I could tell Sophie was serious—she was practically threatening me. It didn’t look like I could wiggle my way out of this one. Not that I was hiding it in the first place. In fact, I had intended to tell her either way, but I hadn’t found the right time yet. I wanted to wait until after everything was over…after the parade the next day.
Sophie, however, was dead set on this. I could see it in her eyes, and I knew now was the time.
“The thing is, I only have one year left to live. Well, ten months, to be precise.”
I decided to tell her, and her wide eyes made her shock apparent. It was the most expression I’d ever seen on her usually emotionless face.
“On my seventeenth birthday, my teacher told me I have exactly one year left to live and that the only way I could survive was by using the tears.”
“You’re going to use a seed of life to extend your life…?”
“You Seven Sages really know your stuff, eh?”
I cracked a joke, but her expression remained the same. Her gaze quavered with compassion and sadness; I could tell she felt conflicted.
“You told me before that you like magic.”
“Yeah, I do.”
“I hated magic because of what it took from me. The same could be said for you, though. If magic didn’t exist, you probably wouldn’t be cursed right now.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Do you still like magic?”
“Yup, I love it. I’m almost grateful for it.”
“What do you mean?”
I smiled and nodded.
“Remember when you asked me why I study magic? Well, I thought about my answer to that.”
“Okay.”
“To me, magic is what brings people together.”
“It brings people together?”
“There are a ton of people I know only because of my magic. Including people I’ve saved, in a way. Sure, maybe the tears of joy were what sent me on this journey, but that’s not all. I love helping people with my magic.”
“If I remove magic from this world, it could save you, Spberry. Are you still against me doing that?”
“Yeah. I mean, I don’t want to die, of course. But could you imagine how boring the world would be without magic? The same goes for you, I’m sure. We’ve both lived our lives for magic. I don’t want to lose mine, and I don’t want you to lose yours, either.”
“Spberry…”
“There are people out there who are saved by magic and people who can only remain connected through it. It’s the reason I met you and the reason we can help Wuf and Marie.”
I never really thought about why I started magic; I kind of just went with the flow. But ever since I was told I only had one year to live, things changed. This was because there were things only I could do in this world, things magic allowed me to do.
I had the ability to help people in meaningful ways with my magic, and many people knew me because of this. Helping people with my magic gave my life meaning.
“What drives me is the people I love, and magic is my greatest ally when it comes to making their lives better.”
“That’s wrong!”
Sophie shook her head furiously like a child throwing a tantrum. Her face was scrunched up with anger, an expression I’d never seen her make before. It was like she’d been holding these emotions in the entire time, and they came exploding out of her. Perhaps her past was reminding her of what she lost.
“Magic is not an ally. It’s trying to steal from me again. First my family, then my place, and now my friend…”
Sophie’s legs buckled under her, and she fell to the ground, but I caught her. It felt like I captured much more than just her slender frame.
“I’m glad you consider me a friend.”
“A friend, an assistant, a servant, a slave, a dog. It doesn’t matter what you are—I don’t want you to go.”
“I think friend is a good word.”
Sophie was ruthless even when she was sad. But her words made me happy, and she felt precious to me. I started patting her on the head and saying, “There, there. Everything will be all right. I won’t die. I want to go to the Celebration of Worlds with you next year, too.”
“I doubt I’ll have space in my schedule to come again next year.”
“Is that what you’re worried about?” Sophie had her idiosyncrasies, but that’s what I liked about her. “Let me make you a promise. That I’ll live, no matter what.”
“Really…?”
“Really. It’s a promise. I can’t let myself die yet.”
It was another reason to live. The last thing I wanted to do before I died was break a promise.
I looked up to the sky as the twilight gave way to a starry night.
It was parade day.
The sun went down, and as soon as the beautiful full moon took its seat high in the night sky, Sophie stepped in front of the portal.
The outfit she wore for parades resembled military attire. I’d seen it online before, but when she wore it, she was like a completely different person—the Witch of Blessings, Sophie. The outfit made her more proper.
The portal would close at the end of the parade. The closure of the portal brought an end to what felt like a long dream.
A large crowd surrounded Sophie, granting her the necessary space as they watched in anticipation. I was among them, a spectator just as captivated.
Everyone was there, people from other worlds and our own. With all eyes fixed on Sophie, she lifted her hand and, in a manner akin to a fairy, began to spin, her movements resembling a dance. Orbs of light then started to gather around her. These were light Spirits, and I wasn’t the only one who could see them. I could hear gasps of awe, the crowd utterly bewitched by the illusionary spectacle.
Spirits were normally invisible to the untrained eye, but Sophie made them visible to all. Borrowing power from the Spirits was a way to enhance and refine magic that created large-scale phenomena. This wasn’t easy to do, though, and required immense amounts of magic. It was my first time even seeing Spirits in this way.
The light Spirits were poised to assist Sophie in orchestrating the parade. Once gathered, and as the crowd’s anticipation reached its peak, they soared upward into the sky. Trails of light painted the sky with magnificent illusionary images. They spread in every direction, then the stream transformed, evaporating into tiny light particles that gently descended, morphing once again, this time into fluttering butterflies.
Butterflies of every color fluttered throughout the sky, filling it with bright and beautiful colors. This wasn’t the end of the show, though. The town square where we stood was suddenly illuminated by the full moon. I quickly noticed that the light came from the ground where we stood; it was glowing faintly. It seemed like Sophie was using magic to capture the moon’s light and shine it back from the ground.
It was almost like we were standing on top of the moon’s reflection in a shallow pond.
“Ooooh,” the crowd said collectively, and Sophie snapped her fingers, triggering a light to shine over the dimly lit city of Lapis. I now understood why we’d asked Mayor Carter to have lights turned off throughout the city. The magical light was some of the prettiest I’d ever seen.
Sophie continued the show with a display of magical fire spreading from her feet and radiating out toward the crowd. The illusionary flames weren’t hot to touch, and they spread through the crowd only to disappear like a wave.
So much was happening all at once, both above and below the crowd, that it was almost hard to take it all in. The sheer level of skill behind the magic was astounding, lending an almost dreamlike quality to the entire experience.
Sophie captured the entire crowd with her magic. We all watched as the whole town was painted by a single witch. The crowd’s awe could be heard throughout the chain of impossibly grand magic spells.
Sophie was such a talented mage that it was difficult to tell when she was even casting her spells. This was the power of a Sage. I found myself enthralled by the fluid motions she used to work her magic. Luckily, I was able to snap out of my stupor by lightly smacking my cheeks, because my part was coming up next.
I emerged from the crowd and stood next to Sophie, where I whistled. Carbuncle emerged from a different spot in the crowd, joining us at my feet. I touched my thumb gently to his forehead and quietly chanted a twelve-verse incantation.