The end of the year came much quicker than I thought it would. Honestly, I wasn't expecting to be called back to Dovacath yet again. But here I was, in this medieval town that had been covered in snow.
"So, why did you call me here?" I asked.
"You're like the leader, aren't you?" said Jon.
"Leader?" I replied, "What are you talking about?"
"You've kinda been taking charge in a lot of these missions." he answered.
"I don't follow." I replied.
"Whenever there was a trial, you usually defended." he said, "You made a lot of the important decisions and got everyone to fight our enemies instead of each other."
"I never really thought about it like that." I said, "Is that why I was the only one you called over?"
"That," said Jon, "and Cerise wanted to talk to you."
"Why would she want to talk to me?" I asked.
"I don't know. Maybe you pissed her off?" he said.
"Oh, God. I hope not."
"Relax, you'll be fine. ...Probably."
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"
"Probably?"
"I don't really know..."
"I know she's weird, but you're just going to have to put up with it."
"I guess."
Suddenly, our conversation was interrupted by the very person we were talking about.
"What are you losers talking about?" she said, as she... fell from the sky!
Somehow, she landed on her feet without injuring herself.
"How!?" I exclaimed, "You didn't break anything!?"
"Was I supposed to?" she said.
"Most people falling from that high up would break more than just their legs." responded Jon.
"Really?" she said.
"I think so." I said.
"Anyways," said Cerise, "could you leave us alone?"
"Oh, right." he said, "What for?"
"The execution." she said.
"You really shouldn't joke about that." I said.
"I'm not joking." she said.
Without thinking, I formed a cat-sword and Cerise started laughing.
"What the hell are you laughing about!?" I exclaimed.
"I guess I'll leave the two of you alone now." said Jon.
"Wait, no!" I exclaimed, "Don't leave with her!"
"You'll be fine!" he said, as he dashed off faster than humanly possible.
I just stood there, staring.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" I asked.
"It's about your power," she said.
"What about it?" I said.
"You've finally figured it out, haven't you?" she said.
"Figured what out?" I replied.
"You're an idiot, aren't you?" she said.
"I may be an idiot, but that doesn't mean I'm dumb." I said.
Then I paused.
"...Wait." I said.
Cerise just laughed again.
"Stop laughing!" I responded, "What was it that you wanted to say about my power anyways?"
"You're finally able to full use it." she said, "You can do more that just summon cats."
"Oh, right." I said, "It kinda happened a couple times so I kinda figured I could do more with it."
"Just don't forget that," she said, "or I'm going to have to kill you."
"Please don't say stuff like that," I said, "Oh yeah, where's your apprentice?"
"She's at home."
"She's not with you?"
"She's got other stuff to worry about right now."
"Like?"
"It's got nothing to do with you."
"Right. Sorry for asking."
"You better get home now."
"Why?"
"You don't want your family worrying about you, do you?"
"I don't even like them, but I guess I should go back."
"One more thing." said Cerise, as she started walking away, "I won't be tagging along on your next quest."
"You never tagged along on our quests!" I exclaimed, "You've always just done your own thing!"
"But," she said, "my apprentice may be watching you..."
"How am I supposed to focus if you tell me something like that?" I said.
"Just don't worry about it and things will be fine." answered Cerise, who then took off for real.
"Whatever." I said.
New Year's Eve was as normal as ever. My family watched movies until midnight and then we all got ourselves ready for bed. However, I was pretty nervous. I had a feeling that Jeff's final chapter would be starting soon.