Lildear18"That's true..." Lily responded solemnly to Alex, and followed it up with a smile.
"But next time we'll prevent the attack. I'm sure of it!" She looked at all the nursing clones.
"You were like a real doctor...But doctors wear masks over their mouths, not their whole faces. Also, you lack a medical degree. But you saved more than a doctor would have."
When Lily was embraced by Shannon, she yelped with a blush on her cheeks.
"Ah-!"
Despite being social and extroverted, in truth Lily was a bit taken aback by Shannon's warm gesture, and she hesitantly hugged the magical girl back, managing to calm down.
"I'm really happy, Shanny...That I could see you again..." She spoke softly, but then removed herself with a quizzical look.
"Wait, 'We'? So you were there after all!"
She smiled brightly.
"Shanny, you're such a good friend. Alex is right, let's continue talking over there."
She followed Shannon and the exotic girl out of the public eye, and then waved her hand before her face with an awkward giggle.
"No, you didn't barge in at all. In fact, I'm really happy so many magical girls came over to help." She nodded, and made a curtsy, holding her short skirt delicately; she didn't know what kind of greeting to use with the foreign-looking girl, so she stuck to the very basics, even if it looked silly with her getup.
"I'm Lily Lightning, but my friends just call me Lily. Nice to meet you, Sakura!"
She legitimately gasped in awe at Sakura's dextrous dance, mesmerized by her grace and charm.
"Woooow! You're such a good dancer. How did you learn to be so flexible?"
When she was complimented in return, she blushed heavily, glancing briefly at Alex; she felt really happy, but since he was listening, she also felt embarrassed.
"D-Do you really think so?" She asked with her hands bundled together against her chest.
"B-But, I don't even know where to start looking. No clothing store I've ever gone to has sold outfits as beautiful as yours. Where did you get yours? Was it granted to you by your Patron?"
The ploy worked, and Lily asked a few questions. This was good bcause the djinn girl could start talking more casually about the subject without sounding like she was pushing the matter. Taking a step back she bowed again. "Thank you. I used to be a cheer leader before being a magical girl. But I think part of the skill came from my patron." Nodding to herself she pulled to each side of the baggy harem pants she wore. "These were from my patron. There aren't many places you can find something like this here." Sakura had noticed that Lily had glanced at Alex.
She didn't make any move to indicate that she had seen the glance at first, but stepped closer so they could be a little quieter. "But I might know someone that could get you a set. Maybe try it out and see what you think. Anything special you would like? Don't hold back, I have a great source." By this point she'd moved over so Lily was facing away from the others. Not seeing people tended to help with them opening up. Something the sisters didn't entirely understand but had learned over time.
Lily was a bit intimidated by Sakura moving closer, but when she realized she wanted to speak more privately the green-haired girl actually felt slight relief. She then silenced her reaction by putting her hand over her mouth.
"You r-really do?" She whispered. Once again, her stutter came back when her deeply-ingrained anxiety surfaced. "Well..."
She was so engrossed in the conversation that she didn't notice how Sakura made her turn away from Alex, and it made her relax. She leaned over to Sakura's side, and cupped her hands around her ear as she whispered:
"I could try...Something very colorful, and flowing..." Her imagination went full charge in coming up with the fabulous costume she wanted.
"I'd like to look like a pretty Arabian p-princess. What is your source?"
Lily's description wasn't super full of detail, but it should suffice with the twins filling in the gaps. Though they weren't really known for being subtle with the things they granted. Sakura took a step back, eyed the green haired girl up and down a few times whilst muttering to herself. "Mhmm, mhmm... The dancer appeared to be sizing the girl up rather intently. It took a moment but she snapped back into reality. Invisioning a wish coming together was almost euphoric for the two and when left to dream too long they could almost stare and drool at times. "Uh.. I-I'm sorry, what were you saying?" A grin had formed across her face. It wasn't a malicious look, more pleased than anything.
Lily bit her lower lip, unsure what Sakura was thinking about as she looked at her.
She probably thinks how dumb my request was...I should never have asked in the first place... She sighed.
"I...Uh...Well, I was just wondering about your source. Are they a famous fashion designer or something? Maybe I shouldn't bother someone so important..." She poked her forefingers together, looking very close to calling off the deal as her nervousness started to get to her.
'Girls...' Alexander moaned internally 'I will never understand their strange obsession with clothes and shit.' He lightly shook his head 'I mean, we just got finished helping a bunch of people not die! And now they're talking fashion!?' he sighed 'Why do girls make no fucking sense?'
Shannon looked at Alex for a moment trying to read him. She would have stepped in to get Sakura away but the conversation seemed innocent enough. Facing the boy she shrugged a bit. "Nice work out there. Good use of your magic too. I haven't seen anyone make artifacts out of a road before." She leaned casually against her staff.
Alexander shrugged "I've had a bit of practice with runic magic lately. I made something for Lily, to help her keep herself alive."
Raising and eyebrow curiously, Shannon tried to figure out what that meant. She stood up on her own two feet again and glanced over to Lily with slight concern. "Keep her alive? Is she sick or something?"
Alexander snorted "I wish. If it was just that, then I could fix it no problem. No, Lily's problem is something much worse. I'm quite sure how to put it, but between her getting kidnapped to be a sacrifice, and her bubbly naive nature, she's bound to attract all sorts of trouble in the future." He shook his head "I am not going to let that shit be a recurring thing here, so I'm taking preventive measures to make sure that this does not become a thing."
"sounds like a tricky postion to be in" Violet called out as she danced her way down from her hidden perch above the allyway. Originally she had been planning on just staying out of sight to work thier magic if all the right words came together, but then Alex went and had to say a few of them himself.
"Though I must ask, if you are planning on being proactive have you thought about a way to keep track of her?" she inquired as she leaned up against the wall one eyebrow raised curiously.
When Violet dropped down, Shannon rolled her eyes. Of course she would be nearby. Her showing up just after Alex said wish though meant one thing. "Alex, I'd be careful with how you word things around these two." Shannon had had a run in or two with the Djinn Sisters. Both were pleasent mind you, but they had a reputation of being fickle. And their true power was not entirely known. "They're good girls. But their magic is a little tough to pin down."
"Oh please Shannon, I was just looking for some honest conversation while my sister is busy hoping to enthrall another person with her skills as a fashionista," Violet lied glibly smirking a little as she did.
Alexander rose an eyebrow (although no one was able to see that) "'Tough to pin down'? Just what kind of magic do they have, and why does what I say have anything to do with it?"
"We can grant wishes, but it's not like we are the Genie from Aladdin so we have to be a bit more peculiar about how we go about it. I think Shannon is just weary because you said the magic words." Violet explained with a shrug. "We've kept a pretty tight lid on what all we can do so lots of rumours tend to spread around about us. But as I said I'm just looking for some conversation.
Alexander facepalmed "Wish granting magic. Of course, why the fuck not? Sometimes this crap gets too ridiculous. I mean, if you can just magic whatever you want up, then that has to make life a lot easier. Hell, that could have proboably solved the whole crazy anti-love thing a few weeks ago."
"Not quite how it works sadly, we can't use our magic ourselves. Someone has to say the magic words for it to work. Plus couple of girls from Beacon did ask us for some help with that whole mess, we did what we could but we can't get directly involved most of the time as our patron is rather dead set on staying neutral"
Alexander stood there in silence for a few moments before speaking up "You...can't even use your own magic when you want? You have to wait for someone else to ask for something" He put his hand over where his mouth was "...Fuck. I thought my magic sucked, but I can at least boost my physical strength enough to punch people's teeth out. But you...you don't have shit" He took a few deep breathes to calm himself "I wish that both you and your sister could freely grant not only your own wishes, but each others wishes as well."
Violet couldn't help but let out a light hearted bout of laughter upon hearing Alex's wish "I like you" she said as she got her laughing under control."But that's not a wish that will do anything, we already burned our three wishes, that's one of our limits and it's how we ended up being us. Still, thanks for thinking of us cutie." she explained giggling a little as she did before adding with a wistful sigh "Your girlfriend is a lucky one."
Alexander felt disapointed that his wish wasn't going to work, but without any idea what else to do, he chose to simply address the last thing she said "She's not my girlfriend. She...well..I'm not sure what she is besides my roommate, but I know she's something." He shrugged "I'm still learning the ins and outs of interpersonal relationships. That's not a subject every orphan get's to study in depth."
Violet just nodded in understanding, although she and Sakura hadn't come from such a background they had meet people from all walks of life since they started roaming around granting wishes. After a moment an idea came to Violet and after thinking it over again a mischievous gleam entered her eyes.
"Ya know, I could help you out a bit with the problems your facing" Violet would reply with a smirk. "Both with the keeping an eye on Lily and getting to know her better, if you wanted to that is". She pushed off the wall and took a few slow steps towards Alex as she did.
Alexander folded his arms in thought "I mean, I'm more worried about trying to put a name to what Lily is to me. I think we're friends, but I've never had a friend before, so maybe I'm just misreading this. And 'keeping an eye on her' kind of feels like stalking. I might be an asshole, but I'm not a creep. No, I'd much rather she be able to protect herself." Suddenly, he had an idea "...hey, could I wish she had a new type of magic? Like Fire or Wind?"
Violet's sholders slumped slightly at Alex's response, but her smirk just grew to a smile. She could tell she wasn't going to get a selfish wish out of Alex, he was too focused on helping out Lily. "It wouldn't be as strong as her primary magic, but you could wish for that. Got some thing in mind?" She would ask tiliting her head to the side in curiosity.
Alexander nodded "Yeah. Now that I've put a little more thought into it, I'm thinking Time would be a good fit. It would help her ability to not get hit and or caught. Also, could I get a better result if I used my magic to boost your magic? I'm pretty good at the strengthening part of Reinforcment magic, and I can focus it all on your magical power."
Violet rolled her head side to side as she thought about it, before nodding. "Yeah that would work. Not sure how it will effect the wish in the end, but it won't hurt to boost it." Violet explained before bouncing lightly on her toes."Now all you have to do is say the magic words and I can get to work".
"Just one thing before I do; what's your angle here? What do you get out of this" Alexander asked. This whole thing seemed too good to be true to him, and if there's one thing that his past life taught him, it was to always be suspicious of generous people, since it was more likely than not a trap.
"We get to avoid bad things happening to us" was the blunt reply "Partly our Patron, partly our magic, but in the end we need to grant wishes other wise bad things start to happen".Violet stared off to the side for a moment before shainking her head to clear the memories. "We also get a massive sugar rush from granting them so it tends to be fun regardless".
And just like that, Alexander's worries faded; this wasn't a selfless act on her part, she was just a druggie looking for her next high, and giving it to her would help him in the long run. "Good enough for me". He reached out at the girl with his magic, and used it to supercharge her own. "I wish that Lily also had Time magic!"
Violet Smile just spread as Alex made his wish. "Your wish is my command," she replied as her eyes turned white and Alex would feel a tremendous draw on his magic for a moment as Violet took the offered power and merged it with her own. "Enjoy the show~" Violet said as she skipped to the side and nearly danced over to Lily.
While Violet had Alex and Shannon occupied, Sakura took the liberty of stepping away a bit. Since her wish would probably disrupt what Violet was doing she would have to bide her time. This little detour would give Violet enough time to grant her own wish first."Don't worry about that. Because I'm the source." She waved for Lily to follow. "I have to careful about my magic though. It is really powerful so I don't want everyone just knowing about it, you know? She smiled softly and motioned to lean closed to she could whisper. "Truth is though, I have to use my magic or I'll be punished. So helping you out is my pleasure."
Lily silenced her gasp, her eyes now bright with a faint shine; it was difficult to tell whether it was because of her amazement, or her innate lightning magic.
"You're the famous fashion designer? I'm not worthy!" She whispered in a voice louder than a whisper would be, defeating the purpose.
Having fully taken the bait, she followed after the tricky Djinn girl up a nearby building to the rooftop. She nodded, so excited her legs shook. She blushed a bit when Sakura leaned over, causing her to take a sniff of her exotically perfumed hair; it caused her head to lighten a bit.
"Punished?" she responded, a bit shocked to hear about her motivation.
"So how does the magic work? Do I just have to request it?" She asked, and looked down to make sure the coast is clear.
I might not get another chance like this...
Wow, Lily really was naive. And she seemed to really want the look, which kind of took some of the fun out of granting the wish for Sakura. Though maybe the girl didn't quite understand what the djinn had in mind. "I'm not..." She trailed off, there was no need to explain everything. Waving it off she smiled and her right hand began to glow. "No need to worry about that. You've already given me everything I need."
Throwing her arm out Sakura released a whispy, pink smoke from her hand. Rolling along the roof of the building toward Lily, when it reached the girl it began to swirl up and around her. In seconds visibility for the green haired girl was completely obscured. Attempting to escape would just result in wandering through more smoke. Though she couldn't see, Lily would notice the sensation that her clothes were moving and contorting. The touch of cold metal cralled across her skin.before settling.
The smoke began to clear and revealed Lily in a very different garb. Gone were the coat, skirt, and leggings. Actually, gone were most of her clothes in general. In place was a bedlah. The coat was now a fitting black and yellow bra, adorned with many gold onaments; her skirt was little more than a black thong; and her leggings had risen up and become a pair of flowing translucent yellow haram pants and a gold belt with black hearts. Lily's green hair was a bit shorter now, straight and clean cut. On her head was a golden headdress with another heart as its center, gold bracelets on her arms, and a pair of bracers. The bracers were ornate and massive, far too big to actually stay on Lily's arms, and yet they floated in place undoubtedly by magic. Yellow scarves hung from the bracers with gold rings inset with pink stars tied to the ends. Save for her hair and eyes she could be mistaken for aonther person.
As her subject emerged from the smoke Sakura had her hands pressed together and up to her lips in anticipation. Seeing the result she gasped and clapped her hands, pleased with herself and giddy with excitement. "Yes! I told you you! Absolutely beautiful!" After a brief celebritory dance Sakura tried to control herself. "Ahem, sorry." Bowing as she spoke. "Lily Lightning, your wish has been granted."
Lily coughed in the smoke, in a slight panic as she didn't expect Sakura to do that. When it was over, she had her face covered by her arms, and she slowly lowered them, followed by opening her eyes. She looked down at herself, and her jaw dropped.
"What is this..." She spoke with wide eyes, looking shocked.
"It's...It's...SO PRETTY!" She screamed from joy at the top of her lungs; Alex and Violet could hear her despite their distance. She twirled around with a giggle, elated to see how the sash tied around her waist flowed behind her as she moved.
"It's everything I ever dreamed of, and more!" Lily snatched Sakura's hands in her own, and shook them.
"Thank you thank you thank you! It's like a wish come true!"
Given the personality of the djinn girl in question, when Lily didn't react with shock or panic it disappointed Sakura slightly. I should have left this one to Violet. Straightening up when Lily came at her she did smile and return the shake. A positive response was better than a violent at least. Plus it was a good job done if she did say so herself. "Glad you like it. It isn't often I get to do a makeover. I can't wait to see what everyone else thinks.
Lily nodded, and took a few dancing steps off in a random direction.
"Ah, now I'm finally the prettiest princess in town! No back-painer will defeat me now!" She then stopped, having realized something with a blink of her eyes.
"Wait, what happened to my old clothes? Did they turn into these?"
Ah, here came the response wanted. "Mhm. But Princess Lily has no need for those old rags."
"Oh..." Lily took another look at herself, and then furrowed her eyebrows.
"Y-Yeah, you're right...You're super right!"
She lifted her fists up before her, and nodded with a determined look on her face.
"I'll dazzle them all with my new clothes! Then...He too..."
She trailed off as she heard Alex coming, and turned to face him with a twirl of her leg.
"Hey Alex! So, what do you think? Don't I look totally fabulous?" She winked with a smile, hoping her immense nervousness didn't show.
'Why is she asking me!? I don't know a damn thing about fashion' Alexander panicked internally 'Fuck...what do I say!?' He was once more very greatful that his outfit came with a helmet "...yes?" He tried, hoping it would work 'Why the hell did she change anyway? Her old clothes looked much more pratical in a fight. Girls just make no fucking sense.'
Following with the others, Shannon wasn't entirely convinced about how this wish would go. But it had already been made, and from experience stopping the twins was a task. Seeing Lily in her new outfit was a surprise. Alex's response to Lily's question though left something to be desired. "We need to work on your social skills. I'd be more than welcome to teach you." She said with a genuine smile. "You look amazing Lily!
Lily nodded her head in response, and her smile seemed to widen.
"Yes! Victorious!" She jumped around a bit, making a circle around Sakura before facing her one final time.
"I owe you one, Sakura. Hey, I'd like to talk to you more, so here's my phon-Ah!" She reached down to her pocket on reflex, and realized her phone was missing.
She quickly checked her loose harem pants; there were no pockets.
"Where's my phone? I need it, for lots of reasons!" She pouted as she looked at the djinn girl.
Phone? Sakura hadn't really thought about the things Lily had been carrying. Glancing at the rooftop though she spotted the belongings. When the pockets disappeared everything just fell out. "Your stuff is right over there." She pointed.
Lily followed her finger, and clasped her hands together.
"Oh, what a relief! I'm always worried about losing my stuff, ehe. I'll just pick these up and-Uhh..." She stood up with her phone and childish green wallet in her hands, and looked at the new arrival; Violet.
"...Hello?"
As Sakura and Lily turned to face the dropped phone Violet would dance in to view her eyes gleaming brightly from the magic that she was holding on too. She would take a moment to look over Lily's new outfit before whistling appreciatively. "Nice work sis."
"Hi again, I'm Violet, Sakura's my sister". Violet would reply to Lily as she moved closer to the girl. "And this is from your boyfriend." she continued as she stepped next to Lily and cupped her face lightly. "Hope you enjoy it," she would say softly before leaning in and kissing Lily deeply.
During the kiss time would seem to slow, if not stop for the two involved as Lily felt power pour in to her from the kiss and with power would come understanding that Time would now listen to her as Lightning would. Violet would continue the kiss until the feeling of time returned to normal and then she would step back and smile before sauntering over to Sakura.
"That was fun."
Lily's eyes shot wide open as Violet closed in for the kill, or in this case, kiss, and froze from the intimate situation she inadvertently happened to be in. She struggled a bit at first, but then closed her eyes as well. The powerful magic that surged through her caused her to see a vision of the future; she saw Penrose covered in dark crystals and shadowy monsters. And up in the sky, she saw a portal to a complete reflection of Penrose. It was closing in...And for but a blink, she saw Mariette's cold gaze.
Lily gasped as her vision ended with the kiss, and she stumbled back, her eyes rolling in her head from the temporal trip.
"Wh-Whoaaahooohhh..."
Alexander blinked in confusion "Was...that it? I kind of expected more flashing lights and stuff. Oh well, not a big deal. How are you feeling Lily, can you make time your bitch now?"
"I don't know about you, but I can't see time."
"Well yeah, but magic is supposed to be flashy and stuff. Your sister had glowing eyes after I made my wish, and that was just her holding onto the magic before using it." he responded
"Just because you didn't see much, didn't mean that someone's world wasn't rocked" Violet would say in a sing song voice looking like the cat that caught the cannary at Lily's response.
Lily smacked her cheeks, and shook her head as she snapped back to reality. She saw how Alex was looking at him, and she blushed.
"I-I'm fine, Alex. I just...I need to sit down."
She went over to the edge of the rooftop, and let her feet hang off into the air, facing away from Alex; she didn't want him to see how mortified she was.
I...I kissed a girl! And Alex saw it! Oh geez, this is a disaster!
She thought, holding her head with her hands. She took a breather, and resolved herself to accepting that and moving on, as she was also concerned with the new magic she felt.
"I do feel different...Different," she finally answered, and with a big sigh stood up, her arms at her sides.
"Okay...Let's try it!" And with that, she jumped off the roof. Now, even as a magical girl who wouldn't get too harmed, jumping into a street crowded with traffic would result in serious problems. But Lily, in her usual impulsive way, decided to let the the danger guide her magical instinct. And so she cast her first time spell: her body slowed down, until she was floating. With her acceleration gone, she met the walkway with little incident.
"Wow, it actually worked!" She jumped up to the roof.
"I can slow myself down with Time magic! How cool is that?"
Alexander resisted the urge to faceplam. not even a miniute after getting new powers, she decided to test them my jumping off the roof. "Maybe try to learn how to slow other people down, or make yourself faster? That's kind of why I wished for it."
Lily blinked, and then giggled while scratching her head.
"Uuuhh...That's a work in progress, ehe. I'll figure it out."
She noticed how the sun was starting to set, and decided they were done for the day; she showed her phone number to Sakura, like she intended to earlier, before waving goodbye to the Djinn Sisters.
"Call me anytime, okay? Byeee!"
And with that, she summoned her motorbike and drove off the roof with Alex. Her life as a magical girl took yet another crazy turn; from that day forth, she had a new look, and a new power.
"Don't forget! you have all the time you need with you boyfirend now!" Violet called out after Lily and Alex as the drove away
Left with the Djinn Sisters, Shannon pointed at them. "You're lucky I made a promise. But thank you for not doing anything bad to Lily."
Shrugging slightly the one with pink hair laughed a bit while they made there way to the edge of the building. "They caught us in a good mood. See you around Shan." Goodbye said the twins vanished over the side of the building leaving Shannon to go back to her own goals.
"But next time we'll prevent the attack. I'm sure of it!" She looked at all the nursing clones.
"You were like a real doctor...But doctors wear masks over their mouths, not their whole faces. Also, you lack a medical degree. But you saved more than a doctor would have."
When Lily was embraced by Shannon, she yelped with a blush on her cheeks.
"Ah-!"
Despite being social and extroverted, in truth Lily was a bit taken aback by Shannon's warm gesture, and she hesitantly hugged the magical girl back, managing to calm down.
"I'm really happy, Shanny...That I could see you again..." She spoke softly, but then removed herself with a quizzical look.
"Wait, 'We'? So you were there after all!"
She smiled brightly.
"Shanny, you're such a good friend. Alex is right, let's continue talking over there."
She followed Shannon and the exotic girl out of the public eye, and then waved her hand before her face with an awkward giggle.
"No, you didn't barge in at all. In fact, I'm really happy so many magical girls came over to help." She nodded, and made a curtsy, holding her short skirt delicately; she didn't know what kind of greeting to use with the foreign-looking girl, so she stuck to the very basics, even if it looked silly with her getup.
"I'm Lily Lightning, but my friends just call me Lily. Nice to meet you, Sakura!"
She legitimately gasped in awe at Sakura's dextrous dance, mesmerized by her grace and charm.
"Woooow! You're such a good dancer. How did you learn to be so flexible?"
When she was complimented in return, she blushed heavily, glancing briefly at Alex; she felt really happy, but since he was listening, she also felt embarrassed.
"D-Do you really think so?" She asked with her hands bundled together against her chest.
"B-But, I don't even know where to start looking. No clothing store I've ever gone to has sold outfits as beautiful as yours. Where did you get yours? Was it granted to you by your Patron?"
The ploy worked, and Lily asked a few questions. This was good bcause the djinn girl could start talking more casually about the subject without sounding like she was pushing the matter. Taking a step back she bowed again. "Thank you. I used to be a cheer leader before being a magical girl. But I think part of the skill came from my patron." Nodding to herself she pulled to each side of the baggy harem pants she wore. "These were from my patron. There aren't many places you can find something like this here." Sakura had noticed that Lily had glanced at Alex.
She didn't make any move to indicate that she had seen the glance at first, but stepped closer so they could be a little quieter. "But I might know someone that could get you a set. Maybe try it out and see what you think. Anything special you would like? Don't hold back, I have a great source." By this point she'd moved over so Lily was facing away from the others. Not seeing people tended to help with them opening up. Something the sisters didn't entirely understand but had learned over time.
Lily was a bit intimidated by Sakura moving closer, but when she realized she wanted to speak more privately the green-haired girl actually felt slight relief. She then silenced her reaction by putting her hand over her mouth.
"You r-really do?" She whispered. Once again, her stutter came back when her deeply-ingrained anxiety surfaced. "Well..."
She was so engrossed in the conversation that she didn't notice how Sakura made her turn away from Alex, and it made her relax. She leaned over to Sakura's side, and cupped her hands around her ear as she whispered:
"I could try...Something very colorful, and flowing..." Her imagination went full charge in coming up with the fabulous costume she wanted.
"I'd like to look like a pretty Arabian p-princess. What is your source?"
Lily's description wasn't super full of detail, but it should suffice with the twins filling in the gaps. Though they weren't really known for being subtle with the things they granted. Sakura took a step back, eyed the green haired girl up and down a few times whilst muttering to herself. "Mhmm, mhmm... The dancer appeared to be sizing the girl up rather intently. It took a moment but she snapped back into reality. Invisioning a wish coming together was almost euphoric for the two and when left to dream too long they could almost stare and drool at times. "Uh.. I-I'm sorry, what were you saying?" A grin had formed across her face. It wasn't a malicious look, more pleased than anything.
Lily bit her lower lip, unsure what Sakura was thinking about as she looked at her.
She probably thinks how dumb my request was...I should never have asked in the first place... She sighed.
"I...Uh...Well, I was just wondering about your source. Are they a famous fashion designer or something? Maybe I shouldn't bother someone so important..." She poked her forefingers together, looking very close to calling off the deal as her nervousness started to get to her.
'Girls...' Alexander moaned internally 'I will never understand their strange obsession with clothes and shit.' He lightly shook his head 'I mean, we just got finished helping a bunch of people not die! And now they're talking fashion!?' he sighed 'Why do girls make no fucking sense?'
Shannon looked at Alex for a moment trying to read him. She would have stepped in to get Sakura away but the conversation seemed innocent enough. Facing the boy she shrugged a bit. "Nice work out there. Good use of your magic too. I haven't seen anyone make artifacts out of a road before." She leaned casually against her staff.
Alexander shrugged "I've had a bit of practice with runic magic lately. I made something for Lily, to help her keep herself alive."
Raising and eyebrow curiously, Shannon tried to figure out what that meant. She stood up on her own two feet again and glanced over to Lily with slight concern. "Keep her alive? Is she sick or something?"
Alexander snorted "I wish. If it was just that, then I could fix it no problem. No, Lily's problem is something much worse. I'm quite sure how to put it, but between her getting kidnapped to be a sacrifice, and her bubbly naive nature, she's bound to attract all sorts of trouble in the future." He shook his head "I am not going to let that shit be a recurring thing here, so I'm taking preventive measures to make sure that this does not become a thing."
"sounds like a tricky postion to be in" Violet called out as she danced her way down from her hidden perch above the allyway. Originally she had been planning on just staying out of sight to work thier magic if all the right words came together, but then Alex went and had to say a few of them himself.
"Though I must ask, if you are planning on being proactive have you thought about a way to keep track of her?" she inquired as she leaned up against the wall one eyebrow raised curiously.
When Violet dropped down, Shannon rolled her eyes. Of course she would be nearby. Her showing up just after Alex said wish though meant one thing. "Alex, I'd be careful with how you word things around these two." Shannon had had a run in or two with the Djinn Sisters. Both were pleasent mind you, but they had a reputation of being fickle. And their true power was not entirely known. "They're good girls. But their magic is a little tough to pin down."
"Oh please Shannon, I was just looking for some honest conversation while my sister is busy hoping to enthrall another person with her skills as a fashionista," Violet lied glibly smirking a little as she did.
Alexander rose an eyebrow (although no one was able to see that) "'Tough to pin down'? Just what kind of magic do they have, and why does what I say have anything to do with it?"
"We can grant wishes, but it's not like we are the Genie from Aladdin so we have to be a bit more peculiar about how we go about it. I think Shannon is just weary because you said the magic words." Violet explained with a shrug. "We've kept a pretty tight lid on what all we can do so lots of rumours tend to spread around about us. But as I said I'm just looking for some conversation.
Alexander facepalmed "Wish granting magic. Of course, why the fuck not? Sometimes this crap gets too ridiculous. I mean, if you can just magic whatever you want up, then that has to make life a lot easier. Hell, that could have proboably solved the whole crazy anti-love thing a few weeks ago."
"Not quite how it works sadly, we can't use our magic ourselves. Someone has to say the magic words for it to work. Plus couple of girls from Beacon did ask us for some help with that whole mess, we did what we could but we can't get directly involved most of the time as our patron is rather dead set on staying neutral"
Alexander stood there in silence for a few moments before speaking up "You...can't even use your own magic when you want? You have to wait for someone else to ask for something" He put his hand over where his mouth was "...Fuck. I thought my magic sucked, but I can at least boost my physical strength enough to punch people's teeth out. But you...you don't have shit" He took a few deep breathes to calm himself "I wish that both you and your sister could freely grant not only your own wishes, but each others wishes as well."
Violet couldn't help but let out a light hearted bout of laughter upon hearing Alex's wish "I like you" she said as she got her laughing under control."But that's not a wish that will do anything, we already burned our three wishes, that's one of our limits and it's how we ended up being us. Still, thanks for thinking of us cutie." she explained giggling a little as she did before adding with a wistful sigh "Your girlfriend is a lucky one."
Alexander felt disapointed that his wish wasn't going to work, but without any idea what else to do, he chose to simply address the last thing she said "She's not my girlfriend. She...well..I'm not sure what she is besides my roommate, but I know she's something." He shrugged "I'm still learning the ins and outs of interpersonal relationships. That's not a subject every orphan get's to study in depth."
Violet just nodded in understanding, although she and Sakura hadn't come from such a background they had meet people from all walks of life since they started roaming around granting wishes. After a moment an idea came to Violet and after thinking it over again a mischievous gleam entered her eyes.
"Ya know, I could help you out a bit with the problems your facing" Violet would reply with a smirk. "Both with the keeping an eye on Lily and getting to know her better, if you wanted to that is". She pushed off the wall and took a few slow steps towards Alex as she did.
Alexander folded his arms in thought "I mean, I'm more worried about trying to put a name to what Lily is to me. I think we're friends, but I've never had a friend before, so maybe I'm just misreading this. And 'keeping an eye on her' kind of feels like stalking. I might be an asshole, but I'm not a creep. No, I'd much rather she be able to protect herself." Suddenly, he had an idea "...hey, could I wish she had a new type of magic? Like Fire or Wind?"
Violet's sholders slumped slightly at Alex's response, but her smirk just grew to a smile. She could tell she wasn't going to get a selfish wish out of Alex, he was too focused on helping out Lily. "It wouldn't be as strong as her primary magic, but you could wish for that. Got some thing in mind?" She would ask tiliting her head to the side in curiosity.
Alexander nodded "Yeah. Now that I've put a little more thought into it, I'm thinking Time would be a good fit. It would help her ability to not get hit and or caught. Also, could I get a better result if I used my magic to boost your magic? I'm pretty good at the strengthening part of Reinforcment magic, and I can focus it all on your magical power."
Violet rolled her head side to side as she thought about it, before nodding. "Yeah that would work. Not sure how it will effect the wish in the end, but it won't hurt to boost it." Violet explained before bouncing lightly on her toes."Now all you have to do is say the magic words and I can get to work".
"Just one thing before I do; what's your angle here? What do you get out of this" Alexander asked. This whole thing seemed too good to be true to him, and if there's one thing that his past life taught him, it was to always be suspicious of generous people, since it was more likely than not a trap.
"We get to avoid bad things happening to us" was the blunt reply "Partly our Patron, partly our magic, but in the end we need to grant wishes other wise bad things start to happen".Violet stared off to the side for a moment before shainking her head to clear the memories. "We also get a massive sugar rush from granting them so it tends to be fun regardless".
And just like that, Alexander's worries faded; this wasn't a selfless act on her part, she was just a druggie looking for her next high, and giving it to her would help him in the long run. "Good enough for me". He reached out at the girl with his magic, and used it to supercharge her own. "I wish that Lily also had Time magic!"
Violet Smile just spread as Alex made his wish. "Your wish is my command," she replied as her eyes turned white and Alex would feel a tremendous draw on his magic for a moment as Violet took the offered power and merged it with her own. "Enjoy the show~" Violet said as she skipped to the side and nearly danced over to Lily.
While Violet had Alex and Shannon occupied, Sakura took the liberty of stepping away a bit. Since her wish would probably disrupt what Violet was doing she would have to bide her time. This little detour would give Violet enough time to grant her own wish first."Don't worry about that. Because I'm the source." She waved for Lily to follow. "I have to careful about my magic though. It is really powerful so I don't want everyone just knowing about it, you know? She smiled softly and motioned to lean closed to she could whisper. "Truth is though, I have to use my magic or I'll be punished. So helping you out is my pleasure."
Lily silenced her gasp, her eyes now bright with a faint shine; it was difficult to tell whether it was because of her amazement, or her innate lightning magic.
"You're the famous fashion designer? I'm not worthy!" She whispered in a voice louder than a whisper would be, defeating the purpose.
Having fully taken the bait, she followed after the tricky Djinn girl up a nearby building to the rooftop. She nodded, so excited her legs shook. She blushed a bit when Sakura leaned over, causing her to take a sniff of her exotically perfumed hair; it caused her head to lighten a bit.
"Punished?" she responded, a bit shocked to hear about her motivation.
"So how does the magic work? Do I just have to request it?" She asked, and looked down to make sure the coast is clear.
I might not get another chance like this...
Wow, Lily really was naive. And she seemed to really want the look, which kind of took some of the fun out of granting the wish for Sakura. Though maybe the girl didn't quite understand what the djinn had in mind. "I'm not..." She trailed off, there was no need to explain everything. Waving it off she smiled and her right hand began to glow. "No need to worry about that. You've already given me everything I need."
Throwing her arm out Sakura released a whispy, pink smoke from her hand. Rolling along the roof of the building toward Lily, when it reached the girl it began to swirl up and around her. In seconds visibility for the green haired girl was completely obscured. Attempting to escape would just result in wandering through more smoke. Though she couldn't see, Lily would notice the sensation that her clothes were moving and contorting. The touch of cold metal cralled across her skin.before settling.
The smoke began to clear and revealed Lily in a very different garb. Gone were the coat, skirt, and leggings. Actually, gone were most of her clothes in general. In place was a bedlah. The coat was now a fitting black and yellow bra, adorned with many gold onaments; her skirt was little more than a black thong; and her leggings had risen up and become a pair of flowing translucent yellow haram pants and a gold belt with black hearts. Lily's green hair was a bit shorter now, straight and clean cut. On her head was a golden headdress with another heart as its center, gold bracelets on her arms, and a pair of bracers. The bracers were ornate and massive, far too big to actually stay on Lily's arms, and yet they floated in place undoubtedly by magic. Yellow scarves hung from the bracers with gold rings inset with pink stars tied to the ends. Save for her hair and eyes she could be mistaken for aonther person.
As her subject emerged from the smoke Sakura had her hands pressed together and up to her lips in anticipation. Seeing the result she gasped and clapped her hands, pleased with herself and giddy with excitement. "Yes! I told you you! Absolutely beautiful!" After a brief celebritory dance Sakura tried to control herself. "Ahem, sorry." Bowing as she spoke. "Lily Lightning, your wish has been granted."
Lily coughed in the smoke, in a slight panic as she didn't expect Sakura to do that. When it was over, she had her face covered by her arms, and she slowly lowered them, followed by opening her eyes. She looked down at herself, and her jaw dropped.
"What is this..." She spoke with wide eyes, looking shocked.
"It's...It's...SO PRETTY!" She screamed from joy at the top of her lungs; Alex and Violet could hear her despite their distance. She twirled around with a giggle, elated to see how the sash tied around her waist flowed behind her as she moved.
"It's everything I ever dreamed of, and more!" Lily snatched Sakura's hands in her own, and shook them.
"Thank you thank you thank you! It's like a wish come true!"
Given the personality of the djinn girl in question, when Lily didn't react with shock or panic it disappointed Sakura slightly. I should have left this one to Violet. Straightening up when Lily came at her she did smile and return the shake. A positive response was better than a violent at least. Plus it was a good job done if she did say so herself. "Glad you like it. It isn't often I get to do a makeover. I can't wait to see what everyone else thinks.
Lily nodded, and took a few dancing steps off in a random direction.
"Ah, now I'm finally the prettiest princess in town! No back-painer will defeat me now!" She then stopped, having realized something with a blink of her eyes.
"Wait, what happened to my old clothes? Did they turn into these?"
Ah, here came the response wanted. "Mhm. But Princess Lily has no need for those old rags."
"Oh..." Lily took another look at herself, and then furrowed her eyebrows.
"Y-Yeah, you're right...You're super right!"
She lifted her fists up before her, and nodded with a determined look on her face.
"I'll dazzle them all with my new clothes! Then...He too..."
She trailed off as she heard Alex coming, and turned to face him with a twirl of her leg.
"Hey Alex! So, what do you think? Don't I look totally fabulous?" She winked with a smile, hoping her immense nervousness didn't show.
'Why is she asking me!? I don't know a damn thing about fashion' Alexander panicked internally 'Fuck...what do I say!?' He was once more very greatful that his outfit came with a helmet "...yes?" He tried, hoping it would work 'Why the hell did she change anyway? Her old clothes looked much more pratical in a fight. Girls just make no fucking sense.'
Following with the others, Shannon wasn't entirely convinced about how this wish would go. But it had already been made, and from experience stopping the twins was a task. Seeing Lily in her new outfit was a surprise. Alex's response to Lily's question though left something to be desired. "We need to work on your social skills. I'd be more than welcome to teach you." She said with a genuine smile. "You look amazing Lily!
Lily nodded her head in response, and her smile seemed to widen.
"Yes! Victorious!" She jumped around a bit, making a circle around Sakura before facing her one final time.
"I owe you one, Sakura. Hey, I'd like to talk to you more, so here's my phon-Ah!" She reached down to her pocket on reflex, and realized her phone was missing.
She quickly checked her loose harem pants; there were no pockets.
"Where's my phone? I need it, for lots of reasons!" She pouted as she looked at the djinn girl.
Phone? Sakura hadn't really thought about the things Lily had been carrying. Glancing at the rooftop though she spotted the belongings. When the pockets disappeared everything just fell out. "Your stuff is right over there." She pointed.
Lily followed her finger, and clasped her hands together.
"Oh, what a relief! I'm always worried about losing my stuff, ehe. I'll just pick these up and-Uhh..." She stood up with her phone and childish green wallet in her hands, and looked at the new arrival; Violet.
"...Hello?"
As Sakura and Lily turned to face the dropped phone Violet would dance in to view her eyes gleaming brightly from the magic that she was holding on too. She would take a moment to look over Lily's new outfit before whistling appreciatively. "Nice work sis."
"Hi again, I'm Violet, Sakura's my sister". Violet would reply to Lily as she moved closer to the girl. "And this is from your boyfriend." she continued as she stepped next to Lily and cupped her face lightly. "Hope you enjoy it," she would say softly before leaning in and kissing Lily deeply.
During the kiss time would seem to slow, if not stop for the two involved as Lily felt power pour in to her from the kiss and with power would come understanding that Time would now listen to her as Lightning would. Violet would continue the kiss until the feeling of time returned to normal and then she would step back and smile before sauntering over to Sakura.
"That was fun."
Lily's eyes shot wide open as Violet closed in for the kill, or in this case, kiss, and froze from the intimate situation she inadvertently happened to be in. She struggled a bit at first, but then closed her eyes as well. The powerful magic that surged through her caused her to see a vision of the future; she saw Penrose covered in dark crystals and shadowy monsters. And up in the sky, she saw a portal to a complete reflection of Penrose. It was closing in...And for but a blink, she saw Mariette's cold gaze.
Lily gasped as her vision ended with the kiss, and she stumbled back, her eyes rolling in her head from the temporal trip.
"Wh-Whoaaahooohhh..."
Alexander blinked in confusion "Was...that it? I kind of expected more flashing lights and stuff. Oh well, not a big deal. How are you feeling Lily, can you make time your bitch now?"
"I don't know about you, but I can't see time."
"Well yeah, but magic is supposed to be flashy and stuff. Your sister had glowing eyes after I made my wish, and that was just her holding onto the magic before using it." he responded
"Just because you didn't see much, didn't mean that someone's world wasn't rocked" Violet would say in a sing song voice looking like the cat that caught the cannary at Lily's response.
Lily smacked her cheeks, and shook her head as she snapped back to reality. She saw how Alex was looking at him, and she blushed.
"I-I'm fine, Alex. I just...I need to sit down."
She went over to the edge of the rooftop, and let her feet hang off into the air, facing away from Alex; she didn't want him to see how mortified she was.
I...I kissed a girl! And Alex saw it! Oh geez, this is a disaster!
She thought, holding her head with her hands. She took a breather, and resolved herself to accepting that and moving on, as she was also concerned with the new magic she felt.
"I do feel different...Different," she finally answered, and with a big sigh stood up, her arms at her sides.
"Okay...Let's try it!" And with that, she jumped off the roof. Now, even as a magical girl who wouldn't get too harmed, jumping into a street crowded with traffic would result in serious problems. But Lily, in her usual impulsive way, decided to let the the danger guide her magical instinct. And so she cast her first time spell: her body slowed down, until she was floating. With her acceleration gone, she met the walkway with little incident.
"Wow, it actually worked!" She jumped up to the roof.
"I can slow myself down with Time magic! How cool is that?"
Alexander resisted the urge to faceplam. not even a miniute after getting new powers, she decided to test them my jumping off the roof. "Maybe try to learn how to slow other people down, or make yourself faster? That's kind of why I wished for it."
Lily blinked, and then giggled while scratching her head.
"Uuuhh...That's a work in progress, ehe. I'll figure it out."
She noticed how the sun was starting to set, and decided they were done for the day; she showed her phone number to Sakura, like she intended to earlier, before waving goodbye to the Djinn Sisters.
"Call me anytime, okay? Byeee!"
And with that, she summoned her motorbike and drove off the roof with Alex. Her life as a magical girl took yet another crazy turn; from that day forth, she had a new look, and a new power.
"Don't forget! you have all the time you need with you boyfirend now!" Violet called out after Lily and Alex as the drove away
Left with the Djinn Sisters, Shannon pointed at them. "You're lucky I made a promise. But thank you for not doing anything bad to Lily."
Shrugging slightly the one with pink hair laughed a bit while they made there way to the edge of the building. "They caught us in a good mood. See you around Shan." Goodbye said the twins vanished over the side of the building leaving Shannon to go back to her own goals.
