Magic Resilient
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Magic Resilient, by Kayla Bashe
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The ice-skating rink is built in a former barn on the outskirts of Academe territory—a short walk, maybe fifteen minutes through trees and over fallen sticks and branches and wildflowers that sprout up in between last fall’s dead leaves. Zipping your coat up, you glance at your friends. “Does anyone know how to skate?”
Malou, eyeing the rink as if it could rise up and attack her at any moment, shakes her head.
Char makes a noncommittal gesture and chuckles. “I can balance when the camera’s on me—as long as I don’t have to move!”
Shani hugs herself. “I used to be able to skate a few strokes, but it hasn’t gotten cold enough for the lake to freeze over in years.”
So you manage together, holding onto each other and the side of the rink, moving slow and wobbly and with the utmost care, constantly one slip away from ending up in a big pile of giggling girls, breathless from laughter and the sudden cold of ice in contact with stocking-clad legs.
That happens a lot.
But by your third circle of the rink, you’ve managed to stay (mostly) upright, except for the time Char’s long legs tangle under her and Malou has to set her back on her feet again—and by the end of class, you’re not even holding onto the wall anymore. You’re exhilarated, breathing hard, and you and your squadmates exchange hugs of congratulation on being able to wobble by yourselves. And when you finally step from the rink—by Maona’s roses, it feels so good to get out of those tight-laced skates!
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Magic Resilient, by Kayla Bashe
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Someone less experienced might charge in without a plan, but you’ve totally got this.
Upon opening the door, the first thing you do is rise into the air so that you can press yourself to the ceiling. Moving softly, quietly, you hover through the house. The students don’t even register your presence, so you get to eavesdrop on them!
Two girls whose costumes feature three-quarter sleeves and calf-length skirts are talking about a new kosher restaurant that just opened in Magi Town, and a girl with pink hair is telling a girl with blue hair about a cute student at the Academe-“Seriously, they are adorbsies.”
It’s just like sneaking past monsters when you were rescuing people during the siege of Castle Vestri.
Like when you rescued the baby that the monsters stole from its parents just so they could watch it cry, for example. You held it in your arms the entire way back to the castle, using a warren of back routes between the old buildings, praying to Maona that they wouldn’t find you, hardly daring to breathe and trembling with nerves—
With a sharp intake of breath, you push your thoughts down other paths. Focus on the here and now, Verdie Vestri. Show everyone what you can do.
You manage to find the “stricken” woman before anyone notices you, and by then, it’s a simple matter of ripping the wall open with your powers and diving through it, tossing the woman out first so you can lower her to the ground with your magic. You land in a crouch and rise to a standing position.
“Okay, how’d I do?”
“I believe that could have been accomplished without the property damage. However…excellent work, creative use of powers. Well done, Miss Vestri. Well done.”
You’re glowing with pride for the rest of the day.
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Magic Resilient, by Kayla Bashe
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Before entering, you fly around the house, peering in through windows, inspecting every room—and there, in what seems to be a bedroom, is the young woman playing the damsel in distress. She lies on a bed with a wrist clasped to her forehead in a classic swooning posture, moaning and twisting theatrically.
“I’ll save you!” you joke. You gather a handful of wind and twist it until it’s as strong as a hurricane, then send it through the window as if you’re throwing a punch. The glass shatters, allowing you to enter.
There are footsteps outside the door, but you know they won’t be able to catch you. Once you’ve got the woman in a fireman’s carry (it’s a little uncomfortable, but it’s only for a few seconds, ) you use wind magic to rip a hole in the wall. As you exit the room through your unconventional door, you’re walking on air. Literally.
Pretending to descend an imaginary staircase, you lower yourself to the ground.
“Okay, how’d I do?”
“Somewhat unconventional, but…very clever, Miss Vestri. Extremely clever.”
“Verdie,” Shani tells you in a whisper, “you’re a genius.”
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Magic Resilient, by Kayla Bashe
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The next day, you wake up bright and early—it’s time for magical girl training! A notice on the bulletin board in the gymnasium tells first-semester students to go outside. When you do, you see that a little two-story house has been constructed on the large soccer field.
“This is an assessment to see where you are with your combat skills so we can see what everyone’s strengths are and where people need help. This house is filled with pretend fire. If you touch it, it won’t hurt, but it’ll turn your skin bright green. If too much of your body becomes green, then it’s as if you’ve been burnt, and you’ll have to go sit on the bleachers and get cleaned off.
“In one of the rooms, there’s a woman who’s been overcome by the quote-unquote smoke—her location will be different for every student. Your assignment is to rescue her and get past the monsters in the house. That’s right, you won’t just have the fake fire to contend with! Some of the older students have volunteered for this exercise. They’re dressed up in body armor that makes them look like monsters, and they’ll try to grab you and take you back to the front door. How you evade or escape them will say a lot about the techniques and strategies you’ve arrived here with.
Be aware that you’re fighting other magical girls. Your attacks won’t hurt them, so you’re going to have to be creative. Good luck!"
Shani uses her lake powers to put out the pretend fire, then drenches the older girls and escapes while they’re trying to untangle themselves from lily vines.
Char, seeing a pot filled with water in the sink, flash-boils it, creating a huge cloud of smoke to cover her escape from the kitchen.
When Malou enters the house, illusory fire is coming up through the floorboards; undaunted, she uses the knobs and handles of cabinets as handholds and footholds, clings to a chandelier, and walks atop the slender ledge provided by wainscotting, all the while constructing magical barriers to keep attackers away from her.
A magical girl with one leg activates the hidden hover-rocket in her pastel floral-print prosthetic and zooms over everyone’s heads.
Some girls, though, don’t make it on their first try.
One girl stumbles over her own feet and faceplants into the fake flames; another, not looking where she’s going, steps on a squeaky dog toy and slides down a staircase.
A girl dashes through a door and locks it behind her without first glancing at what room s
he’s entered; trapped in the house’s smallest bathroom, she’s forced to wait huffily until the older girls figure out how to break the door down.
You’ve learned a lot from analyzing others’ efforts, and your strategy will be to…
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Fly above your pursuers
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Do some reconnaissance before heading in
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Please turn back a page
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Please turn forward a page
* * *
Magic Resilient, by Kayla Bashe
* * *
The next day, you wake up bright and early—it’s time for magical girl training! A notice on the bulletin board in the gymnasium tells first-semester students to go outside. When you do, you see that a little two-story house has been constructed on the large soccer field.
“This is an assessment to see where you are with your combat skills so we can see what everyone’s strengths are and where people need help. This house is filled with pretend fire. If you touch it, it won’t hurt, but it’ll turn your skin bright green. If too much of your body becomes green, then it’s as if you’ve been burnt, and you’ll have to go sit on the bleachers and get cleaned off.
“In one of the rooms, there’s a woman who’s been overcome by the quote-unquote smoke—her location will be different for every student. Your assignment is to rescue her and get past the monsters in the house. That’s right, you won’t just have the fake fire to contend with! Some of the older students have volunteered for this exercise. They’re dressed up in body armor that makes them look like monsters, and they’ll try to grab you and take you back to the front door. How you evade or escape them will say a lot about the techniques and strategies you’ve arrived here with.
Be aware that you’re fighting other magical girls. Your attacks won’t hurt them, so you’re going to have to be creative. Good luck!"
Shani uses her lake powers to put out the pretend fire, then drenches the older girls and escapes while they’re trying to untangle themselves from lily vines.
Char, seeing a pot filled with water in the sink, flash-boils it, creating a huge cloud of smoke to cover her escape from the kitchen.
When Malou enters the house, illusory fire is coming up through the floorboards; undaunted, she uses the knobs and handles of cabinets as handholds and footholds, clings to a chandelier, and walks atop the slender ledge provided by wainscotting, all the while constructing magical barriers to keep attackers away from her.
A magical girl with one leg activates the hidden hover-rocket in her pastel floral-print prosthetic and zooms over everyone’s heads.
Some girls, though, don’t make it on their first try.
One girl stumbles over her own feet and faceplants into the fake flames; another, not looking where she’s going, steps on a squeaky dog toy and slides down a staircase.
A girl dashes through a door and locks it behind her without first glancing at what room she’s entered; trapped in the house’s smallest bathroom, she’s forced to wait huffily until the older girls figure out how to break the door down.
You’ve learned a lot from analyzing others’ efforts, and your strategy will be to…
* * *
Fly above your pursuers
* * *
Do some reconnaissance before heading in
* * *
* * *
* * *
Please turn back a page
* * *
* * *
Please turn forward a page
* * *
Magic Resilient, by Kayla Bashe
* * *
The next day, you have a learning period. There’s a whole bunch of things you could do today…what do you feel like doing?
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Read a dramatic true story about real people in different circumstances
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Pilot a mecha
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Read a book about protecting yourself from monster attacks
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Please turn back a page
* * *
* * *
Please turn forward a page
* * *
Magic Resilient, by Kayla Bashe
* * *
Someone less experienced might charge in without a plan, but you’ve totally got this.
Upon opening the door, the first thing you do is rise into the air so that you can press yourself to the ceiling. Moving softly, quietly, you hover through the house. The students don’t even register your presence, so you get to eavesdrop on them!
Two girls whose costumes feature three-quarter sleeves and calf-length skirts are talking about a new kosher restaurant that just opened in Magi Town, and a girl with pink hair is telling a girl with blue hair about a cute student at the Academe-“Seriously, they are adorbsies.”
It’s just like sneaking past monsters when you were rescuing people during the siege of Castle Vestri.
Like when you rescued the baby that the monsters stole from its parents just so they could watch it cry, for example. You held it in your arms the entire way back to the castle, using a warren of back routes between the old buildings, praying to Maona that they wouldn’t find you, hardly daring to breathe and trembling with nerves—
With a sharp intake of breath, you push your thoughts down other paths. Focus on the here and now, Verdie Vestri. Show everyone what you can do.
You manage to find the “stricken” woman before anyone notices you, and by then, it’s a simple matter of ripping the wall open with your powers and diving through it, tossing the woman out first so you can lower her to the ground with your magic. You land in a crouch and rise to a standing position.
“Okay, how’d I do?”
“I believe that could have been accomplished without the property damage. However…excellent work, creative use of powers. Well done, Miss Vestri. Well done.”
You’re glowing with pride for the rest of the day.
* * *
>>
* * *
* * *
* * *
Please turn back a page
* * *
* * *
Please turn forward a page
* * *
Magic Resilient, by Kayla Bashe
* * *
Before entering, you fly around the house, peering in through windows, inspecting every room—and there, in what seems to be a bedroom, is the young woman playing the damsel in distress. She lies on a bed with a wrist clasped to her forehead in a classic swooning posture, moaning and twisting theatrically.
“I’ll save you!” you joke. You gather a handful of wind and twist it until it’s as strong as a hurricane, then send it through the window as if you’re throwing a punch. The glass shatters, allowing you to enter.
There are footsteps outside the door, but you know they won’t be able to catch you. Once you’ve got the woman in a fireman’s carry (it’s a little uncomfortable, but it’s only for a few seconds, ) you use wind magic to rip a hole in the wall. As you exit the room through your unconventional door, you’re walking on air. Literally.
Pretending to descend an imaginary staircase, you lower yourself to the ground.
“Okay, how’d I do?”
“Somewhat unconventional, but…very clever, Miss Vestri. Extremely clever.”
“Verdie,” Shani tells you in a whisper, “you’re a genius.”
* * *
>>
* * *
* * *
* * *
Please turn back a page
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Please turn forward a page
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