“Mr. Suzuki,” the teacher called out to a boy furiously scribbling in his notebook, “would you please pay attention?”

“Sorry Mrs. Robinson,” Mark replied with a sigh as he straightened his back in his chair.

Lessons like this always droned on, and he didn’t need it anyways. After tonight, he hoped he’d never need to attend another math lesson! He’d found, in his research on the internet, through various forums, a spell to unleash unlimited power, so perhaps he could finally learn something interesting. He questioned the spell, but a lot of “reviews” recommended it, and it sounded realistic enough.

He had been practicing scribbling the sigil all morning, just to make sure he got it right. He’d messed up a few times but now he was fairly sure he knew it from memory, double-checking on his phone nervously after the lecture ended. This was going to be great!

Putting down his phone, he noticed that a figure had appeared next to him while he’d been fixated on the sigil. Maddie, his best friend, was rummaging in her backpack for another stick of chewing gum. He waved sheepishly at her as she waved back, distractedly, before giving up on the gum and spitting her current piece in the trash.

“Whatcha workin’ so hard on, Mark?” Maddie asked as she twirled her short blonde curls.

“I’m, uh, working on a spell!” Mark confessed. Maddie wouldn’t judge, right?

“Oh, so you got, like, someone to watch you, right?” she asked as she raised an eyebrow. Shoot, he didn’t want to worry her but he totally didn’t. Was that something that was a big deal? He’d have to fib.

“Uh, yeah, haha! Turns out my hippie aunt does stull like this all the time,” he replied with feigned confidence.

Maddie’s brow furrowed for a moment. She didn’t look like she believed him, but perhaps she was just being overly protective. He was new to this, after all. Still, he was getting psyched out, until, that is, she shrugged and turned around.

“Well, alright,” she said as she walked away. “Just don’t try anything stupid that I’ll have to yell at you for. See you ‘round.”

Mark shivered as she walked away. He’d never really encountered Maddie being so sullen and cautious, she was normally the type to push him into things he didn’t want. He knew about magic from her, of course, but he wanted to do wayyy different stuff than she did. She just did simple stuff like, blessings for good luck. He wanted real magic, things that could change the world. He walked outside to board the waiting school bus.

As he got off the bus and walked inside, he walked up to his room without saying a word or even checking downstairs. It was a late night for his parents at the hospital, even if they were home, his mother would be busy meal-prepping while his father did the laundry, or vice versa.

He tied back his ever-growing hair with a hairband he’d pilfered from his mother’s bathroom cabinet as he rummaged in his dressers for the chalk he’d been hiding. He rummaged in his sock drawer for some black candles he’d picked up “just in case” from the store last time he’d been there, or so he told his mom when she’d brought him. Finally, he retrieved the lighter from downstairs, along with fennel from the kitchen cabinet.

From memory, he drew the sigil in seconds flat. Lighting the black candles, and placing the fennel seeds in the center and beginning the recitation of the spell. He had tripped up here in the past, but he found it easier and easier to relax into reading it once he’d said the first few lines.

The words flew off of his tongue like birds flitting their wings as they landed in the circle, as if it sucked all of his volume and even air in. He felt butterflies in his stomach as he found himself almost able to see the words he was speaking in this ancient language flow into the sigil, empowering it further.

And then, as he finished, everything stopped for a moment. The circle continued glowing, but began to attain a color, starting red, then orange, then yellow, until it reached a delicious indigo and then, as it began to change, time slowed to a crawl. It seemed almost as if the sigil exploded in front of him, things rushing out slowly in a crowd of wind…what were these?

A force like a freight train tore into his body, and he gasped as he saw parts of him be ripped off around him, until there was naught but darkness. He woke up what seemed like a few days later in a pile of rubble. As he looked down, he saw his guts spilled out as his torso lay a meter away in front of him. This was his house, his body, and he was going to die.

“Yes you are!” a voice called out.

“Who are you?” Mark coughed out.

From atop his head, a small floating fox creature descended “A spirit animal, if you will! Hi, I’m Bubba!” 

“Spirit creatures are called…Bubba?” Mark asked, confused.

“Yep! Now I’m gonna make this quick, you fucked up and you’re going to die. But I’m going to give you the offer of a lifetime. After you die, your soul can come with me and you’ll become a magical girl!” Bubba cheerily explained as he curled up in a ball on the boy’s chest.

“But I’m not a girl!”

“Clearly you are, or you couldn’t even see me. Now, I’d say you have about twenty seconds before you pass out from blood loss, so you better make up your mind before you die!”

Mark panicked, and he knew there was only one choice, one that he hated to admit, he was excited to try, even under the circumstances. “I’ll do it, Bubba.”

“Atta girl! Now, this is going to hurt. A lot.” Bubba said as he made what the best approximation of a fox smiling could be.

And while Mark didn’t remember much else, he found out very quickly that Bubba was right.

“Where am I?” Mark asked, a voice mimicking him what seemed a short time later, even simultaneously. The voice, unlike his, was loud, alive, feminine, defined, compared to his. He wondered if someday he might be able to achieve a voice like that, if by magic.

“Technically, you’re no-where at all right now! At least, not to your idea of somewhere,” Bubba’s voice replied.

“Am I dead?”

“Not anymore! You’re no longer that dingy old bag of bones, you’re a magical girl!”

“But what does that mean? Was that voice earlier mine?”

“Yes, it could be! I would certainly think so, though the final transformation could change that. We’ll just have to see! Now, think of yourself starting out as a seed, and then blooming into a beautiful flower. See it in your mind!” Bubba cried urgently.

As Mark thought, he found he could perceive it clearly. He imagined himself breaking through the light, up to the sun. He imagined his leaves soaking up energy, and pouring it into one thing, one purpose, a stalk of flowers, that began as green, then flitted to white, and finally, as they opened, into a rich indigo, with a fleur of white in the middle. And as soon as he saw this, he felt someone shaking him. He woke up with a gasp.

“Well hello there,” Bubba said, now less spooky looking and a little more corporeal as he smiled, “welcome to the infirmary of the Magical Girl Academy!”

“Infirmary? How long have I been out?” Mark asked, testing his voice that was now much lighter than he’d been developing over the past year or two.

“Well, gosh, a few months is what I’d guess! You’re just lucky you woke up so soon! Now you won’t have to miss new student orientation in a few days!” Bubba replied as he chased his tail around the bed.

Mark took the opportunity to look down at himself. He was dressed in a plain hospital gown, except that it was pink. He wondered if he could change that, or if he was stuck with some humiliating uniform. Even if he was going to be a girl, they couldn’t make him wear a dress.

His body looked fairly normal, all things considered. He felt a little weird looking at it, but then again, it was his body. Even if it was one he’d never seen before. As he located a mirror nearby, he confirmed that he didn’t look too different, though the dyed blue hair was a new one. Still, he looked a lot more…well, girlish.

“I understand it’s jarring for young transgender women,” Bubba said cheerily, “if you like, I can get you a pamphlet about your body!”

“But I thought I didn’t have a human body anymore?” Mark asked.

“Well, it’s complicated! I’m sure you’ll learn a lot more about it, but suffice it to say I think it’d be helpful! I’ll be sure to get you a lot more pamphlets,” Bubba replied as he lept off the bed and into another room.

With that, Mark was left alone. After confirming that yes, in fact, he had a girl’s body, and no, in fact, he was not dreaming, he kind of slumped over, bored, until he heard another voice.

“Please! Let me out! Oh please please let me out!” a girl cried from a few meters away. Mark turned to look at her, to find her sobbing hysterically.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Mark asked.

“It hurts! It hurts so much, please!” she cried as she began to claw at her sides in agony.

“Bubba!” Mark cried. “There’s a girl who needs help!”

“Ah, I see!” Bubba replied as he suddenly appeared next to Mark. “Let me just take care of getting her transferred to a ward that can handle her pain!”

Bubba then vanished, along with the girl, and Mark was left alone again for just a few seconds, before Bubba reappeared.

“Wow, you really have everything taken care of here, huh?” Mark asked.

“Being spirits does lend us a little help!” Bubba replied with a grin. “Now, let’s look into getting you checked out. I’ll see about who you can room with, though no guarantees you’ll get anything better than luck of the draw! For now, you can go down to the lunch hall and get yourself something nice to eat.”

Bubba tossed him a meal ticket that seemed to make the world around him swirl, until he was in the middle of a booth. He stood there collecting himself for a minute before someone shoved him aside from behind.

“Watch where you’re standing in the materialization booth, fresh meat. We got places to be,” a girl with a high ponytail with red highlights said as she shoved past him, knocking him a few steps away. She looked at him with a scowl before sighing and walking to one of the many restaurant booths that seemed to be devoid of workers.

She’d been kind of rude and for no good reason. How did she know he was even new here? He then realized–he’d never changed his clothes from the night gown. A flood of embarrassment overtook him as he looked down, trying to pat his clothes down as he realized…he was fine, just looking like a lunatic in the cafeteria, as a schoolgirl uniform provided him the cover he required.

He walked up to a restaurant that appeared to serve…udon with spaghetti sauce. Hey, that was his comfort food for when his parents couldn’t come up with dinner. Could this be made for him? He looked for a place to put his slip into, but as he pressed a button, the slip disappeared out of his very hands. Shortly thereafter, in its place, materialized a bowl of udon with spaghetti sauce.

It was a bit less than he’d normally have, but he supposed he also was eating for two meals’ worth normally, and besides, his new body probably didn’t need as much food. He looked around for a seat, but found that for some reason, the only table in the cafeteria was next to the other person.

“Hi!” he said with a little bit of feigned confidence as he sat down, “I’m Mark!”

The girl turned to him with a softer demeanor, smiled, then sighed. He hoped he hadn’t made her too mad earlier, he was going to need friends at this new school and–

“You should have never come here, and the sooner you come to terms with that, the better,” the girl said as she took a bite of what looked like some kind of chowder.

“Oh! I’m sorry,” Mark said glumly as he got up to leave.

“T..that’s not what I meant, just, look. I don’t care what they sell you at orientation, this isn’t a good place to be,” she said contritely, “I wish I had known that when I first got here, that it wasn’t. It’s way too much drama, and just, ugh! I’m Mary, by the way. It’s good to meet you, even despite the circumstances.”

Mark nodded as he gulped down his bowl of udon, which earned him a strange look but no comments. The warning intimidated him but he’d heard schools could be like this. He’d just have to be tougher than tough. In a girl’s body, of course, but he’d find a way!

“So, where were you from?”

“I’m from out near Bakersfield, if you’ve heard of it haha. I know it’s probably a ways out from wherever this is,” Mark replied with a smile. “How about you?"

“I was from the boonies out near Louisville, y’now,” she replied, “probably also some place you’ve never heard of.”

“Well that makes two of us, then!” Mark said.

“What’s Mark short for?” Mary asked as she dropped her plate into a trash bin. 

“It’s not short for anything, it’s like, you know, M-A-R-K?” Mark replied.

“Awful sorry name for a girl then,” Mary replied.

“Ah, well, I mean, I’m not a girl, I think I just look like one? I’m really not sure,” Mark replied as he also tossed his bowl.

Mary’s eyes began to wander down, and then up, and then a furrow crossed her brow, before something seemed to click and she began sputtering out apologies.

“No, I mean, it’s fine! You couldn’t have known,” Mark replied as he scratched the back of his neck.

“I’ve just never met a trans girl that hasn’t known when they come here yet! This is so exciting! Wait, do you have a new name picked out?”

“New name? I mean, I guess if I have to, I’d really like Ashley,” Mark replied as he thought about it.

“Well, no, you don’t have to. Do you still want to go by Mark? No pressure at all.” Mary said nervously.

“Well, I mean, as long as I’m in this body, Ashley makes more sense!” Ashley replied as she smiled obliviously at Mary.

“Oh thank god, you’re just dense,” Mary muttered to herself, before piping up. “It’s sure a good thing there aren’t two people whose names begin with Mar- anymore! Would make it confusing!”

“Yeah, I guess when you put it like that, it’s a good thing I’m going by Ashley! Could we also use, she/her pronouns? I know I’m a guy but–”

“That’s perfectly fine. She/her pronouns, got it!” Mary replied with a grin.

And with that, Bubba appeared right next to them on the table, with plenty of forms next to him. “So, Ashley, I got your class sheet printed out for you. If you’d take a moment to read it over, that’d be great! It’s lucky that you’re here, Magical Girl Hypatia, because you’re going to be her mentor!”

“I didn’t sign up for mentoring, I’m in the accelerated program so I should be exempt,” Mary protested. “Also, my name is Mary Daniels, thank you very much.”

“We’ve changed some policies. I apologize for any inconvenience, I know staffing at this school’s become a nightmare recently and all but I have faith in you, Magical Girl Hypatia! Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go prepare living accommodations for Ashley.” Bubba said as he once again disappeared into thin air.

“Magical Girl Hypatia?” Ashley asked Mary excitedly. “You get a cool name like that too??”

“Geez, girl, did you really never watch Sailor Moon or anything?” Mary replied. “Everyone gets a magical girl name once they pass their first term, the staff just insist on referring to us by it once we get ours. Treasure owning your name while you can.”

“Okay, I will! This is gonna be great!” Ashley said. “I always wanted to learn magic and be a girl, and now I can do both!”

“You were a really dense one, weren’t you? Jesus, girl.” Mary said as she allowed the bubbly new magical girl’s demeanor to make her giggle a little too. “It’s so funny that you have such a gothy demeanor to you, I’d definitely expect you to be more ‘bleh bleh whatever’ but you’re so happy!”

“Well yeah, I guess, this is an adventure and I’ve already made a friend, so that’s awesome!” Ashley replied. “I have a feeling we’re gonna be the kind of friends you never forget, not for your whole lives!”

“You’re a sentimental one too, huh?”

“What’s funny is I’m not normally the touchy feely one. That’s normally Maddie!”

As she exclaimed that, Ashley felt a pit in her stomach develop. Maddie…she was going to find out soon that Ashley was her. No, it’d been a few months, she’d already probably moved on or something and they’d never see each other again. Could she become a magical girl? But if she could, that’d be when she died and then they’d never get to see either of their family again. And gosh, her parents must be so devastated, she didn’t know how they’d even have time to plan the funeral and–

“Ashley! Snap out of it!” Mary yelled as she shook Ashley.

Ashley, meanwhile, didn’t know what much to do except fall into Mary’s arms and begin to cry. Mary awkwardly, then more comfortingly, embraced the girl as she began to stroke her hair gently. This wasn’t her first rodeo with a new girl missing home by any means. She sighed as she looked down. This place may not have been ideal, but maybe she could make it look a bit more like home for Ashley.

“That’s a risky bet, youngster,” the lion spirit mused as a fox strutted across his field of view.

“Consider this, though. She died in an accident with the occult, sir” the fox offered.

“And her wish could have easily been one that’s just as run of the mill, Bubba, you know, to see an unrequited love,” the lion replied. “If we’re going to make this happen, we need fighters.”

“We’ll have fighters in due time, especially if the prodigy can train her up too,” Bubba replied. “I am aware of our issues and looking for ways to resolve them!”

“Perhaps you are right. I like foxes, even as spirits you’re always the creative ones,” the lion mused.

“What we’re made for, what can I say, sir?” Bubba chimed.