Threat assessment time.

Energy bolts/blasts might be trouble if they can hit her, which isn't clear. They mostly don't sound like a nonlethal sort of option, though, so that doesn't seem like a big worry; if they're trying to take her back they're going to be trying not to kill her. Controlling existing matter isn't a threat, unless it's trying to control her personally - again not clear if that'd work, but it's a bigger concern than the energy blasts. Illusions could trick her into doing something unwise; she can avoid some of that with thoughtful tactics but it won't be impossible to outmaneuver her if someone's really trying. Shields could in be a problem, too, if they affect her - it seems like answering the general question of whether powers can touch her while she's phased out will be a good idea, if she can. She trumps precognition pretty hard, she thinks; luck is more trouble but maybe not a lot more. Mind control doesn't seem to be a thing, or at least not a common enough one to make it into the book, thank goodness, though it does look like powers repeat, so it is possible she could meet someone who can follow her kata and get her that way.

She tucks this book and the dictionary under her arm, takes another wander through 112, then meanders through the history section to see if anything catches her eye.

Books in the magical girl history section include The Origins of the Paladins, biographies of various magical girls, Magical Aborigines, Earliest Magic, Magical Girls and Christianity, Feminism and Magical Girls, Magical Girls in China, Skirts: A History of Magical Girls in the Western World, and Magic in WWII.

Nothing super interesting, but she'll have a look at the first few pages of Earliest Magic before she moves on.

Earliest Magic describes the sudden appearance of swarms in 1420 and the appearance of starscape options for magical girls in 1421. Many early starscaped girls ignored it out of fear, and many others became cryptids because they didn't know that was a risk. The earliest magical girl to have a magical girl career as conventionally understood is known as Lan Zuo, and she lived in China; there's a lot of ties for second.

Okay that's kind of interesting to read about actually. She puts it and the other books in her bag, and goes to check out the Thaumatology section.

It has the Wisdom - several different versions - plus other titles: Thaumatology and Christianity, Abigail Lydia Claremont, Quaker, Founder, Martyr, Thaumatological Sexual Ethics, Thaumatologist Evangelism, Reform and New Reform, Public Reception of Thaumatology, Claremont's Church.

She thumbs through them to find one that seems to be a general overview and goes and sits to read it.

There is Thaumatology's Evolution. It says that the movement was founded by Abigail Lydia Claremont, a born Quaker who was orphaned young and fostered by her mainline Protestant aunt and uncle. Starscaped at 15, she took on pigeon wings and two extra vertebrae to improve her flexibility, but her aunt and uncle disapproved (having already been at odds with her over other topics) They pressured her to get married, still common for magical girls of the time as a way of preventing them from having sinful relationships with one another; she acquiesced, but found marriage intolerable and fled out of state. She began preaching, at first mostly about how the universality of thaumosexuality (then called 'lewd behavior between magical women') among magical girls indicated that it was not a sin strayed to, but a different plan from God for those chosen. She quickly attracted magical girl followers, many of whom left their husbands to join her on a farm she took by force from some Virginians who were mistreating their magical daughter. The law was inhibited in going after her despite this and other criminal activity because her followers included a lot of women heavily relied upon to protect ships crossing the Atlantic and respond to kaiju coming out of the west.

Some of it - actually kind of a lot of it - goes over her head, but the bits she gets are interesting.

She goes to look for a book on Quakers, next.

Well, that certainly makes sense of some things.

It's starting to feel a bit late, by this point; she goes through the self checkout and heads home.

Winona gets home a little after Denice does. "Hi, Janet! How was your day?"

Good! She's been reading about magical girls and she petted some kittens, too.

"Ooh, kittens. Checked some books out?"

Yup! The dictionary 'cause she had a question about it and this book on powers to help her think about tactics just in case and this history book and the two religion books just to read.

"Alrighty, what's your question?" Winona asks, rummaging in the pantry. "Hmmm, bean soup or chicken noodle?"

Some of the things had points listed for them, what's that about?

"Oh - there's a system to get a guess of how close you are to falling into the mysteries. Different mods get different point numbers."

Huh. Sounds handy.

"Yup. I can look it up for you. Bean soup or chicken noodle?"

Chicken noodle is fine.

Winona pulls a bag of noodles out of the pantry, and looks up a point chart on her laptop for Denice to look at.

And?

Denice is within tolerances but it wouldn't take that much to get her in the danger zone.

Hmh.

She can drop the wings and have some of room to try hand designs, at least the simpler ones; that does leave her vulnerable when she wants to use her hands for something, unless her outfit is good enough by now to make up the difference, but better to have the option than not.

Is her outfit good enough to make up the difference, by now?

Yes, she still has her third spell sans wings, though less so.

As long as she can get a wall between herself and a threat to get a moment to change back, that's fine.

- she can, right?