A short time later the shape of Palmyra appears in the window of the control room. In the evening light the city looks like a disk-shaped web of light that runs up along a coast and peninsula, a mass of civilization huddled against the darkness. The lights grow bigger and brighter as the ship descends toward the ground below, the sound of radio chatter filling the control room as docking instructions are given and followed. The vessel comes to a halt with a shudder as it touches down, and after a few minutes of hurried activity a small escort is formed to lead the five girls off the ship and to the dock below.

From there they travel by vehicle, a too-bulky military car that ferries them through the narrow, hilly streets of the city. Outside a maze of fluorescent lit streets pass by, dull white lighting occasionally broken up by flickering LEDs or neon signage written in mixtures of English, Russian, and Japanese. Most buildings they pass are utilitarian in architecture, a far cry from Nicole’s beloved Hasta at night and something more suited to a military city.

It’s at one of those buildings that they make their first stop, a medical facility somewhere on the northern end of the city. It’s clearly more than a civilian outfit, judging by the guards. It doesn’t take long to check each of the girls in, and the tests begin shortly after.

For Nicole, Astrelle, and Dana, the work only takes about an hour. They’re run through a machine or two, blood is taken, and there’s a brief physical examination. Each is deemed clear of any harmful effects from their earlier exposure, with further tests to come in the following days as part of their Ars Magi preparations.

For Penny and Vanna things are a bit more extensive. The former gets her shoulder set and a proper cast for her arm, as well as some well-deserved pain medication. Vanna’s cheek is stitched up and bandaged, and once the Duodecim girl returns to consciousness she too is released back into the care of her escorts.

It’s another short drive that follows afterward, through now empty streets and passed several quiet districts before they arrive at their final destination:

---

There’s not much time to admire the sprawling stonework of Nova Lux and its sister academy, nor examine the carefully cultivated gardens or exquisitely chiseled monuments half-hidden in the darkness. At this hour--past midnight now--the lights are dimmed and the stone pathways that run through the buildings are empty of any presence save the five girls and their small escort.

A brief check-in is made with one of the faculty members, a woman who looks sorely unhappy to be out this late. She takes the lead once the girls gather their luggage, guiding them to the dormitories and through the ornate wooden doors that lead inside. A dimly lit, blue-carpeted hallway awaits them, and after a short trip to the second floor each is given a key to their respective rooms. Orientation is to begin at 8 AM tomorrow, and the woman recommends getting what rest they can in the meantime.

Of those rooms they’ll be settling in, some are shared. Penny and Dana shortly find that they’ll be sharing a dorm, as do Astrelle and Nicole. Once they pick their door out of the long line of similar looking portals they find a reasonably spacious room awaits them. Reasonably by the standards of anyone but Astrelle and Vanna, anyway. Two twin beds sit on opposite ends of the room, two small desks, two small closets, a kitchenette and bathroom. Windows look down upon the dark courtyard below, blue curtains at their fringes. Mostly everything is either blue or gold, the standard Imperium colors.

Vanna finds her room much the same, with one addition: There’s already another person there.



As soon as the white-haired girl opens the door she’s blasted by sharp chords of music, strings of noise that echo out into the hallway. The girl inside is very much not asleep despite the hour, lying in the center of the room with palms pressed to the floor, body rising and falling in steady rhythm. “Twenty. Twenty-one. Twenty-two.” She exhales a breath with each push-up, pausing to crane her head upward when she notices her visitor.

“Oh--hey!” She pauses halfway through her motions. “They said you’d show up eventually.”

She finishes her exercise before hopping to her feet. The girl is tall, red-haired, built lean but athletic. She wears a basic workout ensemble with hair tied back in a ponytail, and a thin sheen of sweat covers the hand that she extends out to Vanna. “I’m Cara.”

She considers briefly before asking: “Is your face okay?”

Penny only managed to get some sleep before someone wakes her up again, announcing their arrival at Palmyra. Yawning, she tries to rub her eyes only to wince at the pain in her arm, reminding of the run-in with the Void. She sighs.

'And here I'd hoped it was just a bad dream,' she thinks.

Penny looks out to the city once they descend past the protective barrier, and finds the architecture (even in the low light) rather depressing.

"So there's the answer to 'what happens when you make a barracks into an entire city'," Penny quips. "And here I thought Ciscia's D-Fens Quarter was ugly and blocky."

When it's time for the tests, Penny is compliant despite her tired state, only too glad to get some proper treatment.

"Thanks, doctor," she says once she's had her arm in a cast and shoulder set. She downs one of the painkillers with some water.

At the Academy, though, Penny gives an appreciative whistle.

"Well, at least this place looks good," she says. "Too bad it's too dark to properly appreciate it. Probably look a lot better in the daylight."

Upon being escorted to their room, Penny thanks the escort for helping her carry her bags, and turns to Dana.

"Well, guess you're stuck with me, for however long we're here," she says. "Just a few things I should warn you about; I don't snore... too loudly anyways, though unless you have a snore like an industrial drill, I'm fine with it since my family can be a bit noisy when they sleep - well, okay, LiznLiz sound like someone starting up a racecar. I don't cause a mess, always clean up after myself - being around four younger kids and two lazy older sisters makes me a bit of a neat freak. If I stay up late, it's usually to study, so I'll try to keep it quiet. Also, for the next few weeks you might find me hogging the bath for up to half an hour; we have a shower to share between nine people and someone always uses up the hot water before it's my turn, so I want to enjoy a hot bath for once.

"Anything else you want to know, or do you want to share anything?"

Dana was unsurprisingly taken aback after Victoria revealed that her opponent had indeed been another Ars Magi, or at the very least, something indistinguishable from one. And the Wing of Justice was right, it shouldn’t have been possible, and yet…

“Understood, ma’am,” Dana found herself saying, echoing Nicole’s response to Victoria’s instruction to never mention a word of what they had seen. “Loose lips sink ships, after all,” she added with a nervous chuckle in a half-hearted attempt to bring some levity to the situation. “Or somethin’ like that…”

Although she was as eager as anyone else to learn the true identity of Victoria’s mysterious opponent, Dana knew that the present moment was neither the time, nor place to ask further questions. She was also still a bit annoyed by Astrelle’s disrespectful attitude, but she figured that issue could be addressed at a later date as well, perhaps when she wasn’t fighting to keep her eyes open…

After the Ars Magi had taken her leave, Dana’s exhausted body had wasted no time in returning to unconsciousness. She awoke an hour later, when the airship finally arrived in Palmyra. Feeling a bit more refreshed, Dana gathered up her belongings and followed along with the rest of her new friends, first to a military hospital, and then to their dorms at Nova Lux itself.

“Yeah, I guess it’s not much to look at,” Dana agreed when Penny noted the somewhat ugly aesthetic of the city. “But, when ya think about it, it’s really the people inside the buildings that count,” she added with a grin.

Upon their arrival at Nova Lux, Dana couldn’t help but jump up and punch the air in elation. “All right! We finally made it!” she cheered, before quickly sobering upon catching sight of the glowering visage of the faculty member who was waiting to greet them. “Eh, heh… Sorry about that…” she apologized as she followed the woman inside.

Dana’s cheerful exuberance returned, when she learned that she would be sharing a room with Penny. “Awesome! Put ‘er there, roomie!” she said, while holding her hand up for a high five. “Or, uh, maybe we should just gently fist bump…” she added, remembering the bespectacled girl’s numerous injuries. “And don’t worry, there’s no one else I’d rather be stuck with! I think we’re gonna get along just great!”

Her happy grin spreading from ear to ear, Dana listened as Penny “warned” her about a few things.

“Hey, that’s fine!” Dana reassured Penny after the later said she might be taking some extra long baths. “I totally understand! I like my showers nice and refreshingly chilly, so it’s no problem if ya use up all the hot water. I don’t think I snore too loudly,” she added. “At least, not as loudly as an industrial drill! I’m pretty neat myself, but if I don’t meet your standards, please don’t hesitate to let me know! Oh, and I can sleep through pretty much anything, so don’t worry about that! Feel free to crank up your study music as loud as ya like!”

“I’d love to know the kinds of games and music ya like, and all sorts of other stuff, but I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time to talk about that later. Right now, we should probably hit the sack,” she advised, pointing her thumb at the bed closest to her. “After all, it’s gonna be a big day tomorrow!”

“Yeah, I guess it’s not much to look at,” Dana agreed when Penny noted the somewhat ugly aesthetic of the city. “But, when ya think about it, it’s really the people inside the buildings that count,” she added with a grin.

"You're hopelessly cheerful, aren't you?" Penny muses. "Eh, as long as they have a decent pizza joint in town, I'm fine with it."

Dana’s cheerful exuberance returned, when she learned that she would be sharing a room with Penny. “Awesome! Put ‘er there, roomie!” she said, while holding her hand up for a high five. “Or, uh, maybe we should just gently fist bump…” she added, remembering the bespectacled girl’s numerous injuries. “And don’t worry, there’s no one else I’d rather be stuck with! I think we’re gonna get along just great!”

Penny rolls her eyes.

"I'm not crippled, Dana, just wounded," she says, but returns the fist-bump with a smile. "And thanks for the vote of confidence, I'm looking forwards to rooming with you too!"

Her happy grin spreading from ear to ear, Dana listened as Penny “warned” her about a few things.

“Hey, that’s fine!” Dana reassured Penny after the later said she might be taking some extra long baths. “I totally understand! I like my showers nice and refreshingly chilly, so it’s no problem if ya use up all the hot water. I don’t think I snore too loudly,” she added. “At least, not as loudly as an industrial drill! I’m pretty neat myself, but if I don’t meet your standards, please don’t hesitate to let me know! Oh, and I can sleep through pretty much anything, so don’t worry about that! Feel free to crank up your study music as loud as ya like!”

“I’d love to know the kinds of games and music ya like, and all sorts of other stuff, but I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time to talk about that later. Right now, we should probably hit the sack,” she advised, pointing her thumb at the bed closest to her. “After all, it’s gonna be a big day tomorrow!”

"You are an eternal optimist, aren't you?" chortles Penny. "Though we're going to have to leave the games and music for later. Right now, I just wanna lay down and sleep like the dead. It's been a long day, it's really late, and I think I've been up most of the way from Ciscia."

She tiredly gets changed into shorts and a tank top, sets her PDA's alarm, then flops onto the lower bunk in a way that wouldn't hurt her arm.

"'Night, Dana," she says. "Sweet dreams..."

---

She supposed what she admired most about her parents, their boundless activism, was that they seemed to find the beauty in everything - every day, every cause, every person. There was something to love about yourself, and those around you, but sometimes it took work to find it. It was easy to draw a path from that philosophy to her good nature and the laid-back way she treated her peers. But Palmyra was a homely city by nature. The buildings were mere cubes stacked upon cubes, with artless neon and xenon for splashes of color, like trying to disguise stale bread with cake frosting. Hasta was cosmopolitan as Sanctum Cities went, so she recognized one sign in three, likely more than most of the other girls present.

But the signs she read only discouraged her further. Grocery. Cab depot. Grocery. Accountant. School. Hospital. Library. Hospital. Restaurant! ...Accountant.

Obviously, there was plenty of representation for the world's one true universal church - the pizza joint. She even saw a few cafes, such as they were. But they were wedged in between other structures (which was all they were) and lacked patios, let alone rooftop views. She could count the number that were actually on a street corner on one hand. But pan pizza and cappuccinos were for binging with her study group, not a replacement for nightlife. She looked for telltale signs of arcades or little hole in the wall bars, the kinds of places that she had grown up sneaking into with friends, but nothing jumped out. The city was a den of brutalism; the rare peeks she got of its inner workings were cold and lifeless. Even Astrelle - who was doing her best to make the other girls think she lived up to those descriptors - must have been miserable, she mused. This was a far cry from what she remembered of Valentia too.

So it was that Nicole, whose humor and vibe had seemed indefatigable even at their emotional nadir during the attack, spent most of their first ride through Palmyra in contemplative, almost sullen silence.

"So there's the answer to 'what happens when you make a barracks into an entire city. And here I thought Ciscia's D-Fens Quarter was ugly and blocky."

“Yeah, I guess it’s not much to look at. But, when ya think about it, it’s really the people inside the buildings that count."

Nicole mustered a half smile at the sentiment - and at the image of her mom spoiling Dana the way she'd spoiled all her other friends - but the most she could muster was a quiet "Yeah..."

"You're hopelessly cheerful, aren't you?" Penny was saying to Dana. "Eh, as long as they have a decent pizza joint in town, I'm fine with it."

"I've seen a few so far," Nicole assured her, but after that she remained withdrawn from the conversation.

The checkup cheered her up a bit. She was polite to the technicians, and they were polite back; soon, she was able to make a couple joke during her blood draw. By the time she was undergoing her examination the ennui had faded to the point where she was even able to hit on her doctor, who deflected her with a smile and professional grace. It was probably for the best. It would never work. She was in her late twenties, and a doctor for the military - clearly, a woman in such a lax, carefree position would never be able to handle Nicole's skill on the Dance Til Sunrise pad at the arcade, or withstand her high-intensity erotic brofists.

She smiled and thought of home, and of all the times her Prince Charming's eyes of molten gold had rolled into their sockets at her antics. She swore, leaving the hospital, that she would keep making the best of all this. The other girls would probably need her help to do the same.

Her new attitude, same as the old attitude, was on full display when they finally arrived at their dorms. She was going to be living with Astrelle, a realization she had audibly laughed at when the arrangements were made. Odds were she'd be covered with a pillow and hacked to death while sleeping in a few months, but in the meantime, Nicole was going to make the most of it. As soon as they stepped through the portal and into their own home, she was breezing through the place with the same effervescence she had glided up and down their beleaguered vessel with. The bed was a little small, but about what she would have expected from any university. The kitchenette was much more her speed, and she quickly began inspecting the cabinets to see what kind of dinnerware was available to them, testing burners on the stove, the ice maker in the fridge, all the usual things. Not that she expected Nova Lux to leave anything lacking, but...

...well, after her first glimpses of Palmyra, she'd totally almost expected shit to be lacking.

"Nooo shit," she exclaimed playfully once she had stepped out of their bathroom. Her grin was so wide it had almost caused her nose to wrinkle. "It's a real shower. With glass and everything. I was starting to think we'd get, like, a prison shower or something."

The remainder of the airship ride passed by in a blur. Since Victoria left, Astrelle stayed silent; most of the girls were asleep anyway. The crash that followed the waves of adrenaline and fear had finally caught up to Astrelle, and she had no more energy for protests or snarky remarks. She didn’t even complain as medical staff poked and prodded her body for testing, a procedure she found completely demeaning. The exhaustion also gave Astrelle some time for self-reflection, though having so much time to think was rather unpleasant. A feeling of regret lingered in the aftermath of the battle. She couldn’t avoid fixating on her disgraceful display of emotion when she had practiced composure so diligently for years. She resolved that it would never happen again.

The walk to the girls’ dorms was somber at best. The darkness concealed much of the surrounding landscape of the new home, and Astrelle had no desire to use her abilities to witness it. The dreary atmosphere spoke loudly enough for what Palmyra might’ve looked like. Her eyes focused ahead instead, at the back of the faculty member that led them through the campus, or on the damp cobblestone they walked on.

The faculty member’s tour and explanations were curt, which Astrelle appreciated at so late an hour. She was less than pleased to learn that she’d be sharing a room with someone, but given that it was mandatory, Nicole seemed more tolerable than the others. Unfortunately, bringing dates back home was not a possibility with this arrangement. The room was more spacious than Astrelle expected—she expected something akin to a small closet—equipped with a kitchenette and bathroom too, though it looked like spending was frugal on the furniture itself. Everything was, of course, painted in patriotic blues and golds, a color combo that Astrelle was surely going to tire of quickly.

In her exhaustion, Astrelle wasted no effort in throwing her bags on a side of the room she chose haphazardly, and fell into the springy mattress—she thought softness would cushion her fall, but her back hit the cushion more roughly than she imagined. Unlike Astrelle, Nicole had been examining the amenities and her comment about the showers almost made her laugh.

A weak half-smile tugged slightly at Astrelle’s lips. “It better have hot water too. Do you want to find out first or should I?”

---

She winced at the sight of Astrelle hitting the mattress - not an airy hit, like the grace of a child bouncing on their mattress, but like a...like a wet sponge, hitting the sink. Or a bug on a windscreen. Nicole stretched out her left arm and pushed her extended index finger into the unoccupied mattress, testing it for any sign of flex.

"Oh my God." She pressed her finger deeper into the mattress, and although it wasn't firm enough to stop her once she put a little pressure on it, she could almost hear the squeak of a spring inside. A tiny exhale blew through her pursed lips in displeasure, an unbidden little noise that reminded her of the beauty of the human body - all those different systems, working in tandem and unison, to keep people as different as the five of them, Victoria, and all their guards grooving the exact same. Her displeasure must have been a cry for help from her skeletal system that had thrown a little switch in the nervous system, then come out through respiratory...the beauty of the human body, indeed. And hey, speaking of beautiful bodies...

"Ha, y'know what?" She looked back at Astrelle and laughed, impish amusement in her eyes. "You look prrr-etty comfy where you're at, and you're already going to hate me enough when I start leaving skincare stuff out. So why don't I bite the bullet on the first shower and tag you in when it's at Goldilocks temp?"

After Nicole walked into the bathroom with her chosen set of towels - surprisingly not starchy enough to have recently cleaned up a crime scene - a clean set of clothes, and a music player on medium volume, the classic sounds of a girl a new shower for the first time started to ring out, muffled, through the walls.

"Porca miseria!"

A few seconds passed. The faucet made a squeaky sound, followed by a squeal of anger and shock.

"Ma che cazzo fai!?"

Twenty minutes later, Nicole walked out in her chosen sleepwear - a faded black t-shirt commemorating the release of the Sancho Stromboli action classic Behemoth (a collector's dream that Nicole's dad had gotten for attending the premiere back in his day) and a pair of short emerald shorts - and a forced grin on her face. Her long legs, as well as her forearms and what parts of her collar were showing, had turned salmon. She plopped down on the mattress; the springs squeaked again.

"Found Goldilocks," she said, grinning through gritted teeth. "Watch the cold faucet. That one sneaks up on you."

Those who can manage to sleep will only get to enjoy it for a few brief hours before they’re rudely awakened by the blaring of trumpets and insistent knocking on doors. Each of the new candidates finds a faculty member behind it, who hands off a blue and gold school uniform and instructions to meet in thirty minutes in the main hall. Directions are given as asked, which mostly amount to ‘follow everyone else’.

And, thirty minutes later, they find themselves in the central auditorium. Blue and yellow flags bearing the Imperium symbols line the walls, and huge glass windows pour in vibrant light from the near cloudless skies outside. Rows of chairs are set out on blue carpets, and all the students file into place to hear the opening speech.

It’s not very substantial. The speech itself consists mostly of the introduction of the headmaster, Nikolas Gaelle, and a formal greeting to the gathered cadets. There’s a lot of pomp and circumstance, well-wishes for the coming year, and brief explanation of the coming curriculum. Afterward comes the tour of the facilities led by another staff member. It’s a short round of the dormitories, cafeteria, library, classrooms, and gardens before the group is dismissed back to the dormitories.

It’s another few hours of waiting before, one at a time, each girl is called and escorted to the infirmary. The building has temporarily transformed into a testing facility, filled with magitech machinery and medical equipment.

There the tests begin again. It might seem as if they’ll never get away from all the poking and prodding, but the earlier visit to the hospital at least spares them from having to draw blood once again. Still, the process takes several hours each, composed of physical examination, exercise, cognition testing, and a dozen other examinations before, finally, each girl receives an ALL CLEAR and instructions to report to an off-site medical facility tomorrow for their surgery. In under 24 hours they’ll receive their Ars Armagus and become full-fledged Ars Magi.

By the time all of the candidates finish with their testing it’s time for dinner, held in the academy cafeteria. It’s a well-lit rectangular building near the dormitory, furnished with long wooden tables and the ever-present Imperium symbols and decorations. A buffet of acceptably cooked food is available for all, though those used to grander meals may find the selection somewhat lacking.

There are just under a dozen other girls sharing the cafeteria with the cadets from the Laurus, but it’s the most company they’ve had for several days now. Everyone is assembling along the tables, making introductions and finding places to settle. It’s not long before conversation, both awkward and amiable, begins to fill cafeteria:

“I can’t wait to use real magic, it’s going to be awesome!”

“Do you think the surgery is gonna hurt?”

“Well nobody’s ever died becoming an Ars Magi, right?”

“What do you think you’ll look like after you transform?”

“You know, after initiation they host a big ball, my brother told me.”

“Do y’think we’ll get to meet the students from the officer’s academy?”

“I hear there’s someone from the Duodecim here, who do you think it is?”

“When’ll they let us see the city?”

“You know, my dormmate never showed up...”

“I heard there was some kind of accident that caused delays.”

Penny never realized how annoying the Reveille trumpet blast could be, and for a moment, felt immense annoyance at being woken so rudely especially after the long day yesterday. For a moment, she lays in bed, growling to herself, before remembering she's in a dorm with only one other roommate, and unfettered access to a hot shower. The idea makes her perk up with a grin.

'Thirty minutes?' she thinks looking at the clock on her PDA/phone. 'That's not a lotta time, is it? Certainly not for a long, soaking bath.

'But maybe enough for a good shower? Let's try that...'

She gets up to answer the knock, and finds a new issue of the school uniform, something she's grateful for as her old one still had claw marks from the fight with the Void yesterday.

"Thanks," she says to the faculty member, perhaps a bit overly enthusiastically, then makes a break for the shower.

Several minutes later, Penny feels herself relax under the hot, steamy shower, letting the scalding water sprinkle all over her while trying not to get it inside her arm cast. She feels the knots from last night still there, but perhaps the soothing sensation of a shower could help with some of those.

Coming out of the shower, drying her long, heavy hair, she gives a contented sigh.

"Yeah, I needed that," she muses. "Hey, Dana, shower's free now, but ya better hurry up, they want us in the main hall in less than half an hour."

She gets dressed quickly, though she pauses to braid her long hair, checking to see if it's done right, and making sure her appearance is right; breaking in new clothes is always a fun experience. Fortunately, though, they got her size just right. She tests the joints and moves her arms. She remembers that they asked for sizes when she enrolled at the school.

"Seriously, is this what having a custom tailor feels like?" she asks. "I could get used to this..."

After tidying up her bed, she follows the others to the main hall, looking around at the sheer size and elegance of the architecture. Orientation speech, that's expected, but Penny still pays attention to the Headmaster's words; she always took pride in her schoolwork, and she's not going to let being an Ars Magi change that - if anything, she feels it should encourage her to do her best.

What she's less enthusiastic about is the full medical checkup. She feels like she's been poked and prodded in every place imaginable - though she's fortunately excused from some other tests because of last night's medical examination. However, it does mean she notices the annoyed and jealous glares of the other girls forced to undergo the full suite of tests.

Breakfast, however, makes up for it, and she digs in heartily. She's just sad there are no fancy desserts like there was on the flight, but she can live with that.

Penny listens to the conversations while trying to be discrete. She turns to her flight-mates.

"Ugh, just had a horrible thought," she says with a mild grin. "'Hey, we just tested you, and while you have magic, we don't think you're a suitable candidate for the procedure. Sorry to waste your time, now pack your bags because you're going home.' Wonder if they ever had a case like that.

"Yeah, I feel bad for thinking about it."

The day following their arrival at Nova Lux was a whirlwind of events. It seemed like Dana had just climbed out of bed, and, before she even knew it, she was sitting down for dinner in the academy’s cafeteria. Despite all that, she was still in high spirits and full of her characteristic energy.

“I can’t wait to use real magic, it’s going to be awesome!” one of the other cadets was saying.

“You bet it is!” Dana agreed with a happy giggle. “My heart’s racing just imagining it!”

Penny swiftly brought Dana back down to earth with a rather gloomy idea.

“That’s kinda depressing,” Dana observed with a nervous giggle. “But I don’t think it’s anything to worry about,” she hastened to add. “I mean, we went through a buncha prelim tests back home, and I doubt they’d go through all the hassle of bringin’ us here, if there was any chance we’d just have to be sent home again.”

“What do you think you’ll look like after you transform?” Another girl asked.

“Probably just like my normal awesome self, only even more badass,” her friend replied with a confident grin.

“Yeah!” Dana added. “From what I’ve heard, ya don’t really change all that much. Ya just get a super cool outfit, based on your personality and your mental image of your ideal magical self! So, like, I’ll probably look a lot like Beautiful Guardian Gunslinger Alexis! And my Gladius’ll probably be some kinda super cool magitech pistol, or somethin’! Whadya think, Penny?!” she asked her roommate excitedly. “Wouldn’t it be awesome if ya looked like Magical Maid Altea?!”

---

It was nice to see Penny and Dana with such a pep in their step. It helped Nicole keep her spirits high and nerves low after a sluggish start to her own day.

Normally, she was a morning person herself - easy-going and amiable, the one to fix coffee for her parents, go out for a run in the morning and watch as the dew lifted off the streets of Hasta. But she wasn't in Hasta, and the jet lag had pummeled Nicole as hard as any of the furniture on the crashing Laurus. She'd spent most of the night rolling from side to side, doing her best not to sleep on the parts of her body the shower had scalded or trying to focus on the sound of her own breathing. For a while she'd tried to keep it in unison with the breathing of Astrelle, sleeping across the room (or maybe just doing a good job of faking like Nicole had) or trying to breathe in time with some of her favorite songs. In between those, she grumbled to herself about not being able to sleep naked with a new roommate. It was a charcuterie of things of things designed to keep her off her game - new city, new time zone, new routine, and a pair of basketball shorts to cut off the sacred sheet-legs symbiosis.

But being around the same group of girls she'd survived a freak Void attack had helped. Nicole was a bit quieter and less personable than she'd been at first, but as the day went on and the girls went through their tests, it began to dawn upon all of them the enormity of what was to come, and her mood began to stabilize as others became more excitable or pessimistic. Naturally, the girls had begun to talk among themselves about their impending surgeries - or the idea of being turned down for them, which was such a cosmically unlucky, crappy thought that Nicole giggled at it when Penny brought it up.

"Ugh, just had a horrible thought. 'Hey, we just tested you, and while you have magic, we don't think you're a suitable candidate for the procedure. Sorry to waste your time, now pack your bags because you're going home.' Wonder if they ever had a case like that. Yeah, I feel bad for thinking about it."

“That’s kinda depressing. But I don’t think it’s anything to worry about. I mean, we went through a buncha prelim tests back home, and I doubt they’d go through all the hassle of bringin’ us here, if there was any chance we’d just have to be sent home again.”

"Besides, they're not really in the business of wasting time here," Nicole pitched in, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees and head in hands. "You heard how early they blew the horn for us, and with the way things have run so far, I doubt they're going to waste time bringing a girl into where they do procedures just to bounce her out. If they were gonna go through all that trouble they'd be more likely to kill you just to shut you up."

She winked at her new friends and adjusted her newest skirt, glowering at it with an irritation she hadn't even directed at Astrelle at her worst yesterday.

"I wish they'd kill me, frickin' uniform..." she grumbled. "Hey, wait, I probably shouldn't say that, right? That's probably what they say in those shows you guys watch before things go bad. Forget I said that."

They were on the subject of their favorite shows again, discussing how they hoped their transformations would be modeled after certain girls from certain Adjective Adjective Job Title Noun anime. She thought again of their discussion on the airship yesterday, and the innocence with which they'd discussed Ars Magi propaganda. Astrelle hadn't been fooled, and she was probably smarter not to be. But why go through all the trouble of being an Ars Magi just to feel like shit about it?

"You'll have to tell me who I'd be," Nicole said with an apologetic grin. "I really only speak the language when it comes to over-the-top macho stuff."

God, it would be so sick if I became Eradicator. Or Demonetta or Roboslut. She pictured herself, slinging a pair of pistols in either direction. I don't kiss magical girls. I turn 'em to slag.

"Maybe you girls could give me, like, a list of beginner's stuff to watch for nights off? Help amica tua out?"

---

"How's the knee, Vanna? Took a pretty nasty fall there."

"Who won?"

An unfamiliar ceiling.

Clean.

While the room itself may have been foreign, the smell was anything but. The sterile air, the subtle scent of antiseptic: it wasn't hard to recognize to the telltale signs of a hospital. Some hallmarks stay true regardless of country. The dressing may change but the essence will remain.

We survived.

We?

Unless God possessed a sardonic sense of humor, being in a hospital meant she had survived the encounter with the Void. But had the others? How could any of the day's events be counted as a success if even a single one of her fellow cadets had perished? Was it even the same day for that matter?

Slow.

Her thought were racing- a scattered mind left to process the comedown of tumultuous events. She was filled with questions about the Void, herself, her fellow students, but now was not the time for such queries. She was alive the rest of her answers would come in time. Right now she had to take stock of the rest of her facilities as she did her best to sit up in the hospital bed. A dull ache coarsed throughout the daughter of Diana, her muscles no doubt pleading to be spared from such overexertion in the future.

A brush of her hand revealed bandages and stitches addressing the wound across her cheek. The fresh pain of the attack was long gone, if anything the stitches hurt more than the wound itself. But even that pain felt dampened, no doubt the result of medication provided by the doctor in charge.

Tomorrow's pain.

Her shuffling must have alerted a nurse to Vanna's freshly conscious state as the door to her room soon opened. Vanna's lingering questions would go unanswered, at least for now, as it quickly became apparently that the nurse had a timetable to keep. And thus Vanna found herself whisked away for more tests.

Busy day.

---

An hour later, she found herself in a car ride with the other cadets, everyone had survived and mostly unscathed for that matter. Mostly. The cast around Penny's arm stuck out as a sore reminder of the harrowing duel. Still her gambit had worked, a fact the upbeat Venusian readily delivered to Vanna. Nicole's boundless energy and eagerness to fill in the blanks for the lady of Potentia was greatly appreciated. Although it was evident the events of the day had demolished previous pretenses of decorum.

Babe?

Well perhaps decorum wasn't the right umbrella to classify rules about referring to a Duodecim as babe under, but Vanna didn't exactly have the energy left to care. Besides the information provided was far too valuable to interrupt with lessons on etiquette? No, even that word didn't quite fit.

Tangent.

Her mind was getting sidetracked; the information about the mysterious enemy combatant in particular was far more pertinent. A mysterious Ars Magi-esque figure but one fighting on behest of the Void? It was news to her, and worrying news at that. But it also wasn't as though there was anything that could be done at this moment. Yet another problem for tomorrow. Today's battle, as close and difficult as it may have been, had resulted in a victory and that's what mattered.

As she pressed her head against the window, looking out towards the military city that would be her home for the next few years, the normally inscrutable young lady couldn't help but smile.

Joy?

---

Another hour passed and the daughter of Diana finally took her first step in her new home. Her first greeting came not from a person, but from the blaring of music and the sight of a young redhead hard at work. Shame to interrupt her.

“Oh--hey! They said you’d show up eventually. I’m Cara.”

The other girl held out a hand in greeting that Vanna had no qualms accepting, sweat covered as it may have been. She had spent too much time around soldiers and sparring with her brothers to be bothered by such an inconsequential detail.

"Diana Khay Vanna of Potentia. A pleasure." as her response left her mouth, Vanna found herself surprised at just how tired she sounded.

“Is your face okay?”

"The cut will heal, but I must say I admire your dedication," she responded truthfully, nodding her head towards the center of the room, "Apologies for the distraction. Don't let me stop you."

She didn't waste any further time on pleasantries, she wasn't trying to be rude and hopefully the other girl would understand as much. She was simply tired. She needed a shower to wash away the grime of battle, and whatever hours of rest she could scrounge together to heal her body.

And that's what she did. Her last thoughts before she drifted to sleep was a grim realization.

She'd miss a morning run.

Slacking.

---

Any hopes she had for a relaxing initiation evaporated to the sound of trumpets. At this point the days were blurring together, hopefully at the end of today the cycle would finally break. But now wasn't the time to ponder over such thoughts, she had a face to wash, teeth to brush, hair to straighten, a uniform to wear...

The list went on, but the deadline was fixed, 30 minutes to make it to the main hall. Now was not the time to remain weary.

Things continued to proceed at a blistering pace, a speech from the headmaster, tests by the facility, it was all just noise. A part of her felt shame at not properly investing in the day's activities. It was a grand day, and there was an obligation to treat it as such, but after having faced a Void and called forth her magic everything else felt hollow, uninspiring. The minutiae, the congratulatory speeches all felt like needless road bumps along her path. She had had her first taste of the rest of her life. It had been dangerous and humbling; a situation she had done her best to maintain her composure during.

But...

It had also been fun?

As always, the Duodecim heir made sure to not allow her frustrations appear across her face as she daintily partook in the banquet laid out for the cadets. She wasn't one to join in the conversation around her, it simply did not interest her. No doubt she would soon be called upon to introduce her roommate, but until then she'd enjoy the food.

Better than the front, worse than home.

7/10

Once Nicole was finished with her shower, it felt like it took a monumental effort to lift her spent body from the bed it laid on, despite its uncomfortable, rigid composition. Astrelle swiftly proceeded to the bathroom without exchanging more meaningless small talk with her new roommate. At the very least, Astrelle paid attention to Nicole’s warning and very carefully fiddled with the cold faucet.


There were a handful of hours of peace before the blaring trumpets of Nova Lux sounded to callously steal them away. Astrelle clinged on to the fleeing remnants of sleep, slow to rise from her fluffy grey duvet. The sunlight that streamed into the room from a window between the girls lifted the drowsy weight on her eyelids, and with a brief passing of time, Astrelle found herself regrettably wide awake. If she had a choice in the matter, she’d sleep for as long as possible to avoid what was to come.

The uniforms that the school provided were the same blue and gold as all of their furniture. With it on, Astrelle felt like another piece of decor in the room. She put on a pair of sheer black tights underneath the uniform’s skirt to add some degree of familiarity. It felt more comfortable to have something black on; the blue and gold of Imperium’s brand were far too loud for Astrelle’s tastes. After putting on a light layer of makeup, Astrelle followed the directions from the staff and proceeded towards the auditorium behind everyone else.

For the most part, Astrelle dissociated from the day’s events. The morning assembly was nothing unexpected, a typical address to the students by staff. As the staff rambled on, Astrelle preoccupied her mind with something or other, thinking frequently about her life in Valentia. It was hard not to feel disappointment with her current situation. Her normal luxuries were out of reach, even if she was thrown in here with a sizable amount of funds. Her future was uncertain, and that left Astrelle with an uneasy feeling. Shock from yesterday’s events lingered and it still seemed likely that she could die at any point. If that were the case, Astrelle figured breaking more rules would be the fun way to go.

The clinical examinations and tests were by far the least pleasant parts of the day. It wasn’t something Astrelle would have consented to if it were not part of the Ars Magi process. Her anger built, directed towards her parents for putting her here in the first place. They likely wouldn’t contact her unless necessary, so her anger didn’t have anywhere to go, it simply muddied her mood. Even the slight smile that Astrelle usually donned was wiped by dinner time, replaced by a cold scowl.

Penny brought up an interesting hypothetical situation. Astrelle’s opinion on the matter differed from the others’, of course, she would love to find that she couldn’t be an Ars Magi after all, but she wasn’t too keen on returning to her parents’ home, disappointing them once again. Her mouth remained shut, however. She wasn’t in much of a mood to talk, and focused on stabbing the leaves on her plate with her fork.

“Gunslinger Alexis?” One of the nearer pair of girls asks, drawn by the stray bits of conversation from the Laurus bunch. The olive-skinned girl speaking turns to the group nearby, continuing, “I used to watch that all the time—”

“Isn’t it a kids show?” The girl across from her, short-haired and blonde, peers over a pair of rectangular glasses at Dana and Penny, “How old are you two? That stuffs not like real life. You know that, right?”



Conversation is interrupted briefly by the clatter of a tray as another girl joins the table, taking a seat next to Vanna. Her roommate, Cara, offers a bright smile to the small group of girls gathered there. “Vanna, are these your friends? You all came in together, right?” It was clear she wanted to ask more the night before, but politeness kept her from pestering an obviously exhausted Vanna.

It did not, however, keep the girl from remaining awake. It’s unclear when exactly or if she did sleep, but she doesn’t seem at all tired if she didn’t.

“I’m Cara.” The red-haired girl introduces herself shortly after. “From Aquileia.” Her introduction is short, and she barrels on to more interesting things after: “I heard a few candidates didn’t show up, along with you all being late. Did something happen?” The girl leans forward, expecting some juicy gossip to be soon imparted.

“That’s kinda depressing,” Dana observed with a nervous giggle. “But I don’t think it’s anything to worry about,” she hastened to add. “I mean, we went through a buncha prelim tests back home, and I doubt they’d go through all the hassle of bringin’ us here, if there was any chance we’d just have to be sent home again.”

Penny thought it over.

"Yeah, you're right," she sighs. "They'd probably have experience with which cases work and which probably don't by now, and know what to look for and when to do extra tests."

"Besides, they're not really in the business of wasting time here," Nicole pitched in, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees and head in hands. "You heard how early they blew the horn for us, and with the way things have run so far, I doubt they're going to waste time bringing a girl into where they do procedures just to bounce her out. If they were gonna go through all that trouble they'd be more likely to kill you just to shut you up."

She winked at her new friends and adjusted her newest skirt, glowering at it with an irritation she hadn't even directed at Astrelle at her worst yesterday.

Penny made a face.

"Wow, aren't you all sunshine and rainbows right now," she replies. "I mean, I don't think anyone here's above the age of 16. Would be pretty grim thing to do. Has Astrelle been rubbing off on you that fast?"

"I wish they'd kill me, frickin' uniform..." she grumbled. "Hey, wait, I probably shouldn't say that, right? That's probably what they say in those shows you guys watch before things go bad. Forget I said that."

"Aw come on, they're not that bad," she replies, feeling the fabric. "Not the colors I'd have chosen, but I suppose that's a matter of personal taste.

"Then again, I suppose being from Hasta makes it harder to accept uniforms meant for mere mortals, doesn't it?" she teases Nichole.

Turning to Vanna and Astrelle, she gives them a wave.

"So how are you two today?" she asks them. "Slept well, I hope?"

They were on the subject of their favorite shows again, discussing how they hoped their transformations would be modeled after certain girls from certain Adjective Adjective Job Title Noun anime. She thought again of their discussion on the airship yesterday, and the innocence with which they'd discussed Ars Magi propaganda. Astrelle hadn't been fooled, and she was probably smarter not to be. But why go through all the trouble of being an Ars Magi just to feel like shit about it?

"You'll have to tell me who I'd be," Nicole said with an apologetic grin. "I really only speak the language when it comes to over-the-top macho stuff."

God, it would be so sick if I became Eradicator. Or Demonetta or Roboslut. She pictured herself, slinging a pair of pistols in either direction. I don't kiss magical girls. I turn 'em to slag.

"Maybe you girls could give me, like, a list of beginner's stuff to watch for nights off? Help amica tua out?"

"I've watched a few shows, if you want inspiration," Penny says. "Most are stuff you only watch when you're ten, but I know a couple others that are pretty enjoyable even to grown-ups."

“Yeah!” Dana added. “From what I’ve heard, ya don’t really change all that much. Ya just get a super cool outfit, based on your personality and your mental image of your ideal magical self! So, like, I’ll probably look a lot like Beautiful Guardian Gunslinger Alexis! And my Gladius’ll probably be some kinda super cool magitech pistol, or somethin’! Whadya think, Penny?!” she asked her roommate excitedly. “Wouldn’t it be awesome if ya looked like Magical Maid Altea?!”

"Weeeellll..." Penny starts. To be honest, she does like the costume in Magic Maid Altea, but the idea of going around in what was basically a costume from a kids' show would probably draw scorn - assuming of course someone else didn't have that same costume idea.

“Gunslinger Alexis?” One of the nearer pair of girls asks, drawn by the stray bits of conversation from the Laurus bunch. The olive-skinned girl speaking turns to the group nearby, continuing, “I used to watch that all the time—”

“Isn’t it a kids show?” The girl across from her, short-haired and blonde, peers over a pair of rectangular glasses at Dana and Penny, “How old are you two? That stuffs not like real life. You know that, right?”

Penny looks over at the snarky girl, but just shrugs.

"You got me," she says dryly. "I'm actually just 13 and lied about my age to get in here. Dana here, though, I think she's got her attitude permanently stuck to 'youthful optimism'.

"In all seriousness, though, I like to think of them as a teen girls' equivalent to the 'Join the Self Defense Forces' clips. I mean, they show them all shooting those shiny new guns, but never seem to mention 90% of soldiering is either cleaning your stuff, digging holes, sitting in a freezing foxhole, or cleaning latrines with a toothbrush.

"Hopefully, we won't have to do that bit - cleaning latrines with a toothbrush, that is."

Conversation is interrupted briefly by the clatter of a tray as another girl joins the table, taking a seat next to Vanna. Her roommate, Cara, offers a bright smile to the small group of girls gathered there. “Vanna, are these your friends? You all came in together, right?” It was clear she wanted to ask more the night before, but politeness kept her from pestering an obviously exhausted Vanna.

It did not, however, keep the girl from remaining awake. It’s unclear when exactly or if she did sleep, but she doesn’t seem at all tired if she didn’t.

“I’m Cara.” The red-haired girl introduces herself shortly after. “From Aquileia.” Her introduction is short, and she barrels on to more interesting things after: “I heard a few candidates didn’t show up, along with you all being late. Did something happen?” The girl leans forward, expecting some juicy gossip to be soon imparted.

"Oh yeah, that's right," Penny says, snapping her fingers as though to remind herself. "I thought Her Ladyship here got a room to herself, but apparently everyone gets a roommate.

"I'm Pennelope Grenoble from Ciscia, my friends call me Penny," she says, reaching out with her left hand before remembering that's in a cast. "Well, the flight here's been a bit mixed. Service was nice, but we hit a bad bit of turbulence and I slipped and broke my arm on the way. Thinking of lodging a complaint about the flight, but so far too lazy to do so..."

She hides it, but the revelation that some candidates didn't show up makes Penny wonder. Is there a targeted effort against Ars Magi candidates? Or was it just her paranoia and air traffic in general is having trouble? She'd dismiss the concern, but the knowledge of an Ars Magi helping the monsters attack their airship leaves a nagging doubt.

Before Penny could reply to Dana’s question, another girl spoke up, noting how she used to watch Gunslinger Alexis all the time. Dana was happy to hear that, but before she could say anything (indeed, before the other girl had even finished speaking), a grumpy looking bespectacled blonde cut in with several snide remarks. Penny was the first to address them, but Dana wasn’t about to be left out.

“You know it!” she confirmed with a grin after her roommate remarked on her “youthfully optimistic” attitude. “And, like, why wouldn’t I be?! I’m gonna be an Ars Magi! It’s like a dream come true!”

Penny then went on to talk about how similar their favorite shows were to Self Defense Force recruitment videos. And then about the unpleasant mundanities of military life…

“Wow, Penny,” Dana giggled as she elbowed her roommate playfully. “Ya sure do like to take conversations to some pretty awful places! But I know watcha mean,” she added. “And, yeah, I know those shows ain’t real,” she noted a bit more pointedly as she glared at the bespectacled blonde. “But even if somethin’s imaginary, that doesn’t mean it can’t inspire ya!”

At that point, they were joined by a redheaded girl, who soon introduced herself as Cara, Vanna’s new roommate. She also asked why they had arrived so late, at which point Penny had made up a story about heavy turbulence, which Dana supposed wasn’t entirely untrue… She hated to lie to their new friends, but she also remembered Victoria’s stern instructions not to reveal what had transpired during their flight, and so Dana found herself confirming her roommate’s tale.

“Yeah, we were havin’ a meal when it happened,” Dana explained. “One minute, everything was calm and peaceful as can be, and the next, everything went totally crazy! We all got thrown around the room like we were in a pinball machine, or somethin! Oh, and I’m Dana Noel!” she added with a grin after realizing that she’d forgotten to introduce herself. “I’m from Norba, and I’m currently roomin’ with Penny, here. She’s pretty awesome! You guys should have seen her when the turbulence hit!” Dana continued to gush. “She punched this piece of furniture that was about to hit me and broke it clean in half! It was the coolest thing!”

Maybe it wasn’t exactly what had happened, Dana reflected, but it was close enough. And, after all, what Penny had really done was even more awesome by far…

Penny gave a dramatic sigh as Dana elbows her playfully.

"See what I mean?" she tells the blonde girl. "I don't know where she gets all that energy."

When Cara joined in, Dana continued Penny's narrative... but then threw in a bit about Penny smashing flying furniture.

Seriously? she thinks. Next you'll have me smashing walls in with my face...

"That was just a fluke, really," Penny explained.

---

Nicole liked Penny and Dana a lot, but there were some arguments she wasn't about to wade into for anyone, even friends. Defending the honor or artistic merit of magical girl cartoons she'd never watched as a kid had never really occurred to her as a bullet on her no-fly list, but after thirty hours or so with her new group she could tell it was going to need to be wedged in somewhere. Nicole, personally, found it a little soothing to hear them go on and on about one cartoon or another; as a mediator and people person by nature, it was always nice to see two people resonate on the same frequency without her having to butt in. But that also meant they were more than capable of handling themselves without her ignorant butt elbowing in.

Personally, she was all about neon thrillers with more blood and guts than plot. Or, on the nights where she could see the rain fizzle and burn on the lights of Hasta, she would crawl under a blanket and get into the mood with something tech noir, movies with cityscapes that were like Hasta's in aesthetics but without her warmth. The characters would lack warmth, too - hot android babes, hiring hunky detectives who grew besotted with them only to be killed off at the end so the androids could run away with other women. Like all good noir, it was a beat-to-death twist on a beat-to-death formula, but that was the main reason to love it. There was nothing twisty about it, in her mind, but the vibes were all that mattered. Nicole would do some pretty crazy things for a babe too, be they hot androids or hunky detectives, or definitely, definitely hot androids.

...

Wow, wait, that real-ly explains some things about me.

Her head craned over to look at Vanna, conspicuously silent in the wake of her roommate's full-throated introduction. She gave her a thumbs up and winked, but she knew better than to try and engage Vanna here and now. Her Duodecim status alone was enough to deflate that idea, and the number of girls present at the table who hadn't been through what they had - what she had - was just icing on the cake. Besides, she was already pushing enough limits trying to warm Astrelle up to the others. So she tuned one ear back into the conversation a little.

"In all seriousness, though, I like to think of them as a teen girls' equivalent to the 'Join the Self Defense Forces' clips. I mean, they show them all shooting those shiny new guns, but never seem to mention 90% of soldiering is either cleaning your stuff, digging holes, sitting in a freezing foxhole, or cleaning latrines with a toothbrush. Hopefully, we won't have to do that bit - cleaning latrines with a toothbrush, that is."

Nicole stifled a giggle. Maybe she was starting to feel Astrelle's influence on her a little after all, like Penny had said. It seemed pretty crazy to respond to a retort like the blondie's by openly admitting to enjoying propaganda since childhood, but it was becoming increasingly apparent that was part of Penny's blunt charm.

The conversation quickly turned, at the behest of Vanna's new roomie, to a few other missing arrivals. Nicole furrowed her brow a little bit, thinking of the girls that might have gone through something similar to what they had - or even worse, if they hadn't arrived yet. Her heart went out to them. As for their own experiences, Penny and Dana did a good job of embellishing the tale where necessary and leaving other stuff out, but it seemed that Penny was growing a little uncomfortable with the way she was starting to stick out in the narrative. Time to slip the knife in, babe.

This time, Nicole let her laugh fly.

"C'mon, Penny, bask in your glory a little bit. Not every girl gets to be a hero before she even puts on the uniform. Sure sounds like an origin story to me." She winked. "You wouldn't believe how cool under pressure she was, either. Don't pick a fight with her, ladies, you wouldn't believe the nerves she's got. Real crocodile."

“Oh, for real?” It’s clear that Cara’s a little disappointed with that answer, possibly having expected something more exciting with the rumors of disappearing girls swirling around. Nicole and Dana’s extra praise does seem to at least elevate the redhead’s opinion, and she adds: “You must be pretty strong, busted hand or not.”

“A chair, huh?” Interrupts the spectacled blonde girl, taping her fork against the tray in front of her. “Was it her highchair?”

Her olive-skinned friend snorts, a hand quickly covering her mouth. When she recovers she chastises her companion, sputtering, “Amanda!” The girl clears her throat, giving an apologetic look toward the Laurus crew before she offers: “I’m sorry. I’m Priya, nice to meet you. I’m super excited to become an Ars Magi too, being able to transform is going to be totally amazing.”

“Yeah yeah,” Agrees Cara, “Ignore her. When you’re an Ars Magi you’ll be even stronger! And, you know, they wouldn’t use their most powerful weapons to just dig holes or clean toilets or whatever. We’re gonna be heroes!” The girl flexes a bicep, to indicate just how strong and heroic she intends to be in the future.

Amanda, the blonde girl, makes a derisive snort. “We’ll see who gets that lucky.” She comments, returning to picking at her meal afterward.

A chime rings out from somewhere in the distance, warning that dinnertime will be coming to a close shortly.

This time, Nicole let her laugh fly.

"C'mon, Penny, bask in your glory a little bit. Not every girl gets to be a hero before she even puts on the uniform. Sure sounds like an origin story to me." She winked. "You wouldn't believe how cool under pressure she was, either. Don't pick a fight with her, ladies, you wouldn't believe the nerves she's got. Real crocodile."

Penny gives Nichole an annoyed look

Et tu, Nichole? Penny thinks. Nichole's clearly enjoying the attention directed at Penny. I swear, that girl didn't look like a troublemaker when she first came on board...

Penny wasn't trying to be a hero when she tackled the Void. She just saw a man in danger of dying, and tried to help him, that's all.

“Oh, for real?” It’s clear that Cara’s a little disappointed with that answer, possibly having expected something more exciting with the rumors of disappearing girls swirling around. Nicole and Dana’s extra praise does seem to at least elevate the redhead’s opinion, and she adds: “You must be pretty strong, busted hand or not.”

"Well, not to brag, but I am pretty strong for my size," Penny replies, humorously flexing a bicep.

Sorry, Cara, I'd love to share the real story, but let's just say we were told to keep it hush-hush, she thinks. And frankly, the circumstances are more frightening than boast-worthy.

“A chair, huh?” Interrupts the spectacled blonde girl, taping her fork against the tray in front of her. “Was it her highchair?”

This time, Penny barely gives her a cold sidelong glance.

No, it was the park bench I bent your mom over last night.

This is going beyond poking fun at watching silly cartoons; Penny was perfectly willing to let blondie have that little cheap shot because she guessed most here would dismiss Gunslinger Alexis as a children's cartoon - even though more than half of them probably grew up on it.

Blondie, however, is clearly just trying to put people down. The only reason Penny doesn't insult her back is the fact that they're still making good first impressions, and she didn't want to make trouble for her group.

This is clearly, however, strike one.

Her olive-skinned friend snorts, a hand quickly covering her mouth. When she recovers she chastises her companion, sputtering, “Amanda!” The girl clears her throat, giving an apologetic look toward the Laurus crew before she offers: “I’m sorry. I’m Priya, nice to meet you. I’m super excited to become an Ars Magi too, being able to transform is going to be totally amazing.”

“Yeah yeah,” Agrees Cara, “Ignore her. When you’re an Ars Magi you’ll be even stronger! And, you know, they wouldn’t use their most powerful weapons to just dig holes or clean toilets or whatever. We’re gonna be heroes!” The girl flexes a bicep, to indicate just how strong and heroic she intends to be in the future.

Amanda, the blonde girl, makes a derisive snort. “We’ll see who gets that lucky.” She comments, returning to picking at her meal afterward.

A chime rings out from somewhere in the distance, warning that dinnertime will be coming to a close shortly.

Priya seems okay, and Cara's pretty cool, a sort of big boisterous bruiser sort. She decides to chalk Amanda up to being 'that one in every class'.

Either way, dinner is almost over, so she finishes up pretty quickly. She just hopes she doesn't see too much of Amanda - for Amanda's sake, that is.

"So what's next on the agenda?" she asks Cara.