A/N: Good grief. My last update for this work was all the way back in December 2013. Now it's 2015 and I'm finally continuing this. Although, technically this is following a mass-yet-minor revision, such as the elimination of most of the Japanese and the persistent beginning sentences with conjunctions. Seriously, I'm much better at writing than I was then and I intend to keep it that way.
That is all, enjoy.
-Implausible Survivability-
Voices.
They were coming from around her. Was she dead? Obviously. Unless she can survive a beyond-horrible mutilation and impalement, it was seriously doubtful. Perhaps those voices are other dead people?
Pop stirred to consciousness, becoming more aware of her surroundings. She was in the medical part of the Magic Research Center and she was right beside the tank that once held Hana's ghostly form. It was a safe assumption that she was in the afterlife now and that this was the form it was taking.
A Witch was looking over her. She bore a resemblance to Majo Isabelle in that she wore a long dress and a labcoat, but they were darker in color than what she normally saw of her. She was starting to come off as-
Pop blinked twice in surprise.
"What the-?! Why are you here?!" Pop burst out, "This is-!"
"This isn't the afterlife, Light Pop," the Witch retorted. Pop immediately knew this was a Shadow; only Shadows would call a person "Light" before whatever their names were. "You owe Shadow Ruka one."
"Are you implying I was dead, Shadow Isabelle?" Pop inquired, still distraught from her battle with Walpurgisnacht.
"It's true," another voice said. It was ghostly and quickly revealed itself to be from Hana. "Hana-chan thought you weren't going to come back at all!"
"What are you all talking about?! Where is Shadow Ruka?! And what about Walpurgisnacht?!"
"It might be best if we explained," Majo Toron stated, wheeling herself into the ward.
Each person took turns explaining the events that transpired while Pop was down.
Walpurgisnacht was, to Pop's relief, defeated, but the devastation caused quickly dashed it all. Majo Kai is now in ruins, and many Witches are dead, injured, or missing. The cause of the destruction wasn't just from the powerful Witch either, but from the means used to defeat it. Jou-sama, Majorin, Megan, Majo Tourbillon, Shadow Tourbillon, Kada, and Skaj were the ones who crushed it, but it was Megan who got the killing blow off. She had forcibly combined her powers with Walpurgisnacht's and blew it up that way, and in doing so caused the catastrophe and loss of life. They hadn't gotten that far when Shadow Isabelle was assigned to the Magic Research Center to help out.
Kada and Skaj were out hunting the familiars that survived and escaped Walpurgisnacht's destruction. It was theorized that any single one of them could eventually grow into a copy of Walpurgis and again threaten Majo Kai. Several of them pulling that off would simply but terrifyingly make it worse.
"And that's all we know right now," Majo Toron finished.
Pop looked around again. She had failed to stop Walpurgisnacht. What's worse was that she could've stopped it somehow. She just knew that much was true, but a very clear fact remained: She didn't, and now she would have to live with it.
"What happened to me?" asked Pop.
Shadow Isabelle turned toward Majo Toron. "I'm not explaining that part," she stated. She turned to Hana, but she very clearly did not want to explain; her terrified expression made that obvious.
Majo Toron gave a deep sigh. "Shadow Ruka found you on what was left of the third floor balcony," she explained, "She was aghast to see you in that condition, but she brought you here. There was nothing left of the All-in-One but bits and pieces."
"You've surely noticed by now," Shadow Isabelle said, joining in. Pop bit back the retort she was about to spout regarding Shadow Isabelle's stance on explaining. "Have you tried putting both fingertips together?" The Shadow Witch punctuated her question by using the classic test of depth perception. Pop tried it herself, but found it surprisingly difficult. When she shot a questioning look toward Shadow Isabelle, the Shadow simply shook her head. "I wouldn't look in the mirror if I were you."
Now that Shadow Isabelle had mentioned it, Pop did feel like her vision wasn't complete. When she looking to the left, she noticed the bridge of her nose was blocking her eyesight. Her left eye wasn't seeing anything in the slightest even though she could've sworn it was open. As she went against Shadow Isabelle's recommendation, Hana turned away and covered her eyes to help hold back her tears. Pop saw a large bandage covering her left eye. She removed it, and, gasping, put it back in place.
Her left eye was gone.
Looking over her body, Pop realized the extent of the damage shew took. Her left arm was bandaged up and concealed presumably still-open wounds. Her uniform was in tatters, though there was evidence that it had been repaired, albeit haphazardly. She shot a look toward Majo Toron that was equal parts questioning and horrified.
"I'm sorry, Pop," Majo Toron said, glumly, "Those wounds you had…You had a large gash going from your stomach down to your…um…you get the idea. You right arm was split down the middle, and you were very clearly impaled through your eye and out the back of your skull. I'm no medical doctor, but those kinds of injuries…you died there."
Words refused to come to Pop's mouth. The revelation that she had died was just as horrible as the things she had seen tonight. It was also horrible that someone was now dead in her place. Those thoughts somehow gave Pop what she needed to speak.
"So…so…so then Shadow Ruka…" Pop began, shakily, "Shadow Ruka is…!"
"Yes," Shadow Isabelle confirmed, "Shadow Ruka used magic to bring you back. However, she did so after healing off some of your injuries. If she hadn't, you might have died again anyway and Shadow Ruka's sacrifice would have been in vain!" Pop noticed that Shadow Isabelle wasn't as calm about this as she claimed. "But, Shadow Ruka is in luck, or have you forgotten that Shadow Tourbillon can easily bring back fallen Shadows?"
Pop remembered that loophole all too well. It was how the Shadow Ojamajos and Evil Rin returned for their second encounter with them. Through it, they were effectively immortal as long as Black Queen remained alive, and it was not subject to the rules of revival spells. Shadow Tourbillon, being more powerful than Black Queen, could just as easily pull it off.
"Then where is she now?"
"Shadow Tourbillon is busy resting. The battle against Walpurgisnacht really took it out of her, but she's certain she can still keep Black Queen from taking any opportunities."
"I hope so." Pop turned toward the door and gave a blank stare. She had another chance to save her friends, but things had once again gone from bad to worse. On the bright side, only Doremi and her ghostly copy remained and it was clear the Shadow Ojamajos weren't interested in their plot anymore. It seemed perfect. "I…would like to get back to the mansion and finish what I started."
"I don't think it's too good of an idea now," Majo Toron replied, "After what happened, if you die again, someone else will have to die just to bring you back."
"Couldn't Jou-sama or Majorin use their Super Witch Forms to bring me back?"
Majo Toron shook her head and gestured Pop out of the ward. The red Ojamajo followed and went into the main room. There, the Seven Seals and the Elemental Medallions were laid out on a table. The former were crackling with barely-controlled energy while the latter were more-or-less the same. The Medallions for Earth, Fire, Music, Ice, and Water were crackling as well, but Light, Sky, and Darkness were clearly normal.
"Jou-sama tasked me with studying them and what happened. From what I can tell, two different magicks were forcibly mixed the affected coins are now unusable. With Shadow Isabelle's help, we were able to determine that they're slowly breaking down the magicks into a base energy and will return to normal eventually. How long that will take is anyone's guess."
"In the meantime," Shadow Isabelle added, entering the room, "Kada has lent Jou-sama the Seven Dark Seals he gathered. Although, Jou-sama seems reluctant to use them."
"The coins can't be used?" asked Pop.
"Technically, they can," Majo Toron replied, "But…I wouldn't recommend it. At all."
"We can end up blowing ourselves up along with the rest of Majo Kai," Shadow Isabelle added, "Not worth the risk."
A half-hour passed. Pop intended to return to the Mansion, but Majo Toron had been adamant about keeping Pop here. She had said that Jou-sama was going to try and save Doremi herself as soon as possible, but her not showing up was quickly leaving everyone worried. If the Mansion vanishes, Doremi would most likely be a prisoner of Black Queen and Ghost Pop would be free to attack anyone.
Not wanting to wait any longer, Pop went behind everyone's backs and questioned Hana, Shadow Onpu, and Shadow Momoko. The former agreed to help while the latter two asked why she was asking them when they were powerless to do anything. Hana distracted Majo Toron and Shadow Isabelle while Pop reclaimed the Dark, Light, and Sky Medallions, her poron, and the Vac-Drive. There wasn't another All-in-One, which would most definitely have been another reason Majo Toron was against her going.
Pop slipped out and decided to fly her way toward the Mansion. Out of curiosity, she flew higher and got a look at the damage. She wished she hadn't.
The landscape was blasted, warped, barren in most places. Bizarre formations even by Majo Kai standards were everywhere, most likely the result of the mixed magicks. Solid bedrock was exposed and chunks of land had been ripped from the earth and thrown like toys. Settlements had either without a trace or were in ruins.
To her late surprise, the Mansion was still standing, though it had clearly suffered extreme amounts of damage. All the windows were blown out, the roof was sagging, and no lights were on. An entire section of exterior wall had sloughed off, and the pillars on top had been knocked over or blown apart. It made Pop wonder what the inside was like…
Pop landed in before the front doors. A set of runes now floated over it.
First thing to start this off is a battle against a Witch, Pop thought, bitterly. She opened the door and tore her way through the rush of memories. She intended to make this quick…
"Hana-chan, how could you?!" Majo Toron burst out, mortified, "Pop is in no condition to be going in there alone again!"
"Pop-chan is the only one who can save Mama and Ghost Pop in time!" Hana countered, "Hana-chan had to help her!"
"This facility was damaged despite precautions," explained a frustrated Shadow Isabelle, "There is no way to even guide Light Pop through that building! Plus, from all the damage it's sustained, she can get killed by collapsing debris!"
"And I haven't made a new All-in-One yet!" Majo Toron finished.
Hana hung her head. She wanted to believe she had done the right thing, but now she knew there was no true course of action. Waiting on Jou-sama was proving fruitless since it was obvious she had to help out the rest of Majo Kai. Going in there with Pop would've put her at risk in case there were any surviving Witches, and she remains more vulnerable to them as a ghost than Pop. Finally, Majo Toron still had a broken leg and Shadow Isabelle was stuck on assignment.
No matter what happened, someone was getting the short end of the stick, and everyone's actions would ultimately decide who the unfortunate person would be.
"All we can do now is pray that Pop-chan will be alright," Majo Toron said, hopefully.
Another strong blow connected to Pop and sent her sprawling on the ground. The barrier was entirely black and white but bore more of a resemblance to shadow puppetry. The Witch herself was kneeling before what seemed like a distorted cross, but a growth like a tree had sprouted from her back. Numerous serpentine familiars sprung from the ground and attempted to strike. Pop had already read the runes and determined the names of the witch and her familiars.
Elsa Maria
Sebastian
Using the power of Darkness, Pop sliced through the familiars, and with her broom giving her flight, she managed to retain an advantage. Still, things were not going well for her, and she knew she was vulnerable to attrition. The last growth had nearly impaled her had she not dashed aside in time. Old wounds opened up and new ones formed.
"It hurts so much…" Pop muttered, "Why can't I shut it out….like last time?" She swung her Darkness blade so that it sliced some more attacking familiars. She trudged forward. "No…I'm mixing myself up again…eh heh heh…"
Pop quickly drew her poron.
"Pippito Purito Puritan Peperuto!" she chanted, "Time stop!" Her spell again did the trick, and time slowed to a halt. "Why do I have to let pain slow me down…? Heh heh he. Why…? Why?" A tear rolled down her cheek. "Why is Mami, Kyoko, and Sayaka gone? Oh, that's right…Shadow Ruka only brought me back. SHE COULDN'T BRING THEM BACK AT ALL! Hehehehehe!"
A sudden blast of Darkness, Light, and Sky impacted against Elsa Maria's time-frozen form just as the spell wore off. She unleashed another tree-like growth, but it was quickly disintegrated by the sustained blast. A small part of it managed to get past the elemental attack and strike Pop.
"If I can't shut out the pain…hah hah hah…I guess I'll have to improvise!" In a bout of insane laughter, Pop combined all three elements into a single blade and quickly slashed at the Witch. She struggled, and she continued striking at the red Ojamajo, but the attacks wouldn't stop. "Ohhh…this…this feels…sooo…It feels too good! Ahahahaha! AHAHAHAHA!"
The Witch couldn't take any more attacks and died, releasing her Grief Seed and causing the barrier to vanish…
She was in the foyer. At least, it was the foyer.
The chandelier trap that normally fell and tried to impale Pop whenever she passed underneath it now lay on its side with its chain snapped. The right side stairs had been demolished and the door to the ground floor hallways had been knocked off its hinges. Wreckage from the room above blocked the way in.
Smirking, Pop decided that it was just a minor obstacle. A simple flight on her broom would surmount it easily enough, and a blast into the door would suffice for any new locks. She knew she had to save Doremi and her ghost half, and she felt that there should be a more permanent solution.
Killing them would go a long way ensuring that they would stay out of trouble, right? She certainly no longer felt any need for that part of her soul back anymore, so killing Ghost Pop would be a good idea. Finally, those Shadow Ojamajos caused all of this. Maybe they should be "saved" too? Yes, they should; they wouldn't be able to cause any more trouble, and they wouldn't need to fear Black Queen if they were dead.
"Pop is coming…heheheheheheheheheeh!" Pop muttered, giggling all the way. She plowed her way into the hallway, looking for a way to the other parts of the now-labyrinthine Mansion.
She had people to murder.
A/N: Pop going insane was one of the plot points I had planned around the middle of the story. If you were expecting something else, well, just bear with this and see what else happens.
It is that kind of story.
Thankfully, it's shorter than most of the other ones, so it shouldn't be too difficult to get into after all this time.
Once again, if there are any plots that you're seeing, please let me know. I don't want to waste good plotlines.