Welcome to Windy City, Chapter 1

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The corpse was on the street, and it wasn’t my fault.

My journey started well enough. I managed to catch an angkot despite being around midnight, and after some fumbling, I managed to explain to the driver that I planned to go to Panggung street - I just moved, so I didn’t know the street name of my new house. Afterward, there’s really nothing to note. I read my book, the driver drove the car, and all’s right with the world.

At Sukarno-Hatta intersection, however, things got a bit bloody. Oh, you probably can guess what happened. We hit something, the driver hit the brake hard enough I almost got thrown out of the car, and the car stopped after it hit the wall of the graveyard near the bridge. The driver turned to me, his face sweaty, then said, “What the hell is that?”

Obviously, I didn’t know what happened. Still, the crack on front window, and the fact there were some blood on it, pointed to unfortunate conclusion that, whatever it was, it was a living being. Likely human.

Or maybe a very large bat. You never know.

Now, I really didn’t want to be responsible for killing people. So, I told the driver to stay put, then got out of the angkot before running to the intersection.

Of course, that’s when the driver re-started the car and blazed away. What a dick.

Looks like I got a situation here.

***

‘Well,’ I thought to myself. ‘At least she is still in one piece.’

Now, I love my parents, and I believe I attended excellent schools when I was a kid. None of that prepared me to deal with this kind of situation, however. Still, they did teach me how to deal with unexpected events, and I’m fairly sure this one counts. What’s the first step? Observe?

There were no vehicles or pedestrians in sight, which, in my opinion, is extremely unusual. Sukarno-Hatta intersection is a very busy street, since Brawijaya University is located right on it, and I mean it literally - one of the road goes through Brawijaya’s campus. On top of that, there’s Economy Polytechnic as well, plus all the shops, stores, and cafes that deal with students and their bodily needs. Oh, it is also one of the main routes to go to Batu, our neighbouring town that functions as one big-ass theme park for everything imaginable on this side of Indonesia.

In short, it is a very busy intersection.

So why was it empty?

I looked again at the corpse. The girl was young, very young - if I had to guess, she’s probably ten years old or so. She wore a sweet lolita dress, the kind with so many details it would need an entire page to describe (and I’m not doing that). Suffice to say it was pink, with white highlight, and move on. It was marred by the pool of blood around her, however. It should be red, but the street light and the shadows gave it some kind of blackish, yellowish tint. I… doubt she could be saved. But I could try, right? At least I should call the nearest hospital.

I unlocked my phone, hoping I’ve saved the number for the local hospital. My phone remains dark, however, and I stare at it, feeling vaguely cheated.

Of all the times to get finicky, you choose this one, phone? Why? Did I ever do you wrong? Alright, I did abuse you quite often, but still!

I shake my head. Right, don’t get distracted. I need to call the hospital and see if they could do something about her, no matter how minuscule her chances were. I pressed the unlock button again, which achieved similar results. Annoyed, I opened the casing and yanked out the battery, before slotting it back and turned it on. Or trying to, anyway.

The display remained dark.

I sighed, putting the phone back in my jacket. Maybe I could knock on one of the stores and ask help from them? And see if they could call ambulance to get her. My eyes inadvertently drifted back to the body, and I froze.

A white cat was pacing near the corpse, occasionally sniffing at her. Looking closer, I realized there’s something… off, about the cat. It’s actually white, for one - most feral cats tend to be grayish-white, since they have no owner (servant?) to bathe them. For another, its body was too smooth - I swore it had no fur.

Then the cat looked at me, and I could see it was not a cat. Oh, it got the basic anatomy right, but there were simply too many things wrong. It had big red eyes that dominated its entire face, with four short, stubby legs, without paws. Its tail was longer than its body and thicker than it should be. And it looked at me.

“Were you the one that did this to her?”

I jumped when I heard the voice, and fearfully turned, looking around if someone new was present. I saw… nothing. No trace of another person. The street remained empty.

“Please turn back. We have much to discuss.”

Wait. Don’t tell me…

I turned, to look at the cat-thing incredulously. Wait, it was the one that spoke? How the hell could it speak?!

“Technically untrue,” the cat-thing replied, and I stepped back when I realized it read my mind directly. “That one is correct. This vessel does not have the necessary organs for generating sound.” Then it floated, still looking at me. “First, I must determine if you are the one that caused her to die.”

What? No! I mean, I’m just a passenger! And I wanted to call a hospital, but my phone is blacked-out!

“Apology; forced overlap zones usually have a deleterious effect on cell phones,” it replied, glancing at the corpse again, then at me.

Forced overlap zone?

“It is none of your concern,” it said, now looking at me with… scrutiny? I’m not sure, I didn’t have much experience determining how cat-things express themselves. “Regardless, this event is quite problematic for both of us. You will certainly be detained by police, subject to questioning for several hours, and your parents may need to bribe them to make the process faster.”

Right. Well. That’s true. I mean, bribing the police was kinda how I managed to pass my driving test without, you know, actually driving. Or having much experience for it, anyway. And yeah, I’m aware of that fact - that’s why I stick to public transportation, like angkots.

Just my luck today it hit a magical girl.

What? Come on. She’s got a frilly dress, and a cat familiar talking to me. It was basically a magical girl. Or ultra-rich girl that cosplayed as a magical girl with… I don’t know, an expensive animatronic to act as her familiar?

“I am not a familiar, nor am I animatronic,” it said, answering my accusation. Its tail twitched madly. Did I manage to make it angry?

“To get back on topic,” the not-familiar-cat-thing continued, ignoring my irrelevant thought,”I am currently pressed for time, and there will be a major supernatural event at the end of this week. That means, I need a replacement for her. Fast. And,” It looked to me again, this time more intense than before. “Would you like to be a magical girl?”

***

“Whoa whoa whoa,” I said, backing away from the not-cat. “Right, I know how this goes. You will grant me my wish. Then I will be magical girl, before shortly dying or getting turned into a monster, while my wish backfires because I’m stupid enough to not to think about the consequences. That’s how it goes, right?”

It twitched, again, and this time I’m pretty sure it was actually annoyed. “Wish granting depends on the negotiated contract,” it replied. “The same thing with dying or turning into a monster. Technically, you do not need to fight… monsters, if you do not want to, though it is inadvisable.”

I nodded to myself, feeling vaguely pleased. “And that’s because every magical girl is an addict, and if they don’t fight monster, they’ll die! Only monsters can satisfy their need!”

“Incorrect,” the cat-thing replied, shooting down my speculation, “There is more to the duty then simply killing monsters. You merely have to prevent supernatural intervention to mundanes. How you achieve that, I leave it to you.”

I narrowed my eyes at the not-cat. “That’s not all of it, right?”

It nodded. Well, bobbed up and down in the air, still floating beside the cbody. “That is correct. While the overall goal is to prevent supernatural intervention to mundanes, you will almost always have a specific situations that must be resolved, preferably sooner than later.”

I put my hand to my chin, mulling over on the words. “So… what you are saying is, magical girls are troubleshooters?”

“Guardian,” it replied, correcting me, ”Not magical girl. Troubleshooter is sufficient title, but not entirely correct. Guardians are allowed to search for and resolve supernatural issues instead of reacting to situations as they arise, and that would be my preference. However, that is optional.”

Hmm. Alright, it sounds kinda dangerous, but the perks of the job are probably worth it. First, though… “How will you enforce compliance?” I asked the not-cat. “I mean, what’s preventing a Guardian from, well, contracting, getting the wish and the perks of the job, then gallivanting around abusing their power?”

“Nothing,” it replied. “However, using magic outside of transformation required energy that can only be gained by combating corruption. In addition, there is directive to intervene in the form of mild compulsion that will leave said magical girl feeling… unfulfilled, should they choose not to follow it.”

I winced. That’s just mean. “Alright, so… what’s in it for me? I mean, if I have to risk my butt guarding the world or plane or whatever, and monster-hunting on the side, what would I gain for accepting your contract?”

The not-cat swished its tail. “Normally, I can grant you your wish…”

“… But?” I prompted the cat-thing.

It obliged. ”I will not offer you the usual magical girl template. Instead, I want to try a new transformation template. It will be weaker at the start, but has standard upgraded human capabilities, theoretically-unlimited growth potential, plus immortality,” it stopped for a while, waiting for me to say something. Wait, immortality? “Simply put, the new template needs an immense amount of resources, and I cannot grant wish in addition to applying the template.”

“Wait, wait,” I shook my head, then said, “Did you just say immortality?”

The cat-abomination bobbed in the air, “Yes. The new template confers true immortality, or as close as I can make it.”

I raised my eyebrow at it, “Can you be more specific? I mean, is it unaging-but-weakened body, or unaging-but-can’t-heal wound, or what?”

It didn’t reply. Instead, the not-cat just floated there, looking at me, then said, “Is it customary for all your immortality types examples to be unpleasant?”

“Well, look, it’s just too good to be true!” I replied, feeling a bit defensive.

“Does having to wage eternal, hidden war not count as downside to you? No matter,” it said, pausing for a moment. “You will not age, and should your body be killed or destroyed, you will reform in a safe place. Based on available information, it is likely the older you are, the longer it will take to reform your body.”

I shrugged. “So I still have to avoid being killed. Well, that’s what I usually do anyway. And ‘based on available information?” I look at it incredulously, “Does that means you don’t know for sure?

“I am not a familiar,” it testily replied. Still in the flat tone. It is mildly amusing. “While my experience is immense, this is the first time I have attempted making an immortal Guardian, which means it is almost certain that there will be unforeseen side-effects despite calculations. Regardless, do you want to accept the contract or not?” It said, this time looking somewhat impatient. “Please do not dally. I am working on limited time.”

I furrowed my brow. “Limited time? What-”

The not-cat interrupted, “I refuse to share any details unless you have contracted,” it says, somehow making its tone flatter. I have no idea how it does that.

Looks like I have big decision to make.

Might good idea to sit down at least, though.

I looked away from the cat-thing, observing the road again. The streetlight stain everything yellows. And the road remains empty, which creeps me out.

Maybe it is a side-effect of that… overlap thing?

I shook my head. This is decision-making time, can’t let myself distracted. So, I walked to the nearest sidewalk, and sat on the curb. Then I think.

First, let’s see what I’ll get. Being a magical girl means, well, I’ll get magic. It is in the title. So, fair guess I’ll be able to do magic. Still, I’m unsure what kind of magic I’ll get. Magic didn’t save that poor girl from getting hit by a car after all.

Not to mention I don’t even know just what the hell magic is. And how magical girls will use magic. Oh well.

It mention upgraded capabilities, so maybe the magic granted that? I mean, normal magical girls manage to stay perky despite roaming the night, fighting monsters after all. At least, that’s how it is depicted on television.

For all I knew, they only did it at the weekend.

Oh, and don’t forget the actual fighting - all that leaping around, swinging spears or swords or shooting magical blasts is probably quite taxing for a normal human, and they do that once every episode. Unless your genre is slice-of-life, anyway, but considering the cat-thing’s statements, looks like my genre is magical girl warrior.

Let’s be frank, though, the actual prize is immortality. Living forever opened up quite a lot of possibilities, and adding unaging on top of that meant the offer was very, very, tempting. Hell, I’ll still favor immortality even if that meant I’ll be a preserved elderly old man with extremely weak body that I’ll only be able to interact with the world via screen. Yeah, I wanted it that much.

But that’s the benefit.

Second, let’s consider the costs. Foremost being I’ll cut myself from my support network, and unlike moving, this would be complete. My parents won’t recognize me. They’ll be worried when they realize I’m not coming home, and likely depressed when I really don’t come back. Same with my sister - we weren’t as close as the siblings depicted in movies, I guess, but certainly close enough she’ll be sad.

And that’s just counting immediate family. What about my uncles and aunts? Or my cousins? As the first child of a first child (well, on my father’s side at least), my family put me up on a pedestal. And why not? I may be a bit of a shut-in, but I performed excellently at school, speak eloquently due to immense amount I’ve read, and know English well enough.

Also, I’m a male. That probably counts for something.

Of course, the pedestal got somewhat tarnished when I dropped-out not from one university but two. Still, there’s enough goodwill, that even when Bram, the cousin closest to me and basically my unofficial little brother, declared he didn’t consider me as his hero anymore, I’m still respected in family.

I shared similar sentiment, obviously. And I encouraged him to develop it.

In short, my disappearance will be noticeable to the whole family. Maybe breaking the masquerade would be worth not making them sad? I mean, sure, there’ll be a problem with me being a (little?) girl, but at least they’ll knew I’m not a corpse somewhere in a ditch.

I glanced at the not-cat thing, who didn’t seem to look at anything in particular. It just floated there, beside the body, making lazy, slow rotations with its face in my direction. Naaaah, if the masquerade can be broken that easily, I’d read its exploits in the newspaper.

Fair guess the cat-abomination had some way to enforce the masquerade, then. And well, it’s bad form to start working under your employer by breaking one of their more important rules.

It never said anything about masquerade rules, though. Hmm.

As for friends, well. This was far simpler: I typically have one close friens in every city I visited, plus scores more casual friends and acquintances. All of them was specifically picked to not care if I dropped off the Earth for a long while. Mostly because I pulled that stunt every couple months - I’ll get involved in a new community, too busy to be contacted or hang-out, then I’ll suddenly resurface and reconnect as if I was never gone.

They won’t notice my passing. Not much, at least. Of course, they’ll wonder if I suddenly stop ranting on Facebook or Twitter. They may tried to contact me IRL, if that were the case.

By then, I’ll be long gone.

In short, if I take up its offer… My family will be sad, especially my parents and sister. My friends wouldn’t care, until they know I’m really gone. Then… well, I’ll be a cautionary tale they told to their kid, maybe. About a friend of theirs that suddenly gone, after dropped-out from university.

Dammit, I forgot about the last part. I wondered if it’d give my parents ideas. Ideas that I offed myself due to grief. That’d make them even sadder than I previously though.

I sighed, and lay my back on the sidewalk. It is surprisingly warm, and sandy. I looked at the night sky, and ask the most important question: Is it worth it?

Hell yes it is.

I wouldn’t die, forever. If I did, it won’t stick. I wouldn’t have to worry about getting old and the degeneration of body that comes with it. I’ll be able to learn any skills I wanted. I’ll be able to visit the kind of place I previously only sees on television. And I’ll live long enough, I’ll witnessed mankind conquer the final frontier.

Mind made-up, I stood from the sidewalk, stretching my neck, and cracking my knuckles. Then I walk toward the not-cat. It hummed, then floated higher until it was at the same height as my face.

I took a deep-breath. “I accept your offer.”

“Thank you,” it says. “Please hold out your palm.”

Confused, I offered it my palm. It shivered, there’s gurgling sound, then it puked on my hand.

I was horrified, at first. Then I heard a clinking sound, and I could feel several cold, hard coins hitting my palm. I looked at my hand - a large gold coin, etched with a text in language I’ve never read before. Three silver coins, bearing an eye symbol on the both side, no other decoration. The last is four bronze coins, with no overt identifying mark.

“These will allow you to redirect some aspect of your transformation,” the not-cat said, and my fist instinctively tighten. I wonder if there are other uses for those? “There are. Those uses are not relevant right now, however. Please use those wisely,” the cat-thing replied, for the first time sounding distracted.

I want to reply, see. Maybe something witty. And snappy. But my word is cut-off when my body is literally burned by white fire.

As far as dying goes, it was fairly cool.

***

It isn’t that bad.

I mean, yes. The beginning was pretty bad. Hard to top ‘being roasted whole-body while alive’ in pain scale.

The first thing that tugged my awareness was a sense of knowing things. Of knowing how the magic would flows, changing me. Of knowing how it would reshape my body. Of knowing how it would add its own modification, that would gives me magical capabilities. It’s… really hard to convey into words, so I hope I’ll be able to do it justice.

First, it changed my body. My previous human body wouldn’t be able to handle the granted power, nor stand the rigor necessary of Guardian job. I mentally laughed when it was done rebuilding my body.

She was tall, around one-hundred eighty centimetres or so, with wide hips and small waist. Her breasts was slightly bigger than softball, which put her somewhere above average. And her face was…

Well.

She had a thick lips, with bigger-than-average nose, and pronounced cheekbones. Her eyelashes were either longer than most other woman I know, or there are more of them - I’m not sure. Combine those with heart-shaped face, and waist-length, slightly curly black hair, and light brown skin, I could defnitely state she was a beauty.

She’s also myself. I mean, my old body. Trimmed of unnecessary fat, then the gender-flipped.

I knew that, because I could see my mother on her lips. I could see my father on her nose. Me and my sister shared the same eyelashes. Even the height: my aunt, mother of Bram, was taller than anyone I ever meet.

Man, this magic power was surprisingly not very creative. Probably why it gave me free reign to change it however I wish, so long two criterias were met: she must be late teenager, and she must be able to pass for young adult, if necessary.

That’s easy to work with.

I looked at her again, thinking what kind of role she’s supposed to accomplish. Looking at the restriction… Well, she looks like big-sister type, right? The one that’s supposed to cared the whole group, and all that.

Bah. I’m bad at handling children. Still, I could dig being a big-sister.

Let’s go with that.

First, I widen her hips. It helped set-off her already tiny waist. Then I added several bounces on her ass, while making sure it stays firm - I have no plan on worrying about whether my ass is fat or not.

As for the breasts, well.

I made it as big as possible.

It topped-out around the size of watermelon, if you are curious. The small one, not the very big, import quality one. I tried to go beyond it, but the process didn’t allowed it for some reason. Oh, alright, those babies were enough to give breast-envy for other magical girls. I counted that as a win.

… I wonder if it’s a wise thing to do? Wouldn’t it hinder me when I’m fighting?

Meh, whatever.

The last thing to change was the face. Hell, to be honest, I’ll even go as far as saying it should be the first. Looking like a gender-flipped version of my old body was cool and all, but it would run into the risk of my family and friends recognizing me. And then just kiss the masquerade good-bye.

So, I reached toward her face, intent on modifying it.

Except I can’t.

Not because the process didn’t allow it. It was because I just… couldn’t. It was mine. Me. Mine. If… If I changed it, I’ll really severed my ties to my family. And I just… couldn’t.

Turns out, I’m surprisingly sentimental. Not pragmatic. That was not a smart thing to do.

I sighed. Well, if I couldn’t change my face… Let’s change anything else, then. I briefly considered making my breasts even bigger, somehow. If people saw my breasts, then they wouldn’t focus so much on my face, right?

Nah. Any bigger, and I’ll look ridiculous. Let’s think of something else.

Hair seems like a safe bet, so I worked. It is already nice - thick, with slight wave. The thickness was from my father, and the wave was from my mother. My sister shared the same hair, too, though she wore jilbab whenever she went outside; chances are, you’ll never see her hair.

I changed the color to bronze. Then I reconsider, before changing it to red. Might as well goes the whole hog, right? On that note, I decided to made my hair extra-thick, and extra-long. It’d probably reached my ankle now, and there were, in fact, enough hair I’m reasonably certain I could pull mega-twintails style previously reserved on anime characters.

Mind, I’m not sure how to tame that much hair. Or maintained it. But hey, worse come to worst, I could always cut it. Right?

When I’m sure there were nothing more to change, the magic stir, continued the process. It looked at my psyche. It looked at my memories. Then it looked at the new body I crafted, seeking the path of least resistance to awakened my power.

It passed through several elements. I saw fire, and I saw a girl, her long hair in twintails, wearing scarlet wedding gown, leading a group of other magical girls, scouring and burning every enemies on her path. I saw magical girl that controlled plants, how she entangled her enemies, or making spores to track them, or how she helped design new, better variants of crops to help those in need. I saw magical girl with silver tongue, talking her way inside the nest of monsters before unleashing terrible power that rival scarlet-gowned magical girl. And I saw…

Too much.

Each path not only show the kind of power I could get. It was also a documentation of sort. To remind me what I could achieve. To remind me what others could achieve. And there were… cautionary tales.

Magical girls that distort themselves when they reach too high, wanting more powers, and constantly starved as their body demanded more to fulfil their ability. Magical girl with compassionate heart, who wanted to keep everyone safe and ended-up stealing their will. Magical girls that cares about Earth so much, she forgot human is part of Earth, too.

They were reminder that the power granted to us was not safe.

Finally, the path stopped in one element. It protects; it heals; it supports. That’s what my power do. That’s what my power required. Reinforcement forgo direct attacks, favoring extreme defence from ward to shield, and healing the body. And it encourages altruism, unlike other elements.

Annoying.

I like altruism. I prefer to do good deed. And I knew how altruistic is supposed to be a good character trait, but…

I’m selfish. I have no problem taking advantages of people. And I… considered it as my favorable character trait. I knew I’m selfish; I knew I’m a coward. So, I knew how I’ll reacted to most situation. That way, I could plan contingencies.

Giving-up those traits up seemed like… I’m surrendering, of sort. But maybe…

Maybe with that power, I’ll be able to shoulder the responsibilities. I’ll be able to put myself in a line of fire, because I’ll walk away unscathed. I’ll be able to sacrifice myself, because I could always heal myself.

More importantly, I’ll be in a completely new situation. And the best way to stay alive on the strange land, is to be cautious. Reinforcement looks like the best power at preserving myself.

So, I let it. I let the process filled my body with Reinforcement power. I let it add the knowledge about Reinforcement magic to my psyche. And I forced myself to relax when it overwhelmed my psyche and added altruistic tendencies, too.

The change happened in an instant, and when it was done, I scoured my psyche, to see if anything was changed. I couldn’t see anything, which worried me.

Now that I actually have power, the process continued to the next part: expressing the most basic part of my element. In other words, how my magical girl form will be.

Like before, it looked to my history and choices. And like before, I saw several paths I could take. I could wield gun and bow, destroying enemies from afar. I could wield staves and wands, enhancing my magic and making it much more effective. Or hell, I could wield nothing, and just let my fist do the talking.

But no, the process decided to grant me a hammer, instead. It is made of steel, and looks like actual warhammer - the one without oversized head, and a hook at the back.

It looks like proper weapon. Very practical. And well, people will wonder why a girl lugs a warhammer everywhere.

Can’t have that.

So, I changed it. I made the head much bigger, then I made the handle longer. Instead of steel, I changed the handle to looks like white plastic, and the head to looks like, well, candy. Candy, still wrapped, the wrapper is colored pink, white, and brown.

It looks sufficiently costum-y. If I lug it around, people will ask which convention I plan to attend,instead of calling the police.

I looked at it again, feeling vaguely satisfied. Yes, let’s stick with candy theme.

Now that the weapon is done, it moves on to the next part: the costume. I knew my costume will be elaborate - to further enhance my magic, apparently, and, I knew there were other options I could take. Uniform would gave me nice, androgynous look (my bust disagree). Flowing gave more adult feeling (my bust feels it is unnecessary). And skimpy is right out.

I didn’t have much head about outfit though, and practically nothing about dress. So, I let the process craft it to me, with a note to work on the candy theme.

The process obliged. My costume is lolita dress, mainly colored white and pink. The skirt is mostly white, with pink strip, decorated with frills and several candies and hearts prints, while the top is… actually, the top is mostly white, too. But there’s pink cardigan wrapped on the top, almost completely hiding it. My arms almost completely bare, save for two pink cuffs on my wrists, and my legs are completely covered in white stocking, again decorated with candy and heart motives. A brown, platformed mary-janes shoes rest on my feet, and the platform is quite tall - fortunately, they are not heeled.

As for my hair… well, they curled, shortening the length of my hair until it reached at the middle of my back. Then they styled themselves into twintails, the big ones - where each tails is as big as its owner’s head. It changed color to mostly white with pink and brown highlight. The result strongly reminiscent of melted candy, and I like it.

With that, the process stopped. I almost went into panic - is there something wrong? - but I realized the process want me to pick my magical girl title and my transformation phrase. I look at the heart, at the candy, and at the hammer. Well. Let’s just go with a classic.

With the name done, the process (and me!) was eager to move to the next step. Except… it didn’t. The process just stopped, holding back, and… it waited. In anticipation. Of something?

I received my answer shortly. All those choices - older body, Reinforcement magic, and my rationale for picked those options - converge, and aligned themselves, each one supporting another. The result was remarkably robust body, that can handle and quickly recover from fatigues and wounds, that’d stay strong even with a lack of magic.

My secondary power is Regeneration

Finally, the process leapt to the last step of my transformation: the perks of the job. Quality-of-life improvement. If you planned to be a hobo, make sure you’d be comfortable.

First, it modified my body, so it can generate its own nutrient - provided I have enough calories, at least. And it made the process remarkably efficient, I actually only have to eat less than before. I don’t think I have to worry about nutrient requirement, ever.

I’m faintly amused when I realized I don’t have to poop anymore.

The rest is a blur, really. The process wanted to grant me several artifacts, but I rejected them on the ground I’ll move around a lot - you want to travel light, in that case. Of course, I had to spend several of my coins to get what I want, but the result is quite satisfactory.

And finally, it was done.

I stagger through reality once more, gasping in my new voice, in my new body, lying on the sidewalk and shivering, as the cat-thing inspected my body.

Which, I realized, is naked.

“Hey!” I shouted, trying to stood and backed away from cat-thing. My arm reached toward my breasts and crotch, and I gasped when it hit my nipples way sooner than I expect. So I looked down, and,

Umm.

Let’s just say I have no sense of scale, and leave it at that.

The not-cat looked at me, expression faintly bemused, then said, “You choose poorly.”

***

“Can’t you give free clothes post-transformation?” I asked the not-cat, then hug myself ever tighter. It wasn’t a very effective gesture, on account both my arms only cover comparatively small area of my breasts.

… Yeah, this was quite problematic. I regret making my breasts this big.

The cat-thing titled its head. “Unnecessary. I know you pick perfect appearance as one of your powers.”

My mind went blank for a second, trying to remember my transformation. Oh yeah, I did pick it over Purification Artifact - I like to travel (and live!) light, and lugging artifacts or many dresses as I moved would be annoying.

“So, how do I generate clothes?” I look at the not-cat quizzically, then jumped when, quite literally, an outfit just spawned on my body. Suddenly, I wear long, blue jeans, and a slightly oversized white t-shirt. My legs feel heavy, and I spot a pair of white, open-toed platformed shoes. Fortunately, it’s not heeled.

I quickly get up, not wanting to dirty my new outfit from the sidewalk’s dirt. I turned and check it for the damage, except… there is nothing at all. It remained pristine. Huh, it worked. Small wonder.

A rustle on my head made me grab my hair, and I could feel a big, white ribbon, attached to a headband, was present on the top of my head. A pinch on my ears, and a pair of earring present themselves.

I carefully inspected my new body, with my new outfit. Well, as much as I could anyway, since there were no mirror. But from my perspective, it looked reasonably well. I had no complaint.

“Please pay attention,” the cat-thing said, and I turned to it, feeling vaguely embarassed at my self-inspection. “We have to make sure everything works as it is. What kind of capabilities you got?”

“Uh,” I wrecked my brain, “Right, I got that ultra-efficient body, so I don’t have to worry about eating wrong. And not having to sleep eight hours a day is nice. Same with instant hygiene and clothes, since not having to worry about bathing and cleanliness will save me quite a lot of time,” I said, taking a deep breathe, then continued, “Instant clothes means I don’t have to spend money, which will add-up to a lot of saving in the future.”

The cat-thing looks thoughtful. “Why’d you pick that over Purification Artifact?”

I shrugged. It did interesting thing to my breasts. “I figured I don’t want to lug an artifact around, plus I got Reinforcement as Element any-”

“Specialisation,” the not-cat interrupted. “Element is separate term. Please do not mix them up,”

I nodded. “Right, I got Reinforcement as El- uh, Specialisation anyway, so I figured I can replicate the effect quite easily.”

The cat-thing was silent for a moment, before replied. “That is correct. However, it will greatly lowered the difficulty of generating Anti-Corruption Field, or making the process faster, and generally more efficient. Regardless, I can understand your choice. Do continue.”

I put my hand to my chin. Now, what’s the other neat power I got? “Oh, I also have that… uh, Quest-Mark navigation power? The one that always point to one destination? I’ll travel a lot, so I don’t change it.”

It nodded. “That power is more useful than it seems,” it commented. “Not changing it is a wise decision,”

Huh. Did it imply my other choices are unwise?

“I see you are allowed to access Interdimensional Space for your private dwelling,” it said, gaze unfocused, as if it looked at something far away. “An arrangement has been made. Your apartment will be available shortly - since it will be your first time, I suggest you devise a ritual to enter your apartment.”

I blinked. “Wait, ritual? Can’t I just… concentrate, then I’ll enter it?”

It shook its head. “You need to visualize your apartment,” it explained, “Since you never visited it, so far, you cannot visualize it. Therefore, you will need to design a quick ritual to enter it. It also comes in handy if you cannot concentrate for some reason, or you want someone else to enter your apartment.”

I furrowed my brows. Why would I want someone to enter my apartment? The rest of its advice were useful, though. “Right, I’ll do that later,” I said. “Next, I picked freaky Sidereal-MIB power.”

The cat-thing stared at me.

I coughed. “Uh, I think the name is Incognito? People tend to not remember me, authority doesn’t want to bother me, that kind of thing.”

The not-cat humms, then floated down until it reached the street, “ A good choice,” it slowly walked to my right side, and I slowly turned, to0, making sure it’s always in front of me. “Please stop moving. I have to check your vessel integrity,” it said, and I sighed in annoyance. Then I turned back, facing the street.

“I see you spend your coin to further augmented your magical talent,” it said, from somewhere on my back. “Why do you pick that?”

I shrugged, looking down at my shoes. My view was obstructed by my breasts. “Reinforcement have no direct attack,” I said, grabbing my breasts and trying to compress them without much success, “So I figured, ‘Hey, I probably can make monsters’ body reject each-other or something if I picked it’. Is it a valid application?”

“Hypothetically,” it allowed. “Did you concentrate on that when you picked it?”

I gave-up my attempt at compressing my breasts, then shook my head. “I don’t think so. I picked it because it just seems like something useful to have, you know?”

“Alright, let’s move on,” satisfied, the cat-thing runs to my front. I noticed it actually have proper legs, this time, with proper paws too. Well, if it could transform me, why couldn’t it transform itself?

“Why did you not choose to remain male?” the cat-abomination question penetrated my idling mind, and I stood straighter when I heard it. “I designed this template specifically so it will allowed male to be Guardian, and there is nothing preventing you from diverting the transformation process so you will retain your gender. Can you give me your reason?”

“What, you don’t want to know why I pick getting free money every month?”

It shrugged. “Almost everyone picked it, with similar enough reason. I do not think I need to hear yours.”

I sighed, then put my feet on the street. “I don’t want to cripple myself, you know?” I replied. “I mean, picking being-male-again means I don’t get other power, and since I’ll be immortal… well, I don’t mind having a case of gender dysphoria in exchange for more power. I’ll be sure to get over it anyway.”

It just stared at me, and I vaguely feels like I just made a very bad decision.

Then it sighed. “Your reasoning is acceptable,” it said. “Which secondary power you gain during the process?”

“Regeneration, I think,” I quickly answered. “Do you have a knife-OW!”

The cat-thing interrupted my question when one of its ears suddenly shoot out, growing long and stabbed my thigh. I scrambled back, or tried to - the result were some kind of half-stumbling, half-rolling, over the sidewalk, which only stopped when I hit the small mound that lead to Brawijaya’s gazebo.

“What the hell was that!” I shouted, feeling peevish. My hand clamped on the wound, trying to stem it. I could feel it was slowly clotting, and when I lifted my palm, it’s already turned to scar, angry-pink, before slowly turned to white, and finally gone.

“We have established your regeneration power,” the cat-thing said, ignoring my outburst. Its ear began to shorten, going back to its previous length. “There is only one more test to conclude.”

I sighed. “What, not even sorry? Alright, minor power is done, secondary power is done. Does that means you will test me on Reinforcement magic?”

“Correct,” it answered. “However, you will need to transform in order to fully access your power.”

“Right, right. Transformation, transformation, now how do I do it… do I have to strike a pose?” I asked the not-cat, taking my phone out.

“Simply state your transformation phrase. You do not need to do anything else.”

I looked at it skeptically, phone in hand. “Really?”

“If you want to utter pre-transformation phrase, you may.” It said. “But it is not necessary,” the cat-thing continued, still in the flat tone, but it feels like it tried to assure me.

“Well, if you say so…” I stood, noticing my legs didn’t get pin-and-needles sensation, then dramatically move my phone until it’s directly in front of my chest.

I also grinned.

It’s a very wide grin.

“Berubah!” I shouted, and my phone flashed, before magic engulfed my body.

I always wanted to say that.

When it hits, it hit with all the rush of caffeine injected directly in my bloodstream. Well, hypothetically, since I never got injected with caffeine. Maybe the transformation is slow enough I can perceive what happened, or maybe it is the heightened sensation that let me do so. First, my clothes are gone. Then a pair of white stocking formed on my legs, followed by the shoes.

At the same time, bra and panties spawned on my body, before quickly obscured by my dress and cardigan. Then my hair bunched itself, turned white-pink, and styled itself into a twintails. And last, a big lollipop-like hammer spawned into existence, and I automatically grabbed it before twirling it around me.

Then I winked to imaginary audience, and say, “Magical Girl Sweetheart Crush! Ready to solve your problem!”

Then the hold of the magic ends, and I’m slowly lowered to the sidewalk, with a hammer on my hand, and feeling vaguely embarrassed.

“Uh. Is that normal?” I said, turning to the not-cat. My left hand hit one of my hair tail, however, and I couldn’t help it - I grabbed a bunch of my hair, marveling at its silkiness. Also, it vaguely smells of strawberry, chocolate, and sugar.

I’m quite sure I didn’t add the scent.

For the first time in my life, I had a privilege of seeing the cat-thing taken aback. It looked tense - Its shoulders were hunched, and it’s flying again now, looked like it just saw something really unexpected on its life. Then, slowly, very slowly, the tension left its body.

“If by ‘normal’ you mean compulsion to state your title, yes,” it replied. Man, I’m sure there’s a story behind it, some kind of purpose that’s now forgotten. “If, however, you refer to the time it took to transform, the answer is no.”

I blinked.

“I’m sorry. Did you just say magical girl transformations doesn’t happen in an extended, several seconds long sequence?”

“I did,” the cat-thing confirmed. “This is unexpected. I left out the fast transformation part, because enabling immortality is costly as it is. It appears I have taken unwise action,”

Ha! At least it could understand when it does wrong. My sense of smug superiority vanished a moment later, when I realized I didn’t opt to make my transformation faster back when my body was rebuilt.

“That is understandable,” it assured my unspoken doubt. “However, eleven-seconds, vulnerable transformation is unacceptable for our purpose. It will make you useless in the event of ambush. Please be aware I will need to modify your vessel.”

I tensed when I heard the remark, and shifted my lollipop-hammer so I wielded it with both of my arms. “What are you gonna do, then?”

Suddenly, the sidewalk under me explode, with such a force that I was thrown to the sky, sailing across the street. I like to think I make graceful arc before I hit the graveyard’s wall on the other side of the street, but you’ll have to ask not-cat about it. I crumpled on the sidewalk, grunted in pain, but it is momentary.

Something stabbed at my wrist, and I actually screamed - a sound that is high, trilling, and actually hurt my ears when I heard it. Then my other wrist was stabbed, too, followed by both of my legs. Tears blurs my eyes, and I nearly blacked-out, but somehow, I managed to keep my eyes open.

The pain was gone a moment later, its departure as brief as its arrival. I looked right in front of me, and I saw the cat-abomination’s ears were deep in my limbs. Two more ears grew, moving and undulating above it as if dancing. When I tried to move - to hit it with my huge, honking hammer, or maybe to run away, I’m not sure - I almost blacked-out again from the pain. That’s when I realised I’m currently pinned on the wall, and I feel like I’m butterfly, caught by completely remorseless collector.

Then the two remaining ears shoot-out, stabbing my heart.

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Comments

Very cool!

Great start. Can't wait for more.

nomad

a very different story

You had my attention at “and it wasn’t my fault.” This is a very different story and I have no idea where it is going. But I await the next chapter

DJ

Second on Very Cool

Great start now waiting to chapter 2 . WELCOME to BCTS authors page HUGS

Interesing start

Tas's picture

This seems like it could be a very interesting story, and here's to hoping she gets a character creation redo... especially on the breasts.

Looking forward to seeing where you take this :)

-Tas

fun!

With more than a few chuckles or giggles from what is happening and the protagonist's thoughts and reactions.

You really caught my interest.

WillowD's picture

Mind you, I find I really like magical girl stories where someone gets unexpectedly drafted.

I found it funny when the protagonist found out she could have remained a guy. Snerk.