"What are you looking for?" asked the appropriately-named rat beside Marvela.
"I'm trying to see if there's some kind of tracking spell or potion to help us locate nearby witches," the kitten answered, without tearing her eyes away from the flipping pages in front of her.
"Neat! While you go through that big ol' book, I'll check out what our good friend, the internet, has to offer."
Marvela mumbled a distracted, "You do that," to the rat while he skittered away. She focused on the book in front of her.
There has to be something in here...
The beam of sunlight streaming through the windows crept over the kitten on the floor as time passed. Finally, she leapt to her four paws, tail waving like a victory banner. "Curious! I found something!"
"Hm? Whazzat?" she heard the rat mumble from atop one of the desks. Marvela narrowed her eyes at his inattentive tone. She hopped up onto the desk with the lit computer screen.
"Curious, what are you—?"
The rat was lying in front of the computer with his head propped up in his forepaws. He kept his eyes fixed on the screen. "Haha, that cat is too fat to fit through that doggy door! There's no way he'll make it through!" He giggled, pointing a finger at a video of an exceptionally rotund cat trying to squeeze itself through a hole in the door that was clearly too small for it.
Marvela slapped a forepaw to her forehead. "Is this what you've been doing all this time?"
"What?" Curious squeaked. "Oh. No. Of course not. I've watched many other cat videos besides this one. Cats are just so funny. I don't know why that is."
"Curious!"
The rat scrambled to his feet with a yawn. Neither Marvela nor Curious got to see whether the husky cat eventually won its valiant battle with the hole in the door before the rat stretched a paw across the keyboard to close the window. A new window filled the screen. "Oh, and I've also found a blog made for and run by local witchcraft practitioners. There's seriously a website for everything! Isn't the internet neat? Anyway, I made an account and sent every member an explanation of the situation warning to leave town before Asra can find them."
Marvela stared at the list of active users in awe. "Wow! Good job, Curious!"
"Yup! Although..." the white rat said. He stroked his whiskers while he frowned at the screen. "This site seems to be full of younger so-called witches, and it doesn't look very active. I guess witches prefer to keep to themselves even on the internet. I doubt every witch in town has an account here... Some of them might not get the memo."
"And that's where we come in." Marvela grinned, pointing a claw at the open book on the floor. The handwritten recipe for a spell that senses the magic of other witches was on full display. Fortunately, it looked easy enough to make, even for a beginner witch and her new familiar. Her trusty book saved the day yet again. "Let's go witch-hunting!"
⭐⭐⭐
Marvela had returned to the streets of Vigilance with Curious riding on her back. Around her neck swung a pendent Curious had procured. The hanging vial caught the last traces of the evening sunlight. The shimmering purple potion within it swirled like a hurricane.
The kitten frowned at the sun as it began its slow descent behind the roofs of the city. All around the furry pair, the streets were emptying, and lights were turning on in the buildings as people returned to their homes for the night.
It had been hours since they had left the library, and Marvela and Curious had yet to find a single witch.
And they were running out of time.
"So, how do we know if that glowy necklace works?" Curious asked with a sigh from the kitten's back.
"Like I said," Marvela answered, pausing her stride to look both ways before crossing the street to the next block. "If it picks up anyone else's magic besides our own, then the potion in the vial should start glowing and give us an idea of where to find that someone. At least, hopefully, it will. Unless we made it wrong..."
Marvela felt Curious pat her shoulders. "Hey, have a little confidence in us, Marv," he said. "The potion's gonna work. And we're gonna be the best witch and familiar duo in this town! Just wait!"
"Ha... Yeah. You're right." Marvela allowed herself a timid smile, but she kept her eyes forward, searching the streets. She hoped that they wouldn't soon be the only witch and familiar in town, but she kept that thought to herself.
"Of course, I am! Now let's go mindlessly search every single street until that fancy little trinket starts sparkling!" her rat rider cheered.
⭐⭐⭐
The sun continued to fall, as did Marvela's and Curious' spirits. Marvela's steady pace eventually slowed. Her paws were so sore that every step made her wince. She could feel the rat on her back nodding off. Every so often, he had to reorient himself to keep from sliding off of her as sleep threatened to overtake him.
"I'm hungry," Curious complained with a yawn. "Are we gonna have a snack break anytime soon? Did we even bring any snacks? Hey, what would happen if I drank that purple stuff? Would I start glowing? Or would I die?"
Marvela stopped in her tracks. She glared at the moon overhead and down at the vial around her neck. "I don't think you'd glow," she said. "Because I don't think this potion is working. The day is almost over, and we haven't found a single witch!" The kitten paced back and forth in front of a building, kicking leaves out of her way with her tail thrashing behind her.
"Marv."
"Maybe we should just toss that thing in the gutter for the Rat King and go home," the kitten continued to growl. "What was I thinking?"
"Marv."
"I want to take down Asra, but I'm just a kitten. Just a familiar! I'm in way over my head and—"
"Marvela!"
"What?"
Curious slipped down from her back and held the vial up in front of her face. "It's glowing!"
Marvela's breath caught in her throat. Sure enough, the swirling purple fluid was alight. It was like a little purple galaxy in a bottle.
"Wow..." she said in a gasp, taking the vial from Curious and holding it up in a paw. A tingling sensation emanated from the vial she clutched and ran down her forelimb. Her whiskers quivered. She pivoted her ears up to the building next to them, and her eyes followed. Thick leafy vines stretched up the apartment building's entire length, almost concealing the brick surface and the windows. A light turned out in one of the windows several floors up. Marvela's whiskers twitched again as she smiled. The vial in her paw continued to glow.
"Up there!" she yowled. Without hesitation, she scrambled up the nearby fire escape with Curious clinging to her for dear life.
They arrived, struggling for breath, at the dark window after the arduous climb. Marvela pressed her face and paws to the glass and squinted into the blackness inside. "Should... Should we knock?"
Her rat shook his head at her with a chuckle. In one deft movement, he hoisted up the unlocked windowpane and slithered inside. The kitten gasped but followed him anyway.
She found herself in a posh bedroom. Lace curtains swayed lightly on either side of the window the pair climbed through. An expansive four-poster bed towered in front of them, filling the majority of the bedroom. Only numerous silken pillows occupied it. Marvela searched the room that reeked overwhelmingly of potpourri. There was no one else present that she could see. And yet a faint magical aura made her fur rise...
Something large, white, and fluffy barreled into the tiny black kitten and scooped her up in a bone-crushing bear hug.
"Oh my goodness!" sang a squealing voice in the wheezing kitten's ear. "What a teensy kitten you are! What was a teeny tiny thing like you doing out in the cold all by yourself? Poor wittle baby kitty! Come here, let Lolly warm you up, sweet thing!"
Marvela had no intention of letting this Lolly do any such thing. With a hiss, the kitten forced herself free from the fluffy beast. Scampering back to her bemused rat's side, she turned to face her overly-affectionate attacker.
A long-haired cat that looked more like a puffy cumulonimbus cloud than an actual animal smiled down at the kitten from her flat face. Lolly shook her head at Marvela's frazzled state. "Oh, dear!" the white cat said, holding a dainty paw to her face. "You're still all fluffed up from the cold! Come here! Let me warm you up some more!"
"No!" Marvela shrieked, shrinking away from Lolly's outstretched paws. Curious was beside himself with laughter. "No, I'm fine! Um. My name's Marvela and—"
Lolly licked a paw and ran it through the silky cloud-white fur of her face. "Pleasure to meet you, dear Marceline," she said. "You must be a new familiar in town. I don't think I've ever seen you before." She paused her grooming, finally taking notice of the white rat. Curious immediately ceased his giggling and hid behind Marvela, less the cat with no concept of personal space attempted to come for him next. "Oh! And you must be a familiar, too!" Lolly purred to him. "I can sense the magic in you. Where does your witch live?"
"Um. My name's Marvela, not Marceline," said the scruffy kitten. "And I am a wi—"
The lights cut on. In the now illuminated room, a red-headed and freckled young woman stared down her pointed-up nose at the two tiny intruders. "Lolly!" the woman chastised the cloud of a cat. Her voice was even higher than Lolly's, and it made Marvela's ears ring. "What have I told you about letting dirty strays into the house?"
"But this one's so teeny and cute!" Lolly yowled, pointing a claw at Marvela. "And look! She's even got a pretty little star! Oh, she's still shivering. I think she needs another hug!"
The woman put her hands on her hips. She shook her head, making her red curls bounce. "Okay, Lolly. Why don't you head into the kitchen and put together a calming potion for yourself, hm? Doesn't that sound nice?"
Marvela and Curious watched the pouting cat slink out of the room before turning their attention to who was presumably Lolly's witch.
The witch tapped a finger to her chin as she frowned at the kitten. "Sorry about my familiar. She gets excited about tiny animals," she explained with a half-hearted shrug. "I'm Agatha. Now. Why exactly are a kitten and a street rat in my bedroom? Which witch do you both serve? Not that I bother to keep track of all the scattered witches in Vigilance anymore."
Marvela suddenly lost her voice at Agatha's cold stare. "Well, as I was saying to Lolly... I... I am a—"
"Marvela here is a witch, and I'm her familiar!" Curious answered for her with his chest puffed out proudly.
The corner of Agatha's mouth twitched as if the rat had told her an unfunny joke. "A cat? A witch? Cats can't be witches!"
Hearing her own doubts voiced by another person, Marvela had never felt smaller. "Why not?" she mewed, ears pressed back against her head.
"Because," Agatha said. "Cats are just animals! And animals can only be familiars. Humans are witches! That's just how it's always been ever since the spirits shared their magic with the First Witch! I highly doubt they would want an animal to have the full power of a witch."
"Looks like things change," huffed Curious.
The kitten had to tear her eyes away from Agatha's paralyzing gaze. It was true. She hadn't been chosen by the spirits and gifted with magic at birth as true witches were. Nevertheless, she still had a mission. She swallowed her doubts and combated the other witch's smirk with a fierce glare. "Listen," she said, standing as tall as she possibly could. She raised the fur along her spine and poofed out her tail for good measure. "We're here to warn you! There's another witch prowling around in Vigilance. A powerful witch! She's looking for other witches like you to destroy and—"
Agatha leaned back and cackled into the empty room. The sound reverberated off of the fancy framed portraits lining the walls—all of which seemed to be of Agatha herself. "Other witches like me?" the witch exclaimed. "Kitty, there are no other witches like me! You're looking at the soon to be greatest witch in Vigilance! I've been practicing witchcraft for longer than you've been alive, so thanks for the warning, but I'm pretty sure Lolly and I will be just fine."
The red-headed witch folded her arms as she stood squarely in front of the cat and the rat. And in her eyes, a light ignited. The air pulsated with Agatha's summoned magic. From what Marvela could sense, Agatha was indeed powerful. But she knew that she was still no match for Asra and her stolen supply of magical power.
Marvela braced herself against the wisps of spectral wind that began to swirl around them all. She took a paw-step toward Agatha. "At least just get out of town for a bit! Just until after Halloween—!"
The room shook. Pictures fell from the walls. Furniture began to float in the air. Even Marvela and her rat were lifted by an unseen force. Agatha's haughty grin never left her freckled face. Sparks flashed from her eyes.
"I don't know on whose authority you think you're acting, because as I told you, no spirit would ever choose you to carry magic unless it was some kind of practical joke. But as I said," the witch snarled. "I don't need your help, cat. I don't need anyone's help. I'm not going to run, and I'm not going to hide."
The pulsating air stilled. Everything dropped back to the floor. Both cat and rat landed in a tangled heap at Agatha's feet. The red-haired witch stepped over them to check her appearance in a nearby mirror. "You know nothing about witchcraft. You're out of your game, kitty," the witch said over her shoulder as she ran her fingers through her curls. "Now, it's time for you to stop playing pretend and leave. Lolly, show them the door."
With a dramatic flourish, the newly returned Lolly pointed a paw at the bedroom door she had just sauntered in through. "It's right here, sweeties!"
Before Marvela and Curious could object, an invisible force swept them off their feet, out the door, and all the way down to the street where they landed with an undignified thud.
"Again," Agatha's voice boomed as she leaned out her apartment window overhead. "Thanks for the warning! Super appreciated." Sarcasm dribbled from every one of the bratty witch's scathing words.
"Come back and visit me again!" Lolly meowed down at them.
Then the scowling witch and her puffy cat both disappeared back inside.
Curious sat up with a groan, rubbing at his sore backside. "Is it bad that I kinda want Asra to get her?" the rat muttered to Marvela.
Marvela didn't reply. She stared up at the moon in the center of the sky.
It was almost full.
She pawed at the vial around her neck that suddenly felt heavier. They had to keep searching. They couldn't give up.
Sable would be disappointed in her if she gave up.
Agatha's cruel words weighed down Marvela's thoughts, but the scruffy black kitten refused to succumb to them just yet. Not when Asra was still out there, searching the streets with her familiar just as the kitten was. She scrambled to her paws, and Curious returned to his rightful place on her back.
Someone in this town has to listen to us, she thought as she took off running into the moonlit city.
Please.