01x12 - Lize, the Black Witch's Apprentice

[bunniefuu]

- EPISODE 12:
LIZE, THE BLACK WITCH'S APPRENTICE

- Well, this is a surprise.

- I did not expect Henri to drop
in with Luna and her friends.

I apologize for intruding,

but this is the only truly
safe place I could think of.

I don't mind. We are protected
by a very strong barrier here.

Even the royal family

cannot communicate with us here,
nor enter without my permission.

You made the best decision for
protecting them. You have my thanks.

Um, I'm honored.

By the way, Master Bird, about this...
official? This part-white magician?

How do you know him?

He is my blood relative.

The same white magician
blood runs in our veins,

but he has agreed to perform certain
tasks for the black magicians.

He assists me in various ways,
as I live secretly as a black magician

inside the white witches' royal palace.

We are both in precarious positions,
but he performs his duties diligently.

Henri...

As I cannot use magic, I don't think
I've been particularly helpful.

But while I do not understand why,

I have this nagging feeling that I can't
ignore the plight of the black witches.

Even if it puts my life at risk, I want
to do whatever I can to help them.

Huh, so that's what you're about.

Well, Master Bird himself is already
an anomaly as a white witch,

so I guess this isn't any stranger.

This connection between
them is suffocating me.

Even if I try to look away,
I can't help but see it.

I, on the contrary,
am weak enough to disappear.

I sense such a strong bond between them...
I don't want to see any more!

By the way, Wind, were you able
to fulfill your duty regarding

The End of All Things without incident?

Huh?

- I see. You shredded its poisoned
skin into smaller pieces

- Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!

- and scattered them everywhere.

- There was nothing else I could do!

It was pretty much a corpse
anyway, so what's the harm?

Huh? Don't look at me like that, guys.

I see. So you spread the seeds
of The End even further.

What an absolute catastrophe.

Breathing that air has clearly
taken a toll on Lize, as well.

I only spread a little bit!

- I made sure to send all the rest to Flame
and Stoney with wind teleportation!

- POISON [END OF ALL THINGS] CLEANUP CREW

- CRYSTAL WITCH | FLAME MAGICIAN

- I mean, you were all asking
way too much of me, anyway!

Miss Luna, would you quit inventing
scary faces to glare at me with? Please!

Today is the first time I've met black
magicians other than Miss Witch,

but this Wind Magician...

- Wow! Look, now you're all doing it!

- seems to have no problem at all
flaunting ethical standards.

- Come on, guys. Somebody
say something! Please!

C'mon! Why're you all picking on me?!
Do you know what I've been through?!

It isn't like Miss Luna and Master Bird
are doing poison collection-slash-cleanup!

Slaying The End of All Things
and hauling all that poison

- REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE

- is super rough work and it's
scary and really stressful!

- ADULTS JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND

I put my life on the line fighting
a monster and you want me to be delicate?

Gimme a break!

There's some things in life
you just can't do perfectly!

But you all stand there judging me from
a safe distance like you're above me!

That's not what we're cringing at, though.

Do you have a right to attack me just
'cause I do things a little different?!

I suppose that's true.

Wind has a good point. Perhaps
we should leave criticism

- to the two in charge of disposing
of The End of All Things instead.

- Emotional abuse.

- Emotional abuse.

- Surely they are in a better
position to judge than we are.

Emotional abuse.

I didn't realize black witches all
take on different roles like that.

Like slaying The End of All Things...

Master Bird, I should take my leave now.
My supervisor must be looking for me.

Very well. Thank you for
everything. And be careful.

To be safe, I will cast a fake
shield over your memories.

Thank you very much.

Well then, Luna,

farewell.

I very much enjoyed meeting you.

I pray that I will find you again
someday, happy and healthy.

Miss Luna.

I'm real sorry for throwing a fit
like that. But do you think...

you could do your thing for me, maybe?

Of course.

I've been too busy to
come see you recently,

so I'm sorry I let it get this bad.

It's no trouble at all.

You must have suffered greatly
if you contracted this much.

Poison magicians are much more
capable of tolerating and coexisting

with poison than most, but that does not
mean they have total control over it.

Luna is the exception.

The rest must carry out their
duties tainted with poison.

The poisonous mushrooms, of all
different shapes and colors,

almost resembled a cradle protecting Wind,

and for a moment, appeared very beautiful.

I'm sorry for being so patronizing before.

I truly am grateful for all you've done.

Then,

as if they had been watching over Wind
as he slept in a great mushroom forest,

the mushrooms floated up gently
into the air and then disappeared.

Phew! I'm reborn!

My body feels so light!
It feels like I grew wings!

Thanks, Miss Luna!

I'm very glad that I was able to help.

Oh...

Whoa, whoops. Whenever Miss Luna smiles
at me, I get this tingly feeling inside.

Miss Witch, can you cure any kind of
ailment by turning it into a mushroom

and then removing it?

Sometimes, ailments are
bound to a person's destiny,

so I can't turn just anything
into a mushroom and take it out.

In those cases, I can either
leave it there as an ailment

or try to force it out, but when
I do that it comes at a price.

Price?

Now that the other guy left and we know
Miss Luna's powers are back to normal,

why don't you and I have a little chat?

And then I'll make my decision.

This is a final interview that will
determine if you pass or fail.

I think you know this by now,
but a cursed youngling is basically an egg

that grows into The End of All Things.

So look, Lize, if this keeps up, you're
gonna turn into The End yourself.

Lize? Lize!

I'm guessing that shocked face means
nobody told you anything, right?

I'm sure they had their reasons not
to tell you the truth about all this,

but we won't get anywhere
if you know nothing,

so I made the call to tell you myself.

I always suspected something. I didn't
want to believe it was true, though.

A cursed youngling is one destined
to become The End of All Things...

You are the one who should
never have been born.

Huh?

Oh.

What?

Man, you're always sinking
into darkness. What a pain.

Would you mind snapping outta
that self-pity for me?

I've got a job to do here.

He has so little empathy and
compassion, it's almost shocking.

What's that?

Nothing.

- But right now, I think
that's exactly what I need.

- So listen, Lize,

you're totally, pointlessly head
over heels for Luna, right?

Ugh. Totally insensitive, too.

Wait. Did you think nobody noticed?

You reek so badly of infatuation,
even a total idiot could tell.

This isn't good. I can't spend all my
time cataloging other people's faults.

So have you also not realized what
kind of a spot that puts Miss Luna in?

I can't bear it. Talking to
this guy is too frustrating.

You're definitely hard-headed
enough to be a white witch, kid.

But look, you need to smother that
crush of yours once and for all.

It's never going to blossom, anyway.

I want you to tear it out while it's
still a bud. You get me, right?

For black witches, love is a poison
that weakens their magic.

But like you just said,
isn't it completely one-sided?

Well, yeah.

If your crush on her was
the reason she was struggling,

test or no test, I would
have k*lled you on the spot.

But the cause turned out to be another
person, so you're off the hook.

- GLOOM

- Huh? Is that something
to get depressed about?

- You sure love basking in doom and gloom!

Even then, even if it meant my
death, I wish it had been me.

- GLOOM

- But to be honest, there's another
reason I couldn't just k*ll you off.

- Anyway, if you don't want to die,
you need to strengthen your magic,

and learn to stand on your own.

That is, if you wanna escape your fate
as a cursed youngling, like Miss Luna did.

Maybe it was starting to drive me crazy.

When I found out she had been cursed
just like me, I thought it was fate.

This joy I secretly felt
became a sliver of hope.

This solitude that she could never
share somehow both saved me

and devastated me.

Even while knowing that love
is poison for Miss Witch,

I dearly wish to become
the one there to protect her

and to heal the wounds she
carries. I want to be the one.

Even if I can't touch her,
I want to stay by her side always.

And even now, I can't
change the way I feel!

White witches are gross!
Even after what I said,

you're still getting off on
your nasty little love poems?

That's so egotistical...
it absolutely reeks.

Someone like you would never understand.

A black magician who's never
even liked another person

wouldn't understand the first thing
about the joy and pain of love.

You force people's feelings
into simplistic categories

and then try to knock them
down and mock them one by one.

Quit acting like you've figured me out!

You're missing the point.
Are you good, dude?

You sure like to ramble, though. I mean,
it's fine if that burns off some poison.

There is one thing I want to ask you.

Do you really think a life
without love is that terrible?

Huh?

Would it make you feel incomplete as a
person? Is it something to be ashamed of?

Uh...

Do people who've never been
in love not even matter?

I don't know the answer to that.

But I don't need to
hear you of all people,

a kid who spends every day with Luna,

trash talking people for not knowing love.

She's unable to love for
reasons beyond her control.

So what you're doing is like
selfishly backing her into a corner

and forcing her to accept bouquets of
thorny flowers that slice up her hands.

Now you decide to start crying?

Whoa, somethin' came outta that brooch!

When she's bound by so many chains

shackling her to a fate that allows her
no freedom to begin with,

I can't keep clinging to my love
for her like a selfish child.

I have no right to be with her.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry!

Y'know, a long time ago,

there was someone you could say
I had something like a crush on.

Huh?

What, is that so shocking?

I was torn between my
feelings and my duties,

and of course, it messed with my magic.

Heh.

Hey, don't laugh at me.

That's so rude!

Anyway, I got so confused, I even
considered quitting being a black witch,

but she wasn't someone I could
have that easily anyway.

So I decided to cast a wind spell on my
feelings and scatter them to the winds.

I'd scattered tons of other
things to the winds by then,

and watched all those different
things as they drifted away from me,

but none of them were
as beautiful as that was.

Watching my feelings float away
did make me kind of sad,

but it made me realize I actually
had something beautiful inside me.

I thought I'd been scarred by
the horrible things I'd witnessed,

so I realized maybe there's
still hope for me.

It made me realize that all people in love
have something pretty inside of them.

Suddenly, the resentment
I'd clung to for being forced

into the thankless work of
protecting people just disappeared.

So my love was gone,
but in it's place I was left with

a little bit of a bigger heart.

Well, bigger than I'd had before, anyway.

Now, don't you dare

go around telling that story
to other black magicians, okay?

Yeah, that's right.

I guess that means you and
I are partners in crime now.

It's time for me to seal this love away

in my own way.
In a way that's right for me.

He did pass the test, but with conditions.

Sorry, but I went ahead
and put him to sleep.

It seems he already knows plenty of
ways to process the poison inside him,

but they don't do enough yet.

At Miss Luna's discretion, she must
extract poison from him when necessary.

Despite the downsides, he did
agree fully to that condition.

Although I won't be nearby,

I'll keep contributing what I can
to help his magical powers grow.

I did switch sides to support him,
so I need to own that.

Thank you for your
judgment, Wind Magician.

I am truly glad that you
were the first judge.

You've got a sick sense
of humor, Master Bird.

Cold as ice. As if you have any
idea what I've been through.

Don't I?

U-Um...

Thank you very much!

I am also very grateful that you were
the one to do this, Wind Magician.

It's Gus.

It ain't "Wind Magician."
My name is Gustave.

- Come on, how many times do I have to
tell you to call me "Gus," Miss Luna?

- Oh. Huh?

G... Gu—

Wagyu?

Well, whatever. I'll be in touch.

I'm off then. I'm still a hugely popular
guy with a ton of stuff on my plate.

U-Um, G-Gu... Gu...

Huh?

Take care of yourself.

She gave up.

Miss Luna, I'll see you and Lize soon
enough when I get too much poison.

Use your shrooms on me then, okay?

I really like those mushrooms
of yours, Miss Luna!

Bye-bee!

I'll be expecting you, Gustave.

You should've said it when
he was close enough to hear.

Oh, I think he heard her just fine.

See?

Please don't cry, Miss Witch.

It's okay.

I'm done obsessing over things I've
lost and letting myself drown in grief.

I'll make peace with my hardship here
in this forest of gentle mushrooms,

where you protect me.

And someday in the future,
I know I will find love.

Good morning.

Um, Miss Witch?

It sort of feels like my
clothes got bigger on me.

Um, I...

Now they fit perfectly!
Thank you very much!

No matter how many times they're
erased, I still secretly remember,

with the help of my faithful
little mushroom friend,

my feelings for her that
I talked about every night.

My transforming little friend
telepathically remembers for me

all those beloved memories
that spilled from my fingers.

I don't care if this
love is never fulfilled.

I will carry it with me always.

Love is the source of
a white witch's magic.

I want to protect her. I want
to become a strong magician.

To that end, this is a secret and
indispensable source of power.

No kind of magic or turn of fate
can take this away from me.

I will accept losing some things.

- When I am worn down,
I will strengthen my resolve.

- Hey! Over here, over here!

- I will treasure these moments,
even if I will eventually forget them.

- Outta my way, a*s.

- Perhaps someday, the memories that
I've spilled will find new life

- Want me to hang one up?

and live on, shining within
someone else's heart.

The lingering echoes
of these quiet moments

and the feelings and friendships
that they nurtured,

give me the strength to continue.

So no matter how many times I have
to start again, I will never give up.

While living together with
the witch who will never find love,

I will make my way toward adulthood.