Previous chapter: Miyani's Magical Mishaps 2 - Clear as GlassThe week after Miyani had met Rose passed by quite uneventfully. Nothing really peculiar happened at her job at the local library besides the occasional ‘hushed’ whispers that were obviously loud enough for Miyani to still hear it. She had gotten quite used to that though. Since she usually lacked the energy to attempt magic after work, she didn’t really make any further progress in her training.Since she had realized that Whiskers had been her familiar all this time, Miyani did pay a lot more attention to the feelings and thoughts she got when around her pet. After all, it was her way of communicating. Most of the time though, she either demanded food or made Miyani feel like a dumbass for not realizing sooner that she was her familiar. This was something that Miyani really didn’t need Whiskers’ opinion on to know.Since it was now Saturday, it was once again time for Miyani to continue her magical training. As such, she was just scrolling through her notes again to decide what she wanted to attempt next. That was when there was a knock on her door. Curiously, she opened the door to find Rose there, smiling broadly.“Hey there!” The flowery woman greeted the witch.“Rose? What are you doing here?” Miyani wondered.Rose’s smile instantly turned into confusion. “I’m coming over for a visit. Isn’t that what friends do?” she said.“They do?” Miyani asked. “I wouldn’t really know. I’ve… never had friends.”Rose then gasped. “N-never?” she asked, as if she had just heard the worst possible news ever.Miyani looked up then, thinking about her past. Try as she might, she could not remember a single person she was even remotely friendly with. “Nope, never,” she said. Just then, there was a rather loud, angry sounding yowl coming from the bedroom. “... Besides Whiskers that is!” Miyani added then, talking loud enough for her cat to hear her.“Wow… why not?” Rose questioned. The pity in her voice was apparent.Miyani just shrugged. “People are kinda spooked by my appearance I guess. It’s like they think I’m a witch or something… well, I guess they have a point there,” she chuckled.Rose couldn’t help but chuckle as well, but she quickly stopped herself. “That really needs to change!”“As if…” Miyani said, doubtful still. “I’ve tried, but I might as well be invisible.”“Hmm, are you sure you didn’t accidentally make yourself invisible?” Rose chuckled.“Haha, very funny,” Miyani grinned. “Well, come on in then. Do you want some tea?” she asked.“Oh, yes please!” Rose nodded eagerly as she stepped inside.“Alright, what kind would you like?” Miyani asked as she walked over to her mini garden on her balcony.“I’d like some mint, please,” Rose replied, walking on over as well.“Mint… mint… ah, there,” Miyani mumbled to herself as she looked for the right plant to pluck her leaves from.“Ah, you brew your own tea?” Rose asked curiously as she entered the balcony herself.“Well yeah. I mean, I’m a witch after all. Aren’t I supposed to brew things myself?” Miyani chuckled.“I guess that’s true,” Rose laughed when something seemed to catch her eye. “Oh! It’s a rose!”“Hmm? Oh! Yeah. I used the same spell that transformed you on the seed of a rose, and it actually made it grow into the rose you see now. Been blooming all week too,” Miyani explained.“Whoah… that’s amazing. Well, I’m glad I was able to help out… in a way,” Rose chuckled.Miyani tilted her head then. “I guess you did help out, yeah… so thanks,” she smiled as she finished her plucking and went over to the kitchen now where she proceeded to start boiling some water. She did not yet know how to make something heat up so she still had to pay for gas for now.“So… you really don’t know any other witches?” Rose asked, re-entering the living room and going to sit on the couch.“No…” Miyani sighed.“What about your parents?” Rose asked.Miyani’s face then turned sour. “I… grew up in an orphanage. I don’t know who my parents were,” she muttered.“I’m… sorry,” Rose stammered.Miyani closed her eyes for a moment and shook her head. It was a bit of a painful topic, and so she prefered not talking about it. “I’m sure that there are other witches out there, but I can’t exactly go out and ask random people if they’re a witch or not,” she said before looking around with squinted eyes. “Are you one by any chance?”“No,” Rose chuckled. “But… I understand. I guess that must all be quite tough, huh.”“Sadly, yeah,” Miyani muttered. “I guess my current tactic did lead me to meet you though.”“That’s true,” Rose smiled. “So… have you done any other spells?”Miyani tilted her head in thought. Over the last year, there were really only two or three things she could do consistently. “Besides undoing magical effects, I can uh… turn things a different colour I guess. Even if I don’t wanna do that,” she muttered. “And uh… well I’m able to slightly morph the shape of objects.”“Huh… Then turning me into a flower must have been quite the step up from all that,” Rose chuckled.“Well… yeah it was,” Miyani replied nervously, placing a hand behind her head. It still felt so strange that last week, yes, she had indeed turned this woman into a flower. Come to think of it, why HAD it worked so well last week after a full year of only minor magic tricks?As if she had noticed Miyani’s confusion, Rose tilted her head and spoke up again. “What exactly do you… do… to cast magic?”“Ah… I use powdered chalk to make a circle… and then I just cast my incantation,” Miyani explained as the water was starting to boil.Rose was silent for a moment and placed her hand on her chin. “And have you tried other methods?”As Miyani poured the water into two cups, she began thinking back again. “I’ve tried other methods… based on what I found on the internet and in movies,” she chuckled. “Kinda silly, huh.”“Movies?” Rose laughed. “Well, what’s your strategy for tackling a new spell? Like…well, let’s take that earlier example. What about an invisibility spell!”As Miyani was stirring the tea, she looked up. “Well… first of all I get out my chalk, make a circle and then start guessing the incantation while I kinda… wave my arms around I guess.”“And this works for you?” Rose asked as she picked up her own teacup.“It’s the best I got,” Miyani shrugged. “I’ve tried other methods, but more often than not, I can’t even get so much as a spark of magic out.”“Hmmm,” Rose pondered to herself while blowing on her tea. “Show me.”“... What?” Miyani asked, surprised by the request.“Show me how you work. Maybe I can help again, somehow,” Rose offered.“... Do you WANT me to turn you into a flower again or…” Miyani asked, squinting her eyes again.“I’m serious!” Rose chuckled, grabbing a pencil from the table. “Make this invisible.”“Alright, alright, I’ll do it,” Miyani sighed as she put down her cup again and went over to her desk. “So first, I make a circle like this,” she narrated as she reached into her jar of powdered chalk and proceeded to sprinkle it on her desk in a circle. She had gotten pretty good at drawing perfect circles over the year.“And it’s always a circle?” Rose asked.“Well… yeah,” Miyani admitted.“Hmm, alright, go on,” Rose nodded.“Well… then I just start guessing,” Miyani shrugged.“That’s it?” Rose asked.“Yep… that’s it,” Miyani nodded.“Well… okay then,” Rose mused.“I guess, like…” Miyani started as she raised her hands, looking at the pencil on her desk intently. She then waved her arms around a bit as she tried thinking up a spell… but she halted again. “Huh… I can’t think of anything that rhymes.”“Does it have to rhyme?” Rose asked.“Well… that’s what happens in movies, so…” Miyani muttered.“Okay, have you tried not rhyming?” Rose laughed.“I… guess I can try that,” Miyani nodded as she turned her attention to the pencil again. Once again, she started waving her hands around and focussed on it before speaking out her incantation. “Become invisible,” she said.Both girls looked at the pencil intently, but nothing seemed to happen. The chalk did not glow, nor did the pencil so much as move an inch. Sighing, Miyani began anew.“Make yourself invisible… Stop being visible… uh… Vanish from our eyes?” she guessed, but nothing seemed to happen at all.“Hmm… I guess it didn’t work then,” Rose sighed.“Yeah… It has to be a rhyme after all,” Miyani sighed, turning her attention to Rose again while shrugging. “I can’t just look at you, and then say ‘become see-through’.”It was at that moment that both girls were surprised by a sudden glow coming from the desk. The chalk had lit up.“‘You’... rhymes with ‘see-through’... doesn’t it?” Rose remarked.Miyani went pale then as she realized it. “It… sure does,” she said.Silence fell again for a good few seconds as Rose looked down her body. “Well… everything seems to be alright. I can still see myself, so… it must not have worked, right?”“Y-yeah… I mean, my spells usually don’t work so…” Miyani nodded, but she wasn’t exactly certain of those words. The chalk lit up, meaning something MUST have happened, but seeing as Rose was still perfectly fine, maybe she did something else? Something minor probably…Rose didn’t seem too certain either, but she tried to play it cool as she picked up her own tea-cup again. “I’m sure it’s fine, right?” she said as she took a sip, but what followed was rather peculiar. It was the sound as if… as if somebody had turned on a faucet for just a second?”The two girls looked each-other in the eyes, their nervous smiles vanishing again. Miyani then looked down at Rose’s stomach, as that seemed to have been the source of the noise. She bent down, looked up at Rose for just a moment again before giving Rose’s stomach a poke. What she felt surprised her as it was… hard. She looked up at Rose one more time, who just nodded in return, before lifting up Rose’s shirt and finally seeing what was going on.“What… is happening?” Rose asked.“Well uh… remember how I mentioned ‘see-through’?” Miyani started as her heart sank to her stomach.Finally, Rose got the bravery to look down as well and she gasped at what she saw. “Glass?!” she cried out. She tried backing away, but she quickly found that that was actually a lot harder, as the glass must have already spread down to her skirt-covered legs unnoticed.“O-okay, please don’t panic! I… I can fix this!” Miyani cried out herself as she quickly removed the chalk from before and made a new circle with new chalk.“Hurry!” Rose called out as Miyani could see that the glass was actually reaching out of Rose’s shirt now and into her arms and neck. This at least made Rose stop moving erratically, but that was only more worrying.“I’m hurrying!” Miyani snapped as she had to adjust her circle slightly. Her nerves made it a lot harder to make a circle. However, when she finally got it, she used her usual counterspell again, followed by the chalk glowing. Peeking over, Miyani was relieved to see the glass finally retracting ever so slightly again.Rose let out a sigh. “Phew… you did it,” she said.“Yeah…” Miyani started, uncertain and panting a bit.“Thanks for saving me,” Rose chuckled as she was slowly starting to regain the use of her arms again.“Yeah you’re…” Miyani started as her panting was beginning to be intermixed by the feeling of tears welling up. How could she have let this happen. “You shouldn’t be thanking me… I did this to you in the first place. Twice even. Some friend I am turning out to be. Maybe it’s best if you don’t come around anymore… for your own protection, you know?” Miyani sniffed. She really liked Rose and she really wanted Rose to be her friend, but all she had done was hurt Rose…“Miyani…” Rose started as she seemed to be turning back to normal fully again. “You’re such a dork,” she said.“W-what?” Miyani asked, peeking over at Rose. “You wanna know why I decided to come over today?” Rose asked. “It’s because I think you’re a good person.”“Wha-” Miyani stammered, quite confused.“Do you think I would come back if I was scared of you or your magic? You transformed me twice now, yeah, but you also turned me back both times,” Rose continued.“Well I…” Miyani stammered.“I’ve decided to come here of my own volition. Whatever happens happens, and I trust you to turn me back if things go wrong,” Rose smiled as she pulled Miyani in for a hug. “So please… don’t send me away.” She then let go of the hug again to look at Miyani’s very confused eyes.All that Miyani could really do was lower her head and place it on Rose’s shoulder then. She really had made a friend. “Thank you,” she murmured.“Of course,” Rose said softly. She then gasped and looked down at her leg, only to find that Whiskers was stroking her head against Rose’s leg.“I think she likes you too,” Miyani chuckled.“Aww… I like you as well, Whiskers,” Rose smiled, stroking the cat’s back.Miyani smiled quite broadly. “Well… that’s how my spellmaking usually goes…”“Well, at least you are able to make magic happen. Even if it’s not the way you intended,” Rose laughed.“That is true,” Miyani grinned.“You could use it to transform people you don’t like!” Rose cheered.“Heh, I guess I can yeah. Like the next time I see Gary,” Miyani snided. “I guess you could decorate your house with them then,” Rose pondered.“Why would I do that if I find them annoying?” Miyani said, raising an eyebrow.“True…” Rose nodded thoughtfully before both girls burst out into laughter.----------The rest of the day was filled with movies and banter. Through it all, they hadn’t really had the chance yet to get to know each other better. Miyani learned that Rose was studying to become a fashion designer and that she was currently working at a local bakery. Miyani meanwhile told Rose about her own job at the library and that she didn’t really have any future plans besides improving her witchcraft. Rose loved drama movies while Miyani had always been more interested in fantasy movies, which Rose thought was just very much applicable. They talked about what hair they liked, what clothes they hated, where they would like to go for vacations and so forth. It was the first time that Miyani had actually had a conversation like this with… anyone really. It was strange, but not at all unpleasant or anything. Eventually though, Miyani felt her stomach rumbling.“Oh, damn… I kinda lost track of time. It’s already dinnertime,” Miyani said.“Wait, what?” Rose gasped.“Yep, it’s 6… I forgot to go for groceries, so… ordering pizza it is,” Miyani chuckled.“Damn… I’m sorry, I have to go. I’m running late!” Rose said.“Ah, that’s okay,” Miyani said, tilting her head. “What are you running late for?”“It’s for… I’m seeing a friend of mine. I don’t wanna leave her waiting,” Rose said.“Ah, right,” Miyani nodded. Of course, she figured Rose must have lots of friends.As Rose grabbed her stuff and put on her shoes again, she looked rather uneasy to Miyani. It seemed cause for concern, but then again, she was probably just feeling bad for missing the time so badly.“See ya around, Miyani. Same time next week?” Rose called out as she hurried over to the elevator.“Sure… sounds good!” Miyani replied. “Have fun with your friend!”“Thanks!” Rose said before vanishing into the elevator.With Rose gone, Miyani looked at the elevator door for a moment longer. This had probably been one of the most fun afternoons she’d had in a long while, and just like that it was over.Just then, she heard the familiar yowl of Whiskers behind her, demanding food.“Yeah yeah, I get it,” Miyani chuckled, closing her door. “We’ll eat.”----------Throughout the following week, Miyani still found herself reminiscing about last Saturday, and not just about the conversations she’d had with Rose. She felt a newfound passion for her magic. Sure, she was still very much just swimming around blindly, but she’d been able to cast two new spells within a week’s time! It made her start wondering what sort of spell she should work on next.By the time Thursday rolled around, Miyani came up with an idea to make treats for Saturday. She wasn’t the best baker, but she had stumbled upon a delicious cookie recipe once while trying to learn how to brew potions.“Darn… I’m missing like… half of the ingredients for that...” Miyani mused to herself as she scoured through her kitchen that evening after work. “Looks like I’m gonna have to leave the house for a second, Whiskers.”Whiskers just looked at her with begging eyes.“... What is it, Whisk?” Miyani pondered.The cat responded by jumping up at Miyani and climbing her way up Miyani’s shoulders.“Wha… Whiskers, come on…” Miyani sighed, trying to shake the cat off, but Whiskers just dug her claws into Miyani’s skin, staying put.“Youch! Whiskers, I… you know that it’s really hard to walk with you up there! And it really messes up my neck,” Miyani said, but her cat just would not budge. “Fiiiiiine, you can come with,” she sighed. “But no yowling at strangers, okay?”Whiskers mewled cutely in response, but Miyani still wasn’t convinced. For now though, she just grabbed her bag and headed out the door, Whiskers purring audibly on her shoulders.----------Walking along the streets with Whiskers on her shoulders sure drew a lot more attention than Miyani was used to. Usually people just tried to avoid eye contact. Not that she minded that, but whether that was a force of habit or if she was actually afraid of what they’d say or do she wasn’t sure. In the back of her mind, Gary Olsen was there, teasing her at everything she did… At the very least, Whiskers was there to calm her nerves.While Miyani just tried to ignore all the stares and comments, Whiskers seemed to love the attention she was getting, as she mewled cutely at each new person they came across.Miyani’s visit to the grocery store went okay. One of the employees did try to deny her entrance for having Whiskers with her. However, when another employee pointed out that they allowed dogs and that they did not have any rules against cats, they let her in anyway. There was a bit of a situation where Whiskers meowed loudly whenever they passed the cat food aisle, causing several people to look her way. This led Miyani to buy up more cat food than she had initially planned to. In the end though, she left the supermarket again with a full bag of ingredients for her cookie recipe. There was one other thing she needed though, and that would come from her favourite alternative store again.When she arrived, she was relieved to find it still open. Since it was Thursday, stores were staying open for longer, but Ramona seemed to always run by her own schedule.Upon entering the store, she was greeted by a very strong scent of incense. So much so that it caused Miyani to sneeze, which in turn caused Whiskers to jump from Miyani’s shoulders in surprise. “Ah… sorry Whisk…” Miyani said.“Oh? Back so soon?” came Ramona’s familiar voice as she entered the store from the back.“Ah… yes…” Miyani nodded. There was something about Ramona that always seemed to put Miyani on edge.“And without your cosplay on this time,” Ramona chuckled.“I… remembered this time,” Miyani chuckled nervously.“You’ll have to forgive the incense. There was a situation with a rather nasty bug earlier today,” Ramona sighed.“Oh… that’s okay,” Miyani said. She was reminded of a time last summer when she had to deal with a particularly nasty and persistent wasp that just would not leave her apartment, no matter what she did…When Whiskers eventually jumped up on the counter, she actually managed to startle Ramona.“Ah, Whiskers!” Miyani hissed.“Oh, is she yours?” Ramona asked.“Yes…” Miyani admitted as she grabbed Whiskers and cradled her while looking at her scoldingly.“You continue to surprise me with each of your visits. With that black cat of yours following you, people might start to think that you’re a witch or something,” Ramona chuckled.As Whiskers was already worming her way to escape from Miyani’s clutches and climb on top of her shoulders again, Miyani’s eyes widened and she went pale. She couldn’t know… right? “Y-yeah… I guess… hehehe,” she stammered.Ramona merely smiled. “More chalk, I assume?” she asked.“Ye- no! No, hehehe… I need uh… I need some Ceylon cinnamon,” Miyani stammered.“Oh? Are you brewing a potion then?” Ramona laughed.“No!” Miyani snapped, as if she was denying something she was caught red-handed for. When Whiskers slapped her tail into Miyani’s face however, she regained somewhat of a fragile composure again. “I’m… making cookies.”“Ah, I see, I see. Then Ceylon cinnamon should indeed help out,” Ramona nodded. Indeed, this particular kind of cinnamon wasn’t sold in most stores. Then again, Ramona’s store wasn’t like most stores. “Well, you know where to find it.”“Right… yes, I do… heheh,” Miyani stammered. When she turned around and vanished into one of the aisles, she let out a sigh that she’d been holding in since their conversation started. Finding this store had certainly been a blessing to her magical abilities, but she was never able to shop here calmly. There had been far too many close calls!A little while later, Miyani left the store again with enough cinnamon for ten full plates of cookies. Ramona didn’t waste any opportunity to make yet another witch joke at her expense though, so Miyani was pretty happy to have left the store behind again.And that’s when she suddenly heard Whiskers hissing and she felt Whiskers giving her a sense of dread. Something was awry.“What is it, Whisk?” Miyani asked, trying her best to spot what Whiskers was hissing at. Soon though, she spotted a narrow alleyway off to the side.“In there?” Miyani asked softly. Whiskers responded by mewling, confirming Miyani’s suspicions.Quietly, Miyani looked around to see if there was anyone else around. It would be rather odd for someone to just peek into an alleyway after all. Luckily, the street she was on was abandoned, so she quietly snuck her way to the alley. As she got closer, she could hear voices…“Come on, Rose. There’s no use arguing,” a voice spoke.“Rose?” Miyani whispered. Could it be? She then peeked around the corner to see what was going on. Sure enough, she saw her friend Rose, her back against the wall, talking to a brown-haired girl with pig-tails.“But Jennifer… Please…” Rose pleaded. “It’s a simple request. Honestly, I don’t see why you’d argue back at me so vehemently,” the woman called Jennifer continued.There was only silence that followed.“Because I can’t just…” Rose stammered eventually.“Oh, I’m sorry, I should have realized how difficult it is for you to do what I ask of you,” Jennifer continued harshly.Miyani turned away from the alley again and stared ahead. It was starting to sound like this Jennifer was threatening Rose or something? Well, she couldn’t just let this happen! But then, what could she do to help Rose? She could confront them, but then, she was probably more of a scaredy cat than Whiskers was. She did not know what Jennifer would be capable of. She could go to the police, but then, Rose and Jennifer hadn’t actually done anything yet. Heck, Miyani wasn’t even certain yet what Jennifer was trying to get Rose to do.That’s when Whiskers placed a paw on Miyani’s bag. Miyani always carried some chalk with her just in case. Was Whiskers seriously proposing that she use magic to stop this?“But Whisk, I can’t do that! The only real spell I could use is… the glass one,” Miyani stammered. She could do that. It would be so easy. However, she was not planning on keeping this Jennifer a statue. She had to turn the girl back at some point, even if she was threatening Rose. When Jennifer eventually DOES turn back though, Miyani would have a lot of explaining to do…Turning around one more time to make absolutely certain that she was alone, Miyani got on her knees and reached in her back for her chalk. She could not turn her back on Rose. On her only friend.Whiskers hopped on the ground and looked at Miyani, giving her a calming feeling. At least Whiskers seemed to think this was the best course of action for this situation.Miyani nodded and sprinkled the chalk in a circle on the ground. Luckily, there was only a light breeze, so it wasn’t sent flying everywhere. She peeked around the corner and focused on Jennifer before speaking her incantation softly.I look at youAnd say ‘become see-through’As she spoke the words, the chalk lit up as it had before. It was done.Miyani quickly blew away the chalk again as she stood up, waiting to see what was going to unfold. Jennifer must already be in the process of transforming, but for now, all of that was happening unnoticed underneath her clothes. They were still arguing about… well, something. Soon enough though, she could see the glass creeping down underneath Jennifer’s shorts. It was really happening. It… scared Miyani how easily she was able to do this.“Okay… fine…” Rose sighed.“Good… Now, get out of my si-... uh… wha?” Jennifer started but she stopped herself. She too must now have noticed her slowing movements.“What… what is it?” Rose asked.“I… can’t move… what’s… WHAT THE FUCK?!” Jennifer screamed when she too noticed that her legs were starting to become see-through.Rose fell silent when she saw it happening.“What’s happening to me?!” Jennifer cried out as the glass was now also spreading from underneath her top into her arms. More and more, Jennifer’s movements were becoming less frantic. Of course, this was not because of her calming nerves, but because of her inability to continue moving. The glass was spreading quite rapidly.“You’re… becoming glass…” Rose stammered softly.“How… help me Rose!” Jennifer cried out as she tried to outstretch an arm, but she found that that was already impossible to do at this point.Rose mouthed a word that Miyani couldn’t catch, for it was too soft. Plus, Jennifer’s scared screams were drowning it out. It made Miyani feel even worse about this all…“Help…” Jennifer whimpered eventually as the glass was spreading into her head and quickly overtook her mouth, making her unable to talk. Soon enough, the glass robbed Jennifer of her eyes as well and finally, it turned each strand of hair into glass. Where once there stood a human woman, now stood a glass-fully see-through statue.Just as before when she had turned Rose into a flower, Miyani felt a strange sense overcoming her. She had done this. She had turned this woman into a statue. A living, breathing person was now glass.Whiskers meowed then and placed a paw on Miyani’s knee, shaking the witch out of her stupor.“R-right…” she stammered as she picked up her bag again and entered the alleyway, where Rose stood absolutely stunned.“Rose, are you okay?!” Miyani cried out.“Mi-... Miyani,” Rose stammered, looking from the glass statue that once was Jennifer to Miyani and back again. “You turned her into glass…”“I… yes I did. I kinda… overheard your conversation,” Miyani admitted. “Not all of it but It sounded like she was threatening you.”Rose looked at Miyani again. She gulped as she was struggling for what to say.Miyani narrowed her eyes now. Had she misjudged the situation after all?Finally, Rose spoke up. “She… has certain pictures of me. I don’t know how she got them, but she did…” Rose admitted. Her face was getting red as she talked, likely as a result from the shame she must be feeling. “She asked me to… I’m sorry. I don’t want to even say it…”“I… see,” Miyani said. This explanation confirmed Miyani’s suspicions at least there were definitely things that Rose wasn’t telling her about it. However, there was a much bigger worry on her mind: Now what?Rose too seemed to eye the statue cautiously. “She… is still conscious in there… right?” Rose asked.“Uh… you tell me. You were conscious when you were a flower, right?” Miyani asked.“Well yes, I was…” Rose nodded. “Are you… going to leave her like this?”“Well I…” Miyani started but she had to think about this one for a moment, just as she had when she had first transformed Rose. “I can’t just leave her a glass statue forever… but if we turn her back, then there’s no way she’s going to keep my secret the way you do…”“R-right…” Rose nodded. She probably knew Jennifer better than Miyani did, and there was a good chance that, if Jennifer were to turn back now, she would have two people to threaten instead of one.“Then…what are we going to do? Could we play this off as some sort of dream for her?” Rose proposed.“No… I don’t think so,” Miyani sighed, looking over her glass victim again. The setting sun still managed to shine through the alleyway, reflecting off of Jennifer’s glass body. In a way, she had become a work of art. Nothing but a statue. She might just as well have been put into a museum, if not for the fact that her clothes were still made of fabric. It actually looked rather odd on her now. There was a small, morbidly curious part of Miyani that began to wonder what Jennifer would look like without these clothes on in her full glass glory, but Miyani quickly brushed that part aside again.“Could you… wipe her memory with magic?” Rose proposed suddenly.“Wipe her… wait… maybe I can?” Miyani pondered. “I could try to learn it… but that might take a while, and we’d have to keep her a statue for too long. People will start wondering where she is. Plus, it’s not a spell I can just… test out. I would need some way of trying that safely...” Indeed, messing with people’s minds seemed far scarier than messing with people’s bodies.“What you need is a proper teacher,” came a sudden voice from behind Rose and Miyani, causing both girls to jump in surprise.Turning around, Miyani was stunned to find Ramona standing there with Whiskers standing by her feet. “A-ah… I… you…” Miyani stammered but there wasn’t really anything she could say.“Miyani, was it?” Ramona said, a warm smile on her face as she entered the alleyway.“Who… who are you?” Rose asked. It seemed she was able to find her voice sooner than Miyani did.“I am Ramona Woolsworth. A witch, much like your friend here,” Ramona answered.No… no way… that couldn’t be… Ramona was a witch?! Miyani just stood there, absolutely flabbergasted. All this time. All of the teasing from Ramona. She had been a witch all along?! Did Ramona know that Miyani was a witch all along as well?! “How…” Miyani started.“Did I know?” Ramona finished. “You have made it pretty obvious to me, dear. You need to work on your excuses. However, I could never be quite certain, which is why I stayed silent on the matter. Just in case.”“But… why come forth now?” Rose asked.“I was called upon by your little furry friend,” Ramona chuckled, pointing at Whiskers by her feet. “Your familiar, I presume.”Miyani nodded wordlessly. Ramona had been toying with her for so long… she could have come clean about this ages ago if it had all been so obvious… Wait a minute, Whiskers called Ramona over? Does that mean Whiskers knew before Miyani knew herself?!“Now… I believe you have a little situation on hand, don’t you?” Ramona said as she approached the glass statue that was Jennifer. She then held out her hand and wordlessly cast a spell, targeting the statue. As she did so, Miyani could see that life was coming back to it ever so slightly. Her hair was becoming brown again and down below, her feet were slowly turning back into skin.Ramona, however, was not yet finished. She placed a hand over the slowly transforming statue and mouthed some words under her breath that Miyani couldn’t hear. Soon, her hand started glowing and as the glass was slowly retracting again, Jennifer’s eyes returned to her quite soon. It looked like she had quite a vacant look on her eyes.“She will go home as soon as she is fully transformed back, take a nap, and forget about everything that happened here,” Ramona explained.“Will… will you do the same with me?” Rose asked meekly.“Oh, not at all. Miyani seems to trust you,” Ramona smiled before turning to Miyani herself again. “Swing by my shop tomorrow after work, both of you. And bring your familiar of course.”Miyani just stared at Ramona for a moment longer until she finally found her voice again. “I… we will.”“Excellent. I will see you then,” Ramona smiled before leaving the two girls behind again in the alleyway. Silence fell, only interrupted by Whiskers’ mewling.“I can’t believe this…” Miyani sighed.“You know her?” Rose asked.“She… I buy my chalk from her store every time…” Miyani admitted.“Wow…” Rose mused.Just then, Jennifer walked between the two towards the exit of the alleyway, startling both of them. However, just as Ramona had said, she did not seem to notice Rose or Miyani at all, ignoring them completely. She must have transformed back fully when they weren’t looking.“I guess… I guess I have a teacher now,” Miyani said....