Naughty Magic - Chapter 15 - Possession

Olivia

The first lesson of the day went… okay. Not great, because it was math, and anyone who could happily do math at 8 AM was obviously clinically insane, but okay! Nobody really paid attention to me. Which didn’t stop me from constantly feeling like everyone was watching me, but I was pretty good at ignoring my anxieties so it wasn’t too bad.

The problem came between classes. If you can really call a magical girl a problem. I mean, sure, it was technically a bit problematic for me that Red Heart was standing in the middle of the campus quad, but… I mean, it was Red Heart! I was seeing one of my heroes in real life! And she wasn’t even trying to kill me!

She’s not trying to kill you right now you mean. Unless you think it’s just a coincidence that she appeared here?

‘Wait. You think she knows I’m here?’

Worse - I think she’s caught your scent. She’s already looking over here.

‘Crap. What do I do?’

I don’t know… Run, maybe? Preferably before she picks you out of the crowd.

‘R-right…’ I turned, hoping she hadn’t caught sight of me yet, and started walking quickly towards-

Please tell me you’re not going to class right now?

…Towards a building that had no relation to me! Hopefully I could find an empty classroom to transform in. 

I’d deploy your dysphoria hoodie, too, while you’re at it.

‘Do the what with my what now?’

The grey hoodie you’re wearing? Put the hood up.

…Right! I did the obviously good thing and put my hood up. 

Good job! You’ve completed the basics. Now to keep her from realizing you’re capable of disguising yourself as a human - let alone a man.

‘How do we do that?’

Hehehe. Don’t worry! I’ve got the perfect plan.

***

Red

***

I made my way through the grass, weaving through students in order to keep my suspect in sight. It was a boy, strangely enough - or they looked like one, at least. Truthfully, I had a hard time imagining the Violet Queen taking a male shape. Violet’s description of her always emphasized her curves, to the point you’d think she embodied the concept of voluptuousness. Even if she could change her skin tone, it wouldn’t be enough to hide a body like that. 

Then again, the figure I was now chasing was wearing a pretty baggy hoodie… I hadn’t gotten a great look at their face, either. I’d only even focused on them because Heartly noticed them turning tail the moment they spotted me. She said she couldn’t be sure about anything unless we got close, though, which was why I was now considering whether to just straight up break into a run. I didn’t really like the idea of potentially spooking a civilian, if I was wrong, but if I was right…

I didn’t have much time to make up my mind. The figure was nearing one of the campus buildings, and if they went inside there was no telling what sort of destruction our battle would wreak. Deciding I’d apologize later if I was mistaken, I conjured my wand, pointing the red heart tip towards my suspect. Before I could call out the name of a spell, though, the figure in front of me suddenly let out a high pitched scream, and collapsed, right in front of the door they’d been headed towards.

For a moment I stood silent, in shock. I didn’t know what to do. Did I run forward and help the figure? What if it was a trap? But I was a magical girl… How could I sit back and do nothing while someone suffered in front of me? Just as I tightened my grip on my wand, though, my resolution to do something was once again fractured when a wave of purple suddenly flowed out of the man’s sweater, moving towards the building and disappearing through a crack under the door.

The figure, meanwhile, groaned. “What… what happened?”

I marched forward, suddenly acutely aware of the eyes of the crowd. They’d been watching me from the start, of course - I was a magical girl - but ever since my suspect screamed there’d been a wariness in their gaze. I almost wondered if they thought it was my fault…

“Are you alright?” I asked the figure - a man, from the looks of his facial features. Not one I recognized, though. “You’re not hurt anywhere, are you?”

“N-no,” the man managed, in a hoarse voice. “I… I don’t know what happened. I was walking down the street, when something fell on me, and suddenly I couldn’t control my actions… I felt something pressing against my skin, and then the world got all hazy. Next thing I knew I was here.”

I nodded along as the man spoke, frowning. Could the Violet Queen possess people? That was… frightening to think about. Though if she did it by coating the skin, there’d probably be ways to detect her… That was probably why she chose someone with such a baggy hoodie to begin with.

“Don’t worry,” I said aloud, doing my best to sound reassuring. “I’ll handle everything!”

I would, too. I was a magical girl, after all!

***

Olivia

***

‘That… was close.’

Tell me something I don’t know. You’re lucky - her crystal either didn’t sense your true nature, or attributed whatever it did sense to the lingering influence of ‘the Violet Queen.’ You won’t get so lucky a second time.

‘Well what am I supposed to do then? Go to college as a girl? Nobody will even recognize me!’

We can keep the changes minor! Just swap out a few organs, maybe give you the world’s tiniest breasts, and bada bing, bada boom, you’re a femme in stealth mode! Nobody would be able to tell.

‘...Maybe,’ I replied reluctantly. ‘Something to consider tomorrow. I still have classes to go to.’

Classes!? You’re going to classes right now? No way! You need to get out there and fight Red Heart!

‘Why the hell would I do that? She’s already going off on a wild goose chase.’ The goo I’d sent into the building - formerly my shirt - had already been dispersed into violet vapor. Red wouldn’t find any trace of it, no matter how hard she searched. I felt kind of bad about tricking her like that, actually, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

Because if she fails to find you, she’ll come sniffing around the last place you were looking for clues! 

That… was an annoyingly fair point.

Also, who goes to classes right after being possessed!? Go ‘home’ like a normal person! Except don’t actually do that - find a secluded place and transform instead.

‘R-right.’

Yeah. That was… Probably a good idea. One I should take. Before I could actually get up, though, I heard a familiar voice calling out to me.

“Hey! Are you alright?”

I turned. Or tried to. I’d only halfway gotten up, so I ended up tangling up my legs and falling to the ground again. It didn’t really hurt much, thanks to my unique constitution, but it did leave me sprawled down on the ground.

“I’m fine!” I called out anyway. I did not need trouble right now.

“You don’t look fine,” the familiar voice said, holding a hand out for me to take. I hesitated a moment, then grabbed it, letting her help me up. “How about we get you to the nurse?”

“That’s…” I hesitated, looking around. Lots of eyes were on me, apparently, even if nobody else had approached me. Getting away from all this attention was going to be difficult. “I’m fine. Honestly.”

“Well, Fine, I’m Rachel. I’d love to say it’s a pleasure to meet you, but I really don’t think you’re in a state to appreciate it right now…”

“Y-yeah,” I muttered, after a moment’s hesitation. I’d just go with the flow, and then slip out when Rachel wasn’t paying attention to me. “Wait. Did you just do a dad joke?”

“Maybe,” Rachel replied, shrugging. “It got you talking to me, though, didn’t it?”

“...”

She laughed, then started walking, her hand still holding mine. “Come on. There’s a nurse on campus.”

“A nurse?” 

“To look you over? I mean, honestly you should probably go to the hospital or something, but this is closer and cheaper, so… You know…”

“Right…” I muttered, blushing a little. I felt a little dumb. Also acutely aware that a cute girl was holding my hand, right now. “I uh. I really am fine, though. And I’ve kinda got somewhere to be, so-”

“Is this something more important than your health?” she asked.

“A little, yeah. It’s an uh… dying grandma. At the hospital. So I can just get checked out while I’m there.”

Wow. What a lame excuse.

‘Shut up! It might work!’

“Your grandmother…” Rachel repeated, flatly. “...Look, if this is some sort of manly pride ‘I don’t need a hospital’ thing, then-”

“N-no!” I interrupted. “It’s just…” Dammit. Where was the shy and nervous girl I’d met as Olivia? This girl was being way too firm!

“...Something you can’t talk about?” Rachel suggested.

“Y-yeah,” I agreed, latching onto the idea. Not that I was entirely sure why not being able to talk about it was any less suspicious than a fake family emergency, but… Well, for some reason, she seemed to be giving me a knowing look.

“You should get changed, then,” Rachel said. “And… be glad you got off lightly with the ooze. I don’t think it’ll happen again.”

“Y-yeah.” I nodded my head fiercely, before tugging my hand away from hers and moving towards the nearest building.

‘What just happened?’

She thinks you’re a magical girl, off to fight the Violet Queen, of course!

‘Huh?’

Well, she had to make all sorts of excuses to run off when she was still Pink Heart, you know? She knows a wild excuse when she hears one! And seeing as how she’s contractually obligated to never disclose her identity, she definitely gets not being able to speak about stuff!

‘First off, I still don’t buy that she was Pink Heart. Second, why the hell would she care about a contract? She’s not even a magical girl anymore, according to you!’

Because crystal contacts are magically delicious! Also binding. Very binding. You’re lucky your contract with me got voided when the slime corrupted everything.

‘Right… Because magical girls are totally the bad ones here, and you - the corrupt crystal - are the only good one?’

You know, you could try saying it like you actually believe me, one day…

‘Sure,’ I sent back. ‘One day.’ That would be later, though. For now, I opened the door to the nearest room and scouted the halls until I found an empty classroom. With a window no less!

‘No cameras in the area, right?’

Not that I can sense!

‘Good…’  It was time to transform.

Time to fight.

~~~

Author's Notes

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Short chapter is short, I know. To be honest, I was dealing with a lot of writer's block... and a little depression, too, but that's par for the course. I probably shouldn't have pushed myself, but I really wanted to keep up the weekly chapters for both Patreon and the public... I just hope this chapter turned out okay? Next one should be better, either way...