Martha didn't like her new body. Her blood-red skin startled her when she looked at it, and her horns were constantly in her peripheral vision. The monster girl was currently observing a street scene from the top of a building. Unless she was in her magical guise, she would never be able to interact with any of them without scaring them. Even other magical girls were frightened by her, if not hell bent on killing her.
Martha was not really enjoying her time as a magical girl. She was alone now. Nobody recognized her like this. Martha wanted to go back to her home, where her mother was cooking dinner. There she had a room where she could fall asleep playing video games. But her family was waiting for Martin, the young school boy he use to be. What would they think when Martha showed up, claiming to be him? Would they even give her a chance to explain?
“Hi there!”
Someone's voice! And it sounded friendly. Martha turned around to see who it was. The stranger had platinum blond hair and wore the garb of a pirate. She looked young, not quite a teenager yet. But Martha knew full well that appearances weren't very telling of magical girls. Her small shape didn't mean she was weak, for instance. The pirate had a cannon almost as tall as she was strapped to her back. “You're not with the beacon, are you?”
She just snorted and laughed. “I think I'd have my cannon up already if I was.” It was hard not to smile at the pirate girl. She looked so happy, and it was hard not to smile right along with her. “I'm the magical pirate Shining Scales. But I'd like you to call me Amber. What's your name?”
“Martin!” Martha could hardly believe she used her old name, but the captain didn't bat an eye.
“I see, so you use to be a ferociously strong lad then?”
“Not really.” Martha twiddled her thumbs. The subject was awkward, but she had no difficulty opening up to Amber. “I was a boy, yea. I won't say I took especially good care of my body, but I miss being a guy.”
Amber sighed. “Well, it isn't quite the same for me, but I do miss my old body.” The pirate girl outlined an hourglass shape with her hands. “I use to be tall, had breasts, perfectly shaped hips.” She threw out her arms. “The guys that use to ask me out now ask where my parents are!”
Martha chuckled. “Well, I'd take you out if, well...” Martha trailed off.
The pirate spread her arms. “How about a hug instead?'
Martha missed a lot of things about her old life, but physical contact was the one she missed most. Kisses and hugs from family members, giving high fives to friends, the only contact Martha felt recently was from the Beacon trying to drive weapons into her hide. “S-sure.” It almost seemed too good to be true. The monster girl lowered herself on to one knee so that she was about the right height. Before she could brace for it, Shining Scale leaped into her arms, tightly hugging the monster girl.
“Ahhhhhh.” Amber cooed as she closed her eyes. “This is nice.”
Martha was phased by the pirate girl's sudden embrace. How long had it been since she last received a hug, or even talked to someone? She could feel her eyes welling up with tears, but did nothing to suppress them.
“Oh.” Amber leaned back, her smile gone. “Did I overstep my bounds? I'll just-” But before amber could pull away, the monster girl yanked her back into a monster-sized embrace. Martha ran her hand through Amber's hair. The soft blond waves reminded her of her mother's hair.
“You're fine.” Martha only stopped stroking Amber's hair to dry her tears. “You're fine.”
The pirate girl let the hug go on for the better part of a minute before pulling away. “Oh! Right!” Amber dropped her fist into her palm. “Honestly, I'm not in great standing with the Beacon either. Which is why I'm kind of relieved to have found you.” The pirate girl gestured towards the back of the building. “I don't know if she's still there, but there was a magical girl in the back ally. I'd appreciate it if you could keep an eye on things from up here.” Amber looked around. “I mean, do you have any way of assisting me if things go south right?”
Martha grinned. “Yea, I might not look it, but I'm actually really handy with a musket.” Her weapon appeared in hand. “I also have fire magic, but it's not very strong.”
“Alright, sounds good.” The pirate gave an exaggerated bow. “Just keep an eye on things from up here. If she attacks me, attack her. But if she doesn't, we might have another friend to join our group.” Amber winked at the monster girl.
“W-we're a group now?” Martha was getting so exited. The idea of being part of a group was quite exhilarating to the lonely monster. Martha would soon be surrounded by people who accepted her. But she had to protect Amber first. The monster girl cautiously approached the edge of the building and peered over the side. Weapon at the ready. “Hey Amber, I don't see anything!”
Fwoosh!
Martha didn't even have time to turn around before a torrent of water smashed into her back. This must have been what it was like to get hit in the back by a fire hose. It felt a bit like having a giant smack you in the back, only they follow through and keep pushing. Martha was forced off of the roof and tumbled to the floor below. Whatever was focusing the water on her wasn't letting up. Even when her back smashed into the street below, the stream of water continued to batter her chest and face. Martha dropped her musket and folded her arms across her face. This kept the water from hitting her head directly, but so much water was pouring into the alleyway that the water covered her body. It was impossible to move under such pressure, and she couldn't get a breath of air. Was she going to drown? Martha's strength was starting to give out when the flow of water started to die back. It was possible to breath again. Martha blinked the water out of her eyes and looked up at her attacker.
“Amber?” Martha propped herself up with her elbows. She could see the pirate girl gliding down to earth on sail-like wings. The ship cannon that was held against her back was now in her arms. There was some water trickling out of the barrel of the cannon. It was not difficult to see what was going on.
“You took quite the tumble there, Martha! But I'm glad you're safe.” The monster girl was about to grab her flint lock, but she stopped as soon as Amber leveled the cannon with her head. “Don't get the wrong idea. This cannon is capable of doing a lot more than just getting you wet.” Her smile was sincere without a hint of malice, and she spoke that way too. “Did you know a cannon can fire a cannonball a full mile? That's five-thousand-two-hundred-and-eighty feet, or sixty-three-thousand-three-hundred-and-thirty inches.” Amber continued to walk closer. “And that's just its effective range. At that range, a cannonball can blow through a meter of wood, just under forty inches. Oddly though, one of the biggest enhancements to the cannons during the eighteenth century was that they made them lighter. They fired thirty-six pound cannon balls instead of the old forty-eights. They had a lower muzzle velocity but increased gyration speed. You'd think that would make a cannon weaker, wouldn't you? But it didn't. It made it much, much stronger. Do you know why?” Martha just shook her head, unsure of where Amber was going with this. “Because what makes a cannon ball destructive isn't the ball itself, but the energy that the ball releases into its target. I don't want you to think a cannon ball is just going to punch a hole in you. Of course you'd be lucky if it did. But no, it's going to send all of that energy directly into your body. Your rib cage is going to explode like shrapnel. The bone fragments will pierce every organ in your chest cavity. That's not even addressing what the shock will do to your flesh. Have you ever dropped jello onto a sidewalk?”
Martha was, of course, terrified by this. Amber's friendly smile didn't really do anything to dampen the fear she felt right now. “S-so now what? Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I don't want you to get shot, silly!” The pirate gave a heartfelt laugh. “I just want you to give me your booty, and then you can leave.”
“M-my booty, you mean...” Amber just nodded along like she had been offered some good food. Well, Martha figured this friendship was too good to be true. But it was a little disappointing that it would end in such humiliation. But these were the dangers of being a woman in a world like this. “Okay, one moment. I just need to catch my breath.” Amber seemed confused by the comment, but gave Martha plenty of space anyway. The monster girl slowly rose to her feet. She was still a little dizzy from the fall, and being practically underwater had sapped most of her strength. “Just so you know, I really wish we could have stayed friends.” She said while turning her back to Amber. Then in one swift motion, the monster girl spread her legs and started swinging her hips side to side.
“What the!?” Amber's happy exterior broke and gave way to severe confusion. “Stop! Just stop that right now!”
Martha did so immediately. She brought her heels together and stood upright. “Did I do it wrong?'
“I don't even know WHAT you were doing!”
“Y-you said you wanted booty right? So, I figured, ya know, you might-” She continued to stammer before looking over her shoulder. Amber looked defeated now. She was staring at the floor with her cannon lowered.
“You don't have anything of value, do you?” Martha gave a quick shake of her head, to which Amber just sighed. “Alright, just get out of here. You can come back in a few days.” The pirate turned around to leave. “But don't let me catch you around here before then.”
Martha was cautious in her retreat, moving slowly and looking back at amber every so often. But the pirate caused no more trouble. She got to the end of the street without any more surprise attacks from the pirate. Part of her wanted to thank the pirate for the hug she received earlier. Even if it was just to get her hands on “booty,” it was a nice gesture. Martha didn't think Amber was a bad person. It was a shame they couldn't have talked longer. Maybe they could have been friends under different circumstances. Martha quickly switched into her human disguise and left.
Amber was in her civilian guise standing in front of a clothes store. Through the glass was a poster advertising some undergarments. It depicted a beautiful, shapely woman modeling the merchandise. She looked happy, and why wouldn't she be? Her skin was clean and fair. She flaunted her curves, practically mocking those who would look inside. Amber could see her own reflection too, as if super imposed over the image. She was definitely a cute girl. Her twin braids really stood out against her striped tube top, and her summer skirt popped with even more flair. Girls that looked her age grew up wanting to look like the one behind the mirror. But somehow amber managed to regress into the current form she had now. There had to be a way to fix this.
“Excuse me ma'am.” A pedestrian stopped to kneel down to her level. “Are you lost?” He was in his mid twenties, and quite hansom. Amber just sighed.
“Sis just walked back inside to grab something real quick.”
“Would you like to wait together for her?”
These were always confusing times for Amber. The woman that she use to be would love to chat away all night with this man. But the topics she wanted to talk about would be a little strange coming from what looked like a twean girl. “I'm not suppose to talk to strangers.”
“Are you sure?”
Before Amber could choose her next course of action, a woman with long silver pigtails walked out of the clothes store. She had been shopping around, as there were bags from various stores lined up on her arm. Her beauty was on the same level as the model, if not even more so.
“Hi sis.” Amber waved to the woman. It was Sue, Amber's familiar. She was ordered to do some shopping on Amber's behalf. People don't ask questions when a grown woman presents a business credit card at checkout.
“Oh, hello there.” The man was quick to shift his attention to the young woman. “I was watching your sister.”
“I doubt that.” Sue gave the man a stern look for the entire duration he was in sight. She took Amber's hand and promptly entered a taxi cab. “The nearest hotel, please.” The cab driver nodded and rolled up the center barrier. For the moment, Amber and Sue were alone.
“You didn't have to be THAT forward with him Sue.”
“I-I know.” Sue folded her hands in her lap. “I just don't like it when guys look at you like that.”
“Fair enough.” Amber eyed her companion up and down. “How much longer do you think you can keep up that form?”
In a puff of white smoke, Sue reverted into a diveing petrel. Her bird form was sometimes mistaken for that of a seagul, even though petrels are a bit fuzzier and have darker beaks. “I can't, actually. I've been pretending to go to the bathroom to rest up enough to finish my shopping.” The bird lowered her head. “I'm sorry I can't stay in shape for longer periods of time. Transforming so often and so frequently is really taxing.”
“Well, hopefully you'll be able to revert back to human form soon. It would be kind of weird if you vanished and it was just me with a bird in here.”
“From my experience, the taxi drivers only notice when there's no one to pay their fare. Speaking from experience of course.” The bird nuzzled it's head against her arm. “Were you able to take care of things on your end?”
Amber shook her head. “I found the monster girl. She didn't have anything of value.” Amber folded her hands together over her stomach. “We should be in the clear now though. I think that was the only magical girl in the vicinity.”
“So tomorrow, we're going to ride the ship to Penrose?”
“Yea.” Amber smiled to herself. “The furnishings on the Sky Bastion need some TLC. We'll sleep a lot better at a hotel here in Highbrook.”
Suddenly, the interior of the car started to get darker. It was as if the shadows themselves were crawling over the windows, preventing much light from getting inside. Sue let out a startled yelp and jumped into Amber's lap. That was when she took notice of the newly arrived. A teenager had appeared in a seat across from Amber.
“Vermilion Veronica? What a pleasant surprise!”
Veronica was another magical girl. Her namesake came from her elegant red dress, something Victorian in appearance with a short skirt. All Amber really knew about Veronica was that she was a contact for the Ebon Mint, and she had shadow magic. A mysterious and frightening individual that Amber didn't care to spend a lot of time around. But she had to keep her appearances up. After all, they were both on the same team.
“I'm only checking up on you because I was in the area. You know I prefer not to make direct contact with people.” Veronica folded her arms and looked at Amber out of the corner of her eye. “Have you noticed anything unusual in your travels?”
“Just that the magical girls seem to get poorer and poorer as we get closer to Penrose.” Amber kicked her feet a little bit. “Why do you ask.”
Veronica didn't answer right way. Very uncharacteristic of her. “Our job is to collect information. Reporting your findings is just part of the process.”
“And here I thought you were worried about me!”
“I do feel that you are stagnating here. You should get to Penrose as swiftly as you can.” Veronica turned her head completely towards Amber. “You don't have to bend to his whim all the time. Do remember where your true allegiance resides.” And with that, the back cab became even darker, soon swallowing up everything in darkness. For a moment Amber wondered if she had gone blind, but then eyes opened up in the darkness around her. One at a time, massive white eyes without an iris blinked themselves into existence. Amber felt exposed, vulnerable. The fear made her close her eyes. Several seconds went by with nothing happening. When the girl opened her eyes again, the back of the cab had returned to normal. Veronica was gone, and Sue was pressing her head against Amber's stomach.
“So yea.” Amber's smile swiftly returned. “Veronica has some pretty scary magic, huh?”
“I-I just want to pretend that never happened.”
The barrier rolled down just low enough for the cab driver to look at his passengers. “Looks like rush hour traffic has stopped up main street. At this rate, you might be better off walking.” The man did not mention that his shift was almost over, and he had no interest in working overtime. However, funds were limited, and there was no reason to line the taxi man's pocket if it would be faster to walk.
“Thanks for the heads up, we'll walk.” Amber paid the fair with some spare cash she had on her person. She then scooped up all the shopping bags and got out of the cab with Sue. The driver didn't notice Sue turned into a bird after all.
