Hollows Eve

Chapter 7

3rd Person

And now we return to the world of purgatory, the haunted, dark underworld full of mystical creatures and beings known as "Hollows". These hollows are shadow-like creatures that fall on the fault line between Heaven & Hell itself, the two separate plains of existence that represent good and evil. Purgatory was right in the middle, and it represented…..Well what it represented was a mystery actually.

The entire world was shrouded in darkness and mystery, but no one, not even the creatures of this world themselves, knows what the entire world of Purgatory represents. It is neither good nor evil, it neither takes nor gives away, it is a plane of existence that is the most peculiar. Some creatures poke too hard in order to find the answer to such daunting questions, what is the purpose of the hollows? Do they exist to keep a stronghold over the said demons that once existed with them? Or do they only seek to cause distraught, fear, and are only present when the vulnerabilities of mankind itself are on display? That is a question we will answer…...today.

Cut to the castle of nightmares, the big, black Victorian-esque castle within walking distance of the town of Nightmare itself. Inside the castle, a little certain pink-haired witch ling was happily practicing her own form of magic, but inside she wept a bit, because she missed her one true love. The witch ling girl's name was Amuki Nagasaki, the witch princess.

Amuki was downstairs in the tomb library of tomes, where she studied several magic spells and read several books with a plethora of tomes. She was a good student who fostered her magic in the absence of her guardians. As she was busy checking out certain books in the library, humming to herself…

"Hm Hm hm…Geez….It's only been two days and I already miss him. Don't worry though he'll come back! I know he will…he has too." She said to herself out loud. Which is something strange that she does from time to time when no one can hear her. Weird right?

But then she began to think to herself instead…. " Hmmm….now that I think about it….The new Grim Reaper…..Kaila…." Amuki began to think about her and Jack being together…..alone.

"NO! That's silly HAHAHA. Jackie would never cheat on me not once, his loyalty and pride are much too good for that! Heheh…." Amuki had her hand on a gold/blue book the entire time she thought to herself.

"Now that I think about it Jack was a bit hard on her during training…I guess that's just my wild imagination. Girls get jealous way too easily I guess." She then smiled and re-assured herself with a positive affirmation.. "Oh come now! You know Jackie better than that. He'd never do anything like that to you. So what's on the shelf today? What haven't I learned about magic….?"

While Amuki continued to look into the shelves of said library, something slithered and snuck around her. It was obviously a hollow creature, however it's eyes were feral looking, as if it was part dog. The creature was masked in shadows as it eyed Amuki with the intent of a predator looking to strike it's prey. How it got into the castle? Who knows? But…..it stalked Amukin intently….waiting for the exact time to strike….

"Hmmm…let's see….Magic of The Ancients?...The old Testament? They wrote a spell book too?! Huh….let's see what we can do with this bad boy!" Amuki was excited, a book that she had not yet touched, and it was by the ancients? The Sacred creators of the universe that be? The afterlife itself? It was a golden opportunity for her to learn!

But the foe in the shadows….still stalking its prey, walking on four legs like an actual wolf looking for meat…still lingered. It slowly crept up behind one of the bookshelves in the small library. The library wasn't very large, infact it was one of the smallest rooms in the entire castle. So Amuki had no where else to go but to sit down, and look inside the book herself in order to try and perform a magic spell from the book.

"I wonder if there's any crystalline spells in here?... " She continued to look through the book and found a certain spell that looked rather difficult, involving a crystal ball.

"The crystal ball….tons of uses….such as astral vision….hypercognition….calling upon the spirits of angels…..Containing spirits!...This could be so useful! Just imagine whati could do with it!..." Amuki then looks up into the sky and imagines herself in a provocative Gypsy outfit holding hands with Jack as they sit huddled around a crystal ball, imagining a bloated, but strangely romantic future together.

She then just squealed… "EEEEEH! I'm so learning this! I need to increase my spiritual output anyways, my connection to the afterlife is getting stale." She then somehow manages to crystalize an entire crystal ball out of thin air! We were not kidding when we said that witches can use magic folks. SHE was not kidding…..

All the while the predatory creature continued to leer at Amuki, it stepped out of the shadows and made a screeching sound on the walls with it's claws.

Amuki turned around and looked back…. "Huh?...is anyone here?" She asked.

In the meantime, Amuki was not the only one doing anything magical in the castle of nightmares. Steinman was also brewing up a good amount of trouble in his lab, as he experimented with the dead corpses of several demons that were left over from a raid he had lone been on in his past.

"Hmhmhmhmh….I'm getting there…once I dissect and find out the spiritual points of these demons I can find a way to disrupt the entirety of their own reishi flow! Then demons will never be able to find a way inside of our borders!" He said as he tore into the bodies of the lifeless demons, ripping open their ribcages and leaking blood all over his already very much bloodstained stone floor.

Steinman was a man who was also dedicated to his work, but he took it a lot more seriously than that of Amuki. His presumed goal was to preserve hollow life and one day give himself and other hollows a way to counteract demonic energy so that Demons could never invade Purgatory and completely break the barrier that is withheld by Lord Death between the real world and the underworld. But his REAL goal was something much, much more sinister…..

He uttered an insanity filled chuckle, as he continued to carve into the vulnerable pressure points that acted as gateways to reishi flow within the demons. But all the while…...it seemed that another creature was lurking in the shadows, with the same red eyes, but with a slightly different look and a completely different choice of animal. This creature had intense rows of spiky spines on its back and was scaly, like a reptile. It also had a ghastly amount of arms and legs, about 8 in total and had a very long, wide tongue that it used to lick its lips. It knocked over something near Stein's operation table, causing a loud CLANG!

"Huh?! Who dares enter my laboratory without being introduced first?!" When he turned around he had a fist full of energy in his hands, but no one was there.

"What?..." Steinman grimaced. He didn't believe that all of his tools and operation table would just suddenly fall over by accident….

Amuki's situation was similar, but she was rather oblivious to it. She raised her hands high and then summoned an icy blue magic wand in which had a pentagram star on top of the part that emits magic, and long staff that seemed similar to that of a bo staff with a rounded ring including intrinsic designs within it that seemed graceful, yet playful at the same time. She set up the crystal ball on a crystalline pillar that she created and got ready…

"Alright….here goes!" She said as she pointed the magic wand at the crystalline ball, her magic started to fluctuate, as an icy blue aura came about and her entire visage flooded with power. Unlike normal hollows, Witch hollows are especially powerful because they use magic. The possibilities with magic are quite endless.

But just as Amuki was about to sync up with the crystal ball, the creature poked its head out from behind the bookshelf, now with her back turned is the right time to strike. It got on two feet and started to slowly approach Amuki, and then it started to run at her, as it began its fierce attack….

Amuki heard it's footsteps…. And turned around… "Huh? Wait what's that- AHHHHHHH!" Amuki uttered a loud scream that even Steinman could hear.

"What the hell?! Was that the witch princess-" suddenly Steinman's table was turned over, and there stood the reptilian creature, as it snarled and it's long tongue stretched out….

"Wait…what the hell are you three doing in this castle?!" He said in slight surprise and fear, as the creature lunged at Steinman.

All the while….the orchestrator of such an attack, who's visage was only revealed within the light of the full moon underneath, as blackness completely covered who she was, stood there looking up at said moon. The main perpetrator looked to be female, as she had medium-sized breasts and a slender body. She also had a scythe on her back that was silver on the rim & staff sections, and gold on the bladed sections….

"I hope to learn from you….As you will learn from me…" She said as she continued to look up at the moon….

.: HOLLOWS EVE EPISODE 7 :.

Let us go back to the world of the living for a bit, and re-visit our favorite odd couple. The Reaper Girl and the Pumpkin King. As we re-visit Kaila's home in Kyoto, Japan, it is nearing time out in the neighborhood. The sun is beginning to set as Kaila, and her special group of friends, Reyabe Akujin, Gajenma Iteru, and her best friend Tomomi Takuro, continue to walk home with each other while Jack continues to watch over her from the trees above.

"You seriously went out with him? What kind of sushi did you eat last night Kai?" Reyabe said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Hey!" Gajenma scoured out in protest. Taking great offense to that. The girls just shared a laugh as Tomomi looked on and patted Gajenma's shoulder to calm him down.

"Yeah I did….It wasn't all that bad actually. I had a nice time. We went out into the Tokyo pre-fecture and played games, ate, and even saw a live Sumo-wrestling show. We also took a walk in the park and saw the Sakura trees in full bloom at night. I have to say it was pretty fun, who knows? I might actually give him a chance." Kaila actually said while squinting her eyes slightly in a suggestive way.

"WHAT?!" Tomomi said to himself inside of his head. "R…R…REALLY?!" Gajenma said with intense Joy, as he lit up like a firecracker and jumped into the sky.

"ALRIGHT BABY! I've done it! I've gotten the beautiful Kaila Amiyuki to fall in love with MEEEEEEE!" Gajenma started jumping up and down like the spaz that he is, constantly cheering at the fact that he thinks Kaila is actually in love with him.

Tomomi then touched Kaila's shoulder and said "Hey uhhh…Midnight you're not actually serious about that are you?" Tomomi said in a slightly nervous way. Which brought a mischievous smile upon her face.

"OH YES. Totally, I'm absolutely HEAD over heels in love with him." You could obviously sense the sarcasm in her voice.

Tomomi then plopped down on his feet and sat in a comedic manner, curling up into the fetal position. "But all…..those times we watched the stars…" Tomomi said to himself in his mind.

Kaila and Reyabe just snickered and said, "Boys are so silly, right Rey?" Kaila said to her brown-haired friend. "Yep! Total spazoids!" She said as the two of them laughed together at how over-dramatic the boys are being.

"You girls are so cruel…." Tomomi turned around and said to them with a crying anime face.

******

As the night creeped in and the setting sun came down, the moon came up and Tomomi was finally taking a walk home with Kaila. After the two of them split apart from Reyabe & Gajenma, Tomomi walked Kaila back home, as the night was the most dangerous time to be outside in this kind of neighborhood.

"Didja really have to play mind games with me midnight?" Tomomi asked Kaila as they continued walking, never really taking their eyes off each other.

"Oh come on, I've played with you several times like that. Plus, you have a girlfriend, what do you care?" Kaila asked him. Which made Tomomi tense up slightly, and a nervous beat of sweat dropped down his forehead.

"Ehhh… I DON'T! Not about you and him being together, I just…don't think he's the right person for you." Tomomi said to her, stuttering a bit with his words.

"Oh stop trying to sound like my mom Tomomi. Heheheh. You'll at least be happy to know that NO I'm not actually considering dating him." She said while smiling slightly, amused by Tomomi's frantic nervousness.

" *phew* Ok. Let's just…drop it and say that never happened?" Tomomi says to her.

"Deal." Kaila says back, causing Tomomi to smile at her. "So where IS your girlfriend by the way? I haven't seen her all day. Which could actually be considered a good thing." She said as they continued to walk.

"Well….we sort of had an argument last night….she doesn't really trust me around you for some reason…." He said while still looking straight at her without shame or embarrassment, but you can still sense the feeling of regret in his voice. He also tilted his head down a bit.

"What?! Why not? What kind of argument did she pull? About that one time we hugged at the tree of life?" Kaila asked him.

"Yeah…She says I got "Too Close" to you." Tomomi says while putting air quotes up.

"You know that girl is trouble right? I don't know why you got with her in the first place…. she's done nothing but be a pain in my ass." Kaila said, while glaring a bit, closing her eyes and looking away.

" *sigh* I'm kind of starting to wonder the same thing…." Tomomi said with more regret in his voice.

"Maybe you should try and make it work. Personally I want it to fall n' crumble so that girl can get her own comeuppance." Kaila said.

"I thought you were over that?" Tomomi said back to her.

"Hey I am! I just…. don't like the girl that much afterwards. She nearly ended out friendship…" She said while looking down.

Tomomi grabbed Kaila's hand and held it up. "Hey…...nothing…and I mean NOTHING can break our friendship. I promise you that." Tomomi said, giving her a comforting smile.

Kaila then just looks down and blushes slightly…. "Just like how you promised…. a long time ago. Huh?" She said while looking up at him.

"Yeah….I know that what Amuki did was kind of a bad, detrimental thing that nearly turned me against you…..but…You also had a part in that as well. We have to keep it together Kaila. Through the good times, and the bad times. Don't let someone else ruin your relationship with others. That's why I can't just stop being your friend eh-" Tomomi stopped speaking, feeling as though he said too much.

"Did she tell you?..." Kaila said without truly finishing the sentence.

"…..Yeah….She doesn't even trust me…..but y'know what?" Tomomi said while looking down at her as they continued to walk.

"What?" Kaila asked him, followed by the tousling of her midnight blue hair.

"You'll always be my Midnight Bliss. If she doesn't want us to be friends, she's gonna have to deal with it. Besides, I can try to make it work. I've done worse things that haven't worked out! So this should be no problem." Tomomi's relentless positivity and can-do attitude really helped Kaila through a lot when she was a kid. He's one of the main reasons she's a bit stronger as a person.

Kaila uttered a slight giggle and then smile at her best friend. "Thanks Tomomi!" The two of them couldn't really stop smiling at each other. They stopped suddenly and shared a nice, warm hug. Right before Kaila realized….

"Oh wait! We're already home." Kaila giggled slightly as she let Tomomi go. "Well I'll see you tomorrow Tomomi! Get home safe ok?" She turned to leave, but then Tomomi stopped her and grabbed her hand.

"Wait Kaila!...Ummmmm…" Kaila turned around and looked at Tomomi. "What's up?" She said. Her slightly creepy, yet ravishing yellow eyes glowed vibrantly in the moonlight, as Tomomi blushed and swallowed at the sight of such beauty.

"Uhhhh….The night is still young y'know and…. You maybe wanna just go up to Takuro Gardens and do the usge?" The "Usge" meaning watch the stars. One of their favorite pastimes as children.

"Well….If I call mom and tell her I'm there she won't have any problems…Ok su-" Kaila was about to accept his proposal, when all of the sudden….A creepy sounding voice started talking to her inside her mind….

COME INSIDE….

Kaila started to tense up, then look around her wondering where that voice came from. "Kaila?...you ok?" Tomomi asked his friend.

UP HERE!

The Voice elevated it's volume and shifted its tone into scaring Kaila so she'd look behind herself. Jack was standing there….in her window, creepily staring down at her with his glowing yellow eyes…..

WE HAVE BUSINESS….

"Kaila!" Tomomi said to her, snapping Kaila out of her trance-like panic attack. Kaila then looked back to Tomomi…

"What's wrong with you? You ok? Did you see something?" Kaila looked down and changed her look from happy to sad.

"Uhm…yeah…Tomomi I'm sorry but…there's something…. Personal I have to attend too. I'm afraid I can't join you tonight." She said, sounding slightly down about it.

"What? Why not? Can't it wait?" He asked her.

"I'm afraid not….Sorry. I'll see you tomorrow?" She asked him while still having her head down, but looking right up at him.

Tomomi simply sighed and said "*sigh* Alright….I guess I'll see you in the morning. Later then."

Kaila then threw her arms around Tomomi's neck and hugged him sweetly. "Thank you Tomomi. I'll see you later ok?" Tomomi was so taken aback by this, that he didn't even mind her declining his offer now. He also blushed like crazy and returned the hug with an equal amount of sweetness. And….is she lifting her leg up?

"Yeah…..I'll see you tomorrow." With that, Tomomi left and walked away, back to Mt. Takuro in order to go home. Kaila then turned around and looked in the window again, and this time she didn't see Jack there. He was gone without a trace.

"What?... Is my mind starting to play tricks on me?...Or is it Jack that's doing that? Like he always does?" Kaila then turned around as she heard footsteps.

"It would be the latter Sheila." Jack was standing right in front of her, and peered into her face, making her jump backwards, scaring her half to death.

Jack simply laughed at her fear as if he was playing a practical joke. "JACK! YOU ASSHOLE! DON'T DO THAT!" Jack's insipid laughter echoed throughout the night, as we now see only the moon, and Tomomi looking up at said moon…. Alone for the night.

"…I wonder….what could she truly be hiding?..."

********

As the moon continued to shine down on Kaila's residence, her and Jack now were inside of her room. Where Jack alerted her of the situation.

"Jack you could've call me or something?! Did you have to come in when my best friend was about to invite me to watch the stars with him?" Kaila said, visually mad at Jack for interrupting one of her favorite things to do with Tomomi.

"Excuse me Princess. My job ain't to carve you an easy road to slackin'. I don't f**k with that bunch of folley, so get your ass in gear. We've got a job to do remember?" Jack said as he laid on her bed with his arms folded.

"What kind of job are you talking about?! It can't be more killing demons and crap. I think I've had enough of that for one week thank you! And WHY THE HELL ARE YOU LAYING ON MY BED?!" Kaila said visually yelling at him.

"Hey. It's comfy. Honestly I'm wonderin' how you still have those nightmares. Heheheh….." Jack chuckled.

"Rrrrggh. Stop being a smart-ass. What's the mission at hand now?" Kaila said while putting her hands on her hips.

"There's a disturbance in the castle of nightmares, creature have invaded the castle, and Lord Death is puttin' us in charge of puttin' 'em down. Strangely though, they're not demons. They're actually hollows themselves." This left Kaila confused. Hollows killing other hollows? In the castle of nightmares no less?

"Wait…hollows attacking other hollows in the castle of nightmares? How does that make sense? Hollows aren't supposed to be evil are they?" Kaila asked Jack.

"Some Hollows are capable of turnin' face n' heel *snaps fingers* like that. Hollows are meant to represent the visible middle spectrum of moral standards. They're neutral. They can be either good or evil dependin' on where they're royalties lie. And some might even turn against they're bretheren. That's why the grim reaper keeps everythin' in check. Get your knickers on Reaper girl, daddy's gonna see you again." Jack said while smirking.

Kaila simply folded her arms and looked away with a slight sneer. "Hmph…...he's NOT my father. I don't care what you say." She said.

Jack jumped off of Kaila's bed and walked to the left, where there was more space in her room. "Keep tellin' yourself that Midnight Bliss." Jack then conjured a blue puff of smoke and a blue pumpkin bomb appeared in his hand. He then tossed it in the air and it exploded, releasing a ripple in the astral plane of existence itself, creating what looked like a portal.

The portal flustered and made the wind blow in Kaila's room, as Kaila covered herself with her arms and then looked at the open portal in her room. She could not believe what she was seeing….

"What is that?!" He asked her with her voice elevating. Her mother could actually hear her downstairs, as she was reading an unknown book of some kind. It was a white book that was blank on the back cover. Once she heard the explosion upstairs, she immediately put her book down and scurried upstairs. "Kaila?...Kaila honey are you okay?!"

"Don't worry midnight! Nothin' wrong 'ere! Just a spirit portal to the netherworld…...ladies first….Heheheheh." Kaila looked into the portal and walked in, as Jack motioned her to go inside and closed the spirit portal once he went inside as well.

Meanwhile Tomomi was still busy watching the stars, still perplexed as to why Kaila didn't accept his invitation. Especially when it seemed like she was about too.

"The nighttime skies are so dark and lonely without her here with me…...I can't assume the worst case scenario…...but…. something's going on. Is she down on herself? Are the nightmares re-occuring? Is she-" While Tomomi was thinking, he heard a slight ringing in his pocket. This was his cell phone, and someone was calling him in a frenzy.

"Hello?...Ms. Amiyuki?...What's wrong-…..No she's not with me….WHAT?! She's gone?! O-o-ok! Stay there! I'm on my way to try and help find her! *hangs up* Dammit Kaila!" Tomomi then got up, went inside his house and got his Jacket, and ran down the mountain as fast as he could, bypassing an old lady nearby.

This old lady was Kaila's and Tomomi's master and Tomomi's grandmother. They both just called her "Grandma Takuro". She simply smiled from her old lips and said…

" Keep going deep Tomomi….you'll find what you need eventually."

***********

Now it is time to return to the Dark and mystifying world of Purgatory. Flash forward to the castle of nightmares where Kaila & Jack enter across the bridge and into the large, intimidating castle itself. Kaila was out of her Zetsu Release form, since she hasn't mastered Shokanju yet, and looked around the castle with Jack in order to find and answer Lord Death's distress signal.

"I can smell that the air is thick with blood, and darkness. Somethin's amiss." Kaila looked at Jack with a silly look on her face, as if she's saying "Really bro?"

"Isn't this castle always thick with blood and darkness?" She said like it was obvious.

"Not the kind of darkness your thinkin' of. It's an evil type of darkness, it's feral, hostile, I also smell the blood of the others…" He said while turning to her with a serious look on his face.

"*gasp* blood of the others?...That means that Amuki's in danger!"She said with much worry in her voice. If there's anyone she cares about in this world, it's the cute little witch ling that helped her deal with all of this creepy madness in the first place.

"Exactly. I'll go find her. You find Steinman and the others. Keep your eyes peeled for the creatures as well, they might attack out of nowhere so keep your wits about ya'. And be ready to throw down at a moment's notice." Jack warned her, as he started walking away.

"But wait Jack! I don't know my way around this scary place! HEY! Come back!" She said as Jack continued to walk off into the shadows, her pleas were ignored.

"*sigh* Fine. Be that way asshole. I'll just go find her myself and save you the trouble." With that, Kaila went off and started searching, as she walked down the left wing lit corridor.

As Kaila continued walking, the entire corridor radiated with the creepy feeling of the castle itself. It was haunting, with shades of black & blue plastered everywhere, gothic décor such as gargoyle statues that seemed all too real in the corners, walls decorated like stone tombs in which bodies were encased in, it all creeped Kaila out as she walked on and continued trying to find her friend.

Kaila told herself the entire time…. "Calm down Kaila…. you can't exactly get killed here…you're the…. *gulp* Grim Reaper…. everything is fine…" Inside she was still shaking. This world just continued to freak her out.

However as she was having a mild panic attack, she came to a slight stop once her foot hit something lying on the ground. Kaila slowly looked down at the thing she bumped into, and her eyes started to expand in horror…. As she put her hands over her mouth and her body started to tremble. She felt like she could barely breathe at the sight of something so gruesome and unfair…As she stood there shivering and whimpering in shock….She saw Amuki's dead, bloodied corpse lying there with scratch marks and stab wounds all around her body.

"NO! AMUKI!" She kneeled down to her fallen friend and shook her to see if she was alright in a fit of desperation.

"Amuki speak to me! You're the only one in this freak show who cares! PLEASE WAKE UP! Please don't tell me your dead! PLEASE?!" She continued to shake her…but no response…... Amuki was dead. Kaila cried silently and shed tears for her fallen friend. She was now just a lifeless corpse, as her existence was doomed to be nothing in the realm of purgatory.

Kaila's silent sobbing turned into full blown crying, but as she started to cry, she heard a slight growl in the background. "huh?.. " She said with a great tremble in her voice. She looked behind her…..

The creature who attacked Amuki now had her in her sights…It growled lowly and then increased its level of growling, looking like it was ready to slaughter Kaila.

"NYANYAAAAAAAHHH…" it made its move and lunged at Kaila, and tried pouncing on her fiercely. But Kaila was surprisingly quick, and managed to avoid it's attack.

She jumped back and looked at the creature with expanded eyes. "What the?!..." She said, clearly frightened.

"RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAGGGHH!" The creature roared as it revealed itself to her, it was a furry, muscular, vicious looking werewolf! Not like Wolf Arruzanzaka himself, but it was dark grey with… cat ears? And a Cat like tail?

"Wait a minute…..You're not a wolf….Your a-" She jumped and squealed a bit as wind suddenly gusted in her face. She covered herself with her right arm and looked up to see that the "Werewolf" actually had dragon like wings, A wolf like mane, cat like ears and a tail, and the body/ legs of a dark grey lion.

"You're a Manticore?!..." The manticore Roared at Kaila and immediately dashed at her, raising its huge claws in order to strike her down savagely. Kaila flipped backwards with a surprising grace and dodged it's attack, but then was intercepted, as she was pinned to the wall by the Chimera's other claw.

The Manticore growled at Kaila fiercely, as it raised its claw in the air to s***h her to pieces. Kaila looked quite scared, and almost thought that this might've been the end of her. But she looked over at her fallen friend, who still lied there as a dead corpse, and then back at the chimera.

"You….YOU did this to her….." She said out of her mouth, as shadows overcame her eyes and her spiritual pressure skyrocketed. As the manticore was about to strike her down, her spiritual aura came out and she lit up in a burst of black & orange, assuming her new form so that she could finally combat the beast.

"It's back…." She said as she looked at herself in her brand new form. "Alright…... come on…... please work…..." She held out her hand and a black mass of her own spiritual energy formed in its palm, shaping into that of a scythe. She had called upon her signature weapon, the Reaper Claw.

"Yes!... Alright…. " Kaila said as she spun the reaper claw in her hands and then brought it down to her side. "It's time for me to cast judgement upon you. I'm sending you straight to hell for the life of this witch ling!" She then charged at the beast full force.

"NYAAAHHNYAAAAAAAHHH!" The manticore charged right back at her and the two of them traded fierce blows, as Kaila's scythe clashed with the Chimera's mighty claws at least twice. Their sharp weapons created sparks every time they would clash.

"GRRAAAAH!" The beast swiped upwards and released a massive row of spines in which Kaila cartwheel flipped over to her side in order to dodge using the reaper claw as leverage. The beast then swiped down on top of her, but Kaila blocked using the reaper claw's hilt.

She knocked through the beast's guard and caused it to stumble with a powerful swipe upwards, and then jumped into the air and drop kicked the manticore right into the wall.

"RRRGGH!" The beast grunted and crashed into the wall, as now it seems the shoe is on the other foot. Since now Kaila is the one who has the beast pinned to the wall.

"I cast judgement upon you….prepare to die you monster!" She raised her scythe high, prepared to do her duty as the grim reaper and reap the monster's soul.

But then she heard a rumbling in the ground, as something was breaking through right underneath it. Kaila looked over to her left quickly, "Huh? What the-?!" She said, as a giant lizard creature, the same one from before, burst from the ground with its eight arms raised.

"Not while I'm around doll face! Let go of my BROTHEEEEER!" It jumped in the air, surprising Kaila. "Brother?!" Kaila then uttered a pained yelp, as the lizard beast smacked her down through the ground of the castle and into Steinman's underground lab.

She landed with a hard CRASH! And when she got right back up a few seconds later, she was actually bleeding from the head. She sat up on her legs and rubbed her forehead, feeling like she's suffering a massive headache and her ears are ringing.

"OW….that really hurt…..Jesus….." She said, as she looked up and realized where she was. "Wait a minute…... I'm in Steinman's lab. That means that one of these beasts must've gotten him too... Ugggh…. where's Jack when you need him?! Jack...If you can hear me…. which I know you can! You have to come and help me! Amuki's dead and it seems like these beasts have gotten to everyone else too! Steinman's not around, neither is Wolfie, even my so called "Dad" is missing!..."

Kaila called out Jack's name in her mind….. but no response.

"Jack?! JACK WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!" She kept calling out to him, but he wasn't there. Kaila was just about ready to assume the worst. Her eyes widened in shock and fear, completely flabbergasted. Was Jack really not answering her? Leaving her for dead? ... Or worse….could the beasts that inhabited this castle have already gotten to him as well?

"No….this can't be happening….this is a bad dream! MAKE IT STOP!- AGH!" Something crashed through the roof of Steinman's lab and landed on the ground, breaking it apart in the process. It looked like the lizard creature known as a Basilisk had made its entrance.

"This is no dream Reaper Girl! Everyone you know is gone! And now it's feeding time! RAAAAGGH!" The Basilisk charged at Kaila on literally ALL fours and opened its mouth, spewing some type of corrosive poison out of it.

"Ok….then if that's the way it's going to be….. I won't die here! That Jikiniki demon didn't kill me and neither will you!" She said as she spun her scythe around and cut the poison upwards in a crescent formation, splitting the stream of it in half while forming a massive black & orange crescent.

"*Gasp* No way….she's that good already?! What a challenge! You'll make a perfect meal then! "The Basilisk then spit out it's stretching tongue and grabbed Kaila, burning her waist as it's tongue was corrosive and poisonous.

She let out a scream of pain as she took the brunt of the burns, but then lifted her scythe into the air and sliced the Basilisk's tongue in half. "GAAAAAHHH! DAMMIT! NOT MY TONGUE! YOU LITTLE b***h! NOW I' M MAD! I'LL EAT YOU ALIVE!" The Basilisk said as breathed inward to spew out more poison.

Kaila landed on the pavement and gripped her scythe tightly. "Your end is near as well…. Prepare for Judgement! HAAAAAAAAHH!" Kaila then charged at the Basilisk with her scythe at her side, preparing to slice the beast in half. But then she , and the Basilisk were cut off by a voice…..

"NERO! THAT'S ENOUGH!" The voice called out. Kaila stopped in her tracks and the basilisk looked back. Behind it was a girl that looked to be about Kaila's age. In fact, much like Kaila she had a lighter shade of midnight blue hair that was let down, wore a midnight blue dress with ripples at the bottom, had beady yellow eyes with no black pupils, and carried a large gold & Silver scythe with her.

"I will take it from here…you rest….. "The girl said with a soft, monotone kind of voice. "Aw yeah big sis! Show that dumb, reaper girl who's boss!" Nero the basilisk said.

"Who are you?! What do you want with this castle?!" She said as she glared at the young girl intensely, still with a slight glimmer of fear in her body language.

The girl sniffed the air…. "You still reek of fear…... you fear that of which you don't understand. That of which you cannot understand…... I am here to remove that fear." The girl then immediately dashed at Kaila, causing both a gust of wind to blow, and part of the ground to collapse.

"Wh-What are you talking about?!" Kaila said rapidly as she and the girl clashed blades.

"Libra scale….." That was the name of her scythe blade, as Kaila swung her blade with power packed behind it to get her to back up, the girl slid backwards and charged at Kaila again.

"AWWW YEAH SIS! Get her! Show her who to fear!" The girl then traded scythe blows with Kaila, as the two of them matched their naginata skills in graceful, yet fierce skids and blows, trying to get good swipes in on each other. The girl then brought her scythe down Kaila, to which Kaila promptly blocked.

"Grrgh! What do you want?!" She asked while struggling to hold up the girl's great strength. "It is not what I want…... it is what HE Wants…I am only here to see too it." She then kneed Kaila in the stomach, causing her to cough violently.

"I am an extension of him…. So I shall bring to him what he wants out of you." The girl then c****d her foot back and then delivered a mighty kick to Kaila's chin! The kick was so strong it knocked her through the ceiling up above and into the Chamber of Tomorau.

Kaila was beaten and bloodied underneath some rubble, as she got up, rubbed her head again weakly, and had deep shadows over her eyes….

The girl then appeared there seemingly as a shadow by simply teleporting into the room using darkness. She then started slowly walking towards Kaila, and with her monotone voice said….

"You are not yet fit to wield such a weapon ….. I will see to it that you are equipped. The one that holds that weapon, must make a solemn vow within themselves that they must be able to withstand its power…... You are graceful…. And skilled…. But you are not yet strong. You are only…. FEARFUL." The word "Fearful" echoed in Kaila's head, as she remembered her nearly fatal fight with Jack Von Lantern. She remembers how scared she was and how she wanted to silence him so that she could convince herself that she wasn't afraid.

"I'm tired of everyone telling me I'm afraid… Who are you?." She said lowly.

"My name is only Ziro….I am one of the nightmare triplets. The basilisk & the manticore are my brothers…. You tried to kill them….." She said, her monotone voice growing a bit disturbing every time she talks.

"Yeah….well I can understand you protecting your own…..but if you think I'm gonna let you kill anyone else in this goddamn castle….. YOU'RE WRONG!" Her spiritual pressure then skyrocketed, as it seemed like Kaila was more amped up than before. A fiery, burning rage was lit inside of her, a rage that seemed to want to do only two things, protect anyone that isn't dead, and get revenge for Amuki's death.

"Then come…" She asked her. As Ziro immediately came at her again, the two skidded their blades and swung hard at each other creating a very loud CLANG! Sound.

Kaila continued trading fierce scythe swings with Ziro back and forth, as Ziro swing at her with a wave of darkness flowing from her blade. Kaila jumped up with her scythe raised high in the air right over Ziro, as Ziro was caught off guard after realizing that the attack she used didn't kill Kaila.

"Reaper….. CLAW!" Her signature colored reishi had enveloped her blade, and she swung it down on Ziro, causing a black & orange claw wave of reishi energy to storm and overwhelm her.

"…She is capable after all…" Ziro grunted, and was brought to her knees. As Kaila breathed inward and outward, a strange blackness enveloped her blade. What looked like flames was now covering the tip of the reaper claw.

"It's time…..time for your judgement! You're going straight to hell!" Kaila ran at Ziro with intense speed and then cut right through her, with her body burning up completely in the crossfire. She was reduced to nothing but ashes afterwards…..

Kaila stood there and dropped her weapon….she had won….but the victory was bittersweet. "Dammit…Damn it all…. what's the point?... She's dead…. THEY'RE ALL DEAD!" Kaila started to cry….Since Jack wasn't around she had no way to get home either, so now….she was stuck here.

"Even worse…..i'm stuck here….. if Jack isn't around, how will I get home? What can I do? ... Where am I supposed to go?! Someone please just end this stupid nightmare already!" Kaila's screams echoed throughout the chamber. But suddenly, she heard a pleasant….. and strangely familiar voice.

"Ok! It's all over now. That's enough!" Kaila opened her crying eyes and looked up from her knees to see Amuki standing there, right in front of her.

"Wow, I'm impressed Kaila! I didn't think you were this good. You learn so quick!" She said while smiling at her. Kaila's face lit up upon seeing her, she got off of her feet and hugged her friend.

"Amuki…. You're alive! Thank goodness….." She said as she hugged her.

"Of course I'm alive dummy!" Kaila peeled back a bit in confusion with her arms still on Amuki's shoulders

"Wait…. What do you mean by that?" She asked her while slightly raising an eyebrow.

"She never died." Another familiar, creepy sounding, raspy voice said to her as Kaila turned left.

"JACK?!" Jack was standing there with his arms folded, giving her a slight smirk. "G'day. And good job on holdin' your own against those li'le rascals." He said to her.

"WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN?! I COULD'VE DIED YOU JERK!" Kaila said while making a comical angry anime face and pointing at him.

"Naaaah. I wouldn't let that happen. I didn't come for ya' because Lord Death demanded that we set this li'le thing up for ya'. This was merely an exercise." Kaila's eyes turned to blank circles.

"AN…..EXERCISE?..." She said completely flabbergasted and puzzled at the same time.

"Yeah! Come and meet the nightmare triplets. They are so adorable!" Amuki scooted over as two of the three nightmare triplets came into view.

Nero was now a human looking boy with an incredibly small body, and a big head. He wore a sophisticated suit with blue snake skin covering it.

"Hi there! I'm Nero, the big ol' lizard you fought! I wasn't really going to eat you. But you did taste good, so I may consider." Nero gave her a sadistically funny smile which both creeped and frustrated the hell out of Kaila.

"What?..." She said while trembling slightly in her voice.

"Stop it Nero! She's not our enemy anymore. Oh Hi! I'm Kiro! I'm a kitty! Nyahnaa?" Kiro was a little boy with Cat ears and a cat like tail, he had a round hairstyle that was poofy with some extensions that go down to his waist.

"Wait…where's the third one? Ziro? *gasp*-" Kaila was about to assume she killed her, but Jack chimed back with. "Don't go jumpin' to conclusions Midnight. Look." Jack pointed to in front of himself.

A dark, black mass of reishi formed and created a little chibi version of Nero herself, with a miniature version of her scythe on her back. "Hello….." Still as monotone and disturbing as she was before.

"WHAAAAAAAAAT?! You mean this entire time you guys were just playing me?! I thought Amuki was literally dead!" She said, visibly angry.

"Oh of course not. You think these li'le buggars would be able to actually ERASE us from existence? Don't be so stupid midnight. Plus, if these kids were to lay a hand on 'er, I'd skewer their hollow behinds." Jack said while pointing to them with his thumb.

"To be fair, it wasn't our idea. It was Lord Death's. He presented me as a corpse to make you believe I was dead. He wanted to see what would happen if you were put in a situation in which you had to face a real hollow. No one actually died, in fact. If anyone made it in here they'd go insane from the nightmares this castle would give them! I hope you can forgive us Kaila, no hard feelings right?" She said with cheer while a bright smile laid on her face.

Kaila simply scowled and said… "MMMMMMMMMHHHGGGGHHHHH…YOU GUYS ARE f*****g ASSHOOOOOOOOOOOLES!"

.: TO BE CONTINUED :.