Hollows Eve

Eve of the Witch Queen

.: HOLLOWS EVE CHAPTER 25 :.

The nighttime sky was a very bright & colorful midnight blue, but it was definitely no ordinary sky. Brilliant colors danced across it like the northern lights that light up the night in the nether regions of our own world. This was the magic of the Tejiran Kingdom, where witch hollows lived. Witch hollows are the true ironic beauty of the underworld, for when you think of witches, you think of absolutely butt-ugly hags.

The witches of this world embraced beauty, grace, and magic. It flowed throughout the sky above, protecting them and watching over them. Lord knows they need it now more than ever….because this was unfortunately only the beginning of the peril that the witchling hollows would face at the hands of their malevolent adversaries.

“No way…..it can't be!....” Amuki was struck with confusion and dismay, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. It was her mother, clearly in front of her exactly as she saw her before she supposedly “Died”. “You're supposed to be dead…..MOTHER?!?!” Amuki cried out.

Amuki's mother stood before everyone with black hair, a purple dress & hat, as well as her silver crown on top that was adorned with ruby red jewels. Amuki looked at her mother in complete shock and awe, she didn't know if this was real or not…..

“This has to be some kind of joke….or a dream….you….you can't be alive, I watched you….I watched you die right before me when I was a child!” Amuki cried out.

The witch queen gave her no response. She simply glared at her, however something was off about her. She clearly wasn't very interested in what Amuki had to say, also on top of that….she was looking dead at Kaila instead of her own daughter.

“And what are you doing attacking us?! Don't you remember me mother?! I'm your daughter! It's me, Amuki! I'm your princess!” Amuki tried to reason with her mother, but she simply struck her words down hard.

“Silence.” The witch queen cruelly said to her daughter, causing her to tear up a bit.

“A daughter?.....Hmph……….” The queen closed her eyes and said…. “I don't have a daughter.” Amuki's eyes expanded, she was even more hurt by her harsh words. What was she thinking?! Has she gone mad? Is someone forcing her to do this?

“Listen to me, all of you.” She began to speak and pointed straight at Kaila. “My name is Mizuri, I am the official queen of this realm. And all I require is that you hand over the reaper girl immediately. If you hesitate……then I won't spare any of you.” She said with a mean mug on her face.

Tomomi got in front of Kaila and defended her. “Hate to break it to you queen bee, but we're not giving up our friend! So forget it!” Tomomi said. “Wait a minute…..” Kaila began to speak, but said the rest in her mind whilst looking at Mizuri.

“Something's going on with her…..It's abnormal for her to have this….extremely dark aura. It's almost similar to a……” Kaila looked upon Mizuri's visage, and saw her aura was dark and radiant, almost…..like a demon. Had Blood Rose turned her into one?! Was she permanently apart of her regime?!

“Wait a bloody second…..Now I know what's goin' on 'ere.” Jack just had a thought. “You cheeky buggar. Those magic particles…..back in the black castle…..” Jack had a very quick and sudden flashback to when the magic particles filled up Blood Rose's throne room and made the missing hollows disappear.

“That was you……? Mother……why?” Amuki asked with an emotional look on her face.

“That's none of your business. I said to relinquish the reaper girl. NOW.” She demanded, obviously meaning business.

“Well we ain't doin' that. So shut ya' trap about it bitch.” Jack chimed back to her.

“Jack! Don't bad mouth Amuki's mother right in front of her!” Kaila said to Jack.

“Rack off. I got no respect for bloody traitors….and as far as I'm concerned, this so called “Witch Queen” is a bloody big one standin' right in front of us.” Jack said while folding his arms.

“…….Let me talk to her.” Amuki said while her dress flowed throughout the wind.

“Amuki?” Kaila said, somewhat concerned about what she was going to do.

“I know I can get through to her. Just let me speak with her. She's my mother….and no amount of demonic hypno magic is gonna keep me from her.” Amuki started to walk forward and meet her mother half-way across the bridge.

“Amuki wait a minute!” Kaila called out to her. Jack put his hand in front of Kaila to stop her, wanting to respect Amuki's wishes. “Stay out of it…..let's see how this pans out.” Jack said.

Amuki met her mother halfway and had an abrupt standoff with her…. The two women stared closely into each other's eyes, as one had a look of ambivalence and malice, while the other had a look of distress and sorrow, as well as fury and sentiment.

“Mother…..I don't want to attack you, But please……tell me why you're working with Blood Rose?!” Amuki tried to calmly ask why on earth her mother would be working with the sworn enemy of all witchlings, the same person who killed hundreds of witches in one night and nearly caused the end of their entire kingdom.

“I said that's none of your concern-“ Mizuri began to respond, but she was cut off.

“Yes it is! It's my business because I am your daughter! I'm the heir to the throne! Why are you siding with the enemy?!” She began to raise her voice.

“Don't you remember…..? All of the things that that….that horrible woman has done to us?! She's pure evil! …….She killed our friends…..our family…..For Arceus' sakes she sent my father straight to hell!!!!!” Amuki yelled.

Mizuri still looked at her daughter with a look of ambivalence; it's as if she didn't care at all. “Please you have to remember the day she nearly killed you too! I'm overjoyed that you're alive, but I can't feel that joy if you're siding with the person who made our lives a living hell!!! Please mom, for whatever reason I'm sure we can work it out. Is she controlling you?! Is she forcing you to do it?!” Amuki continued to ask.

Mizuri still gave Amuki the same ambivalent glare she's been giving her the entire time. “Come on mother! Talk to me!!! Please?!?!” She yelled at her.

Mizuri simply folded her arms and said…. “…….I don't have to explain myself to any one of you. Especially not some pink-haired brat like you.”

“*gasp* ……..” Amuki gasped and started crying tears….continually being hurt by Mizuri's words over and over again.

“I do not remember anything of which you speak……I work for the demon princess based on my own reasons, reasons I will not speak of to you. You're nothing but a little witch-ling who thinks she's the princess. When in reality…..it is Blood Rose who is the true heir to the throne.” Her mother said……

This even caused alarm for Jack. His eyes expanded and his arms folded as he said to himself in his mind… “What a looney……has she gone off the goddamn deep end?”

“No….that's not true….” Amuki's eyes were covered by the tip of her hat. But she was visibly crying tears.

“It's true…..now you can either accept it and get out of my way so that “I may claim the reaper girl….or….” Mizuri extended her arm forward and released her magic aura, which was purple in color. Using her magic, she called forth her magic wand, which was shaped like the planet Saturn complete with rings attached and floating all around a ruby red sphere. The Saturn rings also had tiny dark blue beads flowing through them, and the entire wand itself was held together by a staff that connected the ruby sphere to the wand itself. The connector was made out of her magic energy.

“You will face the power of my magic…..Now get out of my face. Or else….” Mizuri said, glaring intensely at her supposed “Daughter”.

This earned her sharp glares from everyone else, Tomomi, Steinman, Kaila, Wolf, all of them glared at her maliciously. Jack only had a frown on his face, as he too wanted to put her in her place for making her daughter feel this way. Especially after what she's been through, but he knew something was going on……he just didn't want to intervene. This is something Amuki herself has to face.

Amuki gripped her fist with such immense anger…..she growled, scowled and seethed at the mouth with intense rage, as thoughts of the witchling m******e that occurred so long ago began to re-surface once again, reminding her of the pain….

“This is your last chance brat. Get out of my way and relinquish the reaper girl or else…..” Mizuri gave her one final warning. And Amuki's response to this caused the entire area to turn cold…..

“!!! *grunt* …..Hmmm?” Mizuri began to feel a drop in the temperature, as the air suddenly felt freezing cold.

“Hey….why does it feel so….so cold?!” Tomomi asked out loud. Everyone looked around frantically, but Kaila was the first one to lay eyes on Amuki, who was radiating with a cold frost that constituted for an aura coming out from her body.

“Amuki……?” She asked.

Amuki simply gripped her fist even tighter…..but then opened her hands quickly and grew sharp crystalline claws on her nails. “Grrrrgh….GGGRRRRHH……WHY……YOU……HOW COULD YOU?!?!” She opened her eyes, as they were covered with the same purple eye shadow and yellow pupils from when she fought Blood Rose the first time.

“Amuki wait!” Kaila called out to her. But it was too late, Amuki made a mad dash towards her mother, causing a puff of smoke that broke off a small part of the bridge. She then clawed at her mother angrily, but Mizuri blocked with her magic wand.

“You've made your choice I see……so be it.” Mizuri said, holding Amuki back. Amuki glared down on her mother with intense anger in her eyes. “How could you?! AFTER EVERYTHING SHE'S DONE YOU BETRAY US?!?!?! YOU BETRAY YOUR PEOPLE?!?!?! WHY?!?!?!?”

Amuki & Mizuri began their fight by trading blows back and forth, with Amuki using her claws to strike her, while Mizuri defends using her magic wand. Amuki slashed at her with her right claw, but Mizuri blocked her next attack and then knocked her back slightly with the end of her wand. Amuki came back and doubled-slashed her, but Mizuri spun her wand around to throw her off.

Amuki responded by making her magic wand appear and clashing with her mother, but Mizuri caught her off guard by kicking her in her right side and blasting her backwards with a pulse of magic energy, causing Amuki to roll backwards.

“I already told you….that's none of your concern. I won't repeat myself.” Mizuri said.

“GRRRRGGH!!! I WON'T ACCEPT THAT!!! WHY ARE YOU SIDING WITH THAT SHE-DEVIL?!?!?!” Amuki got right back up from the ground and came charging at her mother.

Mizuri lifted her wand in the air and radiated powerful magic energy. “If you wish to carry on this farce much longer…..i'll be happy to oblige you. The sooner this is over, the sooner I can kill the rest of the ones that keep the reaper girl from me.” She said while holding her magic wand in front of her. “Now Enchantment….”

“Magic Spell #9: Hyōga Senran!!” Amuki made her magic wand appear and used its magic to create an icy blue pentagram seal underneath Mizuri's feet. Pretty soon she found her feet slowly being frozen from the ground up throughout her legs.

Mizuri looked down and her eyes expanded a bit with surprise, but then she turned her attention back to her opponent. “Nice try…..but that won't help you against me.”

“Magic Spell ##8: Junsuina Fubuki!!!” Amuki raised her magic wand and created a giant white blizzard that shot out of it like a beam at Mizuri.

“Enchantment: Angela's Ring…..” Mizuri raised her wand with both arms while the ice began to spread all throughout her body while Amuki stopped a little ways away from her to put all of her focus and attention into the attack. However, Mizuri countered by creating a white-purple ring in the air that swallowed the blizzard beam completely.

She then closed the ring and raised her magic wand in the air and struck the ice with it, shattering it upon contact. “What?!” Amuki said, still visibly angry.

Mizuri's power had increased…..her magical aura was even larger now. She had used an enchantment to absorb Amuki's magical attacks! “Is that all you possess? I expected more from you….. “Witch Princess”. Hmph.” She raised her wand in the air once.

“Magic Spell #1: Zanketsu Raibon.” Her magic wand transformed into a plethora of connected magic ribbons that stretched and stormed on Amuki, ambushing her from all sides.

“Magic Spell #2: Crystalline FREEZE!!” She froze them with her magic power and stopped them in mid-air right before they were about to reach her. And then with one swift punch, she shattered them all, throwing Mizuri off balance slightly and gaining her full attention.

“Magic Spell #6: Crystalline Wings!!!” She then grew her crystalline wings and charged straight at her mother, gaining her crystalline sword along the way.

“HAAAAH!!!” She clashed with her mother and forced her backwards, Mizuri slid, but then blocked another shot from her angry daughter. Mizuri thrusted the back end of her wand towards her left side to smack Amuki in the face, but Amuki reciprocated by swinging her sword and missing Mizuri. The second time they clashed, Amuki kicked at her to force her on her back foot, but on the second swing, Mizuri jumped over her and grabbed her arm. She brought Amuki towards her and then sent her flying backwards with another magical pulse, which sent Amuki sliding on the ground.

Amuki plunged her sword into the ground and froze the entirety of the other half of the bridge. “Oh crap! Get on the other side!” Tomomi quickly said, as everyone made a break for the other half of the bridge to leave Amuki & Mizuri to duke it out.

Kaila looked back at her friend, constantly distressed over her growing anger and madness. Mizuri almost slipped, while Amuki charged at her. “TENRA….” Mizuri managed to use the ice to her advantage and bend backwards far enough to dodge her next attack. “HANGEKI!!!!” Amuki slashed right above Mizuri's head and released a wave of cold energy that nearly froze everyone else present on the other side of the partly broken bridge.

Sliding on the ice, Amuki looked back at Mizuri with an intense grimace on her face. Mizuri simply floated in the air and prepared her next attack by calling forth her own weapon. “Come to me….Zanketsu….” Zanketsu when using the right translation means “Phantasm” or “Slaying Moon”.

Mizuri called for what looked to be a tiny seigan that combined with her left arm and coated it in pure magic. “My magic is called “Phantasm” magic. It allows me to do whatever I want with it. There are no limits on the imagination as to what this magic could do. So if you're still confident about taking me on, then come and meet your demise brat.” She said while narrowing her eyes at her.

“GGGRRRRHH!!!” Amuki spread her wings and then flew high into the sky, taking the fight into the air. Mizuri didn't have wings, she simply used her own magic to fly and give chase.

Once the two of them were in the air, Amuki shot her crystalline snake sword at Mizuri and it expanded towards her. Mizuri dodged it and managed to catch it, bringing Amuki right towards her and spinning her around to throw her into several pillars beneath the bridge.

This broke the bridge down and caused it to crumble, as Amuki was brought back up into the air and Mizuri let go of her snake sword.

Amuki was bleeding from her forehead, but she was nowhere near done yet. She raised her sword in the air and somehow managed to coat it in magic blue fire. “Wait she has fire powers too?!” Tomomi exclaimed.

Amuki swung her sword at Mizuri causing a massive blue blaze to come her way. “Please…..” Mizuri scoffed at her feeble attempts to try and attack her. “Sanjigen Katto…..” Mizuri brought her hands back as if she was about to unsheathe a sword of some kind. She then managed to completely dispel the flames from Amuki's sword by seemingly cutting them out of nowhere!

This made no sense to Amuki, she didn't even have a sword! How did Mizuri manage to cut her flames down. She shook her head and came at her regardless. “RRRRRAAAGGHH!!!” The two clashed as Amuki used both her sword, and her wand to s***h at her recklessly, while Mizuri simply blocked with both her magic-covered arm and her magic wand. The two were locked in fierce, fast-paced combat, trading hyperbolic blows while trying to knock each other out of the sky.

Amuki swung her sword at Mizuri, but she simply dodged and moved right behind her. She swung again and missed, then another time and missed again as Mizuri moved backwards to avoid getting hit. It seemed like she was doing this effortlessly.

“RRRRRGGH!!! WHY?! WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?!?!?! I KNOW THIS ISN'T YOU MOTHER!!! TELL ME WHY YOU'RE BETRAYING US?!?!?!” She charged right at her again and extended her snake sword, swinging it around and flinging it right at her.

Mizuri grabbed it once again, but this time she was prepared. “Got you! CRYSTALLINE TRAP!!!” Amuki activated her trap, as the sword pieces all turned into spiked pieces of crystalline that were bursting with sharp needle spines.

Mizuri however had a counter for this as well. “Tch…..” She scoffed and snapped her fingers, and then……time slowed down to a crawl. Her magic spell was frozen in the air, as it nearly reached her in time.

Mizuri let go of Amuki’s crystalline sword and then approached Amuki. “Magic Spell #14: Zanketsu Nekikozu…..” Her magic arm turned into a pair of Neko-Te blades, and she slashed Amuki across the chest with no way to defend herself.

Once time was restored…… Amuki felt the sharp pain in her chest, as her eyes expanded and she screamed out in complete agony. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!!”

“*gasp* AMUKI!!!” Kaila called out, concerned for her friend. “Stop!” Jack stopped Kaila from getting involved. “No one's gettin' in on this.” He said to everyone.

“Are you out of your mind?! She needs our help! She can't stand up to her!” Kaila said.

“I know that……” Jack said, with Kaila's eyes expanding slightly in alarm. “You think I wanna watch her get her arse kicked? I don't…..but I have faith in her. You should do the same. This is a personal fight that SHE has to settle…..and I'll be damned if I let you bogans disrespect the witch princess by gettin' in on her fight. So stay out of it or else I'll pop you one. Got it?” He looked back at everyone with a frightening look on his face, communicating that he was serious.

Back with the fight, Amuki held her bleeding chest as it had three scratches on it. Mizuri used magic to walk on air and approached Amuki not amused. “So…..are you done yet?” Mizuri nonchalantly said, once again showing her ambivalence.

“GRRRRGHH…..not……YET!!!! HHHHAAAG!!!” Amuki once again came angrily charging at her mother and engaged her in battle once more.

“Magic Spell #11: Zanketsu Ejji….” The magic on her left arm formed into a sword of its own and blocked Amuki's next attack. The two engaged in a sword duel where Mizuri was flawlessly using one hand to control her sword and fight Amuki, while Amuki struggled to even get a hit on her while using two hands. She did managed to knock her backwards and went for another s***h at the head, but Mizuri leaned back and flip kicked her in the chest, causing her even more pain.

“AAGH! ….GGYAAAH!!!!” A strange lightning bolt fell out of the sky from out of nowhere and struck Amuki down into the rest of the broken bridge. “Cosmic storms….my magic allows me to control time and space as well….with this kind of magic I can do ANYTHING I want. So give it up brat.” The more she called her “brat” the angrier Amuki became.

“NOT UNTIL YOU TELL ME WHY!!!!!” Amuki burst from the rubble and came charging once again. She coated her hands in crystalline, while Mizuri did the same with her phantasm magic. The two punched each other sharply and clashed fists, causing an intense magic shockwave upon impact. However, Mizuri managed to easily shatter Amuki's crystalline with her magic.

“No way……” Amuki was in total shock and awe at Mizuri's magical power.

“Enchantment: Evanora's Fall…..” Mizuri put her hand on Amuki's head and sent a magic pulse straight through her.

“GGH!!!” She suddenly started to turn green and felt weaker because of it….Mizuri then responded by flicking her fingers downwards, decreasing the gravity levels and sending her crashing down through the bridge once more.

“DAMMIT! What's with this gravitational pull?!?!” Steinman said, struggling to keep himself up as he trembled under the super heavy gravity. As did everyone else, Jack however seemed unaffected. He simply stood there with his arms folded and watched the two witches battle it out.

Coming from where Amuki landed, there was a slight rumble that grew and grew….Mizuri raised her eyebrow and folded her arms, anticipating what Amuki may do next. Amuki created an enormous iceberg with thousands of giant crystalline spikes jutting from it, and then jumped in the air and pounded into it in order to shatter it to pieces. She then controlled the pieces and sent them flying at Mizuri.

This actually called for alarm from Mizuri, who used another enchantment in order to enchant the area around her. “Constellation Enchantment!” She spread her arms outward and created thousands of tiny magic stars in the sky, then clapped her hands together and brought them down on the thousands of crystals that came her way.

This caused a multitude of brilliant explosions in the air, but Amuki, amidst the explosions, once again came blindly charging at her mother. “I. WON'T. STOP!!! TELL ME WHY MOTHER!!!!” She said while swinging both her magic wand and her sword at Mizuri wildly. Mizuri dodged a bunch of times and simply kicked her in the stomach, then up in her chin with a snap kick. “Magic Spell #5: Zanketsu Kumari….” Her magic arm turned into a giant bear paw that she used to strike Amuki back down once again.

At this point it was completely hopeless, it seemed like Amuki was out of her league. But her anger got the better of her, as used her crystalline powers to their fullest extent. “HAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!” She raised her magic wand in the air and caused the ground below the castle to rumble, creating a large crystal skeleton with a queen's crown that was covered in her icy blue magic aura out of nothing.

“MOTHER!!! …FOR THE LAST TIME…..TELL ME WHY!!!! WHY WOULD YOU THROW AWAY EVERYTHING THAT WE LOVE AND HOLD DEAR?!?!?!? IF YOU WON'T TELL ME THEN I'LL FIND OUT FOR MYSELF!!!” Amuki controlled the giant skeleton and raised its arms in order to create an axe handle attack.

“HAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!” As the giant crystalline skeleton began to bring its hands down on her, Mizuri said her final words on the subject…..

“I already told you….I am not repeating myself. So at this point…..You're much too enraged to even think rationally….let alone listen.” She swished her hand through the air and froze time once again, stopping the giant crystalline skeleton in its tracks.

She then transformed her phantasm seigan into a sword once again and covered herself in her own magic…… “Magic Spell #9 …….” Then…. Like a star, she charged at Amuki with blinding speed, leaving a trail of purple light in her path, and cut right through her and the skeleton she had created, shattering it to pieces. “Zanketsu Yunibāsukatto……”

Amuki had a deep gash on her body and was bleeding badly from the powerful attack that She had suffered. At that point…..it was already over, Amuki had fallen out of the sky, and everyone else watched her fall straight to her demise…..

“No….NO!....AMUUKKIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!” Kaila called out to her fallen friend. Her cries of sorrow echoed in her head as she fell…..Was it truly all over? Was all that pain and sorrow completely for nothing….?

.: TO BE CONTINUED :.