Slay the Witch

The Narrator: You're on a path in the woods. And at the end of that path is a cottage. And in the basement of that cottage is a witch.

The Narrator: You're here to slay her. If you don't, it will be the end of the world.

> "I'm ready to go back."

I hope your time in the spaces beyond is fulfilling for the both of us.

I will be here when you return.

Glass shatters. A pearl explodes into dust. Petals are stained with blood.

Everything goes dark, and you die.

I think so too. Hardship that does not break things apart always brings them closer together.

I appreciate your compassion about our darkest moments.

It changes me, but it does not make me worse.

We may have our distances, our pain and strife, but they are only flavors to the stories we weave. What we say in those moments seems so less real now that we are face to face as we are.

I have enjoyed telling these stories. Have you?

I am sorry if my answers have upset you. The things that we are exist above words. We have experiences that words cannot weave.

> "That's bullshit. I don't have any trouble getting myself across."

We are cut from similar, but not identical, cloth. A river and an ocean may both be too vast to comprehend, but one beats in and out against the shore while the other always moves in the same direction.

> "I get what you're saying, but it's still annoying to not have my questions answered."

If you do not like my answers, then you need not ask me questions. We are already communicating through the lives we have shared. The ideas and emotions between us are more important to me than the words you put on them.

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(A) (Explore) "No matter how many times I go back, we hurt each other. Isn't that changing us? Doesn't it make us worse?"

Your will shifts.

You cannot try waiting again. She is right. You need to move forward.

She senses your change of heart, and you can feel Her will react to yours, readying Herself to continue your exchange.

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(A) (Explore) "Everything you say feels like a riddle. Are you able to give me any straight answers at all?"

(B) (Explore) "No matter how many times I go back, we hurt each other. Isn't that changing us? Doesn't it make us worse?"

> (Explore) "What if I don't want to bring you any more vessels? What if we wait?"

Then we will wait. And I can wait with you.

We have all of the time in the world.

These ones are expectation, one being that tried to fill too many shapes. The burden of every path at once unwalked was place among them, and in seeing those paths, they became something not unlike me.

While you were rendered helpless before them, they were slaves to the fates you foresaw. They could not last, but they will make for a rich and textured heart.

Do not mourn them. They have become everything.

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(A) (Explore) "No matter how many times I go back, we hurt each other. Isn't that changing us? Doesn't it make us worse?"

Voice of the Heroine: But it feels so awful! Like looking into it is going to be the end of everything.

Voice of the Mischievous: You're joking, right? Please tell me you're joking!

> It's not a joke, and it's nothing to be scared of. I'll see you on the other side.

Voice of the Heroine: Okay. If you say so, Pearl, we'll trust you.

Voice of the Mischievous: If you're messing with us, you've done a good job of it. Because I believe you.

> [Approach the mirror]

You approach the mirror.

> [Gaze into your reflection]

Silence as you reach forward. They're gone once again. The mirror always sends them away. But you need to see what's in it.

...

Grey fur is turning a sickly black. There is a nick in one ear. Piercing white eyes stare back at you, figure obscured beneath a scarlet cloak.

You've withered.

The mirror is gone.

You find yourself on the Hushed Moon once again.

> [Proceed to the cottage]

You are at the cottage.

She is still there.

> [Approach her]

Swimming crystalline arms, clutching at and framing and supporting her form. Gem, or the things that went by that name, her eyes covered and form held up by Her.

She is still changing as you watch, but there seems to be a pattern to it. It is calming to watch what once terrified you.

She speaks.

I am a growing chorus of contradiction. Branches and crystals that jab and break in more directions than any perspective can hold. When examined, the light shifts across its surface and reveals a new form entirely. When not observed, I return to a new form.

All of me is changing, and the rest still remains the same.

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(A) (Explore) "No matter how many times I go back, we hurt each other. Isn't that changing us? Doesn't it make us worse?"

The Narrator: Wait... no. That isn't right.

Voice of the Mischievous: What do you mean?

The Narrator: You... don't make a choice. I would say you do nothing, but even doing nothing is a choice. This...

Voice of the Heroine: Pearl, what are you doing? Do something!

>

The Narrator: But as you continue to be deprived of your choices... the Witch makes hers.

The Narrator: As she offers a hand to leave with you, she darts forward, breaking her chains as she bursts into flames and pleads with you to save her.

Voice of the Heroine: What do you mean? She can't be doing all of that.

The Narrator: But she is. And you and the cabin begin to shift with her as she takes you along into this whirling dance, twisting and swimming and changing with her as she shows you everything you are.

The Narrator: Is this what the end of the world looks like? It's awful, what a mess.

Voice of the Mischievous: Why are we going along with this? Pearl, please!

>

The Narrator: The Witch releases you, a gentle sneer of reconciliation and hatred flashing across her sharp face.

The Narrator: You finally act, and you don't. You turn to flee up the stairs and jump towards her, blade and torch back in your hand, to end her once and for all as you strike out at her bindings and fall to her sword.

>

>

>

The Narrator: But as terrible as this is, nothing can last forever, and everything is bound to the same rules. The world and the cabin and you and the Witch collapse, folding inwards as everything

Gem?: But that's ridiculous! Look at me, I'm clearly the victim here!

Gem?: I'm chained to a wall in a basement, and I don't even have a weapon. Do I look like I could end the world?

Gem?: Who told you that? Do you trust it? Because I don't.

Gem?: Try and slay me if you want. I think we'll have a lot of fun watching how that works out!

Gem?: Go ahead and slay me if you want... it's not like I have anything to live for anyway.

Gem?: I don't want to end the world. Why would I end the world?

Gem?: I'm sorry, but if you try to kill me, I'm going to defend myself. And I think I'll win.

The Narrator: This is reaching a breaking point. Stop stalling and slay her already.

Voice of the Heroine: Stop it! I need all of this to stop! Get us out of this hell, somehow!

Voice of the Mischievous: I... I'm so sorry. I had no idea it would be like this.

The Narrator: Sorry isn't going to fix this. What will fix this is finding a way to end her now.

The Narrator: The more you procrastinate, the more your thoughts will drift and the worse it will get. You need to get yourself under control.

Voice of the Heroine: It couldn't possibly get any worse.

The Narrator: Yes, it could. The world still hasn't ended.

Voice of the Mischievous: Just... do something. I was wrong. I was wrong, okay? Do something about this!

Gem?: I have... no idea. I was hoping you knew.

Gem?: What, is this a quiz? Obviously you know, or you wouldn't be here. So stop wasting time.

Gem?: I have no reason to tell you that. Not when you're being so cagey.

Gem?: We both know why I'm down here. It's because I'm going to destroy the world, and I'll have fun doing it.

Gem?: Does it matter? We're both going to die down here if you don't do something.

Gem?: There has to be a reason! I don't... know what that reason is, but there has to be one!

The Narrator: The Witch's form is changing so quickly it hurts to look at her.

Voice of the Heroine: *whimpers*

Voice of the Mischievous: It's... she's... I don't... it was just a joke. I wasn't...

The Narrator: Well, you did. Now fix it.