Keeya made a run for it, her brain running at a million miles an hour. Her excitement simply could not be contained in her newly powered body. She had finally, FINALLY been chosen and her debut could not have been more spectacular… well except for the fact that only one guard could link her to the entire warehouse being purged. The guard should be okay at least, Dawn’s Light never hurt humans, though if any of the cages or shelves fell from the force of the blast that was a different story. Dang, maybe no one would know what she had done.

She left the petrification zone and was now at an entirely new set of crossroads than when she entered.

She was a magical girl, and the new law stated that all employed magical kids could get private education, so she didn’t have to go to school anymore. She could go straight back home and give everyone the good news. Or, she could show off to all her friends and classmates. Now that the warehouse had been cleaned out, she could spend her last day of school not worrying about possible emergency evacuations.

The decision had been made. She couldn’t wait to see Gabrielles’ and Matts’ smug faces turn green with jealousy at the sight of her new wand.

The overgrown weeds and potholes didn’t get any better the closer she got to her public middle school. The only thing that did get more noticeable were the advertisements for magical kid companies. Phone number and QR code leaflets advertising the best companies to work for saturated the old electrical poles, and empty store fronts.

Keeya didn’t need to stop and collect any, she already had a plan in place for this very day. Starting with her dramatic exit and subsequent parade out of class on the shoulders of the junior soccer team.

She should have brought some confetti.

The bell rang just as she screeched to a halt and quickly unbuckled her rollerblades. She tucked the wand under one arm and struggled to get her shoes on fast enough. Racing up the stairs and down the empty hallway she heard the unhappy grumps of preteens learning pointless things, like algebra.

She straightened her shirt and backpack and opened the door like a cool kid.

“Miss Greenwood,” a raspy voice said from the front of the classroom.

Keeya beamed; this was it. Holding her wand proudly she walked in, but instead of gasps of awe, her classmates all snickered at her.

“Miss Greenwood, I told you time and again NOT to bring your crafts to class. They are still finding random thumbtacks and glitter in the hallways.”

Mrs. Lin wrapped her cardigan tighter around her thin body. She sighed and gestured for the class to settle down for attendance.

Keeya marched to the front of the classroom. She faced everyone and searched for that warm feeling she felt in the warehouse. Mrs. Lin huffed and Keeya could hear her chair growl across the old, tiled floor.

Undeterred she clutched her magic rod, a golden light cascading from the star. The classroom had never been so quiet.

“Mrs. Lin, look it’s a real one this time!” Keeya said relieved it had worked. Light continued to brighten with waves of golden energy pouring out and washing over the classroom. Several students got up so fast they toppled desks and chairs, and someone cried out in pain.

“Ow! Dex, you idiot, you cut me with your stupid keychain. Look its bleed-“

“Look, her cut is healing!” another girl cried out.

“It’s real! Dawns Light!” Someone else cried.

The classroom erupted with questions as they raced toward Keeya. Mrs. Lin also stood up and seemed to be in shock. Her face paled and her eyes grew wide not with awe or admiration like Keeya had hoped, but fear.

Keeya turned back to her excited classmates, drinking in the attention, but then she noticed someone missing.

“Guys, where is Gabrielle?”

“Probably off collecting more dump trading cards,” One of the older girls said shoving her way to the front.

“Here, let me hold it,” she said reaching out for the magic rod.

Keeya stumbled back and into Mrs. Lin, who seemed to have regained her composure. The golden light vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

“Britney, sit down, all of you go back to your seats.”

Reluctantly, the class fell back into order, until.

“Mrs. Lin! Look its Gabrielle!” shouted Dex. He had his face plastered to the window and was franticly pointing out to the overgrown basketball court below.

Running at full sprint with her bulging backpack swaying her to and fro was Keeya’s best friend. Behind her was what could only be described as a horde of snakes. They poured in from every road and alley, nipping at the poor girls heels.

Keeya hesitated only for a moment, caught in the habit of powerlessness. Like a whip she snapped to action, running from the window and out to the hallway, where moments ago she was daydreaming of her triumphant parade as a magical girl.

Now, sweat poured down her brow, her mouth was as dry and cold as the Arctic as she gasped for air. Blood pounded in her ears, blocking out the sound of several other classrooms erupting in panicked screams. Keeya’s footsteps thundered and beat against the old tile, squeaking like lightning at every sharp turn.

When she made it to the wall of double doors she found most of them locked. Gabrielle made the mistake of looking behind her and tumbled hard. Keeya kicked at one of the doors, focusing all her might on her legs. With a crash the door blew open and smashed the glass of the adjacent door.

But she was going to be too late, the snakes were closing in and Keeya kept sliding on the glass. She wasn’t going to make it!

“Not so fast!” boomed a girls voice. A figure flew past Gabrielle and slammed down on the ground. Dawns light radiated outward like a sonar ping, instantly turning the frontline of snakes into ash.

The figure straightened. She had long braids that swished across the back of her tight army green shirt. She stomped her combat boots, slapping her thighs in a powerful rhythm, Dawns Light pouring out from the base of her feet like ripples on water.

“An idol!” Keeya exclaimed, feeling hope surge within her.

A skimmer of golden light slashed across the side, keeping the snakes from flanking the courtyard. Keeya’s heart skipped a beat as a tall tanned skinned boy with black hair reached down to pick up Gabrielle, who looked like she was going to faint.

“Joy! Keep up the barrage, I saw the mob end at the main street. It’s a dense cluster but we should be able to get through half of them before needing to be recharged,” he said in a commanding but gentle voice.

“Marco, you know I can move like this all day,” the dancing girl, Joy, in front said, and her dance intensified like a drumline, filling Keeya with confidence with each passionate dance move. Breathing in and out Marco readied his stance and then flung himself forward and charged at the mob of snakes. With swift motions he cut them down. Just before he would get overrun by the mob, Joy would take a step and clear the path. Together the two of them hacked and pounded the snakes till the air was choked with their fading ashes.

Seeing so much Dawns Light in person was surreal. She had seen livestreams and videos on the internet for so long that it was weird to see it this close.

But she shouldn’t get distracted now. Carefully picking her way past the broken glass she started scanning for her friend and any snakes that may have made it through. She saw Gabrielle hadn’t moved from the spot where Marco helped her up. She was looking at the front line of magical kids with unfiltered awe. Keeya ran forward and suddenly fell flat on her face.

“Ow!” she cried out in angry pain.

“Now, now you mustn’t interfere”

“Who-“ Keeya began but then the boy, Marco, yelled

“Don’t hurt Civilians Marcella!”

“Yeah! Get your healing butt over here you sadist and give me more juice!” Joy also yelled.

Keeya rolled around to see a girl, about fifteen idly examine her nails. She wore jeans ripped at the knee, and a “I paused my game to be here” gray shirt under a biker leather jacket.  

“Marcella, team healer,” Marcella said proudly. She snapped her finger, and her rod popped out of thin air. It was longer than Keeya’s and deep green, almost black with vines wrapped in an intricate flower shape at the top. Keeya took a closer look and realized the vines didn’t have just leaves but thorns.

“Uh… I thought you said you are a healer,” Keeya said nervously.

“’Bout time sadist!” Joyce called again.

“What’s a sadist?” Keeya asked no one in particular. She looked back up at Marcella. She smiled crookedly and squat down till she was in Keeya’s face,

“It means I like to watch people squirm before healing them.”