Miracle Hills, the domain of Hazel, the duality Doppel. Her Witch was that of both Rio and Riko Sato. It resembled a human Witch, straight out of a fairy tale. Green ‘skin’, and a thick, black ‘dress’, two eyes a dull yellow in color, and a broomstick (now cracked and dangling from residual damage) in its left hand.
The giant, amalgamate twin-Witch was as fast as it was large, and with the power befitting two conjoined Witches. Not as powerful as the Walpurgisnacht four years ago, but far beyond an ordinary Witch. And facing it, dancing around its relentless attacks, an abstract, white orb, six wings on its back, and eyes shifting in and out of reality along its body. Cecilia’s fight with the twin birds from Clan Fujiwara had been going on for awhile now. The sun was still as high as it was when the conflict began, however.
Eventually, dodging a flying cauldron-like attack, Cecilia landed, sliding back a bit and falling to her knees. The voice that followed from Hazel was equally amalgamate. “We did not hit you. Why do you fall, Oracle? Are you already worn out? We thought you had more endurance than that.”
“…Nothing like that. I have more than enough endurance.” Sparks formed in Cecilia’s hand, and her Witch retreated, fading into Cecilia’s being. “But something outside is influencing my soul here. Something I did not account for. Yui is… in a dangerous fight right now, and her soul is burning with energy. Which means…” Cecilia never finished the sentence. As her own Doppel faded, a humanoid rabbit emerged, seemingly made of static. Two slits for eyes and a giant purple sparking crack for a mouth defined its face.
“This changes nothing, Oracle! We’ve known for awhile now that both your Witch and Yui’s were under your command! She’s still no match for our Hazel—”
Two separate, sputtering, coughing voices echoed through the Witch. In a flash, Yui’s Witch had lunged, diving right through Hazel’s torso. As it faded, the twins, both holding their stomach, crumpled onto the ground.
A small, red-hooded figure stood at the edge of a broken highway. Red cloth covered her blank, expressionless eyes. She was staring at nothing— Nothing was there to be stared at— but with a hidden sense of hopelessness. This was a scene that the girl was familiar with; she’d done this before, more times than she could remember or count. This time, however, right as the girl was about to leave, she noticed something on the horizon. Another figure, one slowly approaching her location. The girl walked forward, a friendly, yet dark smile lighting her face.
Cecilia sighed softly, falling to a knee as she caught her breath. “I was not expecting you two to put up so intense a fight. I suppose it’s fitting, however, given you were my final opponents.” Before Riko could reply, Cecilia’s eyes flashed with knowing. “I am merely giving my scripted reply, Fujiwara. I know… I know well what comes next. As do you, and as does she.”
Rio sat up, tears welling in her eyes. “…Do you two have to fight? It… it never really felt right to me. We were supposed to be how this story ended. You defeat the ‘mother’ of the Coven, and… and you return to Mitakihara, just in time to help those girls take down that other big Witch.”
“They do not need my help. I saw the plan they would make, and to be honest, my presence in Mitakihara during the return of Walpurgisnacht would have been yet another distraction. Now… I must return.”
“…She’s not gonna go easy on you, Oracle”, Riko said between coughs, struggling to rise to her feet. “She’s going to try and kill you. I’ve known her longer than anyone else.”
Cecilia said nothing, turning to leave.
Mitakihara Original 