A one-armed witch travels swiftly through the forest, being sure to make as little sound as possible. She takes a very unconventional route to her destination, as the usual path would be too risky, and she can’t afford to be seen. Her name is Ava, and her matriarch sent her out alongside her partner on a very important mission. It has been several weeks since Amelia, the witch who lives in this forest, has stopped delivering her potions, and the lower ranking witches that were sent out to investigate have all failed to return. It’s not at all clear what the situation is, but the matriarch can no longer sense the young witch’s power, which would normally only happen in the event of a witch’s death, or their expulsion from the coven. Considering the many unknown factors, and the number of witches already MIA, Ava and Lori were sent out, having been trained for more covert operations, so they shouldn’t have any trouble scoping out Amelia’s home and dealing with any possible threats inside.
That’s what Ava thought, anyway, her short blonde hair fluttering as she heads to the house located deep in the forest. She hasn’t heard from Lori at all since last night, and as of a few hours ago she’s also lost contact with her two scouting dolls. She’s left with no choice but to try to infiltrate on her own, partially to try and rescue her missing team members, but also because she’s aware what will happen if she returns to the matriarch without completing her mission. The thought makes a dull pain in her shoulder flare up a bit, so she tries to focus on the objective as she continues onwards, wielding a blade in her remaining hand. Ava’s main talent is enchanting items, which is what led to her being chosen for these sorts of operations. Filling an object with magic can have many uses, but the optimal choice for her role in the coven is to enchant a sharp blade, allowing it to cut through both the real and the unreal, allowing her to slice through most forms of witchcraft and other magics like paper. This of course means that many witches are unable to protect themselves from her sword, which is why the matriarch finds her talents so useful.
It’s not long before the building is in sight, and Ava chooses not to get any closer for the time being. She’s well hidden by the trees from her current position, and can stakeout the house from this vantage point with minimal risk of being spotted. It doesn’t take long for her to notice obvious signs of activity inside, as dolls can be seen walking past the windows every now and then, so it would appear that a witch of some description must still be operating in there. Occasionally one of the dolls will even step outside to complete a simple chore, but nothing that stands out as unusual. The most notable thing for most of the stakeout is her noticing a doll that almost looks a little familiar somehow.
That is until a particular doll walks out after a couple of hours, and this one puts her on high alert. It’s cheerfully watering the plants, a basic household task just like the other dolls have been carrying out, but Ava pulls a photo out of her pocket to confirm her suspicions, and it’s a perfect match for Amelia, the only change is the lack of a hat on its head. This discovery puts the entire operation in a new light, Ava is clearly observing Amelia, but someone, presumably whoever is giving commands around the house, has turned her into a doll. Ava’s hand shakes a bit. Converting a fellow witch is one of the greatest crimes one can commit, on top of being something that only an incredibly powerful witch could do. Her mind fills with dread as she realises this might mean it’s already too late to rescue anyone who has gone missing. Her coven is too large to ever meet, let alone remember, all of the sisters, so for all she knows some of the other dolls she’s seen could be the missing witches, which would explain the one that looked familiar. Worst of all, if Lori’s disappearance means that they got her as well, then there’s a good chance she’s already met the same fate. The thought of losing her is too much to think about, even worse than the consequences of failing the mission, but she doesn’t get a chance to dwell on it too long, as she suddenly hears a footstep on the grass behind her, which snaps her out of it as she goes on the attack.
In an instant, she activates the enchantment on her weapon and goes in for the strike, stopping only centimetres from the target’s throat when she realises who, or rather what, had approached her.
“Miss, it’s okay!”
“It’s us, Miss!”
Ava breathes a sigh of relief, and withdraws her sword. It turns out the source of the noise is her scouting doll, 01, with its sister 02 not far behind.
“Thank god it’s you two.” She says with a hint of exhaustion. “Where have you been? Why has there been no correspondence from either of you!?”
“Apologies Miss,” 01 starts. “We found ourselves in a situation where we were unable to make contact until now.”
“Yes yes!” 02 continues. “More importantly, we found her, Miss!”
“You’ve located Lori?” Ava asks, suddenly perking up. “Where is she? Is she safe!?”
“Safe and accounted for, Miss.” 01 says, trying to calm down the agitated witch. “We’ve set up a rendezvous point nearby, and are ready to escort Miss there.”
“Come on, come on, follow us!” 02 says while starting to push Ava from behind, while 01 takes her hand and leads her to where Lori is waiting.
Ava is incredibly relieved to hear that her partner is okay after what she just discovered, but she can’t help but notice that her dolls are acting a little unusual. It’s not uncommon for them to act more casual like this when they’re off duty, but they usually take things much more seriously when they’re on a mission. Ava shrugs it off though, assuming that her relief from being reunited and hearing that Lori’s okay is leaking through to them and affecting their behaviour, dolls can be weird like that sometimes, although it’s certainly something to look into when they’re all back home.
The three of them walk for a few minutes, before approaching a small clearing where the witch with long blue hair is waiting for them, at which point the two dolls let go of their Miss. The first thing Ava does upon seeing her is confirm that the hat is still on her head, which means that whatever happened to her, she didn’t get turned into a doll like Amelia did.
“Lori!” She calls out. “Are you okay!?”
“Yes, I’m okay Ava.” She says as she approaches with a huge smile, and starts holding Ava’s hand with both of her own. “I’m so glad the two of them found you.”
“What happened to you? You know better than to go dark for that long during a mission, a-and when I saw what happened to Amelia at the house I-”
“It’s okay, Ava.” She says, cutting her off. “There’s nothing to worry about anymore.”
“Nothing to worry about? We’re still on a mission! Did you see what happened to those witches?” Her eyes go wide as she realises that Lori is acting like the mission doesn’t matter, just like 01 and 02 were, and withdraws her hand.
“Something happened, hasn’t it? All three of you have been acting abnormally.”
“Ava, we found it.” Lori starts to explain. “The thing we’ve been looking for all these years, a way out, we finally found it!” Tears of joy start to escape from her eyes, while the dread slowly starts to sink into Ava again.
“Lori, you’re not thinking straight! Did that witch do something to you?”
“I promise you that she hasn’t done anything to me, I’m honestly just glad we came here.”
“But you have had contact with her, then.” Ava takes another step back and readies her sword, just in case.
“Please Ava, just think about it, no more missions, no more killing, no more fear. All of it will go away, and we can just be together, like we always wanted.”
“You… you can’t possibly be suggesting what I think you are… are you?” Ava’s hand starts to shake again.
“No, Ava, listen to me… It doesn’t have to be like that! We-”
“No.” she says coldly, now shedding tears of her own. “Y-You’ve clearly been compromised… I don’t know what I’m going to… tell the m-matriarch… but it wouldn’t work anyway. She w-won’t let us stop… she never will. You know what she’d d-do if we become-”
Ava starts turning around to leave, but is unable to find her footing, and starts to stumble.
“W-What’s… going on…” A fuzzy feeling starts to fill her head, which instantly reminds her of something she was made to endure during her training all those years ago.
“No… a s-sleeping hex?” Ava continues to stumble, dropping her sword as she tries to escape the situation, but her legs fail her as she begins to tip over.
Before she has a chance to fall, Lori approaches from behind and holds her tight, keeping her safe. She slowly helps Ava to the ground as moving her limbs becomes more difficult, and kneels on the ground with her partner’s back resting on her lap, keeping her close to her body.
“I’m sorry, Ava. I really didn’t want it to play out like this, but I know how stubborn you can be, and how you refuse to talk about things that might anger the matriarch…”
Ava doesn’t respond, she just holds her head in her hand, trying to figure out what happened. Hexes like this are usually activated upon touching a specific object, but she’s been out in this forest the whole time. The only things aside from the trees she’s come into contact with are…
“What the hell… did she do… to my dolls…?” She struggles to say as exhaustion takes over, and tears continue to fall from her eyes.
“Shhhh…” Lori says, not wanting her to strain herself and get hurt. “Don’t worry, Ava, it’s okay. Everything is going to be okay from now on. Just let yourself drift off, there’s a lot to discuss later, and I’ll be with you the whole time you’re asleep.”
Ava is terrified. Terrified of what the matriarch will do to both of them when she finds out they failed, or even worse, turned into dolls, but she has to admit that in this moment, in Lori’s warm embrace, she feels more at peace than she ever has before.
As everything starts going dark, she finds herself wishing there could have been more moments like this.
