The moment I finished, Carbuncle grew to an enormous size, turning into the largest creature anyone at the parade had ever seen.
I hopped onto his back and called out, “Come on out, everyone!”
My call was met with the appearance of hundreds upon hundreds of tiny woodland creatures from every nook and cranny in the city—they were my teacher’s familiars. My little friends lined up in a perfect formation in front of me. It was time for the parade to begin.
“Onward, Carbuncle. Let’s make rounds through the town.”
“Squeak.”
With me on his back, Carbuncle began to slowly march down the main road, followed by our woodland friends. The cute spectacle elicited a collective “Awww” from the crowd, and I knew the show was a hit.
As we progressed through the city, tiny magical spells I’d prepared beforehand went off. This included the falling of colorful snow in some places and individual bricks on the sides of buildings lighting up sporadically. The more the parade went on, the more Lapis was painted with illusions.
Much like Sophie’s magic, Carbuncle’s beautiful fur absorbed the moonlight, allowing him to shed a soft green light and making him into a spectacle himself.
As we moved forward, I could tell Sophie was still working her magic over the town square, as not a second went by when the sky wasn’t displaying some sort of magical effect.
After visiting each corner of town, my parade of animals and magical effects worked its way back toward the town square, where we would hold our finale. The entire town of Lapis was filled to the brim with colorful magic at this point.
Everything progressed perfectly, and I eventually spotted a familiar face from atop Carbuncle’s back. That face was heading to a spot where I’d promised I’d be.
“I’ll leave the rest to you, partner.”
“S-squeak?”
I’d be leaving Carbuncle in the lurch, but I knew he had this. All he needed to do was keep walking with the rest of the familiars, and the parade was good to go.
I had something else I needed to take care of.
I hopped off of giant Carbuncle and ran up to the person in question.
“Wuf, you came.”
Wuf noticed me and removed his hood while he said, “Hey there, young witch.” Maybe it was due to the full moon, but something about him seemed tougher than the first time we’d met.
“I was just heading to our meeting place, because I didn’t want to break our promise. But is it really all right for you to be here right now? Don’t you have a parade to run?”
“It’ll be fiiine. This won’t take long. I just have something to tell you.”
“Oh?”
“A message from Marie. She’s waiting for you at the place where you two watched the fireworks.”
Wuf’s eyes almost looked startled when he heard me say this.
“But I…”
“She said she doesn’t care if you’re a wolfman or whatever. She just wanted to watch fireworks with you again this year.”
“But I thought there were no fireworks this year?”
I shook my head as he said this.
“Oh, there’ll be fireworks all right.”
“Are you sure…?”
“I promise.”
Wuf looked up at the sky. “Okay, then. Seeing those fireworks up high in the sky used to give me hope and courage. Just looking at them alone gives me this kind of vigor to live. Even though I’ve been through a lot, they always bring me back, which is why I come here every year.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Back when the townsfolk mistook me for an animal, I was spending the day with a little girl. I never forgot the fireworks we saw together. You know, Marie kind of reminded me of that little girl. It was the reason I noticed she wasn’t feeling well the day I met her. This town’s fireworks show is something special. It brought me and Marie together. But I didn’t have courage that night. I was afraid of her seeing what I really am, so I ran away…”
“Do you think you’ll have the courage to show her tonight?”
“I don’t know. I was hoping there would be fireworks. I was hoping they could help give me the strength to accept my own feelings.”
“I think you’ll find that strength you need.”
As I said this, I looked down at my wristwatch and noticed it was time to go.
“Wuf, I only ask that you make this a night that neither of you will regret. And if possible, I’d like for you two to watch the end of the parade together. I think you’ll enjoy the fireworks you see tonight more than ever before.”
“Young witch…”
“I have to go now. Just promise me this. You’ll make a choice you’ll never regret.”
“Okay.”
Wuf nodded, and I smiled back at him.
Then off I went, to finish the parade.
I needed to get back to the town square, but the closer I got, the thicker the crowd became, until I couldn’t progress further. It seemed that after Carbuncle’s procession, the onlookers all headed toward the town square to see the finale.
I was at a bit of a loss, when I noticed the highest point in Lapis—its clock tower.
“That’s where I need to go…”
The clock tower marked the town’s square. Going there would bring me where I needed to go, but the problem was, how was I gonna get there? At this rate, I was going to miss the finale. I could tell Sophie’s magic was in its final phase.
This was when I noticed, however, that Sophie’s magic wasn’t all that was in the sky that night. I squinted, and lo and behold, there was White-Owl. He was flying inside the magic so as not to block the view, that wise little rascal.
“Hey! White-Owl! Over here!”
I waved my hand frantically at him, but he didn’t notice at all.
“Okay, how about this?!”
I climbed up a nearby stone wall and whistled as loudly as I could, then noticed him veering toward me.
By the time he reached me, I’d already chanted a twelve-verse spell. Carefully timing my jump, I leaped from the stone wall, which made passersby gasp, but they had nothing to fear, for in the next instant, I was scooped up by a giant owl. They watched as I rode him high into the sky, and the gasps quickly turned to cheers and applause.
“How was that? Pretty cool, eh?”
White-Owl hooted apathetically in response to my question. Evidently, this wasn’t enough for him, the cheeky owl.
“Let’s get a move on! First, we’ll go get Sophie!”
I pointed in the direction I wanted to go, and White-Owl cleared the distance to Sophie in a matter of seconds.
Sophie looked gobsmacked by the sudden appearance of a giant owl. White-Owl swooped down and picked her up, then brought her straight up into the air, and she let out a gruff “Oof!” that I wouldn’t tease her for. The audience watched, oohing at the spectacle—it felt great to hear.
“How do you like them apples, Sophie? Can I put on a show, or can I put on a show?”
Sophie looked up at me with the enthusiasm of a dead fish.
“Spberry… Remind me to end your life later…”
Apparently, she didn’t like being picked up against her will by a giant bird.
White-Owl brought us both to the clock tower. It was the best spot in town to see all of Lapis.
“There’s a railing, but you can easily slip right through one of these gaps, so be careful not to fall.”
“I will.”
The crowd watched us from far below. The open space where Sophie once stood had already filled up as well. Everyone was ready for the grand finale.
“It’s pretty up here,” Sophie murmured softly as she looked up at the moon in the sky, and I could see her face clearly in its light.
“People aren’t usually allowed to come up here save for the maintenance man who takes care of the clock. I guess it’s another bonus to being a witch, eh?”
“There’s lots of people out there tonight.”
“They came to see us. I bet just as many…no, more people come to see the parades you always conduct.”
Sophie looked out at the crowd with a distant gaze.
“When I hold these parades, it always reminds me of how happy it makes people. It’s funny, but seeing the crowd like this makes me happy, too. It’s times like these when I find myself appreciating the magic I’m supposed to hate so much.”
“Do you really hate magic as much as you say you do, Sophie?”
“What makes you say that?”
“If you really hated it, you wouldn’t have put so much effort into mastering it,” I said, then hopped onto White-Owl’s back, leaving her on the clock tower. “I, for one, love your magic, Sophie. You should really be more confident in yourself.”
“You’re one to talk.”