If you guys have ever played NieR: Automata then you'll remember what this witch will look like. I decided to use the boss from the Amusement Park, Beauvoir. Image can be found on google and on my Quotev account.
I also don't own NieR: Automata. Fantasist game btw
I honestly did not like how this chapter went out (Mainly the Exam part) as it was mainly running, I was very tempted to skip this part in total and moved on to the Second Phase. So sorry that if it suck.
Hope x and x Ambition
"AAAAAaaaaaaahhhhhhHHHHH!"
"Somebody help us!"
"Oh God what is that thing!"
"Nate!? Nate where are you!?"
"Mommy! Mommy!"
"*Bark Bark Bark*"
"Where did this thing even come from!?"
BOOOOOM
"It HuRtS. I wAnt TO DeStOrY. DESTROY DESTROY DESTROY DESTROY DESTORY DESTROY DESTROY DESTROY DESTROY DESTROYDESTROYDESTROYDESTROYDESTROYDESOTROYDESTROYDESTROYDESTROYDESTROYDESTROYDESTROYDESTROYDESTROYDESTROYDESTROYDESTROYDESTROYDESTROY! EVRYTHING MUST BURN!"
CRACKLE BOOM
"DDDDDEEEEESSSSTTTTTRRRRRROOOOOOYYYY"
BOOM
"Oh dear…" A woman dress in all white with long white hair and pink tips at the ends, standing on top of a half destroyed building watching the town's destruction before her. Her red eyes narrowed as she watches the witch shoot more lightning bolts to the town before it killing more people in its path. "Humph. It would seem, my child that you gave up on hope and fell into despair letting your soul gem to become consume by the darkness in your soul. I did tell you what would happen if you did. Now look at you."
She held out both of her hands as two golden rings appeared. "Now…our contract has come to an end. Time to collect your soul."
She threw one of the rings at the witch "But first… let's get you calmed down shall we?" The ring grew above its head before clamping down around its neck and let off a blindly bright light as the witch gave off on final scream. When the light faded it showed the witch slump forward—unmoving.
"And now…" She threw the other ring "Time to take you to see your other sisters."
The ring hovered above the witch before expanding in size. A black and purple vortex formed within as it began to suck the witch inside it.
Before fulling going in the witch's once red eyes flickered to brown and mumbled one final sentence before vanishing.
"…Goodbye mother…"
"And done." The lady said as the rings vanished. "Hmm…" Her red eyes gaze back to the town's destruction. "It'll take years before this town recovers. And to think that you'd made a wish to protect it only for you to destroy it by your very own hands. Oh the irony." She chuckled. Just before she began to make her leave, footsteps reaches her ears along with panting.
"Oh?" She turned around with a raised eyebrow as she saw a young woman with messy brown hair and blood splatter around her body.
"You…" The woman growled, glaring at her with brown eyes. "This is your entire fault!"
"What could you ever be talking about?" The lady said in an uninterested town "If you must know I didn't cause this, the witch did."
"LIAR!" The woman screeched "I saw you…I saw you talking to my daughter. You may have taken a different form…but you were the cat that was talking to her!"
"...Oh!" The lady gasped clapping her hands together "Now I know why you look so familiar. I knew I saw someone looking through the door as I talk to Sarah. You're her mother."
"Why…" Tears began to form in the woman eyes "Why did you do it…What did she ever do to deserve this fate!?"
"I didn't do anything. The choice was all hers." She smirked giving the woman a smug look "And now I own your daughters soul."
"…" The woman's eyes widen as the white hair lady continue to talk.
"I gave her a fair warning before she made a contract with me, but she chose to continue with it. She wanted to protect this town. And in the end…the pressure from the others made her fall in despair consuming her soul gem and well…fufufu…you saw the results did you not?"
"Give…"
"Hm?"
"Give…her…back…" Tears began to fall down the woman's face and in her shaking hands was a knife. "GIVE HER BACK TO ME! GIVE ME BACK MY LITTLE GIRL!" She charges forward in range holding the knife above her head.
"My, my…" The lady sigh.
Slash
"Huh…" The woman blinked as her arm holding the knife fell to the ground, she looked back at the other woman noticing a sword in her hand covered in blood and then…her body fell apart in pieces. The last thing she saw was glowing red eyes and the same smirk on her face.
"…Sarah…"
"…" The lady looked down at the corpse before putting her sword back in its sheath "What a tragic end. Even till this day I can't understand humans." She jumps off the roof making her sleeveless jacket to flutter up and on her lower back was a twelve legged spider with a web drawn in the middle.
Upon landing on the ground she began to make her way through the woods. It wasn't long till she came to a halt. "Did you enjoy the show, Shalnark?"
A shadow formed within the tress before stepping out in the light. "Man…it sure is hard to hide from you, huh, Lyza."
"Heh." A smirked formed on Lyza face.
"The Hunter Exam will now begin!"
"I am Satotz, the Phase One examiner. You must follow me to Phase Two."
"This is the exam's First Phase."
Two hours have passed since the start of the exam. The applicants have traveled over thirty kilometers from the start. None of them knows how far they must go. They are forced to run at the leader's pace, with no goal specified. It's a monotonous course with no end in sight. And many applicants have already dropped out.
"Haah…haah…haah…" Leorio is already beginning to feel the strain on his body as he continued to run 'I underestimated the Hunter Exam. Every person here is a monster. It's a gathering of monsters…' In the corner of his eye he saw a sliver head kid…ridding a skateboard! What the hell! "Hey! Wait up, kid!" He yelled.
"Hmm?" The kid looked over to him.
"You should show the Hunter Exam some respect!"
"What do you mean?"
"Why are you using a skateboard? That's cheating!" He pointed to the board.
The kid look at his board then back to Leorio "Why?"
"Why…" Leorio growled "This is an endurance test!"
"No, it's not."
"Huh?" Leorio turn his head to glare at Gon "Gon, what are you saying?"
"Honestly, Leorio…" Nagisa sigh as she ran beside Gon "The examiner never gave out any rules on what we can or can't do. All he said was to follow him."
"Hey! Who side are you on!?"
"The one that knows the rules, dumbass."
"Hey…" The silver hair kid begins as he moved back a bit. "how old are you guys?"
"I'm twelve years old." Gon said.
"Same." Nagisa replied.
"Hmm…" The kid hums with interest. 'We're the same age.' He jumps off his skateboard, catching it as he began to run beside them. "Guess I'll run too."
"Wow." Gon said in awe. "That was cool!"
"I'm Killua." Killua introduce himself.
"I'm Gon."
"Name's Nagisa."
A few feet behind them Leorio could only curse in his head as he watches the three brats run ahead of him.
I couldn't help but let that smile form on my face as the three of us talk about the littlest things. 'Finally.' I thought 'I finally meet the main characters…now the story can really begin.'
"Hey Nagisa." Killua called out.
"Yeah."
"Is that your real hair color?" He pointed to my hair with a smirk on his face.
Don't know why, but I felt my eyebrow twitch at his smirk. "Yes, it is."
"Ohh~" His smirk grew "Then is it okay if I call you 'Old Hag'?"
…
…
This braaaaaaatttttt!
"Who the hell are you calling 'Old Hag', Old Man!?"
The smirk on Killua face was instantly wiped off as he glared at me. Hah! How do you like that, you damn brat!?
"Old Man!?"
"Yeah because of your gray hair." I smugly said.
"It's silver!"
"Doesn't look like that to me~"
"Uh guys…please don't fight." Gon spoke but then a sweatdrop rolled down his head as we both turn to him.
"Stay of it Gon!" We said before glaring at each other. One could practically see sparks coming out of our eyes.
…Something tells me that I might try to kill this kid by the end of the day…no before this phase is even over. Calling me old hag; I'll have you know that I'm 32 year old woman trap in a kid's body. I am in no shape or form a 'hag'.
"So tell me Shalnark, what brings you here down to these parts?" Lyza asked.
"It's kinda hard to ignore one of your witches, destroying a town. I thought I'd drop by and say hello."
"That's not the full truth now is it."
The smile on Shalnark face fell a little. "Boss wanted me to check up on you. We knew that witch was not one of yours, so it had to be a new one and it ran on rampage right?" Lyza nodded. "He wanted to make sure you were unharmed."
"How sweet of him." Lyza crossed her arms of her chest. "And he couldn't come and see me himself? I'm hurt."
"The Boss is a bit preoccupied so he sent me instead."
"Oh… so a messenger then." She said. "That's fine; I'll hound him down later. And you can tell him I'm fine. I have the witch under control. Was there anything else?"
"Yes it's about your daughter and your…boyfriend." He said the last word with disdain.
If Lyza wasn't interest about the conversation before…well she is now.
"What about them." She demands.
Honestly how much farther are we going to run? It's been four hours now and nothing has changed. I'm almost tempted to go to Hisoka and demand him to carry me.
Yeah.
I'm that bored right now.
Though I have to pat myself on the back for lasting this long. In my old life back in school, we had to run a mile every week in P.E. I could only last ten minutes of running before I quiet and just walk the rest of it.
So yeah I feel very proud of myself right now.
As the three of us ran I can't help but to notice that we seem to be lacking someone. Looking around I spotted Leorio hunched over panting pretty heavily.
"Hey Gon."
"Yeah?"
I simply pointed behind me. Gon looked over and came to a halt. I follow too along with Killua, though he'd look confused as to why.
"Hey, forget him." Killua said. "Let's, get going."
"…Gon?" I look over to him wondering why he was just standing there looking at Leorio.
"Hey Hag." Cue eyebrow twitch "Do you know what's going on?"
"No. I don't. Old man." I gritted out in annoyance. This brat is definitely asking to get his ass handed to him.
"Screw that…" Leorio heaved and shot off running like a mad man…or as if the devil was on his tail, however you guys want to see it. "I'm gonna become a Hunter! Damn it all!"
"Woah!" I quickly jumped out of the way before I got run over. "Seems like he found a new motivation."
"You think?" Killua asked.
"Yeah." I nod while Gon used his rod to pick up Leorio's case that he left behind. "Hey, nice catch."
"Cool!" Killua exclaimed as Gon attach the case to his bag "Let me try that later."
"Only if you let me try your skateboard, okay?" Gon said as we went back to running.
As Satotz decedent up the stairs he looked over his shoulders to see the reaming applications . 'We've reached the eighty-kilometer mark. It is now time to pick up the pace a bit.'
"Wait, are you serious?"
"That guy's insane. He's prancing up the stairs, as if they're not even there."
"If he keeps up this pace, tons of people will fail."
"Gon, Nagisa, you wana race to see who finishes first?" Killua asked as we began to approach the stairs.
That alone had me groaning in my head.
God I hate stairs.
"Sure." Gon said.
"Why not, it'll make this running a bit more interesting." Well… at least he didn't call me 'hag'…for now that is.
"In that case, the loser has to buy dinner." Gon said.
"Okay, you're on!"
"Heh, hope you boys are ready to lose!"
"Ready…" We all began "Go!" Then we took off running using our full speed that we have been holding back. Five minutes later we manage to catch up to Leorio and Kurapika.
"See you at the goal, Kurapika."
"Later gents."
"Catch you later, old timer."
"Hey! I'm not old!" Leorio snapped at Killua "I'm a teenager, just like you guys!"
…
…
…
…Wait, what?
"Huh?"
"No way!"
"You're joking, right!?"
"Can't take another step…"
"Th-This is it…"
We passed by two other applicants who had just giving up.
"I'm impressed that you guys can keep up with me." Killua commented.
"Really?" Gon had big smile on his face when he said that.
"Oh?" I smirked.
Killua gave me a small glare, which I happily responded with a smile.
"Or maybe it's just that everyone else is too slow." Killua then let out a disappointing sigh "Man… The Hunter Exam is gonna be a breeze. That's no fun."
Yeah… even though I slightly remember that the first phase was running…but now that I'm actually doing it, it's a bit disappointing too. I do hope that the next phase is a bit better.
…Just…please don't let it be cooking!
"Hey, why do you want to be a Hunter?" Gon asked him.
"Me? I'm not really interested in becoming a Hunter." Killua said.
"Eh?"
"Then why did you even bother joining?"
"I heard the exam was supposed to be really hard, so I thought it'd be fun. But this is disappointing."
That's all! He only join cause he thought it would be fun! What the actual fuck, his almost like Gon!
What is wrong with these kids!?
"What about you guys?"
Gon and I looked at each other; I gave him a nod saying that he can go first. Gon nodded his head and opened his mouth.
"Well, my dad's a Hunter." He began "So I want to become a Hunter, like my dad."
"Hmm…What kind of Hunter is he?" Killua asked.
"I don't know." He happily response.
"Huh?" Killua looked at him in surprise before laughing out loud. "That's kinda weird."
"Yeah…trust me Killua; I thought the same thing when he told me." I said.
"Really?" Gon asked.
"You want to be like your dad, but you don't know anything about him?" Killua told him.
"I was raised by Mito-san, so I've only seen my dad in pictures."
"Who's Mito-san?" Killua asked.
Mito-san…wait isn't that his Aunt. I think he mention her back on Whale Island.
"Aunt Mito."
"Oh…"
"When he was twelve, my dad took the Hunter Exam. He passed and became a Hunter. Then he left the island. I want to find out why he chose to be a Hunter over being with me."
"Hmm…what about you?" Killua looked at me.
"Oh, well, I heard that if you're a Hunter you have access to unlimited information." I said. "When I was very young—an infant to be precise—my mother left me and my father with no warning or explanation."
"Eh, really?" Gon asked.
"Yeah." I nod. "So I want to be an Informant Hunter so I can gather all the info that I can about my mom and ask her why she left and to help Gon find his father."
"Huh?"
"What do you mean, Nagisa."
"Back at Whale Island, Gon when we first me. Remember when I asked you what you'll do after you got your licenses. You'd said you'll go look for your father and it was thanks to you that I'd decided to take the Hunter Exam when I realized I can get into information that I was unable to before. So this is my way of thanking you."
"Eh!?" Gon blinked in surprise "You don't have to do that Nagisa!"
"No, it's fine." I looked at him and smile "Because…you're the first friend I had ever made since I was brought into this world." I caught Killua surprise look in his eye "My father and I have always been traveling searching for answers, so I never have time to make friends. And even if I do they tend to be scared away by my father. So I want to help, and nothing you say is going to change my mind, got it."
"…" The two of them were silent then Gon got this understanding look in his eyes.
"Got it." Gon said. "Thanks for the help, Nagisa."
"Heh, no problem!"
Just then the hallway began to brighten up more. We looked up and saw the exit not too far away.
"The exit!" Someone shouted.
"Whew…"
"Finally, I can get out of this dark tunnel!"
The three of us looked at each other with smirks of our on and took off. As we ran, I'd passed by Hisoka.
"Meet you at the top, Papa!" I yelled running past him.
"Hmm~ Well she seems to be in a good mood." Hisoka said "I wonder what caused it?"
'Now, let's see how many made it this far.' Satotz thought as he came to a stop. When he turned around he was greeted by three children (Nagisa: Hey!) flying right past him.
"Goal!" They all shouted at the same time.
"Yay! I win."
"What are you talking about?"
"Yeah Gon! It's was very obvious that I'd won."
"What are you talking about Hag, I was faster…"
"Grrr, you are really asking for it, old man."
"Guys please, I was faster."
"No, I was!"
"No way, I was!"
"I was faster, so you two have to buy dinner!"
"Nope! I was faster. So you buy me dinner."
"No way, it's you two buying me dinner!"
"But I was faster." Gon said then looked over to Satotz. "Hey, who was faster?"
"I believe that you crossed the finish line simultaneously." Satotz said.
"Oh…" Gon mumbled.
"Guess that means we tied. What now?" I asked.
"In that case, I'll buy Killua dinner and Nagisa's too. While Killua will buy mine and Nagisa. And Nagisa will buy mine and Killua." Gon said.
"Huh?" Killua looked at him confused.
I had the same look too. "Wait…what?"
"I don't get it." Killua finally said.
"Neither do I."
"Hey, Satotz-san." Gon looked back up to him "Is this where the Second Phase of the exam takes place?"
"No, we still have quite a way to go."
"Seriously." I groaned "Will this part be at least more exciting than running a dark hallway."
"That depends on what you define as 'exciting'." He said.
"Oh…*sigh* I guess in the mean time we can chill till it's time to run again. Anyone up for a game of Go Fish." I asked holding up a deck of card.
"Wh-…Where did that even come from!?"
"Sure I'm in!"
It was probably only two minutes later when the rest of the applicants showed up. Leorio collapsed on the ground sweating like a pig while Kurapika came up not too long looking just fine if not a bit worn out.
"Hey, Kurapika!"
Kurapika look down to his right seeing the three of us sitting a circle playing Go Fish. He gave as wave and tried to catch his breath before speaking. "Is this our destination?"
"No, it isn't." Gon informed him.
"Satotz-san said we still have ways to go. Tch." I glared at Killua who took my 4's. The little shit just smiles back at me smugly.
"I see." Kurapika nod looking around "The fog is fading."
"Huh?" Gon stood up while I quickly put away the cards and following him. And true to Kurapika word the fog is fading. From there I saw…
"A forest…lovely." I mutter. This is going to be so fun.
"The Numere Wetlands, also known as Swindlers Swamp." Satotz said "We must cross these wetlands to reach Phase Two of the exam. This place is home to many bizarre animals, many of them being cunning, insatiable creatures who deceive humans and prey upon them. Be very careful."
Huh…maybe it will be a bit more of a challenge then.
"If you let them fool you…you're dead."
…Well that's a nice way to put it. Huh?
We all turn around to see a metal gate come down closing off the entrance to the hallway we just came from.
"Wait for me!" A man cried out just as the gate closed down.
"Bye mister that I'd never know." I waved gaining a weird look from Killua "What?"
"Nothing." He rolled his eyes.
"These wetland creatures will use every trick in the book to fool their prey. An ecosystem in which creatures obtain food through deceit…Hence the name Swindlers Swamp. Stay very close to me so you won't be deceived."
"Keh. What a joke." Leorio said standing up when he finally got his bearings. "How can they fool us, when we're expecting it?"
"Don't let them fool you!" A male voice rang out making everyone turn to the direction it came from.
"I just said that they can't." Leorio said as he looked over to the direction of the voice.
"D-Don't fall for it…" A very wounded man step out from the wall "He's lying to you!" He pointed towards Satotz. "He's an impostor! He isn't an examiner…I'm the real examiner." He pointed to himself.
"An impostor?" Leorio asked out in disbelief. "What's going on?"
"Didn't you just say you wouldn't fall for it?" I mumbled. The only reason I'm not freaking out is because I remember this scene to a degree and this guy just feels off and his timing is a bit suspicious if you'd ask me.
"Then who is he?" 294 for asked looking at the wounded man then to Satotz.
"Look at this…" The man drag out a strange looking creature though the head had a look almost like Satotz…well…if you take out the mouth that it.
"Woah! He looks just like Satotz-san!" Gon exclaimed.
"It's a Man-Faced Ape, one of the creatures that dwell in the Numere Wetlands!" The man explain.
"A Man-Faced Ape?" Leorio questions.
"Man-Faced Apes love the taste of fresh human flesh. However, their limbs are long and thin, so they're quite weak. That's why they disguise themselves as humans. They trick humans into following them into these wetlands, where they team up with other animals to kill and devour them. He intends to trap every single applicant!"
"Bastard…" Leorio growled glaring at Satotz.
"He certainly doesn't walk like a human…" 294 said.
"Huh?" Cards? I'd blinked in surprise at the sudden move, three cards had just impaled that man and there's only one person that I know who kills with cards. "Papa?" I looked over to Hisoka, who was shuffling the cards in his hands.
"Hmhmhm~ I see, I see… That settle it…" He said looking at Satotz "You're the real one." Satotz toss away the three cards he had caught. "Examiners are Hunters selected by the committee to perform this duty without pay. Any Hunter, bearing the title we seek, would have been able to block that attack."
"Way to make a scene, Papa." I mutter to myself.
"I shall take that as a compliment." Satotz said "However, should you attack me again, for any reason, I will report you for turning on an examiner. And you will be immediately disqualified. Are we clear?"
Gaaahhh! Nice job Hisoka! Try not to screw up again, will ya!
"Sure." Hisoka replied in a nonchalant tone.
SQUAK SQUAK
The sounds of birds caught our attention and looked over to see some vultures eating the dead corpse.
"Nature really can be brutal to watch…" Leorio commented.
"No kidding." I said.
"So he was a Man-Faced Ape, as well." Kurapika said.
"He was attempting to confuse the applicants, to lure some of them away." Satotz explain.
"We cannot relax our guard." Killua said.
"Yeah."
"You will be encountering such deception on a regular basis. I believe that a number of you were fooled into suspecting my identity?" Satotz said "Do you understand? If you lose sight of me in the Numere Wetlands fog, you will never reach the exam's Second Phase. Do bear that in mind. Then let us be on our way. Please follow me."
And off we go with the running…
The applicants have finally escaped the long, dark tunnel. Thus far, 36 candidates have withdrawn from the exam, leaving 368 remaining applicants. Their next challenge is the Numere Wetlands, also known as Swindlers Swamp. The brutal Hunter Exam continues.
"What about them." Lyza demanded.
Shalnark held up his hands "Nothing bad I swear!" He said "Funny how you laughed at that mother's misery and yet be concerned when your family is brought up."
"Shalnark."
"All right, all right." Shalnark sigh "Two years ago Hisoka came to us and asked to join our Troupe, and with him was your daughter, Nagisa."
Lyza relaxed a bit upon hearing that. "That so. What else?"
"Naturally like you have predicated if he ever came, he joined."
"And Nagisa?"
"Boss prevents her from joining. Even if we lose a member he won't let her join. He does not want her to bear the burden of being a member, despite her close connection to us."
"I see…" Lyza looked up at the clear blue sky "So…that's the path he took then. I don't know if that's for the best or for the worst. Did Chrollo tell her yet?"
Shalnark closed his mouth just as he was about to answer and debated in whether or not he should answer. "*Sigh* No, he hasn't told her at all and neither have we under Bosses order."
"So you're telling me that in the two years he has known her he has yet to tell her that…" She stop in mid-sentence and let out a sigh "Good grief" She rubbed her forehead "And he calls himself the leader of the feared Phantom Troupe yet he can't muster the courage to…Whatever, I'll pound the answer out of him the next time we cross paths."
"When will you be able to see Nagisa again?" Lyza blinked at him from the sudden question and the out of character too. Shalnark coughed in his hand "Sorry, I meant when are you able to make contact with her. We know that a shield of some kind is preventing you till it finally decides you can."
"Oh." She mumbled "In two or so years I'll be able too. It's hard to say but that's the estimate guess from what I'm able to tell. I can now be in the same town as her without feeling the push of the shield; however I can only still see her from a distance."
"And Hisoka?" He inquired "We both know that you'll confront each other either way, with or without the shield. What then? Do you think Hisoka still loves you like he did 12 years ago? What will you do?"
"That's…" Lyza begin "is an obstacle that I'll face when the time comes. It is hard to say, if he has fallen out of love from me I won't blame after what I had done. However if his looking for a fight then I'll give him one. It's hard to say till the time finally comes. So in the meantime, tell Chrollo that I won't be able to participate in any of the raids if Nagisa is with you."
"Got it." Shalnark nod and began to turn around and leave but stop and turn back around. "By the way what were you doing before coming here?"
"I was on my way to see Ging. He'd message me saying that he found something that I might like. So with my little side quest done I'll off to see him. Oh and I almost forgot." She threw a slip of paper in his direction "That's my new cell number; my previous phone got destroy in a fight. Give it to the Troupe members and have them text me their numbers so I can mark it down."
"Will do, later then."
"Humph, till next time."
And done. I had originally plan to have Lyza make her next appearance in the York New Arc but since this episode didn't have much to tell I decided to this instead. I apologize if this chapter suck, I didn't quiet like how it turn out so...sorry. The next chapters should be better.
Also you have more hints in Challenge 2 and 3.
You have a bit more info who Lyza really is and some hints about her connection to the Phantom Troupe. Remember the answer won't be revealed till later in the story!
Anyway please review!