Miss Midnight

Chapter Twelve: My Very Best Friend

Chapter Twelve: My Very Best Friend

Misfortune will be turned to nothing, fate will have no meaning.

The Earth will be flooded with magic, to drown in a sea of darkness.

Every last drop of energy will be drained from this planet, and all of humankind will be swept awash.

Just as she intended, every witch will be erased from existence.

At the stroke of midnight, the story will not change.

The Earth will not turn even once more.

Every day, tomorrow, and the day after, is the night of Walpurgis.

After we rushed back to the apparent realm, we soared above the thick green carpet of Bramblethorn Forest, rushing to reach Tobari City in time for Miss Walpurgisnacht's Majo to show up.

The sky swirled with ink-black clouds and rumbled with the sound of rolling thunder. I flew overhead on my broom, scanning the world below for any sign of the Majo. "I...I don't get it. Shouldn't Merope be somewhere around here? I know newly-hatched Majo have to hide sometimes, but she was so huge...she shouldn't need to hide at all."

"She's not hiding," Saki echoed. "She's close...I can feel it. The miasma is starting to roll in. A Majo that strong...her miasma would be a lethal gas that could smoke out an entire city."

"Can't we do anything to stop it?" Mariko chimed in. "There are millions of people in Tobari City...they can't all be suffocated before the Majo even shows up!"

"It's impossible," Miyu retorted. "You can't evacuate a city this huge...especially when no one knows what they're being evacuated from. This is exactly what Walpurgisnacht wanted. She knew there was no way we'd be able to protect everyone...to an ordinary human without the Sight, a Majo like Merope would just seem like a hurricane or an earthquake...like now."

The splitting crack of thunder roared. Flashes of lightning briefly illuminated the darkening landscape, veins of crackling electricity streaking through the air. My guts clenched with dread. The oppressive atmosphere hung thick in the air like an invisible smog. I tilted my head upwards. A slurry of twisted, distorted colors filled the sky, swirling like a haze of undulating smoke, ribbons of multicolored light akin to the aurora borealis. It looked like something you'd see after a bad acid trip. I swallowed hard. "She's coming."

We descended a bit lower, below the clouds, and the warm glow of the city skyline whipped overhead. To my horror, the city was still as bustling as usual. All these people...they were all going to die...and they had no idea what was coming. What about my parents? Were they still at work? I heard the distant sounds of sirens, car horns, and loud chatter. Somewhere else, I caught the scent of smoke and scorched hair.

A beacon of light swept across the night sky, piercing through the dark. It originated from the summit of Skybreak Tower, the skyscraper that overlooked the entire city. Even from here,

I could see that the shattered windows of the observation deck had been blocked off by blue tarps. I didn't want to think about that day again.

Aqua's booming voice shook my bones. "Get ready! Merope is here!"

Seconds after those words left him, an awful sound shattered the still air, a shrilly, high-pitched cackle. A jagged crack ripped through the swirling sky, as if a crazy god had taken a knife to it. The crack tore open, and a massive figure slowly dragged itself out. The apparition's glowing white eyes peered down at us through a V-shaped mask. The tendrils hanging from its sleeves and the bottom of its dress fluttered in the chilly wind.