Souls to Ash

Chapter 8

3 days until the skirmish

"You ready to go on the witch hunt, Miyo?" I ask.

"What?" she asks, confusion in her eyes.

"You're going on the hunt today, the others didn't tell you?"

"No!" her eyes light up and I sigh before looking over to the other girls at the table.

"We thought it would be a good surprise." smiles Reiko sheepishly.

"Well we're only taking on one today since it's your first time."

"Sweet!" she rejoices cutely.

"But you need to do everything that I say, okay?"

"Of course! It has to do with your power, doesn't it?" she asks, "I was watching you really closely in the tournament."

"Yes, it does." I say with surprise, "I'm able to see roughly a second into the future."

"Woah, how do you fight like that? Isn't it hard?"

"It was at first, but now it's harder for me to fight without it."

"That's super cool." she smiles.

"I guess so," I return her grin, "But we're starting out easy, it's just a level two witch."

"'level two'?" she echoes, "What do you mean by that?"

"Well," says Reiko, cutting in, "there are five levels depending on how they fight and how much damage they cause, alongside other factors of course. But level five's are really rare. Though there is this one mega witch called Walpurgisnacht, it attacked one of our territories," her expression grows somber, "we tried to fight it off, but it was just too strong. We lost a lot of lives and we could't even defeat it."

"Wow. I'm sorry to hear that, girls." says Miyoko.

"Ah, it's in the past, nothin' we can do about it. What's important now is your first witch hunt!" she exclaims happily, "Are you excited?"

"Yeah!"

"Awesome, then let's finish our breakfast and get to it!"

~

"To find a witch you have to bring out your soul gem and watch it, the closer you are, the brighter it shines." explains Maki, Miyoko looking on in interest.

"Okay, I think I got it."

"Try it." Miyoko brings out her gem and stares at it. 

"It's not getting any brighter." she mumbles in frustration.

"Just concentrate, you'll see it." Maki urges.

"Ah! It got brighter!" she squeals.

"See? You'll get the hang of it." Maki smiles humorously, "Look, we're here." Miyoko squeaks in surprise at the sight of the grief seed planted into the side of a wall.

"It's a grief seed." she says in confusion, "I thought there was a witch to fight?"

"There is," smiles Maki, "put you gem close to the grief seed, see what happens."

"What's that?!" she yells, jumping back once the portal opens. We all laugh at her cuteness.

"That's how we get into the labyrinth. Here's where it gets serious. Follow me." Maki then enters the opening.

"C'mon, Miyo." I say, practically pushing her into the portal.

"What happened here?!" I hear Miyoko gasp as she looks at the abstract walls of the witch's domain.

"It's just where the witch lives." laughs Emi, "C'mon, let's go." with that, we walk along the path to look for our prey.

"There are these things called familiars that protect the witch, so keep your eyes peeled, Miyo." says Reiko.

"What do they look like?"

"They look different for each witch, but this particular one has familiars that look like sheep."

"Oh, okay." We make it to the witch with just a few squeals from Miyoko as the familiars jump out at us.

"Is that the witch?" Miyoko asks as she looks on at the small, bony creature as it crouches on all fours, just staring at us.

"Yeah, don't be scared, Miyo." says Emi, "We'll get its attention, you rush in when Kame says, okay?"

"Okay." she states with determination in her eyes. We walk forward and the witch seems to spring to life. It grows from a small monster to a larger version of before, now about the size of a truck.

"Emi! Move!" she does so and the witch rushes forward with a growl, its long tongue lolling about.

"Go, Reiko!" said girl lunges forward and smashes her hammer onto the witch's back. It releases a cry of pain and turns around before slashing Reiko with its sharp claws before she has time to move.

"I'm okay! It's a minor wound!" she yells, to which I nod in her direction.

"Maki! Emi!" Maki runs forward and slices the witch with her sword. The monster rears on her, but gets shot by one of Emi's arrows. I then rush forward as it faces Emi and I stab the creature's legs, "Miyo!" in an instant, the witch is being restrained by her whip. Miyoko grunts and pulls her weapon, causing it to cut through the monster in multiple places. She sheathes her weapon with uncertainty and the labyrinth disappears.

"Did I do it right?" she asks.

"You did beautifully, Miyo." I smile, to which she seems to glow at my praise.

"Awesome, Miyo!" grins Reiko, flashing a thumbs-up.

"You did great." agrees Maki.

"You were so sweet, Miyo!" squeals Emi.

"Alright, girls." I laugh, "It's about time we head back, isn't it?"

~

December 11, 2011

Miyo went on her first witch hunt with us today. It was an easy witch, but despite that, she still exceeded my expectations.One shot with her whip and she took it out. I knew she had potential, but I didn't think she was that powerful even though during the last magic tournament she had hit me with her weapon and let me tell you, it hurt like hell. She did well with the witch, but I'm not sure how she'll do fighting an actual girl. I guess we'll see tomorrow, huh? We'll be trying to recruit a girl by the name of Kei Kiyomi, she has the ability to control people's emotions. While her power isn't much use with witches, with a bit of training she could very well be quite powerful. However if she refuses to join, we'll have to fight. I'm not sure if Miyo is ready for that.