Hollows Eve

Eve of Shattered Fears

.: HOLLOWS EVE CHAPTER 22 :.

“Kaila….I want you to do something for me.”

“Oh…sure dad what is it?”

“You know I would never let anything happen to you right?”

“Of course!”

“And the spirits up above would never let anything happen to you either. They give us strength to protect each other…..and I know you don"t exactly think so…but you are strong, strong like the night. I want you to think about that and hopefully…..it"ll give you the strength to protect others as well. Don"t ever let anything happen to anyone you care about when you grow old too. Ok?”

“OK!”

These words were imparted to Kaila at such a young age, it gave her the will that she needed to carry on. The words of a parent are strong, words in general are strong. They can have such a vast effect on us as a whole that we often forget….that at our youngest state….our most vulnerable…..we can take those words to heart. As did Kaila, once she grew older…..who knew that so soon….her entire world would be taken from her? That"s what you"re about to see today. But first, let"s go and check on our favorite reaper girl inside of the dripping blackness that is the “castle” inside of Eien no Hakaba, where we last left off…..

Kaila continues walking down the corridor with her muscles aching and her bones nearly sprained. It looked like she was walking down a catholic church hallway with all of the murals and glass stained art on the walls and windows. She could visibly see the ectoplasm seeping out from the outside of the castle walls, as she trudged on in order to find a way out for what seems like an eternity.

Kaila walked forward for a bit, then came to a large door that housed the inside of a chapel. “An actual chapel? ……What is this a castle or a church? Does this have something to do with the creator? Ugh…..Whatever I don"t care….I need to find a way out of here…… The problem is….where do I start looking? I feel like I"m lost….i"m completely up s**t"s creek without a paddle…..the entire river is filled with this….black darkness……a black darkness that has literally no return. Blegh…….I have to stop thinking like some angsty emo-kid and find an exit. Maybe if I reach the top…….” Kaila pondered to herself for a while. She figured that most of the ectoplasm dripped down from the rooftops, so maybe something just might be up there for her to see.

Kaila then pushed open the chapel doors with as much might as she could muster; once she was successful she came across a church interior, with the face of Lord Death staining the glass mural. Encroached in the moon"s blood red glow was the mural"s nighttime sky with a yellow moon embroidering the mural behind Lord Death.

“The moon….it"s yellow………” Kaila uttered out of her mouth while holding her sides.

The air suddenly became eerie….as not a single sound was heard outside…..the chapel doors were open, but Kaila could hear nothing. She also noticed that the black spirit zombies had officially stopped banging on the doors of the castle. She just figured they had given up and gone away completely due to not being able to get inside. But Kaila could not take any chances…..

She quickly looked behind herself, and then looked back at the mural. She gave it a sharp glare and began to approach it, standing underneath the light that it generated from the reflection of the mural. She then got on her knees and closed her eyes…..

“……….Daddy…..” Kaila finally swallowed her pride, and gave in. “If you can hear me…..if you"re really my father…..please…PLEASE tell me what I need to do in order to get out of here! I"ve been put through so much in the last few days, and you refuse to tell me what it"s all for! So before I continue……I need to find answers!”

“You are very brave Kaila-chan…..” The room grew even more silent and ominous….Lord Death"s voice rang out from beyond the grave, as Kaila looked up at the mural and saw that his eyes were glowing.

“I"m confident you can figure it out by yourself. But to help you along…..I"ll provide you with one simple hint. As the physical manifestation of death, I control ALL that exists here…..I decide who lives or who dies. I control the very fabric of fate itself. So if you think you are in danger…..then you are wrong.” Lord Death began to say to her.

Kaila looked up at the mural and said in retaliation “What? ……I"m…not in danger?”

“Danger is nothing but an illusion to a death hollow…….Danger….is only in the mind…..it is a psychological “Fear” …….But any fear can be overcome….you just have to find out what that fear is……and face it……..But that doesn"t mean I"m going to make it easy for you……”

Suddenly, the doors to the inner chapel slammed shut all of the sudden, drawing in harsh winds. “What?! …The doors….” Kaila quickly turned around and ran towards the chapel doors, tugging at them with both her arms trying to get them open. But as she tugged…..the black ectoplasm that creeped into the castle from before started to seep its way into the chapel from underneath…..

Kaila felt a slight wetness underneath her feet, she also felt that the ground was getting lighter. She looked down, and then jumped back in surprise…. “AAAH! WHAT THE?!” Kaila crawled backwards; creeped out that the ectoplasm actually touched her feet.

The black ectoplasm formed into a single mass….transforming into a skeletal mass that was created from the bones first…. The bones formed into a creature with the skull of a coyote that had small horns on its head, as well as glowing red eyes. After forming its ribcage, arms, jaws, and legs, it began to collect its own ectoplasm that took the shape of a reaper cloak…..The gashadokuro had entered the castle on its own accord.

“I will tell you one thing…..you will need to defeat the gashadokuro…..or else he will become the amalgamation of your worst fears…..don’t even try to run….you can"t. Because I promise….he will find you.” Lord Death spoke out to her.

Kaila got up and stood, shaking in her dress. She knew she couldn’t defeat this thing, even when it was gigantic. So she started to take steps back as the gashadokuro came closer and closer to her…..

“Nnnnghhhh…….” Kaila whimpered in fear. But she called forth her weapon, gripped it with all her might……and then charged at the foul beast! “I said….NO MORE!!! HYHYYAAA- RRGHHAAAH!!!” Kaila raised her blade and then sliced through the doors of the chapel, completely blowing them open. She then rolled outside and saw that the gashadokuro was unaffected by her attack, as it had phased through using the shadow-bending technique of sakido ugoki.

Kaila stood firm and gripped her blade, shaking it ever so roughly. Every part of her was shaking, her legs, her hands, even her soul was slightly shaken up. But she stood firm and ready to fight the monstrous beast.

The gashadokuro even grew black bracelets on its arms and was fully cloaked in ectoplasm as it dripped on the floor. It looked similar to that of an actual reaper spirit. On those bracelets appeared chains, as it too was chained to the world that Lord Death had created.

“Alright….So I gotta beat this thing huh? ……Fine then! Bring it on!” Kaila feigned bravery and spun her scythe around, bringing it down to take a combative position. She then ran at the goshadokuro, but it roared in her face before she could do anything and caught her off guard.

“AAGHH!!!” Kaila covered her face in order to protect herself, but the gashadokuro swung at her with a death scythe of its own. Pretty soon Kaila found herself trading sharp bladed blows with the gashadokuro back and forth, struggling to keep up with its skill and strength. After dodging two swings from the bladed side of the gashadokuro"s death scythe, the monster then spun around and caught Kaila in its bladed part, hooking her inside and throwing her against the wall.

“GGGH!!” Kaila grunted in pain, she already was having a rough time keeping up due to the massive pain her joints where in. But the monster kept coming at her and sliced up the wall very quickly. Kaila managed to muster enough speed to dodge, but it just kept coming! The gashadokuro forced her backwards with each swing, though she intentionally jumped back every single time just so she wouldn"t feel the full force of the blows that the monster was dishing out.

The black spirit had Kaila locked in a clash, pushing down on her with its great strength, but Kaila finally mustered up enough power to force it backwards slightly and make a counterattack….Only to be blocked with one hand by the gashadokuro. The monster then used its scythe hand to go in for a counter-slice attack, but Kaila dodge the attack and flipped upwards to issue a surprise split kick.

This didn"t work however as she was suspended in mid-air, her foot got lodged in the gashadokuro"s mouth. “You"ve got to be kidding me…..” Kaila exclaimed in disbelief. The monster then grabbed Kaila"s leg and flew upwards, suspending her from the ceiling up above. Its chains then wrapped all around her arms and legs and held them in tightly, restricting her movements.

It seems this black spirit knew of Kaila"s fear of heights, as that was something she personally had to face. Without the reaper wings, Kaila was vulnerable. She had no way to keep herself suspended in the air, so if she fell….or rather if the gashadokuro dropped her, it was all over.

“Let me go!!! RRRGH!!” Kaila struggled and squirmed, trying to get out of the gashadokuro"s grip. But it looked her in the eyes and opened its mouth….gaining Lord Death"s voice.

“You have not yet embraced death…..therefore death cannot embrace you. You still have that lingering fear….” And then the goshadokuro released its chains and dropped her.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGH!!!” Kaila screamed out loud as she fell from high up in the ceiling. “C"mon, c"mon! There has to be a way to cushion the fall!” Kaila said, but then she thought of doing the same thing that Jack had done before. She does remember being able to move like a shadow, and she just gained control over Nezā…..maybe if she focuses….

“Come on….Come on! Wait a second! …… You have not yet embraced death…..therefore death cannot embrace you….” Kaila said in her mind. She then relaxed herself and let herself fall….closing her eyes and feeling the wind on her body as she plummeted towards the ground.

However as she dropped to her doom, her body started to turn black, shadows wrapped around her, and she opened her eyes, turning them completely bright red! She was using the sakido ugoki technique to fade through the floor!

The gashadokuro roared openly at Kaila, rather angry that she actually figured it out. It wanted to terrorize her more…..but she came up from the ground as a shadow, and once her body faded back to normal. She was equipped with a new power to utilize in her fight against the ravenous black spiritual beast.

“Wow…..I guess embracing the fact that you might actually die…..does that remove all fear from your body?.....This must’ve been what Lord Death was trying to tell me all along…..fight with no inhibitions…….throw caution to the wind…..and deny death the chance to make you feel scared.” Kaila gripped her fist, sure that now she could combat the monster on an even level. But the gashadokuro had “other” plans…..

Kaila looked up from her fist and noticed that the gashadokuro was gone, completely out of sight! “What!? Where did it…….?” Kaila looked around frantically, but as she looked around a couple times, she suddenly saw the silhouette of what seemed like a spiky gray haired girl just standing there.

“What the…..?” Kaila was officially weirded out. It seemed like Lord Death was drawing on every horror movie cliché in the book to scare her into submission……or at least it seemed that way at first glance….

“Alright I"ve had enough…..STOP IT! Stop it with these cheap parlor tricks to try and scare me half to death. I"ve figured it out already so just knock it off!!!” Kaila roared at the girl standing right in front of her with her hair covering her face. The girl however did not respond….

“Hello! …..Ugh…..” Kaila walked forward with her death scythe in hand and brought it backwards just to be ready. She didn’t know what to expect, so she remained on her guard at all times. “I said that"s enough-“ Kaila brought up the girl"s face, but to her surprise…….

“*GASP* AAAGH!!!” Kaila screamed and backed away upon seeing who it really was….the girl had the face of the witchling princess…Amuki Nagasaki! “Wh-wh-what?! A-a-a-amuki?! What"s going…..” Kaila looked to her left, and saw a greyed out version of her best friend Reyabe, then looked to her right and saw the same greyed out version of Gajenma. And last but not least…..she saw the greyed out version of her very best friend, Tomomi Takuro.

Somehow….some way…..and for SOME reason….Kaila couldn"t help but feel unnerved. She was once again shaken….but things got even worse for her, as several chains began to impale right through Amuki! The chains drew blood that looked like the same kind of ectoplasm you"d see coming from black spirits.

“AAGH!!” Kaila dodged the chains coming her way by rolling away, and then they impaled Tomomi. Rebounding off of the walls, it also impaled Gajenma, and then finally reyabe. All of them were suddenly pulled towards the walls and wrapped up in chains like little keychains. They were being held hostage by the gashadokuro, who tricked Kaila into thinking it had really vanished because she figured out the secret to becoming one with her Nezā aura.

“Dammit! LET THEM GO!” Kaila ran after the gashadokuro, but it flew away with them and ran down another hallway, forcing Kaila to give chase. It ran down a massive corridor with huge glass windows reflecting blue moonlight of all things. Kaila then noticed the change in moonlight, signifying that she was on the right path. “Ok so the moonlight changed….at least I know I"m doing something right!” All throughout the corridors she chased the massive monstrosity, who still held her friends captive.

“I don "t have time to play tag!!! REAPER CLAW!!!” Kaila summoned a decent amount of Nezā to her blade, but the gashadokuro played dirty and brought her friends into view, preparing to use them as defense. “GGH! YOU!” Kaila was caught off-guard for a moment, as the gashadokuro had snuck through the cracks of the floor and broke through behind her in order to catch her leg and then throw her through the walls.

“AAAGH!!! GGGGHH!” *CRASH!* Kaila went down for the count…..her muscles and bones hurting even more. She struggled to get up, but managed to stand up on her knees and look around to see where she was. It seemed like she was in a single chamber….

This chamber had a large pentagram star in the middle of the floor with all kinds of strange latin markings in the middle coupled with what looks like a double-arrowed cross with 5 arrowed edges in total, and at the bottom of the cross was an infinity sign. Rounding up the pentagram star & the infinity cross was what seemed to be an eye shape right in-between said cross and star.

Kaila looked around and boldly got up, wincing in pain upon feeling the effects of crashing through that broken wall. “Sheesh…..what a cheap shot…..Some useful secret that turned out to be-“ Kaila started to turn around, and was met face to face with the gashadokuro roaring right in front of her!

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGHHH!!!!!!”

“RRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHH!!!!!!”

Both the gashadokuro & Kaila screamed at each other, causing Kaila to fall backwards and back away in surprise.

“You"ve failed so far to fully embrace death……I commend you for getting this far though. A slight fear still lingers in you…..there will always be something fearful that will always fight against you. But it is your duty to combat that fear…..Let"s test the waters to see what it is?” The gashadokuro said, bearing Lord Death"s voice once again.

The walls began to completely fade out, leaving only a black swirling void of nothing but ectoplasm. The gashadokuro then held up the chains of her friends, who looked like they were slowly losing what little life force they had left. “*gasp* NO! Let them go please!” Kaila begged the gashadokuro to let them go.

“What are you willing to do for them ……?” Suddenly, Kaila began to see bits of ectoplasm drop from the ceiling and onto the ground before her. There was a lot to go around, as they once again formed a bunch of black spirit skeleton zombies.

Kaila was once again caught, it seemed like every single time she gained a little bit of courage, this monster ripped it away from her!!! Kaila stood up, and breathed as hard as she could…..but then dropped back down to her knees. She cried her eyes out and sobbed, feeling like she couldn"t do anymore to stop him.

“PLEASE…NO MORE…..I JUST WANT TO GO HOME….I CAN"T…..I….” Kaila had never felt so beaten. There was virtually nothing she could do to stop the gashadokuro from taking her life. It was practically all over, hope was lost.

“You can….you must stand and fight Kaila….do it for them…..the ones you hold so close to your heart…..is that you feel like you can"t do anything?....What happened at the black castle?” The gashadokuro questioned.

“I can"t access that!!! I don’t know how!!! GAH!!!” One of the black spirits pushed her down head first into the ground and kept her there, as they all began to ambush her all at once. She screamed in absolute terror.

“Look deep inside yourself….your memories were accessed once before…..your fears came alive….and now you are caught in them……now is the time to access that fear once again…….don"t succumb to it…..EMBRACE IT. For death is not your greatest weakness…..but your greatest strength. The fear you feel is an illusion! Now look inside yourself…find the illusion! And DISPELL IT!!!” The gashadokuro said to Kaila, as all of the black spirits began to screech and scream while piling on top of her, enveloping her as she reached out to towards the sky.

“DADDY!!! AAAAGGHH-“ Her voice faded out as she was covered in the black spirits…..was this it? Did she finally reach eternal damnation?

********************************************************************

Kaila was on the verge of death….completely overwhelmed by the massive amount of black spirits overtaking her body……swimming in an endless sea of blackness….her body seemingly lifeless…..but her last words…..were ….. “Daddy……”

One last reflection came back to her…..the fateful day….where her and her father parted forever. She wondered if she was about to join him…….And as she wondered….she reflected on the situation…..and it reminded her of the date fate took the one person who gave her the strength to carry on.

Kaila and her father Kazuyama were walking home from school on a cloudy day, and it seemed like everything was just fine. Kaila had went through a rather rough day at school, but she managed to get by thanks to her father"s help. Plus she didn"t really care about school at the time, because in a few days, school was going to be out for the weekend! And Kaila"s plans to watch the stars underneath the white Takesimenisis tree were finally going to go into effect this weekend.

“Sorry honey we have to go through the city this time. I think the best thing to do is catch a cab home. The rain looks like it"s going to start falling down pretty soon.” Kazuyama said while holding Kaila"s hand.

“Awww but I wanna pass the tree daddy!” Kaila whined.

“Hmhmhmhm. Alright you little brat, we"ll stop right outside our neighborhood and then you can pass the tree on the way home. Ok? There"s a certain stop we can get off at to pass right by it.” Kazuyama said to his daughter.

“Yeah!” Kaila hugged her father"s leg. “Dad….have I ever said that I love both you and mom?” Kaila said to her father, causing Kazuyama to change his facial expression to a more surprised look.

“Well….that"s so sweet of you Kaila-chan.” He stooped down and picked up his daughter. “We love you too. That"s why we"re always here for you in case you"re ever scared. Or in case you feel like you"re going to cry….Don"t worry about a thing. You have so many forces protecting you. You"ll always be loved…even if we"re not here.” He then cuddled his daughter, but the rain started to drip.

“Oh my! The rain is starting to pour down, TAXI!” Kazuyama called for a taxi and it came as soon as possible. He put his daughter in the car first and then got in. The rain officially didn"t start to pour down just yet, but it was drizzling quite a bit.

As soon as the taxi got off at a stop not too far off from their neighborhood, Kaila and Kazuyama exited the taxi and continued to walk towards the tree all the way home. “Do you think it"ll rain on Sunday?” That"s the day they had planned to go have a picnic underneath the stars.

“I think the spirits above will clear out the night for us that night.” Kazuyama said with a slight smile on his face. Kaila giggled upon hearing this, but the two of them didn"t notice two ominous gangsters standing by in an alleyway. Like two predators stalking their prey, they looked out and saw the father-daughter pair and smirked, thinking they could rob them for a quick thrill.

Once Kaila & her father got the white sakura tree, they stood and admired it as Kazuyama put up a large umbrella to shield himself and Kaila from the rain. But their little viewing session was interrupted by the people that had followed them….

“Nē! Watashi o noke!” One of the gangsters wearing a tokkō-fuku asked Kazuyama to come over to him. The other one had red glasses on, a red shirt, with a black military issued overcoat with kanji slogans worn open, and seemingly had a metal bat on his back.

Kaila was slightly scared of the men that approached him and her, and she hid behind her father"s legs. “Don"t worry Midnight….i"ll handle this.” Kazuyama gave Kaila his umbrella and calmly approached the men before him, leaving her to wonder what the men could possibly want.

“Anata ga watashi no shinshi no hitsuyō to suru mono wa nanidesu ka?” He asked what they required of him.

One of them smirked and pointed at his pockets. “Anata wa sū hyaku-ri iru no?” He asked if he had any money on him.

“Ima wa watashi wa osorete imasu. Tashika ni anata no tame no monode wa arimasen.” He said not any on him right now, and certainly not any for these delinquents.

They took that as a form of disrespect and looked at each other. “Hahaha! Kono rōjin wa, kare ga watashitachi ni hanasu koto ga dekiru to omoimasu ka?” The guy with the hoodie told the other street thug that Kazu thinks that they can talk down to him. So the one with the red shirt showed him a metal bat, causing Kazuyama to put his hands up and back away.

“Wait wait…please this doesn"t have to go towards violence. I said I don"t have any money.” Kazu said to them.

“Too late boss, you should"ve thought about that when you spoke to members of the bōsōzoku.” The bōsōzoku were just a minor league of pseudo-yakuza gangs amongst many others in rural Tokyo, Kyoto & Okinawa. Yakuza aren"t exactly involved in street crimes…. But those that exist as rural gangs outside of the Okinawa prefecture are the ones that give the Yakuza a bad name. They were rural street bikers who were always looking for trouble. Kazuyama could see that they were a part of the gang, as bikes were seen in the distance.

The one without a bat socked Kazuyama straight in the face! *WHAM* Kaila gasped upon seeing Kazu struck down, he was hit so hard that he bled from the top of his hairline all the way down.

The two men circled him, as the one with the metal bat began to say as Kazuyama got up “Now boss….why don"t I as you that question again…..got any hundreds?” The bōsōzoku gang member proclaimed.

“Ggghh……” Kazuyama breathed heavily and then looked up at the one with the metal bat with his hands on his knees…..however he faked being tired and actually managed to get in a cheap shot on one of the thugs.

“Kaila get behind the tree!!” Kazuyama said while one of the thugs managed to slug him back.

Kaila did exactly as she was told and hid behind the sakura tree, as Kazu fought off the two thugs as best he could. He certainly wasn"t a martial artist, but he was a man who could fight, as he made quick work of the one un-armed thug.

Kazuyama uppercutted the un-armed thug, putting him on the ground, but the one with the bat came back and knocked Kazuyama over his head. “AHH!!!” Kazuyama exclaimed.

“NO! DADDY!!!” Kaila cried out in fear, she didn"t want to just stand there and let this happen! So she went against her father"s orders and ran out to help out her dad.

The un-armed thug picked up Kazuyama by the arms, and the one with the bat began to bash into Kazu"s stomach, causing him to cough up an intense amount of blood.

“No!...Stop! Please don"t! I"M BEGGING YOU! LEAVE HIM ALONE!!!” Kaila cried out to the thugs, who turned around and took a smirking interest in Kaila.

“I…I-If you don"t stop…..you will…mhmhmhm….be sorry. The spirits up above will make sure that you"ll pay for this….” Kaila told them. “So just stop!”

“Hahahahha! Isn"t that cute?” The un-armed thug dropped Kazuyama as they started to walk over to Kaila all by her lonesome.

“What little girl? Did your “Daddy” tell you that? Hmph…. Nē! We can"t have any witnesses right? This place is pretty deserted due to the rain. And it"s starting to pick up…..” The thug with the bat said.

“Yeah….let"s make this quick….” The other thug then started to reach into his pocket and pull out… a gun!

“*deep gasp* ….” Kaila gasped in straight up terror at the situation unfolding…..the spirits up above weren"t here to protect her or her father! What happened? Do they only come out when the stars are out?! Could this be the end before it even begin-

“AGH!!!” One of the thugs got tackled by Kazuyama and dropped the gun he had. Kazuyama then mercilessly began to beat on the thug for even attempting to try and murder his daughter. “No one touches my midnight! NO ONE!!!” He then laid down 4 savage shots straight to the face on the thug, but didn"t notice the other one….who picked up the gun, and then fired two rounds.

Kaila gazed upon seeing her father shot right in front of her….the rain started coming down….but you could see the tears coming from her eyes didn"t come from the rain….. “Yo, let"s go! Get the hell outta here!” The two thugs then raced away and went to their bikes, riding off in order to escape the scene.

Kaila crawled to her wounded father, who was dying right before her……the blood from the two gunshot wounds began to seep out…as it spilled onto the ground right before her. She tried to lift him up….but his body was turning cold….

“Egh….K…Kaila….you need to go….and find a way…..to call 911……as quickly as you can…..don’t worry….about me…” Kaila was crying her eyes out, as she was watching her pride and joy die right before her very eyes.

“I"ll……be….fine…………..” Kazuyama"s voice faded away, and is body had lost what little life it had left. “No….no….daddy….DADDY!!!” She shook her father several times. “DADDY!!!....No….nohohoh…..NO…..RRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHH-

“-HHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!” Flash forward to where Kaila is now, her power suddenly burst upon reminiscing on her father"s apparent death! The blood moon had come back out again, and she regained her powers…the power of the Zetsu Kaisho reaper claw!!!

“THAT’S IIIIIIIIIIIIIITT!!!! I"VE HAD ENOUGH!!!! RRRRAAAGHH!!!” Kaila caused a massive explosion of red & black reishi. All of the black spirits that jumped on top of her were blown away completely, and she stood there in her Zetsu Kaisho reaper claw form. Not only fearless, but ANGRY.

“Tell me something!!! Why is it that I’m the grim reaper yet you"re the one who"s using death & fear to TOY WITH ME?!?!?!?” Kaila dashed forward and swung her blade with such immense power, it blew away all of the black spirits in one single attack!

But regardless the reformed and stormed in on her from the sky, some of which k******e bombed her. She used her sakido ugoki to avoid getting ecto-bombed and began to slice through the ones on the ground. One by one, the skulls hit and broke on the floor below her feet.

“What kind of lesson do I have to learn?!?! I"M SICK OF THIS s**t!!!! COME OUT AND FACE ME YOURSELF IT YOU"RE MY REAL FATHER!!!! TELL ME!!! WHY WOULD YOU PUT ME THROUGH ALL OF THIS?!?!? WHY WOULD YOU REMIND ME OF THE PAIN I FELT?!?!?” She planted the reaper claw"s blades into the ground and called forth a combination of her Nezā, her reishi, the darkness she could control, and even the nether-flames she just gained control over into her hands all at once!

She then dashed and bashed her way through several other black spirits, smashing their heads into the ground, kicking through them and even slicing through their skulls with her bare hands!!! “I"VE NEVER FELT SO HELPLESS IN ALL MY LIFE!!!! AND YOUR SOLUTION TO HELP ME GET OVER MY PAST IS TO MAKE ME EVE MORE HELPLESS?!?!?” She then punched straight through one of their skulls and unleashed a giant beam of dark energy! The beam was so large, it even tore a hole through the gashadokuro!

Kaila breathed hard and realized what she had done…..she had gained power through feeling like she couldn’t do anything to help her friends. This gave her the edge necessary to defeat the powerful gashadokuro and put a stop to all of this. So, Kaila took a fighting position using a tae-kwon-do stance, as the black spirits continued to reform themselves, and the gashadokuro healed it"s apparent “Injury” like it was never really there in the first place.

“Bring it on…..” Kaila said valiantly….and her dark aura surfaced and fluxuated. She"s officially had enough….now it was her….or the world around her that was going down. She knew now it was do or die! It had to be in order for her to survive! To show that she wasn"t afraid!......But something began to happen…..

The black spirits remained still for a moment….and then began to crumble! All of them one by one began to crumble from their skeletal state, and turned back into ectoplasm…..Which surprised Kaila. The ectoplasm began to scoop itself up and form into one singular being right in front of her just as she was prepared to fight…..But then the gashadokuro began to speak its last words……

“Well done Midnight….you"ve grown so much. I knew back then you had the strength in you to protect others…..you just needed to overcome your own faults.” The gashadokuro began to fade away and dissolve into dust in the air….black dust flowed through the air and whizzed all around Kaila. Kaila had to keep her dress from flailing up from the cursed winds….As the ectoplasm & the black winds combined to form one singular person…..

What looked like just a silhouette of a person at first was just the energy output and the aura covering the person. Once the aura faded away…..it formed into a man with midnight blue hair and yellow eyes, as well as a large black cloak, and sleek black clothing that looked to be gothic in nature. He also had bracelets with chains on them, and the bracelets contained magenta-red colored orbs of his own spirit energy contained in short bursts. The man had on what seemed to be a black skeleton mask, but once he took it off……

“*gasp* ……….It…..It is you………Daddy….”

.: TO BE CONTINUED :.