Miss Midnight

Chapter Nine: Las Brujas, City of Witches

Chapter Nine: Las Brujas, City of Witches

Aquamarine and I tumbled through the doors of Witch's Brew and immediately collapsed as soon as we got in, tripping over each other's heels. Mariko was hunched on the floor, sobbing, while Saki was curled up in a shivering little ball, and Miyu had herself keeled over the couch, lurching as though she were going to vomit. All five of us were filthy, beaten, and bloody, but still alive- all except for one.

"Are we even....safe here?" I sputtered. "What if...Walpurgisnacht comes back?"

Miyu let out a hard, wet cough. "Don't...don't worry about it. The shop is protected by a magic barrier. Nothing gets in unless I want it to." She hacked again, coughing up a splatter of blood.

"Miyu...are you alright?" Mariko asked.

The witch wiped a smear of blood from her lips. "I...I'll be fine."

I found that hard to believe. Her clothes were torn and tattered, and her pale skin was marred by lesions and bruises. Her eyes were bloodshot red. She had an almost corpse-like visage.

She looked like she'd just crawled up from the grave.

So many emotions boiled inside me. Sickening sadness, devouring despair...and burning rage. "Anyone mind explaining what the hell happened back there?!" I hissed. "Why did Kirsten's body explode like that!?" My voice lowered as I gasped to catch my breath. I leveled my teary, swollen, bloodshot eyes with Miyu's. "There's something you're not telling me...isn't there? Just like you never told me I was a Witch of Dark."

"Wait, what?" Mariko sniffled. "Charlotte...what do you mean?"

Ignoring her for now, I went on. "Kirsten told me all about it before she died. About how using our magic slowly kills us, and how all the dark magic stuffed in my body will end up tearing me apart. You knew all about that...didn't you?"

Miyu let out a sigh before coughing again. "Yes...I did. But there are some things that are meant to be known when it's your time to know them."

"And what time was that?!" I snapped. "Before Kirsten got butchered, maybe? Yeah, that would've been a pretty damn good time to know!"

"I...I'm sorry," Miyu muttered. "I...should have told you all. Miss Midnight...I can sense the darkness boiling within you. It has only increased in strength since that night at Suzaku's palace. If you are able to control it and harness it for yourself, you can become what is known among us witches as a Goddess. Very few Goddesses have existed, and only one can be alive at once.

In a generation of witches, there is one who will ascend to the aether as a Goddess, to grant new witches their powers. The rest of the witches worship this Goddess and make offerings to her.

The Goddess wields tremendous magic power, enough to shatter this entire planet- and perhaps even beyond. If you cannot control the dark magic inside you, however...it will devour you whole and leave you nothing but a monster. That is what happened to Kirsten after she died. It's what will happen to all of us, soon enough."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. First witches, now goddesses? Where did all this stuff come from? And what else was I being kept in the dark on? After all this time, I thought I knew everything about what it meant to be a witch. But the truth was...I knew nothing at all. "Wha...what do you mean? What are you even talking about, and why are you telling us all this?"

"You wanted to know," Miyu grumbled. "And now, we have to hunt down Kirsten's leftovers..."

Mariko peeked up. "L-leftovers? What are you saying?"