Alice’s head whipped around towards the sound, and by extension the girl connected to it. “The hell?” she asked incredulously, stepping from the wall and looking over at the girl. “... who are you?” she asked, guard up – if not visibly.

Celica blinked and looked at the girl. She looked young, maybe family from another student, come to visit, or perhaps one of the incoming Shifters who had been brought in this year. Fresh out of high school seemed likely. She frowned briefly at the coloration of her hair. There was a certain stigma to dyeing one’s hair that color, for good reason. 

“Hey,” she called, getting up and approaching the girl. “Are you alright?” 

Suddenly hearing the voices of the two girls made Mana surprised. She didn’t think she made that much noise falling down. Moving to stand up, she dusted herself a bit “I’m fine, thanks for asking. And people call me Mana. Or well, people would call me Mana if I knew more people around.” She said and then realised that she was talking to the two people she was previously following.

“Sorry if I interrupted your conversation or something, but I couldn’t help overhearing what you said about the different types of bullets for regular guns. Being a techno geek, I found it interesting. How can you make different types of bullets, if I can be rude and just plainly ask?” Mana said, hoping that they won’t decide she is too rude and then just leave her. 

“Well, if you were to ask me I’d mainly have an answer for non-magical bullets, because apparently nobody thinks I’m smart enough to understand magic or any of the arcane. Celica might know a bit more,” Alice responded, motioning towards Celica, “and could I ask what you mean by ‘techno geek’? Either you’re a geek about techno music or you obsess over technology which appears to be well on its way to be supplanted by magic that nobody bothers explaining to me.”

“Probably the second,” she quipped, before turning to the girl with a half-smile. “Don’t mind Alice too much, she’s just sour.” 

Alice glared at her, “I am the sapient equivalent of those sour candies that make you incapable of tasting anything for a week. I am lemons on steroids and LSD. I am the walking epitome of sour, mortal.” she shrugged, “Which does nothing to improve my standing with people, I suppose.”

Celica blinked, then nodded slowly. “That was a joke.”

“I did mean the second. And I’m not just interested in technologies that are supplanted by magic, but in general. Show me a piece of technology, and I’ll be curious.” Mana said to both girls before moving her sights between the two “So it’s Alice and Celica. Nice to meet the two of you.” She said and then turned to look at Celica “So you can make Magical bullets, huh?” She asked in a curious tone. 

“Uh…” Celica hesitated at Mana’s expectant look. “Well, yes.” She looked around, frowning at their surroundings, the fingers of one hand idly drumming against the side of one of the holsters at her belt. “I’d rather not make a demonstration here, though.”

“Shockingly, people tend not to like it if you put a bunch of holes in the walls and basically freeze everything moving until they can get somebody who knows magic to undo it in a way that doesn’t involve the other extreme or waiting for several hours.” Alice interjected with a mock scholarly tone. 

At first Mana didn’t quite understand what Celica meant, but when she heard what Alice said “Ah. I’m sorry if I hadn’t been a bit clearer, but I didn’t expect a demonstration here. Of course that wouldn’t make any sense to do. But I was hoping for an explanation on how its possible, or how, in theory, do you do it. But if its hard for you to explain I’ll understand too.” She said and then felt a vibration in her bag. 

Taking out her phone, she saw there was only a couple of minutes before her train arrives “Uhm… Which train are you two taking? Because I’m headed to the dorms, and I’d like to keep talking to you two.” Mana asked.

“Dorms.” Alice responded, “Waiting for the train.”

Celica gave a pained smile. “I guess I don’t have an excuse not to explain, do I?” She shook her head, shifting her weight. “It [i]is[/i] hard to explain, though. I don’t think I could teach someone else how to do it unless we had the same compatibility. Shifter magic rarely works the same for all of us.”

“I see. I didn’t expect that I could do the same thing exactly or something, but I had another thought, though with what you just said, I guess that thought is also pointless now.” Mana said and let out a small sigh while looking in the direction of where the train was supposed to come from.

“I’m sorry. Magic comes almost instinctually at times, you know? It’s partly why Alice is so sour,” she teased. She followed Mana’s gaze, noticing a shape starting to move closer. Realizing the tram was nearly there, She tilted her head towards the tracks, motioning for them walk with her. “I suppose – if I were to give the most barebones explanation I can think of – is that I can give an object an… an intention, let’s say, and the magic it needs to carry it out.” Celica shook her head, clearly unsatisfied with what little she could get across, but quickly turned to smile at Mana. “What year are you? Most of the new students don’t really care about conventional firearms when they can be shooting lightning out of their fingers and torching things on their own.”

Alice interjected again, mumbling this time, “Because most people can’t comprehend the magnificence of a finely crafted revolver.”

“Now I know what to get you on your birthday.” 

“I have several guns at home, I just can’t get permission to ship any out here yet.” Alice grumbled in reply, pulling a phone that looked more akin to ballistic plating from one of the many pockets on her jacket, checking something before sliding it back into the pocket.

Hearing Celica’s explanation, Mana nodded, and was about to say something when she heard her question. So she thought she was a first year just because of her appearance, just like most people “I’m in my [i]third[/i] year here…” She said and her expression changed in a more depressed one as she walked besides Celica and Alice “I’m 21 years old, despite what I look like.” She said in a more depressed tone. She really disliked when people jumped to conclusions like that. 

“Oh.” Touchy subject. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sa—I mean, I…” She trailed off, giving Alice a pleading look. ‘Help me,’ she mouthed.

“You didn’t mean to judge by appearance. It’s what most people do, due to how young I look.” Mana said and rose her sight a bit to look at Celica “I should’ve gotten used to it, but I guess I haven’t. But it’s fine.” She said and slightly shook her head at her own reaction.

“To be fair,” Alice piped in, “You wouldn’t believe the number of people who greet me as sir, even when they’ve heard me speak. It leaves one rather disgruntled after the first fifty or so times, after the first fifty people.”

“Well, you do sound a bit like a guy, with how you talk…” Mana mumbled to herself before sending a small smile in Alice’s direction “Well, I guess both of us have something we dislike other people doing.” She said and the realised how silly that sounded. Everyone had something that they disliked about the actions of others, most likely. Slightly blushing, she moved to get on board the train that had just stopped. 

“You two are not making me feel like a good person,” Celica sighed, plopping down on an empty seat.

“I am a horrible person, and am well aware of it.” Alice declared, “One becomes well acquainted with their inner horridity when one spends ten years learning how to kill people with everything short of empty air.”

“Don’t worry Alice, I think you’re good on the inside,” Celica said, lazily. “Like how your side of the room looks like a hurricane went through it, but you keep your bathroom supplies so well organized my first drill sergeant would weep tears of joy.”

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to make you feel bad!” Mana said with a sad look in her eyes. She sat down next to Celica and looked at her, wanting to make sure that her apology would be accepted. She also wondered to herself if she was trying too hard to be accepted by others or not.

“Now you’re making me feel worse.” Celica chuckled, waving one hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about it. But, since we already stepped on this mine, what year do you think we are?” 

“Uhm…” Mana looked at both of them and hesitated on answering. Both were higher than her, and she wondered if she was supposed to catch a hint that they weren’t as old as they appeared. Deciding to guess it, she took a quick breath “I think both of you are in the third year as well.” She said in a quick sentence.

Celica gave her a half-lidded stare. “Are you saying we’re old?”

“Maybe. I’m saying that you two are at least as old as me.” Mana replied in a more relaxed tone, figuring that either way, no real harm could be done.

“I was hoping that would fluster you. I suppose I am a terrible person when it comes down to it,” Celica admitted, laughing good-naturedly. “Good guess. I’m surprised we haven’t met before. What’s your Shifter Class? Fae?” 

“Thats a good guess on your behalf. Thats exactly my class.” Mana spoke with a happy tone “And even if we were in the same class, I doubt you would’ve noticed me. I don’t have an easy time making friends.”

“Really? I never would've guessed.”

“Yup. Most of the people in my class don’t really notice unless I’m answering something or we are training outside.” Mana said and rolled her eyes.

“Can’t say I’ve had that problem.” Alice shrugged. “People tend to notice you when you kick them halfway across a field.”

Celica gave Alice a brief glance shaking her head. “That's strange.” She turned to Mana. “Trust me, I don’t mean to offend, but you do look rather distinctive.” 

Bits of lightning begun to come out of her eyes as Mana turned to look at Celica “If you mean my hair, then yeah. It’s different.” She said. She didn’t sound angry or annoyed, but it appeared as if the lightning appeared without her controlling it, or even noticing it. 

Another touchy subject. This Mana was turning out to be quite the prickly girl. That was not a reaction one would have expected from commenting on hair dye, however. Celica’s eyes widened slightly, and she looked away, lips pursed in a grimace. 

“It’s natural, just so you know. A lot of people think its dyed, but it’s not.” Mana said and rubbed her eyes a bit, making the lightning go away before looking at the nearest window “Both of you look very nice.” She said in a slightly weaker voice. 

“Am I supposed to care if your hair is naturally blue, for whatever cause?” Alice asked, “So what if your hair is blue – and I could probably guess the reason – are you charging in here waving a magic rifle and trying to impose a universal government on us all? If not, I see no issue.”

Letting out a sigh, Mana kept her eyes on the window. “That’s pretty much the first time someone said that to me.” She whispered before looking at Alice. “Thanks. That means a lot.” She added.

“See? Good on the inside,” Celica said with a wan smile. She took a deep breath and absentmindedly brushed her hair back with one hand. “I’m sorry,” she said after a short pause. “I don’t usually put my foot in my mouth like this.” 

“It’s fine. I just get tired of people making remarks about my hair, of any kind. It’s not like I chose how my hair is, and I also found out that I couldn’t colour my hair, because there is something about it that wouldn’t react well to hair dyes.” She said and rolled her eyes “But I guess natural is the best colour at the end.” Mana added before turning to look at the two of them again.

“So, what kind of shifters are you? Because if I had to guess, I would go with Demon. But that’s just a guess.” Mana asked in a curious tone.

Celica smiled at the change in topic. “Okay, I’m curious. What makes you say Demon?”

“My sulfuric personality, obviously.”

Mana giggled at Alice’s remark “Well, that, and I don’t think Titans can create magical bullets. If you were Fae, then you would’ve asked me how come you didn’t see me in classes before after I’ve confirmed it.” 

“Logic, you foil me again,” Celica said dryly.

“That left Demon and Spirits. So I decided to have a guess.” She finished explaining. 

“I’m surprised you didn’t pick Spirit. It’s the first thing a lot of people think of when I bring up guns.”

“Some spooky damn guns then,” Alice commented, a small smirk playing at the corners of her mouth. “Why would spirits be the first thing people think of when you say guns? Guns aren’t exactly subtle weapons last I recall.”

“They are also useless up front against most Shifters, unless you have some trick up your sleeve,” Celica pointed out.

“Well, I didn’t quite think about that, but I figure spirits might need guns too, for protection should they suddenly find themselves in a dangerous situation. Like, most of the forces had already went into battle and the enemy troops sent a small undercover unit to try and take out any support our troops left behind.” Mana said, shrugging her shoulders a bit. That was her own assumption, she didn’t think that anyone on a battlefield should be left weaponless. 

“Anyhow, you didn’t reply to my guess. Are you Demon type shifters?” 

Celica finally nodded. “Yes, we are. Yuki-anesa, or Snow Sis, if you want to avoid the Japanese,” she said gesturing at herself, “and Valkyrie.” She motioned towards Alice. 

“I’m expected to stab things and not much else, it drives one crazy at times.”

“That’s only because you want to mix it with shooting.”

“Hey, I spent a good deal of my early life shooting things, it’s fun, dammit!” Alice protested, “I’m going to resubmit that paperwork. Maybe if I phrase it nicely, make valid points, and kiss some ass they’ll let me.”

"How did you even manage to get rejected in the first place? We're in a military facility, for crying out loud."

Trying to remember their shifter type, Mana didn’t quite pay attention to the little side talk they had going on, before realising she hadn’t told them her own. “I’m a bit rude, I didn’t tell you my shifter!” She said in an apologetic tone, drawing their attention. “My Fae shifter is Thunderbird.” She said and rubbed the back of her neck a bit.

“Ah.” Celica nodded. “So that’s what the lightning eyes were about.”

“What a [i]shocking[/i] revelation,” Alice noted, “It’s almost as if the girl with the lightning in her eyes has lightning powers. Incredible.” 

“Congratulations,” Celica groaned. “The bad pun means she likes you.”

“Like is a subjective term.” Alice corrected her, “It’s more accurate to say I’d be more surprised if you were to sink a knife in my spine.”

“Trust me, good on the inside.”

“Good is a subjective term as well.”

“Then I guess we could call Alice ‘Miss Subjective’ instead.” Mana said with a teasing tone before laughing.

Celica joined in with soft snicker. Their mirth, however, was soon interrupted by a female voice announcing the following station. Celica looked up, as if expecting to see the source of the voice, then sighed.

“We’ll have to get off soon,” she commented, before smiling at the blue-haired girl. “It was fun talking to you, Mana. We should do it again sometime. Actually,” she said, pulling out her phone, “how about we exchange numbers?”

“Sure, I’d like that.” Mana replied with a smile while taking out her own phone “I can only assume Alice isn’t one to do these kind of things.” She said and gave her a curious look, wanting to see if she would pull out her phone or not.

“Sure she is. Right, Alice?” Celica prodded, teasingly.

Alice shrugged, pulling out her own phone and twirling it in her fingers, looking over at Celica. “To offer the phone number or not to offer the phone number, that is the question, is it not?” She tossed it in the air, catching it with two fingers, “I suppose it couldn’t hurt.” She laughed quietly, passing the phone to Mana.

“Just write down your contact info in there, and we’ll send you a message.” Celica added. “With the way the Academy is, it would be a shame if we met up like this and then didn’t run into each other until graduation day.”

Taking the phone from Celica and Alice, Mana wrote down her number in each of them before handing them back. She then nodded before putting her phone back in her bag. “Well, seeing we covered that, I guess this is where we are going our separate ways.” She said with a somewhat cheerful tone, mainly due to having a couple of new friends now. 

With a muffled groan, the tram slowed to a stop, and the people around them began to stand up, making for the doors.

Celica glanced around at the movement before standing up as well, a satisfied grin on her face. “Alright then, we’ll see you later.” 

On the station, the group split up, the girls headed for their respective dorms. “She was nice,” Celica commented as they neared their building. “A bit sensitive, but nice.”

Alice shrugged, as she often did, “I’d imagine that stigma would make somebody sensitive.” She coughed awkwardly, remembering the instance in her youth involving toxic chemicals. “Yep.” She affirmed quickly.

“I suppose, though I wish she hadn’t been so serious about it. Oh well, nothing to it.” Celica shook her head, sighing. “The year starts in earnest tomorrow.” She chuckled wryly. “There ain’t no rest for the wicked.”

“I get rest.” Alice rasped in protest, “Anyway, I’m going to try and resend that application to ship at least one of my guns out here. Could you look it over for me, maybe point out why I keep on getting the responses I do?”

Celica snorted. “Sure, if only out of morbid curiosity.”

“Morbid is subjective, too.”