Dear Ms Lady Demigod: Twelve Days To Doom

7 2 Frenzied Witches

Nataniel woke up that morning. Again, Ariel had not slept. He was sitting beside the fire, looking at the firewood while adding small twigs or sticks to the fire at long intervals. Nataniel rubbed his eyes and walked out of the cottage. He touched the snow and closed his eyes, looking for food or prey. His eyes stopped at an old plum tree, he opened his eyes and saw that he was surrounded by plum trees. The cottage had disappeared, and he was in the middle of a plum forest. He heard a voice and chased it.

Someone was digging a ditch into the ground, with a bucket full of plum seeds. Nataniel looked at him from afar. He stopped digging and threw the shovel away. He turned back and looked at Nataniel, it was Remitte, he had stitches on his neck and an icy glare, "Who digs the ditches, Nataniel?" He asked him.

Nataniel was terrified, and he began running away from him, "Nataniel," He heard his mother's voice resonating in the plum forest, "Impudent child,"
He stopped as he didn't know where to go anymore. The voices were everywhere. He clenched his ears and sat down. Slowly, someone approached him from behind, "Why did you let Remitte do it?" It was his mother's voice, "That was your job, Nataniel," She brought her hand forward and Nataniel turned back to look at her, holding Remitte's decapitated head by his hair.

He screamed as he crawled on the roots of the huge plum trees and the plums began falling, bursting into blood, "NO! NO! I DIDN'T KNOW YOU'D KILL HIM!" Lightning fell, strong and loud, her blue eyes looked down at him, and he began breathing faster as he ran out of breath.

She smiled and sat down in front of him. She gently touched his face, "How are you alive?"
"You think I am, therefore, I am," She grabbed his face and brought it closer to hers, "I knew you would not disappoint me, you ate a demigod, just like a monster,"
"I'm not a monster! I'M NOT A MONSTER!"

Nataniel woke up with a jolt, he was standing in front of the cottage again. Ariel sat at the door. He turned back and looked at him and then touched his clothes, he was drenching in sweat. He touched his palms on his face, trying to calm himself down, then, he turned towards Ariel, "Come, let us go,"
He grabbed Ariel's hand and they continued their journey toward China,

"I loved too much at too young an age," Nataniel thought by himself, "Maybe, maybe that's why I'm going insane..."

. . .

Vierne stood on the balcony of the gatekeeper castle, guarding the gates as she looked at all of them from there. 
"Lady Gatekeeper," Swift-footed Iris flew towards her from the dark sky and stood on the balcony. She bowed, "Yes, goddess Iris, I hear you,"
"My portals would not open, and the opened ones do not close,"

"What?"

"Yes, is it so,"

Vierne looked concerned. She jumped down the balcony and reached the garden. There, she saw the portal that Lict had opened a few hours ago. It was still there, it hadn't closed. But it was difficult to pass through as if some translucent sheet had covered it. So, that had been happening. More portals couldn't open anymore, and the old ones won't close, because time and space weren't able to heal themselves anymore. And the falling tower merged worlds, so they weren't two words anymore, but half of each other. Therefore, they won't open portals to each other. 

All the portals closed after Shire Towey was smashed, had remained open. Vierne touched the drying portal, hardening like amber.
"Lady gatekeeper?" Iris flew towards her.
She looked at Iris, "It's the tower... Could you tell me the way to Shire Towey?"

. . .

Cynth came out through the portal that Annelece had opened. She walked into the first and began collecting plums from the trees. She took a small jug and collected some water from the lake. Then, she ran back into the portal, down the rocky mountains of hell, down the  and on it's bank, she saw a small, wooden door surrounded by a broken fence. She passed through it and reached the witch village. However, someone was following her all the way. She greeted all the witches, all of them were old and wrinkly. There were no men in the village, only women, old and unpleasant to look at. Cynth was young, though. Younger than everyone, around Jevelene's age. All of them lived in cottages, the young and poor ones lived under trees and worked as servants to the older witches.