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He made a name for himself, getting him known for as the one-eyed witch hunter in the town. Witches of different kinds have been killed using only his sword, or his bow and arrow.
Kubo had made himself as a witch hunter that had slayed many notorious witches, but this witch has got to be one of his monumental feats in his so-called witch killing career.
"Aye young man, are you sure about this?" One of his older peers in witch hunting had asked him, as Kubo nodded sternly. "Yes sir," he responded politely.
The old man had sighed, giving Kubo his needs for his journey to kill the most powerful witches among all witches.
The one that lives at the far edge of the woods, near the huge mountains. One that would make you suffer in the middle of the night if you provoke her name, even by accident.
The witch that was known for being the most dangerous witch out of all the witches, the one that had killed each and every single witch hunter that had a plan to take her life.
"I have to warn you, no witch hunter has ever killed-" the old man had to stop himself from saying her name, in fear that she may hear him and kill him in his sleep.
"If I would be killed under her wrath, then I just want to let you know that I fought for the town I grew up in from beings like her," Kubo said while gritting his teeth in anger. This witch had killed many brave men, but it's time for him to seek the dark witch himself.
Kubo nodded kindly to the old man, exiting the cottage that was sitting near the start of the thick trees of the forest.
"Wherever you are, how powerful you may be, I will try my best to defeat you, even if it costs me my life, Agatha Prenderghast."
He started his journey by just walking north, where most witch hunters had told him where she would be.
When the sun started to set, the rain poured heavily from above, painting the sky in a dark colour. This could all be her doing, but Kubo was determined to fight against the rain.
A few hours had passed, and the rain kept pouring hard. He was growing sick, and tired, and he was walking non stop without eating or drinking anything other than the rain itself. He has to find shelter quickly, but no one lives in the middle of the woods as far as he knows.
"Curse all of this rain," he grunted with a tired groan, as he pushed himself to continue. But the rain is not showing any signs of stopping, until his body had given up on him, before he unknowingly passed out.
• • •
Kubo woke up to the sound of the birds chirping from outside, as the sun blinded his eye temporarily, prompting him to get up.
He was lying on a small bed, making him assume that he's back on the town. Then, out of nowhere, his head had throbbed painfully, making him groan loudly as he clutched his forehead to at least soothe the pain.
The sound of the door opening had alarmed him, as a mysterious young girl entered the room he's in with a glass of water on her hand. "Oh my goodness, you're awake!" She exclaimed worriedly, as Kubo tried to take a good look at the young lady.
She has dark ebony hair, wearing a simple black dress with fair white skin. Okay, she was definitely not who he was expecting. "Who are you?" He asked her, as she sat on the bed beside him.
She hesitates for a moment, before smiling at him. "I'm Mika," she told him softly, handing him the glass of water. "Drink, you'll feel better," she insisted, as Kubo looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
"How can I trust you?" He asked her directly, making her gasp lightly on his question. "Um," she started, looking at the ground to try and find her words.
"I found you laying on the ground from outside my cottage, and at first I thought you were dead."
Kubo just stared at Mika, as she expected a violent reaction from him. When she got none, she continued. "But when I noticed that you were still breathing, I went through the heavy rain and brought you in here," she told him with a soft smile.
"Thank you Mika," Kubo said, returning the smile. "I'm Kubo," he told her, bringing up his hand for her to shake. She grabbed his hand before shaking it, and he felt extremely weird holding her hand.
He couldn't tell if it was him, or there was something pulsing through her hand that he can't explain. But nonetheless, he thanked her still.
"Mika, where did you placed all my things?" He asked her.
"Oh, your bow and arrow as well as your sword? I placed them near the door," she told him, and Kubo wasted no time and stood up from the bed.
"Wait, wait, where are you going? You still have to rest," Mika warned him, stepping in front of him. He doesn't have time for this.
"Mika, I appreciate your concern, but I have to go as soon as possible," he stated quickly, pushing her slightly to the side as he made his way to the door.
"Wait!"
But Mika was too late, as Kubo's head suddenly throbbed painfully because of his stubbornness, making him groan loudly, collapsing on his knees.
"Kubo!" Mika shouted, running towards him as she placed a hand on his shoulder. She wrapped his arm around her, and carefully helped Kubo on his feet, walking him back towards her room where he slept.
As soon as he's back on the bed, she quickly walked out of the room, grabbed a dry towel and dipped it down on cold water, before going back to Kubo.
For all he knows, he's not feeling too good right now.
Mika went back to her room, placed a hand on his forehead, making him sigh silently because of how cold it is. He's having a fever from all that rain.
"Here," she offered, placing the cold towel on his forehead. "Rest. You'll need it."
And with that, he breathed in heavily, before closing his eyes as sleep wash over him quickly.
• • •
As expected, when Kubo woke up, he immediately removed the towel on his forehead, and checked his temperature if he was now okay.
The door opened, revealing Mika with a bowl on her hands. He smiled lightly at her, for he did not deserve her kindness.
She sat beside him, handing over the bowl of soup in her hands. "Here, eat." Mika offered, as Kubo gladly took the bowl from her.
"Thank you, truly."
As he ate, he can feel her eyes on him, as if she's watching his every movement. Kubo cleared his throat, turning his head towards her. "So Mika, how did you end up here far from the town and in the middle of the woods?"
Mika widened her eyes at him, making him raise an eyebrow. She shook her head, smiling shyly at him. "Sorry, it's just that no one had asked me that question yet."
"It's okay. I mean, you probably grew up here, so I bet that you don't get a lot of people to talk with," he told her calmly, making her smile at him.
Mika nodded at him, making her breathe in heavily. "You're right, I did grew up here, far from the town, and I was actually born here, and this is where I have been living ever since."
Kubo actually asked her that so he can eat his soup as fast as possible without her noticing, so that he can go.
He desperately needs to continue on his journey to find Agatha, every second that passes by she becomes stronger. And Kubo can't have that.
Kubo smiled at Mika, handing over the now empty bowl that she gave him. "Wow, you eat fast."
"Thank you for everything Mika, but I honestly need to go now," Kubo thanked her as fast as possible, standing up from the bed immediately before walking towards the door.
Mika followed him, a sad expression on her face as she watched him walk towards his things.
"Wait!" She shouted at him, but Kubo ignored her.
"You're a witch hunter, aren't you?" Mika asked him out of nowhere, making Kubo stop himself from taking another step.
He turned his head to her, giving her a raised eyebrow. "How did you know?"
"I," she started, looking at the wooden floor beneath her. Kubo was getting impatient, the longer he stayed here, the more time he's wasting on getting to the damned witch he swore to kill.
He shook his head, grabbing his things from the ground near the door.
"My mother was killed by a witch," Mika said silently, making Kubo stop what he was doing.
"A witch?" He asked her, gently placing his things back to where they once was as he walked towards her with a concerned look on his face.
No wonder she was so desperate to have him here with her.
Mika nodded to him, trying to avoid his gaze.
"The witch was all light green in colour from head to toe, and that witch entered this cottage in the middle of the night. She told me after killing my mother, that she would return here and kill me off as well," she told him, her voice struggling to stay steady.
"In the middle of the night?" He asked softly, making her nod. Kubo scowled, knowing who exactly killed Mika's mother that night. "Agatha," he growled under his breath, making her gasp in surprise.
"You know her?" Mika asked him, as Kubo nodded sternly.
"Yes! She's one of the most powerful witches around here, and it's my mission to kill her. That's why I went here in the first place," he explained to her, as she listened to him silently.
"Wait," Kubo said, as Mika stared at him intently. "You said she's going to come back here, right?"
"Yes..."
"Oh, this is just perfect!" Kubo exclaimed, punching his fist in the air, making Mika smile at him. "I get to help you from Agatha, and then at the same time kill her!"
"So, is that a deal?" Mika offered, raising her hand for him to shake. Kubo grinned at her, holding her hand softly before haking it.
"Deal." But her hand still felt weird on his, like there's something under her palm, but he doesn't know what.
• • •
The two had been planning on fixing up the house for the attack of Agatha, the one witch that Kubo swore to himself to kill. It was a perfect plan, Agatha enters Mika's cottage, and then he kills the witch, slash her head, and kill her off.
Although, Mika started to act weird around him, being sensitive with all of his equipment for killing the witch as if she doesn't want to touch garlic or even get near onions for some reason.
Kubo questioned her why at first, but when Mika had convinced that what she has in store will effect this Agatha more than what he's using, Kubo eventually agreed with her.
The more hours that passed by, the closer they got to one another. Until on the fifth day of Kubo's stay at Mika's cottage, they decided to take a rest from all the preparation.
The both of them are eating Mika's home made soup, which Kubo had grown to love. "How do you even cook this? It still tastes amazing!"
"Thank you, Kubo," Mika replied, looking at Kubo with a bright smile on her face. That keeps happening a lot lately, the urge to make her smile.
After they ate, they decided to just sit in front of the peaceful fireplace, sitting beside each other awkwardly since no one has said a word since they sat there.
"So, Kubo," Mika asked him, making Kubo turn his head to look at her.
"Before you decided to go on this mission, what did you do?"
"Oh, that's an easy one to answer," Kubo teased with a small smirk, making Mika laugh at her. He sighed, looking at the fireplace.
"I am a famous witch hunter in town, and I have killed a good amount of famous witches since I was twelve," Kubo started, making her eyes widen in shock.
"Why did you do it? Also," Mika paused, scooting closer to him as she pointed towards the eye that has some sort of patch over it.
"What happened to your eye?" She added.
He looked at her briefly, and when she noticed on how reluctant he is in answering her question, she placed a hand on his shoulder as a sign of encouragement, giving him a smile.
Kubo smiled at her, placing his hand on top of hers as he breathed in heavily.
"Um, my other eye was taken away from me as a young child, and my parents were killed by a witch according to everyone in town, in an attempt to protect me. I grew up with my grandmother and grandfather. Ever since then, I swore to myself that I'll wipe out all the witches, including Agatha herself, as revenge for killing my parents."
After that last sentence, none of them had spoken a word. They just continued to stare at each other, searching for answers to the questions they never tried to ask.
They didn't even noticed how they were slowly inching towards each other, as Mika started to close her eyes.
When Kubo realized how close they were, he pulled away while shaking his head, pushing her slightly away from him.
Mika opened her eyes and looked at him with a confused look on her face, as Kubo looked at her with a small frown. "I," he started, as she continued to stare at him.
Then the palm on his shoulder started to emit something weird, making him grab her wrist and drag it away from him. "I, I should go grab some more firewood."
And then he stood up from the floor, grabbed his sword, before leaving Mika all alone as he started to exit the cottage without uttering a single word.
As soon as he closed the door behind him, Kubo sighed, leaning against the door.
His only mission is to defeat Agatha once and for all, not to swoon some girl he met in the middle of the woods with his tragic backstory.
He gets the idea that he's attractive, but now's not the time for any of that playfulness.
Kubo slapped his forehead, before scratching the back of his head in frustration. He shouldn't let this girl be her weakness that Agatha can use against him if she comes.
Kubo shook his head, grabbing the handle of the door. He thought of words to say to Mika, before opening the door.
"Mika, I'm-"
"Get away from me."
Kubo raised an eyebrow as he saw Mika standing on her feet with her back towards him. Her voice had changed, like it turned distorted and unfamiliar to what he's usually used to hear.
"Mika?" He asked her again, and when she turned around to see him, he gasped.
Her eyes are light green, and her whole body was glowing light green. Kubo shook his head, knitting his eyebrows in confusion. "What? Mika, what's going on?"
"My. Name. Is. Not. Mika!"
And with a wave of her hand, she pointed her hand towards him as he was sent flying towards the ground.
Kubo grunted, as his face met the ground harshly, before pushing himself up on his feet. His breathing became unsteady, looking at Mika in confusion, as he pointed his sword towards her.
"What? What do you mean?" Kubo asked her loudly, as he watched her floating body flying towards him.
Mika looked at him with a frown, as she sighed before letting a light green glow wrap all over her body, revealing to him who she truly was.
Before Kubo can get a closer look at her, Mika's light green glow had bursted all around her, making him blind for a moment as he closed his eyes at the brightness.
When he opened them again, he gasped. "What? No, it can't be," Kubo said silently, as he looked at the person in front of him with shock.
"Agatha?"
Agatha sighed, looking down below her and nodded slowly. "I'm sorry," she whispered, as a tear ran down her pale cheek.
Kubo stood up from the ground glaring at her, gripping his sword tightly and without warning, he charged towards her with all the anger he has right now.
Agatha looked at him, before waving her hand towards him reluctantly, as her magic wrapped aoround him helplessly. "You lied to me!" Kubo shouted at her, trying to get out of her grasp.
"Who was Mika then? Did you actually grew up out here!? Did your mother even got killed by a witch, or did you kill her yourself!?" Kubo asked her, but she only continued to stare at him with an unreadable expression on her face.
When Kubo stopped wriggling himself free, he sighed heavily, glaring at her.
"No wonder you knew all the information about Agatha, no wonder you were so desperate to keep me within that small cottage, hell you even know what Agatha looked like when no one that had faced her returned to the town safely and lived to tell the tale!" At this point, Agatha can do nothing but stare at him sadly.
"Who are you!?" He asked her loudly, knitting his eyebrows in desperation.
"I," Agatha tried to avoid his gaze, but she can't help feeling his anger towards her. She doesn't have a choice but to tell him, not when she already did a lot of damage to him.
"I was born at that same town you're in. My father was a witch hunter, and all the witches at that time hated my father for killing many witches," Agatha started, floating closer to Kubo so that he can hear her more clearly.
He was still glaring at her, but she kept on talking.
"Then, the witches started a plan to kill my father, at the same time frame my mother to make it look like she's the one who murdered my father. They aslo cursed me with these unworldly abilities, in hopes of the town killing me off as well. The whole town accused my mother for being a witch because of that, when in fact she did nothing wrong."
He was still glaring at her, and she gets where he was coming from.
"I was still so young back then, but I tried my very best to explain the things I heard to the witch hunters, but all of them didn't believe a word I said. The witches succeeded in their plan, killing off my father, my mother, with the witch hunters being so stupid and blind to the truth that I was trying to tell them."
Agatha looked Kubo in the eye, glaring at him with the same fire that she has in her for years and years.
"Ever since then, I swore to myself that I will kill each and every witch hunter using the powers that I am cursed with, as revenge for everything they did to my parents," she spat, releasing him from her magic as she created a magical mist around them.
Kubo gasped for air at how long she had wrapped her magic around him tightly, and when he had stood up from the ground, he gripped his sword tightly and glared angrily at Agatha.
"Oh, I haven't forgotten the fact that I was cursed with this power. That damming key to my freedom was someone who would 'share their heart' with mine," Agatha stated bitterly, as she floated in front of Kubo with a frown on her face.
"You truly are a horrible person like others say you are, aren't you, Agatha?" Kubo challenged, but she doesn't attack him. She doesn't attempt to kill him right away, unlike what she usually do to all the others.
Agatha stared hard at him, like how she always does when Kubo still knew her as Mika.
He can't believe it; she was the same person who took care of him during that night after that harsh storm. She was the same person who looked out for him when he was still very weak to even walk.
"And yet you showed me a part of yourself that revealed who you truly are," he said silently, slowly bringing down his sword as the mist around them faded as well.
Agatha sighed to herself, taking a step closer to him without them breaking eye contact. She glanced at the sword he's holding, then looked back at him.
"You said you wanted to kill me."
"How could I kill you, if I'm not certain of who you are anymore?"
Kubo took a step forward, still not breaking her gaze on him. "If I kill you, would I kill off the most dangerous witch of all witches?"
He then mustered all the courage he has to place a hand on her cheek, feeling her weird magic against his palm. "Or, would I kill off a sweet girl, who only wished for people to look at her differently?"
Kubo placed his hand back on his side again, and frowned at her.
"If you kill me, you would kill a murderer. A girl who is viewed to be evil by many people, a girl who's one wish is to be free from all this suffering," Agatha whispered, avoiding his gaze with a small frown.
"You're different Kubo, you're not like all of the others."
Agatha closed the gap between them, as they both continue to stare at each other endlessly. "You have shown me what was it feels like to be a normal person that cares for another."
"You're the only person who can set me free Kubo, please," Agatha begged him, looking at the sword he's holding.
He can't do anything but look at her, he was too dumbfounded with everything that has happened right now.
She had told him her full story openly, wether it had came from Mika or from Agatha. She is letting him be the one to defeat her, walking away with the title of killing the most notorious witch to ever exist.
Kubo raised his sword, looking at her with the straightest face he can muster as she closed her eyes, granting him all the permission he needs.
Before Kubo strikes the last blow, he hesitates.
He can't kill her.
No, not like this.
He saw Agatha for what she truly is.
She's no different from him.
She's human.
He tried to bring down his sword towards her, but his mind is stopping him from doing so.
Agatha had opened her eyes, and looked at Kubo softly, staring at his dark brown eye.
His breathing became unsteady, as he continued to look at her silently, with only one question circling inside his head.
Which prize should he walk away with? Her head? Or her heart?
Kubo's train of thought had stopped when Agatha had placed a hand on top of his chest softly, before giving him a sweet smile.
She can feel his heart beating on her hand, as they continued to stare at each other.
Before he can even utter out another word, she took another step forward, placing her soft lips gently against his.
The both of them stayed like that for a long while, not until Agatha decided to pull away, before giving him a sad smile.
Then the next thing he saw was a flash of bright light coming from her hand that rested on his chest, before everything turned black.