War of the Magical Girls

Magda frowned. "Actually, yes. Was yours out in the courtyard where we had lunch? Also, depending on how Warlord succession works the highest kind of title I could have would be Freiherr."

"Surprisingly enough, yeah," Maya said. "Though, of course, the nickname has no connection to Warlords and strategy and stuff; it is way sillier than that. I might have 'darkness-shadows-and-death' in my head" — she tapped her forehead, meaning Hattori Hanzou — "but I'm not him. I get to be silly sometimes. When I'm not having weird shared dreams, anyway."

"Weird... Probably the Wisps messing with us. Well, anyways. Do you want to go to the mainland with me?" Magda asked, picking her wallet up off a copy of Der Rote Kampfflieger, a gift from some relative who hadn't quite gotten that she knew everything in the book first-hand. "Hm... Do you think that eating breakfast other than the cafeteria's would be worth the money?"

"Well, witches or not," Hannah said, stepping out of the shower to free it up as she toweled her hair. "And we don't have to get anything done! It's Saturday!" she happily added. "Now we have two whole days off. You got any plans? I think I'm gonna go to the mainland and ride the biggest roller coaster they have."

"Sounds okay," Giz said, dumping what passed for her pajamas on the floor as she took Hannah's place in the shower. "But we have to do the haunted house this time, too."

Carrie LeMay was nothing if she wasn't a hard worker, who studied more than any girl her age ought to. When her roommate Delilah awoke she'd find Carrie's bed already empty, already neatly made; a neat stack of textbooks with liberally used nondescript bookmarks and sticky notes on top of said bed; and Carrie's most typically used loafers gone. The room, at least whatever Carrie owned which ultimately wasn't much, was well-kempt to the point of being sterile. The only interest one could divine from studying Carrie's few worldly possessions would be that she was a military buff, which was sort of the truth. That was truly her one and only interest, her one and only calling in life. She was possibly one of the school's most reputed nonentities; here was a girl so one dimensional and nondescript that it drew attention to her all the same.

She had been up most of the night studying, had slept a restful, dreamless hour or two in the early morning, and was up and about well before most of the other girls on campus had been up; indeed she was alert and active before the sun had even done more than twinkle dully over the horizon. She was dressed down, any girlishness in her figure hidden by a thick plain black sweater, power walking her way through her daily routine. It was the weekend, but she was still intent on working. For Carrie, work was playtime and playtime was work, and she cooly enjoyed herself in class more than perhaps any of her peers did. It was all she had, in the end.

She worked out in the school gym, studied for pleasure in the library; both were open early hours perhaps solely because of her. By the time the other girls were out in force and beginning their days by heading off, most toward the mainland, Carrie was well into her day and was heading in the opposite direction. She exchanged passing courtesies with girls she recognized on the way out, but the blonde bomber of the rustbelt had no intention on following them into pleasantly wasted afternoons. She strode with businesslike purpose back towards her dormitory, where she would retrieve some projects she had been working on, stowed beneath the bed. Crude but detailed plans for improvements to her ordinance, her powers, she would dwell on them for hours at a time, wondering how to make her ambitions come true.

Behind her an orb depicting a rain of bombs trailed with as much vigor as she walked.

"I can see clearly now that the rain is gone!" Erica sang as she bounded out of the dorm building.

Indeed, as the remaining rain clouds quickly floated away into the distance it looked like it was going to be a bright and sun shining day after all. The young fifteen year old took in a deep breath, the ocean air felt invigorating. Sometimes she wondered if it was because she was so unused to large bodies of water, having never left her home state until a whips decided one day that she would make a great host for the essence of Admiral David Farragut. Other times she wondered if maybe it was because Farragut was effecting her that she felt such simple pleasure from being on the water. Either way, she loved being here at Atlantis High. Sure, studying was a drag and she had to leave all her old friends but the experience of doing something no one else had done before more than made up for it.

No sooner had she left the dorm did she see the girl from the room next to hers and in several of her classes going back in.

"Mornin', Carrie!" Erica said with a big wave. "Where you heading? Gonna get ready for the big fight today?"

Alexis is practically the incarnate of ideal of grecian beauty-albeit a genderbent one- and she always held her head up high. Pearly white smile always adorn her face, as if she was harboring a great joke she couldn’t wait to share. As if, the night before, she had a great dream.

She did not. Resolved to put it out of her mind in such wee hour before dawn, Alexis perform a strategic opposite-directional charge into her blanket.

Taptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptap

zzZZzz…What’s that sound…zzZZzz

Taptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptap

So…insistent…zzZZzz...likea...march?

Taptaptaptaptapta-

“Gah! Five more minutes!”

Flipping bodily out of her bunk with a snapped protest, Alexis collapsed in an undignified heap on the floor of her shared room. Georgia’s shirt landing on her face does not help her image.

“Owie. Did you say something about breakfast?”

"Heck yeah!" Georgia replied, picking up a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. "We gon' be fightin' monsters 'n all sorts a nasties we gotta eat right!" Georgia bounded through the door and into the bathroom, talking through the door while she got the shower heated up. "Back in Georgia we ate right. Bacon, eggs, grits, then a nice cup of texas tea! You wanna be a good lady in the 21st century, y'all gotta be in shape, ready to fight! READY TO DEFEND DEMOCRACY OR DIE TRYING—Oh, sorry." Georgia climbed into the shower. "Sometimes that jus' slips out!" She yelled through the shower.

"Erica." Carrie nonchalantly acknowledged her sometimes overly loud classmate and neighbor. As she answered Erica's question with the curtness inherent to her almost exaggeratedly serious demeanor, Erica would notice the relentlessness of Carrie's movement. Even as she spoke, even maintaining eye contact as was sociable, Carrie was traveling forward at speeds just shy of an actual bomber plane soaring through the skies. Not really that fast of course, but it was quite the jarring effect all the same. Most of her peers who knew her would be used to Carrie conversing in this manner though. The rustbelt girl always had something to get done, it would seem.

"I'm going back to the dormitories. I would be preparing for the battle today, you know that's really what I'm all about. Getting ready for the fights." Even Carrie's smiles were quick, though genuine. "You're heading out of school, I assume?" Carrie stopped flanking Erica, head turned to face her but body ready to start walking in the direction she had come from upon the conversation's end. Of course Carrie was nothing if not polite, and she was a willing, if somewhat unreliable conversationalist.

edited 30th Apr '13 6:11:46 PM by Scratchproof

"Uuuu..."

She was feeling so groggy. She didn't even drink the day before! Much, anyway. Okay, maybe she took some swigs from those nice Water Magical Girl, but she never had hangover!

The spirit of Alexander rocks in her head, scoffing at the idea of Democracy- a Persian invention!

In any case, she's not feeling herself today- and the bed looks so comforting! So comforti-No, focus! Al, there's adventures to be had! Foods! Rums and Wines and Grogs and Meads! Beverages! The Wenc-no, wait, that one's the spirit's influence.

Haphazardly rummaging her closet and picking the first practical one she can find, Al waits patiently for Georgia to finish showering. She then washes up in record time and get ready for breakfast.

Wild-eyed, through still slightly under the weather, Al starts

"Georgy, let's go! Race you there?"

"I don't know if they'll let me back in to the Haunted House - how was I supposed to know the paintball arena was somewhere else?" Hannah replied to Giz. "But I bet if I bring a hat that operator won't even know it's me," She laughed mischievously.

"No." Erica made pained expression. She looked over to the school center, where the pool was located and said despairingly, "I spent all my allowance on a new iPod last week but then I dropped it in the pool!"

"So, no! I'm not gonna bother with window shopping today. I'm already signed up with the Blue Team for the beginning of the tournament! So I figured I might was well hang around until it starts."

She cocked her head and looked at Carrie quizzically, talk a few steps backwards so that their bodies were facing each other directly. "What's back at the dorm? Are you going to spend all morning there? Are you gonna be in the lounge? Wanna play ping pong with me!?"

Erica's voice went from questioning to excited within about 5 seconds, which was also how long it took her to finish talking.

Deliah didn't really rise when she got out of bed, it was more like she slid out and somehow landed right side up on the floor. She shuffled, zombie-like, to the communal washroom armed with a toothbrush and comb. She barely noticed that her roommate Carrie had already left; her body moved without her mind really telling it to and for all intents and purposes she was still asleep. After a perfunctory attempt at personal grooming, she shuffled back to the room, pulled on her field uniform, and began absentmindedly stuffing Carrie's well-organized books into her bergen, or rucksack as the Yanks tended to call them. Instinctively her body knew when "enough" weight was enough, the memories of the soldier inside her recalling the weight of the pack as he marched across innumerable battlefields.

Boots were laced, a bed was made, and Deliah was off on her morning conditioning march around campus. Distance: 10km. Time to beat: 3 hours. A light warmup. As she started walking and the blood started pumping through her body she slowly came to full awareness of her surroundings. The day was beautiful and everywhere there were signs of life. A great day to be alive. Slowly her pace quickened.

"The holographic skeletons might have been a hint," Giz said, but without much malice. Relishing the hot water pounding her shoulders and back, she added, "Do you even have a hat? Or are we gonna have to stop in town and buy one?"

Magda picked up her bag, before noticing a note taped to her desk. "Oh, that's right," she muttered. "I signed up for the tournament! I'll have to try and get her present later. Maya, you signed up too, right?"

Lyn's eyes fluttered open as she drifted back into consciousness. Taking a look at the clock on her nightstand, she saw that she had woken up later than usual. Then again, last night was ridiculous, maybe sleeping it off was good for her.

As she sat up from her bed, she noticed that Prita was gone. She was sort of getting excited about a new hat lately, maybe she went to go buy one now that she had some free time. Lyn gave a sigh as she got out of bed and headed into the bathroom to wash up. The relaxing spray and the warm air of the shower caused her mind to wander, and she began to ponder the dream she had last night.

The battle at the lunch tables, or something. They were at a disadvantage at first, but they did pretty well considering. Lyn frowned at the thought that her only real contribution was healing, and she vowed that she would do better next time. With the thought of improvement behind her, Lyn quickly got dressed, and headed out for breakfast.

"Of course I own a hat!" Hannah said. "I think. Probably." She ran right through the door, the sound of the closet door opening and a large amount of movement and rustling could be heard, and in an instant she was back in the bathroom, wearing a tall red-and-white hat◊ on her head. "SEE? Told ya."

edited 30th Apr '13 8:39:51 PM by nman

Giz peered blankly out of the shower at her otherwise naked roomie's absurd accessory. "Yeah, you're getting a new hat," she said, and went back to scrubbing her face, rubbing her eyes as if she could wash the image away with her dead skin cells.

Prita had almost finished her breakfast when Lyn arrived at the dining hall. Beckoning her over, Prita said, "Good to see you up and about! Are you thinking about going into town today? I have a few things I want to buy, and it'd be nice to have you along."

She thought about adding something about last night's battle, but decided against it at the last moment. She wasn't completely sure her hypothesis about it being a training simulation was true, and she didn't want to look stupid if it turned out to have been just an especially vivid dream.

Julia never meant to fall asleep, so when she heard all the voices around her she tried to pretend she never fell asleep. "Oh, hello, peers, students, generals." The line she always used as a greeting. "Are we looking at the list for today's tournament? Sorry, but I'm afraid the empress has other places to be." And with that, she took her purse with her, leaving as quickly as she interrupted them. God, I feel so awkward, Julia thought to herself. Why can't I be granted social graces like them? I guess I'll just have to try and not seem like such a moron. She tried to hug Nero, her only consolation for her string of depressing thoughts, but the little bastard just flew out of her grasp.

Julia headed towards the docks to go to the mainland boat.

"Awww, but now that I remember this exists, it's my favorite hat!" Hannah replied to Giz. "Hmmm why do I - Oh yeah. I was gonna do magic tricks where I pull... a.... Oh." She lifted her hands up to touch the hat for a moment, feeling around the top part in particular. "Uh oh."

As casually as she could, Hannah side-stepped over to the toilet, carefully took off her hat as she made it hover over the bowl, and gave it a good tap on the top, causing some sort of object to land in the water. Then she flushed.

"Gross," Giz said flatly, stepping out of the shower. She hooked a toe under her rumpled clothing on the floor and flicked them into the air, catching them with ease and heading back to the bedroom wrapped in a towel to get dressed.

"Gross? Nothing's gross. I don't know what you're talking about, ha ha ha," Hannah added matter-of-factly. Nothing had happened. Nothing at all. "Well if you want to go in the Haunted House, then I think after that we should go on Full Throttle!"

"....and Viper... Goliath... Sky Tower... watch a stunt show...." she counted on her fingers.

"I dunno, stunt shows just aren't that exciting once you've been to the gym class here," Giz said, digging through the clean laundry hamper for a shirt.