Toyokawa Shoko doesn't want to become a witch

Page 214

P.S.: The chapter title is from "Polly"—Nirvana.

In 1987, a 14-year-old girl was hitchhiking home after attending a rock concert. Unfortunately, the driver she encountered was the infamous Gard Friend, a man later described as a "serial sex offender."

At that time, Flanders threatened and kidnapped the girl with a knife, and tied her to a pulley system on the ceiling of his mobile home, where he repeatedly tortured and assaulted her.

Fortunately, the girl managed to escape from Flanders' truck while he was refueling at a gas station. A day later, Flanders was pulled over by police for a traffic violation, and after being recognized, he was arrested.

The song "Polly" was originally titled "Hitchhik" (a hitchhiker), and was later changed to "Crack" (a word with a derogatory connotation towards white people, which is used in the lyrics, creating a double entendre). However, in the final studio version of the album, they named it "Polly," an ordinary girl's pseudonym, and used the perspective and tone of a perpetrator to simulate the assault: "Polly wants a cookie, I think I should get her off the bus first," "Let me have some fun, don't hurt yourself," etc.

A Lost Tale: The Spirit of Youth: Chapter 259 Flow

“I hate this world, I hate everything about it, those bastard soldiers, my parents, Xiangzi, you, and me.”

Mio's indifferent eyes watched as Hatsuka was gradually swallowed up by Bsk.

"And so I became a witch."

She continued talking, regardless of whether Chu Hua heard her or not.

"After becoming a witch, a magical girl's soul should die, but I didn't. I found that I am still me."

"Khubi told me that it was because I had a special talent, namely flowers."

Mio chuckled self-deprecatingly.

"But this talent didn't help me at all while I was alive. As a magical girl, I was very weak, so weak that I couldn't even beat a witch who didn't seem very strong."

"It only appeared after I became a witch, and it was like an instinct that I could control at will. This instinct urged me to find a safe place to 'cocoon', 'sublimate', and 'emerge'."

"The place I chose was, of course, a bottomless underwater cave."

"However, on my way there, someone is blocking my way." Mio bent down and whispered in Hatsuka's ear, "Guess who it is?"

“Aughhhh......”

Chu Hua let out a roar that was unlike any human's, his eyes, almost entirely covered in scarlet red, staring intently at Mio, his exposed sharp teeth almost biting Mio's face.

She had lost the ability to speak, but she could still understand what Mio was saying.

“It seems you guessed it,” Mio said. “I only realized she had been hiding it from us for so many years when I saw her standing in front of me in her transformed form.”

"When Kyubey first appeared in front of us, it was she who stopped him. And because of her, we didn't see Kyubey again until you left the island."

Mio crouched down to be at eye level with Hatsuka and helped tuck Hatsuka's messy hair behind her ears.

"You know what? The battle with her was the hardest battle I've ever fought. It was so hard that I almost died after I was reborn—if it weren't for her feeling guilty towards me."

She curled the corners of her lips and said tactfully.

"I can't die, I haven't gotten my revenge yet."

You don't deserve to say such things!

The pity and guilt she had felt for Mio just moments before instantly turned into flames of rage. Hatsuka suddenly broke free from the guardian knight's restraints and swung her claws at the witch who was right in front of her.

whoosh-

A cold wind swept across Mio's neck, and Hatsuka slashed open her neck.

However, Mio still smiled as she looked at Hatsuka. Some struggling souls emerged from the wound on her neck, seemingly trying desperately to escape. But the wound soon began to heal, and the struggling souls were pulled back in.

Save us—

They seemed to be saying something.

“After becoming a witch, I can devour the souls of the dead. Whether they died at my hands or not, I can swallow them and make them a part of me, my familiars,” Mio said. “Aunt Lin is my third familiar. The first and second were my father and mother.”

"Through devouring, the original body lurking at the bottom of the sea has become more and more powerful, powerful enough to support my revenge plan."

Mio gazed lovingly into Hatsuka's eyes, which were gradually being consumed by madness.

"But before that, there's something else I want."

"that is you."

"what--!"

The wolf's head behind her almost swallowed Chu Hua's face whole, and like those ghosts, she struggled to reach out to Mio.

Help me—

I don't want it to end like this—

"Don't worry, I've already driven Xiangzi away. No one can enter this barrier without my permission," Mio said slowly. "You can slowly turn into a witch here, and then be devoured by me and become a part of me."

She cupped Chu Hua's face in her hands, her cheeks flushed with excitement.

"We made a promise, didn't we? To be together forever."

That was Mio's goal.

She wanted Hatsuka to become a witch, to become as insane and cruel as herself, and then to transform Hatsuka into her familiar.

She hated everyone in the world, including Chu Hua, but only with Chu Hua did she still harbor feelings other than hatred. That feeling drove her to make Chu Hua completely her own.

Thus.

Her world will no longer be lonely.

"Roar----!"

No! I don't want to!

I don't want to become a witch, nor a familiar! I don't want to be a traitor!

Chu Hua opened her mouth, desperately trying to shout. But only the howls and roars of a wild beast came out.

Bsk seemed to be standing behind her, his jaws wide open, ready to devour her.

Have all the solutions truly been exhausted?

Is there really... no other way...?

Chu Hua's vision blurred, tears welled up in her eyes, and then slid down her cheeks...

Mio smiled and raised her finger to wipe away her tears.

"Without your permission, it is indeed impossible to enter the barrier, but if you are part of the barrier yourself, there will be no problem."

"Who?!"

Mio's gaze froze.

boom--!

The arrow of wind grazed Chu Hua's cheek, and the arrow, carrying powerful wind pressure, struck Mio's head directly, causing her head to explode like a bursting watermelon.

Mio, headless, stumbled backward a few steps before managing to regain her balance with the help of the guardian knight.

The struggling souls burst forth from the severed neck like a geyser, flying towards the direction from which the sound came.

Mio's head quickly regenerated, after all, this was just her avatar, not her original body, so it could easily recover no matter how broken it was.

But those departed souls did not return.

They were all inside the barrier, but they disappeared and did not re-integrate into Mio's body.

She stared wide-eyed at the person who had shot the arrow.

"How could this be—!" Mio stared at her in disbelief. "You are my familiar, how could you disobey me!"

She had already eliminated all possibilities that could affect her plans, so how could anyone possibly interfere?! Why?! She was clearly one of the first people to be transformed into a familiar!

Are you surprised?

"How could a familiar disobey its own witch? That's impossible!"

“Familiars can’t, but what if they’re also witches? If they’re witches, we’re no longer superior and subordinate, but equal beings.” Lin tilted her head. “Besides magical girls, familiars also have the ability to advance to witches. In big cities you’ve never seen, there have been people who used this method to raise witches and continuously produce food.”

Lin, carrying the bow, slowly moved to her daughter's side using the tentacles beneath her and placed her hand on her shoulder.

Chu Hua's body suddenly felt lighter, and the feeling of being stuck in the mud disappeared.

"Eh?"

She knelt on the ground and belatedly touched her face.

"who is it......"

“Every witch possesses her own unique quality, and mine is ‘perseverance.’” Lin knelt down and hugged Chu Hua tightly. “Even if I fall into witchhood, I can still uphold myself…”

Chu Hua felt herself being embraced in a warm embrace, and her eyes narrowed.

"Mother......?"

She sensed that the witch embracing her was named—

Flow

A Tale of the Lost: The Spirit of Youth - Chapter 260: Life is Like Returning Home

Flow (Life is like returning to the flow)

—Venez's character theme song from Final Fantasy XIV 6.0: Dawn of the End.

=======

Lin was once a magical girl.

She's called a magical girl, but she's actually almost thirty years old and has a PhD in astronomy.

She was only a teenager when she became a magical girl, and now so many years have passed in the blink of an eye. She has seen one companion after another die and has witnessed them turn into witches.

One batch of girls after another became magical girls, and one batch of magical girls after another became witches, while Lin, like a spectator in a drama, saw off one batch of her successors after another.

Lin was tired and wanted to find a place to rest, so she started traveling, ostensibly to record the stars, but in reality, she was traveling around the world.

Having been a magical girl for over a decade, her control over magical energy consumption had long since reached a level of perfection. Coupled with the Grief Seed she possessed, she could live carefree for many, many years.

She traveled to the ends of the earth, recording countless stars and folk tales in her notebook—yes, besides stars, her greatest hobby was collecting stories.

Finally, she found a place where she could stay, met her lover, and had a child.

Welcome, it's a pleasure to meet you, my brave little spark!

During my travels, I collected all sorts of stories. In some places, people believe that everyone's soul is a star that has wandered for many years before finally finding its home.

That shelter is where the newborn child was born.

Therefore, everyone is transformed from a star that stopped moving.

Lin thought it was very romantic.

She lay in the hospital bed, holding the crumpled baby in her arms.

【After wandering for so long, you finally shine like a star!】

Is this her child?

Is this... her own star?

Oh, I've been waiting patiently until today!

Lin always thought that the moment she met this child was the happiest moment of her life, until she watched the child grow up day by day and realized that she had been wrong.

It turns out that happiness isn't just about that one moment, but about every single day from now on.

Every day, things are getting better.

Do you still remember those raindrops, some near, some far, so endearing?

Once a person's age exceeds a certain threshold, each day passes by like a revolving lantern, frame by frame. Or like raindrops, falling gently to the ground, creating ripples in life before fading away.

But the days spent with her, the scenes we shared, the raindrops that fell—every single one was a gift from heaven.

As time goes by, drops of water eventually form a clear stream.

[It becomes a stream, a river, and a lake.]

Day by day.

She is growing up.

singing.