Marvela Mystic | ✔️

Chapter 10 ✨ Worthy

Marvela and Curious returned the salamander to his aquarium. There was nothing left they could do for Freckle besides whisper more apologies and a promise to avenge his witch. Freckle had blown a bubble at them in return. There was no hint of a blue shimmer in the bubble anymore. Already his magic had faded. The little salamander slunk back into hiding amongst his underwater plants.

The kitten's tail dragged along the ground as she and her rat left Phoebe's street, leaving her confused and disoriented neighbors behind.

Since Asra had flown off, the vanishing of Marvela's witch played over and over again in her mind. The fire slowly drained from her heavy heart.

"What do we do, Curious?" Marvela mewed, staring at her paws on the ground as the two of them trudged along. "Slight will rise tomorrow night."

The rat stopped short beside her and gave the pendant around her neck a flick. "What do we do?" he repeated. "We stop moping and keep searching for one! And you heard what Asra said, right? About how there seemed to be fewer witches in Vigilance than she thought? It sounds like some witches must've heeded our warning online and bailed! There's got to be a few more witches left that Asra hasn't found."

No sooner had the words left Curious' mouth did the vial begin to glow again. Marvela took a deep breath. She squared her shoulders. "You're right. As usual," she said to her friend. "Let's get going! We don't have time to waste!"

After the rat had climbed aboard, the kitten took off running down the street. Overhead, the moon began its fall from the purple star-strewn sky.

The next witch was thankfully only a few blocks away. Without pause, Marvela and her familiar barged forth through the front door of a house that looked about as old as Vigilance itself. The old woman inside was still awake even at that late hour, busily pruning an impressive collection of succulents and plants that decorated nearly every inch of the house. The witch paused mid-snip at her unexpected visitors.

The kitten had no time to waste. She sucked in a huge gulp of air. "Hi! My name's Marvela and I'm a witch and I know that's weird but hear me out because you're in danger!"

The thick-framed glasses the old witch wore magnified her pale eyes as they widened. She set her trimmers aside and cupped a hand to one of her ears in Marvela's direction. "Eh?" the woman squawked. "What's that? Sorry, my hearin' ain't what it used to be."

The kitten sighed. Slow way it is, then. Again.

After Marvela and Curious finished recounting the events of the past two days to her, the old witch bundled her crocheted shawl decorated with googly-eyed spiders made from pom-poms tighter around herself from where she sat in a plump armchair. She picked traces of green leaves from her wiry gray hair as she stared down at the cat on the floor before her.

"So I'm in danger, huh?" the witch finally said, chuckling. "Oh hon, I've been around since they used to burn us witches. There's no danger these days anymore as long as we witch-folk keep our noses down." She raised a finger, and a tin watering can perched on the end table beside her took flight. It sprinkled water over a wilting potted sapling. "Cheer up there, old sprout. That's better," she said as the sapling instantly rejuvenated in a cloud of sparkling mist.

Marvela's eyes followed the watering can as it returned to its spot on the table. Then she blinked. Maybe her tired eyes were playing tricks on her, but it looked like the surface of the table was... moving? The floor around her seemed to be moving as well. In fact, every negative space between each potted plant was trembling. The old witch seemed unbothered by all the squirming surfaces. She kicked up her cracking legs on a tasseled footstool with her hands folded comfortably in her lap. "So tell me... Who's this hot-shot witch that thinks she's gonna put an end to ol' Olive, huh?"