Chapter 31
CHAPTER 1 - THE PARIS DIVA
PART 06
The next morning, Hazuki-chan, Dodo, Rere and I were woken by Hana-chan’s yelling.
"Doremi, Hazuki, Dodo, Rere, wake up! Your breakfast is getting cold!"
"Huh? Breakfast?"
We crawled out of bed to the delicious smell of miso soup.
A traditional j.a.panese breakfast of grilled fish, seaweed with fermented beans, pickled radish, rice, and miso soup was spread out on our room table. A smaller version of the same had also been prepared for the fairies.
"H-Hana-chan, did you make all this!?" Hazuki-chan asked as she put on her gla.s.ses and squinted at the food.
"Yes, with magic."
"That’s amazing, Hana-chan! Perfect! Your magical powers have improved so much since we last met," I praised.
Hana-chan grinned with pride.
"Heheh! Oh, look at this," she said as she pulled her crystal out of her skirt pocket.
Four years ago, when we decided not to become true witches, we’d gathered all our crystals together and created this one for Hana-chan. But now…
"It’s so big!"
I was sure it was bigger than Majorika’s crystal. It could even be bigger than the Queen’s!
"Why did it grow so big?" Hazuki-chan asked as she came close to stare at the crystal.
"I don’t know, but both the crystal and Hana-chan’s power started to get stronger about a year ago. The magical school teacher told me it’s a good thing…… Sometimes, the power inside Hana-chan’s body swells, and she feels like she’s gonna burst," Hana-chan explained.
"Maybe it’s because you’re destined to be the next Queen?"
"I don’t know. But Hana-chan thinks her magic may be stronger than anyone else’s. Oh! Shall we use magic to turn the Eiffel Tower upside down?" Hana-chan suggested as she moved towards the room balcony.
"No, Hana-chan!" Dodo and I shouted in panic.
"I’m just joking!"
"Ohh……!"
I realized we’d fallen for Hana-chan’s prank.
"Oh, Hana-chan!"
"Heheh, I’ll get everybody, so please wash up and wait for us."
With that, Hana-chan giggled and bounded out of the room.
~~~~~~
After finis.h.i.+ng breakfast, Hana-chan used magic to make all the empty dishes disappear instantly. Then, she stood up from the table.
"Come on, let’s go to Majocollete’s antique store!"
"Hey, wait. We just finished breakfast," Majorika grumbled.
"I guess Hana-chan just wants to see Yume-chan as soon as she can," Onpu-chan smiled.
"That’s Onpu! She always understands Hana-chan’s mind," Hana-chan replied.
"Let me have a cup of tea, at least……"
But before Majorika could finish speaking, Hana-chan started to chant her cute spell.
"Pororin pyuarin, Hana Hana pii!"
In an instant, we were all transported from our hotel room to the front of Majocollete’s antique store.
"W-What was that!? Isn’t this Majocollete’s store!?"
Majorika was the first to voice her shock from the teleportation.
"Hana-chan, you can use teleportation?" Onpu-chan asked incredulously.
"We can only do that with Magical Stage," Ai-chan continued.
"This is great! You’re amazing, Hana-chan!" Momo-chan laughed.
The three girls, who hadn’t heard of Hana-chan’s vast increase in magical power, sounded equally surprised at this turn of events.
"Where did you learn this magic?" Majorika demanded.
"We can talk about that later. Let’s go inside now!"
With that, Hana-chan dashed into the store.
"Hana-chan, wait up!" Everyone cried as we hurried into the store after her.
As Majorika explained the situation, Majocollete turned her wrinkle-lined face towards Hana-chan. She definitely looked like a 1000-year old witch.
"So you are Majohana, the next Queen…… Oh, how cute."
Majocollete’s face wrinkled even further as she smiled and patted Hana-chan on the head.
"I’m sorry to tell you this, since you’ve come so far, but I don’t think you’ll find Majoyume even if you go to visit Majolebeurre," she continued.
"What do you mean, Collete-sensei?" Majorika asked.
Haha, sensei? Didn’t Majorika graduate from magical school hundreds of years ago? I wondered if I would still address Seki-sensei and Yamaki-sensei by their t.i.tles after I become an adult……
"Because Majolebeurre has lost most of her memory. She couldn’t even remember my name when I went to see her two months ago……"
"It can’t be……"
Hana-chan, who had been in a cheery mood all morning, seemed full of despair now.
It was time for her Mama to come to the rescue.
"Majocollete-san, have you ever seen Majolebeurre-san with a young girl about Hana-chan’s age?" I asked.
"Hmm…… That’s right, there was a tiny toddler girl when Majolebeurre was still in-charge of the florist at Montmartre."
"That must have been Yume-chan!" Hana-chan exclaimed excitedly.
"Now that you mentioned it, she did mention that she was taking care of the child because she witnessed her birth. Yes, that child might have been Majoyume," Majocollete narrowed her eyes as she recalled.
"Majocollete-san, do you know what’s happened to the girl?" Onpu-chan took up the questioning.
"Oh, who knows……"
"Majocollete-san, it’s really important! Please try to remember!" Ai-chan urged.
"Hmm…… Hmm……"
Sitting on her chair, Majocollete did her best to dredge up those almost-forgotten memories.
"Please! Please remember!" Momo-chan begged, her hands clasped tightly together.
Then, Majocollete slapped her knees with both hands.
"That’s right! When I first visited Majolebeurre at the nursing home, there was a beautiful witch there with her."
"A beautiful witch?" Majorika seemed surprised.
"She’s been living in the human world for a long time, and
Hana-chan’s face lit up again.
"Grandma, do you know the name of that beautiful witch?"
"I just can’t remember."
However, Hana-chan remained unfazed this time.
"In that case, tell us the name of Majolebeurre-san’s nursing home!"
It seemed like Hana-chan was determined to make a trip there. However, didn’t Majocollete say that Majolebeurre suffered from dementia……?
While I worried, Majocollete drew out a small map of the nursing home for Hana-chan.
"Thanks, grandma!"
"You’re welcome. But you’ll need a miracle to get any answers out of Majolebeurre," Majocollete sighed as she gazed at Hana-chan.
"Oh, we won’t know until we see her!"
With that, Hana-chan snapped her fingers.
~~~~~~
The next moment, we were standing in front of a white building on top of a small hill, with a view of the Southern city of Cannes.
Hana-chan had teleported us once again to Majolebeurre’s nursing home.
"Was that magic again?"
Hana-chan nodded with a smile at Ai-chan’s query.
"And you just snapped your fingers……" Ai-chan sighed in disbelief.
"Heheh. That’s because Hana-chan’s a witch. I can use magic even without chanting a spell."
That’s right. I recalled Hana-chan sharing that with us a long time ago. She only chanted a spell because she wanted to be like us, the witch apprentices. It was, in fact, just for show.
But her teleportation abilities weren’t the only surprise.
At the nursing home’s front desk, Hana-chan spoke in fluent French, easily getting the number to Majolebeurre’s room from the receptionist.
"When did you master the French language, Hana-chan?" I asked enviously as we walked down a corridor. Everyone else leaned in, curious to hear her answer.
"I learned translation magic in magical school. If I place my hand over my ear like this, I can understand and speak most languages in the world."
"That’s amazing~!"
Everyone except Majorika gazed at Hana-chan in envy.
"I can only speak to plants and animals," Hana-chan continued.
"That’s impossible~~!"
Hana-chan’s magical powers seemed to know no bounds. She probably could turn the Eiffel Tower upside down if she really wanted to……
"Here we are!"
Opening the door, Hana-chan allowed Majorika to enter the room first, then followed the rest of us inside. Majolebeurre wasn’t in her bed, but was sitting in a wheelchair by the window, gazing out at the inland sea.
The scenery out the window was breathtaking. It was a much deeper blue compared to the seas in j.a.pan, contrasting perfectly with the misty light blue sky.
"Majolebeurre. It’s me, Majorika."
There was no response from Majolebeurre.
Tilting her head in surprise, Majorika moved to stand beside Majolebeurre, placed her hand over her ear like how Hana-chan did, and seemed to repeat her greeting in French.
But Majolebeurre only gave Majorika a brief glance, before returning her gaze to the sea.
Majorika let out a huge sigh.
"Majocollete was right. If she can’t remember me, she won’t be able to remember Hana-chan’s sister."
……We definitely needed a miracle here.
Everyone turned to look at Hana-chan with pity, then…
A miracle occurred!
Hana-chan moved to stand before Majolebeurre, and was about to greet her when the old witch, who had been staring out to sea, suddenly twitched.
"Could it be!?"
We gasped as we all dashed to stand beside Hana-chan.
There was a smile on Majolebeurre’s face.
"Oh, its Yume," she said in a tiny voice.
"But I’m not Yume……"
"Hana-chan!"
I shook my head and winked at Hana-chan before she could correct Majolebeurre.
Hana-chan and Yume-chan were sisters, so it wasn’t a surprise that they looked similar. Majolebeurre might have mistaken one for the other, but it must have helped her remember something.
Hana-chan nodded, showing that she understood me.
"Majolebeurre, it’s me, Yume-chan," she replied with a smile.
"You’re here to visit. Hmm?"
Majolebeurre’s gaze swept over us.
"Isn’t Majoavenir with you?"
"Majoavenir?"
n.o.body had heard of this name before.
"She must be the witch who took over the care of Yume from Majolebeurre. Isn’t that right, Majolebeurre?" Majorika asked.
"Who are you?"
"I’m Majorika."
"…………"
Majolebeurre’s eyes returned to the window.
No matter how much Hana-chan tried to speak to her, Majolebeurre never responded again.
"To think we almost got her to remember something……" Hana-chan sighed in resignation.
"But we managed to get a name, so I say we’re still ahead," Ai-chan said.
"That’s true, but I’ve never heard of that witch before," Majorika replied.
"But with a name, we’ll surely be able to find something," Momo-chan urged.
"You’re right! You’re right!" Hana-chan agreed joyfully. Her cheerfulness definitely rivaled my own.
"Maybe Majocollete will know who Majoavenir is," I suggested.
"You’re right! You’re right!"
Hana-chan snapped her fingers again.
~~~~~~
Though we returned to the antique store, Majocollete was as clueless as us.
"That’s right, that was the name I heard…… But I didn’t ask where she lived, or what she did," Majocollete told us in an apologetic tone, scratching her head.
"Well, if we travel to the witch world, we may find out information about Majoavenir," Majorika suggested.
Hana-chan smiled and nodded in agreement. "Then let’s go to the witch world!"
"Hana-chan, we can’t go there if it’s not the night of the smiling moon," Hazuki-chan reminded her.
"If only we were still in yesterday," Ai-chan mused.
"The next smiling moon will appear next month, so we’ll have to wait a little, Hana-chan," Onpu-chan said gently.
"Don’t worry too much about it," Momo-chan agreed.
"Heheh~. But Hana-chan can go right now."
"Whaaaat!!? Hana-chan, you can travel between the witch and human worlds without waiting for the smiling moon?"
"I can’t do that, but I can use magic to go back to yesterday."
"Whaaaaaat!!? Even I can turn back time only for an hour……" Majorika gasped in shock.
"It’s no doubt you’re the next Queen. You’ve grown so much, Hana-chan," Lala gushed in awe.
"Come on, let’s go."
With a smile, Hana-chan got ready to chant her spell.
"Can’t you just snap your fingers?" I teased.
"It’s all for show. Alright, Pororin pyuarin, Hana Hana pii!"
Everyone except for Majocollete was surrounded with light.
When that faded, we were still standing in the antique store, but it was dark and Majocollete was no longer here.
Looking at the old grandfather’s clock against the wall, I noted that it was 10:30 p.m.
"Look, it’s the smiling moon," Hazuki-chan pointed out the window at the full moon in the sky.
Which meant that Hana-chan had turned back time by half a day.
"Where’s the door to the witch world, Majorika?"
"Here."
Pulling open the second drawer of an old chest next to her, a bright light filled the room.