Here's one that's hard to see into because the windows are none too clean, but it's a shop that looks much older and weirder than its surroundings - gnarled wood instead of cement and paint, moss and some other small plants growing directly out of the side of the wall, sign impossible to read.

Maybe it'll have more cool stuff for her dorm! And even if it's got nothing of interest right now, she might as well figure out what it is in case it's useful later.

It's full of weird things - taxidermy and lovely fantasy maps and dried plants and art glass and a huge orrery that might be trying to represent the Firefly setting or something because it's sure not the Solar System and funny clockwork kinetic sculptures and a columnar enclosure full of weirdly giant butterflies and fancy rugs and furniture so eclectic it would strike a typical interior designer dead on the spot.

"Good afternoon to you over there!" says the proprietor, a young woman in a witch costume. The witch costume fits the surroundings, the youth less so. She's fidgeting with an armillary sphere.

Ooh, art glass! Pretty. She'll take a closer look at the fantasy maps, to see if any of them are from Lord of the Rings or some other setting she'd recognize.

"Good afternoon! I'm Alyssa. You have quite a collection here."

"All one has to do is to have fabulous taste and spending money. Piece of pie."

No Lord of the Rings; no recognizable fandoms at all, actually, unless "the concept of fairies, generally" or "what if people lived on the moon and the moon was sort of Ancient Greek themed" are fandoms.

"What if people lived on the moon and the moon was sort of Ancient Greek themed" sounds like a banger novel if it is one, though. She'll point at that one.

"Hey, is that one from anything? Like, a book or movie?"

"Maybe. Come here, let me get a look at you and maybe tell your fortune."

Awwwwwwww, so she is a woo-peddler. Still, harmless to play along for a bit, it might make her happy, and the stuff is still pretty in any case. She steps closer.

The witchy shopkeep takes Alyssa's hand in hers, then beams, and then her hands turn into fluffy hare paws and her hat is bounced off her head by the force of the appearance of ears to match. "Aha!" she says. "Yes, it is from something. It is from secretly being real and full of witches, like you may yourself be."

What.

"Holy crap that's so cool! ...like I might be? Why's it secret?"

"This particular Earth has a very bad problem where if too many people know there is magic then it is very bad for everyone. That is what happened to the dinosaurs. That is what happened to the dinosaurs and this was not then the keystone Earth. Go to some other Earth if you want to do witchcraft on the TV. Tell your family though if you like, just don't adopt everyone you see."

"Yiiiiiiiikes. Noted."

At least it isn't "because we think non-witches are subhuman and want to exploit them with impunity"; that might be more tractable but it would definitely be much more unpleasant for Alyssa to deal with.

"So! You said I 'might' be a witch. How do I turn that 'might' into a 'definitely'?"

"You get awakened! You can do this by going out and waiting for trauma to happen to you but I recommend me doing it instead. I am professionaler than a house fire."

Alyssa laughs.

"Yes, I would vastly prefer the trauma-free option! What does it cost? Do witches use American dollars?"

"Awakening is gratis, I am paid by various interest groups who want this to be happening and in the hands of neutral confidential folks like my own self! Witch currency is mana. It is called kisses but you do not kiss it into existence."

"Good to know! I would, um, please like to be awakened, then."

"Follow me, I say, as though it is something you do with your feet -" Hands in paws, she pulls, and they are in a not-place, full of sparks of not-light in myriad not-colors in yes-clusters.

"Where do you want to start? Popular options for first ports of call are what species you will be and whether you want to be bookish or errands-running or hands-on with the learning of magic."

"Ooooooooh, what species I'd like to be, say more about that."

"You can keep what you already have got if you like! Among witches this goes by the name 'neutral' not 'human'. You still get an awakened witchful form so you can neaten up any things that are bothering you about your biologicalness, twice as long a lifespan even if you do no more magic about it. Neutral witches are very common and normal and some people like that kind of thing. And they recharge their mana by sleeping, full tank again once they pop up in the morning."

"Very nice! I like that I'd recharge by sleeping; nice for it to be something I have to do anyway. Also a fan of the implication that one can further extend one's life through magic. I hope it doesn't involve any horribly cruel sacrifices, in fiction immortality always requires some horribly cruel sacrifice and that's totally bogus.

What other options are there for my species?"

"Well, you don't have to sleep anyway, is the thing, there is magic of it. Cruel sacrifice is a thing but you don't must just for being immortal. Next up is daeva, very popular, it's like neutral but souped up, proportions and a few other things of a comic book superhero. Worth elaborating or next?"

"That sounds appealing enough to be worth elaborating!"

"No aging! Very tall! Super strong! Very intense feelings they are very good at sitting on! Instead of sleep, mana from emotions, like an audience around you or your genderfriend right at you."

The height and strength definitely appeal. Stronger emotions seem perfectly fine if they come with an equally strong dose of self-discipline. As for the mana...

"Emotions from an audience...like, making people feel things by acting or singing? How far does that scale, does it have diminishing returns with a bigger crowd? Does it have to be in person or could it be, like, livestreaming?"