Though nothing physically hit her, the wind was knocked from Mika’s lungs. She felt like she was drowning, suffocating. Her body felt hot, but never quite uncomfortably so; somehow, though she could not say [i]how[/i] she knew it to be so, she felt as though she were being reborn. Reborn as a stronger, less fearful version of herself; her fingertips tingled, not only with newfound power, but a need to [i]act[/i] on it.

The blinding orange cleared from her vision, and the air no longer felt like it was crushing her body. Mika inhaled deeply, desperately and noisily, filling her lungs. The entire experience might only have taken seconds, but the difference she felt within her bones, within her very [i]soul[/i] was that of eons.

Mika Mori was dead. Long live The Magical Girl.

Mika [url= https://i.pinimg.com/736x/94/54/8f/94548fc096926c8c3625455577144a31.jpg][color=7ea7d8]glanced down at herself[/color][/url]; it was not just her mind and body that had changed, but her school uniform also. The simple sailor’s outfit had been replaced with an abundance of ruffles and lace in delicate, rose shades.

Mika had no time to stand and admire her new clothes, not with the pitiful cries that still echoed from inside the school. Mika set her jaw, meeting Eshu’s gaze with her own, determined one and nodded sharply, both hands gripping tightly at the [url= https://i.pinimg.com/originals/32/14/4a/32144a290b0606fa159cf546047374bd.png][color=7ea7d8]staff[sup](3)[/sup][/color][/url] that had appeared with her transformation.

She would be Eshu’s lantern and she would burn brightest of all.

[color=a187be]“Let’s do this!”[/color] Mika cried with a conviction she did not know she possessed, before setting off at a sprint towards the source of noise. She couldn’t just [i]hear[/i] their need, she could [i]feel[/i] it. And she, Mika Mori, would be the one to offer them the hand of safety from the darkness that engulfed the city.

Mika dashed through the school gardens, faster than she had even run before, round toward the back where she knew the entrance to the basement lay. The doors, blue paint peeling with age, were thrown open, the padlock laying discarded on the ground. Only blackness lay beyond, so dark Mika was sure she would feel it cling to her skin when she entered. 

The old Mika would have frozen still, would have wept and not known what to do. But she was not the old Mika.

The crystal in her staff glimmered, illuminating the area if a soft, lilac shade as Mika pressed forward. Her new body, her new eyes, were able to penetrate the gloom with more ease than before. Her heart leapt into her throat as the light landed on the demon and-

[color=a187be]”Kiyoko!”[/color] Mika gasped. With a shimmer, and with only the barest of thoughts, the staff in her hands remodelled itself in a flurry of petals, forming into a [url=https://i.pinimg.com/originals/32/14/4a/32144a290b0606fa159cf546047374bd.png][color=7ea7d8]blade[sup](1)[/sup][/color][/url] with a razor sharp edge.

The monster was horrific, a thing of nightmares, but even more terrifying was the blood- so much [i]blood[/i]. It pooled on the concrete, inky black in the dim light, slick under Mika’s feet.

With a scream, Mika swung the sword at the demon’s head, aim true.