Venificus

A storm brewed above Spirele, casting the land into its shadow. Dark and ominous, the clouds were a swirl of poisonous purple. Occasional bolts of lightning rent the sky with a crack and resounding boom, the bands of electricity itself tinged somewhat purple by the clouds that surrounded it.

In a circular room, adorned with torches whose flames burned acid green, in a tower placed high in the sky, a thick green fog billowed, mirroring the storm outside, though in a different color. If one were to look closely, as the clouds of fog waxed and waned, one would be taken aback at the scene occuring.

A light blue-skinned hag with glowing orange eyes stood in front of her animated cauldron; a rather useful companion of many years named Colpire. She used Colpire regularly and in a variety of ways, none of which could be called.. pleasant for the unfortunate, living cauldron.

At this particular moment, Colpire's duty was to keep his mistress up to date on who was the loveliest of souls around. She fully expected Colpire to tell her that she, herself, was the loveliest, who else could it be?

She had never asked Colpire to perform this specific duty before. In her vanity, she herself figured that she would give it a try herself. After all, a cauldron is the proper tool for any self-respecting hag to use.

The witch grinned expectantly as she looked into the reflective surface of the potion Colpire held, smugly asked how "lovely" her soul looked; Colpire answered, attempting to ignore that fact that the disgusting witch was picking her teeth. "Why it's Thelema any day, she really takes my breath away..."

Colpire coughed at the end of this statement, which wasn't truly a lie; Thelema the witch did take his breath away, just not in the way his mistress expected, in both physical and soulful.

"Err...Uh.." Colpire started, but trailed off.

"Spit it out, before I begin to rout!" Thelema demands, obviously felt left in the dark.

"There is one soul, one that is more pure, if you take her's, that should be the cure." Colpire answers.

Thelema flew into a rage. Then, letting out a final screech, she grabbed her cauldron by his rim. Glaring down at Colpire, she spat, "No, you must be mad, nicer beauty can't be had!" She placed her hands back on her hips and shook her head repeatedly as she finished.

Continuing with his course of honesty, Colpire replied; "Unfortunately I think you'll find," the cauldron winced as Thelema, her orange eyes furious, began pounding her fists on his rim, shaking her head once more, but continued nonetheless, "it's a galactic girl, her soul is nice and kind!"

The witch spun to face the door, rage etched across her whole face, and waddled rather quickly out of the tower, her broomstick following behind, forming the beginnings of a plan as she started down the steps toward the rest of her lair. Her high-pitched, ominous cackle echoed throughout the castle.

Chapter 1: Kidnapping
In the midst of a field, atop a hill and sitting together underneath the shade of a tree, Ruichi and Nebula sat together, with their hands held and their backs leaning against the trunk. Little time had passed since the great war against Ebonscale, yet Ruichi was still unsure over his feelings for Nebula. Both were aware that Nebula had great love for Ruichi, but Ruichi himself was unsure about his own emotions for Nebula. Perhaps he was afraid of committing to an "official" relationship... or perhaps he was afraid that somehow, he would let down Nebula... either way, Ruichi was not a very self-confident person, especially when it came to emotions.

Somewhere nearby, Thelema the witch had found what she was looking for, the pure soul. The one and only soul that Colpire spoke of. "This should be a piece of cake, I'll have her soul, for my own sake!" She rhymed, flying just barely above the ground, she takes off to higher altitudes, and then comes swooping down straight at where Ruichi and Nebula are sitting.

Ruichi's eyes widened in momentary shock before he suddenly stood protectively before Nebula and summoned his scythe into his hand, tensing up for a potential fight.

Landing nearby, a portly woman with light blue skin, with orange eyes smugly grins. "Many tricks are up my sleeve, you better run, you better leave." Raising a hand, an orange fireball practically shoots out from her palm, aimed at Ruichi.