Magical Girl/Prototype Prologue 1 - v6 (Complete) (Patreon)

Happy New Year, everyone! Here we have the completed first Magical Girls intro chapter of the Magical girls VS Cultivators project. Hopefully I can get a few more done this coming week, maybe get started on the Cultivator intro chapters (currently resisting a STRONG urge to parody Beware of Chicken's first chapter). These intro chapters will serve both as an introduction to the two major factions of the story and to gauge interest. At the moment, I'm planning 4 Magical Girl intro chapters (of which this is the first), and the same number of cultivator intro chapters before we get to where they meet. So, please comment on this and tell me what you think so I can iron out kinks and revise things. Also, I still need a proper series name for this.

On the first day of her new apprenticeship, her heart filled with new pressure, Winter stood in front of the door of her new master and had to remind herself that being there wasn’t some kind of mistake. She wasn’t going to be turned away because she was unworthy or not suited. She had magic and had proven it yesterday when she’d fallen from the branches of a tree, hit the ground head-first and hadn’t died.

As ways of learning she possessed the blessings of the ancestors went, it left a little something to be desired. In stories that Winter had heard, the revelation usually happened when one saw a loved one in danger, or saw some terrible injustice happening before them, and the blessing would awaken, giving the girl—or boy, sometimes—the might to save the one in danger or stop the terrible thing from happening. If there were stories about her, she didn’t want it to start with ‘she fell and hit her head’.

The blessed Blood Faceless Marla had come down from the lighthouse to the fishing village of Kosma’s Point that very afternoon and officially confirmed that Winter was, in fact, one of the Faceless. She’d even taught Winter how to put her face back on, which had made everyone in the village confused for a little bit, but had finally let people see her again. If it weren’t for the fact all the stories made a big deal about the confusion and difficulty that becoming one of the Faceless caused, it would have been really frustrating.

It had still been frustrating, but at least Winter knew why.

Really, she was just nervous. While she’d seen the Blood Faceless Marla before, it had always been at a distance as she had blessed their village with her magic or was passing overhead on her way to one of the other villages along the shores of Kosma Bay. Starting now, Winter would not only be in her presence every day, but would even be learning from them as their apprentice! It made the fish swim in her stomach. Certainly, Mistress Marla the lighthouse keeper—and Blood Faceless Marla’s assistant—had once told her that the blessed Faceless wasn’t scary and was a very friendly person, but Winter’s mother had also told her if she was naughty a Fallen Faceless would take her away to make her a slave. But then, Blood Faceless Marla wasn’t one of the Fallen Faceless…

After checking her clothes for stains she might have picked up on the walk there and taking one last deep breath, Winter knocked on the door of the lighthouse.

“Come in, it’s open!”

The voice was familiar, and for a moment Winter was relieved it was only Marla the lighthouse keeper, and not the blessed Faceless. She pushed open the door, stepping into the inside of the tower made of pale white bone more than a hand’s length thick. Inside, Marla was waiting for her, sitting on one of the two thickly padded chairs in front of the fireplace—made of stone, not bone—holding thin sheets of leather in her hands. No, not leather. Paper. That’s what those things were called, right?

“Winter, there you are,” Marla said cheerfully. “I’ve been expecting you. Ready to learn how to be an assistant to one of the Faceless?”

For a moment, Winter was confused. “Um, no Mistress Marla,” she said. “The blessed Faceless told me to come here because she was going to teach me.” And before Marla could say anything else, Winter closed her eyes and relaxed her grip on the pressure inside, as the blessed Faceless had taught her to do. The pressure had appeared within her yesterday after the blessed Faceless had taught her how to put her face back on, a constant sensation of fullness that wanted to be released. Holding it all inside since then had been an effort, but she'd done so lest she lose her face again. Now, she let it loose.

For the second time in her life, the pressure within her exploded outwards. It spread from her heart, filling her chest and stomach with a burning warmth, as if her blood had been replaced by warm hot water. There was no pain, but she wanted to squirm at the strange, unfamiliar sensation. The burning spread down her legs to her feet, through her arms and to her hands. It rose through her neck, and Winter instinctively took a deep breath as the warmth completely enfolded her.

All around her, everything seemed to stop. Winter couldn't move as all sound seemed to vanish to her ears. For a heartbeat, her vision grew dark, and all she saw was an endless night sky full of uncountable stars spinning around her…

She blinked, and the night sky vanished as she looked down at herself. Even though she'd been half-expecting it, Winter couldn't help being surprised at what she saw. On leaving her house, she'd been wearing her cleanest blouse and a skirt that had been her older sister's until that morning because mother had felt that Winter's usual short trousers that left her legs bare below the knee weren't something she should wear when visiting the home of the blessed Faceless… never mind she'd worn exactly that many times when she'd been sent there on errands, such as the day before.

Those clothes were gone, and in their place was something that Winter had once only dreamed of wearing. The blouse she wore was the smoothest thing she had ever worn, pale as starlight and comfortable. Instead of wrinkling, it seemed to grow and stretch with her movements, always perfectly fitting and the right length. The skirt was gone, replaced by short trousers that fell to her knees of the same color. On her feet were perfectly fitting leather shoes instead of the flat wooden sandals she’d been wearing, the soles thick but supple. Her hands were covered with white gloves, thin as the blouse and snug like a second skin.

Winter felt something in her hair, and reached up to find a hairband keeping her locks from her face. Instead of soft, springy wood, the hairband felt cold and hard like metal, yet seemed thinner than a leaf. There was an ornament on it next to her left ear, a crescent shape of some sort…

Beyond that, losing her face didn’t really feel all that different, save for the fact that her aching feet and fatigue from climbing up to the lighthouse had vanished, replaced with her feeling refreshed and energetic, a sort of restless vigor that made her want to pace or run or jump.

The memory of her mother’s admonition for her to behave was stronger than the restlessness, however, and so she merely started swaying from side to side as she shifted her weight from foot to foot. Taking a deep breath, she repeated, "The blessed Blood Faceless Marla said she was going to teach me how to be one of the Faceless, mistress Marla. She said to come here?"

Marla had been staring at her all this time. At her words, the lighthouse keeper shook her head, glancing at the papers she was holding. "Ah…" she said. “Assistant. Right. No wonder I wrote it that way.” She shook her head as she stood up, putting the papers on the little table next to the chair. “It never stops taking you… Well, it happens, so it happens. Welcome, Cosmos Faceless Winter. I’ve been expecting you. I’ll go get the blessed Faceless for you, but first, could you do me a favor?”

Hesitantly, Winter nodded. Cosmos?

“Look at me… and whatever happens, don’t blink or look away.”

The young girl frowned. That sounded vaguely familiar…

There was a brief feeling of pressure as mistress Marla held out her arms to either side, except it was from outside of winter, exerted briefly on the warm vitality filling her. In the same instant, mistress Marla’s clothes—a heavy blouse, buttoned vest, long trousers and boots—turned red… no, they turned into blood. The blood spread across her body, covering all but her eyes, a layer that covered her suddenly naked form even as it protected her modesty. The air around her filled with a crimson mist, and Winter got an impression of more streams of blood flowing from the air, wrapping around arms and legs.

And then suddenly the blood was gone as Winter’s eyes water. In front of her was Blood Faceless Marla, the blessed Faceless who watched over the village of Kosma's Point and the other villages near it all along the coast of Kosma’s Bay. Her white hair glistened with wet-looking red streaks as she lowered her arms. She wore the familiar blood-red tunic, boots and long gloves; the bleached-white tights, the belt that looked like a flattened fish spine, the belt knife made of a large triangular tooth...

Winter reflexively placed the first two fingers of her right hand upon her forehead and bowed respectfully. "Blessed Faceless," she said reverently, "I am honored by your presence."

Silence met her words, and Winter grew nervous. Why wasn't the blessed Faceless saying anything? Was she displeased? She glanced upwards to see what the blessed Faceless was doing, only to see her staring straight at Winter with an expectant look on her face, arms crossed, one red boot tapping on the floorboards. Winter fixed her gaze back on the ground, staying still.

There was a long silence.

"Do I actually need to remind you that you're Faceless too, little sister?"

Winter blinked at the words, momentarily blocking the sight of her white-gloved hands—

White gloves.

Slowly, she drew her hand back from her face, straightening uncertainly. That seemed the right thing to do, however, because the blessed Faceless was nodding.

"Good," the blessed faceless said. "I know it will take a while, but consider this your first lesson: from now on, you are Faceless. You're one of us. Some things expected of people, such as offering mano to Faceless or showing respect to nobles, no longer apply to you."

Winter squirmed at the correction and how she'd embarrassed herself so quickly. All night she'd been marveling and repeating the fact that she was Faceless to herself until she'd fallen asleep, she'd even become Faceless once more, only to immediately forget when a real—another Faceless had appeared. "Y-yes, blessed Faceless."

A slightly pained smile came over the blessed Faceless. "That includes no longer needing to refer to me or anyone else as 'blessed Faceless', and being referred to as 'blessed Faceless' yourself, Cosmos Faceless Winter. Unless you completely seclude yourself and not talk to anyone—which means not receiving any of the benefits that come from the Path—it's going to get confusing very fast if you refer to every Faceless you meet as 'blessed Faceless'." The blessed Faceless paused, no doubt seeing the distress on Winter's face. "There's no need to be nervous. Other Faceless are ordinary softfolk like you and me, even the noble ones."

The mention of nobles was even more distressing. Winter had never met a noble—no one on Kosma's Point had ever done so, to her knowledge—but everyone had heard stories about how they took people away from their families and made them work on their fields without food and water, and did… something terrible to them. Winter wasn't sure what it was, since no one would tell her and her mother had scolded her when she'd asked, threatening a spanking, but it must have been really bad. Maybe the nobles beat them because they felt like it? In the stories, the Faceless who rescued always beat up the nobles, or fight them with magic if it turned out the noble was also a Faceless…

The blessed Faceless sighed. "Well, we can handle that later, once I've introduced you to some other people in Twinbay. For now, I want you to stop calling me 'blessed Faceless'. Remember, you're just as blessed as I am. My name is Marla. Just call me Marla, all right, little sister? Blood Marla, if you feel the need, but it's not like there are any other Marlas in the—no, wait, there's Song Marla who works at the library. I always forget about her…" She shook her head. "So, call me Blood Marla from now on, all right, Cosmos Winter?"

There it was again. "Y-yes, ble—"

A red-gloved finger rose. "Ah? What did I just say?"

"I mean, yes, B-blood M-marla."

"Well… close enough. I suppose the stuttering will go away once you're more used to it. Now, why don't you sit down while we wait for Marho to get here?" The bles—Blood Marla gestured towards the chairs around the table. "I can answer some of your questions. I'm sure you have a few. Have you eaten? I think I still have some salt-bread around here somewhere…"

There was a knock on the door.

"Ah, that might be Marho. Could you open the door and let her in, little sister?"

Winter hastily turned around to do just that, grasping the handle on this side of the door and tugging it open. A thick darkness that the door seemed to have been holding back burst in front of her face as she did, and Winter found herself staring at a shadowed gloom that turned the sunny day beyond the lighthouse into something drab.

Shrouded in the gloom like it was their own personal night, the pale skin of the thinfolk girl on the other side of the door was barely a smear of white. Only a wide, thin-lipped mouth marred the smooth, hairless skin where eyes and nose should be, above a body whose limbs and torso looked far too elongated. On the thinfolk's back were four arm-thick black tentacles that curled up and over their shoulders, one of them carrying a basket of fibers, the others a drop spindle and distaff. Bare feet that looked too narrow and with toes that seemed too long shuffled on the doorstep with a light, eerie grace. Their clothes and long dark hair rippled in the constant ocean breeze, skirt and blouse like waves over the water.

Winter smiled companionably. "Good morning, Marho," she said, brushing her silvery hair out of her eyes. "Windy today, isn't it?"

The thin lips parted in surprise, revealing triangular teeth. Then it was Winter's turn to be surprised as Marho, who she'd known all her life, bowed. Two fingers on the thinfolk's right hand rose up to touch the middle of her blank face as her tentacles reached down and spread her skirts respectfully. "Blessed faceless," Marho said, her voice soft and breathy. "How may I serve you?"

As Winter stared in surprise, she feltthe bl—Blood Marla moving to stand next to her, the pressure coming from the Faceless—the other Faceless—pressing against her. it was like waves lapping at her legs on the shore, letting her know where the mouth of the bay was. "Ah, Marho, you're here. Bless you. May I introduce the Cosmos Faceless Winter. She will be apprenticing under me starting today. Could you let your elders know? Little sister, please bless Marho so she may rise and come in, she must be quite uncomfortable."

Wha… ah! "B-bless you, Marho," Winter said, barely managing to repeat the b—Blood Marla's words. Marho straightened at her blessing, the tentacles letting the skirt fall. Winter stepped back to make way, and the thinfolk girl stepped inside, moving with familiar eerie grace, the room seeming to darken at the gloom that came with her. "Do you… not recognize me?"

"This is the first time we have met, blessed faceless," Marho said, a tentacle grasping the door handle and swinging it shut. The room darkened further as the light from outside was cut off. "Though, by your question, I suppose your face is one whom I know? If so, then please accept my congratulations for your ancestors gift, blessed one."

"T-thank you…?" Winter said.

"Well, now that you're here, Cosmos Winter and I can get going," the b—Blood Marla said, and Winter glanced at her in surprise. "Marla or myself should be back before nightfall, but if we're not, then I left you with a full stack of firewood for the lighthouse. Light the limelight at dusk."

Marho bowed. "I understand, blessed Faceless. I won't fail you."

"I know you won't. Until then, sit on my comfy chair as much as you want, and I have some salt bread and fish in the ice box if you get hungry. Come, little sister."

"We're going somewhere?" Winter asked, following Blood Marla as she stepped out the door. The daylight outside was bright and abrupt despite the brief time she’d stood inside Marho’s gloom.

Blood Marla nodded, taking a few steps before pointing towards the port town across the bay. "Have you ever been to Twinbay, little sister?" she said as the wind sent the hems and sleeves of her red tunic fluttering.

"I… helped father bring our fish to market there once when my brothers were sick last year…" Winter said.

"So you've only seen the docks and the fish market, then?"

She nodded uncertainly.

Blood Marla smiled widely. "Well, that changes today, little sister. We will be going to Path Ward to get you enrolled in the lists of Faceless so you can start collecting your stipend, and then if there’s time we can hopefully see about getting you enrolled in Twinbay’s Path school."

Winter gaped at that. “The… the Path school?” She could go to the school?But that was for rich folks like merchants and nobles, or those who were the Faceless’s assistants or kin—!

“Yes, the school. I’m afraid they’ll be much better than me at teaching you how to read, write, and do sums, among other lessons. Knowing how to read really helps while the hours away…”

Blood Marla held out her hand. “It’s early yet, so how would you like us to go there: fly or just cross to the waypoint?”