The matriarch runs as fast as she can towards the room’s singular exit. She has no choice but to admit she’s outmatched, especially in this state, but if she can just escape to live another day she’ll be able to regroup, figure out how to get her magic back, contact as many other covens as she can to rally against this towering mass of flesh and wood that has taken over her headquarters.

 

You can’t possibly think you can escape me, can you?

 

She ignores Athena’s voice reverberating through her bones, all she cares about is reaching that door. She’s so focused on making it out that she doesn’t even consider why the doll hasn’t attempted to stop her. She lets out a panicked laugh as she reaches the door, it’s been many centuries since she’s had to exert herself without magical assistance, but if a bit of exhaustion is the only cost of making it out of here alive she’ll consider herself extremely fortunate. This isn’t a defeat, after all, she’s merely retreating for the time being, and she’ll be back with a plan to eliminate this monster, no matter what it takes!

 

She swings the doors open to make her escape and-

 

She stops.

 

There’s meant to be a hallway that leads to the main entrance on the other side of these doors, what she finds instead is a large room with a very familiar design. She recognises the shape of the room, the way it’s lit up, the patterns drawn on the floor, the platform in the middle, the massive, horrific being who is now waving at her with a smirk, eyes trained on her like a predator looks at its prey.

 

This is the same room she just escaped from.

 

She looks back to make sure she didn’t get turned around somehow, only to be met with the exact same sight. She keeps looking back and forth to try and figure out what’s going on, but it just doesn’t make sense. This development only serves to make her panic even more, if the only exit just leads back into the same room, how is she going to escape?

 

I’m a little disappointed, dear. I thought that was rather obvious.

 

The matriarch’s vision blurs for a fraction of a second, and she suddenly finds that she’s no longer standing by the doorway, she’s back on the platform that hangs above the portal.

 

You can’t.

 

The matriarch is aghast. What just happened? How did she end up back here in the middle of the room?

 

You did have at least some understanding of what the ancient one was before summoning it, didn’t you? It exists on a higher plane, a dimension beyond what mortals can understand. That means it doesn’t have to worry about silly things like physics and all those other rules you have to follow.

 

And of course, since it was gracious enough to let me be its replacement, I don’t have to worry about them anymore either! I can be in as many places as I want all at once, move you somewhere else in an instant, make that doorway over there loop back in on itself, all sorts of fun things. The important part is that you aren’t going anywhere, not when I have you right where I want you.

 

“To what end!?” The matriarch screams in response. “You can’t possibly expect me to believe you’ve done all this just to get back at me!?”

 

You seem to have completely misunderstood the situation we’re in, my dear. Were you not about to go just as far in order to try and kill me mere minutes ago? 

 

The matriarch silently stares with fury in her eyes. She lacks a counterargument, and is too proud to admit it.

 

You don’t need to admit it, we both know it’s true. I only did what I did to stop you from hurting anyone else. I only exist because of you, after all, so it’s only fair that I’m the one to put an end to your tyranny. I’d go as far as to say it’s almost poetic.

 

“Lies! I had nothing to do with your creation!” The matriarch spits back. “You said that blasted Amelia made you!”

 

She’s the one who built me yes, but if you hadn’t been working her so hard she never would have needed to in the first place. If you hadn’t started sending witches to investigate us, I never would have seen how they needed my help, and taken them under my wing. If you didn’t start sending attack teams into our forest, my coven never would have grown enough for me to become the same god you wanted to sic on us. At the end of the day, everything I’ve done, everything I’m now capable of, everything I’ve become, you only have yourself to thank for it.

 

Athena rises higher, her massive form filling even more of the room.

 

And now, you’ve finally met your match. Even if you still had your magic there wouldn’t be a thing you could do to me, I only took it away to make sure your little tantrum earlier didn’t lead to anyone getting hurt. Speaking of which…

 

Athena snaps her fingers, and dozens of bright lights appear on the ground, each one underneath one of the unconscious witches. One by one, their bodies gently descend into the lights. The matriarch tries to run over to Null, who was still on the platform, to try and stop her from being pulled in, but she can’t close the distance in time and can only watch in shock as even her most powerful underling is taken away.

 

“No… No! You can’t do this!” She yells, turning back towards the doll responsible. “Give them back! Give me back my witches!”

 

They are NOT your witches.

 

Intense shockwaves blast the matriarch as Athena speaks, knocking her off her feet. The confident, mocking aura the doll had displayed thus far is now gone, instead replaced with something much more intense and emotional.

 

Even after everything you’ve done to those poor things, you’re still not satisfied! To think that you still have the nerve to claim that the witches and dolls that lived here belong to you, that you, that anyone, is entitled to do whatever they want to them, even after I’ve made it blatantly clear that I will not allow you to harm them any further!

 

The entire room is shaking now, as if resonating with Athena’s anger. The matriarch’s blood runs cold.

 

There was never any doubt in my mind that you were a horrible person, but even now you prove that there’s no limit to how low you’d stoop for your own satisfaction! This is over, matriarch. I can be everywhere, see everything. Even if you had managed to escape from this room, there’s not a single place in this world where you could hide from me! 

 

The shaking intensifies, whatever’s about to happen can’t possibly be good. The matriarch looks around desperately, trying to formulate a plan before it’s too late.

 

I really do wish we could have resolved this peacefully, but since you’re so insistent on refusing to learn your lesson I don’t have much of a choice.

 

A series of large, shadowy arms rise up in a circle around the matriarch as a bead of sweat drips off her brow. She’s not sure what will happen, but she knows that she can’t afford to let them catch her. She has no idea if it will work, but there’s only one thing she can think of that could possibly result in her getting out of here, and she has no choice but to put that plan into action. She takes off once again, slipping through a gap between two of the arms before either of them get a chance to reach for her, only this time she’s not heading towards the door. The matriarch leaps off the platform and dives into the green abyss below her, praying that whatever she finds on the other side is better than her current situation.

 

That monstrosity of a doll did say there wasn’t any place in this world where she could hide, didn’t it?

 

The matriarch enters the portal, the chaotic sounds that had filled that room only intensifying as she feels the wind rush past her, and she’s glad to find she hasn’t landed headfirst into an endless mass of horrible flesh she feared she would find on the other side. In fact, that ungodly beast doesn’t seem to be present at all, she’s entirely alone as she continues to fall through the passage.

 

She can’t help but laugh in delight once the adrenaline has started to wear off. Has she really done it? Did she prove that horrible thing wrong and escape its grasp? All that talk of becoming an unbeatable god must have been a bluff if she was able to outsmart it. She’s not entirely out of the woods yet, of course, who knows where this thing will take her, but she’s still got a shot at returning and taking her revenge. Who knows, maybe she’ll find a way to get her magic back, maybe she’ll build up a new coven of beings from another world, maybe she’ll unlock the secret to making herself as strong, no… even stronger than the ancient one! How hard could it be if that doll was able to figure it out?

 

She feels the air start to shift and the noises grow quiet, she must be close to her destination. The green around her starts shifting to a bright white as she approaches what could only be the other side of the portal, blinding her the closer she gets until finally…

 

The matriarch opens her eyes again and sees… nothing…

 

No matter which direction she looks, there’s nothing but a void of pure white. She can’t see anything, she can’t hear anything aside from her own breathing, there’s not even any wind to tell her if she’s still falling or not. There’s just… nothing here…

 

“What is the meaning of this?” She says out loud as she tries to understand what’s going on. She was fully aware that jumping into an interdimensional portal without knowing what was on the other side wasn’t the smartest idea, but it’s not like she had much of a choice. Surely there should be something here, shouldn’t there? This just doesn’t make sense! There has to be something she’s not seeing, some trick to whatever place she’s found herself in, a way to break through to where she was actually meant to end up!

 

Before she has a chance to figure any of that out though, she finally hears a sound that didn’t come from her, one that fills her with fear.

 

Ahahaha…

 

A laugh.

 

A very familiar laugh, one that assaults her from every direction, one that she heard only minutes ago.

 

“No! No, I escaped you! I got away!” She yells.

 

I have to admit I’m almost impressed with how persistent you are, but surely you knew I could have stopped you from jumping through that portal if it was going to be a problem for me.

 

The void shifts, the white all around her starting to turn grey.

 

No, all you’ve done is save me the effort of bringing you here myself, not that I couldn’t have done so with just a thought if I wanted, mind you.

 

The surroundings continue to darken as the matriarch processes what this means. Everything she’s done is all according to the doll’s plan, she really never had a chance of escaping her headquarters.

 

“So what!?” She screams back. “You think I’m just going to give up, let you win!? I won’t let you get away with this! I’ll still find a way to escape from your grasp! You’ll pay dearly for underestimating me!”

 

Oh will I now? That must mean you know where we are right now, since you’re so confident you can escape, no?

 

The matriarch grimaces, not wanting to give her the satisfaction of an answer. 

 

Oh I’m plenty satisfied regardless, I know what you’re thinking after all. Perhaps you forgot all about that, considering you thought you had outsmarted me earlier. As for where we are right now, I figured it would be best to bring you somewhere that the two of us could be alone. A place that I have total control over, to make sure you understand exactly how hopeless things are for you.

 

The matriarch’s heart skips a beat. Everything around her is almost completely black now, her own body is the only thing she can see in the darkness.

 

“No… You can’t mean…”

 

It seems you’ve caught on, my dear…

 

Suddenly, a pair of green eyes and a mouth sporting a devious smile appear in front of her.

 

Welcome to my domain. You’d best get comfortable, you won’t be leaving until I’m through with you.

 

She lets out a grunt as she tries to swipe at the doll’s disembodied face, but she’s unable to connect with anything solid. At first she thinks it must be a trick of perspective, and it’s actually farther away than it appears, but that wouldn’t explain how it moves when she does, staying exactly in her centre of vision no matter where she looks.

 

Have you really not realised by now that resorting to violence isn’t going to get you anywhere? When is it going to get through your head that it’s over for you? I’m starting to understand where poor Null got that habit from.

 

“No!” She yells defiantly. “I can still fight back!”

 

The matriarch tries swimming through the void to get closer and attack again, but it immediately proves fruitless. 

 

Can you really now? What do you even have to fight back with?

 

There’s no gravity, no friction, nothing to push off of or get her bearings with, it’s impossible to tell if she’s moving or not. Even if she is moving, the doll’s face is always in whatever direction she’s looking, so there’s no way to orient herself or tell if she’s heading in the right direction, if there even is a right direction to move in the first place.

 

Your magic is gone, and every single witch and doll that was once a part of your coven is now under my protection. You can’t think anything, let alone do anything, without me being aware of it.

 

It’s only when one of her arms crosses over her field of vision that she notices it doesn’t block her view of Athena’s face, it remains in her vision regardless of what’s in front of her. She tries closing her eyes, seeing nothing would be better than only seeing that mocking expression, but even then she can still see those eyes peering into her soul as if she didn’t close them at all. The matriarch thrashes around, trying to somehow shake off the face that won’t go away, what else is she even meant to do in a situation like this?

 

There’s nothing you can do, dear. You can’t run, you can’t hide, and you certainly can’t fight. All you can do here is face punishment for all the pain you’ve caused, whether you want to or not.

 

Punishment. That word sends a chill down her spine.

 

“Don’t do it! I’ll… I’ll make it worth your while! You saw the coven I built for myself, surely there’s something I can offer you!?” She shouts, her exhaustion is finally starting to catch up to her, and she doesn’t think she can keep fighting for much longer. It’s time to be smart about this, perhaps she can bargain for her safety?

 

Oh? Does someone not want to get punished? That’s quite unusual, you’re usually a huge fan of this sort of thing.

 

Athena’s face fades away, returning everything to darkness once again.

 

In fact, several members of my coven can personally attest to that.

 

Suddenly, it’s no longer pitch black as the matriarch finds herself inside a kaleidoscope of eyeballs. All of varying colours, and all trained directly on her.

 

So now that you’re the one on the chopping block you’ve decided that maybe it’s worth offering someone a second chance? Where was this attitude before?

 

Something shoots out of one of the eyes and latches onto her wrist before she has a chance to react. It’s… a series of disembodied arms, some fleshy, others distinctly artificial, all grasping onto each other to form an entangled chain. 

 

“What is the meaning of this!?” She yells as she tries to shake it off, but the hand that grabbed her has far too tight a grip to remove.

 

Where was it when you worked your witches half to death, only to reward them with even greater workloads!?

 

The fury that was in Athena’s voice earlier starts to return, and seemingly in response to its words, the arm that’s attached to the matriarch grasps her even harder. Not quite enough to cause pain, but there’s something else, a pulse of energy, a vision. She sees a brunette witch who has pushed herself past the point of exhaustion several times over out of fear of punishment, desperately trying to create potions she can barely remember the recipes for anymore. The matriarch doesn’t move for several moments, too shocked from having an image forced into her mind to do much else.

 

Where was it when you had witches mutilated for even the most minor transgressions!?

 

A second chain shoots out of one of the eyes, grabbing her other arm. This time she sees a vision of a despondent witch with short, blonde hair and tears in her eyes being held to the ground by a pair of emotionless dolls, while a third one routinely readies a blade before cutting the witch’s right arm off at the shoulder. The vision lasts just long enough to hear the witch howl in pain after the blade comes down. How is Athena showing her these memories?

 

Where was it when you removed every piece of evidence that a witch ever existed, just because you wanted to!?

 

Another hand, around her ankle this time, and another vision. The matriarch sees her own hand grabbing the face of a very familiar witch with long, striking red hair as magic pours into her victim. The witch screams in sheer horror as her memories, her personality, every trace of who she is, who she was, and who she could have been is erased. When the matriarch removes her hand, the witch’s face is dull and emotionless, a blank slate to be filled in with something more useful to her.

 

For centuries you’ve been torturing anyone you can get your hands on to further your own goals, to establish even greater control over those you see as lesser than you!

 

The matriarch barely has time to process that last vision before yet another arm grabs onto her, bringing yet another vision with it, and she starts to panic. They’re coming at a faster pace now, each one showing someone she’s hurt, be it physically or psychologically, a part of someone she broke, an atrocity she forced someone to commit. Many of these visions depict scenes she had already witnessed herself, including several where she was the one committing the act, along with others she’s witnessing for the first time, orders she had someone else carry out on her behalf.

 

All this pain, all this suffering, you are solely responsible for each and every part of it, and you think you deserve even the slightest amount of mercy!?

 

The arms keep coming, grasping onto different parts of her body until there’s nowhere left to grab hold of. She tries to resist, to break free, but it only gets harder and harder to move with each additional hand that restricts her. Even with all her years of experience to desensitise herself to these acts, she can’t take it. All the screams, all the crying, all the blood and gore, the pressure all over her body from the hands relentlessly grabbing her, everything all at once, it’s far too much for her. She would have started sobbing then and there were it not for the hand firmly covering her mouth, but there’s nothing to stop her tears from flowing.

 

Do you finally understand? It’s all over for you. It’s been over for quite a while now. All that’s left is for you to accept your fate, we’ll get through this much quicker if you stop fighting against it.

 

The matriarch tries to say something, so Athena releases the hand over her mouth to accommodate.

 

“Please… No more… Whatever you want, I’ll do it.” She pleads.

 

I’m glad you’re finally ready to have a proper conversation

 

All at once, the arms binding her are released, and for the first time since she arrived in this strange place the matriarch finds herself falling briefly before landing on something solid. It takes quite a while for her to start collecting herself, that experience has left her quite disoriented and her vision is still blurred from the tears, but the trembling witch eventually manages to sit up, which is when she realises that whatever she landed on is made of wood. She wipes her red eyes, trying to get rid of her tears so she can see properly again, and the sight before her only further cements just how hopeless this situation is.

 

The wooden object she landed on is a colossal hand.

 

Athena’s colossal hand.

 

She looks up to see those same green eyes looking down at her yet again, now attached to the rest of her body once more. The sight of this gargantuan doll, towering over her by many orders of magnitude, is almost more than she can handle. It feels like something horrible will happen if she looks into its eyes for too long, like it’s some kind of divine being that eclipses what she’s capable of understanding

 

Now then, are you finally ready to admit defeat?

 

The confident smirk Athena sported before has returned, and the matriarch is quick to get on her knees and avert her eyes.

 

“Yes… I can’t bear this anymore. You win.” She says, her exhaustion evident in her voice.

 

Good, and you’re willing to accept the punishment you deserve for everything you’ve done?

 

“Yes, just… please get it over with quickly.”

 

The matriarch has accepted her fate, and she knows she’s not long for this world, not when such a powerful opponent is out to get her. All she can do is hope that the deed will be done quickly so she doesn’t have to suffer.

 

Well I’m afraid there are a few things you still need to do before we can get to that part.

 

“What!? What else could you possibly want from me?”

 

It’s quite simple. Bow to me.

 

She grits her teeth and brings her hands to the ground as she assumes a bowing position that makes it look like she’s in prayer to the one who has bested her.

 

Good. Now, what is my name?

 

“We both know what your name is!”

 

I know, I want you to say it.

 

“I-It’s Athena!”

 

And what am I?

 

“W-What?”

 

Don’t think I haven’t noticed that you’ve still been thinking of me as a doll. That’s not what I am, I haven’t been one for quite a long time now. So, what am I?

 

“You’re… You’re a witch!”

 

It’s a start, but what kind of witch am I?

 

The matriarch looks up, confused.

 

“I-I’m sorry, I don’t understand what you-”

 

It’s simple, what kind of witch would I have to be in order to beat someone who had as much going for you as you did?

 

She sighs. “Is that really necessary? You’ve already-”

 

But of course it’s necessary! Your ego is what got you into this mess, and we’re not moving forward until I’m convinced you’ve been thoroughly humbled. If you have a problem with that, we can always go back to what we were doing before…

 

A number of eyes appear around the two of them once more.

 

“I’m sorry! I’ll do it!” The matriarch screams as she returns to her bowing pose, prompting the eyes to vanish back to wherever they came from. “You’re a powerful witch! A very powerful witch! You’re much more powerful than I am, likely the most powerful witch of all, in fact!”

 

Athena chuckles.

 

I suppose that will do. I would have preferred something a bit more poetic, but considering the circumstances that’s probably about as much as you can manage at the moment. Now, my dear, are you ready to receive your punishment?

 

“Yes…” She says, defeated. “Please just do it already, no more of this torture…”

 

Very well, I’d say it was nice knowing you, but I’d wager that every single witch and doll that was caught up in this whole thing would have been better off had you never existed. At least once this has been taken care of the healing will finally be able to start.

 

With those words, Athena starts to bring her other hand down on top of the matriarch. The terrified witch just closes her eyes, accepting her fate. At least this is likely to kill her quickly, she figures. As she waits for the colossal hand to crush her, she spends her final moments wishing that things had played out differently, that she was able to come out on top, that she’d performed the ritual much sooner, that she’d sent Null into the forest before Athena had become strong enough to stand against her, that-

 

Suddenly, the former matriarch wakes up in the dead of night with a gasp.

 

She looks around the dark room in a panic. This bed, this room, it’s all very unfamiliar to her, and what happened to Athena? Just a moment ago she was about to be… wait… is she dead? No, she can still feel her heart beating, if anything it feels like it’s beating stronger than it has in centuries. She must still be alive, but if that’s the case, what happened to her, and where is she now?

 

She takes a deep breath and looks around once more. If she had to describe the room she’s in, she’d say it was very bland, very basic, very… normal. It’s a simple, quiet, undecorated bedroom with nothing of particular note about it, no movement aside from the drapes swaying gently from the breeze of the open window, even what little furniture can be found seems very stock standard.

 

She gets out of the bed and slowly wanders over to the window, still trying to regain her footing after everything she just experienced. She looks outside, hoping that if nothing else she might be able to figure out where she is, but what she sees is a small town that stands out just as much as the room does. No distinctive buildings, no landmarks, nothing that could be of use. The one thing she can gleam from the view is that the stars in the sky above don’t line up with what she’s used to seeing, meaning that she’s likely somewhere very far away from the headquarters she started in.

 

“Where on earth am I…?” She quietly mutters to herself.

 

Oh, you wouldn’t have heard of this town. It’s rather remote.

 

The former matriarch jumps back in shock and looks around. “Y-You… You’re here as well!?”

 

In a sense. Remember that I can be everywhere at once if I want to be. More importantly, my dear, welcome to your punishment!

 

“Wait, this is my punishment?” She says in disbelief. “You’re not going to kill me!?”

 

Athena’s disembodied voice erupts in laughter.

 

Come on now, when did I ever say I was going to do that? I’m not like you, dear. I was built to help people, kindness is in my very nature. I could never stand to bring harm to someone, even if that someone is as horrible as you.

 

“Then… Then what is my punishment?”

 

It’s quite simple, your punishment was to experience the scare of a lifetime before being forced to live the rest of your now very normal, mortal life in this quiet town, far from any of those you’ve hurt.

 

“M-Mortal?”

 

I took your magic, remember? You can’t count on living for as long as you want anymore, I’d recommend trying to make the most of the decades you have left.

 

The former matriarch just stands there in silence for a moment, she understands the weight of those words, but so much has happened and she has so many questions that it will take a while to sink in.

 

“I’m not sure I understand… I’m living here as punishment?”

 

Keep in mind that I know exactly what makes you tick, dear. This is quite a nice town, you know? The people are kind, everyone takes care of each other, very community minded, no hierarchies for you to place yourself on top of, you’re going to hate it here.

 

Your days of presiding over everyone else because you decided you could are over, now you have to bear the horrors of living as a perfectly normal person who is no different than everyone else, and you’ll be expected to help out where you can, of course. As far as anyone here remembers, you moved in yesterday, and I’d wager they’ll give you a week or so to settle in before it’s time to start getting to work.

 

The former matriarch huffs. It’s true, that does sound pretty horrible to her.

 

And don’t go thinking I’m letting you off easy either, there’s a reason we went through that whole show of power before bringing you here. It wasn’t just to take you down a peg, it was also to make sure you’re on your best behaviour, and to make sure you understand what will happen if you start causing trouble in your new home.

 

Rest assured, the coven and I will have our eyes on you, and if you ever try to leave this town, study witchcraft again, or intentionally cause problems for the townsfolk, you can count on having a few more ‘nightmares’ like the one you had tonight, are we clear?

 

The former matriarch starts sweating, the last thing she wants is to experience anything like that ever again. “Y-Yes, Athena! I swear I’ll behave!”

 

Good, and if you did somehow end up learning from this experience and took steps to become a better person, I’d consider that a huge bonus. However, I’ve seen enough of how you think to not get my hopes up.

 

For your own sake I hope this is the last time we ever have to speak with each other. Goodbye, my dear.

 

“Wait, I still have questions!” The former matriarch yells, but no response comes. She’s met with almost total silence, only the quiet sounds of the sleepy town outside meet her ears.

 

It really is over, isn’t it? She’s lost, she’s been totally and thoroughly defeated. She’s trapped here now with no hope of escape, left with a lot of emotions and no good outlet for them.

 

She’s scared, she’s frustrated, she’s upset, she’s desperate, she’s…

 

She’s…

 

Tired.

 

She doesn’t have the energy to get worked up any more than she already has, she’s physically and emotionally drained.

 

The former matriarch sloppily crawls back into her new bed, hoping that she can at least get some sleep before the sun starts to come up.

 

She’ll have to figure out how to deal with all of this in the morning, and hopefully she figures it out quickly. She only has a week to prepare for her own personal hell.

 

The one thing she knows for sure is that she’s cursing the do- the witch that was responsible for all of this. It’s all burned into her memory. That tower of flesh, the thousands of eyes staring at her, that disembodied face, that feeling when her magic was stolen from her, that mocking tone of voice, that confident smirk, that sleek wooden frame, the beautifully crafted, ball jointed hands, the immense depths to her green eyes when- 

 

No, now isn’t the time to be thinking about her mortal enemy, if she keeps on this train of thought she’ll be awake all night.

 

The one that she was obsessed with defeating became undefeatable, and whether she wants to or not, the former matriarch will continue obsessing over her for as long as she lives.