Evelyn

  ***

  Bent over Orion’s knee, I couldn’t help but feel displeased.

  “Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!” Orion said, spanking my behind.

  Yep. I was in trouble. Apparently getting kidnapped and punching some guys in the back of the head is irresponsible. To be honest, I was already expecting to get in trouble with her, given the two hour lecture I just got from 38, but I wasn’t exactly expecting an audience. Sitting with a smile on her face and head cradled in her hands as her elbows rested on the table was my familiar Moon Goddess, Celistia.

  As a magical girl, no, rather as a girl, I don’t exactly want to be seen like this by the person who I admire the most. But I suppose that my recent actions were more than a little reckless. I’ll need to be a bit more careful next time.

  “Orion, I think she’s had enough.” Celistia said, watching us warmly.

  Yeah, this is already getting old. I’ll definitely avoid her capture next time.

  “She’s not even pretending to be sorry!” Orion said.

  Oops. She just read my mind. I need to be more careful about that.

  “At least say sorry!” Orion said.

  “Sorry.” I said, though my heart really wasn’t in it.

  “You brat!” She lifted me up under my arms and shook me around. “You aren’t reflecting at all!”

  “I’m sorry, honest.” I said with a monotone voice.

  “Honestly.” Orion sighed, setting me on my feet. “You seriously need to be more careful. You have powers. Don’t be afraid to use them.”

  “I just wanted to see what I could do without them.” I said. “If things had gotten dangerous, I would have used them.”

  “Don’t wait until things get dangerous, use them from the start!” She scolded me.

  “Oh, hush now.” Celetia said. “She’s learned her lesson and, thanks to your training, we know that she can take care of herself.”

  “I know…” Orion once more sighed.

  Run for it! As Orion was distracted, I ran over to Celestia to take cover. My usual tactic that never failed. Seeing this, Orion gave a tired smile and moved to take a seat across from Celistia.

  “What are we going to do with you?” Orion asked, looking at me with warm eyes.

  “I say we let her be.” Celistia said, patting my head.

  That sounds good to me!

  “Please use your words.” Orion said.

  “Oops, sorry.” I said.

  It’s somewhat of an annoying habit that I fall into. Given that both of them can read minds, I sometimes just think instead of saying anything and this annoys them. Luckily this hasn’t happened when I’m awake. You know, a thought occurs. Even though my body is sleeping, my consciousness is awake. Can I possibly be living in two separate realities? Pinching my cheeks, I felt pain like normal, so maybe I am? Though I say that, but when my body wakes from sleep, I’m pulled back to it.

  Ah? The goddesses are looking at me, let’s not think about weird things.

  “No, you're partially right.” Celestia nodded.

  I am? Oh, wait.

  “I am?” I asked.

  “Yeah this, dream world we can call it for simplicity, is another reality that we bring your consciousness when your body is resting.” Orion said.

  “As for why you aren’t mentally tired, simply look here.” Celestia said, holding up a mirror.

  Looking in it, I saw that I was in the body of Melody. I already knew this, so I’m not sure what this adds to the situation.

  “It means that while you are here, you are not Evelyn, but Melody.” Orion said. “To make things simple, let’s just say that we are transferring your memories between bodies whenever we want to speak to you.”

  “Wait, does that mean I’m actually two people?” I asked.

  “Kind of?” Celestia said.

  “Think of it as you having two computers.” Orion said. “One day you use one, and then you transfer the information to the other computer so you can use that.”

  “So if I explode, will you be able to bring me back?” I asked.

  “Why do you think you’ll explode?” Orion asked.

  “I mean, a lot of those monsters that I fought on Earth exploded, so I thought it might happen to me too.” I shrugged.

  “We can’t bring you back from the dead if that’s what you’re wondering.” Celestia said. “So please try not to die.”

  “I wasn’t pnning on it, but thank you for the warning.” I said.

  Good to know. I’ll avoid exploding, not that I ever really worried about it. That's a lie. For the first few weeks of being a Magical Girl, that was probably my main concern. Oh well! Let’s rex for a bit. Although thanks to Orion, I can’t really bring myself to sit down. Let’s rex as is…

  Nissia

  ***

  Several days after we first heard about the kidnapping incident, news came down that the mastermind behind it was caught. It turns out that it was some traveling wizard trying to perform illegal ritual magic. As for who caught them, I’m not sure. It couldn’t have been the magical girl since the guys who were involved were found beat up pretty bad. The ongoing theory is that some people ambushed them in a warehouse. After all, almost all of them were hit on the back of the head and one of them was said to have been pretty beat up. Anyway, my point is that someone else did a game event, so we don’t need to worry about it.

  Not only that, but recently Lloyd has been seeking me out to talk to me. He’s getting increasingly suspicious of Evelyn. I can’t bme him. She’s not at all acting like she should. To put it simply, she’s not actually that bad… That’s not a bad thing mind you, but given all the information we have, she should be evil and use her connections to bully me and others. Instead she’s kind of just keeping to herself and only talking to a few people. Not only that, but given her poor health, I don’t think she even has the ability to be the viliness.

  I mean, just look at her. Most days she looks tired, and her magic ability, which I’m sure in the game was great, is really weak. Like, I’m sure that if she wasn’t a noble she probably wouldn’t even be here. More and more as the days go by, I’m starting to think that we aren’t in the game, but rather a world that is simir to the game. I mean, that would expin the Magical girl and how the guards and soldiers aren’t useless to crimes and defending the country.

  When I think about it, I don’t even remember the st time I heard of demons attacking towns. That’s a big part of the game, so why isn’t it happening? Let's look at the evidence we have. Firstly, the magical girl. Whenever she came by the bakery I would question her to see if she’s reincarnated. If she is, she isn’t from my Earth, nor is she from any of my friends’ Earths. None of them had magical girls or any magic for that matter. As far as I can tell, she might actually be from the moon. Mostly because her magic is literally from out of this world, she doesn’t age, and she even said that she was from the moon. So, I’ll just accept her words at face value.

  Next is Evelyn. Yes she did get into an accident where she lost her parents, but she’s not acting out in the slightest. Yes there are bad rumors about her, but given her behavior at school, I can’t really believe them. It’s not only me, but my cssmates as well. A few of them started talking with her between csses. Although I haven’t done so myself she seems like a normal, if not sickly, kid.

  Next is the game’s story line. There are a lot of fgs missing. To start with, the moment any of the saints got tested, the hall should have been filled with a bright golden light. Out of the four saints here, none of us managed to do that. So, we may be weaker than the game versions of us, or we aren’t in the game. And for the other fgs that get us to become close friends with Lloyd and Lna, such as with Evelyn’s bullying, it simply didn’t happen.

  Well, there is a chance that Evelyn is reincarnated like us, but I don’t think so. Firstly she isn’t acting like she’s from Earth. All of us reincarnations have odd quarks. Rather they are odd here, not odd on Earth. Even Lna, who didn’t know about the game, shows them. Evelyn has none of that. From what I can tell she acts like every other native here.

  So, the only solution that me and my friends came up with is that we aren’t in the game. Just in a world that is like the game. After all, there are at least four different versions of Earth, so what’s wrong with a world that is somewhat simir to a game?

  Having come to this conclusion, me and my friends decided to simply live life without worry. After all, if the Demon Lord does appear, the Magical Girl will deal with him. Speaking of the Magical Girl, dresses like her costume have been appearing in stores tely. I wanted to get one, but they’re too expensive for me. Me and my friends were pnning on saving up to get some for special occasions. They are cute after all.

  That aside, today is a big day for our magic css. Today we are going to be tested with our element of choice. And to keep my holy magic hidden, I’m going to use my Nature magic! It’s gotten really strong tely so I’m excited to test it out!

  Standing in the field, opposite of a target, I take a deep breath. Pointing my hand at the target, I dropped a seed and began to chant.

  “Oh vines of tremendous power, bring forth thorns and penetrate my foe!” I said.

  I’m not going to lie. When I first started out I couldn’t help but cringe every time I heard a chant but I’ve long since gotten used to it. Not only that but it seems like chants aren’t strict words or formus that I need to memorize. All you need to do is think about what you want to happen, maybe give it some words to help visualize it, and give your “chant” some magic. As for why I dropped the seed, well it just gives me a pnt to use without using up all of the grass and other pnts in the area.

  At my words, a rge vine grew out of the ground in front of me. Standing as tall as me, it grew thorns facing the target, and with pops like firecrackers, they were unched at the target. The target, being made out of densely woven straw and backed with wood, didn’t fare so great. My thorns tore into the straw and could be heard striking the wood. As soon as it was done the vine, which I named Greenie, sank into the earth, leaving only an indentation of where he came from. Good job Greenie!

  “Large amounts of surface damage, with damage to the backboard.” Mr.Hopkins nodded. “Excellent work. You passed.”

  I would have liked it if he was a bit more enthusiastic with my work, but oh well. I passed and that’s all that matters. Walking back, I take a seat as another student lines up to take his test. Given all of the work we’ve done I’m sure that all of us will pass. Although I say that, I can’t help but gnce at Evelyn. At this point, it’s no secret that she has weak magic. Not only that, but she’s missed many of our csses because of her health. Despite this, everyday she pushes herself to getting better. Many of our cssmates can’t help but respect that, and some of them secretly cheer her on. Me included. Looking at her today, she looks healthier than usual. That’s good, but I worry that she may push herself too far.

  I’m not the only one it seems. As students take and pass their test, they look increasingly worried as it draws near to Evelyn’s turn. It seems like some of the students behind her are giving her encouragement. Despite this, or maybe because of this, she looks to be nervous. Eventually her turn comes. Come on Evelyn, you can do this. I believe in you!

  Facing the target, she took a few breaths to calm herself and pointed at the target with her index finger. Huh a glove? Some of our cssmates use gloves to protect their hands, especially when using magic that is close to them, or when they infuse them into objects such as weapons. Knowing how dangerous magic can be, I’m gd that she’s using it.

  “Holy light of divine strength.” Evelyn chanted. “Gather at one point and pierce my foe!”

  Looks like she’s doing a smaller spell than most to penetrate the target. It’s probably her best bet to get through the target. A small golden light, about the size of a gumball appeared at the tip of her finger and grew steadily brighter. After a moment the magic spent gathering, it shot forwards at the target faster than my thorns. Entering the straw, it did little damage to the surface, however hearing the impact and seeing that splinters flew out of the back, she achieved her goal.

  “Concentrate your magic into a single point to penetrate the target.” Mr.Hopkins nodded. “Good job. You passed.”

  She did it! Hearing this, Evelyn smiled that graceful noble smiled, though unlike many others this one didn’t look fake. Like many of our cssmates, as she walked by, I congratuted her. Seeing her smile from up close, I couldn’t help but blush. Seeing our css congratute her, I can’t help but be happy that we aren’t following the game’s story line. I know we can’t predict the future because of it, but it seems to be looking bright.

  Lloyd

  ***

  No no no. This isn’t right at all. Seeing the css congratute Evelyn, I worry for the future. Knowing that the Demon Lord will eventually rise, I worry about what will happen. If we were following the game’s story line, then at least we would know what to expect. However with how things are going, I’m not sure we can.

  Evelyn sat down with a smile on her face and I suppressed a sigh. Obviously she isn’t the viliness that I expected and I don’t think there’s anything I can do to fix the story line. That’s annoying, but not necessarily bad, since Evelyn doesn't look like she'll be a threat to us or the saints. So, what do we do now?

  Evelyn

  ***

  I’m not sure why, but tely people in css have started to interact with me. Normally they just leave me by myself, but now they are going out of their way to talk to me. I wonder what changed? I’m not compining! Everyone is acting really nice. I’m gd we can finally act like cssmates. Anyway, school aside, I’m flying through the night sky. Evil never sleeps, demons especially so. That’s not just me saying it, but it’s a well known fact. Demons, for whatever reason, don’t sleep. They enter periods of low activity modes when their movements are sluggish, but they are always awake.

  Fun facts aside, I’m currently heading out to defeat demons abroad. Some envoys came to talk to regents to ask them about me. Apparently outside of The Empire, I’m seen as one of the Empire’s soldiers. Well, technically “I” am, but not the current me. Melody belongs to those who are in need, and as long as it isn’t financially, will go wherever she is needed! That being said, I can’t be everywhere at once, nor can I see or hear everyone in need.

  Because of that, various kingdoms are preparing ways to contact me in emergencies. It won’t be for every little demon sighting, but for rge threats that normal people can’t deal with. In the meantime, I’m forced to pick a kingdom and go wild for a bit. Although I’m hoping to go home tonight, I’m starting to doubt it when I see more and more signs of demons. Luckily these guys are weak, so I can deal with them quickly.

  Gaining some altitude, I raise my staff into the air as a single, rge, pale moon appears behind me.

  “Evil!” I said, gathering power. “Be gone!”

  Beams of light shot out of the moon in every direction for as far as the eye can see. From pces far in the wild, to pces near small settlements, every demon was targeted. Not even those hiding in caves were spared from the light of the moon. Faint cries of demons echoed out, but they will be far from the st. Given that I have an entire kingdom before me, I take a quick breath. Time to get to work!

  Grayburne