Prose Magica: The Ballad of the Seventeenth Part 21

Two months, she had been contracted. In two months, her life had been battered, broken and reshaped into something that would have seemed utterly alien before. Her father had struck it rich. She found a true best friend. She had met and - if she was being bold - become friends with the most powerful magical girl in the country. She had lived in a true mansion for all of a week before her father was murdered and the mansion nearly destroyed in the process. Now, nearly two weeks later, she was back to the suburbs, living with her new best friend's family like one long sleep-over.

But all of that aside, perhaps the strangest thing of all was how... normal it all felt. Her old world had been ripped to unrecognizable shreds and Mona Bernard simply nodded and took it in stride. It was as if she had forfeited her normal, teenaged girl life upon contracting and already knew that everything was bound to fall apart sooner or later. She just had to pick up the pieces and glue them back together. Make something tougher. Something stronger.

For the third time in the past ten minutes, she pulled out her expensive new smartphone to check the time, as though waiting for a call that would never come. Across the room, Meg Laurie laid across her bed, playing yet another video game starring big-eyed characters with unusual hair. It was the only thing Mona ever saw her play.

The smaller girl rolled over on her side and cocked an eyebrow at Mona. "You okay?" She asked. "You keep lookin' at that thing like when people check the fridge and expect new food to appear."

Mona was shocked for a moment, then laughed and shook her heard. She didn't even realize that Meg had been paying attention. "Just... It's nothing, don't worry about it."

"You wanted to call Odette, right?" Meg asked. "Thinkin' about doing that?"

Mona sighed, then smiled at her friend. "Why do I bother?"

"I'm in your head Bernard!" Meg waved her fingers by her head like a pair of antennae. "I know all your secrets!"

"But it's seven o'clock..."

"C'mon, she went to go talk to whatshername at two in the morning," Meg argued, twisting around to sit on the edge of her bed. "Do it, nerd."

"But that was-"

"Doooooo iiiiiitttttt."

"Fine," Mona groaned as she heaved herself out of her beanbag chair. "I'll be right back."

The other Eversor flashed her a bright smile and a thumbs up as she stepped out of the room. Mona hadn't gotten around to adding Odette's number to her contacts - it felt far too personal - and so had to check back and forth from Holly's text to get the number right. Numbers had never been her strong suit. She leaned back against the wall just outside of the bedroom and stuck the sleek phone to her ear, still holding it rather clumsily after being used to cellphones that looked and felt like small bricks.

The phone rang over and over, giving Mona a sense of relief, thinking the former Warmaster might not even pick up. But the fourth ring was cut off by sounds of shuffling cloth before an increasingly familiar, and out-of-breath sounding voice answered, "Yo, hey, what's up, kiddo?"

"Uh- Hey," Mona replied, "is, um, is this a bad time? I can-"

"Nonono, well- I can talk," Odette said, sounding just the slightest bit guilty. "What's up?"

"I was just wondering if I could talk to you about the thing I mentioned early. I kinda wanted to get it out of the way before the funeral, but if you're busy-"

"Hey, no worries," Mona was constantly astounded at how friendly Odette sounded, especially compared to the rumours. "Sounds like something you might want to talk about in person, though, right? How about I swing by in a little bit and pick you up?"

"I, um," Mona stammered, caught off guard. "If you're sure it's no trouble..."

"Great! Fifteen minutes good for you?"

"Sure-"

"Actually, make it twenty-"

"Are-"

"OW," Odette shouted over the phone, "that hurt! Fu- Half an hour? Is that good?" It sounded more like the former Warmaster was asking someone on the other line. "Women. Okay, thirty minutes. See you then! And, uh, tell your friend I said hi."

"She'll," Mona paused, a bit incredulous that Odette even remembered Meg, "she'll like that. Thanks. Later."

"Good, good. Take care, kiddo."

As the phone went silent, Mona nearly collapsed against the wall. It didn't feel normal anymore. The understanding of who Odette was, the fact that she was dropping her business to visit Mona, on top of casually casually calling her 'kiddo'. It wasn't normal at all. Her back slid down the wall as Mona lowered herself to sit on the floor. A moment to collect herself, that's all she needed. Just a moment to make sure she wouldn't cry.

She wasn't sure how long she'd been outside when she felt an arm around her shoulders. It probably wasn't long, knowing Meg. The shorter Eversor pulled her close, rubbing her shoulder and whispering comforts.

"C'mon, Momo," Meg said, smiling gently, "gotta get ready. Can't have you lookin' all red-eyed and puffy-faced, right?"

Mona nodded, wiping her tears away with a sleeve.

"Here," Meg said, shoving a tissue into Mona's hands, "blow."

Mona did. A few tissues later and her nose was already feeling hot and sore. She could only imagine how red it must have been. Meg squeezed her shoulder and the pair sat together on the floor until they heard the low hum of an engine pulling up to the house. Mona was pulled to her feet and hurried along into the bathroom while Meg rushed down to meet their guest so fast that she nearly fell down the stairs.

By the time Meg reached the front door, Odette had nearly done the same. The door juddered and squealed as it opened, not quite fitting the frame properly.

"Yo, hey," Meg said, "she's just getting clea- getting ready. You wanna come in for a little?"

Odette laughed and shook her head. "Nah, nah. Nice and cold out here. Rough night?"

Meg opened her mouth to say something, but couldn't find the words. Instead, she just nodded.

"Been there," Odette said. "Too many times, really. How about you? Holdin' up okay?"

"Ah, y-you know," the dark-haired girl said with a shrug, "I'm still working through the whole 'Odette-freakin'-Brighton is at my house' thing. Just wish... y'know..."

"Under better circumstances, yeah. I've got a feeling I'll be swinging by more often. Hopefully you'll see me around the office more, too."

"Oh! You know what you should do is- is- um, actually..."

"What?"

"Well," Meg gave a sheepish grin, "I was gonna say you should come visit some of your fans, but I dunno if you'd want to do something like that..."

Odette shrugged. "Wouldn't hurt. Might help get some of that old Warmaster swagger back."

"SERIOUSLY?!"

"Sure, why not?"

"Oh man. OH MAN," the junior Eversor said, practically bouncing in place with excitement. "THIS IS WHY YOU'RE THE BEST! I gotta tell everyone. Oh man, oh man... MOMO, HURRY IT UP!"

"I'M COMING," Mona called back, moments before appearing at the top of the stairs. Though her face was cleaned, Mona's eyes were visibly red, even from the doorway. The tall Eversor wore the same plain, navy and white tracksuit that she usually wore for training, clearly in no mood to get dressed up, even for eminent company.

"Yo," Odette waved, then cocked a thumb at the steel behemoth waiting at the curb. "Ready to go?"

✱✱✱

"Are you watching closely?"

"I'm watchin', I'm watchin'."

The Bartender kept close watch as the deck fluttered in front of her eyes. Across from her sat a golden-eyed girl with long, feathery pink hair topped with a gigantic, purple witch hat. She never seemed to break eye contact with the redhead as she shuffled the cards - never once looking down as her fingers moved faster than the Bartender thought humanly possible. She was Callidus Rank Leader, professional stage magician, comedian and three time winner of the annual Miss Seventeen beauty pageant, May White.

May flicked a card up, holding it between two fingers "Is this your card?"

The Bartender shook her head. It was the two of spades, not the four of diamonds.

"Damn it, I thought I had that one..."

"You're slippin', kiddo."

May pouted and her purple cloak flapped as she reshuffled the deck. "One more time..."

The Bartender's eyes wandered across her establishment. It was a busy night, to say the least. Normally, she could expect maybe a dozen patrons on a week night - tonight, however, the building seemed packed to the brim. Almost every booth and table seemed to be filled, leaving the cocktail waitresses very little room as they flitted back and forth. On the other hand, perhaps owing to the presence of the Rank Leader, not a single soul sat at the bar itself.

At last, the pink-haired girl slapped the deck on the table. "Pick any card!"

The Bartender rubbed her eyes and considered the cards for a moment, before splitting the deck in half and taking the middle card, eliciting a smirk from her companion. The smirk, however, faded as the Bartender flipped up the ace of diamonds.

"Well," the redhead muttered, "it would have been pretty impressive if it worked, I guess."

May groaned, then swiped the deck off the table and stuffed it into her pocket. "Whatever," she grumbled. "Can you get me another coaster? My drink's sweatin' like a blind lesbian at a fish market."

The comment got a snort out of the Bartender. "Every time," she said, shaking her head as she reached under the table. "Hang on..."

May's eyes seemed to twinkle as an enormous grin crept onto her face. From under the table, the Bartender produced a crisp, new deck of cards, still wrapped in plastic.

"You're shitting me," the redhead laughed.

"Come on, open it up! Look at the top card!"

"See, this is what I like about you, May. Even the simple things can be," the Bartender tore open the pack and picked out the top card, "eeentirely underwhelming..."

A strained, painful laugh escaped May's lungs as the Bartender turned over the queen of hearts.

"Bullshit," the Rank Leader said, though neither her lips nor the rest of her face seemed to move an inch.

"You still need that coaster?"

May shook her head, then began to look through the cards. Her brow seemed to furrow harder and harder as she did, before she finally asked, "It was the four of diamonds, right?"

"Yup."

"It's not in here," May muttered. A moment later, she fished the first deck out of her pocket and repeated the search. "It's not here!"

"Is this another trick?" The Bartender asked, snickering.

"No! It's really gone!" The magician patted herself down and checked her sleeves. "I don-"

"Hey, what's that in your drink?"

May's head jerked up to her neglected piña colada. There, sliced down the middle to garnish the rim, was the four of diamonds. It was then that she realized the voice that had tipped her off didn't belong to the Bartender, who was already doubled over laughing.

"You BITCH," May hissed at the patron leaning back against the bar beside her.

"Aw, c'mon, kiddo," Lotte said with a wink, dressed in the latex, fur-lined catsuit that was her costume, "Red's right, that would've been really good if it weren't for me."

"This is- I'm your boss now," May pouted, crossing her arms and slouching over the bar to sip at her drink, "can't do this to me..."

"So how'd she do it, huh?" The Bartender asked the newcomer. "Free drink if you tell me."

"Nice try," she said, smirking. "Un mojito, s'il vous plaît."

With an annoyed grumble, the redhead went about making the drinking, leaving the two Calliduses to themselves. The senior of the two spun on her stool to face the bar, still grinning at her junior. May had always been Lotte's star pupil, so she found it only natural to tease the magician whenever she could. She still remembered being there for May's wish four years earlier. Something about wishing to impress people and put smiles on faces - she couldn't remember the exact wording, but it was the same innocent kind of wish that always made for talented magical girls.

May took to being a magical girl like a fish to water. Somehow she even managed to handle a career of stage magic and a smattering of stand-up comedy on the side, to boot. Had she been contracted only a year earlier, she might have even beaten Lotte out for the title of Rank Leader. As good as she was, though, May never managed to work her way into the old circle of friends that dominated the senior posts in the Officio. She never seemed to want to either, always being content to stay on the sidelines. Maybe it was easier to manage her career that way.

"So how's the new job?" Lotte asked. Her costume slowly disintegrated into particles of light, revealing a turtle-neck sweater and skinny jeans underneath. A moment later, the Bartender slid her drink in front of her.

May loosed a long and loud groan. "I don't know how you did it," she groaned. "One day they're smuggling booze into their bunks, the next they're sneaking out at night to go clubbing."

"It's good practice, really."

"And now all of this bullshit lately has them all riled up," May's expression sank as the brim of her hat seemed to droop further over her face. "They already want to go back to the old days with you running the rank and Odette in charge, and now Fubey does this whole invasion of privacy thing? How do you think that's going over with the prettiest princesses in the Officio?"

"Well obviously it'll ruffle some feathers, but is it really THAT bad?"

"If I had a nickel for every time I heard 'Warmaster Brighton wouldn't have let this happen', I swear. Worst part is the Vindicares being all gung-ho about this. Congratulations, Terry, you turned a grudge into a full-on blood feud-"

"Whoa, whoa," Lotte said, gesturing for May to be quiet. "Slow down, there. It's gotten worse? I haven't heard anything about this."

"Yeah, 'cause you're semi-retired," May explained. "We don't want to drag you back into that mess. And, well... yeah, okay? It's gotten worse. Feels like there's a scuffle every other day. Someone talks shit, someone gets hit. Makes me wish I was in Fred's place. At least with the Eversors I could just kick their asses if they got in trouble."

"I don't think it works quite like that," Lotte remarked. "So what's Frenchie doing about all this? Can't you guys do... I don't know, something?"

"Chloé? Christ, don't even get me started! She does so little that half the time I think she's just egging them on when I'm not looking."

"Wouldn't put it past her, I guess."

"So I figured I'd take a little time off, go do a few shows," the magician swirled her straw around. "Left Mercy and Sigma in charge of the place-"

"Mercy and Sigma 'Once Ate a Crayon On a Bet', THAT Sigma? The hell are you doin' to my rank, White?"

"Best twenty bucks I ever lost. But okay, maybe it's more like Mercy's in charge and she has her little cheerleader there for support. Can we just talk about something other than work?" May asked, trying to look a bit cheerier. "So what about you, huh? My little birdies tell me that retirement's been treating you pretty good the past few days."

"Hah, you could- you could say that," Lotte stammered, turning a bit pinker.

"So what're you doing here instead of spending time with the bae?"

"Please never use that word again," the blonde said. "Odette had to go look after some kid whose dad just died, because... Well, besides the dead dad thing, you know how O gets. Always has to be responsible for everyone else's problems."

"'Dead dad thing', very classy," May laughed. "I can see why Popsicle likes you so much."

"Shut up," Lotte laughed, "it's not like you even know the kid."

The pink-haired Callidus snickered and took a quick sip of her drink. "But I get what you're saying," she said, finally pulling the card off of her drink and flicking it at her senior, "she's got that whole- what's it called- reparation complex? That sounds like it might be a thing. Always feels like she owes the Officio more."

"That's pretty much it, yeah. Some days I worry she wants to go out with a big heroic sacrifice, just like the old lady."

"'s why you gotta tie her down, Shirley," May said, nodding at her own sage wisdom. "Give her a reason to stop sticking her neck out for every stray kitten that crosses her path. You know what I mean?"

"Don't call me Shirley."

"Point stands."

"Easier said than done," Lotte murmured. "I already tried asking her if she wanted to just settle down. Didn't work, but I still got this far. It'll take time for her to get used to a quieter life."

"You sure seem to have adapted to it fast."

"Eh," the blonde shrug, "things are never as simple as they seem."

May smiled and let out a soft chuckle. "Guess so," she replied. The magician's gaze wandered off to the stage at the far end of the building, where the Russian looked to be finishing up the night's performance. "Hey," May said, tilting her head in the direction of the stage, "you feel like giving the good people a show? Been a while since both of us were here at the same time."

Lotte turned to look at the stage, then glanced back at May as she thought. After a moment's consideration, she sighed, smiled and said, "Just let me finish my drink first."