by Saless
Chapter 107

"No, and that's not necessary anymore." Mana replied.

"So do you have any suggestions for how we should handle the magic situation?" Erica asked.

"Well, I would suggest you try to keep things under wraps for now. If you tried to tell everyone about it too quickly they either wouldn't believe you, or would panic. And proving magic exists could turn everyone against you if done too soon." Mana said.

"Why would proving it turn everyone against us?" Sarah asked.

"Magic is currently unknown to them. I'm sure you know how humans fear the unknown, and tend to destroy what they fear. Also, finding out there's real magic in the world will cause many to doubt beliefs they've held and taken for granted all their lives and they won't like that. And then there's the established religious institutions whose power will be threatened because the existence of magic will call their knowledge on the truth about the universe into question for many. Others would be afraid of losing the power they have, as the emergence of magic will change the power structure of the world. There are many reasons." Mana explained.

"So what should we do?" Mike asked.

"Mostly what you've been doing. Traveling to other worlds will help to accelerate the development of your abilities, especially yours since it will give you a chance to learn new forms. You can also gather more magical and high tech items that you can use later. Another thing you might consider is finding a larger apartment or house and all moving in together. With your abilities it's inevitable that you'll attract attention, as you already have. You can help each other better if you're not scattered. If you can convince Sarah's mother to join you that would be even better. And you could also make contacts in the occult community." Mana replied.

"Occult community? Do you mean they know real magic?" Jill asked.

"Yes and no. Real and false information is mixed together. Some of them have a strong enough natural affinity to magic and have stumbled across real information that allows them to perform some weak, simple spells. There are also strong enough psychics that they are able to sense the thoughts or feelings of others accurately on occasion. It's usually too faint to be certain what's real and what's imagination, but they can occasionally accomplish something with it. That's changing now, of course." Mana said.

"How would we get in contact with these people?" Tiffany asked.

"An occult store is probably your best bet. You might even come across something useful while you're there. Vash or Sarah should be able to identify genuine magical texts and objects." Mana replied.

If there's any magic in it, I can certainly sense it. And Sarah can use her detect magic spell to search a store very quickly. It could be useful to learn what kind of magic is native to this world. Vash sent.

"Yes, and Sarah might even learn a few new ways to use her powers in the process." Mana said.

"Any other suggestions?" Erica asked.

Mana looked thoughtful for a moment and said, "Like I said, you know your world better than I do. But Marvin and his organization may be helpful. If you can establish some kind of mutually beneficial relationship with him you would have access to information from all around the country, or even the world. Any other community like the occult community can be useful not just for getting information, but also for disseminating it."

"Well, you've certainly given us plenty to think about, but it's time to eat now." Jill said. Jill had Sarah take a seat after Mana conjured up two more kitchen chairs and then levitated the food, dishes, and silverware to the table. They ate quietly as they all thought about what Mana had said and tried to think if there were any other questions they could ask Mana for the short time she'd be available.

They were all startled out of their thoughts when the oven suddenly opened and the pan floated out and set itself down on a cast iron trivet that appeared on the table. "Sorry." Mana said, glancing at the surprised expressions on everyone's faces. "I didn't mean to startle you."

They finished eating a few minutes later. While Jill and Sarah magically and telekinetically washed the dishes Mana levitated the turtle cake out of the pan, which reformed into a large plate. The cake split into equal sized pieces and settled on the plate. They all had at least one piece, including Vash who had two. "Where do you put it all?" Tiffany asked him.

Invisibility takes a lot of energy. Vash replied.

"But you only had to stay invisible for the walk from Mike and Jill's apartment to here." Tiffany said.

I don't sit around their apartment all day. When Jill gets absorbed in her painting I go explore. Vash said.

"Is that safe? What if someone saw you?" Erica asked.

I'm invisible, remember? No one sees me. Vash replied irritatedly.

"But someone could run into you or step on you." Erica said.

I fly everywhere, I only have to worry about the birds. Vash sent.

"How do you get out, anyway?" Jill asked. "I knew you were going out, but I could never figure out how. I would have opened a window if you'd asked."

I use my tail to turn the doorknob. And I'd rather you didn't leave a window open, I'm not fond of the cold. Vash replied.

"I would think you'd handle the cold better than you used to, with those feathers and your fur." Mike said curiously.

I do, otherwise I'd need to be bundled up to go outside, or use magic to warm myself. Vash said.

"I didn't know you could do that. I thought you could only turn invisible and hit things with that magical kinetic blast of yours." Erica said.

I can use magic like any wizard can. I don't have a lot of power, but I know a great deal about the use of magic. I'm not sure how much of that knowledge would be useful here, however. It's likely that magic works quite differently. Vash sent.

"Why don't you teach Sarah then?" Mike asked.

Because it would take a long time to get her to the point of doing actual magic. There is a lot of theory to learn first. And we could spend all that time learning only to find that magic works so differently here that all my knowledge is worthless and she can't do a thing with it. Vash replied.

"That's quite possible." Mana agreed. "I want to thank you for this lovely meal. I haven't eaten very often lately and I begin to forget how good food can be."

"Even without the information you've shared with us, you'd have paid us back with that wonderful cake you made!" Mike said as he took his third piece.

Speaking of sharing information, I've thought of a question that I'd like to ask. Vash sent.

"What's that?" Mana asked.

Why did I change the way I did when I came here? Why did I grow fur and feathers, pink ones at that, and my claws become blunted and my fangs de-poisoned? Vash said.

"Hmm, let me see..." Mana said thoughtfully, staring at Vash. Vash was getting uncomfortable under her gaze when she finally relaxed it and said, "I think I see. This universe doesn't have anything like you in it. Not even in the other planes. Sarah subconsciously transformed you in transit. She tried to adapt you to existing animals, but was only partially successful. I think part of the reason for this is your own resistance to being transformed. You couldn't stop her, but you managed to influence your transformation. Thus you kept your wings and fangs, and your tail retained most of its properties, but your claws were blunted and your fangs lost their poison. This was probably due to concern on Sarah's part that you might hurt or poison someone accidentally if startled or injured. As for your color and cuteness, that's purely Sarah's preferences."

I thought Sarah's favorite color was blue! Vash said.

"Uh, I just told that to everyone so I wouldn't get teased. My favorite color is pink." Sarah said sheepishly.

I should have known! Vash said with a mental groan.

"Let me guess; you picked blue because it's associated with boys?" Erica said.

"Yeah. I thought it was a color a boy would like, since kids stuff that's supposed to be for boys is usually blue and girls stuff is pink." Sarah replied.

"Well, that solves that mystery! Now the question is; is Mana willing to transform you, and if so, what do you want to change?" Jill said, glancing at Mana.

"I'm perfectly willing to do so, if you like." Mana said.