“What the hell are you talking about?!” Null yells, the reason Penelope gave for her actions has only raised more questions, and she’s not happy about it.

 

“Please, Nova.” Penelope pleads, not letting go of the other witch’s hand. “She can’t reach you here, you can tell me what happened, why you’ve been acting so differently these past few years.”

 

“I don’t have the slightest idea what you mean, Penelope.” Null says impatiently. “Nothing happened to me, the two of us only met a year and a half ago, and I can’t say I have any clue why you’re calling me Nova, either.”

 

“Because that’s your name! Please, just stop all of this and actually talk to me for once instead of pretending you don’t know me!”

 

“I don’t know you!” Null pulls her arm away from Penelope’s grasp and takes a step back. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about, but you’ve obviously got the wrong person. As far as I’m aware you’re just the witch who always has to be talked into going on missions and needs to be put in her place.”

 

“My place was next to you!” Penelope screams. “Am I meant to believe that the decades we spent together meant nothing!? Every time I bring this up you act like I’m crazy, like we haven’t been through this dozens of times, like I’ve never said anything before now!”

 

“You haven’t! I’d very clearly remember if you’d pulled something like this before, but no. Every interaction we’ve ever had has been me telling you to get your act together!”

 

“This is exactly what I mean Nova! I’m fucking sick of it! Fine, tell me this, if you really only joined the coven three years ago, what the hell were you doing before then!? Tell me where-”

 

“Who fucking cares what I was doing!” Null looks Penelope dead in the eyes. “You listen to me, my name is Null, my job is to carry out whatever tasks the matriarch gives me, and as far as I’m concerned nothing else fucking matters! Now you’re going to start saying something that makes sense, or I’ll have no choice but to-”

 

“To do what!? Just pretend that none of this happened all over again!? Why should I-”

 

Null’s patience wears thin, so she holds an arm out to the side, her palm facing the large tree Elle was sitting against earlier. It only lasts an instant, but the base of the trunk and some of the ground surrounding it are enveloped in a dark sphere, accompanied by an ear-splittingly loud noise that comes and goes just as quickly as the sphere itself. Everything that had intersected with the sphere is gone, instantly disintegrated. The upper half of the tree falls to the ground without a trunk to hold it up, landing in the small crater below with a loud thud.

 

Null gives Penelope a deathly glare. “This is your last warning. Tell me why you’re working with this witch.”

 

Penelope falls to her knees in shock, clearly starting to understand why no one knows exactly what sort of magic the matriarch taught Null. No one ever had a chance in hell of surviving it.

 

“This… This really isn’t an act…” Penelope says quietly. “Y-You actually don’t remember me, do you?”

 

“I told you, you have the wrong witch.” Null replies with barely any hint of emotion whatsoever.

 

“Dear god… W-What on earth did she do to you?” Penelope’s anger is gone, replaced by fear and sadness.

 

“I-I just don’t get it…” She says, tears starting to flow as her voice wavers. “Why don’t you remember me? Why am I the only one in the coven that recognises you? Why… Why out of all the witches in the world did she have to pick you!? Ever since she gave you that stupid fucking name, everything’s gone to shit…” Penelope slams her fists into the dirt in one last burst of emotion. “I just… I-I just want to go back to how things were… The two of us working together, making spells… B-Baking pies in the afternoon… We were both so much happier back then…”

 

“Whatever, I’ve had enough of this garbage.” Null raises her hand and points it in Penelope’s direction.

 

“Fucking do it then. Erase me, get rid of the only one who remembers who you used to be and continue being her tool. Not like it matters anymore, Nova clearly died years ago.” Penelope says, unable to bring herself to look up at Null.

 

“Fine with me, even if this mission has been a complete and total disaster, I can at least say I took out one of the traitors responsible.”

 

“That’s enough!” A voice calls out from behind, and Null immediately turns around.

 

A cloaked figure wearing a large hat can be seen through the trees, partially obscured by the shadows. Null can’t make out any details, but she can very much sense the powerful aura emanating from the witch that has just made her presence known. There’s only one person this could be.

 

“It’s you, isn’t it?” Null asks.

 

“That’s right, my dear.” The witch says calmly. “I’m the one you’ve been looking for this whole time. Now, let’s-” She’s interrupted by a loud sound as her entire body is enveloped by Null’s destructive spell, only for her to remain completely intact when the sphere disappears, floating on the spot that was once solid ground.

 

“My my, there’s no need to be so aggressive. But if you’re going to be like that, let’s make sure no one gets hurt, okay?” She raises a hand of her own, and one of Elle’s portals opens up beneath the despondent Penelope, who doesn’t react as she falls through.

 

“Now then, why don’t you tell me what’s got you so worked up? I’ve been having an unusually hard time reaching out to you compared to the other witches that enter this forest.” The witch begins to step forward, and Null attacks again, still failing to have any effect on her.

 

“What the hell are you!?”

 

“Don’t worry too much about me, dear. You’re the one I’m concerned about.” She continues to slowly, casually walk in Null’s direction, who starts to panic as she feels the aura grow stronger with each step the witch takes.

 

“No, stay back!” Several more pitch black spheres appear where the witch is standing, and the area surrounding her, but now matter how many connect, the witch continues unphased. The remains of several trees fall behind her as she strides forward.

 

A thousand thoughts run through Null's head as she tries to figure out what’s going on, why the spell that the matriarch entrusted her with isn’t working, why she can’t kill this witch, and she manages to piece together what must be happening.

 

“I get it… You’re not really fucking here, are you? This is all just some illusion to scare me off, isn’t it!?” She says with a smirk, regaining some of her confidence.

 

The witch chuckles. “Well, you’re partially correct, I am indeed an illusory copy of the real witch, but please don’t take that as a sign of rudeness on our part, or a sign that you can ignore me.”

 

The illusion of the witch snaps her finger, and two bands of light suddenly materialise around Null’s wrists. 

 

“My real body is still at the house, but I can assure you that you have our full attention right now.”

 

The bands jerk upwards, raising her arms high up as if shackled to an invisible wall.

 

Whatever confidence Null had regained has been lost just as quickly as she struggles to understand what just happened.

 

“There, now that you can’t keep making that dreadful sound, we can finally have a proper conversation.” She says as she gets ever closer to Null.

 

“H-How!? Illusions can’t use magic!”

 

“Not if you take a very narrow minded approach to what you can do with witchcraft. I can’t believe that matriarch of yours had a witch who specialised in enchantment, imbuing anything you want with the very essence of magic, and had her waste it on a silly sword to cut things with!” The witch stops in front of null, the shadows from her hat somehow still obscuring her upper body, even when she’s this close.

 

“Ava is truly an exceptional witch, you know. I’ve been working with her to figure out some much more creative uses for her gift, and it turns out with a little hard work and creative thinking, even something like an illusion can be enchanted. It’s quite amazing when you think about it my dear, if you have an illusory double that can’t be hit, but can cast spells on your behalf as if you’re really there, be sent out across great distances…”

 

Null’s eyes go wide as a wooden arm reaches out and gently strokes her cheek, clearly feeling the fingers, which are supposed to be intangible, running across her skin. “...that can touch without being touched…” She retracts her hand, and the shadows covering her suddenly clear up, revealing her wooden face. She must have been using magic to hide herself until now.

 

“Well, you’ve essentially got a version of yourself that can’t be killed, don’t you? Not for any lack of trying on your part, of course.”

 

Null looks at the witch standing before her with a mix of shock and anger as she gets a proper look at her target for the first time, who returns her look of indignation with a soft smile in the moonlight.

 

Null can barely believe it. The one who’s been antagonising her matriarch all this time, the one who has cost the coven dozens of witches and dolls, including some that are essential to their operation, all this time it was…

 

“You… You’re a fucking doll!?”