Sendo Karite
Chapter One
-Trepidation-
There was a loud thwack from the wooden gavel at the front of the massive room. It appeared like a courthouse, with five witches at the head and the rest sitting around in the amphitheater-like seats. The gavel pounded once more, silencing the room and everyone in it. The witch in the center of the five stood. She was a short, mostly covered woman, her purple witch hat atop her head and shadowing her face. "Thank you for joining together this day at the Witch's Mass." She announced. "As you all are well aware, All Hallows Eve is a mere six months away, and not only is it a sacred day, the moon will be full, and we will be at our most powerful!"
The crowd erupted in applause and she nodded, allowing them their cheers. It quieted down soon enough, but she gestured to the left-hand stand. "We must take advantage of this most sacred time, and Leixia has come up with a marvelous experiment for us to divulge in."
The blonde witch stood and waved to her audience, before taking the spot in the center of the room. She was a gorgeous creature for a witch, blonde locks that were nearly the color of gold. Her hair was in two ties, the ends secured back at the base of her hair so they were circles. Her bangs fell over her blue depths, two wisps of hair hanging low and connecting to her hair ties. She faced the witches gathering, since she had already informed the elders of her plan.
"As you know," she spoke, her voice projecting due to magic. "The most dangerous weapons in the world are Death's Karite. Up until now, Shouten has been our mortal enemy, subduing us and hunting our souls to make their weapons! They are unstoppable, but only as long as they have their Karite! What we should do is form our own Karite, one more powerful than even Death's Scythe!"
"I propose, we take one of our own and form them into the ultimate weapon! The weapon that will destroy Death itself, and reduce this world to chaos and madness. Then we will preside over everything. The destruction will be ours, and the throne ours for the taking! Imagine a world where we witches have nothing to fear, only be feared!"
The witches cheered, seeming to get pumped up, though some looked confused. Another blonde, who had her hair in a high ponytail with purple flowers tying it up, frowned, her brow furrowing. "Doesn't making a Karite require a witch's soul?"
Leixia looked over to the one who'd spoken, since the room had gone silent. "Ah Ino…the Flower Witch. Yes, this will require sacrifice. But a sacrifice that will ensure the future of witches."
Ino's pale blue eyes narrowed slightly. "Yes, but that's why we hate Shouten, because they hunt us for our souls to make these weapons. The first witch to ever create a demon weapon was sentenced to death."
The council seemed to stiffen before looking at one another and talking amongst themselves, as did the mass. Leixia looked around, her grimace obvious to anyone. "Now, now. Let's just calm down. This sacrifice won't be as great as the souls we will need from the humans."
"But-" Ino frowned.
"This weapon will give us the power to rule the world! How can a few lives mean anything compared to that?" she asked, now facing the council, who nodded in agreement.
"How will sacrificing all of these souls make the ultimate weapon?" another witch spoke up. "The Karite become what they are by eating ninety-nine human souls and one witch soul, how will our weapon be any different?"
Leixia smirked, her expression somewhat demonic. "Our weapon will not be taking in bad, slimy souls. Good souls are much stronger, and we will be using more than a mere ninety-nine."
"How many humans will be sacrificed?" someone asked.
"Nine hundred." She informed them.
There was a collective gasp, before someone else spoke up. "And how many witch souls? Surely one will not be enough, unless it's an extremely powerful one."
The blonde witch looked off, not answering right away. "One hundred."
"One hundred?!" Ino nearly exploded. "Are you insane?!"
"With a total of a thousand souls our weapon will be unstoppable." Leixia snapped. "You can't argue with that logic. We will never have to worry about losing a witch's soul ever again. Our people will be safe."
"Who are you to decide who dies?!" Ino shouted back, before there was once again a loud banging.
"Silence!" the head witch commanded. "It has already been decided! We will accomplish this goal and take our place as the world's rulers!"
"The ones to be sacrificed will be doing it for a noble cause. Their names will go down in history, never to be forgotten!" the blonde witch added, earning a few claps and cheers.
Ino stared in horror at the scene of praise Leixia was receiving. Most witches were cheering, but there were amongst the crowd that appeared just as alarmed. "No…" Ino whispered. "This is insane." She looked up, surrounded by thunderous applause. Someone had to do something. Anyone. This was the most foolish thing she had ever heard. She faced forward and watched Leixia once more, her eyes narrowing. She couldn't wait for someone to act. This needed to be stopped, and if she had to, she would do it herself.