"So you guys summoned me."
Charlotte and Cody froze. Shocking by the fact.
"Summoned you, huh? What do you mean?"
Ask Charlotte's.
"Ka'thar ka'thar aja – that's my self-release spell."
"EHHHHH, FOR REAL?! So magic actually exists in this world!"
Cody jumped to his feet, knocking over a crate of ceramic vases that shattered with a deafening CRASH. He was so excited to hear that .
"Yes, it does. And you two are my saviors...and witch world nightmare lmao so you guys kinda make mistake"
"Mistake? What did we do, Aly?"
Charlotte wrapped her arms around herself, her eyes darting to the window where storm clouds had rolled in out of nowhere. She'd only opened the notebook because it look so cute and she really curious.
"By summoning me, you've started a war."
"WAR?! WAR?!"
Cody stumbled backward, tripping over a rusted iron candlestick. His voice shook like leaves in a storm, and he could feel the floor vibrating beneath his feet – he really scared to hear that .
"You just set free the strongest witch in the world, soooo..."
Aly stretched lazily, playing with her tail.
"Huh? If you're the strongest, how did you get locked up in the first place?"
Charlotte crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow skeptically. Even with magic swirling around her, she needed really need a answers .
Aly's fur stood on end like tiny needles, and her eyes flashed from green to blood red.
"HEY! Even the strongest have weaknesses, okay?! Not all of us can walk around acting like nothing scares them!"
"So what's yours?"
Aly fell silent, her gaze drifting to a faded photograph on the floor – a guy with silver hair and kind eyes, standing beside a woman who looked just like Charlotte. She sighed, and a single tear rolled down her cheek, sizzling when it hit the wood.
"True love~~"
"EWWWWWWW!"
Charlotte grimaced so hard her face twisted, like she'd just bitten into a durian she didn't like. "That's so cheesy! Even a cheap drama on TV has better plot twists!"
"What's with all the 'eww'?! True love isn't just some silly story – it's the only force strong enough to break or make a witch!"
Aly huffed, flicking her tail so hard it sent a pile of old letters flying across the room.
"Nothing," Charlotte chuckled softly, reaching out to pat Aly's head. The cat leaned into the touch despite herself, purring so loud it drowned out the rain lashing against the windows.
"Show some respect! Even though I look like a starlet – duh, look at how shiny my fur is!" She preened for a second before her voice turned serious. "I'm technically grandma's sister! So you better treat me like family!"
"Ugh, whatever. So what do we do now? Burn the notebook?"
Charlotte gestured at the book, which was now glowing so bright it lit up the entire attic.
Aly's eyes widened so much they looked like glowing marbles, and she let out a hiss that made the walls shake.
"What did you just say?!"
"Burn the notebook?" Charlotte repeated casually
"ARE YOU INSANE?! That book holds 500 years of magic – every spell, every memory, every secret wws hard! You can't just turn it to ash like rubbish!"
Aly snapped, her claws extending into razor-sharp talons that scraped deep grooves into the floorboards.
"Hey, Aly... it's not nice to call people crazy," Cody said gently, stepping between them with his hands up. He pushed his glasses up his nose – even in the middle of chaos, he was still the peacemaker.
"She started it first! She wants to destroy everything I have left!"
"I was just asking! How were we supposed to know it was so important?!"
"Don't ask dumb questions! Use your brain for once!"
"Huh?!?"
The two bickered back and forth for several minutes – Charlotte's voice rising to a shout, Aly hissing and spitting sparks every time she got angry.
Cody watched them with a bored look, leaning against a beam covered in cobwebs. He let out a long, loud yawn that made his jaw crack like a twig.
Charlotte and Aly stopped instantly, staring at him with their mouths open in shock.
"Dy... You could've stopped this fight ages ago, but you just stood there YAWNING?!"
Said Charlotte angrily.
"Sorry....?" Cody shrugged, rubbing his eyes. "You two were kind of fun to watch... like a really intense cartoon."
"Aly... I think he likes watching us argue ... gets his kicks out of it," Charlotte muttered, crossing her arms again.
"OH, IS THAT HOW IT IS....?"
Aly's eyes narrowed dangerously, and she pulled out a tiny but deadly-looking scorpion stinger from behind her ear, holding it up like a dagger. Purple venom dripped from its tip, smoking when it hit the ground.
Cody's face went pale pink, and he quickly pointed at the glowing book to change the subject.
"Eek.... So why can't we burn the diary then, Aly? You said you remember all the spells anyway!"
Aly tucked the stinger back into her fur and calmed down a little, though her tail still twitched with anger.
"That diary is mine – every page is written in ink mixed with my blood and I write everything I felt in this notebook... it's part of me and ..."
"Yeah... " Cody nodded slowly, finally understanding why the book so important to her.
"So it's my business what happens to it," Aly purred like a cat who'd just stolen the last piece of fish, curling up on a velvet cushion that appeared out of thin air.
Charlotte reached out and tugged gently at Aly's fluffy black tail – it felt like silk woven with stardust.
"Get serious! If you don't tell us what's going on, I'll cut off this tail of yours and use it to write our own spells!"
"Okay, okay girl~~ Relax, relax..." Aly held up a paw in surrender, then took a deep breath that made her whole body glow with soft light.
"Have you ever heard of someone named Mike Chain?"
"Of course – you wrote his name right on the front page .. why you mention him?" Charlotte asked, her curiosity finally winning over her annoyance.
"He was my best friend, my partner in every battle... we traveled the world fighting dark magic that most people don't even know exists. And he was the love of my life."
Aly's voice went quiet, and the silver pendant around her neck glowed so bright it lit up her face – showing traces of the beautiful witch she used to be.
"Ohh, your boyfriend huh..Where is he now?"
Charlotte knew she shouldn't ask because he maybe already died and the pain in Aly's eyes was like a knife but she couldn't help herself.
"He... he's gone." Aly's voice cracked, and the pendant dimmed to a dull silver. "He sacrificed himself to seal away an ancient demon .. "
"OH... sorry, Aly..."
Charlotte and Cody said together, looking down at their feet. Even in the middle of all this chaos, they could feel how much she'd lost.
"It's alright. But what matters is he taught me everything – every spell he created, every trick he learned, I wrote it all down so I'd never forget him."
"You're so powerful, can't you just remember them?" Charlotte asked gently.
"Of course I can – they're burned into my mind like scars. I could never forget him, or what he taught me."
"Then what's the point of the book?"
Aly stood up and spun around, her cat form stretching out as she spoke.
"Look at me – what am I right now?"
"A cat," Charlotte said innocently, reaching out to stroke her back again.
"EXACTLY! How am I supposed to hold a wand? Or read ancient scrolls? Or cast the big spells we're going to need?! My paws can't even turn a page without tearing it! That's why I'm giving the book to you two – you're the only ones in our family with the blood to use its power!"
Cody and Charlotte stared in shock, their eyes darting from Aly to the book – which was now floating a foot off the ground, its cover opening slowly on its own.
"Huh, FOR REAL?! Us? But we don't know anything about magic – I can barely even chicken without burning it!" Cody exclaimed, stumbling backward as a page flipped open to show a drawing of a dragon breathing fire.
"Yes! I'll teach you everything – how to cast spells, how to sense dark magic, how to protect yourselves. But there's something we need to deal with first..."
Aly's ears suddenly shot straight up, swiveling toward the attic door. She could hear things no human could – heavy boots crushing stone, metal claws scraping against the walls, and low growls that made the very foundation of the house shake.
"What is it?"
Charlotte grabbed Cody's arm, her heart hammering against her ribs as the book in front of them began to glow bright red.
BAM!!!!!!!!!!!
A deafening crash shook the entire house – something massive had slammed into the front gate, bending the thick iron bars like they were made of plastic. Windows shattered in a rain of glass, and the attic door flew off its hinges, slamming against the wall with a boom that echoed through the house.
"What the HELL was that?!"
Charlotte screamed, pulling Cody behind her as dust and splinters filled the air.
"Enemies..." Aly's voice was cold and sharp as ice, her eyes glowing bright."The Order of Shadows – they've been hunting me for centuries. They must've felt my magic wake up when you summoned me..."
"HUH?!?"
Cody scrambled to grab the floating book, holding it tight against his chest as the sound of snarling and heavy footsteps echoed up the stairs – getting closer by the second.
"Huh what is this ? A dragon? "
To be continued...