Chapter Text
As soon as Stephanie opened the door, she almost wished that she hadn’t.
Outside the Witch’s Labyrinth, Manhattan was a wasteland of destruction and dust. The sky was dark and heavy, the buildings crumbling into pieces before her very eyes, fires breaking throughout the city and muted screams coming from far away.
“Toni!” called the girl, wheezing. Her lungs burned, the asthma threatening to get the best of her. “To…” she had to stop, coughing and bending over herself, her knees trembling.
Somewhere above her head there was an explosion.
Steph raised her eyes in panic, her curls sticking to her forehead – and finally spotted the girl.
Antonia was a blur of occasional gold against grey and black, way up high where the blonde couldn’t see her face. She had been slammed against the broken wall of what used to be an office building, the remains of her last blast still raining down the streets.
The ominous form hovering over Toni didn’t seem to have been affected in the least.
“Toni!” yelled Steph, struggling to regain breath. Her heart was palpitating painfully.
“It’s useless,” called a leveled voice to her right. Fury was sitting peacefully on what used to be a stone bench, as poker-faced as always, his small, deep brown body nearly camouflaged in the surroundings. She couldn’t help but think of a tiny, eye-patched black panther every time she saw him.
“What do you mean, useless?” Stephanie demanded, trying to calm her racing heart. “What will happen?”
“That witch is too powerful for her,” replied Fury, absolutely sure. “If Antonia can’t win, it’s probable Manhattan will be completely destroyed. It’s unlikely she will survive, but – I’m sure she knows the risks she’s taking.”
“What? No!” gasped the girl, panic rising in her throat. “She can’t do it alone! Is there no one who can help her? Toni!” pleaded Steph, screaming weakly over the distance that separated them. “Toni! Stop that! Back up! You’ll die!”
“She can’t hear you,” interrupted Fury, finality in his voice. Above them, the brunette got hit by a blast of energy, crossing her arms over her chest to protect her Soul Gem.
“I have to do something!” growled Steph, closing her hands into fists.
“Do you?” inquired her companion, turning his full attention towards her. “Do you wish to be able to help her, Stephanie Rogers?”
“I have to, or everyone will die!” panted the girl. “But how? I’m not… I can’t…” she trailed off, thinking of the long list of health issues neatly written in the school’s nurse office. “I can’t do anything.”
“You have more potential than you realize, Rogers”, disagreed Fury. “If you became a Magical Girl, too, you could be the greatest heroine on Earth. It would cure your body.”
“And then I could help Toni?” whispered the blonde. “And everyone else?”
“You only need to make a wish,” confirmed the Incubator, firmly.
Steph held her breath. “All right.”
Behind her, too far away to be heard, Toni screamed.
.
.
.
“Wha…?”
Stephanie blinked her eyes open. Around her, morning light slipped in the bedroom, her clock buzzing loudly as it announced the time.
“Steph!” called Jean, knocking on her door before opening it carefully and sticking her head in – she was wearing an apron and holding a frying pan in the hand that wasn’t on the door knob. Her hair was tousled, there was flour on her face and her pajama bottoms were stained with jam – yet Jean looked as beautiful as always. She did, after all, model for a living and to pay for college. Even though she was six years older than Steph, the two of them had known each other forever, and the only reason Stephanie could attend her elite school was because Jean had convinced her parents she’d look out for their little girl.
“You up?” Asked Jean, leaning against the door frame. “Okay, it’s my turn to make breakfast. Tora is already whining about pop-tarts and I swear to God if Quinn throws one more paper plane at the back of my head I’ll strangle her. So get your ass to the table before this turns into a food fight. Do you want eggs?”
The girl yawned, still a bit dazzled from the dream. “No, thank you. I’ll be right down.”
“’kay then. Oh, right!” Jean had nearly closed the door when she opened it again, adding: “Almost forgot. Nathan crashed on our sofa again, so don’t forget to put some pants on.”
“Maybe we should just tell him to move in.” commented the blonde, getting up and walking towards her drawer. “The guy practically lives here already.”
“Of course,” her friend rolled her eyes dramatically. “Because having Nat and Quinn under the same roof every day would be so peaceful. Terrific idea, Steph.”
“Philly can control them.”
“Philly doesn’t bother controlling them until they spill something on her work papers. And she’s supposedly in charge of the lot of us.” Jean rolled her eyes again, “Besides were would he sleep? We’re packed.”
“Ah, well… I could move in with Brenna and Tora,” offered up Stephanie, with her most innocent smile, “and Nat could move in with you.”
Jean stared at her. Then stared some more.
“Funny,” she replied, in a dry voice. “Very funny. And sneaky. I shouldn’t have given you that opening, should I?”
“I’m sure I don’t know what you are talking about,” sung the girl, sweetly. Jean stuck out her tongue at her.
“Okay, let me go before Quinn annoys poor Brenna too much.” she declared, shaking her head. “But me and Nathan are not hot for each other!” she added, before closing the door dramatically.
Steph laughed and pulled her jeans up, not bothering to brush her hair.
Downstairs, the kitchen table was a mess already – Philly, the oldest and legal owner of the house, was calmly reading a book, oblivious to the ruckus around her. Steph couldn’t figure out how she found the time to be so sharply dressed and astonishingly efficient this early in the morning, her suit falling on her body so perfectly she could’ve been born in it, not one strand of her short, practical hair out of place. Jean always insisted Quinn had to have a teacher or boss fetish or something, because the girl nearly drooled in her breakfast every morning when Philly walked in.
Right now, Steph could see Quinn kept one hand under the table right over her girlfriend’s knee, even as she stole Nat’s waffles with the other. The ginger – sole guy in the all-girls republic – sent deathly glares at his best friend every few seconds, but that didn’t seem to bother Quinn in the least. Her brown hair was up in a ponytail as always, out of the way and slightly loose from the morning jog she’d already ran. Quinn was the athletic type. Steph hardly ever saw her out of her running pants and sports bra, or missing the bandages in her fingers from overdoing it on the archery club. Nat was equally talented, but he tended to dress a bit more discreet and classy, maybe simply because he was trying to look presentable in a house with younger girls.
They were already in college, had dated for three years before Quinn met Philly, and bickered constantly.
“Good morning, Steph,” greeted Nat, sending her a soft smile as she entered the kitchen. Quinn took advantage of her distraction and stole another waffle, making the ginger slap her fingers.
Tora tried to echo the words, but her mouth was still full, so it came out as a “’oof mo-lwin, Spepa,” before she swallowed and tried again, “morning, Steph.”
Stephanie laughed. “Morning, Tora. Morning, everyone. Morning, Brenna,” she added, only to tease. The last girl at the table raised her eyes from her assignments, looking at Steph over her glasses, a bit dazed as if coming up from a deep dive in the ocean.
“Hmmmm…?” murmured Brenna, blinking. She had a sweet face and messily chopped hazel hair, probably because she much too often cut it herself, too immersed in her studies to go to the hairdresser. Sometimes, Steph wondered if Brenna felt a bit out of place amongst them. She and Tora and were only fifteen, and everyone else was already above twenty, while Brenna was still eighteen. She hoped it didn’t make her feel lonely.
Steph smiled, amused, shaking her head. Brenna shrugged and lost contact with reality again.
“It’s your turn to wash the dishes,” informed Jean, putting a plate down in front of her best friend.
“Actually,” interrupted Tora, forcing down a big bite of food with generous gulps of juice, “I was hoping we could exchange duties today, Stephanie. Could you wash the dinner plates?”
“Well, sure, but… oh, right.” She smiled, lowering her voice. “You’re visiting James tonight?”
Her friend smiled, a bit embarrassed. Tora looked like her in some ways – she had long blonde hair and blue eyes. But that was pretty much where the similarity ended. Tora’s hair was full, straight and thick, tied in two braids that fell over her shoulders, while Steph’s was thin and curled at the ends. Tora was tall for a girl her age, had been the first of their class to fill out and was strong enough to knock any of the guys down. Steph was the shortest person in their year, thin with a delicate complexion and more health problems than she cared to memorize.
That must have been why people were constantly trying to redirect her to the elementary school.
“Tell him I said hi,” asked Steph, skillfully dodging the piece of toast that had been meant for Nat.
“No food fight at the table.” warned Philly, without ever raising her eyes.
“So sorry, pumpkin,” apologized Quinn, batting her eyelashes flirtily. Steph was just glad their bedroom was far away from hers and Jean’s.
She finished breakfast and hurried upstairs to get ready. She and Tora were just about to leave when Jean intercepted them, juggling the hairdryer, her brush and her purse. “Wait up, you two,” she called, turning the dryer off. “Steph, come over here.”
“What is it?” asked the girl, curious, following her friend back into the living room.
“Really, Steph,” sighed Jean, eyeing her critically. “You are fifteen. You are a girl, although sometimes I wonder if you forget. You should be a little vainer!”
“You want me to be vain?” deadpanned Stephanie, raising her eyebrows.
“Just a little bit more,” corrected the woman, rolling her eyes as she opened her jewelry box. “You have to work your assets. So I’m taking matters into my own hands. There you go,” she whistled happily as she picked a blue ribbon from the box.
“Jean, you really don’t need…” protested Steph, even as her friend made her sit down, swinging the brush like a sword.
“But I want to,” insisted Jean, before pointing a finger at Tora, “and you too, young lady, don’t think I’m not onto you. Do you even brush your hair?”
Tora shrugged, obviously trying to bit back laughter. “Sometimes,” she mused.
“Help me,” pleaded Steph, soundless.
“Shush, you,” chastised the older girl, undoing her simple, low ponytail and running her fingers through her curls delicately. “I’m just prettying you up, Steph, I’m not trying to kill you.”
“Ah, all right,” she gave in, smiling fondly at Jean. “So what are you…”
“Just fixing your hair,” promised Jean, swiftly pulling locks into place. “I’ll keep it simple. Just a princess ponytail.”
“A what?”
“A half ponytail,” she explained, patiently, securing the hairdo with an elastic band before covering it up with the blue ribbon, her fingers easily making a lace. “There you go. It matches your eyes.”
“Thank you, Jean,” said Steph, smiling up at her friend and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Jean kissed her loudly in the cheek.
“Okay, then, off you go, before you are late to school,” she advised, picking her hairdryer again. “I’ll catch you tonight, Tora!” she added, shooting a look at the girl, who laughed.
They finally left, calling “See you later!” over her shoulders, to which Jean called back, “Don’t go off protecting the innocent today, Cap!”
“She just never gets tired of that stupid nickname,” complained Stephanie, rolling her eyes and Tora laughed, light-heartedly.
“Perhaps if you didn’t pursue fights with every single person at school that makes a mean comment.” She pointed out, fondly, “Or insisted on saving every kitten in the neighborhood. Or volunteered at the hospital on weekends. Or…”
“Okay, okay, I get it,” mumbled the blonde, blushing. Tora laughed loudly and threw an arm around her skinny shoulders.
“I’d follow you into any battle, Captain America.”
Steph smiled. All in all, she was in a great mood when they arrived at school, her weird dream completely forgotten as her teacher randomly rambled something about scrambled eggs. She felt sorry for the woman – she sure hoped someday she’d find someone special.
“Well,” sighed the teacher, composing herself, “now, for other news, I’d like to introduce a new student to the class.”
“Shouldn’t she have done that first?”Sighed someone to her left and Steph suppressed a laugh. She wondered who it is that managed to enter after classes had already begun – either someone incredibly talented or incredibly rich. Or both.
“Miss Stark, can you please come in?”
As soon as the new girl stepped into the classroom, Steph’s heart leapt right out of her throat.
It wasn’t even that she was gorgeous – although she was. Her dark black hair was buzzed short, as short as Quinn’s, but hers was curly and curved gently around her face, at the base of her neck, behind her ears. Her eyes were a deep shade of blue set in strong features and thick eyebrows that made them even more powerful. She had naturally tanned skin that seemed to have paled due to lack of sun, and the beginnings of what would probably be fantastic curves.
It also wasn’t the way she held herself, even if it would’ve called Steph’s attention any day of the week. One of the girl’s hands was resting on her hips, her posture relaxed and indifferent, as if there were much bigger matters she should be attending to rather than class. Her tie was loose, and there were far too many accessories according to school rules, gold piercings up her left ear, boots that were certainly not regulation, and a slight light under her shirt that the girl didn’t know what to make of.
It wasn’t even that the stranger was looking directly at her with overwhelming intensity, although that was disturbing.
It was that this girl – Antonia Stark – was the same girl she had dreamed about last night.
“Stephanie?” called Tora, shaking her very delicately by the shoulder. “Is everything all right?”
“Ah, yes,” she breathed, tearing her eyes from the stranger’s. “I’m fine, Tora, thank you.”
“Hey”, greeted the stranger, all charm and an ironic smile, her bag dangling from one shoulder as she waved to the class in general. Steph could almost feel when the weight of her stare left her. “Nice to meet you.”
“Antonia was absent from school for a long period due to a heart condition”, informed their teacher, gently. “She’s just moved here, so don’t forget the city, as well as the school, is very big and easy to get lost in. I expect everyone to be as helpful as possible. Antonia, you can sit right there in front of Cassandra.”
Antonia stared at Stephanie for a few more seconds, her lips set in a determined line, her eyes unflinching and searching. Then she nodded at the teacher and sat down, her posture not quite laid-back, but certainly not attentive, either.
Steph tried to calm herself down – she couldn’t have been staring at her. They’d never met each other. Stephanie was just the tiny, unremarkable blonde girl in the middle row. The new girl surely couldn’t have been staring at her.
But she thought about the navy blue eyes digging into her and couldn’t help but glance uneasily at Antonia’s back. And keep staring throughout the entire day, even as she tried to force herself not to, as the brunette excelled at everything she tried.
“It’s truly remarkable”, admitted Tora, subtly impressed and a tad jealous as Antonia beat her speed record as easily as if she was going for a walk. Stephanie was still feeling uneasy.
“Already?” She hissed to her friend, mouth hanging open, when Antonia handed the math test barely ten minutes after it started. Her own sheet was already a mess of eraser dust and faded pencil lines. Tora didn’t answer because she was having problems of her own. They surely hadn’t been accepted into the school for their math skills.
Lunch was a particularly bad experience.
Antonia had sat at a table hugging the wall, on the far end of the cafeteria, obviously trying to stay away and alone. It had not worked. Half the girls of their class were clumped around her, asking questions at the same time like eager puppies.
“What school did you attend before?”
“What are your favorite subjects?”
“Those boots are neat, where did you buy them?”
“Your hair is so pretty, Antonia, why do you keep it so short?”
“It’s more practical that way,” mumbled the girl, inattentive. She was resting her cheek against one hand, absently eating her fries, and her boredom couldn’t have been more obvious if she had hung a neon sign on top of her head reading Not Interested.
Steph wasn’t sure who she pitied more: if the girls for the cold treatment they were receiving, or Antonia, who simply couldn’t manage to be left alone.
She could practically feel the new girl rolling her eyes, impatient.
“Hey, you know what I was just thinking?” asked a guy, who, by the way he was leaning into her personal space, was either really oblivious or a huge jerk. “Stark. Isn’t that the name of that super rich guy who invented…”
“No.” hissed Antonia, jerking upright, the first emotional reaction she had shown so far. From all the way to where Steph was sitting, the movement startled her, making the girl jump in her seat and nearly spill her juice. Antonia’s face had closed off like storm clouds, tension and anger boiling just under the surface.
“No,” she repeated, between gritted teeth. “We are not related.” Everyone watched in shocked awe as the girl took a deep breath, calming herself, her fists uncurling. “You know, I actually should get going.” said Antonia, suddenly opening a smile brilliant enough to blind. “I just got out of the hospital and I still have to take medication. I’ll just go down to the infirmary to get my pills, okay?”
“Ah, I’ll show you where it is.” promptly offered another guy, probably trying to seize the chance his friend had missed.
“No, no need,” refused Antonia, slinging her bag over her shoulder. “I already have someone to go with me.”
Steph had pointedly turned her eyes away from her when she’d snapped, not wanting to be caught snooping, so Tora’s surprised face was the only warning she got before someone tapped her in the shoulder.
“Rogers,” called an already too-familiar voice. Steph raised her head already blushing too hard, wondering if Antonia had noticed her eavesdropping. “Let’s go?” asked the girl, annoyance and indifference notably mixing in her voice.
“Go where?” babbled Stephanie, stupidly. The corner of Antonia’s lips twitched.
“Infirmary,” she clarified, pulling her bag up. “You have to take your medicine, right?”
“What?” Steph blinked, shaking her head. “Oh. Oh, right. Right, my medicine. Yes, I have to…” She looked around, clumsily trying to gather her belongings, her cellphone falling out of her bag, hitting her knee against the table’s leg when she tried to get up. “Just, wait a minute,” she asked, hurriedly picking everything up. “I’ll see you at class, okay?”
Tora raised her eyebrows at this, sending a suspicious look at Antonia, whose expression was as unimpressed as ever. “Do you want me to accompany you?” she finally offered, briefly taking her eyes off the new girl and already getting up in a protective manner.
“No, no, Tora, it’s all right,” assured Steph, finally getting her bearings. “I’ll be right back.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m not going to bite her,” snapped Antonia, mildly annoyed. “I need to take my pills, too.”
Tora stared at her with open animosity.
“Let’s go,” urged Stephanie, walking away before the two girls ended up fighting for real. Antonia followed her.
They walked in a deeply unsettling silence for a few seconds, Antonia marching ahead with too much purpose for a new student. Steph was just about to tell her to turn a corner when she did it by herself, completely familiar with the school’s layout.
“Uhm…” hesitated Steph, hurrying to catch up. She was shorter than the brunette, and a lot slower, it seemed. “Antonia…”
“‘Toni is fine,” interrupted the girl. She shot a look over her shoulder, noticed Stephanie trying to catch up and slowed down. “With an ‘I’,” she added, oddly.
“Toni. Right.” Steph took a deep breath, unsure. “How did you… how did you know I had to go to the infirmary, too?”
Toni made a brief pause. “The teacher told me,” she answered, shortly.
“Ah.”
“You have a heart condition too, don’t you?” questioned the girl, and Steph was surprised by a small hint of sympathy in her voice.
“Amongst other things,” she agreed, friendly. Toni nodded.
“I hear you get yourself into a lot of trouble,” she commented, almost offhandedly. Steph blushed.
“That’s not exactly true,” the girl defended herself. “I don’t go around looking for trouble. Jean keeps saying that I must like fighting, but I don’t. I really don’t. I just… don’t like bullies. Oh. And Jean is my sister. I mean, not really my sister. But we were raised together – she’s older – and we’re living together, because… I’m sorry.” She cut herself off abruptly. “I was babbling.”
“It’s fine,” whispered Toni, her shoulders tensing almost unnoticeably. “I’m just thinking, you look kinda small to be picking up fights.”
“What do you mean?” demanded Steph, growing a bit defensive.
“I mean,” replied the girl, stopping dead in the middle of the corridor and turning towards Stephanie. “That this girl, Jean, she probably worries a lot about you. So maybe you should think of helping her out first, not getting yourself into trouble, rather than helping complete strangers just because you think you have to.”
Stephanie stared at her, absolutely dumbstruck. “Excuse me?” she managed to muster, breathlessly.
“You shouldn’t butt in other people’s business.” said Toni, cold-eyed. “You’re a lot more help just staying out of trouble.”
Then, without waiting for a reply, Toni took off, too fast for Stephanie to keep up even if she had already recovered from that blow.
When the school day finally ended, Stephanie’s nerves were positively fried.
“You have dreamed about her?” Repeated Tora, stopping with a cookie halfway to her mouth, blinking her blue eyes at the girl. She blushed, feeling her cheeks go hot.
“Well, it was… a weird dream,” she stammered, melting in her seat. “But I’m pretty sure it was her. I think… I think she was staring at me. And then she gave me this talk in the corridor. I couldn’t even believe it.”
“Have you ever met her?”
“Not that I can remember.”
Tora nodded solemnly, assuming that expression she usually got when she was talking about her father or politics or self-defense. “It might be a prophetic dream,” concluded the girl, surely.
“What does that mean?” inquired Steph, raising her eyebrows.
“It could mean many things!” boomed Tora, shaking her soda at her. “You could be fated to meet. Partners. Allies. I do not trust her, however – so maybe enemies.”
“I don’t really think I’d like her as my enemy,” confided the blonde, shuddering, before changing the subject. “Should we stop by the CD shop and buy something for James?”
“Good idea!” Tora gave her a wide grim, getting up and snatching Steph’s bag up before she could protest. “I believe there’s a new CD by a band he likes.”
Steph smiled and tried not to think of the new girl – tried not to think of the way her heart leaped when their eyes connected and the foreboding sensation that run down her spine, and, specially, tried not to think about her blue eyes.
Stephanie was only beginning to forget about her remarkably weird day, when it got ten times weirder.
She and Tora were at the CD shop, and Tora was wandering aimlessly between the aisles, unsure. Steph felt sorry for her friend – she always tried too hard, putting effort into every little last detail, but when it came to James’ musical tastes, Tora was at a complete loss. She observed as the girl debated with herself, picking a CD, then dropping it and picking another, growing a bit fidgety until she finally fished out her cellphone and wandered off as discreetly as she could to call for a second opinion.
Steph had just put on headphones, trying to give Tora some privacy, when she heard a vague whisper. Blinking, she took the phones off, looking towards Tora to see if her friend had called her – but Tora was far away, partially hidden from view, one hand over her ear as she talked on the cell. She was just about to shrug it off when she heard it again.
“Stephanie!” called out a voice, urgency marked in every syllable. Steph jerked, startled, putting the headphones back in their place.
“Who’s there?” she whispered.
“You need to help me!” answered the voice. Its tone was demanding and authoritative, a call for duty, and yet she could hear the panic under the surface. “Stephanie! I need help!”
“Where are you?” asked Steph, grabbing her bag from the floor and hushing outside the CD shop.
“Over here!” it replied, getting fainter and farther away. Stephanie hurried as fast as she could manage, following its trails through a maintenance door that had been left open.
“Where are you?” repeated the girl, turning around, trying to spot the owner of the voice. “What’s the problem? Where are… AHH!” screeched Steph, staggering backwards clumsily as something dropped heavily at her feet, in a mess of rope and old card boxes.
Lying on the floor, painting and bleeding, was a small animal that Steph at first thought was a cat. Then she noticed the tiny black marks on his fur and the shape of its snout. It looked a lot more like a black panther than a cat.
“Are you okay?” gasped Stephanie reaching out and delicately pulling the animal into her lap. “Were you the one who was…?”
“Watch out…”
CLANG.
The girl jumped, edging backwards, ready to be on her feet and make a run for it. A heavy metal chain fell from the exact same spot the panther had dropped, creating echoes through the entire corridor, loudly.
Stephanie looked up, trying to see what had made them fall.
“Toni?” she panted, shock jolting her muscles into standing up.
Surely, it was Antonia – there was no way she’d ever misplace the intensity of her stare – but Steph took a moment before she could fully take in what the girl was wearing. Her school uniform, as well as her many accessories, were gone.
In its place, she was wearing lace-up boots with square heels that hugged her calves – a layered skirt made of black lace, rusty red leather and golden patterned see-through fabric. Her bodice was a stylish mess of leather belts with golden buckles on top of a blouse fashioned out of more black lace. She had dark gloves reaching up to her elbows and the same subtle blue glow coming from under her shirt.
And unless Stephanie had a concussion or some sort of hallucinatory fever, those forms hanging next to her waist, strapped to one boot, secured in her hand and slung across her back – those were guns.
“Let go of him.” demanded Toni, sticking a pistol back in one of her belts. Her voice was cold, lifeless and hard – even her eyes seemed to have become glassier, unfeeling. She stood with her feet apart, ready to fight, looming over Steph.
The girl gulped. “What did you do to him?” she retorted, holding the tiny animal closer to her body, taking one step back.
Toni’s mouth twitched. “It’s none of your business.” replied the girl, taking a step forward, mimicking Stephanie. “Let go of him before you get hurt, Steph.”
“He asked for my help!” pointed out Stephanie, protective. “I think it is my business!”
“Is that so?” murmured Toni, her eyes falling for half a second to the panther’s body. Stephanie held her breath, her muscles tensing, unsure of what Toni would do – she looked as if she was ready to make a grasp for the animal, and the girl wasn’t sure she could fight her.
Okay, no, who was she kidding. She definitely couldn’t fight Toni.
Just as Steph was getting ready to run for it, someone turned a fire extinguisher on the girl, hitting her square in the face with white foam.
“Steph, over here!” urged Tora, keeping a steady flow aimed at Toni.
“Tora!” cried out Stephanie, promptly dashing away from the brunette and taking her friend’s hand. Tora tossed the fire extinguisher at Toni, turning around and pulling Steph along urgently.
They ran away as fast as Stephanie could.
“What was Antonia doing in here in that manner of clothing?” growled Tora, grasping the girl’s fingers tightly. “And what did she intend to do with you? Did she threaten you?” asked her, looking back at Steph angrily, as if ready to go back right now and give Toni a piece of her mind.
“No,” she wheezed, shaking her head and grasping the panther tightly with one arm, “but I think she was after him.”
“What is it? It looks like a cat.”
“I don’t think he’s a cat,” coughed Stephanie. Tora finally took the clue and stopped in her tracks, allowing her friend to rest and catch her breath as she kept watch.
“What is he, then?” questioned the girl, looking curiously at him. Steph took a deep breath, straightening herself and holding him better.
“I’m not sure. He looks like a panther. But I think I heard…” she bit her tongue suddenly, staring over Tora’s shoulder. “What is that?”
Tora turned around, startled. That’s when things officially stopped making sense.
Afterwards, Steph had difficulty retelling what had happened, or even recalling it in a way that made it remotely comprehensible. All she knew was that, all around her, colors, forms and sounds exploded, turning the world upside down and wrecking all of her senses. Their surroundings changed, wrapping unto themselves, folding and unfolding, layers of unknown objects spreading outwards. The air became hard to breath, heavy with something Steph couldn’t identify, but that made her chest ache and her heart clench.
“What is happening?!” yelled Tora, trying to back away from the madness. “Where are we?”
“I don’t know!” replied Steph, searching madly for a way out. “We were in the corridor just now!”
This wasn’t reality.
Suddenly, she froze, her limbs locking in place. “Tora…” warned Stephanie, pointing and grabbing her friend’s arms.
This wasn’t reality.
It could not be reality when they were surrounded by deformed creatures that faked at being butterflies and dandelions. Their voices were high and screechy, making her very bones tremble. Light itself shook, disturbed and wrong, hurting her eyes.
And the creatures were closing in on them.
“This cannot be happening,” whispered Tora, holding Steph closer to her, and the girl felt her friend slightly shivering against her. “Steph, this cannot be happening, right?” she pleaded, her voice tense.
“I don’t know. I don’t know.” she breathed, trying to back down – but there was nowhere to go.
One of the things charged at them.
Tora and Stephanie screamed, crouching down and clinging to each other.
And then, a circle of light burst around them, shoving all the atrocities away violently.
“Now,” whispered a stern voice somewhere above them. “I don’t think I can allow these two to get hurt.”
Breathing hard, Stephanie raised her head from Tora’s shoulder towards the voice. A girl was walking calmly towards them, holding a small yellow gem that glowed with warm light. She was wearing their school uniform, although she looked noticeably older. Her hair was short and carefully curled, chocolate brown, as well as her eyes. She was wearing red lipstick, taller than Steph but shorter than Tora, and was absolutely beautiful.
“Hello,” greeted the girl, stepping in front of them and offering a hand to help them up. “It’s okay now. You’re safe.”
“Who are you?” asked Stephanie, blinking fast, adrenaline still making her muscles shake. The girl smiled.
“My name is Peggy Carter,” she answered, pulling Tora easily to her feet, surprisingly strong for her petite build. “And I’m taking from your uniforms that you are from my school?”
Steph agreed, dazzled. “Arts program,” she explained, simply.
“Sports scholarship,” added Tora, looking around still wary. “What are these…”
“Oh,” Peggy blinked, looking over her shoulder. “I’m so sorry. If you will excuse me for a second, I have an issue to take care of.”
With that, she turned her back on the girls and calmly walked to the edge of the circle. The creatures outside the barrier fussed up with anger, but Peggy simply stared at them.
The small gem in her hand radiated light, blinding Tora and Stephanie.
When the light died off, Peggy was different. Her clothes had changed, but it was more than that, something Steph couldn’t put her finger on. She could only see the girl’s back, her silhouette clad in what resembled a military outfit, glowing subtly with yellow luminosity.
“Stand back, girls,” she warned, stepping outside the circle.
Steph saw Peggy taking her beret off – and then, suddenly, there were shotguns all around, firing with a deafening boom, explosions bursting loudly and eradicating the creatures. They screeched, dissipating and scattering as they were hit, clearing the area out until there was nothing left.
Tora gasped besides her, her eyes widening. Steph’s breath quickened briefly.
Slowly, the distorted world around them began to waver and fade.
“It’s disappearing!” she exclaimed, relief flooding her.
“Incredible,” whispered Tora, in awe. Peggy smiled at them over her shoulder. Now Stephanie could see her better – her skirt was beige-yellow, frilly, as well as her military-styled bolero and the white shirt underneath it, neatly topped by a ribbon instead of a tie. Her heeled boots clicked on the floor when she turned around, softly adjusting her beret sideways, where it was held in place by a bird-shaped gem working as a hair pin.
She looked upwards, her eyes narrowing for a moment, and Steph followed her gaze.
Antonia was standing on top of a nearby pile of boxes. She stared down at the three of them with ice-cold eyes, silent.
“The witch escaped,” informed Peggy, nicely, smiling up at the girl. “If you wish to catch her, then you should hurry up.”
“I have other business I have to see to,” replied Toni, glancing almost unnoticeably at the panther, passed out in Steph’s arms. The girl rotated her body, partially hiding him from sight.
“Maybe I should have been clearer,” Peggy insisted, her polite smile never fading. “You should go, now.”
Stephanie’s muscles clenched, ready to break into a run again if needed – It looked as if these two were about to go at each other’s throats. But why? What did Toni want with the panther? What did this other girl want?
Antonia stared at Peggy for an uncomfortable amount of time, the silence stretching tensely.
Finally, Antonia turned around and left without a sound.
Steph and Tora sighed deeply, finally relaxing. Peggy smiled at them again.
“Can I see him, please?” she asked, outstretching her hands towards the panther.
Stephanie’s arms tightened as she took one step back. She glanced uneasily at the girl, then back at the small animal, hesitating.
“What are you going to do with him?” she asked instead, trying to inject authority into her voice. Peggy blinked, caught off-guard, and then slowly smiled again, reassuringly.
“I’m going to cure him,” she answered, sounding even impressed. “He’s my friend. I won’t harm him,” she added, noticing Steph still looked insecure. “I promise.”
“She did just save us, Steph,” murmured Tora, leaning into her ear, “and he’s bleeding. I believe we can trust her.”
“Well… I guess you’re right,” agreed Stephanie, reluctantly passing the panther over to the girl. “Will he be okay?”
“He’ll be perfect,” promised Peggy as she slowly kneeled, gently laying him down and taking off her fingerless gloves. Her palms glowed again with that warm yellow light, slowly closing and healing the cuts all over the small animal’s body.
“Is that magic?” wondered Tora, awed, leaning forward.
Peggy smiled, “A sort of magic,” she replied, still concentrating on her work. Slowly, the panther begun to squirm, blinking his eyes open.
“Peggy,” he said, sitting up, “did you save me?”
“No, sir,” denied Peggy, shaking her head. “You should thank those two – when I got here they had wandered into a Witch’s Labyrinth trying to protect you.”
“I see.” The panther turned towards them, sitting upright and properly, “So you girls saved me. I must thank you – Stephanie Rogers and Tora Odinson.”
“You know our names?” gasped Tora, hurriedly sitting down at his level.
“He talked to me,” informed Stephanie, sitting down too. “I heard him, at the CD shop. He called for my help – he knew my name!”
“That’s right,” agreed the panther, looking intensely at Steph – the girl noticed he had a darker ring of fur around one of his eyes, like an eye patch. “My name is Fury. And I am here to ask something of you.”
“Of us?” Steph and Tora exchanged a look. “But what could you need from us?” asked the girl, leaning forward.
“I’m here to ask that you make a contract with me,” explained Fury, in a solemn voice, “and become a Magical Girl!”