Diamond Petal

The Swarm

Perhaps Angela overestimated exactly when they'd be moving out. Hell, she'd agreed to this without even knowing where they'd be going next. As it turns out, the next stop was Angela's apartment.

So, on this fine Saturday morning that Angela has off of work, she sits on the brown recliner in the living room, taking her--

"First lesson!" Carmen exclaims. She's since taken off her black coat, to reveal she is wearing a high-collared shirt with an x-shaped pattern across the chest, and... another cloak. In her own way, she is a bit eccentric, it would seem. Though, this cloak had a zipper near the bottom, and a rather large pocket with a flap, along with a belt that held a sheathed broadsword Angie certainly wouldn't have brought Carm into the restaurant with, if she had known it was there. Perhaps she couldn't see it last night, because Carmen was cloaking it with magic. There's a lot Angie is going to have to learn about this odd woman "I don't have all the time in the world to teach you to use magic properly, but you clearly have the ability!"

"So, will you teach me along the way?" Angie tries not to get excited about it, but this is unknown territory, and it's a lot like several anime that she's watched, and maybe, just maybe, she's getting a little too into the fantasy.

"No." The fantasy is dead. "There are far better teachers than me for you to learn from. Still, on our journey, we'll be encountering some very dangerous people, and you need to be able to defend yourself! That's why you'll be learning to create a force field! It's simple, and it's good for getting out of danger!"

"Okay, coach! I'm ready!"

"Now!" Carm points at the pit of Angie's stomach "Your energy comes from the core! Concentrate on that area!"

"Got it!" Closing her eyes, Angie focuses herself on her lower abdomen.

...

...

...

Nothing's happening.

"I don't think I have it in me." She says, as she opens her eyes, and-- "Wait, what the--!?"

"Really?" Asks an amused Carmen, "Cuz that's not what it looks like to me."

Angela stared in awe, as she was now sitting high in the air, almost directly under the ceiling, on what appeared to be a semi-transparent ball! "What is this?" She asks her teacher, desperately trying to comprehend her current state of affairs.

"That," Carmen explains, "Is a barrier. A force field, if you will. Except, you've ended up on the entirely wrong side of it, haven't you?" She walks forward, standing in front of the magic ball, and knocks on it once. In this instant, all the energy shatters, and Angela comes crashing down onto her own chair, breaking the arm rest, and sliding head-first onto the ground. "Holy shit. You all right?"

Grunting in pain, she explains the obvious: "No..."

"Good. Remember what that feels like for next time. Your field broke so easily, because you didn't believe in yourself. Half of the strength of a spell is the willpower of the caster."

"So if I do it again, now that I know I can do it, it'll be strong?"

"I mean, probably not, to be honest."

"GEH!?"

"Look, you're a beginner. And not to make you feel embarrassed or anything, but you are getting a rather late start. How old are you?"

"I'm only 24."

"Yeah, most of us start learning magic around the time we're six years old."

"WHBGH--!? I'm starting 18 years late!?"