She took note on his words and took a deep breath. "I'm going in
then. Wish me luck." She said and stepped into the void. "Anyone
see it?" She asked as she walked through.
"They normally take awhile to appear, it wouldn't be a surprise if
it ambushes us," Jubey says, silently. He walked along side her
careful for the minions. "Just stay cautious."
She nodded. "Okay." Her walking slowed and she quickly loaded her
weapon in case anything were about to happen. Eventually, there was
a small ringing sort of sound, and a red minion flung itself at
her. She bit back a shriek and managed to dodge in time. Then she
turned on it, and instead of using her bow, she stabbed it with an
arrow until it gave in and disintegrated right there. She huffed.
"I think we're getting close."
Jubey nodded, he leaped ahead then looked up at the labyrinth sky.
There was a seemingly small minion there that seemed as though
dancing. "...That doesn't seem natural," he looked around, then in
the center of the labyrinth, right in front of the incubator- Was
the witch. It swayed around a bit ready to attack as more minions
appeared. "It's really hostile."
"I won't help this time unless if there's some major trouble, need
some more experience yourself. Choose one witch and try to defeat
it." Aki said, changing into her magical girl form in case. Ririi
charged at the right one, shooting at it.
Midori bit her lip and faced the left one, then darted up to it
with her bow loaded. She released two arrows into its side, then
slashed at a minion it sent hurdling towards her. She shot at its
neck with a few, but only one didn't miss. The witch lashed out at
her with its magic. She managed to avoid and landed near Jubey.
"You weren't kidding." She muttered.
"I warned you, even in groups of two it seems tough. Just try to
avoid getting caught in their attacks, it'll be too dangerous,"
Jubey explained. He watched Ririi fighting against one of them then
looked at Aki, who was nearby.
Ririi was hit by a massive hand and fell to the ground. Aftre a few
seconds, she staggered up. The child ran towards it and aimed for
the eyes. One hit the forehead, another hit the lip, and the last
one missed.
~Meanwhile~
"You really are harsh on them." Kyubey said. "Don't worry, they'll
be fine!" Aki chirped.
"..Right." She leaped toward it and shot an arrow into its chest.
More minions came at her, and she either dodged or slashed through
every one. She fired more arrows, but again the witch dodged.
Frustrated, she fired another arrow to its face, which luckily
didn't miss. She could tell the witch was getting weak, and kept up
the act of attacking its arms and avoiding any minions that
attacked.
"If this keeps up...." Jubey watched Midori's battle and saw how
she was rapidly attacking the witch. He then looked at Ririi seeing
how she was hit by the other one. "I think you should step in
before they're defeated. They don't have your battle experiences
you know."
"They still have to learn how to endure pain. You don't want a
strong witch hitting them to death because they're weak." Aki
stated.
Ririi noticed the witch's movement getting slower, so she picked up
the pace. She shot the stomach, eye, and hand. She shot a few
minions for Midori to keep her from getting stressed and got back
to shooting her witch.
"That's reckless! No one can endure getting an injury," Jubey
looked up at Aki, thinking she's gone mad. "Especially, with two
witches appearing in this void. Fighting both of them separately
doesn't seem to work."
Midori hesitated as Ririi cleared out a few minions for her.
Come on.. She held her breath and shot several arrows into
the witch's hands and leg. With some attempts, she blinded the
witch and ran around it to shoot arrows into its back. With a few
cuts with the bow and a single arrow, she finished it off and
leaned over her knees to catch her breath.
Kachina stepped into the void and ran down the hall. She stopped by
the other girls and staggered back a bit. "Two of them?" she
exclaimed, then ran into the second one with her sword, which was
just hatching. The sword jabbed into one of its pale ghostly arms,
slicing it clean off.
"Alright, alright. I'll beat 'em up." Aki huffed. She charged at
Ririi's witch and slashed at the head. The attention was now on
her. She ran around for a bit and got an idea. She ran towards a
ledge and stood on it. The witch slammed it's massive hand on the
spot where Aki used to be and had rubble fall one it. Apparently it
worked, leaving one witch on the ground. She stabbed it's head and
threw the seed at Ririi.
(Midori just killed the second one)
She breathed heavily, squeezing her bow in her hand out of
exhaustion. She pulled out her soul gem and stared at it. The color
was now even worse, it was duller than before. "Does this mean..."
She half-mumbled and only paid attention to the grayish gem.
Jubey looked at Ririi and Aki, "Not my fault, besides it seemed to
strong for you to handle." He looked up at Ririi seeing her pout.
Then he heard a mumbling sound from Midori seeing the soul gem.
"It's not that bad yet. Just get some grief seeds so it doesn't get
worse."
Midori nodded slowly and looked over to the spot where she had
killed the witch. She walked over and found a small grief seed, so
she picked it up and placed it next to the gem, then watched as the
black cleared out of the gem and was transferred to the seed.
"Huh.."