"Hello? Is an Evelyn Devillers present? And may I come in?"

Evelyn leans up from her packing and turns to face the doorway.

"– Uh, yes! Yes, hi, uh – I'm Evelyn."

"...Mademoiselle, I did not expect you to be quite this old. Manifesting at this age is very rare. Please, before anything, show me that there is not some kind of elaborate mistake. You do have magic, correct?"

"I do! I do, yes, should I just do a light?"

"Oui. Just above your hand, and carefully." The Witch's slightly-suspicious stare goes to her hands.

Evelyn tries to aim it as instructed. She hasn't practiced location much yet.

And it works fine, and that suspicious stare turns into a grin that emphasizes her weathered-looking face. "Very good. Trust but verify, you know." She walks in. The slight accent is more noticable as she speaks more casually. "My name is Farah DeVoult, we have a fair bit to talk about. I see you're packing - you intend to go somewhere? To war training perhaps? Good. Why?"

"Being a witch wouldn't be useful here – or, it would, but I don't think it would be most useful." She shrugs. "I'm not sure what would be most useful but it probably involves getting out of here."

"So you seek a place where you can serve well, hm? What if that place turns out to be unpleasant or dangerous? You may get tired of it, no? Hm, this is refreshing. I don't feel the need to talk down to you quite as much as a pre-pubescent child. Are your parents here?"

"My mother's upstairs, should I go get her –?" There's a bit of a noise, and then a sound at the stairs. "… Apparently she's on her way."

A few seconds later, Evelyn's mother comes down the stairs.

"Good afternoon, Madam Devillers. And, yes, this discussion should include both of you." She sighs slightly. "It may seem like I'm here to take your daughter away for years, possibly never to return. I am sorry for that."

Madam Devillers nods. "I expected Evelyn to grow up and – take flight, do something meaningful elsewhere." She tries not to sigh. "I just didn't realize it'd be this soon."

Evelyn bites her lip.

"Being a Witch certainly is taking flight." She laughs. "Well, the combined armies have a vast need for Witches, and not just for fighting. You will definitely make a difference if you join us. I found you quickly, so I don't suppose you have figured out what your special magic is? Well, it'll come along. Hm... Is your lord going to be a problem? Some of them are, and I don't know much about Leoni."

"– Uh, no, I don't know my special magic, and – Lord Leoni has already sealed my writ of release."

"Right kindly of him. I expect that's because he can't very well have kept you here and wants your goodwill, but still. Do you have any questions? Any preference on where I should start my explanations?"

"I don't know much about the different things witches can do," she says. "Go into, that is – there's the war, front lines, but… is there more?"

"Well... There's a surprising amount of subtlety in the fighting, we have what we call a 'wing'. A group of Witches trained together, acting together like a cohort of knights. There are three sorts of wings. Strike wings wait until the right moment and fly at speed to intercept and destroy demons. Patrol wings spend most of their time flying around, harassing the demons. Despite this, they don't directly fight as much. Guard wings... To be honest, they are filled with Witches not skilled enough for the other kinds. They are deployed defensively, meant to merely delay demons. Aside from that, we have a great many couriers, messengers, carriers, and scouts. Air transport is the fastest way to get anything anywhere, such as food and weapons to the front lines, so we always need more carriers. Also, any Witch with particularly useful special magic tends to find a job that uses it. Healers attend to soldiers in field hospitals, for example."

"So it's wait-and-see until I find out my magic?"

"Perhaps. Every single Witch in the United Defense Force needs certain essential skills, however, so you could start learning those now. Honestly, you're older than average and might have some catching up to do."

"Is there a training period of some kind?"

Evelyn's mother looks between the two of them, apparently not trying to butt in.

"There are two tiers of official training... Schools in London handle them, classes start about once every four months. They also teach the prerequisites for going into Flight School and Combat School, in smaller schools, but you don't actually have to attend one if you can pass the entry test without it."

Evelyn nods.

Her mother chooses now to engage in the conversation. "Does she have much to wait if she plans on that, then?"

"The next Flight School training group starts in about a month, I believe... You might be able to learn everything you need, get to London, and take the test in time, but more likely you will be attending the one after that, I think. Waiting is annoying, but it's for the best - there are only so many Witches who are also any good as teachers, you see."

"There are prerequisites?"

"Not as such. There is a test which you must pass to enter Flight School. It's not especially hard, it's to make sure nobody is hopelessly lost and everyone can learn what Flight School teaches at about the same pace."