Marvela Mystic | ✔️

Chapter 9 ✨ Flight

Marvela stared at the reflection of the orange-eyed kitten in the window in front of her. It had been long after Agatha booted them from her apartment, and the vial around her neck had only just begun to glow purple again. The kitten and her familiar had followed the pendant's pulling guidance to a little house at the end of a cul-de-sac.

Curious cupped his hands against the glass and peered inside. "Should we knock? Just kidding, we're just gonna break-in. Again."

At that, he threw open the window and dove inside. Marvela tiptoed in after him, the tip of her tail twitching. She hoped that this witch would be more willing to take them seriously.

The only light in the house that they could see came from a lit aquarium tucked against the living room wall. Amongst the bobbing and weaving aquatic plants, a freckled brown salamander observed them with huge unblinking eyes. They had only wandered a few paces into the sparsely decorated living room before a voice in the dark called out, "Who's there?"

There was a flash of blue light. A teenage girl stared down at Marvela and Curious. She held a small ball of blue flames in her hand to illuminate the room. At the sight of the unusual pair, the girl's posture relaxed. She pushed up her round glasses with a sigh and kneeled beside the kitten.

"Oh, hi there, you tiny thing," the mousy girl said in a soft voice that Marvela almost had to strain to hear. "Oh, and a sweet little rat! You must be someone's familiars. What can I do for you?"

The girl reached out her empty hand to scratch behind Marvela's ears, which Marvela accepted.

"I'm Marvela," purred the kitten, leaning into the girl's pets. "And it's a long story, but I'm actually a witch. Curious here is my familiar."

The girl raised an eyebrow at the duo. She retracted her hand and brushed her long brown bangs out of her face to get a better look at them. "Oh. That's new. I didn't know animals could be born with magic like some humans are. My name is Phoebe." She gestured to the aquarium behind them. "And that little guy over there is my familiar, Freckle. Say hi, Freckle."

Marvela and Curious both turned to regard Freckle. The salamander hiccupped a bubble filled with a shimmering blue mist then dove out of sight behind the plants.

"He's shy," Phoebe said, shrugging. She turned back to the cat and the rat. "What do you need from me, Marvela?"

Curious threw his arms up dramatically, producing a shower of orange sparks. "We're here to save you from an evil sorceress!"

The bleary-eyed witch blinked at the two of them, her expression blank. "Uh... Come again?"

Marvela shook her head. By the look of this witch's disheveled pajamas, their intrusion had most likely awakened her. They would have to take this slowly.

"What Curious means is that..." Marvela began. "Well, you're in danger. There's a witch named Asra who's trying to destroy all other witches in Vigilance to take their magic. She... She already destroyed my witch. There's a spirit that is supposed to rise from the spirit world on Halloween night, and she wants to make herself powerful enough to enslave him, so that she won't have to repay her debt to him."

Again, Phoebe blinked. "Oh... Huh. Wow. I'm not nearly awake enough to process this. Care for some tea?" She stifled the flames in her hand as she rose to her feet and shuffled off to the kitchen.

"No, I'm good. Thanks," Marvela answered, following after the witch.

She pounced up on the countertop while Phoebe set a kettle on the stove. "Phoebe," she meowed to the witch. "You and Freckle need to run. Leave Vigilance before she finds you."