“... What are you wearing?”

“What’s wrong with it? I’m a girl now, so I might as well, right? Besides, you’re wearing gym clothes, too!”

“I’m wearing my school’s gym uniform. You’re wearing cosplay!”

Before your imagination goes wild, neither of us is wearing bloomers. Bridget is dressed in a white t-shirt and dark blue shorts. The school’s emblem was emblazoned on the upper left side of the shirt’s chest and the side of the short leg near the hem.

Honestly, I think she’s just jealous that I’m fashionable.

“I’m not.”

I was initially looking for a Battle Girl cosplay online. But then I came across this five-piece workout set. I thought it was cool because it came in orange, like the battle girl, but I got the one with black trim because Naruto.

“I don’t care what your inspiration was.”

I also thought about getting the hoodie with holes at the end of the sleeves for your thumbs, but I didn’t want it clashing with the Ryu grappler gloves. Actually, these were in the women’s section, so wouldn’t these be Sakura’s gloves?

The look of irritation and impatiens on Bridget’s face was apparent.

“You’re doing this on purpose! I know you know how to block your thoughts from my mind reading, so stop thinking at me!”

I rolled my eyes.

“It’s your fault for having such an invasive ability.”

“Be grateful that I’ve personally granted you the privilege of my attention, you half-baked sorry excuse for a magical girl. None before has ever been personally trained by the mightiest force known to existence.”

“This is why your only friends are your sister and myself.”

“Or I could leave you to your fate. Maybe after you die, and bring you back to life later. As you are hurled through the underworld, the collapse of your ego should teach you some manners.”

“I’m sorry, Bridget-sensei. Please teach me how to cast spells.”

“And don’t call me that. I don’t know how I feel about it.”

Well, as she said. I’m going to be learning magic today... In an abandoned warehouse…

“It’s the best I could find without leaving the city. After you learn how to teleport, we can try practicing somewhere more secluded.”

“Yeah, but isn’t it bad if someone sees us? There is also a security camera in the corner over there. I think it also saw us on the way in.”

Bridget focused her gaze on the camera.

“It shouldn’t bother us now.”

“Wow, seriously? What did you do to it?”

“I had cast an illusion spell. I’m not sure if it works on cameras, though. Either way, it's not like anyone would think that you are Lawrence Hargrave.”

“What about you?”

Bridget closed her eyes. A moment passed, and she opened them again. Her eyes changed to a deep purple, and her hair transitioned into what looked like a nebula. Her blazer changed into a cloak and a wide-brimmed witch hat adorned her head.

“There. People could relate this form to me all they want, but I would only need to deny them.”

I gave applause as her transformation completed. “Wow, so that’s what a real magical girl transformation looks like.”

She shook her head. “I guess I never explained it, but I’m not a magical girl.”

“The reincarnation of a demon lord, then? Is it really that different when it's just something to call girls who can use magic?”

“You’re not far off, I suppose. However, in this context. A magical girl is someone who draws their power from the Crystal of Light. The mother of this realm and the source of happiness.”

I had to take a moment to take this in. What does this even mean for our universe's creation, laws of physics, and reality?

“You choose to block your thoughts now? Yet you do not hide your perplexion. Perhaps a story. Who knows, maybe it will help you understand magic.”

***

I still remember. Even though it was so long ago, I still remember. My creation, her birth, the birth of darkness, and the day you appeared as the embodiment of hope.

It was an empty void. Everything was so quiet and distant. I’m not sure how long it took for me to realize that I was alive, but I was.

Looking back, looking forward. Time didn’t mean anything to me. As I existed, I thought that what I was doing in the future was what I was doing in the present. But then, I truly became self-aware.

I was confused at first, but later I wasn’t. Because I wasn’t in the future, the me of the present felt like they were just acting out a script. And so I followed that script.

I journeyed. Venturing from one empty void to the next. Even though I knew I would someday find something, I searched aimlessly. Hopeless and helpless, I searched.

Was I searching for something because I wanted to find it? Because I knew I would find it? I asked these useless questions that I already knew the answer to.

I was searching because I had already searched.

At some point, I wished for it. I gathered tiny fragments of happiness—each fragile and small. They told me their stories, their history, their hopes… their end. As one fragment of happiness was left shattered and broken, I searched for another.

I became tired. I was so tired, but I knew it would end. And it did.

Yet, as I stood in that empty void, I could see all around me—light and life, laughter and joy… pain and loss. This was the future.

Mind you that I can not see the future. I existed in it and carried out the present. It was in that present that I crafted the embodiment of happiness. I wanted to make true all the beautiful things that existed in my future. Regardless of the consequences, be damned the damnation that was to come!

The me in the future wanted to tell the me in the past not to. That I couldn’t change anything. But just like how I could not deviate from the path my future had laid before. I could not go back to tell myself not to take that path.

And so it happened. The first star was born. And with it, its stewards.

Life flourished, and the future was bright with hope and joy. Yet was this not enough? They wanted to understand themselves. These stewards who were not slaves to their destiny as I was.

Coveting the light of the crystal, they tainted it black with their treachery and greed. Ambition, Apathy… I hated all of it. And so began the cycle of hatred and blood.

They had never known what they were. What their purpose was. As I descend from my lofty realm, I told them. They were nothing, no grand purpose. A consequence and a mistake. Their existence threatened the light I had worked so hard for.

And so I began the song of oblivion that would wipe away the darkness and leave everything clean. They did not take the news well. I know this would be how it ended.

They fought and fought. To the very last until none would remain. Imagine my surprise when the happiness I created, my light, and my love. She took pity on these miserable creatures.

That was when you appeared.

All thing up to this point was as they should have been. I followed the path and saw the future beyond—my pathetic and lonely existence.

And yet, this was the first time we met.

I’m not sure what happened first. You appearing or the first spell being cast. But for the first time, I was free.

Gone was the me in the future, the causality I was shackled to. The first spell had been cast, and I was sealed away with you.

***

“To this day, you still slumber. Even now, I can feel your arms around me—gentle, you allow me to rest. Battling away our nightmare. Grasping at a future not yet written.”

I’m not sure if she was trying to impress me or leave me more confused. But it sounds like Kyrie… and this first spell means a lot to her.

“Even now, just standing here. I feel so anxious, not knowing what’s to come. All I can do is hope that you reach that ending in my life.”

“So, you’re going to teach me that cool spell I used on you?”

“Don’t be an idiot. If I knew what the spell was, I would have the magical girl queen cast go back in time and cast it.”

“Wait, hold on. Okay, your story only left me with more questions than answers, it was also kind of long-winded, and I might have zoned out in the middle, but now you’re telling me you don’t know the spell, and there is a magical girl queen?”

Bridget scowled at me again. Narrowing her eyes and glaring into my soul.

“If it was getting boring, you should have said something rather than wasting our time.”

“Well, I was kind of hoping something in there would teach me how to use magic.”

She let out a deep long sigh.

“Simply put, I do not use magic. I am beyond this realm and simply use the rules installed long before humans even came into being. I will be teaching you how to use magic. A power granted to you by my Crystal of Light channeled through your Crystal Heart.”

“Okay… so how do I cast a spell?”

She sighed again. You know, every time you sigh, a little bit of happiness escapes.

“Do not speak to me on matters of happiness. Anyway. Just throw a punch without punching, and light or something should come out.”

“Seriously? You’re as bad as when my father tried to teach me how to drive manual.”

“Just do it already.”

Alright. Here goes nothing, I guess.

Taking my fighting stance, I took a deep breath and gathered my strength like I would before striking.

“What the hell are you doing? Use your magic, not your ki or whatever that is. Here, watch me.”

I could almost see it. She didn’t even change her posture, but the air around her changed. Loose particles of purple light appeared and floated around her. Gathering together, she fired a small beam of purple light that crackled with dark lightning.

“Do you understand how to do it now?”

“I think so?”

Gather my strength… I took a deep breath…

Nothing was happening…

“You’re not doing it right. You need to use your Crystal Heart. Stop gathering breath through your lungs and do it through your Crystal Heart.”

“How does a person even do that?!”

“How the hell would I know? I don’t even need to use one.”

“You said you were going to teach me! And how does throwing blasts of energy even translate into teleporting and manipulating reality?!”

“I don’t expect you to teleport on day one. Now try again.”

I forgot how many tries I’d done up to this point. But I was starting to feel it. It wasn’t really like breathing. The crystal had more of a heartbeat to it. I could feel the energy being drawn into me and when it would leave.

The magic was flowing through my body. Light gathered in front of me. An orb glowed brightly but didn’t crackle with energy the same way Bridget’s did.

Just like a punch…

“Herk—!”

“Not like that, you moron!”

The light in front of me exploded in my face, and it felt like my breath had left my body all at once.

Bridget sighed again. “Do you normally punch when breathing in?”