shadowsaint007

Nova Lux: A Magical Girl Game

---

“Hey, I’m completely lost when it comes to this formal stuff, too,” the energetic Norban told her roommate with a grin. “But it’s still pretty cool to meet all these high-ranking people, and who knows? Maybe we can even make some new friends?! Or maaaybe a new boyfriend?” she added mischievously while gently elbowing her bespectacled friend under the table. “That group of guys from the officers’ academy over there are lookin’ kinda bored,” she noted, gesturing at a small cluster of young men with her thumb. “I’m sure they’d love to meet two genuine Ars Magi, so why don’t we go over and introduce ourselves?! And don’t worry about feelin’ embarrassed,” she added as she got up and proceeded to pull Penny to her feet as well. “I know ya might not be the best in social situations, but just think of this as another kinda battle! If ya go in there with that good ol’ Penny Grenoble confidence, I’m sure everything’ll work out!”

@Ponn

Penny sighs at the boundless optimism of her teammate. This is definitely one of those times it could be a little exhausting. Right now, she could come up with almost a dozen excuses of varying strength so as to ditch the dance and why she's worried she'll screw it up somehow, but she suspects the Norban would just shoot down each one with her usual cheer. She only halfheartedly resists when Dana pulls her to her feet, not wanting to go through this ordeal but eventually giving up on changing her teammate's mind.

As they got up, a white-haired girl came up and said hello, giving Penny some rather formal greetings, before moving on to address Nichole.

"And hello to you too," Penny replies, a little surprised. She studies the newcomer. "Wait, are you Astrelle's replacement?"

Astrelle hadn't been around in the past few days. Dana was worried that Astrelle had been expelled, but in truth the dark-haired girl was probably just transferred to a different dorm and class. Still, the move had been surprising, and the group felt a little empty without her.

She raises an eyebrow in amusement as Cordelia, as the girl introduced herself, asked Nichole for a dance. She looks to see if the Hastian girl accepts.

Nova Lux: A Magical Girl Game

---

Nichole's planned excursions prove to be very entertaining for the young Siscian. While she had enjoyed the occasional outing back home, between the home and needing to help her dad in the electronics shop, Penny never really had time for leisure, at least not how she does now. She's known friends, but due to circumstances, she never got to hang around with them much. In a way, Nichole and Dana dragging her around is a welcome experience; Dana with her boundless energy and Nichole with her social graces and eye for fulfilling entertainment. Even the usually stoic and reserved Vanna has her fair share of tips and advice, used to more luxury and entertainment than the others (except maybe Astrelle). Still, Penny likes to think that under that stoic exterior, the Duodecim lady was enjoying herself.

For her part, Penny finds little time for introspection on such outings. She's just enjoying herself, even if she feels a bit guilty living it up while her family counted every credit.

---

The school's rules allowed for a stipend, but in return discouraged other employment openly; the thinking was that it would distract from the girls' main job; training to be Ars Magi. Still, Penny managed to find a job as a courier. It didn't pay much, and she could only work weekends, but it allowed her to explore Palmyra more on her own, exercised her rollerblading skills, and the extra pay wasn't bad. It also allowed her to find some shortcuts all around town, even catch some interesting gossip from time to time.

Penny knows she should probably just sit back and enjoy life as it comes, but a combination of guilt at not shouldering her own weight like she did back home and a natural tendency as a workaholic got the better of her

---

The upcoming ball, however, leaves Penny anxious and nervous. Much as she tries to find a way out of it, she finds herself forcibly dragged back into it by the other girls.

"Why did you talk me into this," she groans at the table, fidgeting with her uniform. "I don't know how to dance formally. Should have just faked being sick like I planned, but you dragged me out here anyways."

Nova Lux: A Magical Girl Game

---

"Wellllll..." Nicole giggled a little and let go of Penny's braid. Her fingers laced and she wrung her hands for a second, like she had a secret identity she was on the verge of finding the courage to divulge. "There is one more thing, but I kinda try not to brag about it. As superpowers go it's a little esoteric. I usually can't go out into the city for a night without getting something for free. Doughnuts, slices of pizza, drinks at clubs, every now and then people just drift up and hand me stuff. I dunno why, I guess something about me just clicks with people."

She favored them all with another one of Hasta's apparent trademarks, her happy-go-lucky wink.

"It's a little hard to believe until you see it in action, though. Guess you'll all just have to start going out with me more. We'll be drowning in stuff."

@Plank Sinatra

"Oh, really?" Penny replies, smirking. "Guess we'll have to wait and see these amazing Hastian powers in action..."

---

"Again, girls, thanks for the trip, and sorry I made you wait," Penny says. "I'm not usually a troublemaker, I swear."

She chuckles a bit at Dana's eagerness.

"Gee, I spend a few days in detention and you've already planned out the city?" she jokes. "A girl can't leave you girls alone for a moment, I swear."

"Mmmmaybe I cheated a little," she replied, as another trainee drifted into their friend circle, violet-haired and scarlet-eyed with a twinkle of mischief in her gaze and grin. "We should check out--oh!"

"For you, prekrasnaya," the lilac mischief said, pressing a cup into her hand. The other, fresh from stowing the Sharpie used upon the cup behind her ear, extended both pinkie and thumb by her ear and waggled. She drifted off as soon as she'd arrived, leaving Nicole to sip on the proffered cup - a white mocha - and peeked at the digits written upon her free drink. She giggled and took a longer, happier sip.

"Told you, right? This is an omen. Good food, great outfits, and plenty of bonding on the horizon, babes. The vibes are strong tonight."

Penny's jaws drop at the sight of Nichole scoring a free drink out of thin air.

"Bullshit," she finally says in disbelief. "Seriously, bullshit. You just walk in here and get a free drink?

"Oh, to be a pretty face," she sighs in mock despair, gesturing melodramatically.

Nova Lux: A Magical Girl Game

---

Penny takes the new routine in stride. It's certainly a slight letdown after the thrilling fight with Void, but it's another step to proving her worth as an Ars Magi. It's certainly more demanding and difficult than what she was used to back in Siscia, but if she wants to do her part, she knows she has to prove she can walk the walk. In her spare time, she studies any available information on Ars Magi and Void, as well as any knowledge about magitech she can get her hands on. Still, the weeks prove pretty tranquil, and as time goes on, she feels more at ease about her stay at Palmyra.

Well, right until she got into a fight with a Hasta girl, Blair McKenzie. A slight misunderstanding turned into an argument, and before she knew it, fists were flying, and Penny learned a few things that day. One, the Ars Magi academy is really strict about fights, and she got several days detention for it and an earful from the instructors. Two, Blair McKenzie had a short fuse and a really thick accent, but was actually a pretty cool person; she was a 'Last Highlander', descendant of the survivors of the Scottish division, one of the last surviving units of the British Army that herded the survivors of Britain to Hasta during the Fall. And third, Blair McKenzie had a really tough skull; Penny found out the hard way when she tried to punch out her taller opponent and almost broke a few fingers. Still, the two managed to bond over the art of swearing and being scrappers in general.

Still, a couple of weeks later, the problem had been largely forgotten, and Penny can look forwards to enjoying time off. It's been time since she can simply take time off to relax. As the class ends, she puts away her books and datapad with a content sigh and stretches a bit as she gets out of her seat.

"Whew, talk about a long day," she exclaims, turning to her teammates. "You girls ready for a tour of the town? 'Cause I know I am."

Nova Lux: A Magical Girl Game

---

Penny looks up at Nichole for playing with her braid, but gives a wry smile at the Hastano's reasoning for why she should pick the pizza parlor.

"Oh really?" she teases. "So what other powers does being a Hastano bestow upon one? Aside from superior pizza and fashion sense, and the ability to come up with a catchphrase?"

Nova Lux: A Magical Girl Game

---

At Amanda's name, Penny looks up and cocks an eyebrow. At least blondie had guts, which improved her standing in Penny's eyes. She turns back to the conversation at hand.

"So it was just a coincidence that our group was attacked just as they wrapped things up," Penny states. "If these attacks happened at roughly the same time, seems like they snuck in through a gap in the defenses and attacked anyone in range. I hope they get that fixed; Everyone seems to have gotten out okay, but that was close. Or at least, I hope everyone got out okay.

"And don't worry, Cara, you'll get your chance. Just be careful and don't get bushwhacked like I did; not fun, I'll tell ya that much."

In response to Cara's question about food, Penny smirks.

"Weeeelll, don't know about burgers, but I think we spotted a pizza place when we came in last night," she says. "Even in an armored bunker, people gotta eat, and one can't live off MREs alone. Well, you can, but I don't think that'll be very fun."

She turns back to the list of classifications and frowns. Ars Magi are an elite force; to have any more than a dozen in a single op was usually seen as inefficient. And yet for Class A Voids to require many Ars Magi to fight it was chilling.

She sighs. Best not to get too worked up about it right now, especially since today proved almost as taxing as their rough flight yesterday.

Nova Lux: A Magical Girl Game

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Nova Lux: A Magical Girl Game

---

Penny manages a smile at Dana's cheerful energy, though her doubts remain.

"It's... well, maybe I am overthinking it," she says, "seeing a conspiracy where one might not exist. It's just... ever since the airship, what you girls saw left me concerned, and you aren't the sort to make this up - leastways from what I've known of you this far. I mean, if it weren't for... you know, I would have just put it down as the Void having a bug up their collective ass and deciding to stir shit up. That's what they've been doing for about a century, after all."
She pinches the bridge of her nose.

"I dunno, I don't want to feel like I'm jumping at shadows here," she sighs.

Dana's friendly squeeze pulls her out of her funk, and she can't help but grin at the Norba girl's infectious cheer.

"Okay, now I know you're exaggerating," she chortles. "Though when can I expect you to pull out a giant mecha out of a hat?"

Nova Lux: A Magical Girl Game

---

Penny rolls her shoulders and feels the bumps and bruises she had experienced through the day, wincing at finding a couple newer ones every once in a while. She really needs to work on her combat techniques, or at least her combat awareness. However, at dinner she finds out she's not the only one who had trouble that day; apparently there was more than one incident of higher-tier Voids disrupting training sessions. The knowledge makes her look at her teammates in concern.

"Either they have problems with perimeter security," she whispers to her teammates, "or there's more to this than we realize."

Maybe she's worrying about this too much. Maybe the Void nearby are simply getting agitated over something or other. But right now she feels like she's waiting for the other shoe to drop.

She sneaks an extra helping of zebra pudding for Dana alongside her dinner in case the Norba girl decides to wake up in the middle of the night hungry, and decides to spend a little more time doing research using her PDA over the academy's network. Namely, she does research on the remaining classes of Void - by the reasoning given, D and C classes implies B and A, but how far does that ranking system rise? S? S+? SS? And if those classifications exist, how dangerous were they? She also investigates things like the history of the Void incursions and the technological developments that lead to the creation of Ars Magi. She was taught the basics at grade school, true, but maybe she could prepare for upcoming classes and broaden her horizons a bit in the process.

Nova Lux: A Magical Girl Game

---

"Well, good riddance to that," Penny says, looking up at the ashes of the monster dissipating into the winds. "Is everyone okay? That was a rough fight, and I think I'm getting into a habit of getting smashed into stuff. Not advisable, by the way."

“This certainly beats those dumb cartoons, but I’ll give them credit for fueling your creativity.”

"Hey, don't knock those cartoons," Penny replies with a smirk. "I spent a good chunk of my childhood on them."

"Come on, girls. The Powers that Be are calling us. Not you, babe. You can sleep. You did great."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea right now," Penny groans, stretching a bit, feeling the kinks and bruises from getting smacked into concrete twice.

She follows the other two girls to the tower.

"So who wants to bet the instructors have a few comments on our performance?" she asks, trying to make small talk. "I think I did okay. You girls did pretty great, though. I think we got the hang of this..."