Wisp Le Festival Fantomatique (Part III)

The duo gave chase and kept running until they came to a clearing. It was the town.

Mikhail panted as he wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand when William noticed it.

"Hey! Don't be so disgusting! Here! Use this!" William rifled through his pocket before pulling out a neatly folded red cloth. He then tossed the red cloth over to Mikhail which turned out to be a red handkerchief with the emblem of the Kingdom.

"O-oh... thanks." Mikhail caught the handkerchief and wiped the sweat of his face before lowering his hand. He then stared at the handkerchief in his hands deep in thought.

"Wh-what's that look for? It's my personal favourite handkerchief! I'm not giving it to you!"

"Eh?! N-no. I didn't mean that. It's just... the sewing of the emblem is so... intricate." Mikhail exclaimed exasperatedly before turning his gaze towards the emblem sewn on the handkerchief.

"Well. Of course. It was sewn by the finest tailor in all the land!" William huffed as he puffed his chest out proudly.

"Who was it?"

"... Mother..." William replied as his voice dropped to a somber tone. Mikhail immediately shut his mouth as he averted his gaze towards the town.

"Ah... Zach... The wisp!"

"Eh?! Where?!"

"There!" Mikhail pointed towards the glowing wisp as it rounded the corner.

"Quick! Hurry! We better catch it before anyone else does!" William yelled as he ran after the wisp.

Mikhail tripped on a loose pebble and pushed William down by accident as he tried to swing his net. William grunted as he landed flat on his butt before being tackled to the ground by Mikhail's full weight.

"Oof! Ow..." William groaned as he pushed Mikhail off and rubbed at his stomach. This is sure to bruise.

"Z-Zach! Are you alright?! My apologies! I didn't mean to!"

"That's fine. Since you have time to worry about me, you probably are fine. Let's get a move on. I saw the wisp nearby a cat."

"Right!" Mikhail replied with vigor as he glanced towards William worriedly.

"I'm fine. Let's just catch it and get this over with." William said as he glared at Mikhail.

"A-alright..."

"Ah!!! The cat!" William gasped as he saw the cat glaring annoyingly at the wisp. It then wiggled its butt before easily pouncing on the wisp and proceeded to swallow it.

"..." The duo fell into a deep silence as they stared at the cat.

"Mrow?" the cat peered at them lazily before stretching innocently as if nothing had happened.

"Bumpkin..." William glanced towards Mikhail before narrowing his eyes. He gestured towards the cat subtly using his eyebrows and eye movement before raising his hands slowly.

".... Alright..." Mikhail nodded as he gulped nervously.

"Mr Cat... So sorry for this but..." Mikhail said as he loomed over the cat.

"Meow? ... MROWR?!" the cat panicked as it was cornered by the duo.

The cat jumped and scratched both their faces as it ran further into the town.

"Dammit! Bumpkin! Don't lose the cat! We're gonna catch that wisp this year!" William yelled as he rubbed at his face where the few horizontal lines were.

"G-gotcha!"

The duo chased after the cat with vigor, almost as if their butts were caught on fire... which was actually what was happening.

They had leapt over a dozen children who had been lighting up candles in a pumpkin and had stirred the flames. They didn't even notice this fact as they were running after the cat. Their ignorance had caused half the town to be caught in a sea of fire.

Screams of terror echoed throughout the town as well as squeals of surprise as the boys ran past several young women who were strolling leisurely in the town.

"Eep! Oh, my... That was... one hell of an ass..." a young woman sighed before passing out as her partner quickly caught her.

William furrowed his brows as he glanced at Mikhail who was trailing behind him and yelled at him. We have to win this year! My pride won't settle for less.

"The cat! It's over there! It ran into that building!" Mikhail exclaimed as he turned his gaze towards William with a grin.

"That's great! We can corner it there!"

***

Two pair of eyes gleamed in the dark as lifted arms extended towards the animal below. The two people inched closer towards the animal menacingly as they tried to hold the animal down.

"MROWRRRRR!" the cat hissed before it suddenly made some "urp, urp, urp" sounds.

"W-what is it doing?" William asked Mikhail as he backed a step, fearing the vicious claws of the roughly 7 pounds beast.

"Looks like it's regurgitating..." Mikhail replied as he too shielded his face.

"Ah, if that's so... Raise your nets! It might vomit out the wisp!"

True to his words, the cat regurgitated a hairball along with the golden wisp. The wisp spun around before lighting the room with it's golden hue.

The duo glanced at each other before grinning. They then lunged towards the wisp but the wisp seemed to anyicipate their movements and dodged them in time, sending the duo bumping into each other.

"Ooww...." they both groaned before blinking at each other.

They then split up and chased after the wisp before bumping into a wall of barrels. The barrels clattered to the ground sending William headfirst onto the concrete floor. William shook his head to gather his bearings as he then realised that he was in a brewery.

"Oh my God! Zach! The town!!!" Mikhail exclaimed as he covered his mouth.

"Huh? What about it?" William asked, annoyed as he transferred his irritation from the wisp onto Mikhail.

"Behind you..." Mikhail said as he pointed to the scene that was unfolding behind William.

William turned to find half the town licked by a sea of flames. His eyes bulged as he swallowed the non-existent lump in his throat.

B-but... We're so close to catching the wisp... No... that's not important right now...

"W-water! Quick! Grab the buckets! Everyone! Form a straight line!" William yelled at the people outside the brewery as he grabbed the closest thing that could contain water.

Mikhail followed suit and grabbed a wide pail as he ran to the nearest well and drew some water. He then passed it along to the person next to him as they continued the interaction.

William knitted his brows as the flame grew stronger. He saw the wisp floating innocently as if taunting him and felt a surge of rage welling in his chest.

If it wasn't for the wisp, this wouldn't have happened. No... if we had caught it... we probably would have gone straight to get it evaluated and still wouldn't have noticed...

William clicked his tongue before he saw Susie approaching. He suddenly felt a slight twinge of hope as he dropped the container and ran after her. He grabbed her by the collar and pointed at the flames.

"Hey, dog! You can do something about this right? Summon a downpour! I saw you do it once before!" William yelled with slight frustration as he pleaded with Susie.

"That! I can't control it for long though..." Susie said as she glanced at the raging flames.

"It doesn't matter! At least you're doing something! In the meantime, we'll be tossing some water to aid you."

"F-fine!" Susie said as she started muttering some words.

Mikhail noticed a water pump nearby as he dumped his wooden pail in front of it and started pressing onto the pump. Murky water spewed out as he noticed some soil in the water.

An idea clicked in his mind when he saw the section that was on fire which said water was splashed onto immediately died out.

"Zach! Soil! We can try mixing some soil!"

"Soil?" William pondered the thought for a short moment before giving out an order.

"Go gather some men to aid you. I'll keep directing the people here." William said as he nodded in approval.

Time was fleeting. It was better to do something rather than nothing. Hence, William chose to use whatever available option he had.

Just as predicted, the soil did wonders to stop the flames from spreading and aided in diminishing the volume it initially was.

"Great! The soil was a great idea, bumpkin! Let's keep at it!" William commended Mikhail as he encouraged the citizens to follow suit.

"Y-yeah!" Mikhail grinned as he continued to shovel some soil and dirt into the bucket.

"Susie! Is the spell ready?!" William yelled as he spared a glance in her direction.

"Nearly! I'm close!" Susie exclaimed after she opened her eyes, showing her gleaming bloody red irises.

A magic circle formed beneath her legs as she continued to speak in incomprehensible words. A veil of water then enveloped her, drowning out the sound of her voice.

"I-is it going to work?" Mikhail ran up to William as he muttered beneath his breath and glanced worriedly in Susie's direction.

"It better. The fire is contained, but there's no certainty that it won't spread out again."

Just as William finished his sentence, the watery veil burst forth and Susie stepped towards the flames. She directed her gaze towards the flame and extended her hand towards the still raging flames as a heavy fall of water fell over the fire.

The citizens dropped their containers of liquid and soil as they stood in awe at the mage who was able to wield water at will.

Noticing the crowd's sudden standstill, William decided to take matters into his own hands and took in a deep breath.

"Quick! Don't just stand there! Aid her!" William yelled out as he grabbed a bucket of water and redirected the crowd towards the other shop lots that were still ablaze.

"Susie! Are you alright?" Mikhail ran towards Susie as he glanced worriedly in her direction. Susie's initially pale complexion brightened as she grinned at him with a light in her eyes.

"I'm all charged up, now that you're here!"

Susie raised another hand as she increased the mana that was flowing to create a heavier downpour.

After a half an hour battle against the flames, the fire dissipated and the crowds cheered with glee. Mikhail and William sighed in relieve as they glanced at each other and grinned.

Susie stumbled over to Mikhail and fell into his embrace as she wrapped her arms around him. She glanced up at his face before pulling her lips to a grin.

"I did well didn't I?"

"Well, you sure did." Mikhail said as he smiled gently and patted her head.

"While this is a joyous occasion and all... I saw that wisp earlier. It's still in the same area we cornered it in. What say you?"

"Yeah... I don't feel right letting it go after catching the town on fire." Mikhail nodded at William.

Mikhail followed after William as they headed back towards the brewery.

"Ah! Mikhail! Awww.... he left me again." Susie pouted as she stared at his receding back before her cheeks flushed red.

"Oh, my... That's going to be dangerous if other people see it.

Susie then muttered a soft spell before walking off into the crowd of people who then bombarded her with questions.