Magic Cat Academy: The Adventures of Momo

The Candy Cup

It felt as if a huge weight was lifted from her shoulders as she confessed her identity to Teris. Nothing changed after that except for her being a "cat-witch" was added to his list of jokes and nicknames. The idea only sank in after a few days, and in all honesty, she was glad she did muster up her courage, and she was grateful for both Muffin's constant pesters and Teris' patience. Momo became more relaxed as time went on, knowing that she needed to embrace her inborn powers somehow, and that she had somebody who could be right by her side and aid her now.

Three years in, Teris had found himself a mate - Varee. The she-cat had been there amongst Goldiha's pets longer than Momo, yet they grew intimate only later on, after the black cat's revelation. This meant that Teris could no longer spend all day with her, and she understood. Rather than clinging to him, she enjoyed herself playing in the garden or visiting her ghost friends, knowing that he still saved a fair share of time so they could talk about their day.

On one such day, he suddenly mentioned something that both scared and intrigued her:

"Have you ever heard of the Candy Cup?"

"No. It sounds awfully sweet," she grimaced. She had been overfed with sugar once, and the aftertaste of going hyper was anything but pleasant.

"It's a sorcerer cultural thing, apparently," he explained, "Every year, during the span of one week before the last day of October, sorcerers and sorceresses gather from all directions near somewhere called the Academy, where they hold a festival with lots of activities. Their reward is batches of candies made by elves. I heard that elf candy tastes much better than human candy, that's why they try to win as much as possible to give them to their young on the last day of October."

"Last day of October... Hallows Day? Sorcerers celebrate that?" Momo's mouth curved up in a half-smile, amused, "They're responsible for the most graves, yet they celebrate the day that wandering ghosts come back to haunt them? Even dragons aren't that daring, or so I've heard."

"Beats me. Sorcerer culture is weird sometimes," Teris shrugged, "Anyway, Goldi is gonna compete in it this year - as a Flyer, of course. Then I also heard her talking to a friend that there's a section for companions as well."

"Companion? Like, us?"

"Who else could it be?" he smirked, "I dunno what exactly will that competition be tho. We'll have to wait if Goldi wants us to compete. But I'm sure you'd be picked. She knows how amazing you are, moving from rooftop to rooftop and balancing on thin fences as if gliding!"

"I-I'm not sure if I'll enjoy that," Momo recoiled. She was getting used to human presence - of Goldiha's nice witch and warlock friends, but she still preferred being unseen.

"Don't worry," Teris flicked her ear, "Varee and I will be there for you, and you know Goldi won't abandon you to the crowd. Perhaps take the chance to wow the audience, even. Who knows? They might start to go a little easier on your kind."

Momo nuzzled into his neck, muttering her nth 'thank you'. Teris always knew how to say comforting things, all the while facing the ugly truth.

Goldiha did, in fact, sign Momo up for the Companion Obstacle Race.

On one of those cloudy days of late summer, she had gathered her two dozen cats for a so-called meeting, in which she would pick one or few that she deemed to have exceptionally long attention spans and just might find an obstacle race worthy of their time. After all, cats weren't the type of animal to give it their all had the activity not pique their interest. (Goldiha Avian knew that very well, but she wanted to contribute something to the guild besides being their Flyer, despite the fact that she herself was chosen to participate in the solo Candy Race, which was a great honor, by the way).