Magiclicas Nonsense

The Show Must Go On

Ciphers need more love

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Kylie was so scared.

She was the new girl at Everston and already was being shunned for her big ideas and different ways of thinking. She had tried making a true Ciphers-only club, only for her to be rejected not only by the Magiclicas and staff but even the other Ciphers as well. A few Ciphers had joined her club, sure, but it was out of pity and boredom than for an actual interest in singing.

Kylie knew she was a good singer. She had won several choir singing competitions and gotten honorable mentions in the talent show (only bested by truly unique talents such as magic or one impressive yo-yo act) at her old school. But no one cared about what a Cipher had achieved. Only that they sat on the sidelines and obeyed while Magiclicas had the spotlight of impressive feats.

And Kylie was tired of it. She hated being on the sidelines, doomed to be forgotten in the shadows for all eternity. She had always had a drive, a push to be better, but everyone around her constantly put her down because she was "just a Cipher."

Now she was at Everston with both Magiclicas and Ciphers, hoping that at least someone out there might feel the same as her. Yet Kylie had never felt more alone in her life. She hated the pity that the other Ciphers gave her and the gloating of the privileged Magiclica students. Why was it so hard to be accepted for who she was?

But now wasn't the time for all this self-doubt. Kylie smoothed her dress once more, waiting for her cue to go out on stage and introduce the performance. She was scared, not only for her school reputation but also for the fact that she was literally going on stage in front of a bunch of both Magiclicas and Ciphers for the first time and didn't want to make an absolute fool of herself.

"Kylie, you're up in thirty seconds," the stage manager told her. She nodded and took a deep breath.

Then she walked out on stage. The crowd was a decent size, interested in possibly funding potential clubs or organizations for the school. The spotlight swung onto her and followed her as she made it to the center of the stage, gripping her microphone to the point her knuckles were probably starting to turn white.

Kylie took a breath; a failed attempt to calm her nerves. "Hello, everyone, my name is Kylie Jensen, and I'm a Cipher," she paused in doubt as she noticed people immediately started conversing among themselves at that statement. She cleared her throat before continuing. "I'm a Cipher student here at Everston. Now, I know you all have seen a lot of performances and exhibitions here this evening," several rather bored nods of agreement, "but let me ask you this, what do they all have in common?" This was a risky question that Kylie had come up with backstage as she waited for her turn at the end. The adults in the audience seemed to perk up and converse among themselves of what Kylie could be referring to. There had been a lot of various ideas announced tonight and there wasn't much that ALL of them could have in common.

Kylie felt her confidence rising as she got the reaction she was hoping for. She started taking slow, deliberate steps to the side, all the while facing the conservative audience. "Almost all of the clubs talked about tonight were proposed by Magiclicas, for Magiclicas. How many were intended for Ciphers?" She will admit, there had been one or two others she could see her classmates considering but not anywhere near the Magiclica majority.

A lady raised her hand in the audience. Kylie nodded to her to speak. "None of the previously proposed ideas specifically stated that their organization was for only Magiclicas," she noted.

Kylie bit her lip, thinking, before replying. "Yes, but how many Ciphers could join a club for sports, when they are always going to be bested by a Magiclica? How many Ciphers could join a club doing something like robotics, when there are Magiclicas with priority for a special power of controlling electricity? Often times the extracurricular activities left for Ciphers are the ones that not even we would be interested. Things like brain teasers or the community service club that is really an unpaid janitorial force for the school." Kylie knew both of these from experience. "The opportunities for extracurricular activities are more often discouraging Cipher involvement than promoting it. But this is Everston Academy, where both Ciphers and Magiclicas learn and work together, correct?" Kylie had several problems with this statement versus reality, although this was unfortunately not the place to talk about that.