Before even walking to this park, I had thought about what was I gonna ask, since I have a lot of questions popping up in my head that required answers, I see that Aquamarine's real hair is colored dark purple.

[I mean my hair didn't change that much, but she is almost a different person, but she feels weirdly familiar].

Her face features and body shape are the same as before, She was wearing a simple t-shirt light blue with the words 'Stay cool' on it, the letters were a little stretched from her breast pulling the fabric a bit, she also had cream-colored pants, and a brown purse.

"Well glad to meet you again?" I say.

Aquamarine nods again, It s like seeing a celebrity in casual clothes, not that far from their acting selves but they would be indistinguishable in a crowd.

[...].

"Anyway what are we here to discuss, Sauriel?" I'm trying to steer the conversation since Sauriel and Aquamarine are quiet.

"Well, since the last time we met we're under precarious circumstances, I thought it would be best to reintroduce us again" Sauriel is wagging his tail slightly.

"Ummm, Ok... I'm Amy Rochelle, pleased to be your acquaintance" I do a small head bow.

[Now this is awkward].

"I'm the guardian angel Sauriel, know best as the angel of guidance, pleased to meet you" Sauriel bow his tiny head, and looks at Aquamarine.

"Katrina Isolde, people like to call me 'the Frozen Aquamarine' ".

[Not even a smidge of emotion? well, I guess some things are still the same].

"Is it alright if know your name? I mean that's a secret right??".

It's not like I'm wrong, many magical girls don't ever reveal their names and only used their alias to present themselves, So knowing her name probably means that she trusts me.

"You also gave your name, so it's only fair..." the monotonous tone is making me less nervous, is like hearing a godlike text-to-speech so my anxiety doesn't trigger.

[I see, of course, a veteran would think of fairness in this situation, but I did give my name rather easily].

"So if you use my name to threaten me I will do the same to you, only far worse".

"Aha ha ha" I laugh awkwardly to hide my distress, The emotionless face and words said the slightest sign of hesitation send shivers down my spine.

[Oh god did I make myself a prisoner of a person far above my league??, now I don't even have a way out of this].

I look up at the sky trying to remember the questions that I had prepared, but the words of Aquamarine keep popping up so my thought process it's quite slow, It takes 10 seconds to ask something again.

"Oh right!! Sauriel said that there were certain 'requirements' to bec-".

"Qualities" he corrects me.

"Yeah that, and that I had those".

[I still don't believe a single thing about those, especially after Aquamarine's performance yesterday].

"Indeed you met the requirements to be recruited as a third-generation magical girl".

[Again with the 'third generation' stuff, just how much does he expect me to get from the technical talk?].

"What we're those qualities? last time you didn't tell me because I wasn't a magical girl, but now I am" I pointed at my clothes and hair.

[I actually need arguments to see what was so good about me to become one, or else I will still be in denial for the rest of time].

"The requirements are simple" He put his left pawn in the air and projected a blue window with a document, this time a list of requirements for a 'Third generation magical girl'.

"Third Generation Magical Girl" Recruitment Be a human from 13 - 15 years old. Posses knowledge of the existence of magic. Have a sense of justice. Be a capable person in the presence of danger. Have a large amount of Aether (It can be sealed, hidden, or have the potential to grow) Be capable of Aether manipulation. Be approved by Aquamarine personally*

[Ok, the list is smaller than I thought it would be, but many of the points are just left to interpretation, so it's not a situation where I 'qualify' because I'm special, it's just that the requirements are so vague that they inevitable include me].

I continue reading the list, I know that I match most of the requirements, 'Approved by Aquamarine' must be true since she just made me her prisoner, but something is bugging me.

"It clearly states 'Capable of Aether manipulation', I definitely don't know how to do that nor wish to do!!" I remember the near-death experience that the previous document gave me.

"I already apologized for it, but let me be clear since this could be confusing, you're not 'officially' recognized as a magical girl yet" My eyes immediately jump at sauriel, they're questioning him.

[Of course, I'm not officially recognized, Look at my clothes, personality, and even physical abilities compared to Aquamarine, just a different level of magical].

"I kinda already guessed that" I sigh loudly, "Then what am I classified as?" I ask while looking down.

"You're for now on, a trainee magical girl, at least until you meet the requirements necessary for official recognition" Sauriel says in an imposing tone.

[Trainee??? well I guess it makes sense, but he is really not letting me go].

"Ahhhh I guess I don't have a choice do I?"

"None at all" Aquamarine says, she picked up a sandwich from the snack basket and is munching on it, she is enjoying it.

[No mercy for the rookie I see].

"Well what are those requirements, since it's plural it means Aether manipulation thing is not the only one that I lack, right?" I may be socially awkward but I definitely know when someone tries to sugarcoat the actual workload that needs to be done.

"That's right, you lack a total of 3 things, and technically your aether manipulation and tolerance is not half bad for a trainee".

"How's that?"

"Well, a normal person would have died on the spot if I tried to manipulate their aether in a whim, but you only almost pass out and lost your senses".

[What the f*ck do you mean people died??? I almost pass out and lose my senses and is described as 'only that happened', why doesn't he have a drop of common sense in his tiny cat body!!!!].

I'm visibly shocked by that statement.

"And you just performed that maneuver, without my permission, and almost made a corpse in the middle of the park???" I'm looking down at Sauriel while raising my voice, I'm mad at him for doing something that almost killed me, Sauriel started trembling.

"Well it was a calculated ri-risk, you see I knew that uhmm you would be able to handle it without repercussions" he is stuttering through the whole sentence.

"You don't sound convincing" I lean forward menacingly.

"I mean it!! I was making your body accustomed to Aether before signing the contract, paired with your monstrous pool of aether it would have been hard to actually kill you" he is clearly apologetic and fearful, but his actions are questionable at best.

"Explain better!!" I shout demandingly.

"Ummm I was infusing your body with aether since we saw you at the alleyway wit-".

"Why did you do that without my consent?".

"You almost got bitten by a devil so that bit of aether infusion could have saved you, also umm-".

"Spit it out"I'm getting angrier, I knew that he was stupid but this is too much.

"Well since you showed a lot of courage I thought that you would make a perfect magical girl, But that was secondary I promise" Sauriel is backing a bit off, so I stop intimidating him since he actually had a reason to do that, but I haven't forgiven him, I sit back down and start calming myself, once I'm back to normal I ask.

"Mmmm, ok what about the 'monstrous aether pool' thing?".

"Well, you just have a lot of potential inside your body".

"I don't get it, I'm not even sure what aether is?".

"Well, Aquamarine describes it as a 'warm liquid' inside a 'container' within your body that behaves like blood, and it let's you basically perform magic"

"I see, it's a weird concept but I get the gist of it, so how large is my 'pool' to be declared monstrous?"

"Well that's the weird part, a normal person would have a filled cup of aether, but you have an entire ocean but is filled with a single bucket of aether"

[Tthat's concerning, but basically, my container isn't even close to being filled, but I wonder how big it really is? like I get I'm a monster compared to normal people but so does Aquamarine, so just how much potential do I harbor?].

"Can I ask, how large is your aether pool Aquamarine?"

"It's the size of the 'Caspian sea'" she is reaching the basket again.

"Ohh".

[That means that my potential is definitely abnormal, but she has the biggest lake in the world in terms of power, although I have an ocean of possibilities, I only have a bucket of power, but still, that's good right??? did I win on my genetics or something?].

"It does classify as monstrous in my eyes"

*sluurrrp

Aquamarine grabbed an orange juice box and is drinking it through a plastic straw.

"Yeah, yeah I get, I'm a monster magical girl and stuff, what about the other 2 things that I lack?".

"Your magic and your weapon, generally magic girls don't sign the contract until they discover those things first" Sauriel is slowly lowering his head as if he's expecting me to scold him, so I do.

"So you made me sign a contract without those things???, to begin with, why are they not on the list!!!!".

"Well, My superiors probably didn't expect that Aquamarine to approve someone without those things".

I turn towards Aquamarine, she clears her throat and gives me an explanation.

"I've been wanting to retire from being a magical girl, so that's why I accepted you as one" She is looking at me, she looks slightly sad about that, I was going to say something but Sauriel spoke first.

"Generally, you can't retire that easily from this line of work, especially since she's only 19, but her achievements during her time on here made it possible with only one condition".

"What's the condition?".

"She had to train a successor before leaving".

"What? a successor, uhhh don't tell me that's me?" My head is showering me with questions.

Aquamarine nodded, she seemed ashamed of her decision to impose this on me.

[I thought it was weird for a veteran to look at me, even with my 'monstrous pool' no one notice me, so she just kinda choose me at random or?].

"Okay, that was surprising, I didn't expect you to hide that fact from me Aquamarine so I'm a bit disappointed" I cross my arms and pout a little.

"Sorry, I thought that you would immediately decline if my name was mentioned on it" she is now looking down at the basket of snacks with an even sadder look, so I pull myself closer to her.

"You shouldn't judge my interest like that, I would be excited if someone as cool as you offered herself be my mentor," I say while looking at her closely.

"Really?" she looks at me in the eyes.

"Yes, but I'm still mad, so I would like a slight compensation".

"Well is the least I can do, what are you thinking" she is now looking somewhere else.

"Let me call you Aqua since we're going to become close as apprentice and master!!" I jump a little while looking at her.

[Please, Please, Please, Please it would be pretty cool if I get close to someone as cool as her!!!].

Aquamarine looks surprised and flustered, she is looking away from me.

"Ummm, okay, you can call me aqua if you want to" her face is a bit red, but I'm happy that she is showing a bit more emotions.

"YAY, let's get to know each other Aqua" I extend my arm for a greeting she hesitates but eventually also extends her arm.

"Same to you, Amy" we do a handshake, she is still a bit red but I don't notice it.

[Wow her hands are really smooth].

I grab a sandwich from the basket and start chowing.

"Well it's good that you want to get to know others Amy, is there anything else you want to ask?" Sauriel seems to be impatient for something.

"Yeah, the training thing, what are we going do?"I grab a random juice from the basket.

"The 2 of us will train you for that, don't worry about it, my training will focus on aether sensing and manipulation since they're basics of magic".

"Makes sense, so how's that gonna look like?" I start slurping on an apple juice box.

"We can commence today if you want to, it shouldn't be difficult but it could take time" I finish my juice box.

"Okay, what do I need to do".

[I'm absolutely LIVID!!! that means I can perform magic right????, wait wait, I need to hold on, maybe this could be a lot more difficult than it looks like]

"First sit properly".

"Okay" I change my sitting position to my most comfortable while crossing my legs.

"Now, close your eyes and start relaxing your body and senses" I do as he instructs.

[What a weird training, reminds me of meditating].

"Now concentrate in your body, try not to move but to feel the inside of it".

[Well that isn't very clear, but it could be 'you need to feel it for yourself' for it to work].

I try to do as he says, relaxing my body lets me hear more things and feel the cloth I'm sitting in better, but I can't figure out what I'm supposed to feel apart from that, the aether from fighting isn't really there so I try to look for other signs of weirdness but found none.

"You can try to feel your clothes or even visualize the cup, or in this case ocean within your body".

[Oh yeah my clothes technically are made from magic, kinda, well I need to try to feel this stuff so focus Amy].

I concentrate even further, relaxing every part of my body to its limit, my breath becomes slower, my mind starts going blank, filled with only the thought of search, I become unaware of my surroundings and start to drool a bit, I searched everywhere within my body, but neither the container nor the Aether could be felt, I begin to search again, and again, but the same results, nothing out of the ordinary then an idea comes to mind.

[Well either I can't really feel aether, or...].

I change my approach, instead of trying to find 'irregularities' within my body, I start trying to 'shake' my aether like a liquid in a cup, I try and then something changed, a small warm, no that's not it, a bit of my temperature shifted from one place to the other similar to an ocean wave cooling the beach in the sand.

[I guessed it!! it appears that trying to find 'irregularities' is dumb since it's spread evenly through my body].

I begin trying to control this, its hard to even try to move aether from one place to another, I shake and shake trying to get results, only to get the warm moving randomly and then set down at its starting position, I keep trying for a few minutes and get some results.

[It really is like a liquid].

By imagining my whole body as a 'container' a trying to move it in circles, as to create a small water vortex, it begins with a lot of chaos, but eventually, I get to stay moving.

[Nice].

Next is to try and sense this in other things, I try to do that with my clothes, instead of feeling like a container, it seems that my clothes are covered by aether, so the insides are colder than the outside, I try to even out the temperature with pure willpower, but I felt my clothes move so I stop.

[I guess that messing with that will revert back my clothes, wait a minute...].

Sauriel mention that he 'remembered' Aqua's transformation line, so maybe she didn't use it anymore.

[That would be awesome].

I concentrate once again, I stir the aether of the clothes in a small vortex and then try to pour it into my body, it works immediately and my clothes start moving a bit, so I open my eyes.

"Ahhhh" I scream, Aqua is looking right into my eyes while her face was almost pressing against mine.

"Sorry" she pulls back a bit, "You were so focused that you made a funny face" she smiled a bit.

I look at my clothes turned back to normal, instant gratification feels great, I relax again and start concentrating.

"Please don't do that again" I say as I close my eyes.

"I'll try" Aqua doesn't sound too confident in herself.

[Is it so difficult to do that??].

I begin the process, stir, then pour it inside, my clothes start getting warmer and shapeshift, once they stopped moving, I begin to stir again, this way the inside would be getting colder, it doesn't work since once I stop stirring they turned back to normal.

[Mmm why would they do that? oh yeah, that].

Instead of pouring the aether inside, I coated my clothes with it, they shapeshift, but this time don't turn back to normal.

"Well it worked nicely, now can transform without shouting"

*clap, clap, clap, clap

Aqua and Sauriel start clapping, Aqua's are barely hearable and sauriel claps don't make noise and is instead making the sound with his bell.

"That's impressive, you figure out a lot on your own without even that much guidance, You're making me feel useless" Sauriel remarks.

"Good" I say proudly, I still haven't forgiven him for almost killing me.

"Okay, the next thing would be sensing it in other people, but it would be for the best if we stop now".

"Why??? I was actually having fun" I look at the sky.

"Ohh I see".

"Yeah you were so concentrated that the sun is now setting" 4 hours had passed in the blink of an eye, I did become unaware of my surroundings to that point, which is surprising, I look at the basket, all the snacks were gone.

"Here, take this for your way home" Aqua handed me a bitten sandwich.

"Thank you" I ate the sandwich because I was hungry, once I finished, we get up, Aqua folded the cloth and put it in the basket and I grabbed it, then we begin to head to the exit, Aqua's face was reddish.

[Oh no, maybe being in the sunlight made her lightheaded, or sunburnt!! she did sit with me for 4 hours without making noise so i need t not to do that again].

She wasn't suffering from either of those, she was blushing over the fact that the thought of 'indirect kiss' didn't even come across Amy's mind, it couldn't since Amy was too focused on the aether feeling.

"Mmm sauriel I forgot to ask, but how is the park you know, repaired after yesterday?".

I'm curious since I got here, but the aether stuff got my mind occupied.

"It is included in the obligations of magical girls, we repaired the fight environments as to not destroy whole cities, it's the other thing in which I will train you".

[It makes sense I guess, that means that aether is used in that regard, but then what would..].

"Oh by the way Aqua, Sauriel mention that you would train me right?? what will you train me in?" Aqua looks back at me she raises her right arm and does a flex.

"Martial arts".

"Ohhh".

[Yeah she will crush me, but It will be my honor since it's her].

I can't help but be excited for tomorrow.