Magical Girls and Chtulutech ch.1-3 (Patreon)

Magical Girls and Chtulutech (Luminary: a Magical Girl CYOA)

CYOA Plus 2

Luminary: a Magical Girl CYOA 

Note: I’m taking some liberties. MC will be an in-world OC instead of an Isekai. Mostly for narrative purposes. 

Chapter 1:

The City stretched as far as the eye could see. Skyscrapers stood tall, touching the clouds and asserting the authority of the mega corporates who ruled the City in all but name.

As the biggest megalopolis of the world, covering a good chunk of the Eastern seaboard of the United States, The City was also the richest. Some would think that would make it a paradise.

Iroha Maro, half-Asian and half-European born of the melting pot of culture that was the City, disagreed. 

The moment you squinted, the cracks in the wall started to appear. Strange disparitions, cults forming and disbanding overnight. Multiple accidents that caused property damages almost daily. The fact that the corpos had militias.

Iroha was a freelance journalist with a fairly successful blog and enough subscribers that she could live by. She wanted the truth, and her subscribers wanted a scandal. She would give them both.

First, she had to squirm through a vent.

Infiltrating Pentos Corporation, one of the Triumvirate of the City, was suicidal, but she had to try. She used a public tour as a distraction, moved away from the group and went full movie spy, half expecting the air vents to be spy-proof.

However, it seemed luck was on her side as she could crawl inside and there was apparently no security system. She followed the aeration conducts down, eager to find the secrets the corporation was hiding.

The lower she went, the warmer the air started to feel. Iroha felt her wine-red hair stick to her scalp under the cap she put most of it. She blinked sweat off of her narrow purple eyes. Many people told her that she had a resting bitch face.

After a while, she reached a dead end and she had no choice but to get out. She made sure no one was coming before crawling out of the vents. She dusted off her yoga pants and blazer, then she started making her way down the hallway.

She licked her lips as she felt a distortion, a voice telling her to go back. She ignored it and took out a bunch of sticky notes from her pocket. On them were drawn magic circles and ideograms from religious rituals.

Among the many reasons Iroha believed the mega-corporations were hiding more than regular shady corpos was learning that magic was a thing.

She had stumbled on unnatural things during her investigations. Some of the cults she had stalked had used actual rituals, generally to their demerit. Iroha felt nauseous just thinking back on how an entire room of people had exploded into fleshy bits and no news outlet had said anything about it.

That led the freelance journalist down the rabbit hole, trying to find what was real magic, and what were just rumors and charlatans.

She took one of the sticky notes and breathed on it, symbolically infusing life in it. The paper folded on itself until it became a floating origami bird that quickly flew away to act as a scout.

Iroha only found useful little cantrips like that, really complex rituals needed to be prepared days in advance and activated during the right moon phase, or disturbing cultist spells that would most likely liquify her brain.

Her musings about her lack of spells were cut short as the origami familiar sent her a vision.

A bunch of armed guards were running, but not in her direction. She followed from afar.

The redhead started to hear the sounds of gunshots, and what seemed like thunder. Her familiar’s point of view quickly cleared the situation.

The Pentos security, armed like a SWAT team, were firing upon a white-haired young girl wearing a frilly white outfit with little blue lighting bolts decorating it along with a white cape. She was holding up a wand, and in front of her sparks formed a field that stopped the bullets midair.

The guards quickly jumped under cover as the bullets were fired back. One courageous man reloaded and leaped back to the fray, only to be met with a wand pointed towards him.

“BOLT!” The girl screamed. As expected from the name, a lightning bolt erupted from the stick and struck the guard. He fell over, joining an already present number of cooked guards.

“God damnit! How did she escape?” One of the guards roared before firing a volley, followed by ducking back under cover as his allies followed suit.

Iroha would expect that lightning also meant technopathy, maybe.

Still, the situation wasn’t good for the magical girl, for that was obviously what she was. She was sweating and panting, bruises forming on her pale skin, unlike Iroha’s tanned one.

The journalist watched from her familiar’s eyes, and she decided to act.

She checked a compass app on her phone, and breathed a sigh of relief before starting to cast.

“Under the wings of the Vermillion Bird, fly eastward. Bring the flame, protect the gate, burn down the enemy.”

She felt the magical energy leave her body as her paper familiar combusted, turning into a miniature phoenix. It turned towards the East, which was coincidentally where most of the guards were, and divebombed them.

They were blindsided by the attack that came out of nowhere. The fire bird exploded like a grenade.

A second paper familiar quickly flew in front of the magical girl’s face before turning around and flying back toward Iroha.

Thankfully, the girl quickly got it and followed while the guards were stunned by the explosion. 

Pentos must have outfitted them with the good stuff, because even the ones at the center of the explosion were slowly getting back up. That also said worrying things about the firepower of the magical girl that fried them.

“This way! We need to leave” Iroha called as the girl came into view. This galled her, but if Pentos was under alert, she wouldn’t get her scoop without being caught.

“Thanks!” The frilly-dressed young woman cried without pausing her running.

Iroha turned around, ready to lead the magical girl to the vents.

A guard crossed the corner first, his rifle raised at the magical girl. He shot.

The white-haired magic user raised her wand, sparks shooting off. Maybe due to her haste, instead of stopping, the bullet was deflected. A lightning bolt followed, taking out the shooter.

The magical girl turned back toward Iroha. Her eyes widened and a gasp of horror escaped her mouth.

“Uh…” Iroha looked down at the bleeding hole in her chest. “Bad luck.”

She collapsed.

[hr]

Sera Signa was panicking. Not only had she been kidnapped by Pentos, one of the corporations that were feeding on the power of the Dark, after a hard battle against a monster, but a civilian had been involved while trying to save her. And now, the woman was dying because Sera hadn’t been careful enough. She could have taken that bullet. A magical girl was tougher than a normal human after all.

The woman, slightly older than Sera herself, was laying down, a puddle of blood slowly growing under her, the bullet having gone straight through. The spilled blood seemed larger than it actually was because of the waterfall of red hair that had been hidden under a baseball cap coming loose after the fall, and absorbing the life fluid.

Before she could have a panic attack, Kurosa, her spirit guide, formed from the ether. The being of Light that awakened her magic took the form of a fluffy, black rabbit.

“Worry not, this human also has the potential.” Kurosa’s voice reached her mind.

“Really?” Sera was thanking the Light. She hadn’t totally messed up. “Quick, do it! I’ll hold them off.” She declared with determination.

Thankfully, no more guards came up. This was good because Kurosa wasn’t interrupted. This was also bad, because that most likely meant that they were pulling themselves together, and might even unleash some of their more mystical solutions instead of throwing regular people at them.

Sera sensed a surge of magic. She turned back toward Kurosa and her helper.

The woman was rising in the air, the hole in her chest closing. While that happened, light converged over her, dissolving her clothes to replace them with a magical girl outfit.

It was darker than Sera had expected.

The redhead now wore a black leotard, decorated with white flames painted on her sides. Two metal clasps were on her hips, holding together a purple waist-cape that looked tattered. 

The back of her hair had been pulled back into two loops that looked like rabbit ears, the rest of it falling in two tails.

Her implement formed next, her weapon as a magical girl, like Sera’s wand. Matte black gauntlets and greaves flashed into existence.

Finally, the Soul Gem, a magical girl’s soul in physical form took shape as a purple gem, the same shade as its owner’s eyes and settled under the form of a brooch that held the hair loops together.

Once the light show was over, the redhead was lowered on the ground, stumbling to her feet as she opened her eyes with a groan.

Sera took her armored hands in hers. 

“No time to explain, we need to leave, right now!”

Chapter 2: Enlightened Earth, Burning Darkness

Iroha Maro had always hated lies. She pursued the truth, even when it hurt. And so she wouldn’t lie to herself.

She was dead. 

A bullet had pierced her heart after she had tried to save a magical girl from an evil mega-corporation.

The dead woman floated in a black space. Since magic was a thing, the afterlife certainly must be. She wondered which one was real. Her parents had been accepting of each other's beliefs, so Iroha had been raised on a weird mix of Christianity and Shinto. Was she headed for the pearly gates, the pit of Hell, or Yomi?

“So, this must be Purgatory. Are the gods arguing to see who will get my soul?” She chuckled to herself.

Before she could lose herself in her own thoughts, a light blinded her. When the light dimmed and she could finally see, Iroha’s mouth gaped open.

It was the Earth. The planet floated in front of Iroha. It was beautiful.

And then, the planet pulsed, like a heart. Pure information flooded Iroha’s spirit.

This was Gaia, the World-Spirit of Earth. She had fought the Dark and imprisoned dark Spirits, made them sleep and buried them deep beneath her crust.

Now, they were waking up and Gaia needed help. She would awaken Iroha’s soul like she had done to many magical girls. She just wanted humanity to survive.

All of that and more surged into Iroha’s mind. A Spirit’s intent, impossible to mask, unknown to deceit, truth in the purest form.

And within that truth, Iroha could feel a mother’s unconditional love for her children. Mother Earth wanted her children to survive, to grow even beyond entities that threatened worlds.

Iroha embraced that feeling without a second thought. The Light entered her soul, sparking her magical potential.

[hr]

At the same moment  Iroha was awakening as a magical girl through the spiritual conduit to Gaia  that was Kurosa, and Sera was guarding them, a pulse of Iroha’s magic swept through the lower floor of Pentos’s headquarters.

Deep beneath the earth stood the City’s biggest energy generator. In its center was jailed its fuel.

A pile of blackened branch-like limbs, flesh growing only for it to burst into flames. Again and again, the husk burned, and she would until the last star winked out.

Ste’ve the Everburning slumbered. In her dream, she remembered the scorched remains of planets she visited, the wars fought under her influence, at least until she and other greater Spirits of the Dark landed on this planet and its World-Spirit sacrificed its autonomy to become their jailer.

Even asleep, she was aware. She spectated the rise of humanity, the wars they fought. Ste’ve knew one day, she would awaken and scorch this world, but she would enjoy the passionate flame of Man while she could.

She laughed when Pentos found her, draining her everburning, endless flame for energy, spreading her influence without caring for the increase in bloodlust and lessening inhibitions among the masses.

And now, she was feeling one of Man’s children being drafted on the side of the Light, so close to her prison.

It was true the Light gave power to those Magical Girls. Ste’ve was fire and war. She saw the battles they fought. Some reached ludicrous power for mortals who weren’t drawing power from an outside source.

Magical Girls only used the power of their own soul, the Light being used as a kickstarter for their rise to power.

And yet, Ste’ve also knew how fearful the Light was of power not under its cowardly leash. Some of Man’s potential was crippled during the transformation, the Soul Gem becoming a shell that limited the true height of power they could reach, drowning the Dark in the magical girl’s soul.

For it was what made humanity unique, a mortal race of both Dark and Light, walking the edge between Order and Chaos.

The Light Spirits called by Gaia wanted to uplift humanity to the Light completely. Some of the Dark Spirits would feel glee at adding them to their army.

Ste’ve wanted to see how bright that fire would burn, and how many things it would leave as mere cinders in its wake.

So, when it felt the Light touching the girl’s soul, awakening only her affinities to elements the Light would approve of, The Everburning found the reason why Iroha’s magic caught her attention.

Fire.

The Light drew Physicality and Force from Iroha’s soul., forging her destiny as a bulwark, a great defender, a heroic figure of great strength

But, the dark part that The Light was trying to shackle  blazed to Ste’ve senses. An affinity for Fire so pure that it begged to be let loose upon the world and scorch everything. The lesser affinity for Celerity was also noted, but was barely a thought.

Ste’ve found a titan of flame. A blazing inferno that would suffer no obstacles. It would be such a shame to have that potential strangled in its egg.

She broke the  forming shell.

[hr]

As the light entered her soul, Iroha felt something tug at her guts. She was pulled away from Gaia.

She struggled uselessly, the unseen hook unbothered by her effort.

Iroha landed on the ground. She swiftly rose to her feet, and for a moment, she thought Gaia had been but an  illusion of her dying mind and she landed in Hell.

Scorched earth, a burning horizon, rolling dark clouds, raining ashes. It was a painting of a dying world.

She turned around and beheld the Spirit that had dragged her here.

It was the most twisted tree she had ever seen. Bark burnt black wiggled as its branches grew, yet it would surely never grow too big as for every branch that spawned, another would erupt into blue flames. Will O Wips of those same azure flames floated around it, dancing around the eternally combusting wood.

Iroha was reminded the the truth could hurt as the same pure information-sharing  as Gaia came from the burning Spirit.

Ste’ve the Everburning. One of the Spirits that Gaia had imprisoned long before the birth of Mankind. She was fire, war and passion. She loved destruction and slaughter. She delighted in watching wars. She could corrupt and influence people until they were but warmongering beasts.

But, in truth, she almost never needed to. Conflict was a constant.

She didn’t need to raise a single scorched finger. The fight between the Light and the Dark would continue across the universe until the last spark of life was smothered.

Magical girl was just another name for soldier.

And so, not by benevolence, not for manipulation, just for her amusement, the Eternally Scorching Tree gave her blessing to Iroha, leaving no chain upon her soul, and the ability to remove the shackles of the Light from other Magical girls.

The choice to do so was hers.

In response to the maddening truth, Iroha did the only thing she could. Her soul bare as it was could only be true to herself, much like the two Spirits who couldn’t lie to her.

She kicked the base of the tree.

The Will O Wisps stopped their dance, the branches stopped wiggling. The fire kept burning. 

“I’ll cut you down and buy a house with a chimney just so that I can use you as kindling.” Iroha swore.

She felt herself being dragged back to her body, accompanied by the cackling of a mad god.

[hr]

When Iroha came back to her body, and the magical girl she had helped told her to run, she did.

She also patted her chest where the bullet had hit, only feeling the leotard that was now hugging her figure under the steel fingers of her gauntlets.

“You got the vision?!” The magical girl in white shouted as they ran.

“Yes!” Iroha answered.

“Then you know how to use your power! Use your instincts! You can think about cool spells later! By the way, call me Biri! I’ll tell you my real name after we’re out of here!”

Iroha nodded. Along the information package, there was the fact that magical girls’ identities were hidden by the Light as long as they were transformed.

She heard the sound of footsteps coming from further ahead. Pentos security.

She focused on her soul, which was now located on the back of her head, as the centerpiece of a brooch that was holding her hair up. That was weird, but more importantly was the magic she could draw from it.

As an amateur mage, she had to dig for the smallest bit of power, feeling like she had to force the slightest bit of power out. With time that bit had become larger. Each use of magic made it easier to dig through the wall of her soul for the might that was hidden deep inside.

Now, with her rebirth as a magical girl, it felt like she had been given the switch to a dam she could open at will.

The first guard that came around a corner took a lightning bolt to the face thanks to Biri.

The second had his nose caved in not a second later by Iroha’s armored knee, a surging aura of red and purple cloaking her form and increasing her strength.

A third actually raised a staff. A sorcerer hired by Pentos, most likely. 

Iroha’s body moved almost faster than she could think, as if there was no latency between her brain and limbs.

Still midair, she spun, her foot colliding with the head of the staff, throwing off the corporate sorcerer’s aim. A bolt of energy hit the ceiling. With her remaining momentum, Iroha continued her spin and hit the sorcerer’s face with a flying reverse roundhouse kick.

“Chain Lightning!” Biri’s yell reached Iroha’s ear. 

A literal, glowing chain made of electricity snapped into existence and snaked through the air. It wrapped around a group of guards and shocked them all at the same time.

“Ok, that was easy.” Iroha commented out loud, seeing that there was no enemy remaining for the moment.

“Ah!” Biri’s gasp of horror made Iroha turn toward her.

“What’s wrong?!” Iroha put her hands up, ready for an attack.

“You tempted Murphy!” The lightning user accused, pointing a finger at the red-haired magical girl.

“Are you serious? This isn’t how it wor-GAAH!” Iroha’s retort was interrupted as she had to dodge a fireball coming from behind them.

“What the hell is this?!” The redhead screamed as she saw the interloper.

It looked like a dog right out of hell. Its fur was black as night, and even seemed to be made of smoke. Two orange lights served as its eyes. And worse was the lava foaming around its bared fangs.

It spat another fireball.

Biri was the one to duck this time.

“Told you!” The white-haired girl chirped vindicatively. 

“Ok! I get it! No tempting Murphy! Let’s deal with this mutt!”

Biri grabbed Iroha’s arm before she could charge at the hellhound.

“There are always more of those. We need to go before they can really group up in mass and cage us in. We’re at serious disadvantage here!”

It galled Iroha, but Biri was right. They were literally in the middle of the enemy headquarters, and Iroha knew that Ste’ve was right below them. Forget Pentos, worst case scenario, they woke her up for real and the City becomes a smoking crater.

Iroha was not ready to make up on her promise, yet.

“The vents! Follow me!” 

This time, it was Iroha who grabbed Biri. The redhead focused. Not on the strength boost, Physicality magic as it was called by the info dumped in her brain, but on the opposite. Celerity.

Biri’s feet left the ground as she was carried onward.

Iroha heard more hounds howl, and heat licked at her back, but she sped up, outrunning the fiery projectiles.

Another group of security goons blocked the path ahead. The new magical girl wasn’t fast enough to dodge bullets, but her perception was sped up enough that she could clearly see where they were pointing the barrels of their guns.

She leapt to the side, her feet catching the wall and running along it like a video game character. 

As they passed above the guards, Biri dropped lightning on them.

They reached the vents Iroha came from and crawled as fast as they could.

As they finally got back to the ground floor, they popped out of the vents. 

“Go, go, go!” Biri yelled like a boot camp sergeant. They barged out of a door that gave way to the entrance.

They were met with a firing squad. But it was made up not only of armed men and sorcerers, but also of monstrosities of fire and black death.

She could recognize Ste’ve’s influence on some of them, clearly marked by the flames and scorching lava dropping from their bodies. 

The others were following a more reaper-like aesthetic. Black cloaks, skeletal frame, black blades. It all screamed necromancer cult.

The gates were closed and obscured. The tour group and other civilians were nowhere to be seen.

“Surrender.” A man in a suit ordered while staying behind a group of sorcerers who were focusing on maintaining a shield around him.

They were in deep shit.

“Didn’t ask, don’t care, go fuck yourself.” Biri suddenly said while taking a phone from out of nowhere.

She pressed a button while Iroha gaped at the pure-looking magical girl’s sudden bout of swearing.

A magical circle appeared beneath their feet, and suddenly, Iroha wasn’t in the Pentos building, but in a random alley.

“What the hell?”

“I had a favor in store with a fellow of ours who specializes in space magic.” Biri said while fiddling with her phone. “However, there were too many interferences on the lower level for her to reach us. We had to get back above ground for her to work her magic.”

“Neat.” Iroha decided she was too tired to care. And hungry too. “Wanna go eat a bite while you explain everything Gaia didn’t?”

“Sure!” Biri exclaimed. In a flash of light, she had removed her magical girl outfit. She still wore white, but now it was a school uniform. “Name’s Sera, by the way.”

“Iroha. Iroha Maro.” The redhead just had to think about it for her outfit to change back. Her hair undid itself from the loops and fell straight down her back while she felt her soul gem move to her pocket. Bonus, her shirt and blazer had neither bullet holes or bloodstains. Magic repair for the win.

And that’s how Iroha Maro ended her first day as an adult magical girl: eating burgers and fries with a high schooler who had seen more life and death than her.

Chapter 3: Fast Food and Factions

After taking a table at the nearest greasy fast food joint, ordering and putting a ward that would make people ignore them, Iroha and Sera started their conversation.

“So, Biri?” Iroha asked before starting to chew on a fry.

“As you know, magical girls’ faces are protected by the Light. As long as we don’t transform directly in someone’s line of sight, even your own parents wouldn’t recognize you. However, the same can’t be said of names. So, we decided that adopting codenames was better for everyone.” Sera answered before taking a sip of her soda.

“I get that, but why Biri?”

Sera raised her hand in a peace sign. Sparks danced between her digits.

“Biri biri.” The white-haired gir said with a smile.

“Weeb.” The half Japanese, half-Spanish woman accused with a deadpan.

Sera shrugged it off.

“I had to learn Japanese, so I may use the language if I want to.”

“Have to?” Iroha’s eyebrow raised itself at the wording.

The senior magical girl, in experience if not in age, sighed.

“My full name is Sera Signa.” She said as if it explained everything.

It did.

“Oh. Signa. As in Robert Signa?” Sera nodded to Iroha’s question. “As in the mayor?” Another nod.

“As in the Triumvirate's little bitch, owner of the world’s biggest bribe, the world’s wealthiest sugar baby, that pile of rich excrement. I heard it all, yes.” Sera’s gaze was dull as she listed the many pejorative nicknames people gave her father.

“Yikes.”

“Yikes, indeed. What many people don’t know is that my father’s relationship with the mega-corps is very much a carrot and stick one. As long as he does what they say, everything is good. But I caught more than one veiled threat at my person in an otherwise pleasant conversation. It is insane how nice a person may look as they threaten to drop you in a pit of lava monsters.”

Sera took a very aggressive bite of her burger. Iroha let the silence settle as the white-haired girl chewed her food.

“As for why I learned Japanese, it is one of the many languages I had to learn along with Korean and Mandarin since I have a planned internship with Nyxon.”

It didn’t take long for Iroha to come to a conclusion.

“Political hostage?”

Sera smiled smugly.

“At least, that’s what they think.”

A smile also came to Iroha’s face.

“Real double agent stuff there.”

“I wouldn’t be the first magical girl to infiltrate a corporation.” A grimace overtook Sera smile. “Most don’t take well to the work they need to do.”

“I can imagine.” Iroha winced in sympathy.

“Any other questions?” Sera asked, trying to move the conversation along.

“Oh, yeah. How did you get caught? Did Pentos discover your identity?”

“No actually. I just let my guard down after hunting some monsters. Didn’t expect a squad of Pentos sorcerers to ambush me.”

“By the way, what about the magical girl that helped us escape?”

“Magical Girl Space Rider. She is an independent who prefers to offer her services as a transporter instead of fighting directly.”

“Independent?” Iroha latched on that term. “Meaning there are what, teams, factions, a magical girl union?”

“Kind of all of the above.” Sera admitted. “Most magical girl are independent. We grow stronger the more challenging the battle is, so grouping up is a demerit. Most teams are made of temporary alliances while fighting something too big for one magical girl alone, or when we’re called upon by the Spirits.”

Iroha’s given knowledge flared at the mention of Spirits. Three names that answered Gaia’s call for help and gave birth to the Luminary Project: the birth of magical Girls.

Hasmillim, Remial and Urist.

“However, there are more permanent factions who joined together for different purposes. The big four are the Myrmidions, The Old Guard, the Luminous Knights and the Circle.”

Sera took another sip of her drink before continuing.

“The Myrmidons, or the Pures depending on who you ask, are the oldest and strongest Luminaries, and they do prefer that term over magical girl. They’re very intense. I wouldn’t encourage nearing them until you are a lot stronger. Most of the newbies who try to join end up broken after being thrown into something too dangerous in hope of growing faster.”

That sounded bad. But Iroha had seen Ste’ve. She knew the Luminaries were outmatched, and they needed as much power as possible.

“The Old Guard are a bunch of veterans who didn’t reach the absurd strength of the Myrmidons, but they are strong, well-connected and have cohesive teamwork after so much time spent together. They may give some help to newer magical girls, but they are loyal to each other first and foremost. If you prove yourself loyal and join them, you would always have someone at your back.”

It did sound nice.

“The Circle.” Sera hesitated there. “They gave up. They’re the ones who only hunt lesser monsters, and let the City rot otherwise. If you want to fight as little as possible, join the cowards.”

Sera’s opinion was harsh. Intellectually, Iroha knew that not everyone was made for fighting. However, a part of her agreed with Sera’s criticism.

“Finally, the Luminous Knights. They are a bunch of thrill seekers and hotheads. It’s frankly almost as dangerous joining them as it is the Myrmidons, for different reasons. They throw themselves in danger head first, and only group up in the direst of situations. Otherwise, they are as likely to fight each other as roughing up other Luminaries. Though, their method makes them strong.”

Iroha leaned back on her seat, a single fry hanging from her mouth. The Knights sounded competitive, and it reminded Iroha of her amateur days as a kickboxer. She loved it, the sensation of improving herself, the rush she felt during a fight, the exaltation of victory.

In a way, even her journalism was a fight, a challenge against entities bigger than herself. Every single win, no matter how small, was worth it. Every loss was just an impetus to do better.

And now, the stakes were real.

“I think I’ll do my own thing for a while. I’ll make my own opinion of them.”

“Wise.” The white-haired girl squirmed in her seat for a bit before speaking again. “But know that I am in your debt. If you need my help, I am a call away.”

Iroha’s finger flicked Sera’s forehead.

“None of that. You saved my life too. We’re even, though I won’t refuse your help, you got mine too.”

They smiled at each other.

[hr]

Kurosa, the black rabbit-shaped spirit, watched unseen. He was always ready to appear and guide the Luminaries he contracted as was the role of a spirit guide. To guide Luminaries and relay the words of the Greater Spirits of Light.

Iroha’s transformation was unusual, but so was the situation. Most Luminaries were asked to join and could refuse. The Light respected free will, after all. 

He had feared a clash of personalities. Many magical girls were teenagers and young adults, all of them generally with strong personalities befitting warriors. 

However, his worries were assuaged as he saw the two young women interact.

Even in that city of steel, smoke and horrors, there were beautiful things worth protecting. He was happy that the Light agreed to Gaia’s proposition.

[hr]

Sera had to go back home, leaving Iroha with a whole afternoon to herself. 

The newly-minted Luminary was on a rooftop. She was gazing at her Soul Gem. A literal representation of her soul and also a subspace where her outfit and Implement, her weapons, were stored. 

It also worked as a phylactery, healing her as long as she was supplying it magical energy. A Luminary could only truly die while their Soul Gem was broken.

But there were also ways to reforge a Soul Gem, allowing a Luminary to go back on the fray if she survived long enough after having her Soul Gem broken.

However, there was apparently something different about her Soul Gem. Sera had told her that different Luminaries had different visions during their first time transforming. It would show one or multiple of the Spirits behind the Luminary Project, who could give blessings to the Luminary.

Gaia’s blessing, in particular, focused on protection. Once a day, if the Soul Gem was broken, the Luminary would be fully healed, leaving her a better chance to flee to fight for another day. Secondly, a Gaia-blessed Soul Gem would reform itself only after an hour.

Iroha clenched her Soul Gem as she felt deeper, for the part of her Soul hidden in the Dark.

Ste’ve had given Iroha her blessing too. A berserker rage to increase her power. She just had to let herself fall into it. And the ability to regain magic by absorbing part of the energy of spells and attacks that hit her.

She could already see the synergy between the blessings of the two opposing Spirits, and she could see the trap of relying on them.

She didn’t want to become an easy target that let herself get hit for just a bit of an energy boost.

Right now, all she wanted was to truly test out those powers she got. And like the basic hedge magic she learned, Luminary magic worked the best when based on images, emotions and stimuli.

So, Iroha let her inner otaku take over.

She raised the hand that was holding her Soul Gem high, clenched it tight into a fist and retreated back to her chest, other arm chambered to her hips like she was going to throw a punch, and legs spread shoulder length apart.

“Henshin!” She cried like a Sentai hero.

As her magical girl outfit took form and Iroha felt her Soul Gem transition to the back of her head to hold her hair up, she couldn’t help but think about the Delirium.

A phenomenon that made the magically unaware ignore the supernatural. Even seeing a direct application of magic would just make their brain try to make sense of it in a more mundane way. Between that and the effort of the mega corporations to hide magic and keep it as their own, that meant one thing for Iroha.

“War Song!” She cried, purple aura flashing into life as she used her Physicality magic to strengthen herself.

She could just jump from rooftop to rooftop and most people would just see a seagull or something.

“Hahaha!” The adrenaline junkie in Iroha came to the forefront, making her howl in joy as she felt the wind whip her face.

The day didn’t go as she planned, Iorha discovered far more than what she had expected. And now, she had a new goal. 

“Magical Girl Last Cinder is on the prowl!” She yelled, not only deciding her codename on the fly, but also marking it as her oath. She wouldn’t stop until Ste’ve and her brethren were extinguished embers below her armored soles!