“Susana’s initiation went magnificently, and she quickly became friends with each of the Magical Renegades, and loved the camaraderie between everyone, but there were some missteps, and some conflicts that were kept from her…” Paige thought as she began typing her next report later in the summer of 2018. She was at the cafe, and had been reading through the chapter in Susana’s autobiography about her first days in the Magical Renegades… 

——

“Was it something I said?” Susana asked dejectedly.

The Magical Renegades’ return from the royal banquet caused tempers to flare. Nothing seemed wrong at the banquet, or was it?

——-

After teleporting to their headquarters from the royal banquet that night, the Magical Renegades sat in the lounge room discussing the party they attended. Aurora brought drinks from the kitchen, handed them to the others, and sat down.

“I didn’t anticipate this would ever occur.” Avogadro said in excitement and surprise.

“That was the fanciest meal I had in a long time! My sister would be jealous if she knew I was invited to this!” Susana said with a laugh.

“Does your sister know that you’re one of us?”

“She doesn’t, nor do the rest of my family, but she wanted to leave with me to go to the city. We wanted to start our own businesses, and climb the ladder into high society, but I don’t care about that so much.” Susana calmly explained. “I reckon this is my calling in life now!” She added with excitement. “I never thought I could do such a feat, but Aurora helped prove myself wrong, and you all helped too!”

“Thanks!” Aurora said. “I saw your potential in the original timeline, but was totally sure you could do ever greater feats in the right circumstances, and you did!” She smiled, and took another sip of her drink, listening to the conversation between Susana and Avogadro.

“But I wonder, is that party a taste of what it’s like to be in high society?” Susana asked.

Avogadro nodded in agreement. “I used to have meals like that every day, before I departed, and before I joined the Magical Renegades.” He said.

“Really?” Susana asked in surprise. “How did you feel to have them again, and did you see any familiar faces?”

“I recognized some of them, but I felt like a stranger there, and not only because I was there as my alter-ego. It’s been a long time, and I don’t feel like I’m one of them anymore.” Avogadro said wistfully. “I’ll leave the past behind if they will.”

The conversation continued in a lighthearted direction about the food. Christina had been quiet before this part of the conversation, and appeared to cheer up, but the conversation took a more serious turn again.

“The food was great, but more importantly, the king and queen sided with us!” Susana said.

“We could set things right!” Aurora cheerfully said.

“Do you know about the fights we had with the royal family’s police? That they started with us?” Christina asked Susana, sounding annoyed. She took another sip of her drink, which didn’t calm her down. Susana was briefly taken aback by Christina’s remark before answering. The other Renegades looked concerned.

“I saw headlines about it in the newspapers, but I wasn’t sure who to side with then, and usually forgot about it.” Susana nervously said, pausing to take a drink. “I was just an ordinary human, and this was before I learned that you’re the real deal. Most humans in the farming towns and villages don’t trust the mages, because there were so many charlatans that’d try to bilk us for everything.” She continued, thinking about whether she should’ve mentioned any of the incidents she remembered.

Susana remembered that her family didn’t lose as much from the charlatans selling fake magic, and stopped falling for their scams, but some of the anger she felt came back when she thought about some of her neighbors who were less fortunate, and lost all of their money. To keep her anger from surfacing, she stopped, and took a deep breath.

“At least you didn’t meet those scammers at the party.” Christina remarked.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Susana asked.

“Oh no…” Avogadro quietly said, looking more nervous.

“I didn’t say much at the party, because I didn’t know what I should say. The same people who jeered at us and supported the military police’s attacks on us were now siding with us?” Christina said, sounding more upset. “Susana… You were lucky. You joined the Magical Renegades just before this. You didn’t have to go through the shit that the rest of us did! You were just a human that the royals and their lapdogs looked down on, but you didn’t fight for your life against them!”

The other Renegades were stunned in silence over what to say. The festive atmosphere that was there when they arrived was gone. It felt colder and tenser. Christina put down her drink, and was about to stand up.

“Should we all be glad this’ll be a new era for us, of acceptance?” Susana asked after a few moments.

“I’m happy we were accepted at last by the royal family and their followers, but I can’t forgive them so easily!” Christina blurted before standing up, turning her back to the others, and quickly walking out of the room.

During the confrontation, another of the Renegades quietly and nervously walked away. Avogadro followed that other member and asked why she left.

“I’d make it worse if I said anything.” The other member nervously said to Avogadro.

“I think I would too.” Avogadro added.

Susana and Aurora were left as the only people in the lounge. Susana was slumped over, feeling dejected. “Was it something I said?” She asked.

“It was more about you being the one to say it, because you’re a new member who didn’t experience the hardships that she, and the rest of us did.” Aurora began to explain. “I didn’t have it that bad because I often had to go back to my home time, for my classes at the Academy, but I missed out on a lot, and wasn’t there for the team much, for the good and the bad.”

While they were talking, Avogadro returned to the room. “Christina would like to talk to you.” He said to Aurora.

“Did she say why?” Aurora asked nervously.

“She’s not mad at you for this, but she has some questions. She’s in the laboratory.”

——-

Susana talked with Avogadro about the incident before moving to a lighter topic. The other member who left the room also returned with some snacks for them, and for herself.

Aurora walked down a hallway that was decorated with a light yellow, floral wallpaper. The walls were lined with wooden paneling running down the bottom portion. She took a turn to the left to climb up a staircase, and through another hallway. The quieter rooms of the headquarters were upstairs. She approached a room with a metal door. Near the door were framed pieces of art made from extra gears and scrap metal. Aurora knocked on the door, but there was no response.

“Avogadro said that Christina wanted to talk to me.” Aurora thought. “I’ll ask her if she still wants to talk now, or if she’s busy and wants to talk later.”

She cautiously opened the door. The laboratory had gray walls. At the back of it were a large table and a large cabinet. The table had metal parts arranged along it. The cabinet stored prototype weapons. In the middle of the room was a pit with glowing fire magic; it served as a forge. Next to the forge was a table with more metal parts, and crystals containing concentrated magic.

Christina was near the forge, examining a weapon prototype. She held it in her hands, and rotated it in her hands, wondering if she would have enough time to build on to it. She had a pair of goggles resting on the top of her head in preparation for the work she contemplated.

Aurora cautiously approached Christina. “Excuse me. Were you ready to talk, or should I come back later?” She asked. Christina looked up, and looked towards Aurora.

“I’m ready if you are. I didn’t know when you’d be ready, so I was about to build onto this.” Christina cheerfully explained, showing the weapon prototype. Aurora stepped closer and eyed it. It looked like a wand, but more was going to be built onto it. It had a handle and the magic reactor on the other end was partially-built.

Aurora was interested and asked more questions about it, which Christina was happy to answer. After Christina answered the questions, Aurora nervously brought up the argument from that evening. “I was going to talk with you about that argument, but did you want to?” She asked.

Christina looked away. “Am I a bad person because I can’t forgive as easily as Avogadro can?” She said in embarrassment. “I ruined the conversation we had by complaining! The others left because of me!” She said, sounding more upset.

“You’re not a bad person. Forgiveness is up to the individual. You can acknowledge that the royals and the classical mages who associated with them changed their views, but they’re not entitled to forgiveness.”

“Do you forgive them?” Christina asked more calmly, but still sounding nervous.

“I’m not sure yet, but I’m angrier at myself for not usually being there for the team. I missed a lot of the clashes.” Aurora said with a sigh. “You didn’t ruin the conversation. How we all felt about them changing their views needed to be discussed, and you deserved to talk about it as much as the rest of the team, without any pressure.” She said more assuredly.

—–

“Did I say something wrong?” Susana asked Avogadro a few moments after Aurora left the lounge. They were still seated in the lounge, and Susana nervously took another sip of her drink.

Avogadro grumbled for a moment, and glanced at Susana to see that her eyes were wide open with worry. “That wasn’t directed at you.” He quickly remarked, and glanced back at his drink. He picked it up to take a few more sips before he set it down in the table again. “It was about Aurora. She didn’t lie to you when recruiting you, but she may not have told you everything that candidates should know.” He added.

“What didn’t she explain?” Susana asked, sounding worried with a bit of frustration.

“I don’t think she told you about the battles we had against the royal forces. If she told you, then you wouldn’t have been surprised that forgiving the royals and their supporters wouldn’t be so easy.” Avogadro began to explain. “I did, or I will if they move on but acknowledge their actions and not erase the past. It’ll take a lot of goodwill on their part to fully trust them.”

“That’s fair. I was in just one skirmish against them, but I’m still wary.” Susana casually explained, but was hit with a chilling feeling as she thought about the skirmish. It didn’t escalate into a fight, and no one was arrested or injured, but it was enough to scare her. Aurora didn’t warn her about this risk.

“Why wouldn’t she tell me that?” She asked, sounding more frustrated. “When she’s done talking with Christina, I want an explanation from her.”

“She should explain herself.” Avogadro said in agreement. “While we’re waiting, do you want to watch another movie?” He asked Susana. In the lounge was a TV, one that Aurora brought with her on one of her trips to this time period. She had also brought a DVD player, a large collection of DVDs, and a power generator.

Aurora’s trip to meet Susana was far from her first, but she had to keep her other trips short, and that she brought modern technology with her, and joined the Magical Renegades a secret from the watchful eyes of the Academy for Time Travel.

Susana cheered up over Avogadro’s suggestion, and both of them looked through the DVD collection to decide on what to watch next, but there were a dizzying number of choices. Any of them looked interesting to them, portraying technologies, fashions and art styles that were ahead of their time. One of the movies they had watched had bad special effects. Aurora commented on how bad it was, but Susana, Avogadro, and the other Renegades from the time were fascinated nonetheless.

Before they decided what they wanted to watch, Aurora returned to the room. Susana put down the DVD she was looking at, and walked towards Aurora, who was nervous over seeing that Susana looked displeased over something.

“Why didn’t you tell me about the risks?” Susana asked. Aurora was startled by the question, but sat down and calmly began to explain it. Susana followed her back to the couches and sat down.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about them before you joined.” Aurora said remorsefully. “You found out from that skirmish with the royal forces last week, which I wasn’t there for.”

“Why didn’t you?”

Aurora looked in shock and sadness for a few moments before answering. “It would’ve been a hard sell if I told you that before. Why would you– why would anyone want to join with those risks?”

“Why did you join, knowing the risks?”

Aurora briefly explained why she joined.

Susana sighed. “I forgive you for that, but I still would’ve taken those risks if you told me them before I joined.” She said, but sounded frustrated. Before continuing, she smiled. “Fighting for the Renegades became my calling, and I was going to accept any risk for it!”

———

Christina returned to the lounge.

“Hey!” Susana cheerfully said to her. Christina appeared nervous when she returned, but smiled back at Susana.

“I’m sorry if I seemed dismissive of what you’d been through and why you’d find it hard to forgive the royals and their supporters. I had been in only one standoff with the royal forces to get a taste of what that was like, but that didn’t hold a candle to what you had been through with them.” Susana apologized.

“I didn’t tell her the risks before she joined us. This clash might not have happened if I told her.” Aurora added.

“We’re not going to pressure you into forgiving them. To forgive or not to forgive, or to decide when, are up to each of us.” Avogadro added.

“Thanks, but you’re not mad that I brought that up? Did I ruin the fun?” Christina’s smile faded, and she looked concerned again.

“We all deserve to express our concerns, and whether to forgive or not was a important discussion to begin having.”

“It was?”

Avogadro nodded in agreement. “Yes. If you don’t think you can be around them for any diplomatic meetings that we might have with them, it’s better that you told us before the first meeting, which you did.”

Christina smiled again. “Thanks. I thought I caused a bad impression for Susana.” She said.

“I like working with you, and we can do that better now that we understand each other’s views better.” Susana cheerfully said. “Do you want to watch one of these movies?” She asked, glancing at the shelf of DVDs.

“Sure!” Christina walked over to the shelf, and picked a DVD with a cover that looked interesting to her. Aurora chuckled when she saw what it was. It was one of the bad movies, but one that was bad in a cheesy and unintentionally hilarious way.

“That one could be a lot of fun to watch together!” Aurora said.