Question Majiana

Hi! I'm Angela, and I guess you could call me a magical girl.

It all started when I woke up and saw these pretty green specks floating in the air. There were so many of them that it was impossible to distinguish individual specks, but I was able to recognize areas where they gathered and flowed. They were so awe inspiring that I didn't once feel the need to question it. They just had to be real! I was so struck watching them flow around my room that it felt like hours before I finally got out of bed. While I would have preferred to just watch them, it was nice that I was able to tune them out before going for breakfast. Even then I kept peeking at their flows just to admire the beauty of it all.
What struck me as the most odd was that it felt like I should be able to control it somehow. Perhaps focus it or direct it in a particular direction, kind of like how a lens can focus light?

I took off my own glasses to see if I could find any kind of inspiration from how the glass lenses worked. When thinking, I had a strange symbol appear in my mind. I couldn't recall seeing it anywhere, but it seemed important. I quickly went to grab a piece of paper and a pencil to write it down. It didn't look quite right the first time, so I redrew it until it matched with the image in my head.
The symbol I found myself starting at was unlike anything I had seen. I had no idea where it came from and it felt like it should somehow affect the green specks I had seen that morning. It wasn't doing anything yet, but with just a little nudge, it should start working.

Touching it with my finger, I noticed some of the same green specks emerge from my finger and get absorbed by the symbol. Did I have those specks inside me somehow? I wondered at the time. Before I could answer that question, my attention was drawn back to the symbol. Sure enough, the specks that approached the symbol from one side were getting forced over to the other. It created a distinct empty spot where they were being drawn from, and a rather dense spot where it was sitting them out. It never got too extreme as more were flowing into the void as it processed, much of which were coming from the output. Watching the whole thing, the flow struck me as being more like iron filings around a magnet than light through a lens. Just as I had done that morning, I just sat and watched the flow travel across the symbol before long around to the start again. At least until it stopped and the specks resumed their natural flow.

While I was a little sad that the symbol had stopped working, I was still stunned by the fact that it had worked at all. Where had that symbol and these specks come from? I also had an chance to think about the specks that emerged when I touched it. Looking more at myself, I was able to notice a steady flow getting absorbed by my own body. It wasn't much different from the ambient flow, but they didn't seem to leave from what I could tell.

I wasn't sure what else I or the specks could do, so I didn't follow up for a while. That said, I still tried to find opportunities to watch. If anything, my mother was happy that I was looking around more than I used to.

At one point, some local superheroes were doing a demonstration. One woman was showing off her wind powers and was even giving some fans a chance to experience flight. Her partner was was a magic user and was performing some flashy spells for the crowd. What caught my eye was that he seemed to be drawing in the specs kind of like how I noticed myself doing, and that his spells disturbed that natural flow. Was the symbol I had drawn back then actually some magic symbol? Was I a magic user? In between 2 of his tricks, I snuck in a chance to ask him about it. My mother's confused expression reminded me that I had completely forgotten to tell her. Oops. The superhero was much more understanding.

“I'm not sure how you could have been able to discover such a rune.” So that's what that symbol is called. “But otherwise, these 'specks’ you're describing could very well be essence, the main form of magical energy. Have you tried testing to see if your a mutant?”

Somehow the thought of being a mutant myself hadn't crossed my mind before. It would explain a lot. My mom looked worried at the possibility, but it couldn't be too bad right? I still looked normal and everything I'd done so far had been harmless, so should be fine. We agreed to book an appointment with the local MCO office in hopes of learning of the was anything else I might be capable of. He also gave us his phone number to let him know how it went.


My mother was a little relieved that not much was happening at power testing… at first. All physical tests came back normal and there was no sign of psychic abilities either. They asked me to demonstrate my magic abilities, but all I could do for them was the one rune I'd discovered before, which didn't do much that they could see. Instead they just used some scanner that would read my magic power or something and wrote down a 2. Not very high, but it could be worse. After that, they brought me over to a small bench of parts. They didn't suspect anything would happen, so they didn't give me much time to look at it, but looking at the pieces, I felt much like when I first saw the essence flows. I insisted that I would be given more time and I quickly got to work.
The agent who was testing me and my mother were both surprised by what I was doing, but I was more focused on what was scattered around. There was a fairly short PVC pipe that could be useful for a lot of things. After finding a plug that fit really well, I knew what I could build, but it would require some things from the other stations. Specifically, there were some nice clear crystals for demoing with at the magic station. I think they were quartz, but I didn't think it would matter too much. I took 2 and trimmed them down so they could fit in the pipe. I needed to store energy in the one for the back and just like the first time, a symbol, a rune, appeared in my mind. The quartz was much smaller than the paper and harder to write on, so I made sure to get plenty of practice before doing it for real. Eventually, I manned to transfer the rune to the crystal with a chisel, and luckily without shattering the crystal, which would have been bad. The other would just act as a focus, so it didn't need any etching. Lastly, a means to channel the energy. Ideally, it should be engraved on the inside of the pipe, but the agent is getting impatient and perfection is hardly necessary. After getting the rune required, i transferred it to a simple piece of paper, being careful to check the size of the pipe to make sure it would line up properly. This rune was similar to the first one I had made, but had some key differences due to the fact that it was meant to be wrapped into a tube, and that it should only pull while I maintain power, and reverse very quickly and briefly when I release. I slid it into the pipe and added the second crystal to the end. I then took a simple marker and drew a small circle on the bottom and connected it to the open end which should connect it to the rune on the paper. At that point, it looked very shabby, but it should be functional.

“What is that?” my mother asked worryingly, seemingly afraid of what I just did.

I looked for a blank spot on the wall to test out the creation. When I fed power into the little circle, I could see it traveling along the line. I also noticed essence being drawn in through the quartz crystal, signifying that the ‘magnet’, as it were, was working. There was even a very faint glow coming from the end that even mundane eyes could see. Before waiting too long, I released my finger and cut the connection. The polarity reversed for a split second before shutting off. In that brief moment, a stream of essence, coming from the crystal in the back, shot out the front. Enough that it made a visible beam of light and even lightly burned the spot on the wall. It worked! I smiled with excitement that it had worked.

My mother on the other hand was stunned. Terrified at what her daughter had just done. The agent meanwhile quickly scribbled something on his test sheet. He nervously asked me what I wanted my codename to be.

“Hm… I haven't thought of it much. Can I hold off for now?”

He nodded and took my picture before printing out a preliminary MID for me. “GAD 3, DEV 3, WIZ 2. Ratings tentative: further testing required.” The testing agent informed me that GAD meant ‘gadgeteer’, DEV meant ‘devisor’, and WIZ was short for ‘wizard’, or magic user, as well as what they all mean in terms of what I can do. Unfortunately, it looked like I might require follow-up testing, especially since this was a fairly small facility that didn't have the equipment to properly test my magic and since they weren't expecting me to have any technical powers. I hear that it's fairly rare to have them and magic at the same time, and even rarer to have them interact like they did here. I guessed at that point that somehow coming up with the runes I had used must have been thanks to the gadgeteer ability.

I managed to convince my mom and the agent to let me take home my new toy, but mom was strict in that it couldn't be used in the house. She did wonder what thing I made is.

“I call it a 'Mana Pulse’. Technically it's essence, but mana sounds cooler. Basically what it does is it draws in essence from around it and then releases in in a single pulse.”

“You're telling me you just made a laser gun?” my mom asked stressed out.

“Well… it's not really a laser so much as…”

“It's a laser,” she cut me off, clearly uncomfortable with what that meant.


When we got home, I went into the backyard to play with my new toy. It didn't do a whole lot. It usually wouldn't extend past half the yard before the beam became too spread out to affect anything. When it did hit something, usually it would just release a little smoke and heat the target up a bit. When shooting at the various plants like grass and trees, it seemed to absorb the beam and slowly dissipate the essence over a few seconds. During that period, it seemed to glow faintly. Not just the release of essence, nor was it actually glowing, but it did seem more …alive… from what I could tell. It was hard to describe exactly, but I made sure to mentally file away that bit of information.

Meanwhile inside, my mother was on the phone with the wizard going over my test results and the Mana Pulse.


“That's unusual. It's not unheard of for a mutant to have both devisor and wizard traits, but based on your description of this ‘Mana Pulse’, it would seem that your daughter managed to create a devise that runs on essence. I've never heard of a mutant’s devisor and wizard traits acting so closely before.”

“You keep using these terms. I've never had to interact with mutants before so I have no idea what you're trying to say. What does thing mean about poor Angela?”

“My apologies; I would have thought they would go over this at power testing. A gadgeteer is a mutant who can find how to create what they imagine, whether or not current understanding allows for it. Divisors alter the rules of reality around their creations to make them work. The too are very close, but the basics is that only a devisor can replicate the results of another devisor while gadgeteer creations operate under normal physics and can be replicated freely. The wizard trait simply means your daughter can use magic. Technically it refers to how quickly they can collect essence, but that's not necessary right now.”
“What does mean for Angela?”

“If she really is capable of applying her devisor trait to magic, then I suspect that several more experienced magic users wouldn't appreciate what she's capable of. Magic can be very dangerous if misused and I recommend finding proper training for her as soon as possible. I happen to know a school that can help your daughter not only with her magical talents, but also with her devisor ability. Unfortunately it's out in the Eastern US so it's not very close by, and the tuition can be very expensive.”
Angela's mom was thankful that local grade school was paid for through taxes. The thought of a steep tuition this early made her very uncomfortable. That said, she decided to put up with it, and the long distance, if it truly was what was best for her child.
“I'll do it. If it means helping to understand these new powers of hers, then I'll put up with it,” she sighed.


The application forms arrived in the mail a few days later. There were a lot of pages, but thankfully I didn't need to fill out everything. Just seeing all the options it gives was enough to make me think about how diverse this place must be.
I was a bit worried about leaving home for so long, and so far away. It was also a tad inconvenient to switch schools only a single year into high school, but I've heard that most places use a different system than my district uses. Lastly there was the complications from getting education in a foreign country. All that said, my mother told me that it was the best place to learn about my new gift.


Before I knew it, my mother and I were exchanging tearful goodbyes at the airport to get ready for my flight east. Security was harder than I'd expected. Normally I could speed through thanks to the Nexus card my mom got me. It made crossing the US border very easy most of the time. This time however, I still got to skip the lineup, but only because it meant getting pulled to a separate station just for being a mutant. It wasn't as bad as some of the horror stories I read while looking up information on mutants. I suspected that's because I couldn't really do much at that time and my Mana Pulse was the only thing I had for them to confiscate. The agent said that it would get returned after the flight, so I assumed it would still be fine.


Aside from the brief interruption at the airport, the trip was mostly uneventful. I did notice a few other teens board the same train from Boston as I did. Several other kids were already waiting at the train station where we got off. It seemed I wasn't the only person going to this new school. After a short wait, we were instructed to board a bus and made our way away from the train station.

Growing up on the west coast, the scenery was very different from home. What surprised me during the ride was a massive difference in the essence density compared to home, and it seemed to increase as we got further into the drive. This discovery gave some good credibility to the idea that it was supposedly one of the best magic schools in the world. Being as shy as I was, I was relieved that the girl sitting next to me was content with her phone.

Passing through the gates that led to school, I slowly realized that this place truly was like no other. There were several people already on campus and many started demonstrating their powers as soon as they got off the bus. I took in everything I could see. I noticed a nearby forest that seemed to be spilling out essence into the rest of campus. I could only imagine what it looked like up close. Welcome to Whateley Academy!