A/N: This chapter and the previous were supposed to one. And then there were time constraints and the rest is history. That is all. Enjoy.
-Dark Mirror of Pop Harukaze-
"No sign of her," Shadow Aiko said as she came back from the dragon-like mouth that lead to the short corridor under the well.
The Shadow Ojamajos were complaining about their plan when they heard Pop gasp and made them realize she was eavesdropping on them. Shadow Aiko was the first to leap into action and would've spotted the red Ojamajo had it not been for their collective willingness to give her a chance to undo their plot. After all, it wasn't the original thing but something Black Queen made them do.
"We'll just have to let it go, you guys," Shadow Doremi said, "Besides, we'll have another shot against her some other time."
Shadow Pop shook her head. "And by the time we do, she'll be even stronger that when we last saw her!"
"All the more reason to tell her the truth!" Shadow Hana argued, "Maybe if we do that, she'll stop hunting us and-!"
"You mean sell out the plan AND running the risk of Black Queen-sama watching?!" Shadow Aiko shouted, "That's suicide!"
"It's worth a shot!"
"Considering the crap we've put her through tonight," Shadow Hazuki began, "I'm sure she'll be just peachy."
"It has to work!"
"Shadow Hana-chan?" Shadow Pop asked, "I admit, I'm scared of what Light Pop's going to do!"
Shadow Doremi drooped a bit. "You feel guilty about Light Hana, don't you?" Shadow Hana nodded. "If any of us know Light Pop, then it's that she will listen and possibly understand. If she doesn't, then both of you have to tell us what's wrong with her and how she was like."
"Both of us?" Shadow Hana tilted her head quizzically.
"Yes. You and Shadow Pop-chan will talk to her together." Shadow Doremi turned to look at Doremi's portrait and then resumed speaking to Shadow Hana. "Set up wind breaks and handles and maybe you can stop her from sucking you both up. You might be able to get her to talk that way."
"That sounds like a plan," Shadow Hazuki replied, "But that's unusually clever, even for you."
Shadow Doremi shook her head. "Let's just say I…still remember a few things from when I…hung out…with Skaj-kun."
"Oh please, he was only smart enough to get himself BANNED FROM THE CASTLE!"
Shadow Pop went over to Shadow Doremi and hugged her. "I'll be going now with Shadow Hana-chan. If this doesn't work, then we'll be sure to tell you all everything we know!"
Shadow Doremi, Shadow Hazuki, and Shadow Aiko all nodded. "Good luck, you two. And please don't get killed," Shadow Aiko said.
"We'll keep that in mind," Shadow Hana replied. She and Shadow Pop then vanished into the shadows. Both reappeared suddenly a few moments later. "Ok! Light Pop isn't getting off that balcony without getting hurt!"
"It's crawling with familiars!" Shadow Pop shouted, "We were almost eaten by them!"
"Whoa! Calm down!" Shadow Aiko replied. She then sighed. "Ok, just avoid that area like the plague for now-"
"How did you guys get away?" Shadow Hazuki inquired, "Don't they usually make mini-barriers that can easily block our travel by shadow?"
"These…weren't," Shadow Pop replied, "I'm not complaining though. Eh, Onee-chan?"
Everyone looked at Shadow Doremi and noticed that she seemed spaced out. It took a while for them to realize that Shadow Doremi was trembling.
"Onee-chan?"
"If they're gathering like that…" Shadow Doremi muttered, "Oh my god…Oh my god…Oh my god!"
"Wh-what? What's so bad about a bunch of familiars gathering and dropping their-?" Shadow Aiko inquired but was interrupted.
"Walpurgisnacht!"
"W-what?"
"You two better find Light Pop quick!"
"Eh-?!" Shadow Hana stuttered.
"GO! NOW!"
Shadow Hana and Shadow Pop quickly nodded and made haste with finding the red Ojamajo.
"Um, can you explain what a Walpurgisnacht is?" Shadow Aiko asked.
"It's a holiday named after the gathering of witches," Shadow Hazuki explained, "Nothing to be worried about."
"What about those Witches in this mansion? What do you think happens when they gather?" Shadow Doremi replied grimly. Shadow Aiko and Shadow Hazuki gulped.
Majo Toron wheeled herself into the main chamber, levitating the portraits of Aiko and Momoko with her magic as she did so. Shadow Ruka was waiting for the inventive witch.
"I take it you want to ask them something?" Shadow Ruka asked.
"Yes," Majo Toron replied. She pressed both hands against the portraits and began conversing with the trapped Ojamajos…
Pop woke up with a start. Her head still felt numb from the bombardment of questions. She had begged them to stop, but they had kept coming until she could no longer take it and fainted. She clutched her head, intending to keep the questions out. Once she was sure they weren't coming, she set off to the door at the far end of the courtyard.
It was locked.
"Screw this," muttered Pop. She took aim with her Vac-Drive and fired a blast of Fire and Sky, blowing the door off its hinges and sending it into the room beyond. "Garbage!"
Wasting no time, Pop set foot into the now-smoldering doorway…
The room made Pop gasp in shock. Aside from the destroyed door and some ruined furniture, it looked exactly like her room back at her home, even having fake windows to complete the illusion. The strange familiarity, along with the unnatural chill that hung heavy in the air, left the red Ojamajo more than a little unsettled.
"Did you really have to blow the door open? The key was just on the mat, after all!" a voice griped.
Pop's eyes went wide. She knew who the voice belonged to: Herself. Only one person who shared her voice came to mind and that was Shadow Pop. Then she remembered that she lost a piece of her soul to Momoko and saw it escape just before she and Majo Toron turn her into a portrait. It was then that she knew the source of the chill. Immediately, she began scanning the room, looking for the ghost that was making it so cold in there. Her ghost.
"I'm right here!" the voice called out again, "Sheez! Am I always this clueless when looking for stuff?"
"It would be easier if you came out!" Pop bitterly replied.
"Are you sure? You won't like it one bit."
"JUST SHUT UP AND SHOW YOUR GHOSTLY ASS!"
"OK, ok! No need for foul language." There was an echoing chuckle. "But don't say I didn't warn you…"
The chill deepened. Pop looked around but still didn't see her ghost. It had to be playing a trick on her. But why would she be into pranks? She's above pranks! She's been above pranks for all of her life! She wasn't her Shadow! And she wasn't her older sibling! Come to think of it, she started feeling uncomfortable around Doremi when she started enjoying pranks…just like the malicious pranks that her Shadow enjoyed playing-
A horrible stench filler her nostrils, breaking her train of thought and forcing her to seal it shut.
"You need glasses, Living Me," the spectral voice taunted. Pop spun around to its source and saw it: It was her ghost alright. She had a red glow and her eyes glowed red. Her poron had red points of lights where the Magical Spheres would've gone but otherwise looked normal. What made her striking was the sheer lack of the scars she had suffered throughout the mansion and the severe aging she had suffered when she was attacked by Momoko. "I didn't think I'd see you like this!" she remarked.
Pop shined her flashlight into her ghost. It had absolutely no effect, just like when it was initially used on Momoko.
"What made you think that would work?" Pop's ghost asked, "Didn't it failing on Momo-chan teach you anything?"
"Shut up," Pop retorted, "Why do you smell like Gomibako-san?"
Pop's ghost giggled as she floated around the young girl. "How do you think I got to this form?" She removed her hat and held it to her chest. "He wasn't like the other arti-ghosts in the mansion. He had a heart and soul of his own."
"They're called wraith's, uh, Pop-chan," Pop uncomfortably replied, "Ok that's a little weird, talking to myself…"
"That's what they're called?" Pop's ghost shook her head. "No, no, NO! I'm not going to get sidetracked!" She took a deep breath, even though she didn't really need to. "I think he liked us to an extent. But seeing himself for what he really was made him sad. I found him here and asked what he wanted. It took a while, but I found out he wanted to die. So I offered him the chance to help us and he sacrificed himself to allow me to go from being a mere chunk of your soul to a full on copy!"
Pop was speechless. She had always considered the Trashcan wraith to be annoyingly hard to deal with and had even wanted to kill it, but to have these qualities? Every single wraith she had encountered up until then was practically mindless, with the elemental wraiths being more cunning and vicious. And now she finds out it kind of wanted to be her friend? It was lonely? Did it really-
Pop shook her head. She had things to take care of and wanted to waste no more time. She had to get to the point. She had to reabsorb this chunk of her soul, and she was going to do it, no matter what it took.
"Still thinking on how to make my words out?" ghost Pop taunted, "I guess so, since you haven't been-"
"Shut up! Just shut up!" Pop yelled, "Just come back to me and-"
"No can do." Pop's ghost put her hat back on and took on a relaxed position. "You sliced me off, remember? How do you think we're going to reunite? Magic?"
Pop blinked twice. She never thought about what it might take to pull this off.
"You don't even know what kind of magic it'll even take!" Pop's ghost sighed. "But…truth to be told, I really want to be whole again…but there's only one way to do that at this point." The red ghost smiled. "It'll be very rude of me to not give you a fighting chance, so I'll let you scan me."
And give me a chance to find your- no! MY own weakness? thought Pop, Gladly!
Pop pulled out the All-in-One and scanned her own ghost with it. She then looked at the resultant entry.
Pop Harukaze's -t: A gh-t bor- w-en a -m-ll -u-k of Pop Har-a-e's soul wa- re-m-ved. S-e ex-re-e- - de-ire to b- re-nit-w-th her -th- h-. Sh- is weak to- ERROR! HIGH INTERFERENCE! UNABLE TO COMPLETE SCAN!
What is wrong with this thing?! Pop mentally shouted, First it's an idiot translator and now it's failing to scan right?!
"I can tell what you're thinking from that look in your eye…" Ghost Pop taunted.
Pop continued to eye the screen while her ghost smiled mischievously at her.
Nope. Not gonna work, Living Me! You're not gonna find my weakness with that!
Pop's blood ran cold. Scanning her ghostified friends allowed the All-in-One to pick up their thoughts and relay them as messages on screen. This enabled them to aid Pop in fighting and capturing them, but her own ghost was different. Her thoughts were wholly devoted to the same goal as the ghost herself ever was.
"Oh well, you tried and failed," Ghost Pop said, grinning, "Come on out, everyone! Come out and play!"
At once, three small orbs of darkness flew out of the dresser, followed closely by three more emerging from under the bed. They had glowing red eyes much like Ghost Pop's but seemed to have no other features. Suddenly, their forms began changing. Their shapes began boiling, shifting, and convulsing violently. Small buds grew out, lengthening into sticks before finally becoming limbs. A large bud came out from underneath before expanding, rapidly becoming a torso. Finally, their heads took shape, sprouting noticeable features such as eyes, mouths, and hairstyles.
When they were finished, they exactly like Misaki, Fumio, Tatsuya, Kazuhiro, Yoshihiko, and Kimitaka. The boys they now resembled went to Kindergarten and even entered elementary school with Pop, but these copies were jet black in color and their eyes glowed red. They were literally dripping with malevolence.
Pop's unease around them intensified. Why would someone- NO! This isn't just someone. It was a part of her that made these. But why would she want to make them like this? Even if they were close to her, she would never have dreamt of making copies of them. Not even under extreme loneliness.
A beeping caught Pop's attention. Ghost Pop shrugged.
"If you must, check that new entry," said Ghost Pop, "The information you'll get will just make it all the more interesting for me!"
Pop warily glanced at her Ghost and then checked the entry, making sure to keep an eye on the ghost.
Possessor: A Dark-elemental fiend. They can enter inanimate objects and bring them to life. The only way to force them out is to destroy the object in question. They can also take over a living person, in which case only killing the victim will remove the fiend. As Dark-elemental fiends, Possessors are weak vs. light. Normal light alone will not affect them and they are capable of sucking the light out of an area if they so please.
Now why couldn't it have scanned properly earlier when I was scanning my own ghost?! Pop thought bitterly, Seriously?! But, I don't have the Light medallion, so these wraiths are invulnerable to everything except magic…and familiars. Pop's eyes went wide. But how can Dark wraiths exist?! They never got the Dark medallion!
"Ghost me!" Pop shouted, "How are these wraiths even possible?!"
Ghost Pop smiled. "When you sliced me off, a bit of the Dark energy from your blade clung. And since wraiths are made using Dark magic, well-"
"That doesn't explain how you could make them!"
"I was getting to that!" Ghost Pop sighed indignantly. "The Shadows' magic isn't the same kind of Dark magic that was used to make the wraiths. I guess they took some of its energy when Majo Toron-san wasn't looking and used that." The ghost smirked. "You remember a few years back, don't you? When the Shadows made their second attempt?"
Pop stared angrily at her ghost. She did remember the explanation like it was yesterday…
"World's End is a mysterious place, located beyond the borders of the Witch World." Majo Sloanne said, showing the team a map. "At its center is the Mahou Islands, and according to my findings, the Islands are a meeting place for a special group of witches called 'Elementals'."
"Elemental witches?" The Ojamajos questioned.
"I think I know what she means." Majorin said. "Minna-San, you all don't know this, but the whole of Majo Kai is divided up into different regions, each one classified by eight elements: fire, ice, water, sky—"
"Sky being a combination of wind and air." Majo Sloanne interjected.
"...Yes. Earth, music, light and darkness-And I don't mean Shadow darkness, by the way."
Pop gritted her teeth. The Dark magic used to make the wraiths came from the Dark witches and not the Shadows. This explained their weakness to light and made them inherently Dark-based, but the Possessors were much more in tune with their element and were thus more resistant to the light than normal wraiths. The red Ojamajo glared angrily at her ghost and at the six wraiths orbiting her.
"Well, if you're done glaring, I'd like to merge with the rest of you and become whole again," Ghost Pop said, "Boyfriends! To me!"
The six Dark wraiths nodded and immediately began spinning around Ghost Pop at a breakneck pace. Pop, in desperation, went against her better judgment and shined her flashlight on them. It did absolutely nothing other than earn her a mocking laughter. To her horror, the wraiths went into Ghost Pop one by one. The red Ojamajo had seen this before with Aiko's ghost. At once, she readied the All-in-One for another scan.
Once the process was done, Ghost Pop was clad in a ghostly or organic armor that was blatantly comprised of the wraiths she had just absorbed. She had armguards for each limb, anklets, a distorted breastplate, and a distorted armored skirt. Every part seemed to pulse on its own and had a pair of glowing red eyes. Suddenly, a sharp blade made of Dark energy appeared in Ghost Pop's hand.
Pop made haste and scanned the ghost.
ERROR! UNABLE TO SCAN! INTERFERENCE LEVELS EXCEED CAPACITY!
Again with the error?! Pop angrily thought, Forget it! She's obviously Dark-based. And I have nothing to fight her with other than my magic!
"Damn it!" Pop said with a combination of anger and fear, "I'll just have to find that-"
"Oh, you're not going anywhere!" Ghost Pop retorted. Her voice carried a demonic undertone. "I'm going to take the rest of you and become whole!" She snapped her fingers. At once, both armguards reverted back to the forms of Misaki and Kazuhiro and proceeded to fly straight at Pop. "Keep her still by any means necessary!"
Pop dodged the wraiths and shot a smirk at her ghost. "You might want to teach them better aiming skills, Ghost me!"
Ghost Pop chuckled. "Who said they were aiming for you?"
Pop gave a short thought about what she meant. Her eyes went wide with shock upon coming to the conclusion. By then, it was too late; the Misaki and Kazuhiro possessors had animated the blankets on the bed and, with unearthly speed, wrapped and pinned Pop's arms to either side of the bed and held her fast. Ghost Pop floated up to the red Ojamajo with a content look on her face.
"This was really too easy," Ghost Pop remarked, "But that was because you didn't have the Light medallion. Oh well, I guess I owe you a few things for being too easy."
"Like my freedom?" Pop bitterly deadpanned.
"Hardly!" Ghost Pop quickly caught herself and calmed down. "I'll tell you a few things. Such as how the Shadow Ojamajos are turning us into psychological weapons to use against Jou-sama against their will and how much Black Queen was proud of them for coming up with this by themselves!"
"What?! How could you have-?!"
"You're not the only one who can eavesdrop on the Shadow Ojamajos, Living Me." Ghost Pop cleared her throat. "They also never killed them but used something to turn them into ghosts. And that thing can probably reverse it too! And I think I even know what it is!" The ghost made her point by drawing her poron. "Pipitto Purito Puritan Peperuto! Show Living Me what I'm talking about!"
There was a puff of smoke. It was quickly followed by a vision unfolding in front of Pop. It showed Shadow Pop receiving a strange device from Shadow Doremi. She didn't know what it was supposed to be…until she recalled her first meeting with them in the mansion. She had seen that device before. But what was it?
The vision faded from existence in mere moments, leaving Pop dumbfounded. She then glared angrily at the ghost once more.
"Is that ALL I can do now that I've lost a part of me?" Ghost Pop deadpanned, "Well, I'll soon change that!" The ghost retracted her blade and then cracked her knuckles and neck. "I guess I should tell you what I have planned after merging with you."
"And what is that?"
Ghost Pop smiled. "Once we're whole again, I'm going to finish off the Witches and familiars here and absorb the other wraiths! Then I'll free Momo-chan and Ai-chan, beg for their forgiveness, and then we'll turn Shadow Momoko and Shadow Onpu into ghosts! And then we'll do the same to the rest of the Shadow Ojamajos!" Ghost Pop smiled sweetly. At the same time, an ectoplasmic tear of joy dripped down her cheek and onto the floor. "And then, since we'll be ghosts now, we could live in this mansion and call it our home…FOREVER!"
Pop was speechless at the plan. Turning them all into ghosts? Turning the Shadows into ghosts? Was that even possible? And then clearing out the Witches and familiars? And then finishing it off by making this mansion their permanent home? It didn't sound like too good of a plan. It was suicide. Did she really think she could take on the Witches by herself? But then again, she had been defeating Witches left and right ever since her adventure started, so it might not be mere boasting and false promises.
In any case, Pop had no intention of becoming a ghost. Unfortunately, she was pinned down and at her own ghost's mercy. She had to find a way out of this. She needed a way out of this, but the red-eyed ghost floating before her didn't seem interested in giving that chance. Still, she had to try.
"Ghost Me?" Pop began, "Why can't we work together and defeat the Witches? You can already go to areas of the mansion that I can't reach yet and deal with the Witches there! I can-!"
"That's exactly the plan I would use to escape from, well, me!" Ghost Pop replied, "Do you really think I'm going to let this opportunity slide?" The ghost shot Pop a look of sadness. "I'm sorry, Living Me, but this is the only way I know of that can reunite us. That and you can't even imagine the freedom being a ghost has!"
Pop's eyes went wide with horror. Before she could find the words to reply with, she saw her ghost drive both hands into her chest. Just like with Momoko, it was supernaturally cold. Seconds later, she felt both of the ghost's hands clench into fists. That was it. She had her soul in her grip and was now going to pull it out and merge with it. Pop began concentrating, hoping to keep at least some of it in and stall for time…if any help was coming.
"Don't struggle, Living Me! Please! It'll only make it painful!" Ghost Pop urged. She then yanked harder and pulled out a portion of Pop's soul. "It won't be long now! Just hang in there!"
It was taking all of Pop's concentration to resist having her soul torn out, but it was quickly failing. With each yank, more of Pop's soul emerged. Before long, only her left hand still had part of her soul.
At the same time, she looked over herself and realized she was looking from the eyes of her soul. Aside from what was still in her body, Pop had a clear view of her soul. It looked just like the rest of her body. Then she looked where her heart should be. She found nothing. Absolutely nothing but a gaping hole. It could not be denied; that was the missing part of her soul, and now it was taking the rest for itself.
Ghost Pop gave one more yank. Somehow, Pop held on, but just barely. She was hanging on by just a finger.
I really am going to die, Pop mentally lamented. She closed her eyes, expecting to be fully ripped out on the next tug. I'm really going to die…and spend the rest of eternity as an undead ghost…Sorry everyone…but I failed in my goal…
"This…is…it!" Ghost Pop shouted. She gave one final yank…
…and then Pop found the grip on her soul being released.
A/N: Ghost Pop wasn't planned, but it was just too good to pass up. And now I have even more plans for her now. This fic isn't over yet, so keep reading the chapters as they get uploaded.
The flashback is from PrettiWitchiMegChanChi's "Ojamajo Doremi: Witches at World's End". If you haven't read it, go check it out.