From behind her, there is a flash of light that is equal parts white and black.

Huh? There shouldn't be anything flashing over there, and how in the galaxy did that flash look like it was partly black—

She turns to look. 

Two young women stand there holding hands, one dressed all in white and the other dressed all in black.

"...hi?" Merrin doesn't think she's ever been this confused in her life. 

"How did you get in here?" 

"We are not, strictly speaking, here," says the woman in white. "This is a projection."

     "We have come with an offer," says the woman in black. "To grant you a portion of our power, and make you a magical girl."

She blinks and runs that sentence back in her mind to make sure it said what she thought it said.

"Me? I don't mean any disrespect, but...are you sure you have the right person? I'm really not anyone special." 

"Not yet, perhaps. But almost everyone has within them some potential."

     "This is how you will light that spark."

"If you say so, your majesties." Merrin isn't stupid, and she hasn't been living under a rock for the last fifteen years either. She knows who the magical girls work for. 

She gives them an expectant look. "So, how do I 'light the spark'? Is there some ritual, or a procedure to follow?"

"It is a choice you must make."

     "Between the two of us, you can follow only one."

Ah, so that would be why they're both here. Well, the choice seems pretty obvious to Merrin, but perhaps there's a trick of some kind. Maybe the one dressed in white is really the Imperatrix, and the Polemarch is the one in black. Can they even do that?

"Alright. Uh, do you have a standard recruiting pitch or something?" 

"Come with me," says the girl in white, "and I will give you the power to share your vision with the world."

     "Come with me," says the girl in black, "and I will give you the power to build your own world."

...oh. Oh.

For a brief, terrifying moment, Merrin is tempted. The things she could do, the wrongs she could set right...

Reality crashes back in. She is Merrin Arkada, until a minute ago she was a perfectly ordinary citizen of the Compact, and despite what the rulers seem to think, there's nothing special about her. Nothing that gives her the right to claim the kind of absolute power the Imperatrix is offering, however much good she thinks she could do with it. Merrin is naïve, with just enough self-awareness to know this about herself.

She's not arrogant enough to think she could build a perfect world all by herself—but maybe she can help build one. 

She's made her choice. It feels like it was made a long time ago, perhaps even before she was born. She looks from one to the other, and then, very deliberately, takes a step towards the girl in white. 

Who smiles, and reaches out to take her hand.

The world dissolves in a brilliant glow.

It's the first day at the Academy, and her first day meeting her new peers. The Assembly Hall is hosting perhaps a hundred girls like herself within its soft cream walls. The group mills about while waiting for the Welcome Speech to begin.

Merrin is a tiny bit nervous, but she expects everyone else is too. Is anyone looking more than a little bit nervous? Maybe she can make a friend and help someone out at the same time. 

There's a tall girl with long dark hair over there, standing aloof from the crowd, hands fidgeting restlessly. She looks like she doesn't quite know what to do with herself.

Mom Friend mode: activated!

Merrin goes over to the girl. "Hi. It's all a little intimidating, isn't it?" 

"Uh. A bit?"

Nod, grin. "But I just keep reminding myself that we're here because we're the ones who made it, you know? We were chosen, out of everyone in the galaxy. So even if it feels like I don't properly belong here just yet, I do. We all do." 

"...Right." She takes a deep breath. "Right," she says again, more firmly. "I'm supposed to be here." She nods to herself. "My name's Kait," she says, extending a hand, "what's yours?"

"Merrin! I mean, I'm Merrin, that's my name." She shakes her head, laughing at herself, and reaches out to take Kait's hand. "Nice to meet you, Kait. Now at least I'll know one person in this massive school." 

Smile. "Yeah."

Another girl wanders over.

"Am I too late for the friendship party?"

"Definitely not. Hi! I'm Merrin; this is Kait." 

"I'm Nira! Nice to meet you."

"Hello."

"It's good to meet you too." 

And by now it's probably about time for the speech to start, right? 

There is a soft chime, and benches begin rising smoothly out of the floor, startling the girls standing in the center of the room. Merrin's group isn't affected, being off to the side.

Merrin's primary reaction to this is momentary sympathy for the people who were startled, rather than smugness over not being one of them. 

"Should we sit together, do you think?" 

"Sounds like a good idea to me."

Kait nods. They find a few empty spots on a nearby bench as everyone else moves to seat themselves. Once they do, the front wall fades out and a screen appears in its place.

A familiar visage graces the screen.

"Greetings, my young devotees. To begin with, let me say what an honor it is that you all have chosen to follow my path. I truly believe that together, we can forge this galaxy into what it was meant to be. You each have your own reasons for being here. In time, you will fulfill them. But first, you must learn to harness the power with which you have been gifted. That is why you have come to this Academy. Through many trials, persevere. Your goal is in front of you, and you have the strength to reach it. Now, I believe your Headmistress would like to say a few words."

The screen fades back into a wall. Another woman walks out in front and takes a position in the center.

"That's our Polemarch, impressive as always. There's really only one way I can follow her." She takes a deep breath as she rises into the air. A profusion of sparkles obscure her figure as she twirls. When she lands again, she is wearing a much fancier dress and holding a gleaming saber.

Merrin joins in the applause that follows this display. 

"So! Welcome, young sprouts, to the Academy. My name is Myra and I will be in charge of you until you graduate. During your time here, you can expect to learn everything a well-educated young lady should know, as well as how to do this." She flourishes the sword. "By the end, you will be ready to be the next generation of saviors for the galaxy." She then launches into a speech about code of conduct, day-to-day life, and class scheduling. The girls are expected to be respectful of the staff, grounds, and each other, and fighting is not permitted. Meals are provided at the cafeteria four times throughout the day: morning, midday, evening, and late night. They are encouraged to show up to at least three of these. Curfew is midnight. Initial dormitory assignments will be passed out at the end of today, if they've already made friends they would like to room with, they can submit a request at the main office before then. There will be general opportunities to change room assignment twice per year. Classes are scheduled in three blocks and the girls will be grouped according to ability. Later on, they will have the chance to sign up for electives, but the first run of classes are fixed.

And with that, they're dismissed. They have the run of the place until tonight.

Merrin turns to Kait and Nira. "So, I guess one of us could meet our soulmate in the next few hours and want to room with them instead, but I think it'd be nice to share a room with someone I've at least met instead of a complete stranger." 

"S-soulmate?"

Heh. "Yeah, I think I'd prefer that, too."

"Oh, the soulmate thing was a joke," she explains to Kait. "There's this theory that everyone in the world has one person they're meant to be with forever, and you're guaranteed to meet them at some point, and that's your soulmate. But I don't actually believe in it, it's more of a fairy tale. Anyway, so shall we go register as roommates?" 

The explanation does not seem to alleviate Kait's furious blush.

"Um. Yes. Let's go."

To the main office, then. Merrin is happy to do the talking if the other two don't want to, but all three of them should probably be there in case the office wants to confirm which students they are or whatever. 

The lady behind the desk smiles when they enter.

"Registering for three?"

"Yep! I'm Merrin, and this is Kait and Nira. We'd like to be roommates, please." 

"Okay." She makes some entries on her screen and hands over a holopad. "Thumbprints, please."

Merrin provides a thumbprint. She's glad she thought to bring the other two along; she'd have had to fetch them for this part, otherwise. 

Prints all around. Nira hands the pad back to the secretary, who waves the confirmations onto the desk display.

     "You're all set, then."

"Thanks!"

"Yes, thank you!" 

Merrin turns to the other two. "Right. Who wants to go exploring?" 

"That sounds fun. Kait?"

"Ah, yes. It would be good to get to know the environment."

Exploring! Maybe if they try hard and believe in themselves, they can get very thoroughly lost by evening meal time. 

The campus is mostly rolling green fields, lightly spotted with small groves. Flagstone paths wend this way and that, preferring to go around hills rather than over, connecting buildings that are never more than two stories high and always nestle snugly into the terrain. There's the library, cafeteria, dormitories, lecture halls, gymnasium...

Pretty! Not quite as confusing as Merrin was half-hoping, so they probably won't get very lost before it's time to head to the cafeteria, but they can explore the pretty grounds. Is there anything to stop them wandering off the path occasionally to get a better look from the top of a hill? 

Nope! Kait seems a little hesitant to step off the path, but Nira grabs her hand with a smile and pulls her along.

"This place is so pretty."

"It is! I love it. C'mon, let's see what the view's like from the top." 

"Are you sure it's okay to walk on the grass?"

"It's not like there's a sign or anything."

"That is true..."

"Even if it's not allowed, no-one told us, and it's our first day. So the worst they'll do is tell us off," Merrin reasons. "But you can wait here if you're worried about getting into trouble." 

"No, I'll go," she says quickly.

"That's the spirit!"

Onward and upward! Merrin hums under her breath as they stroll up the hill, a tune she half-knows but can't remember where she heard it. 

The sky above is clear and bright. A large tree, branches heavy with wide green leaves casts a puddle of shade on the crest of the knoll.

This was the best idea.

"This was the best idea!"

"You can see for aaages," says Nira, gesturing out to where the rolling green fields meet the horizon off in the distance, beyond the campus.

"Yeah." 

But at some point they should probably start meandering back towards food, so they don't miss dinner. 

Sounds good.

"I was kinda thinking there'd be more buildings and stuff."

"Yeah, so was I." Merrin isn't sure why she had any expectations at all for the academy, but apparently she did. 

"This campus does seem pretty small, if it's training magical girls from all over the galaxy. Maybe a lot of teaching happens outside or something? That would be nice." 

"Oh, um, I read something once that said the Academy was first built during a period of eco-conscious architecture and a lot of it is underground so as not to disturb the landscape."

"Cool! I guess that explains it." Merrin looks around appreciatively. "Looks like they didn't want to mess with perfection." 

"I wonder if there are secret tunnels!"

"There might be. They'd probably be pretty hard to find, though, if they're meant to be secret." 

"So we can make it a long-term project."

"Maybe."

Food?

Food.

The dining hall is back near where they started. It's self-serve style, with food stations around the perimeter and seating in the center. There's a frankly bewildering variety of galactic cuisine on offer, everything from marh chips to Bourghillei brisket.

Merrin will start with things she recognises—oh, but she'll try a bit of this, and that...

Nira is more wide-ranging in her choices, and visits a solid two-thirds of the stations before declaring her plate finished.

Kait is apparently depth-first, going to only two.

"That's a pretty sensible way to do it. A lot of these foods aren't meant to be eaten together, so it makes sense to stick to one or two per meal." 

"These are just the only ones I recognize, so..."

Merrin nods. "That's sensible too. I mostly stuck to familiar stuff as well, but I'm trying this vegetable thing because it smells nice, and this other one looks kinda like something I've had even if it's not exactly the same." 

"Trying new things is fun!"

"Maybe next time."

"Yeah. Starting at a new school can be enough 'new' for one day. We've got time to try things." 

Enough talking about food, time to eat it. Merrin discovers that she quite likes one of the new foods she was trying, but the other one has a weird taste. Oh well. This is why she made sure to get some familiar stuff as well. 

Nira evinces no dissatisfaction with her choices, and Kait seems satisfied enough.

"I hope the quality stays up."

"Me too. It would suck if they were just trying to impress us with good food on our first day." 

"What would be the point of that?"

Merrin shrugs. "Do institutions always do things for reasons?" 

She tries to think of an example, but nothing's coming to mind for some reason. Oh well. 

"Yyyes?" Kait sounds unsure.

"Not always good ones, maybe."

Merrin is not actually interested in continuing this debate, and goes back to eating so she doesn't have to come up with anything to say in response.

Pretty soon all the food is gone and they can do other, potentially more interesting, things. 

Apparently there's a fair of some sort where the various student organizations are showing off to attract new members.

This qualifies as more interesting! 

"Let's go take a look!" 

"Okay!"

There's a band, various sports with balls, various sports with sticks, a choir, a board games club, various specific board games clubs, a painting club, a band but with only stringed instruments, a sculpture club, sports without any equipment at all, student governance, sports with balls but you're allowed to use magic, sports where magic is the point, a general art appreciation society, various specific art appreciation societies, a handicrafts group, a handicrafts group but with magic, a theater group, a history society, a competitive mathematics group, a cooking club, a debate group, a philosophy society, a writer's association...

Merrin spends some time talking to the people manning the stands for student governance, history, and philosophy. The debate group are having a mock debate, which she resists getting roped into but stays to watch for a minute or two.  

...sure, okay, she'll take a look at a couple of the magical sports just to see what they are. 

There's one that's like synchronized swimming but in midair and with lights, one that's chess but with duels, one that's just duels, a sort of magical triathlon competing in speed, power, and accuracy on certain spells.

All of those look interesting! Merrin doesn't want to sign up for any right now since she doesn't know how good she is at magic yet, but she'll keep them in mind. Especially the chess-with-duels one. 

Is Kait okay, or is she looking overwhelmed? 

She's over at the triathlon booth. It seems to have piqued her interest.

Okay, good, she's fine.

Triathlon doesn't look especially interesting to Merrin. Magical handicrafts? 

You might think that you can't embroider a sculpture, but you would be wrong.

Merrin loves this place. 

She might be hard to drag away from the fair before it closes, with the way she keeps getting distracted by some new fascinating thing and stopping to talk to whoever's displaying it. 

There's plenty of time before it closes. And to be fair to the fair, the fare it offers is most entertaining. But the people running the booths are in a conspiracy with the people running the fair and the people running the curfew, and everyone is gently but firmly hustled out when it's time to head to their rooms.

Fiiiine, Merrin will go to bed. But only because tomorrow is their first day of actual magic lessons!