It had been another quiet evening in the area. There usually isn't a lot happening, at least in their street. With barely anyone else living around, it could become a little too quiet for some, but that didn't stop Mr Coffee from staying there. If anything, it was his café that gave some life to this side of the City, otherwise it would be abandoned for sure. The sun had gone down by now yet the rain would not calm itself, now angrily plunking against the window. Though it wouldn't bother the two. It was the perfect night for a game of billiards, at least they could agree on that. “You are late, you know.” The paler man complained as he crossed his arms over his chest, leaning against the pool table.
Rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, Mr Coffee closed the door to the room behind him and chuckled, shooting the other an apologetic smile. “I apologize, my dear friend. It was awfully busy at the market today. I barely got everything that we needed. But on the other hand, I heard some interesting things…” Setting down the bag he had carried into the room, Mr Coffee made his way over to the table and swiftly caught the cue stick that Sir Blade had thrown towards him as he approached. He looked quite intrigued at the mention of possible gossip from the city’s central market. If you wanted to know anything about any rumor, the central market was the perfect place to be.
“Let's hear it. I've been bored to death up until now, nothing interesting ever happens in this boring area. You should move.” Setting the pool table up and arranging the balls on it, Sir Blade would sit down onto one of the chairs in the room and let the other start, crossing his legs. In the meantime, Mr Coffee had filled a rather expensive looking glass with the red liquid from before, setting it down on the table that was placed next to the chair the other was sitting in. “Now now, I can barely afford to keep this place going, I doubt we would have the money to move anywhere else. Besides, how come you were bored all day? I heard that you were having fun with our guests earlier. Specifically their witch, Caden was their name I believe.”
“Don't even mention that brat, I was trying to teach them how to mind their own business and in the end it was me who got scolded, AGAIN. Honestly, you should be happy that I didn't immediately kill that kid, given my current mood.” He grabbed the glass and took a sip, his pale lips slightly staining red at the contact with the liquid. Mr Coffee had gotten into position at the pool table. He nodded contently while striking the white cue ball, his gaze following the ball's movement. “I am indeed quite relieved that you didn't kill them.” The white ball had hit the arranged balls in the middle of the table dead center, spreading them across it.
“What's their deal anyway? Are they just gonna stay here? If so, you will NOT see me here for as long as they are staying.” Sir Blade scoffed as he sat down the glass again, slowly making his way over to the other while holding the cue stick in his right hand. He used it to smack Mr Coffee on his back, making him yelp at the sudden pain. “We are NOT doing this again, this better be a temporary thing and not another ‘addition to the café’.” He scolded the other, preparing himself for his turn while standing at the other side of the table now. His expression turned from scorn to amusement as he watched Mr Coffee mess up on his next turn, a soft sigh coming from him as he let Sir Blade play now. “Don't worry about that, they'll be on their way again soon enough anyway. I couldn't possibly send them out into the storm and just leave them there right now though.”
His gaze fell towards the window, rain pouring seemingly endlessly outside with no sign of it stopping soon. This was the worst storm the area has had in a good while. “You could.” Sir Blade responded with a dull tone to his voice, his first encounter with the group had left a bad impression and it was showing. “It would be irresponsible.” Mr Coffee replied. “You know what else is irresponsible? The fact that you let random people stay here without knowing whether they are dangerous or not.” They went back and forth as the colored balls shifted over the pool table, each turn ending in a new argument being thrown into the room, yet the situation never escalated. Both kept their voice calm while stating their thoughts, as if both knew that the other would not get upset at whatever they were saying.
Soon their arguments turned into a more normal conversation, the game of billiards being left unattended as the two men chatted away about this and that. “Areas in the east end of the city were completely destroyed a couple of days ago, people say that it was due to the ground shifting with the flow of the magic current.” Mr Coffee would take a sip of his tea as he started with the topic, bringing a more serious topic to the table. “And you believe that spiritual crap?” An unamused and somewhat disgusted expression formed on the paler man's face, his left hand being occupied by his glass while the right hand held his head up as he leaned onto the armrest of his chair. “Even as a former witch, I have my doubts. It's more likely to be caused by a-” Mr Coffee's thought was cut off as the loud crash sound from outside rang through the environment.
“What is that?!” Caden called out as they stared out of the window from the living room, locking their eyes onto a shadowy figure that stood hunched over in the backyard, an eery aura emanating from it. The area was dark, yet Caden swore they could see some kind of vines spread across the ground where the figure stood. “It's an ivy crawler…” Tori replied with a soft voice, holding her hand slightly in front of her mouth as she watched the figure come closer to the building, the vines around it spreading and ripping apart the plants it came in contact with. Caden looked at Tori confused, not quite getting an explanation from what she had told them. Ithil lowered his head next to Caden and pointed out of the window at the ivy crawler.
“See those vines? It can produce corrupting ivy and invade areas in an instant, it's one of the horrible creatures that the Orange Eye created. They hunt strong sources of magic.” Ithil explained while slowly backing up from the window, not enjoying being squeezed between everyone. Walking over to their belongings, he grabbed his bow and stretched a bit. “Let's get rid of it before it calls over more of its friends.” He called out while throwing Caden's sword at them and urging Zaida to grab her ax, which was way too heavy for him, as well. Caden, who had luckily caught the sword, held it up and stood proudly, announcing to the room that they would defeat the creature as if they were a knight swearing to their beautiful princess that they would save her.
Owl opened the window for them and stumbled backwards as Ithil and Zaida hurried out of it, landing right in front of the creature before it could reach the building. Having received the instruction to stay inside for safety by Ithil, Hale made sure to encourage Caden before they also jumped out of the window, the first floor wasn't too high up so they could easily make the jump without breaking their legs. “We'll be right with you three!” Tim shouted from the living room before pulling both Tori and Owl along and out of the room. “Where are we g-” Before Owl could ask, Tim had interrupted them, continuing to pull them into the hallway and stopping midway.
“Grab your weapons and come back to the living room quickly, who knows if it's just one ivy crawler.” He explained before each of them disappeared into their own room. Owl nervously fumbled with the door handle of their room, barely managing to close the door behind them while carrying a couple of books. They stopped outside their door, staring at the open door of the billiard room that was right across from their room. It was empty. There was a sudden noise coming from the café area downstairs, it almost sounded like something being dragged across the floor. Before they had the time to wonder about where the two men were or what the noise was, Tori called them over to the living room.
“Mr Hoot, please make sure to keep Hale safe, in case anything tries to get inside.” Owl stroked the head of their feathered companion before letting it sit down on the couch with Hale. Before long, Tori, Tim and Owl joined the three outside, who had been busy getting rid of the ivy crawler. While Zaida and Ithil worked together, Ithil repeatedly distracting the creature with fire arrows and Zaida striking it whenever she got the chance to, Caden's attack pattern was inconsistent and full of holes. Almost hitting Zaida after the creature dodged during one of their strikes, Caden slipped due to the rain and landed on the muddy floor, getting tangled up in the vines. Ithil rolled his eyes and ignored the shouting witch on the ground, carrying on with firing arrows, not caring whether they hit a little too close to Caden at times.
The creature had also fallen onto the ground, now seemingly wrestling with Zaida on who had control in the situation. This was a disaster, that much the three from the café could tell. As they sighed in unison, Tori and Tim hurried to Zaida, trying to help her with the creature, leaving Owl to go deal with Caden, who had gotten even more tied up to the point where they couldn't even move anymore. “Here let me-” Owl moved their hand along one of the bigger vines, detaching it from the creature's vines with fire magic and untying the other witch. “There. You should keep track of your surroundings, these vines can grow within a matter of seconds and inject poison into your body. Luckily, these vines were still too weak for that.”
Owl smiled, though Caden would not return the smile as they grabbed their sword and stared at Owl in horror. “What do you mean they could have injected me with poison?! Can't you tell me they are poisonous before we go into battle-” Before their complaining could continue, the creature came flying towards them, it seems as if Zaida managed to rip the vines connected to the ground off of its body and sent it on its way. An arrow hit its head just a second before it would have reached Owl and Caden, altering its path and making the ivy crawler go right past the two. For a good minute or two, there was silence between them, not even the rain stayed around long enough to fill this silence.
It was the sound of more footsteps approaching that broke the silence, a whole group of ivy crawlers appearing out of the bushes and making their way towards the six. “Of course, it would have been too convenient if there was only one of them…” Zaida sighed while picking up her ax from the ground and standing in front of Caden. “Everyone prepare for a whole wave of them this time!” She charged in while keeping close to Caden, making sure they wouldn’t end up in an ugly situation like the one before. Owl stuck with Ithil further back, shooting fireballs at the ivy crawlers while Ithil joined in with his fire arrows. They managed to keep the creatures in place for the other four to hit them precisely. It seemed in a bigger group, their teamwork was just fine.
Even though they managed to land hits consistently while not being hit themselves, more and more ivy crawlers started to show up, some even coming out of the café. “They were inside too?!” Tim yelled while chasing after the ones that were inside, one of the ivy crawlers holding something shiny in its hand. Jumping onto the back of the creature, Tim tore through the vines and made the ivy crawler crumble into nothing but dead branches, the shiny object rolling off into a larger group of ivy crawlers. “What is that-” Tori watched it roll by, her attention being ripped from the fight. As vines came flying towards her, Zaida jumped in between and pulled Tori along, cutting the vines with her ax.
“No time for getting distracted, be careful.” She said softly as she shot Tori a smile, patting her onto the back and continuing to fight, Tori shaking her head and carrying on with fighting too. The only one that had stopped was Caden, who stared at the crystal with their petal in it that had rolled past and was now in possession of another ivy crawler. “Shit, how did that get there?!-” Caden cursed as they ran after the ivy crawler that was now making its way towards the forest near the café. “Where are you going, Caden?” With a concerned expression, Zaida watched as Caden continued running. They turned around quickly to reply. “This guy stole something from inside, I'll go after it alone! You guys make sure the rest of these things go to hell!”
“But-!” Zaida stared at the spot that Caden had been in just a second ago before glancing at Ithil. Caden had now almost caught up to the ivy crawler, making sure they were not visible to the others in the meantime. They could already hear how Ithil would complain and degrade them for losing the crystal, so they decided to get it back themselves. “Did they just ditch us?” Zaida called out to the Elf, his only reply was a shrug and an uninterested expression. “Let them, not like they are helping a lot here anyway.” Even if Zaida didn’t think that way, Zaida couldn’t afford to go after Caden since she was the main power in this fight. “I hope you’ll be careful, little witch…”
“How did that even happen, I had the crystal in my bag and-” Caden thought for a moment before it finally clicked in their brain. Earlier when Owl tripped over their bag… it must have fallen out at that time, it would make sense why the ivy crawler that originally had it came out of the café with it. Oh goodness, they had caused destruction inside and outside of the café now. No way they’d be allowed to rest there for the night now. “This is terrible! Why does this always happen to me-” Before Caden could drown in their self pity, they finally caught up to the ivy crawler, jumping onto it and grabbing it by its neck. It didn’t seem to work as they had planned, the creature seemed unbothered. Does it even need to breathe?
Struggling to hold onto the ivy crawler, Caden got dragged along as it tried to flee now that it had what it was looking for. “Give it back!-” They cried out, kicking their legs up against the chest of the creature, making it stumble onto the ground. Caden took this opportunity to grab onto its hand tightly, pulling back to force it to release the crystal. The ivy crawler was tough, not letting go of it and managing to get out of Caden’s grip quicker than they could blink, standing up in front of them again. It was hard enough to fight off one of those creatures by themselves, yet they couldn’t take the shame of telling the others about what happened. “You’ve got to be kidding me…”
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“Tim watch out!” Back at the café, Owl cried out as two ivy crawlers managed to sneak up on Tim, jumping him and wrapping him into vines, scratching his skin in the process. “Come on!-” Before he knew it, even Tim’s head was fully wrapped in vines, the ivy crawlers dragging him along as they went to a group of other ivy crawlers. Ithil watched as Owl ran over to Tim, charging into the group with their sword and managing to pierce one with it, killing it in the process. “Go help the kid!” Zaide urged Ithil as she and Tori struggled to keep the ivy crawlers from getting too close to the café. “Already on it.” He mumbled and shot an arrow with a wire tied to it towards the ivy crawler holding Tim.
He pulled on the wire, yanking the ivy crawler away from the tied up Tim and stabbing it with another arrow that he had grabbed from his quill. Tim fell onto the ground, some of the vines loosening and freeing his face and right arm. “Screw these things!” He yelled and freed himself, using his bare claws to detach the heads of two other ivy crawlers. Owl worriedly went over to Tim as he sat down on the floor, breathing heavily. “If I ever see these things again after this, I will get explosives or something!-” Through subtle coughing, Tim yelled and looked up at Owl. “And the worst thing is that the old men aren’t here-” he added to his complaining, clearly upset about the fact that Mr Coffee and Sir Blade were nowhere to be seen.
“But why are they here? Mr Coffee and I made sure our resources were all safely sealed so that they wouldn't emit any traces of magic…" Owl worried, getting Tim back up from the ground and helping him over to the side and out of immediate range of the battle. “A random attack?” Tim replied quietly, obviously being in pain but trying to keep it together. “Very unlikely, they never attack without a set goal in mind.” Tori had joined the two, standing in front of them while Owl started looking at Tim’s wounds closely. “Everything alright over there?” The worried voice of Mr Coffee called out to the three as he came out of the café, hurrying over. “And where were you?!” Tori placed her hands on her hips and started lecturing Mr Coffee, who could only reply with a sheepish smile.
“Nevermind that, go help them deal with the rest of the ivy crawlers.” She shooed him away and placed her attention back onto Owl and Tim, turning her back towards Mr Coffee. Moving forward a bit, he immediately stopped again as he saw that Zaida and Ithil struck down the last ivy crawler in sight, Zaida happily swinging her ax around and placing it onto the ground next to her as she celebrated their victory. “Phew, those things were terrible to deal with, though it was easy enough after you distracted them. Your aim is incredible!” She called out to Ithil, the Elf nodding slightly and placing his bow onto his back again, adjusting his glasses. “Your ax is quite strong as well.” He replied and looked away, he didn’t do well with compliments. Whether he gave them to someone or received them.
“I finished those guys inside, how is the situation out here?” The vampire stopped in his tracks next to the older witch as he came from inside, scanning the backyard for any possible threat that was left. “Everything here is settled, it seems. Those kids sure know how to pack a punch.” Mr Coffee smiled at Sir Blade and rested his hands on his hips, pointing over at Owl and Tori by the side of the building as they treated the scratches that Tim had gotten from one of the creatures. “Some minor injuries but nothing that will stop Tim for all too long.” “Do you know what they were after?” Sir Blade looked at Mr Coffee, an unsettled expression resting on his face. “No clue.” He shrugged in response, glancing at Ithil and Zaida who had met up with Hale.
“Whatever it was, I am not staying here to deal with it. Good luck with that though, hope you enjoy babysitting as well.” The vampire waved the witch goodbye and excused himself, walking along the small path that went past the building and towards the other streets. “By the way, you lost that game of pool. I clearly won.” He added before disappearing into the darkness of the side streets. Mr Coffee chuckled as he watched the other leave, slowly making his way over to Owl who had now finished treating Tim. The other two had gone inside already while Zaida, Ithil and Hale took their weapons and also went towards the entrance of the café. Though Caden was missing from the group.
“Ah, you three, thank you for helping us deal with those things. There is a guest room right next to the living room upstairs. Feel free to spend the night and join us for breakfast in the morning.” Mr Coffee smiled at Zaida as she returned the smile happily, Hale giving him a thumbs up and Ithil simply nodding at the offer. “This is the least we can do as a thanks for letting us stay here.” Zaida added before letting Hale enter first and then entering herself. Ithil stopped for a second and sighed, pushing up his glasses. “One of the ivy crawlers apparently stole something that belongs to our little witch so they are chasing after it now. They also insisted on getting it back without our help. If you could keep the door unlocked until they come back…”
“I’ll be awake for a bit longer anyway so that shouldn’t be a problem, no need to worry.” Mr Coffee replied while chuckling slightly, holding the door open for both Ithil and Owl now. “I’m not worrying about that witch, trust me. I just don’t want to hear them yelling in the middle of the night if they end up being locked outside.” Ithil mumbled as he walked inside, going upstairs where the other two had already disappeared to. Owl’s gaze fell upon Mr Coffee as they entered the café, waiting for the witch to also come inside. “Do you think Caden will be fine out there? I mean, who knows how many ivy crawlers will start to appear. Maybe they get lost and end up at their camp and then get-”
“I guess I’ll go look for them, I can’t have you worrying about that the entire night. I’ll make sure they get back in one piece.” He placed his hand on Owl’s head and gently patted it, reassuring the younger witch that he would find Caden. Owl nodded and went further inside, watching as Mr Coffee went out into the backyard again and slowly disappeared into the forest area that was beyond it. They closed the back door and went upstairs, a happy Mr Hoot greeting them with a cheerful hoot as it sat on the railing of the stairs at top. Owl let it sit on their arm and carried it to their room, the hallway upstairs growing quiet as everyone had already gone to their rooms as well.
The feathers inside of the pillow were so soft that Zaida couldn’t help but immediately grab it, gently squishing it against her head. Hale started bouncing on one of the beds that stood in the room while Ithil set up a sleeping mat on the ground, placing his stuff down next to it. “And you really are alright with sleeping on the floor, Ithil? I mean, one of the beds is still free.” Zaida asked as she sat down on her bed, watching as the Elf organized his belongings neatly. “I’d rather not hear Caden complain about sleeping on the floor.” He answered simply, crouching down to place one of the spare pillows onto the sleeping mat. “Wow, that’s very considerate of you, seems like you two are getting along just fine.”
Zaida teased as her tail dangled off of the bed, brushing the side of the bed as it went from one side to the other. “We could also share a bed if you’d like.” She laughed loudly as she watched Ithil’s face turn bright red at her comment, he quickly averted his gaze and walked over to the bathroom door. “I’d rather not, thank you very much.” He was terrible at hiding how embarrassed he was. Zaida could tell. “I’m just kidding, pretty boy. It’s a normal thing in the Vulpine Kingdom to simply sleep next to whoever to keep warm. I don’t expect you to do it though.” She continued chuckling as Ithil closed the door behind him. Even Hale made it obvious that he was enjoying this.
Meanwhile, Caden was out of breath after chasing the ivy crawler and beating it up. They had lost track of their surroundings already and as the cherry on top the ivy crawler managed to disappear into some bush with the crystal, leaving only traces of its vines behind. Slowly following them, Caden ended up in front of one of the bushes that had a big mass of vines going into it. “I got you now! Give me back my petal already!” Caden jumped through the bush while firmly holding their sword, scanning the surroundings behind the bush. There were scratch marks on the ground that led up to another bigger bush, the crystal lying in front of it and shining brightly in the moonlight. Putting their sword away, Caden let out a sigh of relief and approached the crystal. “Thank goodness.”
As Caden bent down to pick up the crystal, the blade of a sword rose from the bushes in front of them, stopping right in front of their throat. This caused them to stumble backwards as they dropped the crystal they had picked up again out of pure shock, landing on the ground and staring up at the point of the sword that was now facing their way. “What coward hides in a bush?!” Hesitantly grabbing their own sword, Caden shakily held it up and towards the bush. “If you want to fight, come out and-!” The witch’s eyes widened as they recognized the person that came out of the bush and grabbed the crystal. Caden drew their sword even higher now. “You?!-”
The light of the crystal reflected in the singular eye of the older witch as he observed the petal inside of it. He lowered his sword and put it away, playing with the crystal in his hand. “You’re the café owner! What are you doing here?!” Caden quickly got up and kept their sword in their hand, staring up at Mr Coffee who looked as calm as ever. A smile appeared on his face. “I was about to ask you the same thing, we are currently in the outskirts of the city, this is not a place for a young witch like you to be playing around with powerful items like this.” He glanced at the crystal in his hand while he threw it up into the air and caught it again. What was that about playing with powerful items?
“Give that back, you have no idea how important it is!” Trying to take the crystal from Mr Coffee, Caden grabbed onto his arm while Mr Coffee raised the crystal up into the air and out of reach. “Now now, I know full well how important this petal is. If anything, I should be wondering if you know. After all, you were the one that lost it in the first place.” He eventually lowered his arm and let Caden grab the crystal, letting out a sigh. “I sealed it for you so that it doesn’t emit more traces of magic. Keep it safe from now on, alright? Now let’s go back, it’s late.” With that being said, Mr Coffee turned and yawned, putting his hands into his pockets as he walked back to the café.
“Wait!-” Caden yelled and ran after the other, catching up as Mr Coffee was walking slowly. “Are you not going to question why I have this? Or lecture me about being more responsible? Are you even upset at all?! You seem too calm and cheerful given the current circumstances!” They complained to which Mr Coffee stopped walking, turning towards the younger witch with a warm smile on his face. “Don’t get yourself worked up, I am not upset nor will I lecture you because of anything. It shouldn’t be my business anyway.” He reassured Caden, which only made the other more confused than they were before. “But it’s my fault that your café got attacked and-” “Nonsense, those attacks can happen with so many magic items in the house.”
“I don’t trust that.” Caden said bluntly while following Mr Coffee back to the back entrance of the café. “It is definitely the cause of the attack, are you sure you actually know what this is though?” Caden asked as they went inside, Mr Coffee holding the door open for them. Once both were inside, he closed the door and locked it, inviting Caden to sit down on one of the chairs in the café area. Hesitantly, Caden sat down and watched as Mr Coffee took a chair and sat down right in front of them, gently grabbing their arm and pulling their sleeve up. There were scratch marks all over it, ones that Caden hadn’t even noticed yet. “I didn’t even realize that I got hurt…” They mumbled as Mr Coffee pulled up his own sleeves and began using healing magic on their wounds.
It stung a little, even Caden had to admit that, but as soon as it started to hurt, it also stopped again. It didn’t take long for Mr Coffee to heal the younger witch. “I am well aware that that is a petal of the flower of spirituality.” He answered Caden’s previous question, finishing up the healing process by bandaging the arm up. “Injuries caused by the ivy crawlers can be tricky to heal, I got rid of your pain but it will still need to heal naturally for a bit. Take it easy for the next few days.” “Thank you-” Caden stared at their arm, the pain that had set in late was indeed gone now. “You’re welcome, Caden. Your friends are upstairs in the guest room. You should rest for now too.”
Caden watched as Mr Coffee said goodnight and went around the corner and into the kitchen of the café. They were close to asking how he possibly knew it was that exact flower, after all the Kingdom had lots of other flowers that you could use for magic. Though they felt like they shouldn't press the matter further. They were relieved that he took it so well, they feared for the worst when he raised his sword at them. Now then, off to get that well deserved sleep! Or so they thought as they walked up the stairs, almost forgetting about the fact that they had to explain themselves to the others now too. Gently opening the door to the guest room, Caden peeked inside. Zaida and Hale were sound asleep on one bed, Caden’s bags neatly arranged onto the other bed. As for Ithil…
“Took you long enough.” He stood next to the door with his arms crossed over his chest, his glasses missing from his face and his long blond hair open now, gently moving as a soft breeze came in from the door. “You have no idea how hard it is to catch up to those things-” Caden closed the door behind themselves and went over to the bed, safely storing the crystal in their bag again without Ithil seeing what they were doing. “Did you at least find what you were looking for?” A more calm and gentle tone of voice made its way out of Ithil’s mouth, Caden thought that it was probably because of how late it was. “Yeah…I had some help from Mr Coffee though…” They mumbled while placing the bags onto the floor so that they could get into the bed.
“Bothering him even more, I see. You better find some way to repay him for his kindness.” Ithil placed himself onto his sleeping mat and glanced towards Caden, he apparently was not tired enough to spare Caden the lecture. “Yeah yeah, I will. When did you turn into my mom?” Caden replied sarcastically, laying down onto the bed. It was almost softer and more comfortable than the one they had at home. “Quiet. Some of us are trying to sleep.” Ithil turned away from the other and put his head onto his pillow. “Goodnight to you too, Ithil…” The witch mumbled before closing their eyes and drifting off to sleep. They slept really well considering that they were in a stranger’s house with other strangers sleeping in the same room.
It had never bothered Caden to sleep in the same room as others, one of their more useful traits. It always made it so much easier for them to find a place to stay. And this bed was so comfortable, Caden couldn’t even describe it. It was like it shaped itself around their body, almost embracing the witch as they slept there. A tight embrace… maybe even a bit too tight- Caden felt like their chest was crushed by an unknown force, no matter how much they struggled it only got worse. When they opened their eyes, they found themselves in a dark void, no light or anything reflecting the shape of any object. They tried to call out to someone, but nothing seemed to come out of their mouth, no matter how hard they tried.
Slowly starting to panic, Caden stared at a small light that appeared right in front of them in the empty void. It got closer and closer, soon enough Caden could see the shape of a shadowy figure approaching, the singular orange eye on their head igniting the area. Grabbing onto their head, the figure observed the panicking witch while getting awfully close, the orange glow of its eye blinding Caden. Their attempt at escaping one last time ended up being successful as they knocked the figure away and broke free, the figure staring at them before jumping at them. Drowning in sweat and with a terrible headache, Caden woke up in the comfortable bed in the guest room of the café, everything seemed normal now. Though their chest felt a little heavy. They looked over the blanket and stared into the singular green eye of a small orange cat that had placed itself onto the witch. “What…”