Vigilance was full of witch-less familiars with nothing to hope for, and nothing left to do but wait for their magic to fade. Marvela could almost feel the magic evaporate from the city around her like mist after a downpour.
The kitten and her rat had returned to their library, exhausted. Without saying a word to each other, they had slunk off into the shadows inside in pursuit of sleep.
But sleep evaded the restless kitten. The stiller she was, the faster her heart beat. Finally, with the light of the moon stretching across the creaky library floor, Marvela sat up and padded out through the window into the night with her tail dragging behind her.
All along the old building's outside wall, purple clematis flowers, stirred by the wind, bobbed and weaved amongst the orange leaves dancing in the air. Marvela and Curious had since buried the bone and the vine they had used in the healing spell in the garden beside the library. Imbued by magic, the vine had grown to immense lengths, smothering every other plant and weed in the garden. Now it focused its attention on the building itself, its vines actively growing up along the side of the building hungrily.
Marvela watched the vines sway in the breeze, her eyes hooded and ears drooping, lulled by the chirping of crickets. She had no energy to pounce after the little bugs. Instead, she only sat in silence.
And pondered.
She found herself wishing she had enough magic to teleport herself far away. Maybe all the way back home to Grudgewood Forest. Perhaps she had enough magic to do so. Perhaps she didn't.
She didn't bother to attempt summoning it either way. All she knew was that she could no longer feel it swirl and shimmer inside her. Ever since her last battle with Asra, she was hollow.
"If it wasn't for that white star of yours, you could almost blend into the dark!" exclaimed a chuckling voice so close to Marvela that it made the fur in her ears prickle.
With a yowl, the kitten arched her back at a svelte black cat that had seemingly appeared out of thin air beside her. Unlike Marvela, this cat's coat lacked any white markings. She was nearly invisible in the blackness. It was almost as if she was made from the night itself.
Sleek and slender, the older she-cat smiled softly down at the kitten and gave her little nose a comforting lick. "I didn't mean to frighten you. There now, small one. No need for alarm."
Marvela said nothing as she continued to stare at the other black cat. The fur along her spine still refused to lie flat.
The she-cat paid no mind to Marvela's apparent shock. She only turned her face to gaze at the nearly full moon receding behind the trees. Starlight reflected in her pale blue eyes. "Quiet night, isn't it?" she mused as if she was talking to herself.
Though the kitten supposed the other cat was right, apart from the crickets, she kept her jaw clamped shut. Something told her the cat wasn't interested in a response, anyway.
The slightest of smiles shaped the star-gazing cat's muzzle. "It's so quiet tonight; one could almost hear the spirits dance a realm away."
Marvela gaped, stunned, at the other cat. She couldn't sense any magic in this strange she-cat. But there was a knowing glint in her crystal blue eyes as she turned to regard the scruffy kitten.
"You... You know about spirits? About magic? Are you a familiar?" Marvela's voice caught in her throat at the last word. If this cat was indeed a familiar, it meant that she was yet another creature Marvela had failed.
The cat licked a forepaw and dragged it across her whiskers. "I was. Once upon a time."
The kitten's heart sank. Her eyes stung. "Oh. Oh, I'm sorry."
"For what, little one?"
The kitten hung her head as the other cat scrutinized her. "Your witch. I couldn't save her."
"My witch?" said the she-cat. "Oh, little one, my witch is alive and well."
"What?" squeaked the kitten. "Where is she?"
The she-cat raised her shoulders in a half-hearted shrug. "Who knows?" she meowed. "It's been many years since we parted ways. She's nowhere nearby, that's for sure."
Marvela's breath left her as she relaxed in relief. The purple flowers around them continued to dance in the breeze as the two cats regarded each other.
"Nyx was the name my witch gave me," continued the other cat. "I was so proud to carry that name. I was just like you, I'm sure. Small like you too. I wanted to be the greatest familiar in the world." There was a hint of a wistful smile in the subtle curl of the cat's mouth as she spoke. But there was a tinge of sadness clouding her eyes too.
"What happened?" mewed the kitten.
"I grew up. And I realized that I didn't want to be a servant for the rest of my life. I wanted to be a part of a family. I just wanted to be a cat." The former familiar looked to the sky once more. "Magic... Witches... Spirits..." She sighed. "These are all human problems. It's not the responsibility of animals to solve human problems."
Marvela followed the older cat's gaze up to the night sky but didn't find anything worth being captivated by up there. She shook her head at the other cat's words. "But... But they're the ones who give us some of their magic power. And it's an honor to be a part of the world of magic—"
A muscle in the former familiar's face twitched. "Ah. Power." Another sigh. "Power is a poison, little one. And it's as addictive as it is destructive. We're all better off without it. Witches especially."
Marvela frowned at that. "That can't be true... There have to be some good witches out there who aren't... destructive."
Blue eyes met orange in the dark. "No, little one. There's a reason witches don't make other humans their familiars," the older cat murmured. "If you grant a human power, they will only want more. Witches understand that fact better than most. Witches may possess magic, but they are still only human. And humans are flawed creatures. You can try to devote your entire life to trying to help them, but in the end, they will only bring you down with them."
The kitten shivered and fluffed up her fur as a chilly night breeze rattled her. Her older companion appeared unbothered by the cold.
"Humans aren't like cats like you and me," the she-cat said. "They will never be satisfied by simple pleasures like a warm sunbeam or the feeling of raking your claws down the sides of a luxurious armchair. They will never be content with what they have. There will always be a hunger for power lurking within them. And they will use whatever tools necessary to achieve that goal.
"Once I realized that, I told my witch I no longer wanted to be a part of this world of magic. I was tired of being the mediator for their petty human quarrels. And just as I wanted, she ended my service and severed my connection to her magic. The moment I felt the magic leave me..." A smile. "Was the first time I felt free."
Marvela stared down at her own paws shivering in the dirt. The thought of her magic leaving her for good left her feeling dizzy. "What do you do now that you're all alone?" she asked, her voice little more than a whisper.
The cat beside her chuckled. "Alone? Oh, but I'm not alone. I found a family to take care of me. They're a bit mundane, sure, but they mean well. And they never expect anything from me except to be happy. And I am."
The other cat turned her head to the sky once more, smiling at the moon like it was an old friend. "I have a new name now," she said. "Midnight. A bit cliché for a black cat, but appropriate nonetheless."
Marvela continued to shiver even though she could no longer feel the cold. "I can't imagine... Life without magic."
Who would I be?
Midnight stiffened in surprise. "So, you still possess magic? Oh yes, now that you mention it, I can barely feel it within you. I was about to ask where your magic had gone too."
Marvela slapped a paw to the star on her chest. She could feel her heartbeat through her paw pads. She couldn't feel her magic within her. "I... I challenged an evil witch," she explained to Midnight. "And lost. And now I can't feel my magic inside me. It's like it's hiding. Is it going to come back?"
Am I even worthy of it?
Midnight shrugged. "It might. Or it might not." The she-cat leaned in close to Marvela. "But do you really want it to?"
A coldness filled the kitten from the tips of her ears to her tiny paws.
Midnight smiled as she gave Marvela one last parting lick on her forehead. "Sleep well, little one," she whispered. "I must depart now. I've got crickets to catch."
The trembling kitten barely registered when the other cat departed from her side. The cat's paw-steps grew steadily silent as she disappeared into the darkness.
And Marvela was alone again with her thoughts.
Humans couldn't be all bad, the kitten thought. At least Sable hadn't been...
Sable wasn't like Midnight's witch. She wasn't like Asra. She had always cared for her familiar.
...Right?
Marvela shut her eyes. She forced her head to empty itself of all the nagging thoughts that swam in her mind. She forced herself to ignore the emptiness inside her. Instead, she focused on nothing except for the song of the crickets that reminded her of home.
But one by one, those, too, fell silent.