Chapter 54: Witch Ruling
{Sakaki Household: July 28th, 2014: 9:04pm}
Yuya collapsed upon his bed, taking in a deep breath as he closed his eyes with a content sigh. The four-way duel had been fun, the group going in as teams of four each, trying to beat each other while using their new monsters. Gongenzaka had managed to Fusion Summon for the first time, and Sawatari had Synchro Summoned; however, Shay had stuck with his Xyz monsters while Serena had settled into an Xyz monster quickly, as had Dennis with his Fusions and Synchros. Sky had been able to get out Frightfur Raven and Frightfur Dragon in three turns, each of them attempting to Pendulum Summon at least once, but only three of them managed it in the end, excluding Yuya himself.
It was in that moment that he realized a quick tutorial was required, and had stepped up to the plate to do so in a matter of moments, asking everyone to stop dueling so that he could take a moment to explain. Yuya had quickly gone over the basics once more for anyone who hadn't been able to Pendulum Summon before, or who felt that they needed a refresher. Reiji had even listened in on it, and had constantly given him a knowing smirk that honestly bothered him to a degree. At current, though, he was glad to have gotten home, eaten dinner, gotten his bath, and now, was heading to bed, having to get up at four in the morning again the next day. As he set the alarm and flipped off the lights, Yuya sighed, pulling the covers up to his face, curing his hands under them as he snuggled into the warmth they provided while Yuto watched him.
"You look tired," he said.
"I am… it's been a long day…" Yuto smiled.
"Then go ahead and get some sleep," he told him as he sat down on the floor, only for Yuya to sigh.
"Hey… Yuto?" the spirit glanced his way.
"What is it? Am I bothering you?" he questioned.
"No! I was just… wondering something…" Yuto raised an eyebrow.
"Wondering what, exactly?" he probed as Yuya sighed.
"I just… had a thought about what you said today… when Shay was talking about Yuma…" he mentioned.
"And?" scarlet eyes glanced to silver-gray ones.
"Well… what if I helped Shay? So that you could still keep your promise to help him bring Ruri home?" the spirit's eyes grew wide in disbelief at the suggestion, not because it was a bad one, but because he couldn't believe Yuya would offer such a thing.
"Yuya… don't worry about it. You have your own problems, and Shay can still save Ruri without my help… besides, you don't owe us anything." Yuya shook his head, sitting up.
"That's not true! Yuto, you saved my life when Hugo lost control! And Shay pushed me out of the way of the attack of the Obelisk Force Soldiers when they sent that spell at us… I owe the two of you a lot!" he stated firmly.
Yuto looked to the boy, his thoughts wild as he considered what Yuya said. The boy had an expression of determination on his face, scarlet eyes blazing with the incredible will that he possessed as he kept his attention on the spirit. Yuto would admit one thing that he was certain of: Yuya was a stubborn person. Naturally, witches could have quite the temper; however, Yuya Sakaki didn't just have a temper, he had a stubborn streak in him that would make a mule jealous. Taking in a deep breath, Yuto shook his head, knowing that he wouldn't convince the boy of anything once he'd become like this.
"Alright, I relent. You can offer your help to Shay; however, if he says no, don't push it, just accept it and leave him be. Am I clear?" Yuto questioned as Yuya nodded, smiling as he laid back down, curling back under the blankets while the spirit watched him.
"I promise, I won't pry… goodnight…" with that, the boy closed his eyes and dozed off into slumber a few seconds later. Yuto smiled, watching him as Yuya's long day got the best of him, a slight laugh coming from him.
Even before his attachment to Yuya, he hadn't known what it was, but he wanted to protect the boy. There was this pure innocence to him that shined like a star in the darkened sky, and it made him feel better to know that Yuya would be kept safe. Involving him in this war wasn't a wise choice; however, he knew that Yuya wasn't going to back down now that he'd made up his mind, even if it did change him. It was a curious and terrifying thing to think of, and how it would happen, none of them knew, but even Yuto could guess that once they left the Pendulum Zone, Yuya's fate would follow whatever path it chose to, with nothing but the tiniest of details being able to change it if they were caught in time.
All Yuto could do was hope that he'd be able to help him in some way if something were to happen, but even then, there was only so much he could do as an attached spirit, and fighting for the boy wasn't one of those things, but Yuya wasn't going in alone, and that brought comfort to him more so than anything. Taking in a breath, Yuto smiled once more as he looked at the sleeping boy and closed his eyes, allowing himself to hide away within Yuya's body, resting assured that things would turn out alright.
{Leo Corp Tower: July 29th, 2014: 6:40am}
"You need to relax and focus… you're too tense," Tsukikage pointed out to Sawatari as he laid flat out on the ground.
The group of nine had been doing a few basic sparring sessions with Tsukikage, Gongenzaka, Shay, and Sky helping out where they could; however, it had proven that the four of them were their more adept physical fighters. Serena wasn't too bad, but against Shay she was quickly taken down, Dennis was agile, but didn't fair as well as he'd hoped to when faced with Gongenzaka – then again, with a person that tall and great mass overall, who would? – and Sawatari was doing as well as expected against a trained Ninja: this left Yuya and Sky together. It was interesting, as they had dueled against one another before, and it hadn't been very easy, but fighting was a different story.
Yuya had very little combat experience, but he did know a form of combative straight magic, and he used that and his acrobatics to his advantage. Sky had tried to cut him off, and had managed to make him trip a few times, but he recovered smoothly, his years of Action Duels paying off as he jumped onto his hand, twisting before he landed in a crouch, balancing on the balls of his feet as he prepared to dodge another attack. Sky smirked, eyeing his friend as he saw the boy taking in a few steady breaths, scarlet eyes trained on his form as he took a step back and then lunged forward, only to be kicked square in the stomach.
"Nice kick," Sky muttered as he wrapped his arms around his stomach, taking a moment to get his breath.
"You okay?" Sky nodded.
"Just… catching my breath…" Yuya gave him a sheepish look.
"Sorry…" the blue-haired teen shook his head.
"No… it was a good kick… urgh…" the Waking Witch crouched next to his friend.
Sky and Yuya had been sparring off and on for the same length of time as the others, and in a little over an hour, the blue-haired Dyren Witch had learned that while Yuya was very thin and small for his age – only coming in at around in the ninety-six-pound range – he was all lean muscle, and thus, his kicks hurt like getting slammed by a brick to the abdomen. In addition to that, Yuya used his acrobatic skills and slight build to his advantage, being able to recover from his falls with ease, and find a way to adapt the abilities he had as an Action Duelist to the basic combat skills he was being taught.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Yuya inquired.
"Uhuh… your kicks are really strong… must be because of all the acrobatics and time as an Action Duelist, huh?" the boy flushed a bit, glancing to the side.
"That, and I… know a single form of combative straight magic," he muttered as Sky sighed.
"I figured as much. Anyways, let's take it from the top!" Yuya nodded.
"Right…."
The group continued their sparring session until eleven, when they were allowed to take a break. By that point, most of them were showing fatigue, their bodies aching a bit as they settled upon the floor, recovering their energy as the group of eight took in the opportunity to rest while Reiji had vanished to somewhere else. Yuya laid back against the cool stone floor, closing his eyes for a moment while he listened to the others resting nearby him. It felt strangely good to do something active even while he knew his body was ultimately going to punish him for being this physical when there were still bruises and cuts littering his entire form.
However, after their break, they would be beginning magic training, and the mortals would be taking Fly-By-Night capsules for the first time. Yuya had gotten the capsules yesterday evening delivered to his house by Aura, who had shown up with two fairly big boxes, and inside the boxes had been several bottles of bright bluish-purple pills filled with liquidized Fly By Night flowers. He had counted the bottles, and found the number correct and thanked Aura before the girl flew away, leaving him to tend to them with his aunt. There were supposed to be two bottles for each mortal and one for each witch – to give them a boost should they need it – in addition to a few spare bottles should they gather allies.
Yuya had brought the bottles with him and had also been mindful to read the letter that Madame Aradia had written him detailing how to precisely take the capsules without causing addiction and the dangers of witches taking them, which was something he was thankful for. The information had left a bitter taste in his mouth as he thought about the risks of these magic-making pills in addition to how they could possibly carry more than their own personal bottles on them. Reiji had assured him he had taken care of the means to carry the things they would need to have on their person without weighing themselves down too much.
"So… magic is next?" asked Sky.
"Yep…" Dennis looked to Yuya, who was still lying on the ground with his eyes closed.
"Yuya? Madame Aradia sent the capsules to you last night, right?" he inquired as the boy opened his eyes and sat up, running a hand through his messy hair.
"She did, and she included instructions on how to use them properly." The group nodded at the statement.
"My friend Joeri told me that Fly By Night flowers can boost the magic of a witch greatly and give mortals magic for twenty-four-hours per pill; however, if they're not taken correctly, they end up addicted to them," Serena explained.
"A-Addicted? Should we be taking them then?" Yuya looked to Sawatari.
"Don't worry, Madame Aradia gave me direct instructions on how to best handle them for both the mortals and the witches," he said simply as the others nodded slowly.
"Alright… so there are two bottles per mortal and one bottle per witch, right? If that's the case, how many are in the bottles exactly?" Yuya rolled back and pushed his body forward, jumping to his feet in an instant as he went to the boxes and pulled out the paper.
"One hundred and ten capsules. So, mortals are carrying two hundred and twenty on their persons and witches the standard one-ten," he stated.
"Whew, okay… then how do we use them?" Yuya looked through the papers again, double checking what he had read last night.
"This portion is for the mortals: swallow one pill for twenty-four hours of magic use. You should have a symbol of some kind appear on the palms of your hands, flowers, or a symbol that's unique to you is possible. When the symbols disappear, it's safe to take another one; however, doubling up or taking more than one during the twenty-four-hour time frame will result in an addiction starting." Sawatari swallowed nervously.
"There will be no problem for me," Gongenzaka stated as Yuya smiled.
"Right…" Sawatari gave him an imploring look.
"So, um… what will we be able to do strength wise?" Yuya thought for a moment.
"Doesn't say, but I figure you'll have about the average minimum strength of a witch about our age," he summarized.
"Except for you, whose a Waking Witch and has Hecate's blessing…" Yuya shot Sky an annoyed look, causing Sawatari and Gongenzaka to grant the boy confused looks just as Reiji entered the room.
"How is everyone doing?" he inquired.
"We're fine, just working on making sure we understand how to properly use these capsules before we start practice…" Reiji nodded.
"And I suspect that making sure not to overtake them within twenty-four-hours surmises it?" he probed as Yuya gave him a long look.
"Right… but our main focus is making sure we don't do something foolish. The next portion is for the witches." Yuya shifted the pages, and grabbed at his right shoulder, rotating it a bit to get the stiffness out.
"What's it say?" Shay asked him.
"Um… at current, we have to make sure that we minimize how often we use them. Witches cannot use these every twenty-four-hours, otherwise we could enter a drift, at which point we could begin having trouble with our magic, or even end up burning ourselves out for more than forty-eight hours." Serena shivered.
"That's unpleasant," she mentioned as the other witches nodded.
"So, we'll just have to make sure we regulate them. The bottles have a spell on them so that the number on them will go down for everyone taken. That'll help us, and it also says witches can become physically ill if they take more than one every forty-eight hours or so. We'll have a mark appear somewhere on our hands, but it may not be on our palms, seeing as we're witches I guess it would make sense that it wouldn't respond the same as it does to mortals." Sky looked at the others.
"I say we get started, that way we can gauge how strong each person will be with it," he told them, and Sawatari raised an eyebrow.
"Even the witches?" Sky nodded.
"We're in a controlled environment, there's no equipment or anything else in this room except us, I think we'll be okay. Although, I do suppose the witches could wait and focus on helping the mortals first," he stated as the others nodded.
"We'll be fine, besides… the witch I'm the most worried about is you, Sakaki." Shay's statement had the scarlet eyed boy glancing to the side.
"I get why… because of my Waking Magic, there's no telling what taking one of those capsules could do," he said before Sawatari looked to him.
"Okay, rewind for a bit. I get your Waking Magic is powerful – we all saw the video – but I wanna know what this has to do with that Hecate person, and some of the stuff that has to do with all this witch business!" Dennis laughed.
"Well, I suppose some history and dialect lessons are in order," he mentioned as the others nodded, agreeing that it would probably be best to clear the air before getting started on training with magic.
"That would be nice for the three of us who are mortals in the room." Reiji glanced to Sawatari and then cleared his throat to cause him to look in his direction, where Riley stood by his side.
"Excuse me, I meant four," he corrected himself and Yuya sighed.
"This one's a little on the spastic side, huh?" Yuto's statement had Yuya laughing internally.
"You don't know the half of it…"
"Well, how about we start with some basics? As you know, there are fifty types of skills witches can be classified under, but there are also basic branches of attributes witches are also classed under in addition to their skill type," Dennis explained.
"Okay, what are those? And what are the skills?" the orange-haired New Yorker thought for a moment.
"Alright, for starters, I'm a Charm Witch, and I specialize in what my title says, in addition, I also am a vibrant, jovial kind of person who enjoys making others happy. Charm Witches flourish in environments where they can put on a show and use their abilities to make others smile and laugh, as we draw our power from levity and elation," he clarified.
"Then wouldn't Sakaki be one?" Yuya shook his head.
"No, I'm a Waking Witch, and that's one of my attributes. My magic isn't confined to a singular skill, and I can kind of be a jack of all trades, so unless I decide to, I won't be accounted as having a skill title," he stated, pointing to himself as he explained.
"Isn't that a little weird?" Yuya shrugged.
"Eh… not really." Dennis cleared his throat.
"Anyways, we actually have a variety of witches in the room right now. As you know, I'm a Charm Witch, but Sky is a Dyren Witch, and they're known for manipulation-type magic, offensive-defensive magic, illusions, and their massive sweet toothes," he pointed out as Sky puffed out his cheeks.
"Well that fits…" the blue-haired teen shot Gongenzaka a frown.
"I can't help it! I've always loved sweets…." Yuya gave him a knowing look.
"Seems more like an addiction to me," he mentioned.
"No, it's not! Dyren Witches expend a lot of energy, so we have a taste for sugary things, because that's one of the resources we draw our power from." Reiji hummed.
"So, each witch has something that helps support their magic?" he questioned.
"Exactly! Mine is the joy of others, Sky's is sweets, and the Kontis Witch of our group, Miss Serena here… is strongest when she's near water." Sawatari tilted his head.
"Why?" Serena looked to him.
"Kontis Witches are ocean witches, we're known for making powders from shells and things of the sea… we have incredible abilities with water-type magic, and draw our energy from the push and pull of the tides. We're by no means weak when away from water, but you never want to battle a Kontis Witch if they're next to the sea," she stated sharply.
"How come?" Yuya looked pointed to Sawatari.
"Because they'd drown you and make sure your body is dragged to the deepest depths of the sea," he said simply as Sawatari jolted.
"Yikes!" Dennis smiled.
"Next, we have the Risulian Witch, Shay here. They're often known as the Lion Witch because they're courageous and are best in combat. They have a keen eye for body language, are very observant, and their magic is highly combative and ranges from weaponry, summons, elemental types of magic, and energy manipulation skills… one of the most defining traits of a Risulian Witch is their magic usually manifests itself in three distinct eye colors: yellow, pale green, and greenish-blue," he detailed as Reiji hummed.
"Then we have a good ally on our side, with your type of power." Shay shrugged a bit.
"I'm just as good as anyone else here," he stated as Dennis glanced to the four mortals.
"Is everyone with me so far?" they nodded.
"I believe so, you're a Charm Witch, Sky is a Dyren Witch, Serena's a Kontis Witch, Shay's a Risulian Witch, and that leaves…" all eyes turned to Yuya who gave them a nervous look.
"Um…" Dennis smiled.
"Correct! The rare and powerful Waking Witch! I mentioned it yesterday, but Waking Witches have their own kind of history, starting with Hecate, the one whose said to be the first of their kind. She's known as the Mother of Waking, those who bear Waking Magic are often called her children, even though there's no relation between them. Waking Witches have several different titles they go by, but the type of magic they use is the most common…" he paused and Yuya rolled his eyes.
"Don't make a show out of this!" Dennis grinned.
"As Yuya said, the Waking Witch is a jack of all trades. They never have one specific type of magic they are titled under, and are usually powerful and beautiful looking. They possess immense magical auras, and can be associated with an element, but not all the time. In addition, Waking Witches have a teardrop-shaped birthmark on their bodies somewhere, known as Hecate's Tears," he informed the others as Yuya glared at him with a putout expression.
"You just had to bring that up, huh?" the orange-haired witch glanced to the side.
"Well, I suspect that means you do actually have that birthmark?" he inquired as Yuya gave him a bland look.
"It's on my right shoulder, and it's pretty small and dark red…" Reiji rose an eyebrow.
"If I may ask, why do Waking Witches possess those marks?" Dennis sighed.
"Well, in some stories, it's because Hecate cursed them. Waking Witches are so rare because many years ago, she and her husband Cernuous had a child, and it inherited the same magic as its mother, growing into a powerful witch; however, as time went on and the child became older, it saw how horrific humanity was to one another and decided that we were deserving of punishment… because of that, the child attacked humanity, causing great calamities…" he paused, and Gongenzaka gave him an imploring look.
"What kind of calamities?" he inquired as Yuya huffed.
"Ever hear of a little thing called Pompeii?" Sawatari jolted.
"S-Seriously?! But that was what? Thirty-eight hundred years ago?" Dennis nodded.
"Hecate and Cernuous are Magus, ancient witches with incredible powers. They were worshiped as Gods in the ancient world… that child caused a lot of trouble and deaths… finally, Hecate had enough and called forth a coven to help her, and she sealed her child away, keeping him hidden from the world where none could reach him. We don't dare utter his name, though, because if someone does, it's said he becomes stronger, and the binds upon him supposedly weaken… if he were to get out, Academia wouldn't be our biggest problem anymore," Dennis explained.
"That's terrifying… so wait… how do those marks Waking Witches have apply to that story?" Yuya glanced to the side.
"When Hecate had to imprison her own child, in some versions of the story, she wept to the point that she cried tears of blood and uttered a curse upon those who bear Waking Magic, that no more than two of us are ever born in so many generations, and that our magic would never be as powerful as her own, or that of her child. So, Waking Witches have the red teardrop mark on their bodies to remind us and others of what we're capable of and not to abuse the gifts we have," he stated as he sighed, and pulled the collar of his shirt aside turning his back to the others to show them the mark on his shoulder.
It was a bright, yet dark blood red color, in the shape of a perfect tear drop. Yuya's mark was rested just at the top of his right shoulder, and while the mark wasn't massive, it wasn't tiny either, roughly the size of a thumbprint, and looked as though it had been tattooed onto his skin, but just by looking at it, they knew it wasn't. Yuya sighed, tugging his shirt back up, glancing back to them before he turned back to face them, laying his arms upon his knees with his uncovered wrists visible.
"Are those… what I think they are?" Shay thought as he looked at the scars on Yuya's wrists.
"Okay, so… what's an attribute?" Sky smiled.
"That's where I can come on! There are multiple different forms of attributes, but there are three common ones: Strain, Sigil, and Scarlet," he told them.
"And… those are?" Sky looked to Serena and then to Yuya and Dennis.
"A Strain is an attribute given to a witch who has part witch blood, and part creature blood. Shay's friend Yuto Kisaragi is a Shadow Witch – one who uses dark magic – but is also classed as a Strain Witch, because one of his parents, was a Phantasmal-Imp." Reiji raised an eyebrow.
"I believe I recall that, and what of the other two?" he questioned.
"Sigil Witches, are those who bear a mark that is part of their magic, similar to Yuya's birthmark. They make up a decent chunk of the population of witches in the world." Gongenzaka nodded.
"And what of the Scarlet attribute?" he probed.
"Witches who have either red in their hair, or their hair is part of the red color family." Yuya messed with a lock of his red hair.
"Yuya, Dennis, and Aura are scarlet witches, by the distinguishing attribute of having a shade of the red color family in their hair," Sky stated.
"I remember, that gnome mentioned that after we learned you were a witch." Yuya nodded at Gongenzaka's statement.
"Right, scarlet witches have an extra kick to their magic, and normally are associated with an element, commonly with their zodiac sign, but I'm an earth sign, and I associate with fire, so it's not always that way," he told them.
"Then aren't you overpowered?" Yuya shook his head.
"No, even the most powerful of witches have limitations. I'm only fourteen, and I'm still learning how to use my magic, so no, I'm not what you would call overpowered… am I strong? Yea, but most witches are in their own right… my magic might be rare and powerful… but it doesn't mean I'm all powerful or a God… I'm still human." Sky nodded.
"Bingo! No witch, no matter what kind of magic, is unstoppable or overpowered, we get tired, and can only exert massive amounts of magic for a short time… even Witches with Strains can't do that, though they can typically go a bit longer than most of us when using extremely powerful spells," he mentioned as Yuya sighed while Reiji began to delegate the next part of their day.
"I believe that's enough conversation on these subjects, let's begin practicing." Everyone got to their feet, and were given the pill bottles, being given the instructions once more before the mortals began to practice with their magic.
{Sakaki Household: 7:05pm}
Yuya sunk low into the water as he got himself cleaned up after the long day. The magic training had gone better than they thought it would, and most of the mortals in their group had gotten the hang of basic spells quickly, which he was thankful for, considering how horrible it could have gone. Sighing, he shook his hair out, bangs sticking to his face and hanging into his eyes as he closed his eyes, letting the hot water and the herb mixture his mother had made him bathe in work on drawing out any pains and continue healing the injuries he'd received. The last few days had made him wonder whether or not things were going to be as easy as some of the others believed it would be.
They had never been out of the Pendulum Zone, and had no idea what would happen once they left it. Without question, the Fusion Dimension was hostile, but what about the Synchro Dimension? Was it dangerous for them to be heading into the place without truly knowing how they functioned as a society? Yuya huffed shaking his hair out once more as he felt of his right shoulder where the teardrop mark was. It was dangerous; no matter how they rolled the dice, they were heading into unknown territory and would have to face things they weren't prepared to. It was possible that they could end up losing people, or could even be forced to do things that went against what they believed was right or wrong.
"To hell if I know what I'm thinking about, though," he muttered to himself.
It was ten minutes later that he had gotten himself out and dried off, changing into a pair of loose fitting black cotton pants and a faded green t-shirt before he started drying his hair, knowing that his mother would be expecting him to help with dinner before they ate, and he would have to head to bed. The early mornings were getting to him, but he supposed that he would have to adapt to it in order to work with the others and bring Yuzu home safely. Yuya sighed, throwing the towel into the hamper before he started down the stairs, moving towards the kitchen where his aunt was already quick at working on something for dinner.
"Hey…" he paused in his speech, glancing to the side as Yoko looked to him.
"Oh, Yuya, there you are. Did that help get the soreness out?" she asked.
"Yea, thanks…"
Conversations with his aunt had been awkward before, especially once he'd found out Yoko wasn't his biological mother. However, after the whole ordeal with the Lancers had started, he felt a rift forming between them, almost as though there were things that she wasn't saying, just as there were things he wasn't telling her as well. In truth, he was determined to help Yuzu and the others, but he was scared to the point that at times he had to struggle to draw in his tremors. At night, he slept, but he had horrible nightmares, and he never spoke about them, unsure of what they meant, and deep down, not wanting to know what any of this mess meant, period.
"Yuya, is something wrong?" Yoko asked him.
"Um… I just…" the blonde-haired woman sighed, stopping what she was doing as she walked over to him, and placed her hands upon his face, tilting his head up as she stared into his eyes.
"It's okay to be scared… and it's okay to not be fine. Yuya, if it hurts, let it out, if you're afraid, then admit that you are… if you're angry, get it out of your system, and if you want to cry because your confused and lost, then do it. Don't bottle up your emotions, it only hurts more when you do," she told him as he glanced down, eyes burning with a threat of tears.
It felt as though so much was riding on him and the others succeeding. Finding the Pillars and allies, the Dimensions and Zones being fused back together, Academia being stopped, and most importantly, getting Yuzu and Ruri home safely. Yuya felt like Atlas at this point, carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, despite knowing that he wasn't going at this alone and that he would have trustworthy allies. None of that changed the fact that one mistake, one false move, could cost so many lives, or even worse, destroy their world.
The Lancers were the final line of defense against Academia's plans, and if they couldn't find the Pillars and get them to pull the Dimensions and Zones back together, any chances of them putting a chink in the plot of the Professor would fail. On the other hand, even if they did manage that, Yuya didn't doubt that the Professor would have more than one plan in case something went south, and knowing that did not make him feel any better. Looking down, Yuya clenched his hands into fists, tears falling from his eyes as his bangs shadowed his eyes, his frame shaking with quiet sobs as his aunt pulled him into an embrace.
"Yuya, it's okay to be scared… anyone within their right mind would be terrified of going into battle. But I believe in you and the Lancers… all of you are working so hard, and I know when you leave, those people won't stand a chance," she said.
"I'm… not strong… enough. I can't control my magic… I don't know how to properly use it… how can I help anyone… if I can't even help myself?" Yoko tightened her grip on him.
"No, you're very strong… and if you're unable to control it, let it flow through you. This magic is a part of who you are, it stems from your heart and soul… so find a way to stop fighting it and work with it," she told him as Yuya shivered in her grasp.
"If I do that… it'll possess me… take me over, and I could… hurt everyone… I've seen what I look like and what I do when I'm possessed by it… I'm a monster…" Yoko shook her head, crouching a bit as she put her hands on his shoulders.
"Listen to me, Yuya, you're anything but a monster. The power you have can be used for good or evil, but that's a choice you have to make… your heart and soul is so strong, and that's why this magic you have is so incredibly powerful, but it's also beautiful… just like your heart and soul are…" scarlet eyes glanced up to her, and Yoko smiled to him.
"But… I'm just…" Yoko placed a hand to his cheek.
"You're you. My little sister's beautiful child who has his parent's strength, will, and determination, and above all else, you have the ability to touch the hearts of others, even if they're hurting, and help them. Something like that can do so much in a place where a war is brewing… letting people be happy, bringing them joy, and being true to yourself, can do some incredible things," she stated as he glanced down.
"What if I can't do that?" Yoko looked to him.
"Yuya, have faith in yourself and your allies. I believe all of you can do what must be done in order to protect what you hold dearest to you," she said as the boy blinked, tears falling down his face as he did so.
"If I start to lose control… I could hurt them… don't you get it? If I'm not careful… I'll do more harm than good… then what will I do? How can I save Yuzu… if I'm like I am now? Everything… just feels… wrong… like I'm falling apart and this time she's not there to help me put myself back together." Yoko grasped his hands, gently turning his arms to where the scars on his wrists were in view.
"When that happened to you… Yuzu cried so much, even though we knew you were going to be fine. She cried to the point that she could barely breathe… but, the thing is, she said something similar to me that day. She asked me how she could do anything to help you when she was so weak as she was right then… Yuzu pleaded with me, asking how she could save you… if she wasn't strong," she stated, causing the boy's eyes to widen.
"Yuzu… said that?" Yoko nodded.
"You know what I told her? I said to her, Yuzu, what you have to do is just be there for him… let him know that you're always there, even when he can't see you. Because you're stronger than you think you are, and it's not the fall that defines us, but how we rise after it. The thought of losing you hurt her as much as it hurt you to think that you'd lost her… knowing that, Yuya, do you honestly think you're not strong enough? When all you have to do is reach out and you'll find each other," she told him, gently touching her fingers to the scars on his wrists.
"Promise me that no matter what… we'll be there for each other, okay?"
"I promise… and I also promise that if you need me, I'll be there, and I'll protect you..."
"Me too, Yuya… I promise, too…"
Yuya pulled his hands free from his aunt's and wiped his eyes, taking in shaky breaths as Yoko watched him. He'd made so many promises with Yuzu, to be there for her just as she was for him, to keep smiling for her sake, and to protect her when she needed him to. He was a witch, and he had powers that most people didn't; therefore, protecting her shouldn't be as difficult as he felt it was. All the promises he'd made to her, to the beautiful girl with a warm smile and a comforting embrace that he'd always cared for so deeply, and fallen in love with, were going to be kept; no matter how difficult things got or what he had to suffer through, he would see her again, and he would make sure to keep his promises to her, and let her know just how much she meant to him.
"Just remember to smile, okay?" scarlet met pine-green eyes and he wrapped his arms around her waist, and Yoko returned it, placing a hand atop his head.
"Okay…"
"I don't care what it takes… I'm going to keep my promises to her, no matter what I have to endure."
{…..}
Before the day is done…
{…..}
Author's Notes: Yuya experiencing emotional ups and downs, indecisiveness, and self-doubt is common for people who are suffering from depression, I should know, I'm one of them. However, it's clear to me that Yuya has an incredible support system, even if he isn't fully aware of it. Also, the chapters are going to start showing a few additional places and characters, but not much, don't worry. Let me know what you guys think!
Sincerely,
ShadowDragon94.
Trivia:
There is a boatload of foreshadowing in this chapter.
The full story of Hecate is discussed in this chapter via fairy tale form.
Hecate is mentioned to be 7000 years old, so, Pompeii just so happens to be able to fall into that timeline, as it happened in 79 A.D, approximately 3800 years ago.
Red hair has been considered an identifying quality of witches for thousands of years. Accounts of magic and witches with red hair goes all the way back to the 1300s, and even further back then that. According to some historians, Druids would dye their hair red during some rituals.
