doing a sort of... mutual annihilation spell?" asked Tetra as she gazed at Lilly's stick.. it was a lot smaller now then she remembered it. She was starting to see why.
"Why must an event be considered magic?" asked Melanie. That made no sense! People In this reality were just so strange.
"Cause... that's how it looks like to us," said Artemis softly.
Melanie stared a bit then shrugged. "It is only what it looks like. It is an event. Events transpire. They connect the things that happen."
Tetra stepped onto the picture on the ground looking at it's bold lines. "So... your drawing... I take it there's some kind of limit? What if Lilly did something that goes over that limit?"
Melanie stared at the little squirrel girl. "Mutual annihilation event." she stated.
"What's that mean?" Asked Jenny. Things were going awfully quickly for her. Lilly was using her stick to cast magic spells? "I don't 'understand any o' this. Is Lilly a magic girl now?" She asked maybe a little hopefully. Maybe that would mean she can help Artemis and herself fight the enemy now.
Tetra sighed. "No, she isn't. She's using embers of powerful magics that were cast on the branch. It must have been something extremely powerful to do anything. It's like a burning stick... and eventually it will run out of fuel. If she uses the last bit, and still more energy is needed... it would consume her instead. Lilly would... cease to be."
Lilly gasped. She looked at her stick... the only power she had, the only thing right now that could keep her safe from the enemy.
"It's okay," The squirrel-girl said in the end. "I want to help. Jenny... you're... you're my best friend." she would do anything for her. She really would. Nobody else in the entire world, had been as nice as her when she changed into this form aside from her brother.
Tetra frowned just a bit more. "That ain't really up to you kid. We're called guardians for a reason. You got lucky this time, but every fight..." she sighed. No, she absolutely could not allow it. "The stick would be safer, if it were used by one of the numbers. Their bodies are made to channel magic safely. I'm sorry Lilly."
"W-what?" Lilly said taking a step back. "Y-you can't! No! I-" She wanted to help them... she thought everything would be perfect now. Didn't she just show she could handle herself when she fought Julian? What about the library! She helped there... she clutched the stick defensively. Was she really going to have to fight to keep it? Fight.. Jenny's guardian? Or Jenny herself? The very idea was breaking her heart.
Tetra looked sympathetically but... it was very clear it was too dangerous for a normal changed to weild. "I'm sorry child, but... you just can't get involved any further. Now please... just give Jenny the sti-"
The cat paused as she felt her fur bristle. She stared just past Lilly at the eyes of something in the dark. Something... something meowed almost directly in her ear despite being so far away. The tiny cat-girl tensed suddenly as she saw it.
A cat.... a strange cat. But it seemed to 'skip' a moment in time, as it moved, and only in such a way that Tetra could see it. Right now it was just standing there, staring at her. Something told her, it would not allow Lilly to be relieved of the stick...
" on second thoughts... Lilly, just be careful with it."
The other cat, disappeared.
