Emi_the_Fairy

Hello and welcome to Prism Girls, my second book. A story about a strange and mysterious event and a magical adventure in a very modern setting.

For a programming note to start off, I am currently planning to post a new chapter every Monday and Friday, starting with two chapters today!

I hope everyone enjoys. If you're interested I have a Discord that I try to keep updated on my plans.

Discord: https://discord.com/invite/EnsjDF74vC

EDIT 10/25/21: Corrected the formatting

March was effectively the end of the pleasant weather in Arizona. April could be okay too, but May started to get warm, and June is just plain unbearable, but March was pretty comfortable. It was a quiet if rather bland landscape, one where humans likely never should have settled in, and yet many still did. Whether it be for the burgeoning tech companies, the prolific mining, or a variety of other businesses, people had come to the dry and warm place. But March was a nice time.

Even so, there was never much to do for teenagers in the suburban towns dotting the valley. For instance, it was not a rare occurrence for young boys to eagerly plan their latest foray to the local Targomarts to play football. That never made much sense to young Jackie of course, not that much else that boys like that did ever had made much sense to him anyway. Perhaps it was some sports thing he never understood, vastly preferring to stay indoors and play video games with his friends.

March 23, 2010 was no different, a plain old Tuesday at Salt Mountain High, boring and tiring. Jackie slumped in his seat, eagerly waiting for class to end. He didn’t much care for English. The old man who taught it was a former marine, always preaching some nonsense about how the education system failed them and talking up a selfish attitude. He distinctly recalled an anecdote preaching the necessity of selfishness and needing to triumph one’s personal dilemmas alone. He was almost willing to accept that logic if it would stop the obnoxious lectures. He couldn’t help but yawn in those classes. The preaching was bad enough on its own, but what made it worse was…

“What’s wrong Jackie, you don’t wanna respect the flag?” a nearby boy grinned with a chuckle.

“Screw you Todd,” Jackie groaned with a side eye, but not before looking to see that the teacher hadn’t noticed.

“Hey, teach!” Todd raised his hand.

“That’s Dr. Rosen, Todd,” the aged man rolled his eyes.

“Sure, Dr. Rosen,” he chuckled. “Anyway, Jackie here thinks your lecture is boring and that America sucks,” Todd grinned.

Jackie’s eyes grew wide as he immediately realized what Todd was trying to do, but it was too late. Dr. Rosen’s eyes had already sharpened and focused in on Jackie, and with his, so had a lot of the other student’s.

“Do you have something you’d like to say Mr. Tailor?”

“No, sir!” Jackie said standing up straight. It was so uncomfortable for him to be under Dr. Rosen’s gaze like this. He felt like a soldier being trained by a vindictive drill sergeant, an experience he wanted none of.

“Do go on and tell the class what you found so boring about the noble ideas of our country?” the teacher said with an inviting yet clearly cruel tone. It was the kind of tone that would lure in those who wanted to see it as respectable, while alerting any others of its disingenuous nature. Had Jackie had the confidence, perhaps he would have said something like ‘well, this is an English class, not a History class,’ but such comments weren’t just aggressive, they were futile. Dr. Rosen was known for his charisma. Most students seemed to like him, but Jackie could only squrim.

“Oh, I think I know,” Todd pipped up. “I think it’s the fact that Jackie here’s too much of a wimp to stand up for others like you did, sir,” he continued to grin. “Jackie’s too weak and emotional for that.”

Jackie cringed from his comments, so much so that he didn’t even hear or notice what the teacher said after. He was embarrassed and angry at the insults, but there was nothing he could do, except… “Ding, dong, ding, dong! Ding, dong, ding, dong!” the bell rang, much to his relief. He quickly scooped up his things and left the classroom, leaving not even a moment to let his agitators get another word in.

He darted through the hall until a single hand grabbed him by his black hoodie, causing his dark brown hair to bounce as he skipped to a halt. He looked up to see a young woman, her dark complexion and hair contrasting well with her bright yellow windbreaker, white tanktop, and balanced by her jean shorts.

“Where the heck are you off to in such a hurry?” she asked with a furrowed brow.

“Bah! Todd was being an ass again,” Jackie frowned as he wiped the dampness from his eyes.

“What did he say this time?”

“He tattled on me for being drowsy through Mr. Navy’s stupid patriot crap. And then Todd called me weak and jealous of his service,” he vented.

“Of course, he did,” the girl sighed. “Well forget him. After all, you remember what today is, right?”

“Tuesday?” he wondered with a perked eyebrow.

“Jackie,” she pouted.

“Carmen,” he tilted his head.

“The new Pokey games came out you dork!” she huffed.

“Oh, yeah,” he nodded. She was right, they had come out recently, hadn’t they. They were both waiting to get enough money to go buy them, specifically for Carmen’s birthday, which just happened to be the week before.

“So come on, forget him and let’s go to the mall!”

“Wait, can’t we just go to the store down the street?” he objected.

“And sit on this sweet birthday cash? Like hell!” she exclaimed as she pulled Jackie along with her out the building and to the nearby bus stop.

The two waited a few minutes before the regular bus arrived, getting on board along with several other students, sitting down near the back. Some of the students liked to take it home, while others had the same idea as them, although that was far more common on Fridays. The stops rolled by with several of the kids getting off as Carmen gushed about the stuff she had read about her beloved new games.

“And they follow you now too,” she grinned.

“No, way, really?” Jackie questioned in awe.

“Heck yeah! And they apparently make a bunch of cute reactions too!” they continued their banter until at last they arrived.

“Oh, hey, you did tell your parents we were coming today, right?” Jackie nudged her as they stepped into the mall.

“Yeah? I think?”

“Carmen!”

“Oh, come on, it’s not like we’re that far away or anything. Plus, did you tell your mom?”

“Of course, I did. Mom and Leah are busy taking Tommy to one of his friend’s birthday parties today,” he explained.

“I see, she said with a smug expression.”

“Carmen, you should’ve told them,” he frowned.

“It’s not that important.”

“Carmen,” he glared. She hesitated and took a breath, remembering what her mom and dad had said before. Family safety had been a big thing for them since she was a kid. Her family had had more than their fair share with tragic encounters in the past. She hadn’t lost anyone, but it was no secret how close loss had come to her family.

“Sorry,” she frowned. “Look, I’ll text her now, okay?” Jackie continued to glare at her as he impatiently waited for a response before a sudden ‘bzzt’ alerted him to the response. “Mom said she’s okay with it. Does that make you feel better.”

“Better, but you should still be more considerate of them,” he frowned.

“You’re really like my big sister sometimes, you know that?”

“W-what?” he blinked. Carmen’s sister? She was kind and considerate, but she was also rather timid, non aggressive, and…

“I mean, you’re both always lecturing me about how important our family is and stuff,” she chuckled.

“O-oh, that’s what you meant?” he sighed with a quiet frown.

“Jackie?”

“Mm,” he murmured. Of course, that’s what she meant, but his mind couldn’t help but linger on the other insinuations, implying his weakness. He knew it wasn’t what she meant, but all his mind could do was echo that jerk’s words.

“Hey, dude?” Carmen tugged at him. “You’re not still thinking about what Todd said, are you?”

“Just, where does he get off, acting like he’s so much better than me and pushing me around. Stupid jock,” he fumed.

“Come on, let’s just go look at games already!” Carmen pouted. “We both know you’ll feel better when we go to pick up the new Pokey game, heck we could try playing it on the way home. And then we can try that new Stories game when we get back to my place!”

“I wish I was as fired up about it as you are, the synopsis sounded really boring. Oh, you’re some duke, so impressive,” he shrugged. “I prefer the one from a few years ago with the guilds. Now that one was cool.”

“Hey, at least we actually get the full version of this one. Plus, when you say ‘guilds’ that sounds kinda lame too. Like what, you’re a bunch of carpenters fighting to save the world by making cabinets,” she laughed. “Come on, let’s at least give it a try. It’ll make you feel better,” she winked.

Jackie laughed. “You’re really persistent, you know that?”

“It’s one of my great charms. Oh! And then we can go hit up that indie anime shop. They’ve gotta have some cool new imports in,” she cheered.

The two proceeded through the mall. Carmen was right, spending time with her really helped improve his mood. A little bit of food, starting up one of their new games while eating. His mind quickly abandoned the cruel comments of his bully.

Next they visited the anime shop that Carmen had insisted on. They perused the store, Carmen glowing over the action-packed synopsis of several series. Such examples included one with intergalactic war with giant mechs, a story about a high school delinquent who had been resurrected to fight demons, and the legendary so called adaptation of the Journey to the West. She excitedly pretended to fire off attacks much to Jackie’s embarrassment. He enjoyed those shows, but he was a bit more interested in looking at some more niche examples including a space anime featuring two cyborg women combating economic terrorism, another space opera of three men being captured by a group of female space pirates, and finally the silly adventures of a pink puffball. He grinned joyously as he looked over them before lingering on one last one with several girls in colorful frilly outfits.

“Oh, that one?” Carmen asked looking over his shoulder.

“You know about it?”

“Yeah, it’s really popular in Japan. It’s a long running magical girl show. Neat right?” Carmen grinned. “And this one is so cute too. You should get it!”

“Meaning you watched it online and you want to borrow it off me?” he gave a suspicious side eye.

“Would I do that?”

“You did it for MY birthday,” he glared at her.

The two collected a few DVDs before heading to the cashier and going upon their merry way. The two laughed and grinned as they eyed the nearby clock. “The next bus should be here soon,” Carmen commented.

“Mom should be done soon too. We should...” he flinched as the world seemed to ignite.

A loud bang tore through the building, only it was more than a sound. It was as if a gust of wind shot through the mall, but there was no wind blowing through the building, only a burst of force and sound. The windows shook, people clung to each other as they were forced to the ground. It wasn’t an earthquake. Earthquakes were incredibly rare here, and most of the time they were simply aftershocks from California, but this was distinctively different. The Earth wasn’t shaking, but everything else did, as if suddenly it had all become unstable.

Another bang erupted through the mall, and what appeared to be a wall of mist began to crash through the distant entrance. It didn’t explode through the door, nor did it seep in through the windows, on the contrary, it didn’t seem to acknowledge either objects existences as the mist seemed to magically gush through the walls and erupted through its massive halls. The two, nor anyone else could do anything. They couldn’t outrun it. They couldn’t even brace themselves for its imminent impact, all they could do was witness the events unfolding before them.

The mist like wall consumed the mall, and proceeded beyond it, leaving the mall in its wake leaving a thick heavy veil behind it. This was no fog, it didn’t affect their vision, but the air was noticeably different. Heavy and thick, almost hard to breathe, as if the air had suddenly become scarce as they struggled to breathe. Jackie grabbed for his throat as he gasped. There was something wrong.

Jackie struggled to look around. He noticed others struggling to breathe, not just Carmen and himself, and yet others seemed entirely unaffected, only looking on bewildered. Before he could question why, a sudden tingle of energy crawled through his body, he looked to his hands to see them glowing, and then to Carmen, whose body was similarly emitting a bright blinding light, starting at her feet and crawling up her legs towards her head. It wasn’t long before they were consumed by the light.

Emi_the_Fairy

As a quick aside, since this chapter is full of them, no this story will not be terribly heavy on references and referential humor. There will be some in the future, but not to the extend seen here. It just kind of happened to be heavy with this specific chapter.