Marvela Mystic | ✔️

Chapter 4 ✨ The Rat King

Marvela again tried to climb out of the hole she was trapped in. And again, she slid back down to the damp, mossy floor. She slapped her paws to her face in frustration. Countless claw-marks scored the rusty walls surrounding her, evidence of her futile efforts. Perhaps she should try again with her magic... Levitating small things was a simple trick, and she sure was small. She had done it many times before.

Her ears went hot with shame and she pressed them back against her head. She recalled the wave she had unwittingly unleashed on the rats. She would surely lose control again. No... Marvela thought to herself. No, I don't think I can... Not anymore.

Far above her on the other side of the grate came the sound of snickering. Marvela snapped her head up, ears alert and tail thrashing.

"Hello?" she called. "Is there someone up there?"

The grate slid open just wide enough for a tiny head to poke through. "What do you need, cat?" a snow-white rat squeaked down at her.

Marvela's tail stilled. She let her shoulders slump with disappointment. "Oh. Just another mean rat." She pouted. "Any chance you'll let me go?"

Her rat guard shook his head, humor sparkling in his black eyes. "Nuh-uh," he said, giggling. He leaned further into the hole to peer at his feline captive. He pricked his white whiskers forward in curiosity. "My friends said you could make sparkly-things appear..." he whispered.

The kitten's orange eyes searched the opening above her. The white rat appeared alone at the moment. "Oh? And where are your friends now?"

The light left the rat's eyes. He retracted from the opening a bit. "They... They were supposed to be guarding you with me, but they said that clearly I was the best rat for the job, and then they went off to scrounge for snacks in the Aboveground—"

"They left you behind," Marvela surmised. She wondered if he was friends with that big bully rat. From what she could see, this rat seemed smaller than the others. He'd surely make an easy target for ridicule.

The rat rubbed at his pink ears and avoided eye-contact with her. "I guess..." he squeaked.

Marvela sat back on her haunches. She was small too. She knew how the little rat must feel. "Some friends, huh?" she mewed up at him.

The rat looked deep in thought as he considered the trapped cat. He shook himself abruptly, looking more alert. "Hey! Make more sparkles! I didn't get to see them last time!"

"Only if you let me out."

"Oh... No, I can't do that. Sorry. The other rats would take my tail for that."

"Then no sparkles," Marvela meowed. She stuck her tongue out at the rat for good measure. She was almost relieved when the rat sullenly shoved the grate back over her. At that point, she wasn't confident she could even conjure 'sparkles'.

The darkness swallowed her once more.

With nothing left to do, Marvela spun around in place then curled up and let sleep overtake her.

⭐⭐⭐

"Wow, so you really can make sparkles!" a high-pitched voice exclaimed, startling the kitten awake.

Marvela's eyes shot open. She bolted upright from the soggy ground, unsure of how much time had passed.

The white rat had the grate open again. His eyes were as round as marbles as he stared down at her. No, wait... He wasn't staring at her. Something else entranced him.

The kitten yelped in surprise as a glowing orange butterfly flitted past her. It shed glittering flecks of light with every silent beat of its wings as it rose to join the multitude of other ethereal butterflies dancing above her head.