"Hmmm?" Tokiko was snapped out of her train of thought by a seemingly obvious question. [i]Oh, right, she's still new. Am I going to have to explain everything to her?[/i]

"Nah," she replied, her voice gradually becoming more comfortable as they spoke more. "Our magic responds to our thoughts and instincts, which makes it pretty intuitive once you get a grip on it, but nobody knows all their powers from the start. Sometimes a fairy will stick around and teach a newbie some of the basics, but in general it's like any other skill. You figure it out by trying it out, and get better with practice and experience." 

She stopped briefly to yawn, still a little tired from the fight before. "Some of us have it easy... like Naoko. Her whole thing is just jumping around and smashing stuff, and superheating her body or whatever. And then you have girls like me, with weird or conditional powers that express themselves differently depending on the situation." She threw her hands up in exasperation. "It's been years for me, and there are still permutations I haven't gotten to try yet!" She'd gone through most cheap and ordinary machines she could find to figure out which ones could be upgraded into something useful, but endless possibilities still lay tantalizingly out of reach. [i]What if I used my power on a fighter jet? Or a particle accelerator? Or a nuclear missile?[/i] And that wasn't even taking into account the possible combinations...

"Anyways," she continued with a frown, wondering why the heck she was giving away so much info for free, "that's why the situation is so bad for you right now. If you don't know your Concept and Archetype, then even if they're strong, you'll still be outclassed by more experienced magical girls who can properly use their powers. If I were you I'd find somewhere safe for the first night or two, and work on training yourself. Use a sparring partner, or find some weak shades you can beat up without putting yourself at risk." 

She blinked suddenly. "Wait, you don't know what shades are, do you?" Then slapped one hand against her forehead. "Gaaah! Those damn fairies should just write an instruction manual!"

[@VitaVitaAR]