Star and Marco vs Evil Book 1

XI

Three months ago...

Marco and Janna stood in the middle of their personal training room. It was equipped with exercise equipment, mats, and training weapons, to practice armed and hand-to-hand-to-hand combat. The room was also hardened to withstand the practice of combat magic. This day, Marco was teaching Janna the most powerful magic he knew.

"You're certain this is safe?" Janna asked.

"I never said that," Marco replied.

Janna eyed Marco suspiciously, but she knew that Marco would never deliberately harm her. Finally, her curiosity and desire to try something new pushed her over the edge.

"Okay, what do I do?"

"First, I need to make up a spell."

"I've been meaning to ask for some time now ... why? Spells are needed for demon magic, and used in Earth stories, because the magic is essentially performed by spirits, gods, the universe, whatever; the spell tells them what to do. Mewmin magic appears to be energy manipulation."

"You're right, Mewmin magic can be thought of as a type of energy. The energy is controlled by willpower and imagination, sorta like the energy from a Green Lantern ring, except magical constructs can be made sapient; the MHC, for example. A spell helps you focus on what it is you want; it's similar to a Kiai. Eventually, you won't always need one; in fact, if you're going to use magic in a close fight, you have to do it without a spell or you'll be too slow."

Nodding, Janna said, "Let me make it up."

Marco laughed out loud. "You have got to be kidding."

"A bet, then. If I do it on the first try, I get to make up the spell."

"And what do I get when you fail?"

"I won't 'borrow' anything from you for a month."

"I'll take that bet, and you're going to regret it."

"Nope, because I'm the best there's ever been."

Marco rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Just remember, this will probably hurt; it hurts me. We don't have the Butterflys' centuries of exposure to magic and radiation from the wond, mutating their bodies to withstand and enhance the transformation."

"Got it. Pain is pleasure, and all that junk."

Marco sighed, then turned his thoughts inward. He had only recently begun to successfully dip down, so it still took concentration and a lot of will. Anticipating the pain didn't help. The worst was forming the wings, as the magic had to create them, rather than just enhance what was already there.

Marco calmed and readied himself, then handed the wond to Janna. It transformed into its Janna-Cast.

Janna's wond was surprising to anyone who didn't intimately know her. The bell was in the shape of a heart, bright pink, with a bright pink, heart shaped, gem in the middle. Its four wings were crystalline with black veins and cell walls, like a dragonfly's wings, and they cast little rainbows when the light hit them just right. There were two, small, black, horns on top of each lobe of the bell, while a pink bow was tied around the grip where it met the bell. The grip was striped with two shades of pink, and the charger was a white skull with black highlights, the teeth transitioning into the plug.

Tom laughed like a lunatic the first time he saw it. That was also the last time he laughed at the wond; it took him two weeks to find his way back to Butterfly Castle while under Janna's confusion spell.