Occult Classic (Alyth)

[Holly Hallow]

For the last twenty years there had been two rather prominent sides that rose in the worlds. Those who believed strongly in the light that has always saved them and those who secretly worshiped the darkness. It was like this on almost every world, especially worlds like Traverse Town, where it was a hub for immigrants who have lost their way. Many who have seen the carnage and death that the Heartless bring, either come to fear it, or embrace it for what it is. The end times. Such mindsets were perfect for the cultivation of an army, but first things first, "teachings" had to be established, indoctrination methods perfected to solidify loyalty and proof that the sacrifices made were worth it. The human mind worked on simplicity despite how complicated people were in general, though, it was the simplicity of the human mind that Holly knew how to extort, and bend without much effort. That's what brought her to the third district of Traverse Town.

Not many people rolled through the area with the myriad of alleyways useful, for housing all forms of inconspicuous meet-ups. While it was a particular quiet night, Holly gathered around ten members of an established cult. She managed to rally them to their cause once word of the Heartless attacks on other worlds started, so it was easy to make her way in as an envoy of that darkness. Which was actually completely true. The only lie she had to tell involved her role as the armies' leader. Some were skeptical while others jumped on the chance to join her ranks. The Seeker of Sorrow, whose lust for death knew now bounds, offered the quickest method of attaining true release. That was by offering themselves and their hearts to her and the darkness entirely. Doubt wasn't allowed, however, so those who did along the way, were cut down in front of their peers. Not only did they turn into Heartless but their deaths served as a form of twisted martyrdom, so that the others would easily follow suit. It was all too perfect.

Thus, there was no surprise when ten people of all shapes and sizes, ages and genders, had been in quiet prayer, knelt before their "Dark Lord." "Your prayers fill me with such delight... Truly, you are only the most devout of followers, but now I wish for you all to prove this." Her voice was deceptively cold, yet, filled with darkness and seduction. They carried on vile winds that masked themselves as full truths. When asked to prove their faith, their loyalty, they rose their heads from prayer and gazed upon Holly, awaiting instruction. "I wish for you all, to repeat over and over, that you offer yourselves completely to darkness. Give into your primal desires, your anger, your hatred, give into your greed and hunger, so that you can be reborn as the perfect visage of darkness!"

Just like that, the people didn't waste time as they dipped their heads back down, repeating the words Holly instructed them to do. Frantic and fanatic, they said these words over and over, until one by one, Holly had impaled through their chests. They each died instantly and had relinquished their hearts to the witch. She devoured them and felt herself grow in power because of it. Rather than sorrow, they had faces of bliss plastered all over their images. They died to the lie, that was Holly's teachings...

[Alyth]

It was quite strange seeing such a normal world after wandering through the more ancient cities of Camelot and Olympus. In truth, Alyth had flown here in her gummi ship, which was now docked just outside the city limits. Of course, the moment she set foot in Traverse Town, she felt an unease that she couldn't explain. The world looked inviting enough, with its starry night sky and inviting architecture. But it felt like something...evil was lurking. It was stressing the young sniper out. It had reached the point that she had decided she would wander around. Do some recon, for lack of a better term.

The first two districts were actually quite interesting. The first disrict seemed to be the main hub of the world, where all the business was done. District Two seemed to be just a midpoint between the districts. However, the moment the sniper entered the third district, she was uneasy. The space around her rippled, and her rifle was suddenly slung on her shoulder, her sword sheathed on her side. She crept silently through the district, the silence being unnerving until she came in earshot of something.

She couldn't hear the words, but there were a variety of voices. Picking up the pace, she came in full view of the alley just as the last person dropped, four heartless forming from their corpses. It took two squeezes of the trigger. Four muffled blasts in total, the bullets curving in impossible angles, nailing each fledgling heartless in their heads. They died quickly, the darkness dissipating into smoke. Unfortunately, they would remain what they had become. The woman lowered the rifle, scowling deeply. She didn't know what was going on, only that it was completely wrong and unnatural. Darkness was no mere toy, and.yet, that was the into way she could describe such actions. As those of a child fiddling with a toy. You know, this place is creepy enough without people going around creating heartless. She said coldly as her rifle rippled away, Bianca being replaced with Mirabelle, her shotgun.

This wasn't going to be a conflict that could be settled with words. Now that she was mere feet from the woman, she knew what was giving her that sense of unease. It was coming from her. Something about her existence felt inherently..wrong. Unnatural as the elegance with which she carried herself. More unnatural than the beauty that she could see in the sparse light. It felt like a trap. She just wasn't sure what kind of trap she was.

[Holly Hallow]

When the last person had fallen, there were ten shadows among Holly's presence that had taken themselves, only for their to suddenly be six. Muffled gunshots and a rifle of some sort, was the cause of the disturbance. Easily those four fell, away from her control, down into the darkness of that "thing" which lurked beyond. A rather annoyed sigh escaped Holly's lips, as she waved away the rest of her creations. A pale, silvery-haired beauty, with flawless skin and an outfit that covered the essentials, while accentuating her beauty and grace, turned to face the stranger with her golden-yellow eyes. Just their gaze alone spoke of the anger and annoyance that was hidden, by that soft, sweet smile of hers. "Exactly why I came here, girl." Her words were sharp when spoken, like daggers that stabbed at the ego.

Never once had the Seeker taken her eyes away from the military themed woman. She eyed her up and down, getting a nice feel for the woman's body build, the way how the stranger carried herself, weaponry, armor, and so much more. One had to properly size-up their prey before going in for a pounce.

That smile of Holly's only grew wider and she slowly licked her lips. "Why are you here, girl? What cause do you have to murder my innocent little creations?" The woman asked in a taunting manner.

[Alyth]

So that was the situation. She was here to create heartless. That wasn't good. And with how easily the fledgling shadows retreated, she could only assume that she had done this before. However, as the woman eyed her, Alyth felt on edge-more so than before. She felt like she was being undressed with just this woman's eyes. But she kept her lack of comfort hidden well, only giving the slighest of shudders as this unnervingly beautiful woman licked her lips. She was sizing her up, she could tell.

It was when she spoke again.that the snipers neutral mask turned into a scowl. She was calling the beasts she was creating innocent. The moment she finished speaking, Alyth loaded a round, cocking the shotgun as she stared angrily into the eyes of this woman. These things aren't innocent. Their wild animals that steal the hearts of others. However, I didn't come here just to kill these things. I was just going to stop here to rest. Something felt wrong though. Now, here we are. The question now is will you leave willingly, or do I have to make you leave? She asked, her voice steady and full of confidence.

She was waiting for this girl to make a move. She didn't want to battle. She hoped that her firepower would be intimidating enough. She doubted she would run. Someone who had just killed ten people in cold blood had to be on some sort of power trip. Still, she couldn't help it. She was excited at the chance to test herself. Her metaphorical trigger finger was itching. Still, for now it was just a dangerous staring contest.

[Holly Hallow]

Ah, yes, the most natural response when speaking about Heartless. Anger. Maybe not just anger, but anguish, despair, hopelessness. All of these and more, due to the fact the creatures couldn't be killed by conventional means. A keyblade was needed against the agents of darkness, yet, they were in such short supply nowadays. That's why Holly relished off of the woman's response and even laughed right in her face. That cackle mocked the red-head before her, down to her very existence. It was so brutally condescending.

The air would have started to chill, as ripples of darkness began to creep from the necromancer's body. That feeling of unease would only intensify, even more so when all the lights in the surrounding area had been suddenly snuffed out. The only lights left came from the moon and the stars above, natural light that made it really hard to see in some areas. Holly slowly outstretched her arms, her wide grin being reduced to a smirk. "You cock that shotgun and aim it like a big shot. Let me ask you a few things... How do you feel when you pull the trigger? Have you ever once taken a human life with it before?"

Time for the psychological games to begin. That last question asked, Holly slowly approached with her arms still outstretched. Each step on the ground from her heeled boots clacked against it audibly. Movement was always another form of identification, especially in intense stare downs like these. The Seeker had already made her first few moves with the questions, and her slow approach towards the stranger. Smirk still present on her lips, the white-haired woman was ready to have a little fun with all of this.

[Alyth]

If this thing had hoped to insult her, it had worked. Her scowl deepened as she made the first move. Smart, snuffing out the lights like that. For now she didn't want to tip her hand. However, when she was asked how she felt when she pulled the trigger, Alyth frowned. I feel regret. But, Mirabelle here isn't meant for people. People deserve the decency of the quickest death possible. Mirabelle is for beasts.

She wasn't lying. She always held regret with each pull of the trigger. But now was no place for that. She lowered the shotgun, waiting for the woman to come into point blank range..and fired. There were two flashes, but only the normal amount of recoil! Double the amount of pellets erupted from the shells, covering the entire alley in its spread. Alyth ducked around a corner, focusing her mana into her eyes. She blinked a few times. Her vision was a bit better now. Enough to where it could be considered sharper than average for night vision.

She doubted that she had hit her. Someone like that was liable to have some kind of backup plan. She looked to the rooftops. She could run if she needed to, good. For now, she instinctively cocked her shotgun again...and turned to be facing into the alley again. This was gonna be one hell of a night. She had to be careful. She didn't know what she was capable of. For now, she listened for the clicking of boots. She was ready to bolt, but her conscience was keeping her pinned in her spot, pretending that she couldn't see.

[Holly Hallow]

Holly's lips widened into a grin when she saw the regret and scowl turned frown. Her amusement piqued at the statement made by weapon toting young woman. A loud laugh akin to a cackle had left the necromancer's lips, while she continued to close the gap between the two of them. When the witch had gotten close enough, her eyes watched that trigger finger, since it had been twitching, and ready to pull it since they first starting talking.

A loud bang echoed through the alleyway, as the red-head finally got her relief to do so. The pellets would have... Hit nothing, as Holly simply vanished beneath her own little shadow. Much like how the lesser creatures were able to, she traveled as a puddle of darkness in the same moment her opponent had ducked behind the corner and resurfaced, quietly, without needing to use her feet at all.

"Boo." Holly said softly into the ear of her opponent, before taking her tongue and licking into it. The necromancer was toying with her, like how a cat plays with its food before making the kill. However, someone like the red-head, who hunted down beasts? Probably thought of herself as something righteous. After that little molestation, Holly quickly backed up, almost seeming like a blur compared to her opponent and simply chuckled. "There isn't a difference between human and beast, you know? All of you are animals, just some have a consciousness to do more than their baser instincts. But you? Oh, you're something different, aren't you? Just like me, I'm something entirely different from my kin..."

[Alyth]

She didn't even get a chance to move from her cover before this creature was upon her once more, mere inches  in front of her. She felt the cold emanating from a body that had been given over to the darkness entirely. That, or this woman's mere presence was making her own blood run cold. And yet, before she could even move, she had already whispered in her ear, and even worse..she had licked inside of it. If her blood hadn't been running cold before, now it felt like ice in her veins. Even though it was something that she found more than a little creepy, she couldn't lie to herself. It had felt strangely pleasurable. While she pushed the thought into the back of her mind, her face betrayed her, flushing with color for a moment before what was said sank in.

She had already put together that this woman was some type of heartless. However, to hear that she was different from other heartless somehow..it took an immense force of will to keep the color from draining from her face. Still, she had been called on her bluff. She chuckled as she smirked at the woman. You caught me. She said before literally vanishing from view, being a good thirty feet  in the air-moving in a backwards diagonal-putting her a good ten feet above the nearest roof  as she gathered mana into her hand, heating the air before creating a single spark which expanded into a massive fireball!

The moment it was fully formed, Alyth flipped in the air, firing downwards at the creature! The fireball was huge, but it was also rather quick. Nowhere near as fast as this woman was moving, but it gave Alyth time to figure something out. The only downside of the woman dodging like she had was that the entire alleyway she had been hiding out in was now completely blocked off by earthen walls which had compressed into each other.  A simple reminder as to why she preferred slugs over shells. She landed on the rooftop with all the grace of someone who had practiced such movements time and time again. She let Mirabelle ripple away as she held her hand out, an orb of light igniting in her hand out of nothing before she threw it up into the air, the magic orb acting like a light of sorts. Sure, it broadcasted her location, but she could see now, and cut out the mana leading to her eyes.

She didn't have much time. So, in preparation for the woman following her up, she allowed the space around her to ripple, covering her in her Stalker armor, which went through several shades of black and blue for the cloth. It helped her with stealth, and allowed her to have some kind of protection. She pulled the hood up close before darting quickly and mostly silently to the right, leaping across the alleyway to a different rooftop, summoning Mirabelle again as she fired a slug this time, the bullet ricocheting for a few moments before it managed to find a target, homing in on it with a surprising amount of speed! Her only advantage was going to be her firearms, and she knew this. She had to keep her distance. She could die if she didn't.

[Holly Hallow]

Had she really caught the woman? Unlikely, because no one in their right mind would laugh in the face of death, unless they had a plan out... Either that or they had resigned themselves to their fate, and this woman didn't seem the type to just roll over and die. Right as that thought was finished, however, it was also proven correct as the agile opponent appeared a good distance away in the air and landed on a rooftop. Holly watched the girl closely as she followed up her quick movements, with the conjuring of a spell herself.

The time it took for the thing to spark and grow in size, allowed the necromancer to get an instant look at its composition and the magics used to create it. Nothing special or supernatural in its creation, so that just meant all it'd take to call it her own, was a simple little touch. When the opponent had threw her projectile towards Holly, Holly responded by raising her hand up and halting its movement entirely. She just held it there in her own hand at that point, and claimed it as her own, cutting off the woman's influence on it. Once the Heartless had done so, it'd start to rapidly grow in size, illuminating the alleyway and giving off her position as well.

Holly decided to bide her time with this next approach, weighed her choices to judge her next course of action. All it took was a simple reveal, which was something she received in the next few moments. A bright ball of light had shown itself in the distance, likely the girl providing a large source of light for herself, so that she could stem the darkness Holly invited to their little playing field. Her opponent was nimble, intelligent and graceful, yet, that didn't matter all that much to the hunter, who had been at the pinnacle of her physical growth.

It was then the pellets were fired off once more. The white-haired woman continued to hold that massive fireball in her hand, tracing the bouncing and echoes of the pellets, as they ricocheted off the walls. Right before they would have hit their mark, Alyth would have been able to see the bright light which had belonged to the gigantic fireball suddenly disappear. That meant her shots hit their mark, right? Wrong.

The light disappearing meant that the Heartless had anticipated all of this up to now, then had vanished before she was struck. The red-headed young woman would have seen a bright light overhead, as Holly with an insidious grin, threw the giant fireball down towards her. Fast and deadly, there'd be little time to avoid this stunning display of speed and agility.

[Alyth]

At first, Alyth thought her plan had worked. The woman had taken the fireball without a second thought, and even took control of it. She had hoped that she would fall for the bait of the light, but when the much brighter light of the fireball vanished, Alyth swore, looking around frantically until she felt the air above her heat up. FUCK! She yelled as she immediately burned a bit of her Mana, holding her hands up as solid rock started forming above her, finishing its formation mere moments before the massive ball of flame connected! Alyth had to grit her teeth and dig her feet in as the flames licked over the edges of the barrier. By the end of it, she grinned. The stone had been turned into glass from the immense heat. Before the heartless could blink, she would find that the glass of the barrier's face had shattered and was being launched outwards as hundreds, if not thousands of tiny needles!

It seemed that they both were rather intelligent. This was a battle that could go on for hours if either of them allowed it. So, immediately after the needles were launched, Alyth vanished once more, appearing directly above the woman in a ripple of energy, her shotgun in her hand as she pressed it firmly against her back, pulling the trigger, two slugs being fired at once into her spine if she didn't move! She was trying her best to make this the end, but something told her that she wasn't going to pull this off as seamlessly as she thought she was going to.

She had at least three other plans she could run through. The one thing that was scaring her thus far was that she was almost too fast for the sniper to track. Her magic was potent as well, but she could at least hold her own for now. She was holding back on that end, if her terrifying speed was any indicator. Regardless of what happened, she activated the ability of her armor, falling not downwards, but to the left and backwards. Her feet touched down gently on the side of a building a good thirty feet away. She wasn't sure what she was fighting, but she knew that eventually she wouldn't be able to keep up with her anymore. She racked her brain trying to think of some way to end this quickly. She didn't want to become another victim of this..thing.

[Holly Hallow]

The Heartless was genuinely impressed at the level of on-the-spot thinking her opponent displayed. It'd be good to see her grow further in terms of ability and physical skill, since she could see where the red-head had lacked overall. That thought had passed by in a split second, her grin growing to just a smirk once more. She watched the glass shatter outward into thousands of needles, with her own response being to detonate the the flame in her hand.

This would cause a grand explosion that engulfed Holly completely and more than likely, Alyth as well could have either been consumed, or blown away considering she had teleported to get behind her. The necromancer made it to where her own spell hadn't harmed her, due to the immense control she held over the element. Several rooftops would have been caved in, leveling the houses alongside them thanks to the destructive nature of the attack. If there were any people living inside, they would have likely died in the crossfire.

Once everything had been said and done, the white-haired witch landed among all the debris and flames, interestingly enough there was a ring of fire that had crafted an arena. Likely enough, Alyth and Holly would be face to face, unless the red-head had the notion to teleport away. Seemed like retreating was her preferred method of going about this situation, so if she used that damned technique one more time, the Heartless would have to swat her down like the fly she was.

[Alyth]

When the dust settled, Holly was indeed face to face with Alyth. Or..a version of her. She would quickly see through the magic that animated the clone made of glass, the sparse light that was in the area being enough to make it look just like the sniper. As for the sniper herself? She was nowhere to be seen. However, she was hidden, loading her rifle in silence as she held her breath, the gravity shift she had used allowing her to lay prone on the remains of a second story floor in one of the houses on the very edge of the ring. She had the heartless in her sights. She had taken everything thus far in stride, and that irritated Alyth. To that end, she had outfitted her clone with Plan B and Mirabelle. She hoped that the clone would serve as a distraction while she watched, waiting for an opening.

As for the clone itself, it remained silent, but it cocked the shotgun it held before darting forward at top speed, strafing around to holly's side to fire at her feet, sending a series of earthen walls erupting up from the ground to either launch her into the air, or hopefully actually hit her in the area of her head. After that, the clone attempted to dash forward, yet another attempt at firing into Holly's side being made. Meanwhile, Alyth had silently extended her effective range. She sensed every pellet, every shell. If Holly attempted to dodge the second attack, she would find that the bullets would not only home in on her, but they would appear mere feet away from where she dodged to.

This had become quite serious. Alyth had even decided what kind of enhancement she would give her shot from Bianca. So, without hesitation, she fired, two bullets once again being launched. Only one was charged with magic though. The bullet that led out first was charged with thunder magic, and rocketed towards Holly with more speed than an average bullet. Meanwhile, the other bullet vanished, appearing behind her as the clone drew its sword, swinging it at her stomach region. The idea was to at least attempt to overwhelm her. If it worked or not was anyone's guess.

[Holly Hallow]

There they were, Heartless and glass clone, a brief stare down occurred between the two beings initiated another fight with one another. The person who made the first move, was False Alyth, who fired off the shotgun towards Holly's feet, manipulated the earth to try and crush her head and once more got to her other side in an impressive display of speed, to fire off more pellets towards her. Now that was quite the gauntlet of attacks that Holly had to be mindful of. A short deep breath, held at that and everything seemed to slow down for the Heartless.

Her yellow eyes scanned the situation easily and so to start off, the woman performed a backflip, into a handstand in order to avoid the earthen constructs, then pushed herself off of her hands and gave herself decent height into the air. That would allow her to avoid the pellets outright... Or so she thought. Performing a twist in the air, the necromancer saw from her point of view, those projectiles curving upwards and homing in on her. There was one thing she could do and that was outstretch her hand forward. It took a small bit of effort to completely halt the pellets in their path. Holly landed soon after doing so, her face appearing less than amused.

She held the bullets in place and had heard two rounds fire off. Her ears twitched to where they were originally fired from. One charged with thunder magic roared towards her and prompted her to release those pellets, before she took a big leap backwards. It was then that the clone had vanished, appeared behind her and attempted to slash at her once she had landed. A small "tch," left the Heartless' mouth and it was then that she'd make due on her promise.

No words were said, as everything seemed like a blur. Within a fraction of a second, Holly had pivoted on her heel and performed a rising chopping motion with her hand. Her strength, speed and precision turned this single gesture into a deadly weapon, in which it cleaved the clone's arm right off when it was in mid-swing. Using the momentum of her own pivot and chop, Holly then came in with a strong left hook, which would have shattered the head of the clone, before she destroyed the body with a well-placed straight-kick to the abdomen. "Was this all?"

The Heartless asked with a cold, bitter chuckle. It was then that Alyth found Holly directly in front of her. "Get up." Was her command, as she reached out towards the red-head, gripped her by the hood of her outfit, and threw her smack in the middle of the arena. Afterwards, the white-haired woman jumped from where she stood and aimed to land right on the woman's chest.

[Alyth]

As Holly appeared in front of her, Alyth forced the two rifle bullets to hang where they were, vanishing as she allowed gravity to affect her normally, hitting the ground hard enough to knock the wind out of her! However, as she saw Holly above her, she smirked as best she could, holding one hand out while the other touched the ground. The bullets appeared in front of her hand, regaining their original momentum as she rolled out of the way, a pillar of fire exploding from the ring she had created on the ground! This was a close one. There was no way she could dodge this though, she was moving too quickly to change direction anymore, right? To be safe, she scrambled to her feet, running at full tilt to take cover in one of the wrecked buildings.

This was insane. She was literally a blur, if even that! The only reason she'd been able to see at all was because she had been looking through Bianca's scope. The glint of the glass had been the telltale sign of movement. Admittedly, the sniper was terrified. This woman was powerful beyond even her wildest imagination. She watched the pillar burn. It was all but a signal flare. There was no way that she hadn't been hit by that. Still, the sniper was rooted to the spot, struggling to catch her breath. This creature was a hellish fighter. She was right to say that she was different from her kin. She would wait. In exactly one minute, the fire was going to burn itself out anyway.

She could stay for that long. It was something she needed to do. She knew that this wasn't going to be the end, even if she temporarily dispatched her. She was a heartless, through and through. The golden eyes betrayed it, along with the few abilities she shared with other heartless. She held her rifle tightly, ready to prop the barrel up on the remains of the wooden wall she was kneeling behind. This one move was going to determine if she was going to live, or die.

[Holly Hallow]

So she had one more trick up her sleeve? Excellent, Holly knew how how to manipulate it to her advantage. Compared to her opponent, the witch was able to perceive and register everything faster, than those who were on a lesser power scale. Had this been someone else who matched her at every turn, the Heartless would have gone all-out from the beginning and even then, couldn't play with the opponent as much as she did with the red-head. Thankfully, this was just a warm-up before the real fun began elsewhere.

What was Holly's plan? Take a bullet. Her hand quickly outstretched itself to nullify the effects of the thunder magicked bullet, to which she then pretended that she didn't see the latter, non-elemental bullet come her way. It'd pierce her abdomen, to which she cried out, only to be consumed by the fire. A large pillar where the Heartless would have been continued to burn and burn, but all this time, the woman had faked her apparent defeat. While she "burned," Holly had begun to mutter a chant to herself, performing a series of hand motions while doing so. This chant was faint, not able to be picked up thanks to the roaring flames that consumed her. Before the minute was up, her chant was finished and the silence was placed.

After the smoke cleared, there she was, "burned" and "fatally" wounded. Truth of the matter, was that the necromancer had placed a glamour of sorts, an illusion if one will, of her wounds. That way, it appeared as though Holly had begun to bleed from her wound, which would have been cauterized to a degree. The blisters bubbled, boiled and some even popped, as her "burnt" body appeared unusable from all the damage. It seemed like Alyth had won.

[Alyth]

That was it. She couldn't move anymore, right? As Alyth looked the Heartless over through her scope, she cringed at the massive damage that her spell had caused. There were blisters that were popping, she was bleeding from her wound, and she looked like she was boiling. She rose to her feet, warping through space to appear in front of the heartless. She looked at her with a stony expression, her eyes the only thing that Holly would be able to see through her armor.

She had several ways to end this. There was no need to use her abilities, so she didn't notice that when she got close, her effective range dropped back down to normal. She would be unable to use her mana in this area as well, which was the more terrifying thing that she completely overlooked. She allowed her rifle to vanish, holding her hand out, her sword appearing in that hand, switching the grip to be reversed, the point leveled right at Holly's heart.

Without a word, she raised the blade up, and plunged it downwards as hard as she could. This was the end, at least for now..she didn't know what would happen when she reformed. If she would ever be safe again..but for now, it was worth it to know that she had won. There was no way she was coming back from this.

[Holly Hallow]

Holly's chest heaved as the damage received to her body was phenomenal. Her seared flesh would create a foul stench in the air, which she couldn't really smell all herself, because it wasn't there. The prey she had set her eyes on had fallen for the simplest of illusions, which involved bodily modifications. Easy to fool the less experienced eyes with this one, due to the fact that it was an outcome they wanted, thus easier to manipulate their perception when presented with the false truth.

This sniper came in close and had positioned her gaze over the "broken" Holly. Excellent. When that sword was summoned, raised and then brought down with the intention to stab into the Heartless' chest, that's when everything unraveled. She utilized a speed her opponent wouldn't even be able to read, let alone even see before it was all too late.

Holly smacked that blade out of the woman's hand with relative ease, her body lurching up from its resting position, with her other hand reaching for the red-head's neck. Once it was within her grasp, the white-haired woman gripped hard, slowly suffocating her captured prey. Standing on her feet and holding the woman upward, she stared with burning, yellow eyes, into the eyes of her opponent. A cruel smile spread upon her lips as the illusion faded. Holly was still in top condition. And the bullet? She pushed it out of the wound in her body, took it into her free hand and tossed it up and down.

"Always gotta confirm the kill, right? What happened to your rifle not being used on humans and that shotgun for beasts, hm?" She taunted the woman as she strangled her. "Ever wonder what one of your bullets felt like?" That cruel smirk spread into an insidious grin, as she super heated the metal in her hand, and had begun to slowly, very slowly, push it into the woman's side. Her expert hand knew where to push the bullet, so it didn't do any fatal damage. Her intention was to keep the woman alive enough to expose her to the darkness a bit more. Torture was another aspect of this she wanted to perform, so Holly did it. That bullet would have burned greatly as it tore through flesh and lodged its way in, making movement of that area highly uncomfortable and painful. "Well go on, scream."

[Alyth]

Before Alyth knew it, there was a hand around her throat, and her sword was smacked out of her hand! Damn it! She shouldn't have been so hasty! This wasn't the first time she had come across illusions. Her sister was a rather proficient user of them! She shouldn't have fallen for it, yet she had. Even as the heartless stared her down and pulled the bullet out, her golden eyes would only see stony violet. Alyth did not fear her, though she should have. She was a stubborn one. She had no reason to fear her. If she had wanted her dead, she wouldn't have bothered with pretending to be incapacitated in the first place. Still, when she was asked a question, she somehow still found the air in her lungs and enough lax in her grip to speak. The first thing that escaped her mouth was a choked chuckle. D..don't get me wrong. I don't think your human. But I didn't account for your speed and dexterity..my shotgun couldn't compensate. Pinpoint accuracy was needed. She said, glaring as menacingly as she could at the heartless.

Fear never crept into her eyes, even as she started to heat up the bullet. She'd been shot by her own weapon before. The first time she tried to use it in fact. Shot herself in the foot trying to get it to load, not knowing that it was already loaded. She clenched her jaw, her hands balling into fists so firmly that blood started to trickle down them, dripping off of her knuckles onto the floor. She was a stubborn bitch, and wasn't going to give this creature the satisfaction of hearing her scream. The pain was obvious in her eyes. The cold hatred that filled them was made to waver by the tears that filled her eyes and spilled down her face. She wasn't going to give in. She could still do this..right? The bullet that had burned its way into her side told her no, but her instincts told her otherwise. She had one last resort. If she could just get it to work..

[Holly Hallow]

She thought her own stone-faced expression to bother Holly? It didn't, in fact, the Heartless enjoyed those type of people. The ones hardened to stone, because when they broke, they crumbled to a nice pile of dust. However, that wasn't this woman's time. Not yet, at least. Everyone who would encounter the white-haired witch would be on a schedule in which she'd slowly break them into reality. This red-head she held by her neck, choking the life out of her? This would be her first actual experiment. "You shouldn't make such a scowl, it'd cause that pretty face of yours to wrinkle faster." A mocking snicker left her lips when she said that.

As for the bullet, what did Holly do with it? Continued to the boiling hot metal as deep into the woman's body as she could go, without hitting or rupturing anything necessary. When that was nice and done, the sadistic woman shoved in a second finger to widen that wound further, taking her nails and dragging them along the walls of flesh. All the while, she kept eye contact with those violet eyes. "At least you look pretty as you cry... I wonder..." Her voice trailed off as she brought the red-head closer to her.

Holly then proceeded to lick those tears from the woman's face and when she got a nice taste, of that salty liquid which served to express pain and sorrow, the Heartless shivered in delight. Another lick of her lips, she hummed quietly to herself, before she pressed her lips against her captured prey. A forced kiss which had a different intention behind it all together, and that was to plant the singular seed. Holly had began to transfer a small bit of her essence of darkness, into the woman's body through their physical contact. At the same time, she had a tore out the fingers in the wound, to grope at a breast, specifically the one where the heart resided and made sure to guide the dark energy towards that point. A bit of darkness to kick start the process.

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