“Oh, I see…” Olivia replied with a slight frown, when Camelot declined her offer, telling her with some amusement that she was probably the
last person to need such assistance. The azure-clad beauty’s frown only worsened when Wilhelmina insisted that, despite her fatigue, she would also not be needing Xolys’s services, electing instead to travel back to Marrywell on foot. The maritime maiden then began singing the praises of Camelot, causing Olivia’s smile to return. It only grew wider when Camelot suggested she offer Xolys’s services to the rest of the group, especially considering his vast array of limbs.
“Oh he certainly does!” Olivia agreed, nodding enthusiastically.
“And he uses them to give the very best hugs!” she added, her dazzling smile now stretching from ear to ear.
A moment later, however, and her elation dissolved once more into a confused frown as the untransformed Captain Goodhope thanked her for the offer of transport, before darting off to join the others.
“Scary?” Olivia wondered aloud, tapping an elegant finger against her chin.
“Whatever could she mean by that?”“I do believe I may have caused her some measure of fright, my sweet,” Xolys replied.
“I have noticed that most denizens of this realm tend to react rather unfavorably to my appearance.”“Oh, don’t be silly darling!” Olivia giggled.
“You look absolutely gorgeous!”“You are most kind, as always, my love,” Xolys told her fondly, while stroking her long blonde tresses.
“Yes, that… sounds about right,” Camelot mused with a small frown, blue eyes flicking towards Xolys.
“Sure, he gives me a little headache, but nothing I can’t handle. I’d not expected that from Goodhope though… Bah.” The knight shook her head.
“Unfortunately, not to put a damper on things or anything, but it’s best I inform you now that a little fear of your partner will probably be the least of your problems at Marrywell.” Despite such words, she grinned reassuringly.
“Rest assured, however, that I’ve taken it upon myself to aid Alters where I can. If you have any problems or questions, I’ll be happy to help going forward.”Unfortunately for Camelot, Oliva was far too focused on her eldritch paramor to be fully cognizant of the Knight’s subtle warning, and although Xolys himself had both heard and understood what the armored maiden was attempting to convey, he chose not to address it for the time being. At this point, Camelot informed the incongruous pair that she would be serving as an escort for the group of untransformed girls, and offered to let them accompany her, causing Olivia’s eyes to sparkle with delight.
“Oh, I would love to!” she squealed happily.
“And please don’t worry about me catching cold,” she added, when that concern was brought up.
“That’s what Xolys is for!” she revealed with a giggle, nuzzling the monstrous beast affectionately as he scooped her up in a princess carry.
“Plus, we’ll have plenty of time to chat and get to know each other, so I don’t think I’ll be getting bored either!”The Knight raised a single brow in the Beauty’s direction with an odd smirk on her face.
”Well now, guess love really does take every shape and size, rather more literally in this case than others.” She snorted with a note of humor, but it didn’t seem mocking.
“You’ve got some brave tastes, but I’m not about to judge.” Camelot glanced back at the retreating larger group.
“Well, time’s a wasting.” With that final remark, the armored girl’s knees bent lightly, before she catapulted into the air in a brief arc, landing surprisingly lightly atop the roof of a nearby building outside the construction site.
“Brave?” Olivia echoed, her lovely features taking on a look of bewilderment.
“I wonder what she meant by that?”“I would not worry about it too much, my sweet,” Xolys replied with a small chuckle.
“Now then,” he added as the pair observed Camelot leap atop the roof of a nearby building.
“Shall we be off?”“Yes, darling, let’s,” Olivia confirmed with a smile.
Coiling his massive lower tentacles like springs, Xolys shot into the air, before using his vast wings to glide down onto the roof next to Camelot, his massive form not seeming to harm the structure in any way.
“So, um, with a name like Camelot, I guess you’re the one who threw that glowing sword earlier, correct?” Olivia asked, her expression one of gleeful wonderment.
“I thought that was so very amazing! Oh! But weren’t you worried you’d be defenseless should a Pageless happen to attack?” she inquired.
“I mean, Pageless don’t attack me, but Xolys says that’s just an aspect of my Grimoire,” the babbling beauty continued.
“But maybe you have other weapons?” she mused, looking very thoughtful.
“Or perhaps you can conjure allies to fight beside you?! Captain Goodhope can summon these really cool ghost sailors, so maybe you can summon spectral knights?!” she asked, barely containing her excitement.
Camelot weathered the verbal barrage with only a raised brow, glancing back towards the walking group of untransformed magical girls every now and then.
“That was I, yes. I wasn’t sure I’d make it in time, so I threw Excalibur from the top of Big Ben, just barely fast enough it seems to save the new girl.” She chuckled at the words of praise and waved them off lightly with one hand, shaking her head.
“Thanks, but honestly, I was quite concerned I would miss my throw entirely from that distance. In fact, I had to put so much force into it to even reach my target that aim was honestly less my concern, so much as making a distraction. As for being disarmed? Well, it’s not like Excalibur sticks around when I revert to normal. If I absolutely had to, I could just retransform to return my weapon to me, but I decided to leave it in case one of my allies got the chance to grab and wield it where I couldn’t.”She shrugged.
“Besides, between my armor and my Scabbard’s healing, I’m pretty tough to hurt even without my weapon. Honestly, as long as I’m not put in a position that requires more range, I can handle most Pageless just fine without Excalibur entirely.”Her expression turned thoughtful at the assertion of Olivia’s Pageless “notice-me-not” ability. With a somewhat concerned tone, she said,
“If I were you, I’d experiment with that as soon and safely as possible. There’s no telling what kind of limits it has. Is it only Pageless or anyone you consider your enemy? What kind of effect range does it have? Is it based on distance or whether they can detect you? If there is a range limit, I’d definitely be more careful of opponents with ranged attacks.”After that almost impulsive splurge of seeming open pondering, the knight shook her head and patted her cheeks, visibly recentering herself.
“Sorry, I’m a bit of a filthy munchkin when it comes to superpowers, so I’m always down for finding more creative uses for them, no matter how powerful they already seem on the surface. As for other weapons I have…?” She frowned, rubbing her chin.
“Well, King Arthur was supposed to have a spear, a shield and a dagger too; though, only the dagger also had magical abilities that I’m aware of. Also, technically, Caliburn, the Sword in the Stone, is a completely separate weapon from Excalibur and so also counts.”Her brows furrowed, as she paused after a leap to a rooftop somewhat ahead of the group she and Olivia were escorting. Squeezing her eyes shut, she pressed one curled finger up against her lips in thought for a long moment as though searching for something internally, before dropping it and opening her blue eyes again.
“Now that you mention it, that… It seems… feels like I should have more weapons. I’d kind of considered it before, but I was more concerned with mastering just a single weapon and training my base form’s abilities to really consider that potential avenue of my powers… Explorations for later, definitely.” She hummed, before shaking her head and continuing to move on.
Camelot chuckled at the topic of magical manifestations.
“As far as I know, I can’t summon any allies, projections, minions or what-have-you otherwise. Honestly,” She scratched the back of her neck with an unreadable expression,
“I’m not even sure what I’d do with more manpower. I suppose it would be useful to guard the Round Table… But if anything, I really would much prefer to be able to summon a horse.” She groaned long-sufferingly.
“Maybe it might sound a little petty considering everything I already have, but it just doesn’t feel right knowing how to ride a horse and not having a loyal steed to gallop into battle on. Honestly, it would probably be Arthur’s mare, Llamrei, or perhaps his stallion, Hengroen.” She sighed with a note of wistfulness.
“It’s really too bad I couldn’t just train up and own a regular horse. Aside from the cost and lack of proper stabling at Marrywell, it would still be just a normal horse and very much animal endangerment to ride them into battle against the Pageless. Honestly, it wouldn’t even be faster than I can run normally in Magical Girl form.”Olivia listened with rapt interest as Camelot explained how her abilities worked, finding it particularly amazing that the armored maiden could fight off a Pageless without even needing to employ her weapon. When the knightly young woman inquired about Olivia’s
own ability and suggested she practice with it, the azure-clad beauty’s lovely visage took on a thoughtful expression.
“Oh, well, I don’t really know what enemies I would have, other than the Pageless,” she replied, seeming somewhat puzzled by the concept.
“I mean, I’ve often had to deal with bullies, but I’d never fight them as a Magical Girl!” she added with a giggle.
“As for range, it seems like the effect extends no more than a foot from my person, but I don’t think ranged opponents are anything to worry about, at least not with my dear, sweet Xolys protecting me!” she gushed, beaming up at her nightmarish consort with a dreamy expression.
When Camelot apologized for her pondering a moment later, Olivia gasped in delight.
“Oh! I understand that reference!” she exclaimed cheerfully.
“Some of my classmates used to play that game in the hobby shop, next to the library. One time, I asked them if I could play as the monsters, but they just laughed at me and called me a weirdo…” she added, her formerly radiant visage taking on a more sullen demeanor.
She went on to listen as Camelot revealed the other weapons that King Arthur was reputed to have possessed, although it seemed the knightly maiden didn’t currently have access to them herself. She did concede it was certainly an avenue for future exploration, which brought a hopeful smile to Olivia’s lovely face. However, Camelot had also said something that slightly confused the beautiful maiden.
“Base form?” she inquired, tilting her head.
“What’s that?”Camelot then proceeded to muse on the possible allies she might summon if she someday acquired the ability to do so, and Olivia couldn’t help but be impressed by the level of knowledge she had about Arthurian lore.
“Well, maybe after enough practice, you’ll learn how to conjure all of those things!” the azure-clad maiden suggested, utterly fascinated by the possibility.
“But, wow! You must really love King Arthur to know so much about him!” she marveled.
“I guess that’s why your Grimoire chose you, huh?”Camelot frowned visibly at the mention of bullies, but her expression turned outright aghast at the mention of the “pacification aura’s” range.
“Holy shit, that’s basically nothing. A mere foot? It’s lucky normal Pageless are usually limited to melee, but that kind of range could literally be evaded by accident, were they to, for example, be in the process of making a leaping attack at you. Not to disparage your guardian’s capabilities,” She nodded in Xolys’s direction.
“But that range is genuinely frighteningly atrocious, especially considering your lack of other weaponry or personal protection.” She wound down and sighed, running one hand through her golden locks.
“If you ever find time to experiment with and try to improve your abilities, I can only highly recommend you attempt to feel out and extend that range. If that aura relies on your opponent’s body physically entering the range, it can be overcome as easily as using a decently ranged weapon or attack, to say nothing of attacks that still hit you anyway, simply because your pacified foe couldn’t halt their own momentum in time.”She shook her head again.
“Sorry, I really don’t mean to be a downer, but you should keep the possibilities in mind. Accidents happen, after all, and your enemy only has to get lucky once.” She scratched the back of her neck again.
“Like I said, I’m a bit of a power munchkin, and as often as I come up with new uses, I’m always thinking of ways to get around abilities, considering the weaknesses to exploit -in both myself and others.”“Ah, if I may interject,” Xolys spoke up, his voice calm and polite.
“I believe my dearest Rose misunderstood your inquiry. Her ability to keep Pageless from attacking is indeed limited to about a foot, but only in terms of the distance that others may benefit from it,” the imposing beast explained.
“In her own case, any Pageless that can see her will be unable to harm her, making it a far more effective means of self-defense than what you may have initially imagined.” “Yes, please don’t worry on my account!” Olivia insisted.
“And I’m sorry if I explained things poorly,” she added.
“I’m still rather new at this…”“Oh, I see,” Camelot blinked, before sighing in open relief.
“That’s good. Geez, had me worried there. Ah, and you know?” The knight chuckled lightly.
“You’d know better than me on the origins of the ‘munchkin’ term. All I know is that it’s probably from table-top RPGs in general, but I couldn’t say if D&D is where it spawned specifically.”She sniffed lightly at the chilly air, though her face hardly seemed physically affected by the temperature.
“Honestly, if it’s not too forward, your former classmates are assholes and certainly not anyone I’d have wanted to play with. Though, granted, playing as the monsters isn’t really a thing unless you’re the Dungeon Master or doing something homebrew. That’s just mostly basic knowledge for pen and paper RPGs, so I can kinda understand the total rejection of the idea. They didn’t need to be shitty about it though,” Camelot scoffed disdainfully.
Camelot proceeded to talk a bit about RPGs and how horribly she thought Olivia’s classmates had treated her.
“It’s okay,” the azure-clad beauty told the armored maiden.
“Most people treat me like that…” she explained somberly.
“In fact, my darling Xolys is the only person who’s ever treated me with any measure of kindness or understanding, at least, until today,” she added, giving the blonde knight an appreciative smile.
“But, um, I don’t think they were playing D&D,” she noted with a contemplative frown.
“I think the actual name of the game was Munchkin. It had cards with silly artwork on them, and I thought the monsters, in particular, looked really cute!”The knight frowned and then openly scowled.
“Well, I know it might sound weird coming from a teen… Well, eh, technically I’m an adult, I guess, so it’s less weird, but I digress. Teenagers are often assholes, casually cruel little bundles of hormones. I’d say it should be unsurprising, but somehow these things catch me off guard every time I witness or hear about them. I guess I just expect better of people, have too much faith in humanity in general,” she grumbled, before mulling over the card game name.
“Munchkin, eh?” Camelot looked a bit poleaxed. “Being honest, never heard of a game called that in my life.”The knight blinked in brief confusion at the disconnect over the “base form” term, before raising a single brow.
“Just plain normal form, you know? My Magical Girl form doesn’t have stages or go Super Saiyan or anything. I just actually train martial arts and stuff outside of it.” Gesturing vaguely, she elaborated.
“It’s nothing complicated, but I wanted to know if being stronger in my normal form affected my Magical Girl form’s strength. And to a degree, the answer seems to be ‘yes’, as I’ve discovered in the two years I’ve had these powers. Magical Girl strength is seemingly multiplicative, but the Transformation spends a fair amount of energy ‘shoring up weaknesses’ before anything else to bring every Magical Girl to a general minimum ability threshold, and so tends to have less to work with afterwords, since most Magical Girls don’t train at all. For most Magical Girls, they take what they get initially at face value, but for girls like myself and Dynasty Queen? Limits are meant to be tested and shattered. We train and better ourselves, and as a result, we naturally end up standing out more among our peers, especially when set up next to those that don’t even do sports.”She smiled wryly.
“People really underestimate the sheer utility of speed, for example. The faster you are, the more enemies you can strike down in the shortest amount of time, and the more effortlessly you can avoid attacks. Honestly, speed is just outright more useful than strength on a priority scale for Magical Girls. After all, your standard offensive abilities are usually good enough to kill Pageless even without training. All that’s left is to be able to apply them in many places as fast as possible. Granted, my own transformation seems to have a base multiplication ratio higher than the average, but that could be as much down to my training martial arts beforehand as- Ah-!”Coughing into one hand, her breath misting in the shilly air, Camelot grimaced.
“Sorry, I digressed again, and most Magical Girls are kind of dismissive of my methods, even though they get obvious results, so uh, yeah, you kinda’ got me going there for a bit.”When Camelot explained that her “base form” was simply her mundane self, as well as her reasoning for honing her physical ability while untransformed, Olivia couldn’t help but feel a renewed sense of awe and admiration for her new friend.
“Oh, no need to apologize!” she hastened to reassure the knightly maiden.
“I think it’s simply fascinating! I mean, I’m exceptionally weak in my mundane form,” she explained.
“So I don’t think I would be able to handle the kind of training you do, but since I don’t really do any physical fighting as a Magical Girl in the first place, it hopefully won’t be much of a problem. Still, I think the fact that you put so much thought into all this is really cool!” she added with an excited smile.
“You’re just so smart when it comes to Magical Girl stuff! I really think I could learn a lot from you!”Glancing back at the group down below, the knight’s jaw worked a bit, before she sighed.
“Honestly, I don’t know if I’ll discover any more abilities any time soon -if at all. Most Magical Girls kind of have an instinct for what they can do, and I’ve done enough experimenting with mine to feel as though I’ve teased a bit much out of them.” Frowning, her expression flew through several half-expressions, before settling for a conclusive one, as she snapped her fingers.
“Think of it like this. Where most Magical Girls kind of figure out their powers at a ‘jogging’ pace, I hit pretty much a dead sprint from day one in training mine. And sure, while I progressed inhumanly fast early on, I eventually equally quickly hit a wall and… haven’t really been able to improve much other than my physical abilities for the past year. I suspect that I improved too quickly and kind of… maybe temporarily burned out my ability to improve at all in exchange for reaching my peak quickly. I’ve started to see some change on that end recently, but…” She sighed.
“My Grimoire just needs time to rest is all, and besides- No, nevermind; it’s not important.” She shook her head, cutting herself off.
Camelot brushed a couple strands of hair out of her face that the chilly winds and her leaps had placed there.
“I wouldn’t exactly call myself a fan of King Arthur. Hero of his time though he was, he’s not as perfect as everyone believes he is. I’ve actually read my Grimoire, and he does some fucked up shit even for the era. I mean, by comparison to his opponents, he was pretty good, but Mordred in particular had a very good reason to resent him. The fact that my Grimoire chose me for potential compatibility reasons… Well, to say the least, I’m not sure how to feel about that. But regardless, I’d much rather forge my own path than ever take after Arthur.” She grunted.
“I learned about him by necessity for the purpose of improving my powers, and most certainly not out of any sense of admiration.”Olivia’s smile dissolved into a frown a moment later, when Camelot shared her recent difficulties with improving her more mystical abilities, along with her less-than-stellar opinion of King Arthur…
“Oh… Um… I’m not all that familiar with his legend myself,” Olivia conceded.
“I-In fact, for the longest while, I thought that the sword he pulled out of the stone was Excalibur,” she added with a slightly awkward giggle.
“But, um, I don’t really think anyone is perfect,” she added in an attempt to reassure the armored young woman.
“A-As long as you imitate his positive attributes, rather than his negative ones, I’m sure you’ll be just fine!”Camelot full on grimaced.
“Look- He…” She paused, before giving deep sigh.
“Okay, yes, he had his good points, many of them in fact, but geez, there’s not any nice way to look at it.” Pinching the bridge of her nose with one hand and rubbing it, the knight grunted.
“At one point, some time after Morgan tricks Arthur into an incestuous pairing with her, Merlin outright advises Arthur to take all the newborn baby boys in his kingdom… and murder them.” Camelot’s hand dropped to her side, her expression twisted into one of utter naked disgust.
“And he fucking did it without hesitation or even the slightest hint of moral justification. King Arthur, so-called paragon, sent who knows how many innocent children out to sea and had them killed, and yet, ironically, he misses the one infant he went to all that trouble to get specifically. Quite frankly, for that incident alone, Mordred’s hate for him is completely justified.” Camelot shifted, her fists clenching and unclenching.
“And it is for that incident and a fair number aside it that I do not particularly favor either Arthur or Merlin.”After giving voice to a sharp gasp of horror, Olivia was reduced to stunned silence for several long seconds, her eyes wide, and her mouth agape, as Camelot explained in detail exactly why she detested Arthur so much. Finally finding her voice, the azure-clad beauty spoke up,
“O-Oh my goodness! T-That’s absolutely horrible! I-I had no idea that King Arthur could ever be so senselessly cruel!” By this point, her eyes were beginning to water, and she instinctively pressed her slender body tightly against Xolys for comfort.
Squeezing her eyes shut briefly, Camelot exhaled deeply, before shaking herself.
“My apologies, didn’t mean to unload on you like that, but for I think fairly understandable reasons, I’m not super eager to model myself after -or be compared to- anyone who would do something like that at any point for any reason. Just… just so much nope. I can’t even fully put words to the level of my distaste.” The energy she’d displayed all night in front of Olivia seemed to have completely deserted the knight. While she continued to leap through the maze of rooftops with ease and grace, it was clear that a bitter taste now sat heavy in her mouth.
Camelot went on to apologize for creating such a somber atmosphere, causing Olivia to turn a sympathetic gaze back towards the knightly maiden.
“T-That’s okay,” she told her gently.
“I-I’m the one who should apologize,” she added.
“It was wrong of me to assume things, and I completely understand now why you feel the way you do about Arthur, and the fact your Grimoire is tied to someone like that. B-But, um, you also mentioned Merlin,” she noted hesitantly.
“D-Does… Does someone have a Grimoire related to him?”Camelot looked a bit uncomfortable at the question, but eventually sighed and nodded.
“Okay, so… look, just… keep in mind that I’m a bit biased here based on what I’ve read… and for personal reasons besides.” She shook her head.
“More importantly, you should keep in mind the mental influence of a Grimoire -should it have any- tends to be exclusively active during a Magical Girl’s transformation, but in my personal experience, there can be bleed-over with time… ignoring those that believe they’re actually a reincarnate of the story character or something. Point being, they could be perfectly okay as a person outside their transformation.”Camelot rubbed the side of her temples with armored fingers.
“So, given that most Magical Girls stop aging the moment they get their powers… and that the Grand Ministry has been around so long that no-one can remember when it was founded, I find it a tad bit concerning that the Grimoire of Merlin belongs to the top dog, the Grand Minister herself, who happens to also be the Grand Ministry’s original founder as far as I know. I think it remarkably unlikely that someone that has basically a total monopoly on magical power in the world and no form of oversight by the citizenry wouldn’t dabble in less than moral means. Absolute power corrupts absolutely,” she finished firmly, before sighing.
“Goodness…” Olivia gasped.
“I had no idea that Grimoires could have an effect on their holders’ minds! Or that the Grand Minister holds Merlin’s Grimoire! It’s actually rather fascinating,” she added.
“But also a little frightening… So, um, in light of that, I guess it kind of makes sense that you’d be worried about the Grand Minister…” the blonde beauty reflected. She was silent for a few moments before tentatively speaking up again.
“D-Does your Grimoire affect you in any negative ways?” she asked, not wanting to offend her new friend by prying, but finding the subject extremely interesting.
Camelot shook her head.
“Not all Grimoires affect their users mentally -at least as far as personality stuff. Alters like you are the most well known for that stuff, but it’s hardly exclusive and the vast majority of even normal ones come with instincts that help the Magical Girl use their new powers competently even from the first moment.” Working her jaw, she eventually shrugged.
“On my end, that’s basically how it is, mostly just a flood of combat instincts and general habits that let me act as a proper knight if I feel like following them.” She tapped the side of her head.
“My decision-making processes aren’t affected, not directly anyway, but my Grimoire has a nasty habit of shoving particular words and dialogue into the forefront of my mind. I’ll find myself ‘recalling’ random things that aren’t even mentioned in the Arthurian legends or accidentally referring to others with outdated terminology.” She frowned and waved her hand dismissively.
“Overall, it’s pesky, but I can ignore and counter that stuff if I’m paying attention, which I am most of the time. Still, it’s like muscle memory. That’s the insidious thing about even instincts as tame as mine. Perform certain acts, think certain thoughts, or say certain things enough times, and inevitably, some of that will carry over outside the transformation.” Folding her arms, she nodded resolutely.
“With that in mind, it pays to be alert and remain humble at all times. And fuck it, it might be cheesy, idealistic, and ripping off a damn good man, but he was a good man for a reason. ‘With great power, comes great responsibility.’ Those are the words I try to keep sight of at all times. At the end of the day, I believe that as long as I do, I won’t lose my way.”“Really? Like me?” Olivia wondered aloud once Camelot had explained a bit more about how Grimoires could potentially affect thoughts and behaviors.
“Well, I don’t think I act any different, but maybe I’m just not noticing it?” she added, looking thoughtful.
“Or maybe it’s because I’m already so similar to the protagonist of my Grimoire? Oh, but anyway, I see now why you’re so concerned about it. It’s actually kind of scary, especially when you consider all the horrible stories some Grimoires might contain. But I think what you’re doing to keep yourself focused makes a lot of sense,” she noted with an approving nod. “And I’ll be sure to remind myself of that as well! ‘Cause, um, I guess we really are kind of like superheroes, now, huh?” she asked with a small giggle.
The knight chuckled lightly.
“Sorta are, yeah, when you really think about it. Even if it’s nonstandard, that’s just always been my stance. After all, I’ve got all this power, so why save it for just fighting Pageless?” Smiling, she shook her head.
“That said, that’s very much my personal decision. Don’t let me dictate to you for what reason you should use your own powers. Being a hero should always be your own choice, and don’t let anyone tell you different..”By this point, the trio had reached the gates of Marrywell Academy, the other girls having already entered the school’s finely manicured courtyard.
“Oh! It looks like we’re here already,” Olivia observed as she gazed upon the school's medieval architecture.
“Thanks so much for letting me accompany you on patrol, Miss Camelot,” she added with a smile.
“I really enjoyed getting to know you!”“As did I,” Xolys added, with a small bow of his head.
“You truly are a most fascinating young woman.” In a shower of blue motes, and a ripple of gold almost like the disturbed surface of a body of water, the blonde dissolved into an equally tall and apparently Japanese 5’10” Goth girl. Rolling her shoulders and cracking her neck, the ravenette shuddered at the temperature and pulled her black jacket tighter against her neck and torso. Briefly shoving both hands in the pockets of her jeans, she retracted her right one a moment later and held it out to Olivia for a handshake while they were still some distance from the rest of the group that they had been escorting, grinning wryly.
“So, uh, now that our secret identities aren’t at risk, allow me to introduce myself properly. Chinami. Chinami Nadakai. Nice to meet you.” Rubbing the back of her neck with her other hand, she smiled.
“I’ll be your senior here of two years, so if you have any more questions or concerns… or if anyone gives you trouble, come find me. I’ll be happy to help. I’ve taken it upon myself to help out our Alters here at Marrywell, so don’t ever feel like you’re imposing by coming to me.”“Goodness!” Olivia gasped when Camelot reverted to her mundane appearance.
“You look completely different outside of your Magical Girl form! Then again, I suppose I’m not really one to talk,” she added with a small giggle. At the revelation of Camelot’s real name, a big smile spread across Olivia’s radiant face.
“It’s very nice to meet you, too, Chinami!” the azure-clad maiden told the now raven-haired young woman, while vigorously shaking her hand.
“And thanks for the offer! Talking with you is really nice, so I’d love to do it again sometime! Oh, I’m so happy to have met such wonderful new friends already!” the blonde beauty added happily.
“I’m really looking forward to making even more!”Predictably, Olivia was blissfully oblivious to the frightened and contemptuous stares she and Xolys were attracting from many of Marrywell’s other “students”, but the same could not be said for her eldritch consort. Indeed, the Master of Xhar’doth was well-aware of the disdain often directed towards holders of Altered Grimoires, and he knew that his intimidating presence certainly wasn’t helping matters.
“Although it pains me to say it, I believe it might be prudent for me to depart for now, my sweet,” he informed Olivia in a low voice.
“Yes, I suppose you’re right…” the azure-clad maiden conceded glumly. Standing on tiptoes, she placed a farewell kiss on the nightmarish beast’s “cheek”, and whispered,
“I’ll talk with you later, okay, sweetie?”“I shall greatly anticipate it, my love,” Xolys replied.
An instant later, a mighty vortex of mystic energy enveloped the incongruous pair, and, when it faded, a scrawny, bespectacled girl stood in their place.
Olivia sighed wistfully, her eyes closed, and a hand placed over her heart. She always hated having to part from her darling Xolys, but she knew it would be better for her to get to know her fellow Magical Girls as her mundane self, especially when they had all reverted to their mundane forms themselves.
“So, um, this is what I really look like,” Olivia told Chinami in a nasally, awkward voice.
“I guess I look pretty different from my Magical Girl self, too, huh?” she noted with a nervous giggle, which sounded more like a snort.
“Oh, a-and like I said earlier, my real name’s Olivia, Olivia Bell.”Chinami smiled far from unkindly, her expression seemingly conveying a certain level of sympathy.
“Hey now, I’d be quite the hypocrite to judge in my position. Rather, perhaps it’s even nicer to have someone to commiserate with about such a stark physical change. It’s very nice to meet you Olivia.” Glancing over her shoulder at the larger group, Chinami hummed and shoved her hands back into the pockets of her jeans.
“Well, this has been pleasant overall I’d say. Now, sorry to be so abrupt, but if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to check on Wilhelmina again. Want to make sure she’s not pulling a stupid ‘I’m fine when I’m actually not’ routine with me.” With a final nod, Chinami turned on her heel and strode relatively quickly to over where her apparent friend was, taking a position at the front of the pack of untransformed Magical Girls.
“Oh, um, okay!” Olivia replied when Chinami excused herself to check up on Wilhelmina.
“See you later!” she added with an enthusiastic wave, before taking up a position at the tail end of the group of returning girls.
Her timing couldn’t have been better, as it appeared that the new Magical Girl was preparing to introduce herself. However, before she could even tell them her name, a second redhead nearly crashed into her from behind, before proceeding to dive into a nearby bush. A moment later, a trio of frustrated-looking girls ran up, one of them kicking over the bespectacled blonde standing next to Olivia in the process. Clearly in pursuit of the mysterious redhead, the trio promptly began searching the very bush their apparent quarry had chosen to hide in, but no trace of her could be found. In short order, the angelic girl (Lucette, was it?) had explained that the name of the trio’s quarry was Charlotte, that her Grimoire was none other than the Wizard of Oz, and that it was completely pointless to try and search for her, as evading pursuit was apparently one of her core abilities. Seeming to accept this, the trio apologized for their carelessness and helped the fallen girl to her feet. They then proceeded to hand out three pieces of paper, one to the new Magical Girl, one to the girl who had been knocked over, and one to Olivia herself.
“O-Oh, t-thank you,” Olivia told them, after they’d explained what information the sheet contained.
“This should help a lot!” The trio concluded by giving a short “orientation”, before heading off to attend to other matters.
No sooner had the three girls departed, then Charlotte seemingly appeared out of nowhere and began thanking the group for not ratting her out, while also offering to show them around the school. The suddenness of her appearance, and Lucette’s subsequent departure, was all a bit confusing for poor Olivia, but before she could even begin to make sense of things, Wilhelmina was beside her, apologizing for… calling Xolys scary?
“Oh! T-That’s all right!” Olivia hastened to reassure the maritime maiden.
“For some reason, a lot of people seem to find him… scary…” Her voice trailed off upon noticing that Wilhelmina was no longer present, the twintailed blonde having darted off to begin chatting with Charlotte and the new girl.
Well, I guess it’s not really a bad thing that she enjoys making friends with everyone… Olivia reflected, before rushing up to the front of the group as well.
“Hi everyone! I’m Olivia, aka Ethereal Rose! It’s very nice to meet you all!” 
FaithfulMuse
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Villamvihar
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