Jen was woken up at two in the morning, with Madeline crying.
The baby slug-girl must have had a nightmare. This was getting a little stressful for Jen. Having her first child Ernestine was not quite so difficult. The two had very different personalities, and it made their individual challenges very unique.
The baby quickly latched onto its mother, but it still wasn't happy. Not until Tim came back, and then the child was very happy.
"Oh dear, I think she's going to be daddy's girl," laughed Jen softly.
Tim laughed a bit too. The two children always liked being close to their father as much as to Jen. In truth, they liked them together more then on their own. "I hope she's not going to be too difficult. Though I never thought I would have a slug-girl daughter... or marry one."
"Or be a drow?" Asked Jen innocently.
Tim shook his head. "It is all pretty strange, when you think too much on it. But... you are happy, right Jen?"
Jen thought a little on it. Things were different but... "Yes, I am. I feel... more complete and happy then I ever had before."
Tim nodded. Sometimes he worried about it... Jen did have trouble years ago, and Tim still kicked himself for 'assuming' things. He didn't do so much assuming now of anything regarding his wife. (Typical for any marriage to work,) "How are things getting on with the magic circle?"
"A little difficult," Jen admitted as she put the sleeping baby back into her cot. It was specially designed to absorb the mucus formed from the baby's cute little slug foot. They had learned a great deal raising Ernestine, and could now apply those lessons to the second child. However, given her different temperament, they were not sure how much could be applied. Ernestine liked it completely dark, but Madeline liked the light on for one. Finding a compromise for the two was a tricky task.
"Your apprentice is shaping up well" observed Tim as he made a cup of coffee. These late nights didn't matter so much to the drow but... habits were hard to break sometimes. "Are you going to try and take up more students?"
Jen shook her head. "It... isn't like that. I'm not a teacher with a knowledge in magic... we're all just still learning this new 'thing'. My apprentice Lilly is... learning, just like I do. We're all a team. I took her in because of her heart and potential."
"So no taking over the world plans yet?" Grinned Tim.
The slug girl's antenna's twitched mirthfully. "Haha... No, of course not. Though I do wish people wouldn't keep thinking they could use magic to take over the world. Technology didn't do that, why would magic?" Jen groaned a little at that as she slumped forward on her slug foot back to their bedroom.
Tim had to concede that was a good point. "Still... superior technology did shape much of history in the previous age. Magic... has changed the balance of power. Like it or not, you now lead one of the strongest magic factions in America... and Brittany has a group in England I hear... you have Lucas in Brazil... and isn't that seer now in Japan?"
"Haru is there temporarily. There are a lot of people with 'issues' from the new spell-net. she has to go there to stop people 'before' they do foolish things. I've no idea what she saw but... it must have worried her. People are downloading and using spells without quite knowing what they are doing... the magic circle has been on 'clean-up' patrol ever since, solving these mishaps."
Tim sighed. "Yeah, this isn't quite what I pictured us doing. At work someone turned his fingers so that they were all thumbs." Somehow, Tim said this with a completely straight face.
Jen gasped. "Really? Were you able to help him?"
Tim nodded. "The general dispel spell worked a treat."
Jen shook her head as she thought of that. Amusing yes, but all these spells... were so dangerous. The magic circle worked for years trying to learn the secrets of magic, but now suddenly it seemed that 'everyone' had it. Fortunately, not everyone had the... 'inner power' to use it, and spells from the internet tended to be 'one off's' that couldn't be repeated. It took something special... often either an extremely intelligent person, or a highly creative soul. Both displayed a 'different' kind of intelligence, perhaps? Either way, Jen's magic circle was filled with such people who didn't need the internet to cast magic- and were amongst the few that could fix these insta-spells.
Also all this magic has coincided with 'glitchy' technology. It can't have been a coincidence... normal internet has slowed down, and computers tended to have very strange alien characters in them instead of english unless they went through the translation server.
Jen knew they had to try to fix the computer issues but... for now, it looked like the world was coping.
It was the dawn of a new day.
Lilly was in class, frowning in thought. She noted that Hannah didn't turn up. The class was a typical one, with about a quarter being changed. About half of them, had experienced a change but turned back human. Most the humans got on with everyone, although there was always one that acted like a jerk.
The squirrel girl was a young teenager and was treated as fourteen- though she felt that maybe she could be fifteen. (Really, it was not possible to guess any better, but the system had to put her 'somewhere'.)
She also noticed that her friend Jenny was a little sad of something. The squirrel girl leaned to her more human like friend. "You okay?"
Jenny sighed. "I was thinking about my magic... and how it's gone."
"We'll get it back, I promise." said Lilly encouragingly.
Jenny nodded. "You now got more magic then me. I can't do it the way you do it."
The animal girl shook her head. "I'll teach you. It just takes a bit of practice. You've got the talent Jenny, I know you do! Otherwise you wouldn't have been made a magic girl in the first place."
"I hope so... you got those important jobs and I'm just tagging along for now." Jenny smiled a bit. It was in some ways nice to relax knowing her friend was watching her back. She had to do so many things herself... still... something was telling her, she was always going to be magic girl Four... with or without magic. The presence of her four breasts for one thing, were a constant reminder.
The register was called, and when they got to Hannah's name, the 'class jerk' spoke up.
"She's laying eggs miss!"
The humans in the class burst out laughing.
The teacher frowned. "Cliff Wilford!"
Cliff let out another laugh. "What? its true?" he said laughing. "She's probably clucking away somewhere or trying to keep them warm."
There was one in every class, and Cliff was that one. He didn't like the change very much, and never experienced a change... and he's been in the sunlight, so it was very likely he would never change. he knew it, and it often meant that the whole class had to put up with it.
"Be nice," said Jenny annoyed.
Cliff glanced at her. "Make me, Four tits. You're the weirdest freak of them all. At least your friend there is an animal, you're just 'weird'."
Jenny fumed at the insult and was about to slap him- but was held back by Lilly.
The teacher had enough. "Out of the class Cliff, I'll be speaking to you later and to your parents."
Cliff walked out with a shrug.
Jenny and Lilly watched him go. "You got a spell you can put on him?" asked the white haired human girl.
"Several," said the squirrel girl quietly. "But I can't... I made a promise."
Doctor Heider looked at his patient. The infamous Hiro... creator of the Magic program, that translates the new spells into english. A hero to the nation, who's sacrifice was well known to many. A lot of digital life owed their existence to him and his talents when the catastrophe hit.
Now, he was so lifeless...
The doctor brought out his phone, and started to tap away on the screen. Somehow, he got a diagnostic of Hiro done with it. "Hm... brain activity is zero. Why am I wasting my time here?" He recited a few words that were on his phone, glancing at a strange power symbol as it drained away.
... Hiro was suddenly sitting up on bed.
"Heh..." Well, time to have some fun. "Okay puppet, dance."
Hiro started to sway back and forth... lifeless. He was just on strings, the strings of the magical doctor as he pulled him every which way.
Deborah was on him like a shot, grabing him from behind. "You seem to have a lot of 'fun' with your patients. You want to dance with me?"
The patient suddenly fell back down to the bed in a heap.
Heider pulled away at her. "Unless you're asking me out... get off me! I'm... testing his motor functions. Yes they seem in order." shrugged Doctor Heider.
Deborah stared at him. "How do you do it?"
"I'm a totally badass doctor, and an even more badass magic user. Of course."
"Really..." said Deborah. "How cute. But you know why you're pathetic?"
"Why?"
"You actually need to say you're a badass..." Deborah said staring at him with those piercing eyes.
