Willow Lowitja's normal, laid-back life gets turned upside down when her best friend gets turned into a monster, and she's given the power of a Magical Girl to save the day! But naturally, it's never as simple as that. Kept busy navigating crushes and other feelings amidst her team of friends, putting up with an awkward and frankly creepy "mascot", and of course the actual task of balancing her responsibilities in school and the responsibilities of a hero, how can she possibly find the time to get her much-needed beauty sleep?
What's more, there is something unusual about the elusive villains behind these monsters, that seem at once well above Willow and her team's pay-grade, and yet far too familiar. If she isn't careful, she may find herself facing danger from the one direction she could never have prepared for...
This is an idea that took shape back in late 2018 or thereabouts, but has only recently come to fruition. This is meant to be a side-story prequel thing canon to @SpoopyGhost's quest, Magical Girl Phantom Ascension, that I help proofread for; but as a prequel focused on a different cast of characters, it's still meant to be relatively standalone. Knowledge of that quest may give some bonuses to this story, but isn't required. That being said, I definitely recommend giving it a try as well!
I would also like to thank an offsite friend of mine, Vi, for offering critique and helping me rework the initial rough draft into something much better.
Anyway, with that out of the way, time to get on with the show.
The day after semester's end, Willow and her friend Aisha celebrate the start of the holiday break with a nice shopping trip. But strange things are afoot, dreams and reality blurring together... and Aisha may just have an ulterior motive for this outing, besides. Just what is going on?
Chapter 1 Part 1: Strange Saturday (Disaster Date! A Mystery Begins?)
~~~
The sky was dark. The earth was dark. The horizon was dark. Everything was dark, except for the faint acid-green glow around the base of the Tower, and the pulsing red lights that ran up its length. Even with its exact form obscured by night, and its height concealed by the heavy blanket of clouds overhead, the trails of lights blinking in and out in sequence ensured the monolithic presence was always felt, always seen on the horizon. They felt like eyes watching over the surrounding landscape, searching with vindictive intent. The Tower itself thrummed, sending subtle pulsing vibrations through the earth with each distant echoing sound from the ancient, massive machinery chugging within. It was inescapable, a reminder of what force was poised and ready at all times, waiting for the need -or an excuse- to crush the world down once more.
It was dark, and so terribly cold. A frigid breeze blew, wafting the scents of chemicals and decay over the barren fields and crumbling rooftops, and into the face of the dreamer.
Standing on the edge of one such rooftop, she gazed out over the sterile fields and deserted homes, feeling as empty inside as the scenery before her. With that emptiness, however, was also certainty. Certainty that whatever would happen next, it would be the culmination of everything she had worked for up to this point. Certainty that she would succeed, or fail having given it her all. There was no room for doubt now; she was finally ready to see this through to the end.
No matter just what it would take.
She turned away from the Tower, and marched towards her goal.
~~~
MAGICAL GIRL PARALLEL INVERSION
~~~
Saturday, December 13, 2014
Southeastern Australia, Earth
Willow Lowitja's eyelashes fluttered open and shut with an arrhythmic steadiness, much like the light silken curtains billowing and falling slack with the infrequent breeze through her open window. Her consciousness was similarly flighty, swelling and receding like the waves on a beach. But like those waves, the tide was slowly rising, and so she found herself gently deposited on the shore of awareness.
With a soft sigh, or perhaps more of a resigned groan, she submitted to the inevitable. Opening her eyes all the way and rolling over… she fell off her bed, and hit the floor with a loud thump.
Well, she was certainly awake now. Groaning in complaint, Willow dragged her leaden arms up to find a grip on the edge of the bed, and then with a mighty heave, dragged her leaden self upright after. It took some half-hearted kicking about to extract her legs from the tight bundle of sheets wrapped around them, leaving the resulting tangle of spacetime carelessly behind as she stepped free. Operating more by instinct and habit than conscious thought, she unwrapped a sleep bandanna from her hair and tossed that carelessly aside as well, before half-staggering through her bedroom door and into the bathroom across the hall.
"Heeey, girl," she groggily greeted someone else's reflection in the sink mirror, then blinked in momentary confusion. No, her face was the same as it always was; smooth and narrow, with a broad nose, rich bronze skin, and perpetually-sleepy pink eyes matching her bright magenta hair, not… whatever she thought she'd just seen. Probably some residual from last night's dream, if experience was anything to go by. The details of this one had already faded, but something about the shadow of it lingered tantalizingly at the back of her mind, along with a sense of foreboding…
Oh, whatever. She wasn't awake enough for these kinds of thoughts. More importantly, how had her cornrows held up overnight?
…Wait, why was she still wearing her school uniform?
~~~
Some time later, she emerged freshly-showered and wrapped in a towel, braids wreathed in the strawberry scent of her shampoo, and tied together into a ponytail with some left free to frame her face. Any lingering memories of the dream had been washed away, though even having woken up considerably, she still felt like there was something important she was forgetting.
Chucking the musty uniform into her laundry basket, she picked up the quantum snarl of her blankets and attempted to untangle it. Its extradimensional complexities quickly proved too much effort for the time being, so she just tossed it back onto her bed to deal with later. She considered unpacking her school bag, but that too went abandoned for now, in favor of sitting down on the edge of her bed to figure out what to wear.
Just a t-shirt and sweatpants for bumming around the house seemed oh-so-tempting for a moment, but something told her that wouldn't be right. Still yawning, she leaned back, idly watching the bright square of sunlight on her floor as she willed her mind to kick into gear. The humid breeze wafting through the window, along with the distant sounds of crashing waves, threatened to lull her back to sleep again already. And it was the weekend after all, right?
For better or worse, the chance to indulge this temptation was swiftly denied. Her phone buzzed on her nightstand, finally sparking the connection - the sun's angle was far too high right now, and she was late! Snatching it up and flipping it open, sure enough she found it blown up with twenty-some new texts. (Almost restrained, considering the source…)
Me: ill be there
Bestie<3: I'll be waiting!
Me: 9:30 tho!
Bestie<3: So 10 then : P
Bestie<3: It'll be fun don't you worry
Bestie<3: Best way to flip the bird to finals is to jump right into the break
Bestie<3: …
Bestie<3: Have a good rest okay?
Bestie<3: You earned it : )
Willow smiled to herself, the show of sincerity meaning a lot more than her friend likely realized. Still, that was from yesterday afternoon, so she reluctantly scrolled down to see the inevitable freakout.
Bestie<3: GOOD MORNING WILLOW! WHO'S READY FOR A DA
Bestie<3: A DAY I MEAN
Bestie<3: WHO'S READY FOR SOME SHOPPING???
Bestie<3: Willow
Bestie<3: Willow
Bestie<3: Wiiillllllooowww
Bestie<3: Willow
Bestie<3: Willow I'm walking out my front door
Bestie<3: I'm on the bus now are you up?
Bestie<3: Willow
Bestie<3: Willow
Bestie<3: Earth to Willow
Bestie<3: I know you sleep in a lot but this is ridiculous
Bestie<3: I gave you an earlier time but you're still late
Bestie<3: Okay I'm getting worried now you didn't keel over and die right?
Bestie<3: If you died I SWEAR I will kill you to death
Bestie<3: I'm waiting at the mall
Bestie<3: Should I call Piper?
Wait, she hadn't plugged her phone in yesterday, had she? A quick glance revealed that the battery was in the red and continuing to drop, so she quickly sent a final retort before pocketing it.
Sighing languidly, Willow took a moment to mourn the lost nap, before dutifully finding her feet. She was bound to get an earful from Aisha over this, but what did her friend expect? She might have felt a bit more guilty about scaring her friend… if Aisha hadn't planned for their little celebratory excursion to start so early in the morning. Either way, though, she certainly didn't want to make her wait any longer than she already had, overly-optimistic schedule choices notwithstanding.
Hastily throwing open her closet, it didn't take too long to put together a decent ensemble for going out; a sleeveless zebra-striped crop top, and a black pinafore skater dress. Affixing the straps over her shoulders, she looked herself over in the mirror. "What's missing, what's missing… Aha!" Grabbing a beret, she threw it on at a jaunty angle, slipped on her nicer shoes, and flashed her reflection a thumbs-up.
Putting her purse together was a much simpler task. Her phone was nearly dead, but waiting for it to recharge would just make her even more late, so she just grabbed the cord to bring with. It was just going to be her and Aisha today, as their other friends had the sense to actually rest after finals, so there was no need for Willow to worry about putting on makeup. Some lipstick and eyeliner made their way into her purse as well anyway; it couldn't hurt to bring some with just in case, after all. Anything else she would need was already in there, so with a satisfied nod, she slung it over her shoulder and hurried downstairs.
However upon reaching the bottom step, another obstacle quickly presented itself in the form of her older sister. "G'morning. Where are you off to in such a rush?" Piper Lowitja didn't even look up from the collection of calculus notes spread neatly across the dining table, but the threat in her voice was more than sufficient to freeze Willow in her tracks.
"I'm meeting Aisha at the mall. I'm already an hour late…"
Piper sighed, finally looking up to fix her with a flat stare. "Knowing her, knowing you, she expected that. You're only a little late for your date, I made brekkie, and you're not leaving until you eat it."
"What're you, my mum?" Willow grumbled under her breath, glancing anxiously down at her buzzing purse, but the matter was settled for them by a sudden loud growl from her stomach. Knowing she'd won, Piper shot her an I-told-you-so grin, before quickly turning back to her physics textbook.
Taking a seat on the far end of the table, Willow found a cold plate of eggs, baked beans, and vegemite toast waiting for her, though hedged in on all sides by graphing paper lined with countless equations. Making a face of disgust at the pages' liberal sprinkling of greek symbols, she counted herself lucky her own finals were now over with, and not nearly so arcane. The cold food wasn't great either, but at least the microwave existed to bring it back from death. Willow wished she'd remembered that before scarfing down half of the beans in suffering, but haste makes waste after all.
She once again had to question the logic of Aisha's shopping trip being the morning after finals. Willow would have vastly preferred to just sleep the day away after that ordeal, and then maybe see if she could talk Piper into a break from her own studies in the evening, to just go fishing from the old pier together. They hadn't had nearly as many chances to do that since her sister got into college, given how busy and stressed she had become, and observing the unkempt, frizzy state of Piper's usually-immaculate mane, Willow couldn't help but feel her sister desperately needed a break. Actually talking her into taking one, though, was surely going to be an uphill battle.
"I've been at this all morning, so I need a break." Or… maybe not?
It was here that Piper finally sat back, rubbing obscure mathematical symbols from her eyes. "Besides, Mum asked me to send off a package, and you need a ride, right?" Willow nodded, disguising her shock by slathering more vegemite on her last slice of toast. (Piper was always far too stingy with the stuff, as much as Willow appreciated her cooking otherwise.) "So here, if you can finish that in the car, I'll drive you. Gotta swing by the post office first, but as long as the line isn't too long, we can head right over after."
"Sounds good to me!" While her sister gathered up her car keys and the aforementioned package, Willow bit into a corner of the toast to hold it as she put away her plate and shot a quick update text to Aisha. Dutifully following Piper out the front door, she realized the toast made her look like some sort of anime protagonist, and chuckled to herself at the ridiculous thought.
~~~
As it turned out, the line at the post office was indeed very long, with apparently half the town having collectively decided to get ahead of the usual holiday rush - only to create another rush ahead of schedule. It took one look at the zig-zagging conga of people for Piper to realize what her next hour or two was going to be like. "Sorry, 'Low."
"It's fine," Willow had said, "I can walk the rest of the way."
Twenty minutes later, sweating under the now-oppressive sun, Willow was regretting that optimism dearly, and felt extra glad she hadn't gone for the makeup.
"Stupid post office line," she grumbled, for the fifth or sixth time in the past several minutes. "Stupid holiday packages." And of course, just as she was going to send off another text to her friend, her phone had chosen that exact moment to die. "Aisha's gonna be so pissed."
"Surely your friend will… under, stand. No?" Something said behind her.
Glancing around, Willow found the sidewalk strangely empty. This wasn't a main road, but it was the fastest way to get to her destination; all the same, in this part of the city, shouldn't there be at least some other people nearby? There weren't even any cars driving past, and the collection of modest two-story office buildings around her seemed to loom higher than they should. The world suddenly felt far too silent and empty, not even the distant roar of traffic audible anymore. The blank screen of Willow's phone taunted her, and she flipped it shut and stowed it with a pit of dread forming in her gut.
"I am… over here," came the strange, lilting voice again, and she followed it to the lip of a narrow alleyway. The hairs on the back of her neck pricked up, and perhaps it was just the hazy noon heat getting to her, but something of the ethereal, just-woken-up feeling of before had returned. Even with the sun nearly overhead, the alley was still cast in shadow, and halfway down, part of the shadow seemed to be looking back at her. "You are… Willow Lowitja… correct?" The voice was all wrong, pausing strangely and emphasizing the wrong syllables in the wrong pitches. In particular, there was something… more in the way it said her name that sent chills down her spine. Wait, her name?
"How do you know my name?" She asked, lightheaded. Was she still dreaming after all? She surreptitiously pinched herself, but contrary to expectation, the pain response didn't feel like a sure confirmation one way or the other.
Whatever it was in the alley moved closer, creeping unnaturally along the brick wall, and her mind struggled to process what she was seeing. It was like a shadow, but not really a shadow; she got the impression of black clouds with lavender undertones, but that wasn't quite right either. She could detect motion in and around the figure, but every time she thought she spotted something more tangible concealed in its form, it just as quickly dispersed again, like her eyes were playing tricks on her. As it drew near, the baleful heat of moments ago was instead replaced by a too-cold breeze, and she couldn't suppress a shiver. The world around her grew ever-so-slightly dimmer, and the sunlight took on a strange filtered hue. Willow took a nervous step back, and it felt like wading a little too far out in the ocean.
"Because… I have been, sent… to meetyou." This time, when the figure spoke, the voice seemed to come from all around, and she could hear layers to it, an undercurrent of incomprehensible alien noises with the stilted English words almost sounding like a poorly-dubbed addition over top. It could almost have sounded funny, were she not on the verge of a full-blown panic attack. Another step back felt like trying to walk on the bottom of a pool, even though the figure was still several feet away. "My… name isNehtotilizΞoatl-ExouΔsia… and I re, quire… your …help."
On the last word, the not-shadow suddenly lurched at her, and Willow was frozen, torn between turning to run or assuming a defensive stance, years of half-remembered self-defense classes she hadn't seriously expected to need suddenly flashing through her head in an unhelpful jumble. If this was a dream, this was the first time in recent memory she had such a bad one. Was this that sleep paralysis thing she'd heard of somewhere? Despite that, she at least had enough presence of self to try stalling. "I, uh… I don't think I can help you… sir? Maybe try someone else. I really, I'm almost late as it is, so uh, gotta go meet my friend right now."
"Wait… Not, yet." The entity(?) was suddenly holding a flat case procured from nowhere, something between a small business briefcase and a large jewelry box. Opening it up almost enticingly, it tilted toward her to reveal seven shiny crystalline bracelets cushioned within, each in a different color of the rainbow. "Plea… ease, take… this. You will, need it …soon."
In contrast to the uncanny overtones of the rest of the scene, the crystals' bright colors were almost irresistibly welcoming, the centermost one almost seeming to glow with an inner light that beckoned her in; Willow found herself drawing closer for a moment before regaining her senses. Dropping the arm she had reached out without realizing, she grinned uneasily, guard raised once more. "Oh, is this some sort of pyramid scheme?" she stated more than joked, forcing a chuckle and a grin (that came out more as an uneasy grimace) in a futile attempt not to let her discomfort show. "Sorry, but my sister warned me about those. I'm not interested!" Whatever this thing was trying to sell her, dream or not, her instincts were screaming at her to avoid like the plague.
"The pink one, the pink one is for, you," it tried again, sounding more frantic as it all but shoved the box into her, forcing her to instinctively cover her face and push the box back away. (Distantly, it occurred to Willow that she wasn't even sure what appendages it was being held with.) The not-shadow didn't give up, though, moving forward almost desperately to match every step she withdrew. "To go-with, your… lovely hair? It would be a… shay-ame, if someth, ing were to happen to it…"
Silence fell for a moment, the implicit threat hanging in the air between them.
Without any further thought, Willow snapped up one leg in a high kick, sending the case flying out of the entity's grasp; as it floundered after the bracelets clattering down the alleyway, she took advantage of this opening to whirl on her heel and flee, pushing through the atmosphere's strange resistance with all the desperation she could muster. The shadow called after her, but she refused to slow down; thankfully the more distance she put between them, the easier it was to move. "BYE NOW, hope I see you NEVER!" She shouted back to drown out its protests, jog accelerating to a full-pelt run as she broke free of its stifling, dreamlike aura.
She kept running, though, not looking back to see if she was being pursued, an ongoing chant of what the hell, what the hell, what the actual hell filling her thoughts. Today had already been shaping up into a weird one, and this absolutely didn't help. While wondering to herself what just happened, Willow also fervently hoped it wouldn't get any worse than this; anything else was sure to be the last straw.
~~~
(Behind her, ExouΔsia glanced down at the scattered bracelets glumly, the glow of the pink one fading away as its intended bearer fled. "Hmm… per, haps I came on too… strongly?" For now, they would have to pick up this mess, and then observe from a safer distance.)
~~~
Thankfully, once Willow finally ran out of breath and came to a forcible halt, she was nearly at the mall, and reality reasserted itself. The surreal encounter, normally something impossible to just brush off, was already fading to a half-remembered daydream floating uneasily in the back of her mind. Birds chirped from rooftop nests, cars rumbled past on busy roads, and she dodged aside to let a biker pass her safely, and she was once more blasted by the sun's oppressive heat; normality was restored. (Even if she couldn't help taking a couple of paranoid glances back, just to be sure.) Even the damp, salty air was more welcoming than usual.
Once she recovered her lungs, Willow set off at a more sedate pace to cover the last remaining distance; crossing a T-intersection once the flow of traffic paused and the walk signal turned on, and then a narrow strip of parking lot wedged between the road and her destination. She had finally arrived! Just outside one of the building's lesser-used side entrances, Willow strode unchallenged to where her friend waited.
Aisha Watanabe was seated at a bench directly beside the doors, arms wrapped around her purse and head lolling back, eyes closed as she dozed softly. Willow approached slowly, a mix of relief and embarrassment at her friend's patience overwhelming any lingering agitation; seeing her peaceful face helped push anything else out of mind for now. "Hey there," Willow chuckled, "I thought I was supposed to be the sleepyhead?"
The next moment, Aisha's purse impacted her side, (lightly packed, it bounced off harmlessly) and Willow found herself cowed by an irritable gaze. "Two hours! And that was accounting for your usual habits! It's past lunch now, and I'm starving and sweaty and-!"
As a petite girl of Asian descent, even with a slight height assist from her boots, Aisha's face barely leveled with Willow's chest; yet all of her friends could swear sometimes that the spirit of some eight-foot-tall oni must have been condensed down into half that space to create her. Cowering slightly at the imposing presence before her, Willow simply offered a sheepish grin as she waited out the expected tirade. Thankfully, as quick as she could be to anger, Aisha was usually just as quick to lose steam, and after a few more light thwacks with her purse, the smaller girl just as suddenly pulled Willow into a briefly-bone-crushing hug.
It seemed the contact was what she needed to relax, muscles softening, and Willow obligingly patted her head with a comfortable grin. (She tried not to think too much about how Aisha kept her face pressed into her bust a little longer than necessary, or the low sniffs right before she finally pulled back.)
"Sorry about that," Aisha finally conceded, gripping her other arm self-consciously. "I should have figured you'd be tired today, I just got too excited about the pla… to start the break off on a good note. Also, maybe a tad hangry. I'm not really mad at you, I can never stay mad at you."
Willow just grinned back, more than familiar with her friend's mood swings. "No hard feelings. Not to make any excuses, but I'm just glad I made it at all, with everything that went wrong on the way."
Aisha raised an eyebrow at this, then glanced down at the faint lipstick smudge left on Willow's zebra top. "Here, let's get inside and find a bathroom so I can fix my face, and you can tell me all about what happened, and we can get on with the d-date."
After the humidity outside, walking into the mall was like a refreshing Antarctic blast. Ducking into the nearest ladies' room, Aisha quickly commandeered one of the countertop sinks, pulling out a modest-yet-comprehensive array of makeup products and setting to work. Even after the 'ravages' of the sun and seaside air, she salvaged her appearance with admirable efficiency - not that she really needed to, Willow felt. For her part, the pinkette posted up against one of the paper towel dispensers and regaled Aisha with a slightly embellished recounting of the morning's difficulties, (or at least, everything that had occurred with Piper present, already not entirely sure if the latter part of her journey had been real or not) while watching in awe as the master did her work.
It wasn't that Aisha wasn't pretty without makeup -she was always pretty, in all honesty, and had even come out of a certain Sleepover From Hell unscathed- but the girl navigated makeup with the ease of a woman twice her age, and treated it as a tool rather than a crutch. She just had this way of building upon her pixie-like features to transform a confident, cute high school senior into a gorgeous, almost seductive young woman, and sometimes Willow couldn't help but feel inadequate next to that. She wasn't lacking for self-image by any means, but Aisha was just on a whole other level completely. To say nothing of her hair, silky violet tresses almost always done up in triangular double-buns, though it seemed extra shiny today.
Surely, she was going to find herself a trophy husband or five the moment they graduated, with the way she carried herself. Even if she usually forgot the boys in class even existed, they certainly didn't forget about her. Willow certainly didn't either, but it wasn't like she…
Glancing back at her friend to distract herself, Willow realized that it wasn't just the hair that seemed abnormally nice; In comparison to her own cute-but-casual outfit, Aisha had gone for a far more… intense look. A shoulderless velvety dress, in a deep purple bordering on black, hugged her slender frame tightly before ending in only a slight flare just above her knees, making way for fancy lace tights that sheathed her legs like a fine layer of smoke. The ensemble was only balanced out into something resembling semi-casual by the usual height-compensating platform boots, and a brighter purple leather cardigan over her shoulders. Willow blinked, questioning if prom had been rescheduled without her awareness. That, and how all-out she was going with her makeup, even compared to normal, was suddenly setting off alarm bells.
"Hey, Aisha?" she asked as her friend packed up, trying to keep her tone casual and wincing when it came out an octave too high, "Is this shopping trip really about the end of the semester?"
Aisha, to her credit, managed to avoid hitting the ceiling in her startled leap. "I-what? Of course not, hahaha! What makes you say that?" For all her sophistication and beauty, the girl was also terrible at not wearing her heart on her sleeve. Shifty eyes and nervous laughter were obvious even to Willow, and even aside from that, she knew her friend too well not to know something was up. None of their other friends had come with… was this supposed to be…?
No, she scolded herself; she shouldn't jump to silly conclusions like that. Swallowing a sudden lump in her throat, Willow decided Occam's razor was the best policy; no need to get the wrong idea here.
Meeting Aisha's gaze, she offered a roguish wink and a supportive smile. "You have a crush on a guy, and want me to come for moral support while you ask him out, right?" Willow crossed her arms and nodded to herself smugly, proud of her powers of deduction. She had no idea who it could be, sure, but such details weren't important right now.
"...Right. Sure." Aisha's tone was flat, and she seemed decidedly put-out about having been found out so easily. Before Willow could offer an apology, however, Aisha just waved her toward the door. "Look, you go on ahead; I just need a second to psyche myself up before we go."
With a sheepish glance, Willow took the hint. Chased by the sounds of splashing and Aisha grumbling to herself, she ducked out through the doors and found a nearby pillar to lean against while she waited. Perhaps it was just how off-balance she already felt today, but now some sort of internal debate warred within her, sudden yet as fierce as if it had raged for years already. On one hand, the shaky certainty in her conclusion and determination to help with her friend's love life. On the other hand, some creeping nameless idea she didn't dare put words to seeped in, only barely held at bay as she resisted defining it.
Sure, Aisha's response didn't quite match up with what Willow would have expected, and it was hard not to let worry for her friend overtake the good mood, but she had to just be overthinking things. Aisha was always an open book and always would be; surely she would have corrected Willow if she was wrong.
Indeed, there we go, she was being ridiculous. Aisha was just anxious about having been figured out so easily, and her mood would swing back around soon enough as it always did. Besides, if she had someone she liked, Willow felt it was only natural for her to support that. Her best, first friend, the girl who was almost as much of a sister to her as Piper was, could at last find peak romance with the gentleman who had finally caught her eye! She could nearly squee at the prospect! She would be a terrible, selfish friend otherwise, after all!
And yet despite those assurances, the rebellious, unthinkable thoughts stubbornly remained, as did the lump in her throat.
~~~
True to form, Aisha came out of the restroom still a bit grumpy but looking determined, and Willow's suggestion of hitting the food court was welcomed immediately. "After all, you already said you were feeling a bit hangry, and it's a great way to keep an eye out for your crush!"
"...Let's just go."
The surprising part, perhaps, was how Aisha marched stiffly past their usual choices of deliciously shitty fast-food mall sustenance, to the one slightly high-end family restaurant that had set up here. But that made sense, Willow reasoned; her nice confession/date attire wasn't exactly the kind of thing to risk burger grease on. Of course, this place had burgers too, but they were fancy burgers. Totally different. Thankfully Willow had no such wardrobe concerns, and so ordered one of those (fancy!) burgers once they reached the counter.
"And how will you be paying?" Willow quickly withdrew her wallet from her purse, only for Aisha to nearly knock it out of her hands as she shoved past.
"Hey, it's your special day, let me treat you!" She protested, only to be glared into submission by the Oni look again. "Eeep, nevermind…"
"I can cover it," Aisha explained, gesturing at the expensive menu listings. "Can you?" Willow simply held up her hands in surrender, and tried not to meet the barista's bemused gaze.
It honestly stung a bit, to be shut down like that, but she tried not to hold it against Aisha too much, given her obvious stress. However, Willow had no such compunctions about holding this against someone else. Whoever it was that was making her friend so stressed, she decided, would need to be very worthy indeed to warrant all this turmoil. She couldn't quite suppress a strange stab of guilt at that thought. All the more reason she couldn't… couldn't something.
Finally settling down in the restaurant's dedicated seating, sectioned off from the rest of the food court's cheaper tables and benches by a waist-high fence, conversation quickly dried up as the two ate. At least, Aisha was eating, wolfing down her food swiftly and savagely; keeping just barely enough decorum intact to avoid messing up her makeup again, but little more than that. Willow hoped it would help.
By contrast, with the (fancy!) burger in front of her, a little purple-flag-capped toothpick sticking out of the bun, Willow found her appetite had apparently gone missing in action. Sure, she'd just recently walked several blocks under the scorching sun, but having that big, late breakfast at Piper's insistence must have filled her up more than she'd realized. Instead, she picked at the (fancy!) spiced fries that came with the burger, deciding to request a to-go box for whatever she wouldn't eat. Weird sourceless guilt prickled at her again, but surely Aisha wouldn't mind the thriftiness, after forcing her not to pay in the first place, right?
Once again seeking reprieve from her overthinking, Willow cast long sweeping glances around the food court, trying to keep an eye out for Aisha's apparent prince charming. It felt almost like fishing, in a way. Except there was no rod and lure, and she was trying to spot someone handsome instead of a fish, and the location was totally different, and really it was nothing like fishing at all but she was going to stick to this stupid metaphor if it killed her, dammit. Finally spotting someone she vaguely recognized from school, one of the more photogenic theater kids who usually got starring roles, she nudged Aisha and pointed his way. "That him?"
Aisha didn't even bother to look, glancing up from the dripping carcass of her food just long enough to fix Willow with a tired stare. "No, it's not."
"You didn't even check!"
"It's not him, okay?"
"Fine, fine, dropping it." Willow sighed. This wingwoman thing wasn't turning out like she'd imagined. "Can you at least tell me what to look for?" Aisha chomped down hard instead of responding.
"Alright, then, what do you like about them?" Willow tried. "Nice? Handsome? Strong? Smart?"
That at least got her somewhere, as Aisha finally unfurled from her hunched position and stared at the ceiling instead of her plate. "To a fault. Very cute, honestly. Ehhhhh… And, uh," she glanced over at Willow, "evidently not." The food seemed to have helped her mood too, genuine fondness breaking through the veneer of annoyance, and even a sour note of disappointment at the end was still paired with a wry smile. Willow grinned back, flooded with relief.
"So not that strong or bright, but just super nice?" Willow tried to picture it in her head; the best she could come up with was a stereotypical cartoon himbo, but with the muscles deflated like a balloon. "I'll admit, didn't think that would be your type. Would have thought you'd go for the tall, dark, and handsome thing more."
"Oh, there are moments of that too," Aisha said airily. "Cleans up real nice, but tends to go for pretty instead."
Willow nodded, studiously ignoring something in that phrasing. Instead, her mental ex-himbo was given long flowing bishounen hair and a feminine-looking tuxedo straight out of a yaoi manga… Oh shit, was he gay? Would Aisha even have a chance with him?
Finally dropping her gaze from the ceiling, "Look," Aisha started.
"Uh," Willow began nervously, at the same time.
They stared at each other for a moment. "You go first," they both said, then giggled. At least there was rock-paper-scissors to fall back on. After the usual count of three, Willow laid out a flat hand, while Aisha held up two fingers and made a snipping motion. Her accompanying suggestive wink did nothing helpful for Willow's sanity.
"Look," Aisha restarted, before taking a deep breath to steel herself. Her hand balled into a fist, and instinctively, Willow reached across the table to hold it. "Look," she said a third time, "there is no guy."
Willow blinked in… honestly, less confusion than expected. In the back of her head, the nameless thoughts were screaming louder, overwhelming the battlements of her Fortress Of Boyfriend. Seeing her incomprehension, unmindful of the internal chaos, Aisha continued. "Willow, it's y…" She took a deep breath. "It's a girl. I'm a lesbian, I'm not into guys at all."
Willow continued to stare at her, smile carefully blank. The fortress was overrun and burning, little thought-soldiers screaming retreat as the centerpiece statue of the cartoon yaoi bishie non-himbo whatever crumbled into rubble.
…Good fucking riddance, honestly. That thing was an eyesore.
"I… I know I never said it or anything, but I thought I wouldn't need to." Aisha elaborated, her giggling a little bit shrill. "I haven't exactly been subtle!"
Suddenly unfrozen again, Willow slumped and let out a sigh. "I'm such an idiot, aren't I?" (There was something in that admission, but she still couldn't let herself draw the connection.)
"A bit, yeah." Aisha shook her head fondly, before suddenly being overcome with nerves and shrinking down a bit. "That's… that's okay, right? Is it creepy? Do… Do you hate it?"
Despite everything else, Willow was stuck by a sudden sense of clarity; her closest friend's fear was palpable. This could not be allowed to stand. Gently grabbing both of Aisha's hands in hers, she met her nervous eyes with a level, caring gaze. "Aisha, it's okay. You're not creepy. And no, I don't hate it. Or you. I could never hate you, and definitely not over this. I think it's awesome." Aisha melted in relief, and Willow let go of her hands so she could bury her face in them.
That settled, Willow was struck by a delayed aftershock of embarrassment. "But really, I am so sorry for being so dense." Well, it wasn't just that. "I mean, I kinda wondered a bit sometimes, but I didn't want to assume." Assumptions were dangerous, and presumptuous, and whether she was right or wrong, acting on them would have hurt her friend either way. Even now, with one assumption answered, she still couldn't afford to entertain anything further. Could she?
"...Besides, I…" Willow added a moment later, hesitating. Time stretched out, Aisha's watery eyes meeting hers, with a little too much hope for just a childhood friend.
"...I found out Piper's bi a couple years ago." Dammit, Willow. Dammit dammit dammit DAMMIT. "If I had a problem with any of that, you would have known then."
Riots started up again in the fortress square as she cursed herself for deflecting at the last second, but it was too late. The walls were being rebuilt anew, just with the banners changed from blue to pink. The hordes of rebellious thoughts were pushed out again to the back of her mind, where they belonged, and that was that.
Despite being unaware of the regime change in Willow's head, Aisha still seemed to pick up on something off in her tone. "Right… cool," she mumbled, and went back to her food.
There was one more question on the tip of Willow's tongue, one she didn't quite know the words to yet but knew would come out right if she spoke. One more chance for Aisha to bare her heart. But whether it was mercy for her friend or cowardice for herself, (Both. It was both.) in the end she swallowed it, and changed the subject.
And that was that. Everything was truly normal again for the first time today, as the two laughed together, poking fun at the tacky Christmas decorations popping up around town. Surfer Santa was clearly going to have a good December. The school was going to have a half-day on Monday, even though exams were done, and there was debate to be had over the pros and cons of playing hooky. Aisha finished eating, Willow packed up her untouched burger in a styrofoam to-go box, and they moved on. Just business as usual, finally.
(Dammit, Willow.)
~~~
[Eyecatch]
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Next Time: Chapter 1 Part 2: Enter Saturday (Fishing For Squid? A Lazy Magical Girl Appears!)
Willow and Aisha's outing is cut short by a sudden monster attack, and that frightening stranger returns. Can Willow finally take action to save her friend, and become Magical Girl Saturday?
Still looking pretty good so far, even if the opening repetition of 'was dark' is a bit on the silly side. But great to see more being done with the MGPA setting, and the characters so far are quite personable and distinctive.
One thing I forgot to ask before is if there's any reason the setting's listed as 'Southeastern Australia' instead of 'Victoria' or 'Tasmania'? I guess saying 'Southeast' is maybe more apparent for people not familiar with Australian states?
Still looking pretty good so far, even if the opening repetition of 'was dark' is a bit on the silly side. But great to see more being done with the MGPA setting, and the characters so far are quite personable and distinctive.
Thanks! And yeah, kinda not feeling that part either, but nothing else I tried to replace it with was working either, so decided to just leave it alone for the time being ^^;
Definitely happy the characters are coming across well, though! : D
One thing I forgot to ask before is if there's any reason the setting's listed as 'Southeastern Australia' instead of 'Victoria' or 'Tasmania'? I guess saying 'Southeast' is maybe more apparent for people not familiar with Australian states?
Mainly kind of intentional ambiguity for the time being, though I may go back and change that later down the line. A couple years and a few drafts ago, I kept waffling back and forth on whether to have this set in the vicinity of Sydney or Melbourne, and pursued a lot of Google Earth views to try to get a feel for both.
Eventually, though, I just decided it was probably safer to do what Spoopy had done with Kikuko's hometown, and make up a new city altogether with a rough idea of where it would be located IRL, and so have the freedom to develop it as a location to serve the needs of the story. So for now, Willow and Aisha's town is somewhere along the coastline between Melbourne and Sydney, but I still haven't pinned down whether it would fall in Victoria or New South Wales. Though now that you mention it, Tasmania could also be an interesting option.
I neglected to comment in detail before due to focus on my own updates, but I enjoy this so far. Your more intense portrayal of the Shades is an interesting choice, and I am enjoying the characters and their interactions. I look forward to the other half of this episode, when it comes.
