"Some students require an environment more supportive of their sexuality, which we provide by putting them in a cottage with other students with similar needs. It also helps mitigate bullying by separating vulnerable students from those who might be intolerant."

"What does 'other' do then?"

"If you would like to be in Poe, with other students of alternative sexualities or gender configurations, you have the right to be there. Otherwise, we can place you in one of the standard girls' cottages. It's up to you."

"I... think a standard girls' cottage will be fine."

"Alright, we'll put you in Whitman." Mrs. Carson makes a note of this. "That should be all we need, then. Shall I summon a tour guide to show you around the school?"

"I guess if that's next!"

“I believe it is.” Mrs. Carson picks up her desk phone and dials a number. “Hello, I need a student ambassador for a new student. -sounds good, you can send her over.”

Within a minute or so, the door opens. "Hey!" calls the girl who opened it. "I'm told there's a new student?"

"- me, I guess!" In an undertone to Mrs. Carson: "I thought you said you didn't have magical girls here!!!"

Mrs. Carson raises her eyebrows and whispers back "We don't have magical girls as you know them; Ariel can't shapeshift, and her powers derive from a magical spirit rather than physical attractiveness, though she does have that."

Ariel dutifully ignores the whispering. "I love your dress. Where on Earth did you get it?"

"I made it!"

"Wow, you must be really talented. I could never make something like that. But, you know, that's why we have tailors, I guess. Come on, I'll show you around!"

She floats out of the office.

"Oh, I didn't sew it, it's part of my magic."

"Ooh! Did it come baked in, or did you still have to design it? My mom had this suit of black spiky armor made of ice that she manifested, but I think that's just how her power shook out."

"I designed it. I mean, not all of it, I didn't invent Greek dresses. I don't think black spikes would be very pretty! I have to be pretty or my magic doesn't work."

"Then you've got good design sense! What do you mean you have to be pretty - are you using some kind of obscure hipster magic I haven't heard of?"

"People are saying I'm from another dimension?"

"Oh, wow, shiny. So, prettiness-based magic, clothing manifestation - can you then take the clothes off and, like, sell them?"

"Nah, they disappear if I take them off, I can only do that with stuff that I shapeshift as like part of my body. I haven't tried it but people do that for cash if they don't want to sign on to boats or don't have good magic for it."

"Huh, okay." Ariel goes over to the receptionist's desk. "Hi Ms. Dawson! Rebecca needs an ID, can you print her one?"

The receptionist nods and taps some buttons on her keyboard. "Here you go, hon," she says, taking a small laminated card from a whirring printer and handing it to Rebecca. The card has a picture of Rebecca's face on it, with text reading REBECCA ARDEN, FRESHMAN, NO TEAM AFFILIATION.

"Thank you!" She closes her eyes for a moment to find a good place to put a pocket, and pockets it. "What's a freshman? And, uh, team affiliation?"

"Freshman means you're in your first year at the school, and teams are like - instead of school sports here we have play combat, and kids form teams to fight with to shore up their weaknesses, and a lot of the time that's who you usually hang out with too. I've got a team, we're called Star Force. You don't have to get one."

"Oh. Okay," nods Rebecca. "Is it a really big deal if I forget I have this card and stop having the pocket and the card's gone?"

"It's not a super big deal, but you'd have to come get another one printed and you don't want to have to do that every time you need it. And you need it to get into the cafeteria and buy stuff at the school store. So I'd advise against forgetting it."

"I'll do my best."

"Speaking of the cafeteria, are you hungry? Because we could very easily go there next."