A... Magical Moment?!?

Marie Poppo did not forsee this.

She was always a plan ahead sort of… half-goat, half-munchkin girl. Always making the calls, always making the emails and the screenings way before the deadlines, making sure every t is crossed and every i is dotted. When all your colleagues have the brains of an 8 year old that snorted a bucket full of pixie stix, she simply had to be organized and do everything she could to keep the operations running smoothly.

She was sure her colleagues had already contacted all the candidates for Magical Girl Mayhem, especially the main characters.

So why is this girl here in their HQ, standing in front of her with a cheerful smile on her face, a pile of smaller, conked out Marie Poppos behind her?

“Excuse me, are you the head honcho here?” she asked Marie.

That sentence alone sent shivers down Marie Poppo’s spine. “Yeah, that’s me,” she replied, hiding her fear behind a straight face. “Why do you ask?”

“Why do I ask?” The cheerfullness was replaced with an anger so furious, Marie Poppo wondered if someone opened the gate to hell. “Why do I ask?!?” she repeated with a growl. “Because one of MY friends was invited to play a magical girl, and not ME! ME!!!”

Marie Poppo wondered if her colleague incited the wrath of Parsee’s cousin, but first, she needed to defuse the situation. The girl was certainly not the delicate, holy sister that her clothing implied, and she did not want to join the pity pile of Poppos anytime soon. “Well, honestly, that’s something you have to take up with the Boss, but I’m willing to do you a favor and pull a few strings if you show me WHY you’d make a good candidate for our show.”

Marie was actually rather relieved when the girl clasped her hands and smiled cheerfully again as she replied, “Of course! I have so many good reasons I’d make a great magical girl! I mean, I already have the looks” – she posed and winked at an invisible camera – “I have the experience – I’ve hunted quite a few demons in my lifetime, you know! – I’ve got talent and the will, and most importantly, I’ve been told that I’d fit right in with these Klobberer guys, who happen to be one of your target audiences! I’m the whole package and then some!”

Why am I not surprised? Marie Poppo thought as she smiled and laughed nervously. I don’t think a Kobber would barge right into a workplace asking for an interview, though. Still… Maybe she’ll fit into the main squad?

“That certainly sounds good, but let me ask you… How’d you even find out about this and where we even were?”

A wicked grin unfitting for a Sister spread across the girl’s face. “Oh, you didn’t know? You sent that recruitment letter to the future Queen of Paprica, Princess Éclair! She’s too busy to play magical girl, so she went ahead and found out where you guys were and sent me over! I need the money more she does, anyway!”

“Well, that’s… Wow. I’m gonna need to tell the boss about that…” Marie sighed. It would have been nice to have a Magical Princess, but a priestess wouldn’t be too bad. Besides, she had the distinct feeling that if she didn’t agree to it, this girl would barge her way into every episode anyway. She extended a hand out to her as she said, “Welcome aboard! We already have a shitload of girls and boys, anyway, so what’s one more to the pile? I’m the Director, Marie Poppo. And you are…?”

The girl took out a baton as she smiled and spun it around dramatically before pointing it at Marie.

“I’m Prier, the next in line to become Maiden of Light! This gig might as well be practice to me!”

Marie chuckled for a bit, but on the inside, she wondered if this was really okay…

…Nah, the boss wouldn’t mind that much. Except maybe the salary she was asking for… Oh well, that’s between the Boss and the Big Banks. For now, Marie Poppo got to work on getting Prier a ticket to Kuwahawi, an outfit for the show, and calling a white mage for all those Poppos who suffered through Prier's rampage through HQ.