Magical March 7: Flower Power

Magical March 7

Flower Power

Mark A Davis

318

Daesdemona studied her artpad critically.  She wasn't as good an artist as Sita or Lakshmi or even Icarus, but the point was simply to get the look of the costume down, and that much she could manage.  Normally she didn't concern herself with such details -- like Octava, she often relied on more generic looks and standard tropes to clothe her magical girls, or even let the girls themselves have a hand in determining their look.  However, for a magical girl on the theme of flowers, she felt a personal touch was required.

Also, it was March 8, International Women's Day.  Well, actually this was the magical girl for March 7th, but they were behind schedule so she was designing everything a day late.  It didn't really matter -- and she knew the history of the holiday, which was really about working women striking, but... a flower-themed magical girl on a day dedicated to women ought to be handled just right.

The dress was sleeveless and delicate, made of overlapping leaf-shaped sections like the petals of a flower.  These folded around the girl's waist and chest and spread out at the hips, creating a flower-like skirt of many overlapping petals.  There were elf-like boots, also designed to look like petals, a silver cloth choker with a blue larkspur flower, and a silver crown with leaves and flowers for the girl's head.

Daesdamona had chosen the Delphinium flower for this particular magical girl -- known as the Larkspur.  The petals of the dress were deep blue with a hint of violet.  She even had a name picked out:  Pretty Flower, Lovely Little Miss Larkspur.  It was a mouthful, but sometimes magical girl names were like that, and she wanted this one to feel special, and feminine, and beautiful.

Anyway, you could call her Little Miss Larkspur for short.

The girl was important, too.  For some magical girls, the transformation was simply to dress them in the outfit.  They gained power, became stronger and tougher, perhaps more beautiful, but beneath the costume they remained essentially the same.  For other magical girls, the transformation was not just a costume change but a complete physical change.  Their alter ego did not look like their normal self.  This girl would be one of the latter.  The illustration showed a willowy girl of about thirteen with tanned skin and long lavender hair.  It was important for Daesdamona that the girl match the flower.  She was young, slender, delicate, and beautiful.

Not, mind you, that all magical girls need be slender, nor that only slender girls were beautiful.  Daesdamona didn't want to send the wrong message here, but this magical girl was meant to mirror a slender flower.  She pursed her lips.  She would have to remember to create at least one magical girl who was on the bigger side... and they should not choose such a girl to transform into much skinnier magical girl, that would be awkward and sending the wrong message.  Also, they wouldn't want to transform a dark-skinned girl into a magical girl with fairer skin, either.  These sorts of transformations came with a unique set of pitfalls, and these days it was easy to trip over such things.  Perhaps she should just give the girl green skin?  No -- she would simply have to ensure that Octava pick their magical girl carefully.

Sita had wanted this one, but Daesdamona had claimed it.  She had bargained with Octava as well -- she was allowed to pick out the name and costume, design the whole look and the artifact that produced it, in fact.  He got to pick the powers and locate the lucky girl.

The girl should be strong as well -- a strong magical girl to encourage other young girls to be strong.  She'd build in extra strength, agility, and toughness.  That wasn't designing powers, at least not technically.  At least, she could argue that with Octava if push came to shove.

Daesdamona nodded in satisfaction.  Octava wasn't going to screw this one up for her.  He might give the girl a flower blast attack -- he would almost certainly do that -- but she'd be strong and pretty -- one of the prettiest magical girls they could produce, in fact.

She held her artpad out.  "Scan," she said.  The pad floated in the air as red light enveloped it.  "Encode costume and physical form for magical girl, age thirteen.  Code Name:  Pretty Flower, Lovely Little Miss Larkspur.  Encode additional strength, speed, agility, endurance, and toughness at full force.  Henshin Device Type:  magical staff.  Full Form Appearance:  silver staff wreathed and crowned with Delphinium flowers.  Disguise Appearance:  silver necklace with blue Delphinium flower pendant.   Staff Activation Phrase:  Flower Girl Action!  Magical Girl Activation Phrase:  Pretty Flower, Lovely Little Miss Larkspur Magical Bloom!"

Magic swirled in the air before her.  First it took the shape of the costume she'd created -- the dress, the boots, the crown, the choker, with a ghostly image of the girl herself within it.  This transformed into the staff -- four feet long and slender, a silver shaft with flowers twined around it, culminating in a larkspur boquet at the top.  Again this spun for a moment, then transformed into a delicate silver necklace with a single larkspur flower pendant.

Daesdamona held out her hand.  The necklace dropped into it.  "This," she said, "is one of my finest creations in a good long while...."  She smiled.  The girl who used this item would be transformed into exactly the magical girl that she had envisioned.

***

The ground shook.  Fissures sprouted steam.  Hundreds of fire salamanders arose from deep within the earth and swarmed the skies overhead like angry bees.  Hot ash and soot rained down, as Daesdamona, Octava, and their young charge cowered.  The creatures sailed on batlike wings; their skin glowed like flowing lava.  Their eyes were tiny black dots in a sea of red.  They hissed in a chorus like molten rock falling steadily into the sea over the sound of the rumbling earth.

"Give her the cursed necklace already!" Octava -- in white bunny form -- screamed over the deafening din.

Daesdamona, in her black bat form, clutched the necklace.  "No!" she yelled back.  "I refuse!  This necklace is destined for a beautiful girl with a pure heart, not...."  She paused to point at Octava's chosen candidate, a boy named Sean Patterson who might well have been Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn in a bygone era, or even Dennis the Menace.  He had disheveled hair, freckles, a cut over one eye and mud on his jeans.  There was mischief in his eyes, and a sneer in his smile.  Not that Daesdamona would have been much happier with a girlish boy, but there was not one speck of femininity in this one.    "He is not a she!" she exclaimed.

The temperature rose quickly.  Lava bubbled up from the earth.  They were trapped on an island of land that grew smaller by the second.  Octava screamed, "We don't have a choice!  We need a magical girl now!"

Of course, Daesdamona was a demon.  The heat didn't bother her that much, and she could also simply fly away -- although whether she could outrace the winged salamanders was an open question.  Nor could she leave Octava and the boy behind.  Grinding her teeth, she fluttered up and placed the necklace over the boy's head.

"Flower Girl Action!" the boy cried out.  The larkspur charm on the necklace became a silver staff with a floral head.  He grasped it and yelled, "Pretty Flower, Lovely Little Miss Larkspur Magical Bloom!"

He was lifted up and spun about.  His body glowed and shifted, and suddenly he was a she.  The blue floral dress formed around her.  She landed, spun the staff about, pointed it to the air and called out, "Larkspur Floral Blast, Special Combo:  Floral Gatling Gun!"

Violet flowers flowers through the air like a hail of bullets hurled from multiple barrels.  Multiple fire salamanders were pierced by magical floral missiles.  They hissed in anger and pain.  The dropped like flies, writhing on the ground before winking out of existence.

In moments the skies were clear.  The earthquake ceased.  The fissures vanished, and everything was quiet and calm.

Little Miss Larkspur glanced down at herself.  "Gosh," she said, "look at me.  I'm, like, totally a girl, aren't I?"  She poked her chest.  "Pretty flat too.  I'm sort of disappointed...."

Daesdamona simply glared at Octava.

FINI