Chapter Text
Dealing with kids was exhausting. Today, Connie was tasked with making sure kids behave at snacktime. Probably trying to punish her for slacking off. Those kids, when paired up with the right people, are actual demons.
Connie was in the library, as she usually was, because she wanted to spend time around Brightney pick up a book. Because she totally read. What? Yes she did.
Wow, so many good options. Wish they had more pop-up books.
As Connie was looking at the picture books, the bell to signify when the door opens rang, and someone came to talk to her.
"Hey, Connie! In the library again?" Gigi said, walking behind Connie.
"Hey, girl! What's up?" Connie responded while turning away from the shelf and towards Gigi.
"I was told to tell you that you were assigned to watch the kids at snacktime."
Connie sighed audibly.
"Ugh, okay. Can you come with?"
Gigi suppressed a smirk, like she was waiting for Connie to say that.
"Not allowed. They specifically told me you had to do it alone. It's probably punishment for something."
"Punishment? For what?"
"Uh, scaring kids? Scaring everyone? C'mon girl, you kinda had it coming."
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It did not go well.
Kids were running around, throwing snacks, everything. It felt impossible to prevent chaos.
Jeez, these kids are so much worse than usual, today. I wonder if I'd get in trouble if I zoned out.
At one point, a small, sad-looking child with black hair and a brown hoodie with bear ears on the hood came up to Connie.
"Uhm...excuse me, Connie?"
It look Connie a tad too long to zone back in and realized someone was talking to her.
"Huh? Oh, hello." Connie crouched down to the kid's level and tried not to think about how long it took her to acknowledge him. "You need anything?"
"My...my friend took my toy...he said he hid it somewhere...and-...and I can't find it..."
Yeah, I don't think that's your "friend", bud.
"Don't worry, I can find it! Just leave it to me!"
In the snack room, there were not many places to hide something. Connie wanted to avoid anywhere with a lot of kids, so she first went to the storage closet.
When she opened the door, she swore it felt like entering heaven.
The toy was a felt doll of a girl with a cute dress that reminded Connie of space, and a star hairclip. The doll looked like it was glowing, and just looking at it made Connie feel calm.
Oh my goodness. That is beautiful.
She picked up the doll like a child, and made her way to the boy. Before she had spotted him, the kid ran up to her, his sadness gone like it was never there.
"Thank you! Thanks!" The boy says before Connie even gives him his doll.
"No problem, bud." Connie says as she hands the doll to the ecstatic boy. "Uh, mind showing me your friend that hid this? Just curious."
"Okay!"
Connie did not feel right thinking this, but there was something wrong with those kids that the boy called his "friends". Not with how they look or dress, it was something. There was a kind or energy around them and Connie didn't think kids could have, so maybe that's why.
And also because they outright bully the boy. Yeah, that's probably it.
"Eww, you've got that girly doll again? I don't like it, put it away!" Kid 1 said while he purposely turned away.
"I don't know why you even bring that here. I don't need to bring my toys everywhere." Kid 2 said.
"Hey, it's not nice to say that about your friends things. How do you think he feels?" Connie told the two kids, trying not to get too angry on the boy's behalf. The boy was just standing politely, clinging onto his doll.
"Yeah, well, if I brought my toys here, I would deserve it." Kid 2 responded.
Connie spent the rest of the snack period (which was about a minute) trying to teach those kids basic empathy. You can guess how that went.
When snacktime ended, those kids were just annoyed at Connie.
"Come on, Halo. Lets go." Kid 1 said assertively.
Halo waved to Connie sadly before leaving.
Halo, huh. That's a nice name, it suits him, I think.
It certainly wouldn't suit his friends, though. Connie just couldn't understand why anyone would be opposed to such a pretty doll that would make anyone feel calm just by being around it.
Wait, why do I feel calm around that doll?
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All Connie wanted to do was rest in her room, because she totally deserved it.
The elevator opened, and she was at the toon rooms. She sighed in relief as she entered her room, ready to just plop down on her bed and do absolutely nothing.
She immediately noticed something on her bed. It looked like a periwinkle hairclip with a yellow four-pointed star on it.
Looks cool, but would totally not suit me. Who put this here, anyway?
She did end up wanting to try it on, though. She went up to her mirror and clipped some of the hair on the front of her head closer to her.
She immediately looked different.
Huh, what?? When did I wear this outfit?
Connie took off the hairclip, and she was wearing her normal clothes again.
After seeing that, her first thought was to take the hairclip on and off to see her clothes change from normal to different.
"Heh. Hehe."
Wait, what the hell.
Connie stopped to actually look at what the different outfit looked like.
She had a yellow scarf (not the type to keep you warm in winter) and was wearing a blueish-purpleish casual dress. She had a pocket in the shape of a star where her heart was, and a ribbon around her waist that was tied into a bow. Her hat was the same color of the dress and now resembled a witch hat. She also had two white gloves on. It all sorta reminded her of space.
I kinda look like that doll from earlier, except for the hat.
The clothes felt real, and they looked real. But how could they be real?
Connie took the hairclip off, and she turned back into her normal clothes. The gloves did not disappear, however.
I think I need sleep or something. There's no way that this is for real.
Connie set the hairclip and gloves down on her nightstand and laid down on her bed.
In the past few weeks, Scraps and Gigi had helped Connie decorate her room because it was so empty. Instead of staring at a blank ceiling, she was staring at a ceiling with many glow-in-the-dark stars. She had a few posters in her room, including her introduction card and a Halloween poster. It wasn't much, but it was nice. Before she realized it, she was asleep.
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She was suddenly floating somewhere in almost pitch black darkness. There were tiny white lights scattered throughout everywhere. She felt light, much lighter than usual. It was peaceful.
Is this space? It's nice.
"Connie."
Connie's heat skipped a beat. The noise seem to come from everywhere at the same time. She did not respond.
"Do you know what is happening?"
Connie just felt anxious and was more concerned about not letting herself explode from fear than answering any questions.
"...I understand. Give me a moment."
Just a few seconds later, Connie was met with a light so bright she instinctively closed her eyes. After she got over the initial light, she opened her eyes to see...
The doll. The same one from earlier.
"Hello, Connie. Are you listening?" The voice was more of a soft feminine voice now.
"How do you know my name?"
"Is that the number one thing you're concerned about? Really?"
"..."
"Magic is real, yadda yadda, I'm not in the mood for questions. Anyways, I've decided you're a magical girl now."
If Connie had a drink, she would've spit it out out of suprise.
"WHAT?! Why me?"
"Because you're great and everyone likes you!"
Unsure whether that was sarcasm...
"Oh..thanks? But what am I fighting or doing?"
"Monsters."
"...and what do they look like?"
"Uhm, I'll explain it to you later, I promise. I just wanted to let you know what the hairclip was for."
"What? Wait-"
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She woke up in the middle of the night, and just laid, there, staring at the stars on her ceiling.
That was a weird dream. It felt so real.
...
Maybe I should wear that clip again. Just in case that dream was real, yk.
She fought off the sleep inertia, got up, picked up the hairclip, and put it on.
She looked in the mirror to look at herself again. She put on her gloves because it was part of the fit. She didn't feel very magical.
She noticed that she had a folded paper inside the star pocket. She took it out, and realized it wasn't folded. It was a very small and short book (short as in, the only pages are the cover, back cover, and a single page) with the words, "Important!! Guide For Magical Girls!!"
A manual. Sweet. I'll read this, then.
Connie opened the thing, and she saw a little crayon drawing of that doll she keeps seeing.
"Hello, Connie!" The doll said in its cheerful voice.
"O-oh. Uh, Hi?" Connie has learned to kinda accept that this doll was going to be a reoccurring character in her life now. It was still kinda strange. "Are you gonna teach me about all this magic biz?"
"Yup! Unless you're not in the mood?"
"Yeah, you can just go on a monologue or whatever."
"Okay, so, since you wore that clip, you now permanently, unless something strange happens, have a bit of magic in you. Wearing the hairclip lets you use the full amount of magic that you have, but you can still use a little when not wearing it. The gloves prevent you from accidentally using magic."
"How do I use magic, anyway?" Connie asked.
"Oh. Uhhh... You kinda just..do it."
"...uh huh."
"Oh, come on, cut me some slack! That's like, that hardest thing to explain."
"Whatever. Continue."
"Okay...oh, those monsters I mentioned? They're made of ichor and hide when large groups of people are around. Their very presence makes people around it act or feel strangely. Like, maybe they act crazier, or they feel anxious. Being around one of these things can make people feel or act this way more commonly. They get bigger and stronger the more people act or feel negative. That's all I have to say! You can open this manual if you wanna talk to me again."
"Okay...I'm going back to sleep. Thanks."
"Waaait!!!" the doll says quickly and loudly, as she suddenly has something else to say.
"What is it now? I'm missing out on precious sleep, y'know."
"There is a monster in the snackroom. It's kinda small now, so I think it would be a good way to test out your magic!"
"I'll pass." Connie says boredly.
"It's pretty weak, I think. It should be light work for you!" She says with good intentions.
"...Light work, huh? Sure, why not. Whatever that is can't be that scary or anything."
"Were you thinking that it would be scary?"
Connie lied.
"Not at all!"
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Connie was a little anxious going into the snackroom. She had no idea how to use her magic. She might have just hoped it would just be natural to her.
Where's this stupid monster thing....
Connie checked in a few spots, until she looked under the tables. There was something she perceived to be an ichor puddle, which was definitely not supposed to be there. She took off her gloves and put them in her pocket.
I've got you now, probably. Now I just have to hope I actually know how to do this.
Connie put her hand out towards the monster, and tried to focus and visualize what she wanted to do. Then, the monster started glowing a faint periwinkle color, like Connie's dress, and the ichor started to float. Connie brought the ichor out from under the table and out into the open.
That was as easy as moving a limb. Maybe this magic thing won't be as difficult as I thought it would be.
Connie looked at the ichor a bit more closely. It had little white eyes, but that was it.
"That doll described you as a monster, but you're just a cute pathetic ball of ichor. Guess we can't all be winners."
Connie grabbed the manual out of her pocket to ask the doll what to do next. As she was holding it, a random ichor tentacle wraps around Connie's free wrist tightly. Connie tries to move her hand, but the ichor is surprisingly strong.
"Aw, yuck..."
Connie drops the manual so that she can use that hand to free her other hand of the ichor, which she immediately regrets because the monster immediately seizes the manual, wrapping an ichor tentacle around it. Another ichor tentacle quickly wraps around Connie's other wrist, trapping her in place. The tentacles continued to wrap around and cover her arm, now reaching up to her elbows. Connie suddenly feels a little fearful. Just a little.
Okay, might not be as pathetic as I thought...
Don't panic. Do something useful...
Maybe turning invisible will confuse it.
A cloud of blue smoke surrounded Connie as she turned invisible, which is something she was able to do even without magic. Her plan worked, and she could tell because she didn't feel that ichor tentacles on her anymore. When she smoke cleared out, she casually snatched the manual back.
She knew she needed to contain that thing in someway. She stuck her pointer and thumb out on both hands to make a square with her fingers, and put the square around the monster. She learned that using magic was basically just visualizing what you wanted to happen, so she visualized exactly how she wanted the cage to be, and she saw it take shape. Soon enough, she had made a cube that could contain that ball of ichor.
Hah. I'm a natural.
She took out the manual, and flipped to the first and only page to talk to the doll.
"Hey, how do I get rid of this thing?" Connie turned the book over so that the doll could see the monster in it's containment.
"Oh, if you make the container disappear, it's easier to make the monster disappear with it."
Connie looks at the container and the monster, and tries to see what it would look like if it wasn't there to get rid of it. It required more focus than making things, but it quickly disappeared.
"I did it! I'm so good at this for a newbie huh?" Connie asks rhetorically.
"Yup! But that is probably the weakest monster you'll ever see."
"Can we can them something other than monsters? It sounds too generic."
"Uhm...we can call them puddles?"
"..." Connie gives her an unamused look.
"For...for ichor puddles?"
"You're terrible at this."
"Well, you try to come up with a better name!"
"....Okay, good point. Speaking of names, what's yours?"
"Oh, my name? You can call me Mina!"
"That's a nice name. It fits you, I think."
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Connie went up to the toon rooms using the stairs so that she didn't wake anyone up. She had already taken her hairclip off. She was almost to her room, when she heard footsteps. She almost thought that she could make it to her room without getting spotted, but the subtle blue glow she gives off in the dark said otherwise.
"Connie, you're awake?" Connie heard Brightney whisper. Her heart gave a jump (because she was caught, why else?) before she realized that Brightney would have no idea how long she was awake and what she was doing. She was still a bit nervous, though.
"Ye-yeah, I, uh, woke up in the middle of the night. Couldn't go back to sleep, so I had to take a walk," it wasn't a lie, at least. Hopefully Brightney didn't notice how she fumbled with her words. "Why are you up?"
"I had to finish up with everything I had to do today. Didn't realize it would take me so long, though."
"You had that much to do today that it would take you this long to complete it?"
Brightney nodded.
"Buts it's okay, I can manage. Its all in a day's work," Brightney followed up.
"I can do something to help, I wouldn't mind."
"Hm...sure, if you're okay with that."
"Yeah! Yeah, I'm okay with that. I'll come before the library opens."
"Alright, see you then. Good night, Connie!"
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Connie stared at her ceiling for the third time, just thinking about her day. First she became a magical girl, and now she gets to help Brightney with the library stuff! Her heart was racing just thinking about it. "It" being the magical girl stuff, because why wouldn't it be? Maybe she had a fever, because her face was getting all hot, too. And she was sweating a bit.
She hoped she wasn't sick. She was looking forward to tomorrow.