01x04 - The Black Witch Council

[bunniefuu]

Well.

Hello, Luna.

Master.

So you have finally encountered the one
destined to become The End to All Things,

the cursed youngling.

The cursed youngling!

Step closer, Luna. Leave all of
your overflowing poison with me.

Even for you, the poison from The End
of All Things is too heavy to bear.

The boy was very beautiful.

I could sense it in the
mushroom I drew from him.

It was as if his soul was crystal clear.

And that may be exactly what makes
him turn in to The End of All Things.

And Luna,

as he is, so are you.

- What was that?

- EPISODE 4: THE BLACK WITCH COUNCIL

- Luna used to be a cursed
youngling herself?

So just like this brat, Luna was destined
to turn into The End of All Things.

Black magicians are forced to combat
contamination, hatred, and plague

as they work to eradicate
the various poisons of this world.

So unlike humans or even normal magicians,

they have a strong tolerance to poison.

Many of them keep poisonous
creatures as familiars

to assist in their purification efforts.

As such, people tend to lump us magicians
together as "poison magicians,"

but the truth is that we merely have
a stronger tolerance to poison than most.

Luna, however, with her poison breath
and skin, along with her ability to absorb

poisons into her body, has a power
that even poisonous creatures don't.

There is only one magician whose body can
break down and purify poisons like that

in this entire world, and that is Luna.

And she was once the
cursed youngling herself.

Seeing as she was once destined
to become The End of All Things,

her ability is likely
a remnant of that past.

- Wow.

- Oh.

A remnant of her destiny to
become The End of All Things?

Does that mean even though
Luna was the cursed youngling,

she avoided turning into The End somehow?

But how?

Anyway, that explains why
she's protecting this kid.

As far as we know, she is the only one

who's been able to escape that fate.

So now they're the only two people in
the world to have shared that curse.

While Luna was the cursed youngling,

she was also in possession
of great magical talent.

Without instruction from anyone,

she was able to absorb all kinds of magic
from the land and air into her body.

As she learned magic and her body
developed the ability to clear poisons,

she also passed every test we gave her

and overcame her fate
as a cursed youngling.

There had never been anyone like her.
She was a uniquely impressive girl.

Luna overcame her fate?

We've wasted too much time
explaining things to the crow.

Basically, her obvious talents convinced
us to let her live and take a gamble o

her potential as a poison magician.

However...

that boy is different.

It will be too late once
he turns into The End.

If we don't k*ll the seed before it
sprouts and the curse awakens,

many lives will be lost as the spread
of poison in the world accelerates.

Step away from that creature!

Flame.

Hey. We're indoors.

What is that thing?!

Luna!

Luna!

Wh-Wha...

Water?

Wow. That's some nasty-looking
grilled mushroom.

He's always overcooking things.

Damn it!

One moment, Claude.

A hole?

What the hell were you thinking?!

One wrong step and you would've
been burnt to a crisp!

Are you trying to get yourself
k*lled for that brat?!

For once in your life,
would you listen to people?!

- You got off easy this
time, but I swear...

- Bird. Why is he yelling at her
as if we weren't here?

Who knows? Maybe he just
really hates pranks.

Pfft.

Oh, golly.

Huh.

What is it you find so humorous?

It's a m*rder mushroom! Luna, when
did you make that thing sprout? Wow!

Whoa, it's growing so big!
So much rage but not much-room!

Whoa! The m*rder mushroom burst
through the roof like fireworks!

Man, a projection can
cause that much ruin?

Freaky.

Flame, control yourself in here.

At any rate, in lieu of making rash
decisions, let's all talk this through.

We'd rather not have you sprouting
another m*rder mushroom.

We should also allow her
to speak her piece.

I can feel a kernel of magic inside him.

What does that tell us?

Only about as much as your average white
witch. Not enough to make a difference.

Still, there's a chance it may be enough
to help him escape The End of All Things.

Now we're just going around in circles.

You can't cling to a fantasy just
because you lack the backbone

to take one meager life.

I will raise this child by myself.

I know that I can make
him into a magician.

I will pour everything I have into him,

and make him a strong enough magician
to escape his fate as a cursed youngling.

I will...

I will!

I'm even starting to wonder

if I was allowed to defy my fate, if I'm
still alive today, to fulfill this role.

I'm beginning to see our meeting
as a guidepost of destiny

showing me my future
path as a black witch.

So you would raise the cursed
youngling as a perso

to prevent him from becoming The End.

Are you certain you can show him the way?

With your only method being to
absorb that poison into your body?

When you aren't even a fully-fledged
black witch yet? How, then?

Plus you've never taken
an apprentice before,

and you're such a loner.

You cling to fantasy.

And yet, I feel we can agree that it
is not particularly judicious to assume

that ending his life is the only option
we have to stop The End of All Things

and protect the future.

Bird Magician...

You say she clings to fantasy,

but her life journey thus far has
been entirely unconventional.

Perhaps even fantastical.

Indeed, k*lling him off
and calling it all settled

would feel like somewhat
of an easy way out.

Mm-hmm.

Beast Magician...

One could even say we're using
"the future" as an excuse

to skirt risk and cut corners.

Mm-hmm.

We won't settle anything like this. Let's
put it to a formal vote as a council.

The matter before us is,

do we entrust Luna with the task of
this boy's magic training or not?

Even if the majority vote is affirmative,
if there is any indication of the boy

failing at his studies,
he will be put to death.

If the majority vote is negative,
he will be put to death immediately.

And the Champignon Witch will
be sanctioned for disobedience.

We will come back to that.

Is that fair, Luna? Everyone?

Is that fair, Luna? Everyone?

No objection.

No objection.

No objection.

No objection.

I will accept on one condition.

Which is?

There is one member who is absent.
The Wind Magician.

Ah, the slacker.

Sorry, man. I'll let you
handle it, Flamey.

Come back here!

My bed is calling me!

He has designated me as his
proxy for all council votes.

You sure that wasn't meant
as a backhanded insult?

You said it.

His vote will align with my own.

Huh? You can't do that!

Clearly, the Insect Magician
will forfeit his own opinio

and just go with whatever
the Beast Magician decides.

If we are willing to allow that, then
my request should not pose a problem.

Very well.

Then let us all vote.

All in favor, move to the right side.

Bird, Water, Beast, Insect.
In total, four votes in favor.

Now those opposed, move to the left side.

Flame, Fiore, Stone, and
Flame's proxy vote for Wind.

That is also four.

Hey. I've been wondering this whole time,
but does she even know what we're saying?

Yeah... I was sort of wondering myself.

But then how do we make her understand?

Telepathically, she must have at
least some grasp of the situation.

Does this mean you abstain?

Hey.

She started playing
with some weird string.

Then with the Eastern Witch's abstention,
we have a tie. Shall we vote again?

Let's just get rid of Wind's vote.
He's absent so his vote should be invalid.

What was that?

I wanna go home.

Hey!

What is it?

The barrier should be preventing any
outsiders from infiltrating our meeting.

Wait, Flame!

Isn't that...

It's the Cat Witch after all.

I heard she lost her life in the witch
hunts. Why is her spirit here?

How could a spirit of the dead
even penetrate the barrier?

I believe in Luna.

Luna. I believe... in her.

I believe in her.

Before, all the trees and animals of this
black forest were contaminated with poiso

and it was home to all sorts
of pests and evil spirits.

But once you moved here,

it changed from a black forest
to a poison mushroom forest.

I can feel safe letting
my cats play here now.

Hey, it sounds kind of impersonal
when you call me "Miss Dorothy."

Just call me "Dorothy"
as if I was your sister.

That puts the side in favor ahead.

In what way? That wasn't
even a council member,

just a rude spirit that barged in
here without having the right.

Counting that as a vote is absurd.

Flame.

That was a friend.
The tormented soul of a friend.

Don't you think that's a little harsh?

Crystal...

She was willing to breach etiquette
in order to express her feelings.

I believe in Luna.

I believe in her.

Invalid!

It is the one final wish and regret

preventing her spirit
from resting in peace,

and you would flat-out reject it?

No changing the subject!

Baked potato.

Grilled cheese.

The Cat Witch knew Luna quite well. She
would not appear before us frivolously.

In lieu of a proper requiem,

why not allow this one
exception and grant her wish?

Sounds good to me.

Flower?

I just want to wrap things up. We aren't
even getting paid for being here.

Is that what's bothering you?

Let us set a deadline.

None of us have any idea when that boy
may transform into The End of All Things.

But considering the amount of poison
that Luna drew out of his body,

he probably has at least three years.
So over the course of three years,

if we conclude he shows no indication
of having developed magical powers

strong enough to escape his destiny,

we will sentence him to death.

Until that time, we members
of the Black Magician Council

will keep constant watch over you and the
boy, and take turn making surprise visits

to present him with tests to complete.

Huh? What a pain.

Fiore...

Flame. Are you willing
to wait three years?

We don't know what the boy's intentions
are yet. What if he tries to escape?

That will certainly require a response
on our part. I already have

my familiar Claude currently serving
as eyes and ears for me here.

Let us ask Claude to keep constant
watch over both of them just in case.

Is that all right, Claude?

Yes, Master Bird.

All right with you, Luna?

Y-Yes.

As the boy's master, I will let you
decide how much to tell him about this,

but please make your
decision very carefully.

Any time in those three years,
if that boy cannot pass our trials,

tries to run away, or shows any sign
of becoming The End of All Things,

I will not hesitate.
I will come to k*ll him myself.

Bear this in mind.

All right.

And with that, the Black Witch
Council is now adjourned.

Huh?

Wow!

Whoa!

Why? Did they really have
to blast us with wind?

Or are they just harassing us?

Anyway, things are gonna
get crazy for a while.

You really up to this, Luna? Well, you
sure stood your ground back there.

Luna?

Hey, is that boy gonna
be in our family now?

We've never had a human in our
family before. Have we, Luna?

Luna? Oops!

Luna's asleep.

Huh?

Huh?!

You've gotta be kidding me! How can
you fall asleep after all that?!

She's just tired after being surrounded
by all those scary people!

She had to fix the house and
use all kinds of magic, too!

- Yeah? Well I'm tired, too! Wake up!
I said wake the hell up, damn it!

- Please keep your voice down!

I believe in Luna. I believe in her.

The witch said that she
had a dream that night.

I was not able to ask her
exactly what it was about,

but Luna, I pray that your
dreams are always joyful.

I still pray for that
today, just as I did then.

And so this is how I and Luna,
a witch who could touch no one,

began our hectic but always
wondrous life together,

in a home overflowing
with magic and mushrooms.