Marie gathered her things from her locker as Luc took off to get her own things, leaving her alone for a few moments. All around her, people bustled through the busy hallways of the city’s main high school.

  This place was so much busier than Mercy West. She’d been going to the private school for her entire life, growing up with the kids there. And now she was here, and it was so much more than she was used to.

  But for once, she hadn’t eaten lunch alone. Here, she didn’t just have Luc, she had Maisey and Tobias and Mason. They tolerated her, at least, and Marie thought she could probably be Maisey’s friend.

  She closed her locker as she slung her backpack onto her shoulder. Luc marched back up to her before she had a chance to debate what she was going to do, her feet stomping against the floor like it’d done something wrong to her.

  Marie had spent a lot of time around magical girls and mages growing up, due to the nature of her father’s job. In general, she found that they looked more comfortable in their magical gear than mundane clothing, but Marie couldn’t say the same about Luc. Seeing her in baggy jeans and oversized t-shirts made more sense than seeing her in the simple school girl uniform.

  “Have you ever considered your image before?” Marie asked conversationally as they left the building. They didn’t have far to go, with their job being at the elementary school next door, so they simply set out across the parking lot. “I know you’re relatively new to the influencer side of magical girl work, but if you ever want to discuss it, I’d be happy to help. As it is now, your outfit doesn’t really connect with your brand and you could really hone in—”

  “No thanks,” Luc said, cutting her off. “Not interested.”

  “O-okay,” Marie said, forced to speed up as Luc began taking longer strides. “I was just thinking, you could build a magical girl outfit that looks more like what you wear daily, rather than—”

  “What part of no thanks don’t you get?” Luc snapped, stopping in space and spinning on her. “I’m not changing my outfit. Not everyone can afford to just go throwing money around!”

  Marie stared at her, wide eyed. “If money is the problem…”

  “Don’t even say it,” Luc said. She opened her mouth as if to say more before choking on the words, shutting her mouth and turning away. “We have a job to do, why don’t we just focus on that?”

  Marie swallowed her protests and nodded. “All right.”

  Luc took the lead again, and this time, Marie didn’t bother to catch up, just watching her instead. Out of pure career interest, that was all.

  She’d always liked the process of designing a magical girl or other mage type. If she didn’t end up making it into the mage academy and didn’t make it big as a mage, that was what she would want to do. Work as a brand designer for mages, developing their image.

  At least Maisey seemed inclined to let her help, even if Luc wasn’t. Was she just weirdly attached to that outfit?

  Wasn’t it the basic mage fabric outfit offered by the commission?

  Marie shook her head. She’d have to check, then look and see what she could find to design Luc a better outfit. The girl might not want her help now, but she’d come around, especially once they started getting more popular.

  Luc was already more popular than she was, if only because Gadget was a figure they knew around town. She’d been working as a magical girl for quite some time, even if it was just at a basic level, and people knew her. That became abundantly apparent as they approached the door to the elementary school and a woman standing out front greeted them with a smile.

  “Luc! I’m so glad you accepted this job, we’ve been hoping you would for a while.”

  “What’s the job?” Luc asked, all business.

  “Well, it’s working with some of the kids. We have an after school program for kids with magic, and it’s so helpful to have a few magical types around to help out with them. They can be a handful, but they’re a good bunch. They’re so excited to meet you!” The woman’s smile widened, missing the way Luc slowly turned her head, meeting Marie’s eyes with a hardened glare.

  Marie giggled despite herself. This wasn’t her doing, but it was kind of funny.

  “Can you give us a minute?” Luc asked. “We need to, uh, transform.”

  She walked away from the teacher, grabbing Marie by the arm and dragging her several steps away.

  “Kids?”

  “It sounds like a good program,” Marie said, managing to keep a straight face.

  “This is your doing.”

  “Absolutely is not,” Marie said. “You saw the job listing too. I had no idea what it was.”

  “Then why are you laughing?”

  “Because you’re—” She motioned up and down at Luc, which only seemed to upset her more.

  “I’m what?” she demanded, planting her hands on her hips, continuing to glare. Her eyes were a steely grey, and odd color, but fitting. Had they always been like that, or had they changed after she’d gained magic? Normally only mages had magic features, but it could be possible.

  “Funny.”

  Luc rolled her eyes. Then she began to pace. “This isn’t what I signed up for.”

  “It kind of is,” Marie said. Her smile faded as Luc continued to pace. She was actually upset about this, wasn’t she? “Are you okay? It’s just a job, and not even a dangerous one. I mean, they’re just kids.”

  “I am not good with kids,” Luc said. “I’m not…” She struggled for a word. “Funny.”

  “I think you’ll do fine,” Marie said. “Just… don’t be yourself.”

  “Haha, that’s funny.”

  “I’m serious.” Despite her words, she grinned, hoping Luc would play along. Nobody ever talked to her the way Luc talked to her, and it was fun. She didn’t have to pretend to be perfect around her, because Luc understood.

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  Luc met her eyes, corners of her lips tugging upwards before she shut the expression down. Marie’s heart fluttered inside her chest as Luc’s face screwed into a scowl.

  “You’re mean.”

  “We should probably transform now,” Marie said, shooting a look back at the waiting woman. “She’s staring at us.”

  Luc followed Marie’s gaze and then groaned. “I can’t believe we actually have to do this.”

  “It’ll be fine,” Marie said, taking a step back to begin her transformation. “Just don’t forget to smile for the cameras!”

  Her transformation came and went in a flash, the drone taking off from between her shoulder blades before her feet had even touched back onto the concrete. Luc followed suit, transforming into a skirt not unlike the uniform Marie had to wear at Mercy West, a tight blouse and utility belt replacing her baggy t-shirt while her hair did itself up into twin buns on either side of her head.

  She didn’t smile.

  Well, Marie could smile enough for both of them.

  The expression fell into place as she marched back toward the woman, directing the drone ahead of her. “Just tell us where you need us. We’re here to work.”

  The woman thanked them and led the way inside.

  They wound their way through the school until they reached a door with telltale mage-tech outside of it, construction paper forming the words ‘magic club’ across it. Mercy West didn’t have anything like this, but then again, it was a private school. As a public school, the government probably had some sort of deal with the mage commission to provide magic shielding tech to the school.

  The woman cracked the door, a wave of sound immediately rushing out toward them, and indicated for them to wait. She stepped inside as Marie peeked through the opening she’d left behind, waiting to see what she was supposed to do.

  The woman clapped her hands together before cupping them around her mouth, shouting for the kids attention. They seemed to range anywhere from six to ten or so, carrying on in uncontrolled chaos.

  Magic reigned supreme, from planes animated and flying through the air to little bursts of heat or flame shooting off at each other. No wonder they needed magical girls to come and help out; mage tech wouldn’t suppress magical fire if it took hold.

  “All right, everyone,” the teacher said. “We have some very exciting people visiting today to help us out! Everyone, please say hi to Miss Limit and Miss Gadget.”

  Marie squeezed her wings in around her body as tight as she could and side stepped through the door, giving a little wave to the kids inside. The kids waved back, some with wide eyes, latched onto her wings when they spread back out.

  Luc shuffled into the room beside her, and the kids erupted with chatter. They recognized her, some immediately calling out greetings while others shouted questions.

  Luc squirmed in place, looking wildly uncomfortable as she looked at their teacher for some indication of what they were supposed to be doing.

  “Miss Limit and Miss Gadget are going to help you out with your magic,” the teacher said, and Marie decided to take the lead. This was something she could handle.

  “I’m so happy to be here,” Marie said, taking a step forward and grinning. Her drone shot around the room, filming at different angles. She’d have to double check the job details later before posting anything, but they generally had permission to film anything they were doing. At the very least, she could blur out their faces. “I’m Miss Limit, and it sounds like you already know Miss Gadget.”

  “She got a monster out of my closet!” one of the older kids piped up. “It was stealing my socks.”

  Luc snapped her fingers at the kid, lighting up for a moment. “I remember that.”

  How many of these kids had Luc helped out? She’d been doing jobs around town for ages, just little things like pest removal, but it seemed to have made an impact. Marie wanted to advance as quickly as possible, had to in order to get into the mage academy next year, but she could see the merit in what Luc had done. She’d built herself a place in the community; people trusted her. Nobody really knew what to think about Marie just yet.

  A little girl rushed up, grabbing onto Luc’s hands. “Can you teach me how to fight monsters?”

  “I really don’t think that’s what we’re supposed to be doing,” Luc said, looking up at the teacher for confirmation. She spoke far softer here than she did with anyone else.

  The teacher shook her head in confirmation.

  “Why don’t we start with some meditation?” Marie suggested.

  “Meditation?” Luc asked, raising an eyebrow. “They’re like, six. You think they can meditate?”

  “You might be right…” Marie scanned the room, a smile stretching across her face as an idea came to mind. “Who wants to see how strong I am?”

  Several faces lit up before a gaggle of kids took off to grab the heaviest objects they could find and drag them over. Marie followed into the middle of the room, setting her feet apart and squaring her shoulders.

  She barely got into position before the first kid decided not to wait and hand Marie anything, instead just launching himself at her.

  He slammed into her, the impact enough to send the air whooshing out of her lungs. She recovered quickly and got a good grip on him, lifting him overhead with ease. His giggles rang through the room as their teacher winced.

  Clearly, this wasn’t what Marie was supposed to be doing.

  Oh well. It wasn’t like she’d be able to teach much over the span of an hour or two, and the kids were certainly enjoying getting her to lift them.

  In a short amount of time, Marie had proven that she could lift each of the kids and even two at a time, at which point she was asked to stop. After that, she redirected them, directing the kids around her in a dance exercise. Dance wasn’t connected to magic, but control was, and that was something dance could teach.

  “You’re doing good,” Marie said, giving one of the kids a light squeeze on the shoulder before looking around for Luc. Was she hiding somewhere? She hadn’t heard anything from her after starting to play with the kids.

  She found her on the other side of the room, surrounded by a cluster of the quieter kids. Her discomfort had vanished, and she leaned over a contraption on the table built out of toys and craft supplies. Luc was in her element, eyes alight as she assisted one of the kids in placing a piece.

  With one more look at the kids doing her exercise, Marie split across the room, approaching Luc from the side.

  “What is it?” she whispered, leaning over Luc’s shoulder.

  Luc didn’t even fire back with sarcasm or a roll of her eyes, her attention fully locked on her creation. “Just watch. Levi, will you?”

  A little boy with red hair nodded and lifted a finger to a piece of string hanging from the contraption. A small piece of flame leapt from his fingertip and the string lit up immediately.

  Marie bit down on her tongue as she watched it burn, curious to see what Luc had designed.

  As the string burned, a dome of folded paper began to rise. When the fire reached the end of the string, it took up roost in a bottle cap and the lantern fully lifted into the air.

  Strings dangled from each of the lantern’s corners, holding small pieces of what had to be glass shaped like torn paper.

  “Now, Komi,” Luc said, giving a little girl a small nudge.

  The girl nodded and cupped her hands next to a small prism on the table. Light burst from her palms, hitting the prism and shooting up at the ceiling.

  It never hit, intercepted by the lantern and reflecting between its pieces of glass. The lights shot across the room, transforming into rainbows going in all directions, spinning as the lantern gently rotated.

  “That,” Luc said, leaning closer to the table and the kids gathered around it, “is what you can do with a little bit of magic, a little bit of science, and a lot of teamwork.”

  “Teamwork, huh?” Marie remarked, giving the girl a soft nudge with her hip.

  Luc straightened, glowering at her and dropping her voice into a whisper. “I’m trying to be a good influence.”

  Marie chuckled as she looked around and grinned at the kids oohing and awwing about the rainbows.

  “I think we did good,” she said, satisfied.

  “Yeah. They are so never inviting us back.”

  Behind her, the teacher nodded in agreement.