So, I’ve been writing again. This time, it’s something I decided to do on my own. I’m fairly fond of magical girl anime, as you can probably tell from my reviews on this blog. That being the case, I decided to write a tale that involves a girl receiving her magical powers fifteen years too late.
Pretty Cure and Nanoha have both provided inspiration for this – it probably helps that I recently watched all of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS in anticipation of the spring’s Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha ViVid.
Anyway, I’m going to try a thing where I post one chapter at a time. I don’t have a set schedule for this, so the next part could be anywhere from a week away to several months. Still, my blog, so I’ll post what I want when I want. Also, I don’t how long this tale shall go on for, though I do have some ideas for where I would like this to go. Feel free to read this, leave feedback and share it with other people.
With that said and done, let’s get into this.
A Magical Girl Woman Tale
Chapter One: Fifteen Years Late
White clouds drifted lazily through a blue sky, carried on a gentle breeze. Said breeze caused ripples to spread throughout the lush fields of the local park, where many families had gathered to enjoy the summer weather.
The sound of an ice-cream van’s melody could be heard gradually drawing near to the park, which caused a lot of excitement amongst the younger children. Some of the adults, too, were looking forward to a frozen treat to help them cool off.
Elsewhere in the park, dogs bounded merrily along. The more obedient ones had been allowed off their leads, whilst others that were more rowdy were barking at each other. Some of the owners had brought along tennis balls, which they were throwing. Others had to rely on the more old-fashioned sticks.
Flowing alongside the park was a small river. A few children and their parents were paddling in it, using nets to attempt to catch some of the fish that swam past their feet. Nearby was a bridge, and many water-dwelling plants were located on either side of the river.
Unbeknownst to the people enjoying the pleasant day, something was descending from the Earth’s upper atmosphere at an incredible rate. It wasn’t until it had impacted upon the Earth that anyone noticed it.
The meteorite had landed in the park, harmlessly creating a small crater. Some of the more curious people gathered in the park slowly approached the landing site, whilst worried parents gathered up their children and made a hasty retreat.
It didn’t take long for a crowd to gather around the meteorite. Various media companies had also arrived, keen to report on the phenomena that had occurred.
The meteorite was roughly two metres in diameter, and appeared to be composed of both rock and iron. The grass around where the meteorite had impacted the Earth had been burnt, and the heat emanating from the thing was intense.
A nearby cat watched lazily as people continued to investigate the meteorite. A couple of people were raving about aliens, which caused ire amongst a select few individuals.
If one was to take a five minute walk away from the entrance of the park in a straight line, they would come upon a library. Despite the advent of the internet and eBooks, many people still visited the place. Admittedly the customer demographic was mostly younger children, though a few of the adults were happy to borrow books to suit their tastes as well.
One librarian that was particularly popular amongst the children was Seren Lux. She was twenty-three years of age, though her face looked much younger. She had long auburn hair that she wore in a side-ponytail. Since she was working, Seren was wearing a white shirt with a sensible black skirt and tights. She was never one to wear heels, so she was wearing a pair of formal shoes to go along with her uniform. She had just finished reading a story about a witch and her talking cat to the children.
‘Did you like that?’ Seren asked the children after she had finished reading.
‘Yeah!’ several of the kids replied.
‘Who was your favourite character?’
Cries of ‘the cat!’ and ‘the witch!’ followed. Just seeing the children’s reactions to the stories made Seren feel good.
‘Well, that’s it for today,’ Seren said.
A unified groan arose from the children, clearly disappointed that their reading time had come to an end.
‘Come on, I’m sure Miss Lux has other things she needs to do today,’ one of the parents said to her child.
‘You can call me Seren,’ Seren insisted. ‘Miss Lux just sounds way too formal.’
Once the children has said their farewells, Seren made her way to the staffroom of the library. She had finished her shift for the day and planned on going straight home.
This plan was quickly put on the back-burner when she checked her mobile phone to see a text from one of her colleagues. She had to take a few moments to decipher the text speak, but she eventually realised that something had happened at nearby park. Being a naturally curious person, Seren found herself venturing over to the park.
The huge crowds had not been something that Seren was anticipating. She had no idea what all the excitement was over, but she determined that it must have been something big judging by the presence of the media. Seren was less than keen to try and make her way through the crowds, since social interaction was something she didn’t consider herself too great at.
Ultimately, she decided that it would be easier to just watch the local news later on, or just check online. Seren turned to leave the park, stopping suddenly when someone grabbed her arm. Their grip wasn’t tight, but it was enough to prevent Seren from leaving. She turned around to see that a woman with blonde hair was the culprit.
‘Hey, do you want to see the meteorite?’ The woman didn’t even bother to wait for an answer before she was dragging her through the crowds. Seren just focused on remaining upright, keeping her eyes firmly on the blonde woman. She was dressed in a black t-shirt and jeans, and long hair was flowing freely behind her.
In the space a few moments, Seren and her newfound companion had arrived at the centre of the crowd. To any casual observer, the meteorite was merely a rock. However, the fact that it descended from the mysterious depths of space made it something to become fascinated by.
Seren stared at the lump of space rock in awe for a few seconds, before realising that she hadn’t introduced herself to her new friend. ‘Oh, my name is Seren, by the way. Seren Lux.’
‘Oh, right, names! I’m Kalla Aura…’ Kalla looked around suddenly. ‘Sorry, but something suddenly come up. We’ll talk again soon, Seren!’
‘Wait!’ Seren just watched as Kalla disappeared into the crowd. She attempted to follow her, but the gap that Kalla had gone through rapidly closed.
‘Help me!’ a voice suddenly called out. Seren stopped in her tracks and turned back around to the meteorite. There was nobody there. Taking a deep breath, she turned to the nearest person. ‘Can you hear that? Someone’s calling for help.’
‘What are you talking about, lass?’ the person that Seren had directed the question at was a burly man with a bushy beard. He didn’t look too happy to be distracted from the meteorite, so Seren decided it was best to apologise and make a retreat out of the crowd.
The voice continued to call out, so Seren decided she would try and locate it on the own. However, since it was being projected directly into her head, it was impossible to determine whether she was getting closer or further away from the source.
H-hey… can you hear me? Seren thought, in an attempt to communicate with the voice. Since she didn’t receive any response, she was left to visually search for whatever was calling for aid.
Seren lost all track of time whilst searching for whatever was calling out to her. She was so engrossed in her search that she failed to notice a group arrive who secured the meteorite and took it away for further research. With the meteorite gone, interest in remaining in the area quickly waned.
‘Will you hurry up?!’ the voice demanded. ‘Listen carefully, and you will be able to find me.’
Seren listened as the voice gave her several steps to follow, and she eventually came upon a black cat sitting upon a wall.
‘Took you long enough,’ the cat said.
‘Oh,’ Seren replied. A long silence followed.
‘“Oh”? Is that all you have to say?! Shouldn’t you be freaking out? I’m a talking cat! You could earn fame and fortune with this!’
‘I doubt it. We are in the information age. Anyone can see a talking cat when they want on the internet.’
‘Technology has advanced a lot further than my research showed…’ the cat muttered. ‘Well, whatever. Tell me, do you know the location of the child known as Seren Lux?’
‘I am Seren Lux.’
There was a pause. ‘I’ve heard of children developing early, but I’ve never seen a nine-year old with a completely adult body before…’
‘Er… I’m twenty-three…’
‘Twenty… three? Wait, that can’t be right. No, I must have met another person named Seren Lux coincidentally… yet I can tell that you are the one that I’ve been seeking…’
‘Hey, are you all right?’
‘The Earth year… what is it?’
‘Twenty-fifteen. Why?’
‘That’s bad… really, really bad! I’m fifteen years late! Our enemies probably already have claimed victory…’
‘Enemies? What are you talking about?’
‘Well, I’m here now… might as well do what I came here to do. Seren, you are being enlisted as a magical girl!’
‘What?! Wait a moment! I’m a fully-grown woman! There’s no way I can do that! Besides, I don’t possess any powers!’
‘Your abilities merely have not been awakened yet, that’s all. I shall take care of that right now… hopefully the fact that I’m a little late won’t cause any problems…’
‘“Problems”?! You know what, I’m going home! There’s no way I want any part of this!’
‘Too late.’
Seren stopped. “What do you mean?”
‘I’ve awakened your powers. There’s no escaping your fate.’
‘You didn’t do anything…’
‘I did. Fortunately, there’s no need for you to transform right now.’
‘This is rapidly turning into an anime,’ Seren muttered. She suddenly remembered what most transformation sequences involved, and she was less than happy that there was a possibility of her having to go through that.
Suddenly, both Seren and the cat felt something ominous. It visibly disturbed Seren, but the cat merely continued sitting on the wall, completely unperturbed.
‘What is that?!’ Seren asked, the panic strong in her voice.
‘Incredible… it is a magical artefact. In fact, it is one of the ones I was initially sent to this planet to recover. After fifteen years, I’m surprised that they’re still around.’
‘Can’t you recover them on your own?’ Seren inquired hopefully.
‘Those magical artefacts gather mana together, which they then use to create guardians in an attempt to prevent people from abusing their power. Unfortunately, mana is susceptible to dark magic, and these artefacts have become dangerous. The place where I come from sends out familiars like me in order to grant power to the locals of the planet so they can fight back. Unfortunately, our species’ abilities is lacking when it comes to magical warfare.’
‘You aren’t saying anything to convince me to help you. I don’t know anything about fighting, and you expect me to go against things that possess dark magic?’
‘I can serve as a guide, and I reckon you’ll possess enough power to be fine. Seren, you just need to relax. Everything will be just fine.’
‘Well… I suppose…’
A scream brought the conversation between Seren and the cat to an abrupt end.
‘It’s close,’ the cat said.
‘Dammit! How do I transform?’ Seren asked.
‘A sudden change of heart, huh? Anyway, you transform by…’
‘What?’
‘You’re not going to like this next bit.’
‘I already don’t like this whole situation!’
‘I’ve forgotten… it seems that fifteen years is quite a long time.’
Seren’s mouth dropped open. After recovering from the shock of the cat’s amnesia, she decided to just run straight towards the direction that the scream had come from.
At the centre of a group of unconscious people was a monstrous apparition. It was cloaked in shadow and its very presence was ominous. Seren’s heart was filled with fear, and she froze to the spot. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the creature that stood before her.
The creature glared back with red eyes, and bared pure white fangs. Despite possessing animal-like features, the creature possessed a humanoid shape. This did nothing to help prevent the fear that had rooted Seren to the spot.
‘Seren, you need to fight!’ the cat cried, running up to her side. ‘Seren! Wake up!’
Seren just stared at the creature, which slowly approached her. When it was a couple of metres away from her, the cat put itself in between Seren and the creature.
The creature easily swatted the cat aside before returning its focus to Seren.
‘Dammit, Seren! Transform!’ the cat shouted.
Seren had not noticed that she had gained a necklace shortly after the cat had awoken her magical powers. A bright flash of light emanating from the jewel attached to it suddenly made her more aware of its presence. It was only a brief flash, but when the light vanished, Seren was wearing a completely new outfit: a white longcoat with a blue trim with a skirt that matched. Her necklace had also transformed into a white staff with a red gem at the top.
The sudden burst of power snapped Seren back to her senses, and she dodged an attack from the creature.
‘Why have my clothes changed?!’ Seren asked. ‘And why did I have to go through that?!’
‘You have more urgent things to focus on right now!’ the cat replied. ‘Concentrate on defeating your foe, and then we can talk!’
‘Fine… I can do this…’ Seren returned her focus to the creature and braced herself for a fight. She approached, and was swiped aside by the creature. She crashed to the ground, rolling immediately to just avoid the creature’s follow-up attack. Picking herself up from the ground, Seren pointed her staff at the enemy. Nothing happened, and the creature managed to land yet another attack on her.
‘Why did nothing happen?!’ Seren cried, getting back to her feet once more.
‘If I recall correctly, incantations are required for the use of magic.’
‘Incan… you know what, whatever! So… what is this incantation?’ Seren was steadily backing away from the advancing creature as she was speaking.
‘Er… it’s unique to each magical girl…’
‘So you don’t know…’ Seren suddenly found herself up against a tree. With the creature standing right before her, she knew that she would require absolutely perfect precision in order to avoid any more injuries. In a moment of desperation, Seren pointed her staff at the enemy. With as much strength as she could muster, she yelled ‘SHOOT!’.
Much to Seren’s surprise, a pink beam of energy was discharged from her staff. It pierced the creature, making it rear back and let out an ear-splitting howl.
‘Seren, finish it off!’ the cat demanded.
‘How?!’
‘Just make something up!’
Since she was desperate to bring an end to the creature’s howling, Seren complied. She stood with her legs spread apart and her staff aimed her enemy. She focused on unleashing as much as she could, tightening her grip on her staff. ‘BLESSED BLASTER!’
The cat watched in awe as Seren made her final attack. The volume of her voice drowned out the creature’s howling. A huge stream of pure white energy blasted forth from the staff, a completely engulfing the creature. After a few seconds, the energy dissipated and the creature disintegrated. All that remained was a small black diamond-shaped jewel.
‘That’s one of the artefacts I should have retrieved fifteen years ago,’ the cat said. ‘Seal it, quickly!’
Seren complied. For some reason, she instinctively knew how to seal the artefact and had completed the task in a matter of seconds. With the threat gone and the artefact successfully sealed, Seren’s clothes reverted back to her work uniform.
‘I have several things I want to say to you, cat,’ Seren said angrily. ‘First off, why did my clothes have to change like that?!’
‘What do you mean?’
‘They exploded! For a moment, I was completely… well…’
‘I have no idea what you’re talking about. All I saw was a bright flash of light, and you had changed.’
‘Don’t play dumb! And you wanted to me to do that as a nine-year old child?! What the hell?!’
‘Why are you getting so angry, Seren?’
‘I was terrified during that whole ordeal! I’m a fully-grown woman, and yet you came here expecting a child to fight real monsters! You’re one twisted cat, you know that?!’
‘I really don’t see the problem. We properly equip every magical girl so that-‘
‘“Every”? You mean that there have been other kids forced to fight? That’s wrong! How are they supposed to enjoy their childhood knowing that they have to confront things like that?!’
‘Magic is strongest when it comes from the pure innocence of a child. It increases its purity. Thus, this results in much better protective and healing abilities. I know a few others who have become magical girls at age fourteen, but their powers never reach their full potential.’
‘What about me? Because of some mistake that you made, I’ve received this damn powers fifteen years too late!’
‘Actually, you seem to possess an incredible talent for magic. I don’t know why exactly, but it seems that part of you has really clicked with these new abilities of yours.’
‘So you’re telling me that adults can use magic? If that’s the case, why do you need to enlist children?’
‘I’ve already explained. The purity of-‘
‘Shut up! I don’t care! The military or the police would be better to seek help from for fighting monsters!’
‘Conventional weaponry has no effect on magic, and how are they supposed to seal the artefacts? If you took some time to think, you would realise these things.’
‘You said you came from a different planet, right? Don’t they have a magic military they can use?’
‘Actually, there is. I already mentioned this earlier, but they send out familiars like me to different planets to scout out talented magic users. The people from those worlds deal with the magical incidents. Though, I have to admit that there is something a little odd…’
‘Really? What?’
‘Magic runs rife on this planet you call Earth, yet there is no sign of the Special Magical Service…’
‘Special Magical Service… SMS… you’re kidding, right?’
‘Why? Is there something wrong with that initialism?’
‘You know what, I’m done for today,’ Seren declared. ‘I’m going home, and I will try to forget about all of this. A talking cat, magical powers, other worlds… I feel like a protagonist in a magical girl anime…’
Rory Muses 