Magical March 16: Angel on the Balcony

Magical March 16

Angel on the Balcony

Mark A Davis

327

"Aw man," said Fairy Princess Foxglove.  "Why does he get to stay a boy?"

Three magical girls and a magical boy were seated in a corner booth at a Denny's in Eugene, OR.  Fairy Princess Foxglove, Fairy Princess Bluebell, and Mermaid Princess Nisha were here, along with fairy Knight Hollyhock.  With them were three magical girl guides in human form -- Sita, Icarus, and Lakshmi.

In human form Sita was a young woman with long black hair, who wore a white toga-like dress and leather sandals with straps that crisscrossed up to her knees.  Lakshmi was a woman of about the same age with long pink hair, dressed in jeans and a Seahawks jersey.  Icarus had spiked black hair and wore dark glasses, black jeans, a Ramones tee shirt and a black leather jacket.  Somehow he always managed to look like a rock star.

Three of the magical girls wore outfits that resembled flowers.  Nisha wore an aquamarine dress that, in deference to the fact that magical girls must be able to move, did not include a mermaid skirt.  Bluebell's was a dress of violet blue with a skirt that resembled petals.  Foxglove's dress was similar, but magenta pink in color.  Hollyhock's outfit was very similar, but a lighter pink and with a top that was shorter, more a loose shirt than a dress.  He wore bloomer shorts of the same color -- perhaps they were intended to resemble the pumpkin pant breeches common in Elizabethan times, but they were totally bloomers.

"So," said Fairy Princess Bluebell, "you're Fairy Prince Bluebell, I take it?"

"Um... no," the boy said.  "They had to choose a new name, so I'm Fairy Knight Hollyhock."

"Nice!" she said.  "I'm Fairy Princess Bluebell, and this is Mermaid Princess Nisha, and my brother, Fairy Princess Foxglove."

"Your... brother?" asked Hollyhock.

"When he's not a magical girl, yes," she said.  "You can call us Bluebell and Foxglove, and we'll call you Holly."

"It's... Hollyhock, actually," said Hollyhock.  "It's a flower...."

"I see you've altered my costume design, along with the name and gender change," said Sita.

"Just enough to match a magical boy," Lakshmi replied.  "No reason for him to wear a dress, after all!"

"You could easily have made him transform into a magical girl...." Sita began.

"No thanks!" Hollyhock added.

"She did that to me," Foxglove grumbled.

"Let me get this straight," said Icarus.  "We set out to establish one fairy themed magical girl, and we somehow wound up with three?"

"That appears to be the case, yes," Sita replied.  "The fact that I have two, however, is not my doing...."

Foxglove raised a hand.  "Guilty as charged.  I ate the dream pill thing."

"It's not the end of the world, Icarus," said Lakshmi.  "The more magical girls, the better!"

"I'm a magical boy," Hollyhock inserted.

"Sita, Lakshmi," said Icarus, "we're already straining Nibiru resources to provide guides for all of these magical girls!  We can't request extra guides!"

"It's not a problem," said Sita.  "I'm seeing to the Dark Realm Trio personally."

"The... Dark Realm Trio?" asked Icarus.

"They oppose the minions of the Dark Adversary from the Dark Realm," said Sita.  "The Kingdom of Penumbra."

"This sounds suspiciously like one of the White-Haired One's setups...." said Lakshmi.

"Who?" asked Sita.

"I dare not speak her name in front of Icarus," said Lakshmi.  "She is an immortal goddess with a fascination for Terran magical girls.  She likes nothing more than to involve herself in our affairs and stir things up, I suppose I would say.  She appears as a regal woman with long white hair and glowing eyes...."

"Oh!  Yes, I believe I've met this woman," said Sita.  "Her name is Eternia...."

Lakshmi's hand shot across the table like a bullet from a rifle, and covered Sita's mouth.

"Do not speak that woman's name in front of Icarus!" Lakshmi declared forcefully.

Sita's eyes widened.  She glanced at Icarus, who shook his head, then back to Lakshmi.  She pulled Lakshmi's hand away from her mouth.

"Does this name drive him mad?" she asked.  "Does he foam at the mouth?  Does he attack people indescriminantly?"

Lakshmi rolled her eyes.  "Nothing like that," she said.  "It's just... well, after the Poughkeepsie Love Chain Incident, Icarus has been forbidden to interact with the White Haired One."

"The... Poughkeepsie Love Chain Incident?" asked Sita.

"You really don't want to know," said Icarus.

"I do, actually," said Sita.  "If I'm to work with this person, any knowledge of what she's done in the past would be most helpful."

"Let's just say that she provided me with a spell that caused a temporary Love Fascination -- a kind of instant love spell with an effect that lasted half an hour.  The problem was, it would chain to anyone near an affected target, and then chain to anyone near that target... and it had a radius of half a mile...."

Sita's eyes widened considerably.  Lakshmi said, "the upshot is that Icarus can lose his license if he knowingly interacts with her again.  Also, he's to immediately report any associate if he has credible evidence that they are working with her.  Hearing her name mentioned definitely would count."

Sita sat up straight.  "Well," she said, "That's very interesting but I've never heard of the woman.  White Haired One?  Doesn't ring a bell."

"Getting back to the subject at hand," said Lakshmi, "you've set up a trio of magical girls to oppose this...."

"Dark Adversary," said Sita.  "Basically, a malevolent fairy incursion from another reality.  The trio will consist of a fairy magical girl in control of air, a mermaid in control of water, and a unicorn themed magical girl in control of earth."

"And fire as well, I hope?" asked Icarus.  "I mean, if you're going for the full elemental theme...."

"Perhaps," said Sita.

Lakshmi frowned.  She glanced at the three magical girls and the magical boy present.  "You have... three fairy-themed magical girls...."

"Two girls, one boy," said Sita.  "That would make it a trio of five, I suppose...."

"The word you're looking for," said Icarus, "is a quartet."

"Am I part of your group?" asked Hollyhock.  "Because they're based in Eugene, right?  I'm from Toronto...."

"And you were going to set up an entire magical girl team," said Icarus, "consisting of three of our next four themes, and you weren't even going to tell us?"

"I was going to tell you!" Sita exclaimed.  "I left a message!"

"Were you still going to claim the angel theme as well?" he asked.

Sita slumped.  "I really wanted to do that angel theme," she said.  "I had it all planned out... but then this thing came up.  I met that woman...."  She paused and glanced at Icarus.  "The person I will not speak of... and it seemed prudent to go along with her ideas since a malevolent fairy invasion was going to take place regardless, and she offered tools to combat it.  I thought I could handle it myself, and not involve you two."  Again she glanced at Icarus.  "Which, in retrospect, seems like it was a very good decision...."

"Am I going to be working with these magical girls from Oregon or not?" asked Hollyhock.  "Because that's a long ways from Toronto...."

"Don't worry, Holly," said Sita.  "We can set up a communication system, and a dimensional gateway in your closet or something...."

"My name's not Holly," said Fairy Knight Hollyhock.

"You might as well add the angel to your team, you know," said Lakshmi.  "I don't know why you didn't include her in the first place."

"It wasn't my decision," said Sita.  "It was... the person I can't name."

"And did she plan for three fairy magical girls?" asked Icarus.

"Only I'm a guy," said Hollyhock.  "I keep saying.  You should know; you're the one who gave me these powers."

"That's a fair point," said Sita, "but the trio have specific knowledge and skills useful in fighting the minions of the Dark Adversary.  Not counting the two extra fairy girls, of course."

Hollyhock raised his hand.  "Yes, my mistake, you're a guy," Sita said, "You know, I can still arrange it so that you transform into a magical girl like Foxglove here."

Hollyhock lowered his hand.

There came a flash of fire and a pungent puff of brimstone.  A woman with pale skin appeared.  She had bright red hair in two braids, and was dressed in a black lolita-style dress with black tights, black lipstick, and black nail polish.

"Why, Icarus and Lakshmi, Darlings!" she exclaimed.  "You threw a party and forgot to invite moi?  For shame!"

"Xenagalmok!" Icarus exclaimed.

"Just Xena is fine," the newcomer replied.

"What the Hades are you doing here?" he demanded.

Xena grinned.  "Now, Darling, don't be like that!  I heard you were planning a magical girl on the theme of angel, and I just had to offer my aid!  Any angelic magical girl deserves a devil to oppose her, don't you think?  And I just happen to be an operative for the Dark Magical Girl Division of Hell...."

"Okay, that's it," Icarus said, standing up.  "I am so out of here.  Also," he added, turning to Xena, "I never saw you!"  With a poof, he vanished.

Lakshmi looked from Xenagalmok, to the magical girls, who were staring.  She glanced to Sita.

"He's not supposed to interact with this person, either," she said.  "Ever since the Boulder, CO Starburst Love Monster Radiation Incident...."

FINI