It was late, unreasonably so. Amber had to finish some last minute duties, as they were understaffed for the winter business rush. But she was excited about her vacation. The twenty-eight year old woman loved her job, but an adventure was just what the manager needed. Amber couldn't wait to meet the cute guys that were going to chase her across the Bahamas. Of course, she might have to hide in a few bars along the way, maybe even put on some water skis and hitch a ride on a motor boat. Oh yes, this was going to be fun!

The crack of an explosion pulled Amber out of her thoughts. It was hard to make out exactly what was happening, but she could see a huge mass of tentacles fighting a pirate girl. The girl was easy to make out, as she had candles nestled in her long, blue hair. Was this some sort of street performance? But why this late at night?

“”Oh my, a civilian!” The pirate girl shouted. “It's sink or swim time, Shining Scale. Better get 'kraken' on this monster!” The pirate girl lifted her arms into the heavens and a massive keg of TNT appeared in her hands. Before she could throw it at the monster, a tentacle belted her in the stomach, sending her sliding across the ground.

“Gah!” Amber hopped backwards as the pirate girl slid to a stop at her feet. She was just a teenager, maybe a young adult. This had to be a prank. Amber was about to go on vacation, and it almost made sense for the other employees to do this. They must have chosen to do a pirate since it was a beach retreat. But why did Amber feel like she was in so much danger?

“This is a hard one, and it needs to be stopped now.” Shining Scale hopped to her feet. “Welp, I've got good news and bad news.” She thumbed her nose with a smile. “The good news is that I can wipe out this monster with a single blow, the bad news is it'll wipe out one of us too, as I can only shield one person from the blow.” The pirate folded her arms. “Of course, I've never let a civilian get harmed in one of my fights, and I intend to keep it that way.” She winked at Amber. “Good thing I've been thinking about retirement, huh?”

Amber blinked “E-excuse me?”

“One favor though, I've never been kissed by a blond before. So if you don't mind...” She tapped her cheek with her finger.

The situation was so surreal Amber was starting to think it could be a dream. she did oddly believe this girl was looking out for her though. So without thinking, Amber pulled Shining Scale into a hug and kissed her on the cheek. Amber typically reserved body hugging kisses for cute boys, but there was no harm in humoring the pirate, right?

“Ah, I'm glad you didn't skimp out, pretty lady!” Shining Scale looked directly into Amber's eyes. “You're the last person who's going to see me alive. This is it for me. I'm not coming back after this one.” The pirate turned around to face the approaching monster. It was massive, towering over some of the local buildings. “I'm Hanna, Magical Girl Shining Scale. So think of me from time to time, will ya? Captain's last order to her only surviving crew mate.” Shining Scale lifted her hands into the air. “Ultimate Fantastic Flying fortress: Fantasia!” The clouds parted and a brilliant light shined down on the monster. It was too late at night to be the sun, but that was exactly what it reminded Amber of. Within the light there was a beautiful golden pirate ship nosediving towards the monster. The ship acted like a prism, refracting the light into a myriad of colors. Amber closed her eyes and covered her face with her arms, but the sound of the ship crashing to earth stung her ears, and left them ringing long after the impact.

When she looked again, Amber could see the monster's body dissolving into sparks of light. Nothing else in the vicinity had been damaged, but Amber could see the teenager in a pirate costume laying on her back. The store manager was slow to approach the girl. There were no visible wounds, save for some blood oozing out of the corner of her mouth. But when Amber tried to pick her up, it was like lifting a bag of broken glass. Every bone in her torso had to be broken.

“Heh.” Shining scale gurgled. “Dying in someone else's arms. I truly couldn't have asked for anything more, pretty lady.” After forcing those words out of her broken body, Hanna's eyes fluttered shut. They would never open again.

Before Amber had time to let what unfolded in front of her sink in, a creature walked out of the darkness. It looked like a stuffed animal, a dog that stood upright on its trunk like legs. “Oh dear.” Its voice was like that of an old British chap. Not exactly what Amber expected a child's plush to sound like. “I knew this was going to happen. The girl had gone suicidal, trying to take a monster on like that without assistance.”

Amber stood up. “Excuse me?”

“Excuse you indeed.” The dog took a step towards her. “If it wasn't for you, Shining Scale might still be alive.”

“I beg your pardon!?”

“I suppose it doesn't matter.” The creature sighed. “You aren't exactly ideal for this, but neither was she. Let's see if we can make Shining Scale MK II.” Amber didn't have time to protest. Her body was already starting to be twisted and changed under the might of the creature's magic. “A water specialist, not quite the same as the original, but I wasn't expecting gunpowder magic anyway. Still fits the pirate theme. Seems you're going to be as strong as the original too, and a bit more magical to boot. Less durable however, that's a shame. Oh? And no finishing blow? I guess you're going to need to rely on friends more.” The plush continued to assess the woman's powers as the magic reconstructed her being.

“S-stop!” She was finally complete enough to start talking again. But why did she sound like a child now. “Make it stop, Save me!”

Crimson soaked Amber's face. The familiar copper taste of blood was on her tongue. What happened? She was calling for help, and it's body just exploded.

“There. It's done.”

“H-huh?” Amber was more than a little confused. The blond woman dressed like a secret service agent was a pressing matter. But now Amber was a little girl. “M-my boobs!”

“Everyone experiences the transformation differently.” The woman wiped the blood off Amber's face with her hand. It dod mire to smear the blood than wipe it away. “I'm Veronica by the way. Your familiar guided me to you, so I intervened.”

“Familiar? Transformation? What are you going on about!?”

Sue flew up to Amber. “Oh, are you alright?! I was so worried! I thought you were going to die.”

Veronica folded her arms. “It is going to take some time for you to adjust. Fortunately, your familiar should be more than willing to educate you on the ways of this new world you've entered. But you can talk to me too.” Veronica pulled a black coin out of her pocket and placed it in Amber's hand. “After all, We're allies now.”

---

For all the glamour of the restaurant, the bathroom looked like any other cheap public bathroom. Complete with ugly colored tiles and graffiti covered bathroom stalls. It wasn't like the dinner staff wasn't trying. Amber had overheard the managers talking about paint proofing the bathroom stalls, but that usually just lead to people etching the walls with a knife, which was also unsightly. As a former manager herself, she found the best way to control this kind of thing was with surveillance cameras. Few people wanted to take credit for vandalism, especially when authorities were involved.

She had to find Veronica. Or perhaps more accurately, she had to walk around until Veronica chose to reveal herself. This usually involved entering a quiet place that was relatively free of people. The woman's restroom seemed like a good place for such an encounter to take place.

Amber had just closed the door behind herself when she got the feeling she was being watched. The pirate knew the person behind her was not a threat, but she was still put off by their presence. Veronica reached around Amber's shoulder and closed her hand around Helga's soul stone. With a quick yank, the pendant flew off of Amber's neck and bubbled away into nothingness.

“H-hey! What are you doing!?”

“Relax.” Veronica stepped out in front of Amber, still wearing a waitress’s gown. “I just sent her into another dimension for a moment. The fewer people that can hear us, the better. Besides, she won't even remember what happened.” The ebon vampire did love her secrets. Who knew what other measures she took to make sure this discussion wasn't heard? “Were there any new developments with Boteg?”

Amber groaned. “Yes and no. I still don't know who or what he's scared of, but I know he came here to slay its champion magical girl.”

“Boteg's motives are not pressing at the moment, but It's good he's starting to trust you more.” Veronica folded her arms and leaned up against the wall. “How goes the monster extermination?”

“I feel like I'm contributing.” Amber nodded. “I've had to flee a few times to chase a magical girl or two away from Boteg, but I've slain at least one or two each day.”

“That's not very many, considering you don't have to pretend you have a normal life. But I suppose that has more to do with your patron than anything else.” Veronica paused for a moment, examining Amber up and down. “Did you find anything that you wanted to share with me?”

The pirate groaned. “Booty has been a little scarce, sadly. The local magical girls aren't particularly well equipped.” Amber adjusted her collar. “And there isn't too much on the information front either.”

“Unfortunate.” Veronica pulled out a clip board. “You still haven't cleared your initial debt, which makes me wonder if you'll ever be able to work off your flying ship.”

“I mean...” Amber looked around sheepishly. “You can have ol' sky bastion back if it helps.”

“It doesn't.” Veronica lowered her shades to the very edge of her nose. This gave Amber a glimps of her red eyes. “I'm sure you've purchased a new vehicle before, so you should know what depreciation is. The longer sky bastion stays in your possession, the less it's worth to us. At this point, I think you're better off holding onto it and using it to work off the rest of your debts.”

Amber growled. “Shiver my timbers!” She folded her arms with a huff. “I can't believe I haven't worked off that 'initial debt' yet. It was so small! I probably could have popped fluffy one if I wanted to.”

Veronica shrugged. “You were scared and confused, we helped you. Now you're helping us.”

“Hmph!” Amber proceeded to stare at Veronica as she pushed her glasses back up onto her nose.

“However, today might be your lucky day.”

“Oh?”

Veronica pulled a manila envelope off of her clip board and handed it to Amber. “This is everything we have on 'Shion' and 'Makoto.' Hunting Ebon Mint girls and damaging Ebon Mint property are just a small sampling of the deplorable things they have done. Since we're both pressed for time, I'll just let you read the report in your spare time. But the important part is this.” Veronica adjusted her sunglasses. “This isn't a request from Ebon Mint, this is a request from me. Which means if you do this, I'll owe you a personal favor.”

Amber raised an eyebrow. “Could you make my debt go away?”

“I could completely remove your initial debt. That would just leave your sky ship.”

“I see.” Amber started to smile, despite being in the presence of someone as terrifying as Veronica. “But they must be tough if you haven't taken them out yet.”

“Consider this a gift for your continued service.” Veronica jotted something down on her clipboard. “Though to be honest, I have a lot on my plate right now. Makoto is by no means weak, but I think you can slay them. Especially with your growing crew.”

“H-hold up now, slay?!”

“Oh yes, we have no need to keep them alive.” She didn't flinch in her delivery. “You are to eliminate them with extreme prejudice. Though Makoto is definitely the more important of the two targets. Shion is definitely not as important, but this is all in the dossier I gave you.”

“Uh, okay...”

"Remember, this is just a side deal, do not forget your real duties." Veronica placed her hand over Amber's, and dropped a blob of tar into it. “Do be more careful with your friends, you don't have very many.” As Veronica walked off, the tar ran off the object in Amber's hand, revealing Helga's soul stone.

“Hmph!” Amber looped the pendant around her neck. “Alright buccaneer, let's get your body back!”