Elemental Convergence: A Magical Meeting

Coale let out a sigh as she slowly walked out of the school’s SAFE department’s main office, heading for a room she had only a vague idea about the location of. The short, black-haired woman was wearing what some might recognize as typical exercise wear, a white shirt with the school’s logo on it and shorts, the back of the shirt had the words Assistant instructor emblazoned on it. She’d not really had time to change after Houston’s last class had gone on long and she’d needed to make her meeting. A meeting that had left Coale partly happy, and part nervous regarding the news she’d been given from the SAFE program’s head at the school. A representative of the SF having also been brought in via conference call as well. The subject of the meeting became clear early on, promotion. Both within the SAFE program to a full instructor, as one of the current instructors had been forced into retirement and she was technically qualified to take the position. As well as being put under review for a promotion as a hero potentially.

At the moment, Coale was going to what was meant to be her new office, one that had been vacated by her predecessor. She was excited about the promotion, happy to see that the progress she’d been making wasn’t wasted even if she’d had a few minor setbacks. The door soon came into view, and Coale paused seeing they’d already changed the nameplate something that made her even more worried at the prospect that she’d have to meet whatever standards might have been left for her. She pushed the feeling aside, it would be fine, after all she wasn’t going to let anyone be stupid enough to think she couldn’t do the job!  With the self-assurance made, the short woman opened the door, and her nervousness…or excitement evaporated into a much more familiar emotion. Annoyance.

The previous occupant of the office had left the place in a poor state, books left all over the place rather than on the shelf, papers and files mixed together on the desk along with several object she didn’t even think she could truly identify. Food containers and more clutter around the floor and furniture left in odd places that seemed like they’d only hinder somebody doing their work. Coale frowned, taking out her phone and sending a quick text to Tempest. There was no way she could clean up this MESS on her own! That idiotic teacher, she hoped he stayed gone!

Kari started this school day with one objective in mind. She was going to report her powers to the SF or SAFE. She was not sure which the correct option was since she was relatively new to this system but the strange older boy recommended it. Thinking back to that event, she wondered if she should report him for breaking public property. Would the girls in her book do that?
“Kari, Please put away your comic book and pay attention.”
“Ah… sorry… Yes Sir. Was it approval? Laughter was supposed to be a good thing. She forced herself to chuckle before falling back into her daydream. It was the last class of the day so a little slacking wouldn’t be too bad. She could just blame it on being tired.

As the bell ranged, Kari quickly packed her stuff and left the classroom. Pulling out a pamphlet, she weaved through the sea of students while making her way to the SAFE section of the school. At first it was empty, but open door released the staff. Most of them were smiling though a couple seemed to be neutral at best. Many teachers had that neutral expression, especially if they were harsh or mean. However, one person caught the girl’s eye.

It was a student maybe a couple years older than her. She had black hair and brown eyes just like the girl who helped her a couple weeks ago. She wore a less official outfit, compared to the adults. As the girl passed her, Kari noticed the lettering on her back, “Assistant Instructor.“ She also had a grin. Maybe she was being praised on being a good Teachers Aid. No, that didn’t matter. This was the girl who gave her the powers. Kari was sure of it. Therefore, she did the most logical thing.

With nobody operating the front desk, Kari just stuck her face inside of the SAFE pamphlet and walked into the back hall. She lowering the paper, she saw the girl look up at the door and then walk in. This was perfect. Kari jogged to the door and looked up.

“Coale Valentine,” Kari read quietly. She heard that name before through other kids. They would laugh at her and call her mean words. Kari got the impression she was a mean woman but you don’t laugh at mean people. That only got you in trouble. Before Kari dove any deeper into thought, she clapped her face and grabbed the door knob. She It didn't matter what Ms. Valentine was. All that mattered was her assistant. Thus there was only one thing she could do.

Kari opened the door and quickly entered the room. Then she slammed the door in a panic and bowed to the center of the room. Without looking to see who was inside, she started her rehearsed speech.
“Ms. Valentine, Please forgive my intrusion,” her monotone said without any inflection of energy, “I saw your assistant enter your office, and I really needed to speak to her.” There was a brief pause as Kari reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. “I offer a token in hopes that you may pardon my rudeness.” Kari held out her hand and revealed a coupon to her father’s karaoke bar.

"Yes Ms. Val…" Kari drew silent, finally noticing the discrepancy. There was no teacher here, only the assistant. Worst, the assistant just repeated the title while frowning. If smiles were a sign of success, then this frown could only mean Kari had messed up. Kari new she entered the offices without permission so such a face should be expected. On the plus side, the girl took coupon. All should be forgiven after an apology and well delivered gift. It's what her father always said

As predicted, all was forgiven. Despite the fact that she did not smile, Kari felt less worried. Now she could focus on her true objective. Since Ms. Valentine wasn't in the room, Kari could finally have that talk with the assistant. Kari started reaching for her back but the assistant had another question, one that would risk this whole operation.

Kari froze for a couple of seconds before returning to her neutral pose and looking at the girl. She never did get permission to come back here, nor did she want too. Had this been her father's office, he would have scold her many times by know. Saying yes would only be a blatant lie, one that could remove the blessing of the earlier forgiveness. However, admitting the correct answer could get her removed. That was not acceptable for her goal. She slowly turned her head away, as if preparing a dishonest answer. Lucky for her, the assistance moved on. Silence had saved the girl.

Without acknowledging the fortune grants to her, Kari pulled her backpack in front her. Reaching in, she pulled out magical girl comic book and then took her SAFE pamphlet out of her pocket. Spreading it wide open, the girl cleared her throat.
Kari started her response in her dreary voice, "I have been looking for you since that day we met." Kari closed the pamphlet and then picked up the book. "I have been doing a lot of research but I don’t understand things."
Kari bowed before making her request, "Can you help me become a proper magical girl?" Her voice didn't change, lacking energy while staying soft.

The girl was definitely familiar Coale noted, though she couldn’t quite place her as she didn’t seem one of her students. No, she looked a bit on the younger side, and the fact she had a safe pamphlet was curious. Coale found the girl’s monotone voice a bit on the creepy side of things but at the very least did somewhat jog her memory. Coale recalled she’d spotted a kid getting bullied by an older kid and interjected, it had been one of her first days working at the school if she remembered and had mostly slipped the previous assistant instructor’s mind. She looked over the ticket the girl had given her more than a bit confused. Coale realized her outfit might have given the wrong idea as well. Wondering if the girl even really knew who she was as well as waiting to hear why the girl came. Though with the girl’s age and the nature of her work there was one possibility even if she seemed a bit young…

She looked at the SAFE pamphlet again. “Jeez, you came here just to report your power?” She guessed before the girl continued, and Coale saw the comic book the girl was carrying around. Annoyance spiking as Coale wondered if it was a joke. “I don’t have time for stupid jokes, did somebody put you up to this?” Coale asked in annoyance. It would hardly be the first time somebody teased her over her transformation, thoigh there was another possibility that she wondered about. Though it had only seemed to happen one other time and as such was completely dismissed out of hand. Coale grumbled, muttering several choice things about “idiots treating her like a joke.” Whoever it was she’d just have to run ragged the next time she helped with one of Houston’s classes, though her new class was meant to be more on theory and practicality rather than physical training.

The fact the girl still seemed to act the same, almost emotionally hollow was throwing the fiery teacher off, and she wondered if this was really a joke, as a certain bubbly cousin of hers came to mind. “Wait, you don’t…a?” Coale trailed of as she realized the possibility of what she suspected was all too real. They still hadn’t figured out how Tempest had developed powers so similar, though it was written off as likely being genetic despite her parents powers having been of the more typical variety.

The girl correctly guessed Kari’s objective, well almost. See, had Kari not seen the girl walking in the hallway, the guess would of been correct. Now things were different. Her goal came first. After making her request to be trained as a magical girl, the girl’s voice escalated. At first Kari assumed she was just excited, seeing how some girl’s will speak quicker and with more energy when happy. Some guys do this too, but that knowledge was useless at this time. Kari was ready to call this a success. However, her words told a different story.

Kari raised her head to view the girl’s face. She was unaware that she made a joke. Her eyes dropped to the ground as she debated how she should respond. The art of making a joke was way above her capabilities. Surely, her father would be pleased that her social skills have improved. Still, the woman called it stupid, so Kari decided against making a poor attempt at a smile. The brief silence ended as Kari released her answer.
“I met a stranger who had the power to turn black. They… he said I should speak to SAFE about my powers.”

Kari could see the girl growing a frowned. Clearly, something was wrong, but Kari was not sure. She stood up, holding on to the comic book. She could not remember anything like this in her book, but there was one thing the characters took seriously. They had to keep their identities secret. Maybe that was the mistake.
“I know I should have told Ms. Valentine first. I apologize for breaking protocol,” Kari drone before taking a step backwards. “I will go look for a teacher. Thank you for considering my request… You can keep the coupon as a compensation for my error.”

The girl seemed…confused? Maybe? Coale found it a bit hard to read her but assumed that was the case and Coale realized maybe she’d need to handle this a bit more delicately. The girl was obviously younger than the typical safe student and it wasn’t unheard of that someone might occasionally unlock their powers earlier. She herself having been an examples of that, it made sense. The way the girl seemed to act however felt…stiff? That may have at least been one way to say it, outright emotionless was another possible.

“stranger that turns black?’ Coale asked, confused as she tried to think of anyone that fit that description. Though no supers came to mind…maybe a shapeshifter of some type? That meant any questions about their appearance meant nothing anyways, so Coale decided to just let it go. Especially as the girl’s next statement clicked in her mind. “What do you mean you should have told “Ms Valentine?” Coale asked incredulously, baffled before taking a moment to visibly calm down, a slight annoyed twitch still noticeable in her expression regardless. “I am a teacher. Stupid.” Coale snapped, before getting a better hold of her temper. “And besides, you’re already here. It’d be troublesome to have to deal with this later. Just make sure the door is closed first.” Somehow she knew she was going to regret this, but there were things she had to know, and her suspicions needed to be confirmed.

Kari froze, her hand still gripping the doorknob. The girl's question was a weird one. Sure, she was an assistant but it was the teacher's job to deal with the student's powers. It's what the pamphlet said. Moreover, she was frowning. Was this not what she was hinting at? Kari did not turn to face her. There was no benefit in facing her failure.
"Yes. I will follow the rules and speak to a teacher."

The girl, or woman as Kari finally realized, was a teacher. It was then that the poor girl's brain went into overdrive. How could she be a teacher if she is wearing an assistant shirt? Also, she did not look like an older woman. The girl's eyes widened and her hands trembled. Pulling them back to her book, she decided to face the woman again. Looking her up and down to ensure there was no trick, Kari decided to speak, against her better judgment.
"If you are a teacher, then why are you in Ms. Valentine's office. Are you… breaking the rules too?"

The insult was not worth mentioning. She did feel less intelligent as more of this situation became confusing. To top it off, the woman added loudness to that frowning expression. It meant something, but Kari forgot. She preferred to study smiling to the other facial expressions after all. Judging from her request to keep the door closed, Kari could only assume the worst.

Still, it was not all bad. The woman had a change of heart about helping Kari. At least it seemed that way. With how chaotic everything has been, Kari was not sure of anything anymore. The only thought that came to mind was just starting over. Even though she gave her name… wait did she? Kari's eyes widened as she realized the serious mistake she made. Starting over was now the only best option. Kari gave another deep bow. Then her monotone voice picked up in a little volume.
"Sorry for my Lack of manners Teacher. I am Kari Tsukami, first year. I want to report my powers and… I want to become a proper Magical Girl and bring honor to my family name. Can you help me please."
Despite the slight change, it remained drained of any energy and sounded very rehearsed

Coale’s brow twitched in annoyance as the girl seemed to not understand exactly who she was. Annoyance growing as the girl had turned away. It was hardly the first time anybody had made a mistake about her age, but the whole thing still grated on the petite woman’s nerves, and Coale let out an annoyed sigh as she tried to keep herself calm. She was visibly annoyed at the whole situation, but at least managed to hold her temper for now. It wasn’t really the girl’s fault probably, even if she obviously wasn’t smart enough to figure it out. Stupid!

“No! Why would I be breaking the rules being in my office!” She asked incredulously, wondering how dense this kid was. She seemed to have figured out that Coale was at least older than she looked. Though she still didn’t seem to actually know who she was, even knowing her name somehow. Thinking about it though, it wasn’t too far fetched, after all there were plenty of students that recognized her more by her transformed state rather than by her normal appearance. She frowned, checking her phone and wondering where Tempest was. She could have sworn that she'd texted her awhile ago.


Still she couldn’t really let herself get annoyed, at the girl when she seemed to be trying to be sincere...even if Coale wondered if this wasn’t part of some elaborate joke. It’d hardly be the first time somebody had pointed out the similarity between her powers and that particular genre. She sighed, still obviously annoyed by the girl bringing it up but deciding to treat it professionally. `The annoyed twitch returned when the girl once again brought up magical girls, even as she considered the only other possibility. It hardly seemed likely though, and as soon as the thought came to her again she dismissed it. “Alright then, just call me Ms. Valentine.”Coale started, visibly annoyed despite her efforts to hold her annoyance. She was certain the student was making a joke out of this.  “So, let me get the form out then.” She stated, knowing she’d seen a couple of copies of the form. Going to find it. Filling out the information she already knew.’

It was probably a good thing, she could verify that it was just a joke, and once she revealed that it was nothing more than a joke of some time. The alternative meant there was something MORE to it. “Alright then, I just need a demonstration then.” SHe stated.

"Thank you Ms. Valentine. I promise not to make you regret giving me this gift." Kari raised her head. She saw that the woman's face was interesting. She her eyes weren't fully open and her mouth almost dipped into a frown. The best way Kari could describe it was like seeing the sun after leaving a dark space. Kari's first guess to the woman's feelings would be not happy. However, the teacher still decided to help her. Her mouth was not a complete frown though so maybe she was just being a little extreme. Some people were just so hard to read. If she had her notebook, she surely would be sketching this face for further research. At last, she did not think this was the right time to do this, not when he teacher could be punishing her for breaking the rules.

She watched as the teacher searched her messy office for the report forms. Thinking back, she could have brought one along with her. It was another miss step on her part following the big mistake of not realizing she was a teacher. Kari would opt out of apologizing for this one. Being so unsure of the woman's opinions and feelings put her at a disadvantage. As long as the woman was helping her, she would limit her actions. This was until she could recognize the woman was in a good mood. She would not be allowed to remain idle forever.

"Demonstration..." the girl repeated slowly, "Okay then." Kari pulled out her comic book and quickly flipped through the chapters. "It says… I forget. I have to do something to activate it." Finally, she stopped on the page. While reading the page, she thought back to her encounter with the boy who turned all black. Cycling through the encounter, she accidently activated her powers. A flash of light enveloped her body while her eyes were closed. Then the room grew a little darker and snow drifted around the space. As the light broke away from the girl, her new physical features were revealed.

Her hair went from a bright brown to a cold plum that faded to white as it reached the end of her hairs. Icy crystals sprouted to tie her hair into pigtails, which fell to her waist. The rest of her hair twisted into a giant braid, which fell even lower and opened up to resemble an upside down flame. The girl's brown eyes turned bright blue with her pupils turning purple. White crystals dangled from her ears. Her outfit became a modified white sailor outfit with a bright purple armband wrapped around her left shoulder. The bow on her chest was black. This armband had a black symbol resembling the crystals that parted her hair into pigtails. This black symbol was also pinned a little over where her heart was. Instead of a skirt, she had black compression shorts with a white stripe running down her side and knee-high socks with a white crystal symbol bellow the stripe. A purple belt hid under her shirt, which did split to reveal a silver buckle with the black crystal symbol. Lastly, her shoes were replaced with Purple boots, which cut off at her shin. Black crystal symbol was stamped on under her ankle on both sides of the boots.

Kari was natural an attentive person, her focus on this book caused her to missed the fact that she already transformed. "Believe in your heart. That’s what the book said. So…" The girl closed the book and then closed her eyes again. She dropped the book to so that she could make a fist. She could not feel anything changed. Her arms trembled as she tried to force a transformation that had already taken place. "Mmmmmmmmmmmmh," she moaned, "I don’t think it's working. I don’t get this believing in your heart concept." Finally giving up, Kari let out a sigh and opened her eyes. "No wait look… It's snowing."

For Coale, the whole situation almost seemed like it’d been designed with the intent of trying her patience as she looking over the form in question, with the school’s high number of students it made it so there were plenty of students that thought it funny to try to mess with the pin-sized instructor on more than one occasion. The comic that the girl seemed to be keeping on her, and seemingly referencing only made the currently raven haired girl all the more annoyed as she kept seeming to look it over. Coale would have been more than willing to interject right then and there and assign some kind of punishment to the girl for wasting her time on a stupid joke before she saw the flash of light. Despite the flashiness, there was no denying what she was seeing in front of her as the girl transformed.

Seeing it from the outside though only seemed to make the transformation all the more annoying to deal with, as she watched the girl’s outfit and features change rather vastly with a critical eye. It was certainly the same type of transformation she herself typically dealt with, The fact the girl didn’t seem to notice the change was somewhat abnormal...but Coale herself had probably had incidents of accidental transformations early on as well. Though she couldn’t recall it happening off the top of her head.

A much more unwelcome surprise however made itself known however as snow began to fall….especially unwelcome considering that it was INSIDE her office of all places “Idiot! Who do you think is going to clean this up?” Coale demanded, eye twitching slightly as she reigned in her temper.  “And how do you have…” She started before trailing off. Curiosity swelling before she decided that the best way to compare would be directly. Even as she wondered where Tempest was. Stupid! She was supposed to be helping her clean this place up! Did she let her phone die again? Coale muttered a comment under her breath about airheaded cousins before returning focus to the here and now.

Coale sighed before extending a hand, An almost fiery glow began taking form,, the familiar spectral flame appearing before moving up her body and washing over it in a theatrical fashion, the flames obscuring parts of her body from view briefly only to clearly showing her outfit had changed. The fire seemed to die down around her hair, leaving it a striking crimson color Color seeming to take root within her eyes and spreading through until nothing remained of their original color. Crimson eyes looking out at the world, in the same striking red as her hair. A short skirt replacing the shorts she’d been wearing, along with leggings. A black coat over what seemed to be an outfit reminiscent of a school girl’s uniform. The coat hung loosely, in such a way it could easily be mistaken for a cape instead.  Inclined a head as she mentally compared her transformation. “Well, I guess I know what you were talking about earlier now,” Coale admitted with a frown.

.

Kari dropped her book and covered her ears as the teacher unleash a barrage of words. Now all signs were matching up. Her eyes were twitching. She was loud and her words felt like a furnish. The smaller girl could feel the now teacher's shadow growing around her. This was angry. The woman was upset but why? Kari followed the instructions. She was directed to transform and she followed the instruction from the comic book. Well, maybe not that last part. Believing in your heart was just too abstract of a concept for student.

Kari looked around at the mess of the office. Papers were everywhere. Books fell off he shelves. Pencils invaded the home of pens and the stapler was diving into a sea of folders. If Kari's father witness such a scene, his face would surely be red as well. Even Kari could feel the urge to start cleaning. She had no problem with making the room look better. After all, it might make a great scene to draw later. The girl turned to the teacher with her dreary eyes, empty of everything except the raw power that fueled her transformation. This place was a mess before she got here. So Kari was confused on what she did wrong?

The woman was done yelling so it was safe to remove her hands. Kari took a deep breath and, with a script crafted in her head, opened her mouth.
"I suppose, the janitor can clean up. But Ms Valentine, I don't understand. It was already a mess when I got here."
Kari looked around again to see if there was anything that could help her out now. The teacher never finished her statement. Kari was unsure what she had that confused the small adult. With everything that happened, Kari could only assume it was her powers. They were the only unknown the teacher had.
"If you mean my magical girl powers... You gave them to me. It's why I came to you. I don't know why you entrusted me with these powers, but I won't let you down Ms. Valentine." Her voice kept it's monotone state the entire time. The girl's face did not shift until a few seconds after she finished talking. She realized that this was suppose to be a happy moment so she tried to smile, slowly raising her lips to show teeth and inmate the many pictures she drew. It was a shame the smile was a terrible recreation.

What came next was a shocker, even to the girl. All she knew about this girl, no woman, was that she gave Kari powers. Kari would never fathom the woman also could transform. Her smile melted into the girl's neutral face as she stared at every change the woman made. All Kari could envision was fire eating the woman and spitting out a new person. This person was not exactly new to Kari but the girl never interacted or had a class with her. A lot of students complained about the woman though. Kari, however, would not. Since the woman was also a magical girl, that meant she understood the real meaning behind those instructions in the comic.
"Oh. You are a magical girl too," Kari started while looking at her book, "So do you understand the believing in your heart line? I really don't get it."