Magical Girl Mechanical Heart

I don't like hospitals. I don't go to them often, but when I do it's almost always for a reason like this. The sterile smell, the oppressively beige decoration, and the flimsy cots all do nothing but bring to mind the small, unconscious forms lying with IVs in their arms and heartbeat monitors beside their beds. It's an inescapable atmosphere of failure.

NOT failure, Minerva reminds me. We got them into danger, but we got them back out. We saved them.

Not yet, we haven't.

The doctor said they'll both be fine.

That's true, but we don't know for sure. Aurora has been asleep for like twenty hours now. That's terrifying. I don't know how you aren't scared. You're supposed to be the green mage, here.

I'm practicing what Castalia had us practice. Judging the feelings you have and asking if they're feelings you should have. As anger and fear mages, we need even more than the average amount of self-control to function at our peak, since our emotions are the most volatile and prone to taking over our actions. Judge first, feel second.

Yeah. Yeah, I know that's what I should be doing. I'm trying. How did you get all the self-control, anyway? You're a fucking kid.

Heck if I know. Perhaps my self-control is simply more compact.

Heh.

"Nngh," Aurora begins to stir, and I jolt in my seat, the entirety of my focus on her in an instant. Aurora's mother, who has also been sitting by her bed with me, rouses as well, her piercing brown eyes zeroing in on her daughter in an instant.

Aurora yawns, stretching a little under the covers before her eyes groggily flutter open. Her mother leans forward immediately, filling her daughter's vision as the girl opens her eyes.

"Mami…?"

Aurora's mother responds with a full-body hug and several rapid-fire words in Spanish that I can't catch. I stay where I am, letting the two of them have their moment. Aurora's mother hasn't said a word to me since she got here, only occasionally looking my way with furious glares that doubled in intensity when I eventually fell out of Minerva's incarnate form and revealed what we really look like. She probably thinks I'm a pedophile on top of everything else.

It's fine. She's right to hate me. I don't deserve her respect. I never did, and I certainly don't after all of this.

"M…Minerva?" Aurora asks, still groggy. "Hey. You're still here?"

"Of course I'm still here," I answer, not bothering to correct her. Minerva is the one who saved her. The one that's important to her. And Minerva is here, even if I'm the one in control. "There was no way I was leaving before you woke up."

"And now she has woken up," Aurora's mother interjects. "So honor your word and go. I want time alone with my daughter."

"Huh…?" Aurora mumbles.

"Alright," I agree, standing up. "I'll be back to see you later, alright Aurora?"

"Oh, um… okay?" she allows, and I take a deep breath as I stand up, stepping away from her and poking my head past the curtain to Veritas' cot, giving her a smile. She perks up from where she'd been watching some cartoon on a tablet and gives me a hopeful look.

"She's up?" Veritas asks, fiddling with some of her bandages.

"She's awake," I confirm. "Talking, too. She's fine, just like the doctors said."

"Oh, good," Veritas says. "Great. I was… really scared."

"It's okay," I promise her. "I was too."

"Well, you're supposed to be!" Veritas huffs.

"I think everyone is supposed to be scared when their friend and teammate nearly dies," I say.

Veritas squirms uncomfortably.

"But I let it stop me," she mumbles. "I froze up."

I take a deep breath and let it out.

"I've done worse than that before," I admit to her. "Everyone made it out okay, Veritas. We'll train harder, get you used to situations like this, and you won't freeze up next time. That's all there is to it. Right?"

She stares at me like I'm somehow worth looking up to.

"Right!" she agrees.

I maintain my smile, because it's the right thing to do.

"I should probably go home and take a shower or something," I tell her. "You gonna be good here?"

"Yup!" Veritas assures me. "They'll be letting me out later today."

"Cool. Have Uma'tama call me if you need anything, alright? No training unless they approve it, though."

"Okay!"

I step back out from her privacy curtain, letting my body droop a bit now that I'm no longer being watched. Damn, I am so exhausted. I think I've been awake for over twenty-four hours straight at this point. I might have a lot more endurance than the average person, but I could pass out like a corpse right about now. God.

Yawning as I wander out of the patient area and into an elevator, I return to the hospital lobby, just trying to seem like a normal person who definitely doesn't have a gun hidden in her vest and a significantly more dangerous weapon on her necklace. It just feels like the kind of day where my illegally acquired pistol will somehow be found out in the middle of the hospital and people will assume I'm here to shoot the place up. Not because any part of that is remotely logical, I'm just getting those kinds of vibes from the world right now.

Nobody around is paying any attention to me, of course, not even when my paranoia causes me to keep glancing in every direction at once. This is just a normal hospital, after all, most people are here because they're just getting a routine checkup and shit. It's not like… huh.

Is that the mute girl? What's her name again? It was some Roman goddess, it sounded so familiar. I halfway thought she was an Earth Guardian, but I guess not. What was it? Luna, right? Luna. I could swear I've heard that name before.

She's at the front desk, looking like she's paying for something. She finishes up before I approach, but almost immediately looks my way. I give her a wave. She nods and waves back, her face still covered by that medical mask. I suppose it's less weird in a hospital.

"Uh, hey… Luna," I say, still not one hundred percent certain that's actually her name. Fortunately, I don't feel a bump of confusion or irritation from her, so I'm pretty sure I got it right. Her emotions are strangely easy to read. Not by a lot, but solidly above average. More power than most people. There's a good chance she occasionally casts minor magic by complete accident without ever knowing it.

"What are you doing at the hospital?" I ask. "Everything okay? Or… shoot, sorry, I guess you can't really respond, can you?"

She furrows her eyebrows at me for a moment, and then to my absolute shame and horror she pulls out her phone, instantly making me feel like the biggest dumbass in the universe as I have to stand here and watch her type out a response, which is obviously something she can do.

"Hey so did you know there's this super cool niche thing they're calling 'writing' these days?" her phone screen says as she turns it so I can see it. I'm not blushing. You're blushing.

Are you talking to me? We share the same body!

No! I don't know! Shut up!

"I… in my defense," I say, "I have had a bit of a rough couple of days, and I'm not really… thinking well. Right now."

"You don't say," her phone reads when next she flips it. "Wouldn't have guessed. In all seriousness though, it's cool. Chloe told me something happened and Castalia filled me in when she got back."

"Oh. Uh. Okay. Are you… here for that, then?" I ask, a little confused. I literally just met this girl, I don't know why she would be here for my sake.

"No? I just had a normal checkup," Luna types out. "I'm happy to run into you, though, if you wanna walk home together?"

Huh? Why would we… eh, whatever.

"Sure," I allow. Maybe I'll get a second friend or something. Wouldn't that be novel. Who cares if she knows where my house is anyway. Luna gives me a thumbs-up rather than typing anything else out and we start walking, me mentally trying to figure out where my house is from here. I take a good look around when we make it outside, my brain doing its absolute best to form thoughts. I think… that way?

I start to walk and feel a flash of confusion from Luna, which… yeah, I mean, what was she expecting? She taps my shoulder and starts pointing a different way.

"…What?" I ask. "Did you expect us to live in the same direction?"

She gives me a bewildered look and rapidly starts typing on her phone again.

"Yes??? We live in the same dorm complex??? We moved all your stuff in there a couple days ago, remember?"

Huh? Oh. Oh! I totally forgot. I have an apartment now. Or… a dorm? An apartment-dorm? I'm not living with my brother.

No better time to test out our new bed, since we CLEARLY need it.

Oh god I moved in with Chloe and straight up haven't seen her since. She's gonna kill me.

What? No, she's just going to be all quietly supportive and secretly concerned.

Yeah, and it'll kill me!

Oh no it totally will, you're right.

"…I am very tired," I admit. "I haven't slept since I got to the hospital."

Luna looks at me like I've grown a second head—

Nope, still stuck in just the one.

—and grabs me by the wrist, turning and stomping towards what I'm going to assume is the direction of our dorms. She keeps tapping away at her phone with one hand, which… I mean, kind of impressive actually, I kind of suck at using cell phones.

Man, she's really going at it. Look at that. Her thumb is so fast. I wonder what she's doing. Are we already out of the hospital parking lot? When did we do that? Maybe I can shut my eyes and let her just drag me around.

Terrible idea, don't do that.

Bleh. Fine.

"Are you chatting with someone else or do you just have a really long message for me?" I ask, starting a conversation just to help keep my eyes open. Luna responds by covering most of her phone screen other than the top and showing it to me. It says 'Chloe.' Heh. That's my friend. Wonder why that's on her screen.

She's texting Chloe.

She's texting Chloe! Right, yeah.

God we need sleep. This is almost as bad as the time you got us shot.

Oh no. I hope no one shoots Luna. I hope my gun doesn't randomly discharge and shoot Luna!

Why would it… ugh. Please don't jinx us like that. Look, we're almost to campus.

Oh! That was fast.

Either that or our sense of time is collapsing along with our consciousness. I'm kinda hungry, too. When was the last time we ate?

Also over a day ago.

Right. Yeah. Wow, we are bad at this.

What's this?

I dunno. Existing?

Oh, true. But we kinda knew that about—ah! Stairs!? Stairs. Right. Yeah. We live upstairs.

God, we need to focus on where we're walking.

Where are we walking?

Open our dang eyes, Fulgora!

I do so just in time to see Luna pounding on the door to some apartment (my apartment?) loudly enough to wake the dead. Chloe swiftly opens the door.

"Luna! Oh, thank you so much," Chloe says. "I'm so, so sorry, you really didn't have to bring her back, I could have picked her up myself."

What am I, a lost dog? Luna waves Chloe off and just points at both of the bedroom doors in sequence.

"Huh? Oh, that one!" Chloe says, indicating one of them. Luna nods, walks over to it, and jiggles the knob, finding it locked. Turning to look at me, she holds out an expectant hand, palm-up.

The key.

Right! She wants the key. The key to my room. My room that I have definitely had a chance to look inside of after starting to live here. I… do not know where my key is. I don't remember getting one…? Do we have to check in for that? Did Chloe check in for that? Did she give me a key? I can't remember. I check my various pockets, not finding anything of note.

Luna seems to pick up on my increasing embarrassment, and responds by rolling her eyes, pulling a bobby pin out of her hair, and snapping it in half, bending the tip of one end with her fingers. Kneeling down, she goes still for a moment, staring at the lockpick intently before sticking both halves of the pin into the lock, jiggling one around, and opening the door not even ten seconds later.

Holy crap.

"That seems illegal," I point out as Luna opens the door and shoves me onto the sheetless mattress inside, causing me to collapse back into the bed. Mmm. Comfy.

My eyes open as Luna snaps her fingers twice, pointing at my shoes and then at the floor.

"...Fine, fine," I mumble, sitting up to take them off, tossing them onto the ground. She's so pushy. Literally. Because she pushed me. If I didn't have superpowers I might have gotten hurt.

Fortunately, we have superpowers.

Sure, but she doesn't know that.

…Yes she does.

Oh, right. I'm gonna try to sleep I think.

YOU THINK!? YEAH GOOD IDEA.

The next thing I know, I'm curled up in a completely different position on the bed, a familiar and delicious smell wafting in from under the door and rousing my ravenous stomach. What is that…? I don't want to move at all, my entire body feeling so heavy and so comfortable that the idea of getting up almost physically hurts. But my stomach also hurts, and it is ordering me in no uncertain terms to get my ass out there and eat whatever is making that smell. I drag myself up to a sitting position, forcing myself to stand up and stagger over to my door, opening it.

Luna and Chloe are both in the kitchen, Chloe pulling a bunch of things out of the fridge as Luna chops up vegetables at an impressive pace while something on the stove simmers—and produces that incredible smell.

"You're really used to making the whole sauce from scratch?" Chloe askes. "You don't just buy a sauce base?"

Luna nods, upending the contents of her cutting board into the pot.

"That's really impressive," Chloe admits. "I love cooking for me and my dad, but you're like… an actual cook!"

Luna doesn't seem to know how to respond, but she glances behind herself long enough to spot me and seems content to change the subject by pointing in my direction.

"Huh?" Chloe says before turning, spotting me, and immediately exuding a bloom of worry and anger, which is somehow so much worse than either of those things individually, and stomps over to me. "What are you doing up!?"

"I, um… hungry," I babble like a caveman.

"Food will be ready in an hour or two, just go back to sleep until then," Chloe insists.

How am I supposed to sleep when a smell that good is right outside my door? Luna puts down her knife and makes a few hand signs, causing Chloe to scowl at her.

"She needs sleep!" Chloe insists.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

More signs. Man, being left out of conversations about me is so cool.

"...I guess so," Chloe allows, sighing. "Well, sit down, Eliza. You look like you're about to fall over."

"I am," I admit.

"Then sit down!"

Oh, right. I hobble over to the couch and collapse into it. Cozy. I groggily watch Chloe return to the kitchen and start prepping some chicken. Mmm. Chicken. I'd eat that shit raw right now if she put it in front of me.

Please don't.

Oh, hey! Good morning, Minerva.

I don't know what time it is but it definitely isn't morning.

You're so grumpy lately.

I'd take control of the body to slap some sense into you but I think if I tried that I'd end up too loopy to move.

Yeah. Maybe I'll just close my eyes a little here on the couch. Just rest a bit while the yummy food is getting made.

"Eliza?"

"Huh!? I'm okay," I say instinctively, jolting up from where I was lying down. My face hurts.

"Um… the food's ready," Chloe says, hovering over me with a plate in her hand. Luna stands behind her, drying her hands off with a towel.

"Oh," I say. "That was fast."

"It's been like two hours," Chloe answers.

Luna rests the towel on her shoulder and makes several signs, including pointing to me and pointing to her own butt.

"Pfft," Chloe laughs a bit. "I mean, yeah, I can tell."

"What?" I ask. "What did she say?"

"She said 'her ass is not okay,'" Chloe answers. "Come on, let's sit you up and get some food in you, alright?"

She sets the plate down on the table in front of me, helping me right myself a little as I stare at it, a couple of the few working neurons in my brain firing back and forth at the sight of what's in front of me.

"Hey, wait," I mumble. "This is what you made when I went over to your house that one time. T…Tiki Malasada."

Luna twitches like she's holding back a laugh.

"C-close, but no," Chloe says, her smile a bit strained. "Tikka masala. Eat up. Luna says you probably haven't eaten in a long time."

"Just like, a day," I mumble.

"God," Chloe groans, turning to Luna. "You see what I'm dealing with here?"

Luna nods, makes a few more signs, and gives Chloe a thumbs-up. I'm way too tired and hungry to care about whatever it is she just said. I wolf down the food, and despite it being the best thing I've ever tasted I barely have the energy to enjoy it. Luna waves goodbye and leaves our dorm, an exhausted-looking Chloe sitting down on the couch next to me with a plate of her own.

"Luna's not eating?" I ask. "I thought she helped you make everything."

"She did, but she said she ate earlier," Chloe frowns. "Which… seems implausible, given she walked you back from the hospital hours ago, but I'll worry about whether or not she has an eating disorder some other day."

Yeah, that's a little weird. Why make all this delicious food and not eat it?

"What's an eating disorder?" I ask.

Chloe gives me an incredulous look.

"Jeez, you really were raised by a boy," she says. Which, well, I think is uncalled for. Jim has many effeminate qualities.

What?

Huh?

"An eating disorder is when some kind of psychological issue causes a person to develop unhealthy or outright dangerous eating habits," Chloe explains. "It's particularly common for girls who feel pressured into maintaining a particular weight or figure, but it can be from all kinds of things. For example, someone might feel guilty over someone else getting hurt and refuse to eat or sleep for twenty-four hours like a complete moron."

Yeah that sounds dumb.

She's talking about US, you idiot!

What? No, what we did was different. We had to be there when she woke up.

I… just keep eating.

I keep eating, to Chloe's apparent irritation. Did she want me to say something? I don't actually know what to say.

"...Good to know," I manage the next time I successfully swallow.

Chloe sighs.

"This isn't going to be common, is it?" Chloe asks.

"What isn't going to be common?" I ask.

"This," Chloe answers. "You being gone for days and getting literally dragged back as a dead woman walking."

"Well I was only gone for so long because the girls were in the hospital," I answer. "So hopefully, no. It won't be common."

"Good," Chloe says. "I'll go insane if I end up living alone."

I pause between bites, my head starting to work a little better now that there's some food in my stomach and at least a little bit of sleep in my brain. Chloe is… upset. And I'm getting the feeling that this is my fault. I parse the words as best I can, coming to the only conclusion I can think of.

"…Were you afraid I was going to die?" I ask.

"Yes!" Chloe blurts. "Of course I was! I mean, I was terrified for your teammates too, but you… god, I know what this means, Eliza. You're going to be out and about way more often. You're going to be on call for just about every magical event that happens in the area. There's only, what, four of you? And two of them will be out of action for a long time. You'll be taking all those responsibilities, but you aren't even taking basic care of yourself!"

"But I'm fine," I insist.

Chloe suddenly leans over and snatches me up into a hug, wrapping her arms around my shoulders and squeezing tight. I freeze up, not really sure how to react, but Chloe buries her face into the crook of my neck and holds the hug for a while longer anyway.

"I promise you," she whispers, "I will help you learn how wrong you are about that. I promise."

Huh!?

"I-I was trying to reassure you," I manage.

"I know," Chloe answers, and I don't really know what else to say, so I just stay still until she eventually lets go, returning to her food as I return to mine. We finish the meal in silence.

"I should… probably go to bed," I say.

"Let's make your bed, first," Chloe answers. "We'll need to find your sheets."

"I don't need…" I start, but Chloe is already getting up and busying herself with the task, rushing into my room and getting everything set up for my rest. It's more than a little embarrassing, but I don't have the energy to stop her. When I finally collapse into bed, Chloe turning the lights off in my room and closing the door like she's my fucking mom, I fall unconscious almost immediately.

…

Mmmgh.

I feel like I just slept for a year.

Let's make it a year and a half.

Oh my gosh, great idea.

…

I wake up again. I have a headache and I need to pee.

We're probably dehydrated.

We should get up and deal with that.

Yeah.

…

Well now I REALLY need to pee.

But what if. And hear me out on this one. We stayed in bed anyway.

Hmm. You make a persuasive argument.

…

Okay this hurts now. Bathroom time. With herculean effort, I manage to remove my covers and drag myself out of bed, staggering out of the room and towards the bathroom. It takes me a solid few seconds to remember where that actually is and why I'm not at my brother's place, but I manage to figure it out and sit my butt down on the toilet for some relief.

Well. I'm feeling pretty awake now. I guess I should start the first step of my new morning routine: who am I? Fulgora, or Minerva? I guess based on the fact that I've actually remembered to question this, I'm probably Minerva.

Fuck you I'm trying.

I'm definitely Minerva! Okay, that was easy enough. Gosh, I wonder what time it is.

I stagger out of the bathroom and locate my phone in the pocket of my… of Fulgora's jacket. It's not really my jacket. Not my style. None of my clothes will fit me like this, though. So I can't really… hmm.

Seriously?

Hey, Castalia does casual incarnate form. It can't be a bad idea.

Castalia casts positive on perpetual flight. That's fucking insane. She's built so different she may as well be custom-ordered from a monk in Tibet.

I'm not too far behind. I mean, flying is getting less and less scary, but I'm getting way more efficient at it! Look, think of it as training. We gotta regularly flex our soul so it grows properly. Stretch our limits in safe environments.

You just wanna wear the skirts Chloe bought you.

It would be so rude if we never wore them! Come on, I'm doing it.

…Fine.

"Nice!" I whisper, pumping one fist. "Oɴᴄᴇ Aɢᴀɪɴ, I Fɪɢʜᴛ."

I let out a sigh of relief as my body dissolves into light, the weight and wear of physicality disappearing as my clumsy, overgrown limbs shrink down into something more right. Gosh, that's so much better. I dismiss my uniform and get dressed in some of my own clothes, settling on a pink, frilled shirt and a white skirt with bright green trim.

I'm pretty sure that clashes.

How would you know? You never wear anything but black, brown, and camo.

Yeah because if all your outfits are black, brown, and camo then nothing ever clashes.

Well I think it's colorful and pretty, so mleh! I stick my tongue out in real life, finish pulling my socks on, and then remember to actually check the time on my phone. Only five in the morning? Not bad. I was expecting to be asleep longer.

Do we have any idea what time we actually fell asleep?

Oh. Well, no, we don't. I guess we can ask Chloe.

She doesn't feel awake.

Huh. Really? But it's already five. Well, we can let her sleep in a bit. Let's see if there's anything to eat.

Which we have to specifically check because we never ended up helping her get groceries.

Oh, hush. I actually feel kinda refreshed today. Don't go ruining it by being all grumbly.

Alright, alright.

We head into the kitchen and start scrounging around the cupboards, eventually finding… our favorite cereal? Huh! Lucky. I grab a bowl, a spoon, and some milk, combine them the correct way (Bowl! Cereal! Milk! Spoon! In that order!), and get to munching away. Then I remember I'm super freaking thirsty, and get a glass of water as well.

I'm not a hundred percent sure how eating and drinking stuff actually works in an incarnate form. The nature of my organs and stuff is kinda… wibbly-wobbly. It's magic, after all. I don't actually need any organs when I'm like this, but I have a bunch anyway because if my incarnate form is breathing, beating its heart, having actual living cells composing its structure and actual muscles moving them, it doesn't need to constantly use up magic to do those things. I also need to keep my real body alive when my incarnate form is out, so some of the air I'm breathing goes to it, and nearly all of the food I'm eating goes to it, too. My incarnate form doesn't need a digestive system.

Would it really be a perfect form if I had to poop in it? I think not.

Gosh, what am I doing today? I could potentially go back to the hospital, but Aurora is probably asleep and Veritas is either sleeping, already discharged, or both. I'll definitely go back later today, but… well, I think if I go before Chloe wakes up, she'll kill me. I need something else to pass the time.

You're a kid with the house to yourself in the morning. Watch some cartoons.

Huh. Yeah, okay! Good idea!

I was making fun of you!?

I know, but you don't get to be a jerk about how little I am anymore. That's called bullying, and we say no to bullying.

What is WITH you today?

I dunno! Good food and good sleep? Let's see what's on. I can't even remember the last time I just sat down and watched TV for a while.

Of course you don't, because we never have time for this kind of shit. We shouldn't be slacking off, especially not in incarnate form!

Hmm. Hard disagree.

Don't make me take the body.

My incarnate form, my rules. Get as angry about it as you want. But—hear me out on this—I don't think you want to. Castalia told us all emotions are important. That we'll grow our soul faster by pushing it in every direction. It's okay to just sit around and be happy sometimes, right?

…It feels wrong.

That… yeah. It does feel wrong. I get it. Trust me, I get that fear that we're wasting our time, that we're putting everyone in danger for every second we spend not preparing. But we both know our old strategies weren't working. We've grown more listening to Castalia for a month than we did all last year! We have to try things that feel wrong. Besides, Uma'tama promised us something to make us stronger, too. I can't wait to find out what that will turn out to be.

Yeah. Hmm. It's kind of weird they just sort of vanished after saying that. I haven't heard from them since.

Eh, they vanish a lot. They have the whole state to manage, not just us.

True.

There isn't much on, as it turns out, but my head is still a bit light and fuzzy so I don't have much of a problem just turning on a random show and tuning out a little. It's… odd. I try a few different shows, but none of them seem to click with me. I don't really get what's happening onscreen. It's either adults talking about things I don't understand, or animations doing things I don't understand. I'm not sure why people like this kind of stuff, but it's at least distracting enough that it passes the time until Chloe finally emerges from her room at seven in the morning, looking exhausted and frazzled. Well, that's what happens when you oversleep!

"Good morning, Chloe!" I greet her.

"Huh!?" Chloe says, looking completely startled at first, but after a few blinks she seems to put two and two together. "…Minerva?"

"Yep!" I confirm. "Hi!"

"…You're up early," Chloe says.

"Not really. I'm usually up before five thirty, unless there was an overnight mission. Which… I guess happens at least every month or so, but you know. Otherwise."

"These are things you should have told me before I agreed to be your roommate," Chloe grumbles.

"What? Gosh, I'm so sorry!" I jolt. "I… do you want me to—"

"No! No, geez, I'm kidding," Chloe cuts me off. "Calm down, you're fine."

"Oh," I manage. A joke. Of course. "Alright."

"Uh. Yep," Chloe says, heading to the cupboard and opening it up. "Huh. Already tore into the cereal, I see."

"It's my favorite kind!" I tell her happily.

"Yeah, I know," Chloe says, to my surprise. "Your brother told me."

Oh, that makes sense.

Wait, no it doesn't. Chloe and my brother have never met.

"When did you ask my brother?" I blurt.

"I texted him when I went shopping a couple days ago," she answers.

"But… how did you get his number?"

"Well, I was chatting with Luna while we went shopping together. I was, uh, kinda freaking out at the time because I had no idea what food to get you. She suggested I contact him. Apparently, he gave Castalia a thank-you gift basket a while ago—Castalia keeps it on the end table—and they've been sending each other occasional texts ever since. Luna got the number from her, gave it to me, and I asked him what food you like."

"Huh," I say. "Well, alright then."

Kinda weird how everyone in my life suddenly started being acquainted with each other at the same time. Luna seems a little nosy. Eh, whatever.

"Your brother's an absolute sweetheart, by the way," Chloe continues. "Is he single? I would be shocked to learn he's single."

I give her a serious look.

"Chloe, please don't date my brother," I ask her honestly. "That would be so weird."

"Wh—you don't know I was thinking about that!" she protests. "Maybe I wanted to set him up with Luna."

Considering how that girl was feeling whenever she and Castalia looked at each other at the same time?

"I… don't think she'd be interested," I say.

"What makes you… oh, right," Chloe sighs. "Ugh. Damn it! I swear, I'm the only girl who even wants to date men in this crazy town, and I still can't find a good boyfriend! I mean… not that I don't know why."

Well, now I gotta ask.

"Why can't you find a good boyfriend?"

"I don't really wanna talk about it," Chloe sighs. "You don't need to worry or anything like that. Your brother is a total sweetheart, but he's not my type."

"Okay, if you say so," I shrug.

Chloe smirks at me, walking over to sit down next to me with her breakfast.

"Plus," she adds, ruffling my hair, "you're way too young to be talking about boyfriends."

"Wh—hey!" I protest, starting to bat her hand away before catching myself. I'm in my incarnate form. I can't get rough with humans, they'll break. "Cut that out!"

"Aaaah, you're just so cute, though!" Chloe squees. "I just wanna pick you up and carry you around!"

"I can fly," I remind her. "I can pick you up and carry you around."

"Well, I'm actually not very strong, so if I ever do try to pick you up, maybe subtly fly a little bit so I don't throw out my back or something," Chloe stage-whispers at me.

Pfft.

"Can-do, Chloe," I assure her.

"So! Uh… did you have any plans for the day?" Chloe asks.

"Well, I've gotta drop by the hospital again at some point," I say. "Other than that… some light training, probably? Can't train too hard, since it's just me and Su-san covering most of the county. Maybe the Loveland pair will come by and help but I doubt they wanna get anywhere near us after what happened last time. And the Estes Park girls will be busy, obviously."

"Sure, obviously," Chloe says, her tone making it clear she has no idea what I'm talking about. "Are there really exactly two magical girls in Loveland? Please tell me they're dating."

"Actually, I think they hate each other?" I admit. "I don't know, they're like fifteen. I don't really keep track of their drama."

"I guess that is quite a bit older than you," Chloe nods sagely.

"Hey!" I protest, poking her lightly in the cheek. "Quit with the age jokes, you'll give me an existential crisis. I have more than enough spare power thanks to that time you told me I was a PTSD symptom, thank you very much."

Chloe's eyes widen.

"I… oh. Oh god, Minerva, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it like that."

"Huh?" I blink. "Nono, it's fine. Like I said, it made me noticeably stronger!"

"Hnngh," she winces.

"Really, it's fine!" I insist. It's not like she's wrong to point it out. I didn't exist a few years ago. What's stopping me from ceasing to exist again? From losing my independence and just becoming part of Fulgora again? Every time she takes control, I truly have no way to know if it'll be the end of me. We're different, but we're not so different that she couldn't exist just fine without me.

…Hey. Wait a minute.

What? It's true. You don't want me around using up time you'd be spending in your body anyway, right?

That doesn't mean I want you to just DIE!

Would it actually be death if I was never real in the first place?

Now hold on just a—

"Eliza!" a familiar voice suddenly says, a burst of joy accompanying their sudden arrival. "I have something for… oh. Hello."

Uma'tama appears in their usual flash of yellow, startling the crap out of Chloe and immediately looking a little awkward about it.

"U-u-uh, hi!" Chloe says shakily. "Oh my god. Um. You must be Uma'tama."

"We are Uma'tama!" Uma'tama agrees happily. "You must be Chloe. We extend our heartfelt thanks to you for being such a good friend to our eldest active Guardian. We are ever so pleased to make your acquaintance, but unfortunately, the following conversation is classified to non-guardian personnel, and consequently we will be erecting a privacy barrier in three, two, one…"

In an instant, Uma'tama and I are encased in a black sphere, light from their body providing the only source of vision.

"Zero," Uma'tama smiles. "Hello, Minerva. It's lovely to see you in such good spirits."

"U-uh, yeah," I blink. "You… don't normally just show up at my location like this. Could you not have just called?"

"We could have, but this is both significant and exciting! We did not want to wait. We have something to bequeath to you!"

They clap their front paws, and a small box suddenly appears hovering in front of me. Within it are ten glass vials, each tipped with a metal needle. Five of them glow a deep green, the other five a scarlet red.

"These," Uma'tama explains, "are Liquid Chromatic Injectors, though we mostly just call them injectors. They are a semi-standardized power container for high-density thaumic applications. They have been measured and manufactured to be optimally compatible with your incarnate forms."

"I… I don't understand," I admit.

"Each of these vials contains an enormous amount of condensed magical energy," Uma'tama explains. "Simply twist the activation cap, insert the injection tip into your incarnate form, and depress the activation cap while it remains rotated. Your body will be flooded up to the full capacity of its thaumic limit, allowing you to enhance and utilize your most powerful spells beyond the levels at which you could normally do so safely. They are, naturally, highly classified technology that you are forbidden to make use of outside of direct magical combat with a threat to human life or culture. We have approved you for a special dispensation! These are for you, and you alone. We trust you will use them responsibly."

"Um… yeah, of course," I agree, staring at the box in dumbfounded shock. "Is… this what you meant when you said you'd make me stronger?"

"Of course!" Uma'tama confirms cheerfully. "What did you think we meant?"

"I don't know," I admit. "Nothing in particular, I guess. Thank you, Uma'tama."

"Of course, Minerva!" Uma'tama beams, somewhat literally. "We just know that with a little help, you'll be able to find the right solution to all the chaos happening in town lately."

Well. I can't say I wasn't hoping for something a bit more… permanent? But I guess this will do.

I've never even heard of something like this. Secret Preserver magic booster shots? The Corrupted won't know what hit 'em.

Yeah. If push comes to shove, there's no way Nanaya will be expecting something like this.