(x) Irregular Magic

chapter 3 - where Mattie decides to become a badass

It was quite a sight, actually, and even though she wasn't the type to show nerves in front of a crowd, Mattie had to admit it was a little unnerving. Mattie had expected a lot to show up, but she had wondered in the back of her mind whether or not she would be standing in front of just Ren and her friends in student government. Every seat in the old theater of neo-Tarajen was filled—or it seemed so. Every nonmagical in the school and their parents must have come. That was encouraging in itself.

A shiver ran through her. If only she had noticed just how much Heather had been hurting...

Something warm and baggy obscured her vision. When she pulled it off, she realized it was Ren's sweater. "Are you scared?" he asked, scuffing his shoes on the ground.

"I'm never scared," Mattie assured him.

He grinned crookedly at her. "You know, I actually believe you. I don't think I've ever seen you scared. Exhausted and annoyed, plenty of times, but never scared."

Mattie breathed in Ren's familiar scent. Clean soap, with the hint of oranges. The nervousness that had been building up dissipated. She straightened his too-big sweater. "I'm not scared because you're here. So don't even joke about—you know."

Ren looked down at his worn shoes, biting the inside of his lip. "Yeah."

"What you told me about... about your sister—I think that required a lot of courage. Ren, I've known you for eleven years, and that's about the most I've heard you talk about Nipon." Mattie closed her mouth, knowing she was rambling. She gathered her thoughts and tried again. "What I'm trying to say is, I really think—"

"Mattie!" Her friend Wei was motioning frantically to her.

"It's okay, tell me later." Ren pushed her in Wei's direction. Mattie skidded to a halt in front of her, holding her tablet and pen tightly in her hands. "You're going to have to use this."

Wei handed her a stickerspell. It was bright green with an icon of a cylindrical object on it. When put on a person's neck, it would amplify their voice up to a hundred times. Because the sticker itself had magic cast on it, the user didn't need to be able to wield magic to use it. The number 25 was written on the backside of the spell, as in it would amplify her voice twenty-five times. Mattie reached for it, and then pushed Wei's hands away.

"But you won't be heard otherwise..." Wei protested weakly."

Knowing it was the principle that was important, Mattie stood her ground. She shook her head and explained, "Magic is why we're here, right now. This will be more powerful."

Her friend looked flustered. "You're just—just going to, what, talk?"

"I'll try it."

Wei nodded uncertainly. "O-okay, but if you need it after all, I'll be just off to the right of the stage."

Mattie was checking her tablet when a familiar clicking sounded from in front of her. "It's a shame the electrical system here doesn't function properly," a female voice said It was Instructor Jo Kanwell. Mattie was half-surprised to see her. Surprised, but not really. For all her airs, Jo Kanwell was also a normie, after all.

"Ele—what?"

"Don't you listen to anything that Kramer teaches you?" Kanwell sighed. "Figures, he's so old he's probably falling asleep while teaching. Electricity—it's what powered the world years ago. The tablet you're holding was once powered by electricity. Giant metal factories operated by impoverished laborers created uPads for the wealthy families of old America. This theater was used to showcase ancient world marvels, like the telephone and cathode rays..."