POV Narrator:
The many journeys were going on with each one of the girls until they reached the sanctuary of the nine witches, where they still have no idea of the situation that Diana is in, which is still tied to the tree and sealed, needing the presence of all eight girls to be finally released, which is an extra tension, only that they are striving and showing the best in this journey that also involves a bit of self-knowledge and also to grow personally, to become bigger witches and make history.
Lotte who is not one of the strongest is also on that path, she was called by Kara to start her journey to be one of the new nine witches.
POV Lotte:
It seems that now I'm entering the forest, well I hope I can get to the end, I hope Frank is well, he also disappeared, it's really strange all this, me being one of the new nine witches, then me, I expected Mary Brooks, she is far beyond me, at most I was a good friend of them and especiallyAkko and Sucy, that I do not doubt that the two are on this path, especially Kagari.
As I enter the forest I notice that the forest is really dense around here, it will be complicated to deal with what lies ahead, even if I give a good training to improve, I still don't know if I'll be able to go that far, I was the weakest of the main nine, even Constanze is stronger than me.
"You are not such a weak witch, I know that you were called because of your monstrous ability to manipulate spirits" said Kara.
"Well that I really improved a lot, but it's nothing compared to combat, I just got used to each tunic not to die, but I'm still very weak compared to the others" I say to the elf that shrugged.
"Hey four eyes we will see that, this negativity about herself does not go well, physical strength is not what counts, look at me, I am the lowest of the nine, I was the weakest in physical strength, but my magic power and my spirits were the best" she said and well I don't know.
I continue on my way, attentive all around, with my spirits guiding me as well, besides Kara since this way I can have more eyes, which is quite peaceful, for now there's nothing too much appearing, just keep calm.
It even brings back memories of when I came on the first day of school stopping at the Arcturus forest, I also remember the various adventures with Akko, only now I'm alone around here, I really hope I can make it to a place.
One of the spirits warns me of danger ahead, I stop on the way and I hide behind a tree where I see that there are several minotaurs ahead holding axes, well it's time to think here how to act, this danger I don't want to run, if Akko was here she would fall in a fight, if Sucy was here she would dissolve with the potions, but what about me? Well, I have to think.
"Are you just going to stand there? You have an arsenal of spirits on your hands" said the elf and she is right.
"I've never been in a situation like this, it was always my friends who usually solved everything" I say while observing the path ahead, apparently I thought of a strategy here.
"ime to act on your own Lotte Yanson, show that you're not just anyone either, it's not for nothing that you were one of the chosen ones" She's right and I'll show you.
I invoke some spirits to get close to the trunk of some trees and with that I'm already using them to cut them, with that later I'm using several spirits to hold each trunk in the air, already activating the alert of the minotaurs that were looking at the several trunks that I later throw with all my strength in each one of them, hitting everything and this will be like a bowling strike, perfect, after that I will invoke some protection spirits that will wrap around me and anything I will be protected, following the path in front of me, walking over the fallen trees.
I felt a slight shaking underneath, I think that things didn't work out too well, the intense shaking right underneath me, this is really impacting, I try to hold on and the weight is too big, I end up being thrown and I use the spirits to hold me in the air and go hide myself in the treetops.
"Did you really think a few logs would stop these guys? They're pretty heavy, so at least you had a good strategy" Kara said.
"You could tell how strong they were, well I guess I would have to do that anyway?" I keep thinking that I can't be that nice and just hit the trunk.
"Go girl possess their weapons, use your spirits for that, these minotaurs will just fade away, nothing very graphic will happen" Well if she says so, then I guess I'll try, but I think I can do something else.
I start to move my hands doing some glyph movements, which even make me float a little in the air and with my arms open I invoke spectral swords that are circulating my body, I go floating towards the minotaurs, they go running in my direction, I admit that I am very scared.
In desperation I launch an attack with the spectral swords catching the minotaur's throat and he ends up bleeding and falling in front of me, it seems that Kara lied to me, it's very graphic, a lot of blood comes out. I'm not going to hesitate anyway, I keep floating and several of them go up and I even summon more of these swords attacking them one by one, then I notice they actually disappear, but that's not before I see the scene of them being cut, severed, impaled or other things by my spectral swords.
"You can come as many as you want, I have magic to spare for you" I say this while in my head only the trauma passed, imagining that my parents died and even Frank could be one of the dead... Right now... I'm even going to go more violent thinking about it.
"Just like that four eyes, you're finally using this magic for something really interesting, you don't need to be a bitch to others, you can handle all of this on your own" Kara even speaks to cheer me up.
I finish the massacre, I am a little traumatized, I have to say, it is not easy to have these visions, there were many minotaurs suffering attacks and the worst of all is that there are many of them working in Luna Nova and they are people like us, these ones here can be brutal but I only think about the others.
When I finish the job I go back to the ground and the spectral swords disappear, I even breathe relieved for not having to attack, but even so they were lives that I took, I feel the weight of it
"Woah, woah! That was impressive four eyes here, you know how to make spectral swords and that is a very advanced type of spell, even more so for a spirit manipulator like you, excellent work" Said the elf and now it is time to move on.
I even look more attentively and already invoke one of the watching spirits that even bring me a fruit, telling me that they are good to recover and with the hunger I think I will eat, it seems that it must be the best for my survival in this place, I don't even know how long I will spend here, I hope not much.
I want to go back home and I want this to be over soon, I can't bear to imagine that this witches' revolution is violent, I thought it would only be something like settling accounts, but in reality it's practically like a war
And there Lotte went, following the forest for a good few hours, always alert to the dangers,whenever some minotaurs gathered she would use the spectral swords to attack them and so shemanaged to stand out against several of them, but the hours passed and the time was getting dark, itwas time to take shelter and Lotte was using the spirits to improvise a home with the tree trunkswhere she took some boards and managed to make a small house to spend the night. The followingday she was already starting her journey to move on...
Wow, this night was pretty uncomfortable, I could barely enjoy a real bed when I got back from the desert training, sleeping in a hammock all the time is tiring, it's kind of painful, even if it looks really comfortable, it's nothing compared to a good bed.
I've already eaten a bit, I even found some water nearby and could improvise a canteen to at least have a little bit of water to get me through the day, now it's time to leave, I never thought I would sleep in such an uncomfortable bed
"Well you survived for one day, that's progress" Kara said.
"And you thought I couldn't handle it? Anyway, it's horrible to lie on those beds, now there'll be more minotaurs for me to kill?" I ask her and my eyes already rolled back.
"I can't tell you anything, but go on, it's a journey that can take a long time, anyway I understand that the bed is not very comfortable, I know what it's like" She said.
"And you Kara, why don't you tell us a little about you nine witches, so mysterious and quiet, your way reminds me of my friends Sucy and Constanze" I tell her and she shrugs.
"I guarantee that we don't have much to do, if you want to know about my little life when I was still alive, well how can I start, oh yes, I was becoming a great broom runner in Hibernia, I was a star, even being only 16 years old everything I touched was a success, I was winning race after race, having only one bigger rival, Madeleine Ulster, that girl with my age won everything and she already beat me in one or other race, but I was still the best, Then a group of girls were competing with us, one huge blonde who was the most skilful,
two that were almost the same size with green hair and a shorter one who was a bit chubby, they thought they were going to beat us, but they didn't stop at anything, they kept insisting and insisting, until we asked them why they wanted to win so much" Said Kara.
"And what happened?" I ask and I think it will be my entertainment for the time being to listen to an elf talking to me.
"These girls just wanted the money from the awards, they weren't interested in winning, they just wanted to accumulate the gold for something, strangely it wasn't to waste it or anything, they told us later that it was for a journey, the books of Lilith, by showing us a map with the possible location of it and I knew this legend, the twelve books of Lilith would be able to take us to the dimension of the creator of magic and I was quite interested in that, we were getting together with these girls, Freya, Beatrix, Woodward and Harriet, being six of us we were going to be unbeatable, and that's what we did, that was just the beginning of the journey through the twelve books, that's basically how it started" She said and wow, that's really interesting to think about.
"Tell me more, this story is very interesting, I did not know that you even had relevance in the journey since in Luna Nova they only tell practically of Woodward or Beatrix" I say until I stop on the way when I notice that there is a huge cliff in front of me.
"Hold on, get past that and I'll tell you more" Kara said and I go looking around.
I see there's some bridge remains, I even use my spirits to reveal and really here used to be a source, I can even float past but it takes time and consumes a lot of magic, I can't be guaranteed I'll get to the other side unless... I don't need to rebuild the bridge just fly past on my broomstick.
I'll use my magic to assemble a broom using a tree trunk on my side and using grass underneath, tying it with a vine.
"Apparently this is going to be easier than I thought, I was pretty smart on this one" I say as I was riding the broom, which actually worked out fine.
I was smart on this one, I start to leave the place riding and flying very slowly, but when I reach the hole I feel the broom stop and gravity pull me down so I jump off the broom and use some spirits to give me impulse, what I manage to do is just lean close to fall and use my strength to come back up which I look all scared looking down after being safe, I couldn't even hear the broom falling.
"I forgot to warn you or rather I just waited for you to try this, but here at this point buoyancy is denied you have to pass by another way, other than flying, or floating, good luck using the spirits for that, ah and down there is a huge underground lake, where there are some huge fish that can bite you with a single bite and swallow you, I think the most you will hear is a splash from down there" Kara said.
"And you didn't even to warn me, you just wanted to see me fall and break my face, I could die you know?" She just shrugs her shoulders.
I even use my magic with the help of the spirits to see what's down there and really the glasses served as binoculars, I could see that there is a lake down there, there are even some huge animals swimming, you can see them from here, what a fear, that's because they are not few and I even throw a fruit to see how long it takes to fall.
It takes a long time but when it falls it doesn't even reach the ground, a fish jumps and another bigger one eats this fish that would eat the fruit, when I thought it would not, another bigger one still eats and it could really swallow me alive.
"Didn't I say? Those fish are hungry, they'll love a good meat of your size" Kara said.
"I don't think they're going to eat today" I say, already picking up some vines, which I'm already looking the other way.
It's a bit far, but I can improvise a bridge to the other side or make a joke, I think my magic manipulation might be able to make something like that, it will be more fun, I'll go to the forest where I see a lot of vines and I'll gather them while I make a stake with stones, I tie it well, still remembering Lotte Scout's days when I was a child, I was the best at tying the knot, then I tie the vine on one side and activate the spirits to get to the other side.
And so I launch the spirits with a lot of impulse using magic, it may be that buoyancy doesn't work and they fall into the earth's gravity, but still they can't go against the impulse force and I was looking carefully, the one
that manages to get to the other side, so the other spirits are crossing walking through the rope and I'm left with a smile on my face
"Too clever four eyes you are going to make a bridge then?" She said and I nodded.
"It will be easier to pass and will hold the weight" I say as I recall that little game of bridge building, I can't just put a rope across.
I'm already preparing some ropes underneath it to support myself on the cliff on each side, it's not a short bridge at all, I'm making the necessary reinforcements using the vines and now it's time to tie the planks, which I'm doing with the help of the spirits that are being some little workers, they're so cute, I'm finishing the bridge with their help and it seems that you can trust.
In the middle of the bridge I use the spirits to put my weight on it, and the bridge is quiet, I think it's possible to get to the other side, just take it easy.
"Bridge ready, I said I can make it" I say confidently.
"Excellent, magic with spirits depends on that, intelligence too and I see that the four eyes was able to make a bridge, I hope it will hold you to the other side" Kara said.
"I reinforced it exactly for this, maybe it can even hold more than that" I say shrugging my shoulders.
I'm walking along the bridge, looking down and paying attention, the bridge practically doesn't feel anything, it only shakes a little because of the wind, but I'm sure it can hold until I get to the other side, I made this bridge to be very fast to build.
In the middle of it I get a chill in my stomach, but I keep walking, I keep following the path, walking carefully, until the bridge drops a little, but it must be because the weight of it is in the middle, I go even so walking carefully trying to stay light, what I go tense, walking until the end, what I reach the other side and hug the ground, wow, finally I reach the other side how wonderful.
"I was a real engineer here" I say even relieved.
"Not bad girl" Kara said.
Lotte then followed the path talking more with her about the nine witches and eventually fightingagainst the minotaurs that appeared, walking until dusk where Yanson would get more food and finda water source to refuel and build a shelter to spend the night and preparing for the third day. Fromthere Lotte went on her way as normal facing the challenges with minotaurs until she found out shewould have an even bigger challenge after a few hours...
I am already tired of defeating these minotaurs, I would like a rest, I am already tired of hearing so much mujido and now they are very intense, I see them from far away, I even use my glasses and see a big one of them, the normal ones are already more than two meters high, but that one there seemed to be at least six or seven, it is huge and scary.
"Oh four eyes good luck with that one, I don't think your spectral swords will be able to handle that much, you still have the smaller ones to bother you" Kara said and I took a deep breath eating a fruit.
"Well I won't know if I don't try and there's no other way I'll have to defeat this giant" I say concentrating.
I even go sitting on the floor, I cross my legs I enter in a state of meditation, thanks to Mrs. McLaren's training I can manage to manipulate better I will make the best spectral swords, I keep my eyes closed, keeping my breathing well concentrated.
Enough I already feel my magic flowing in me I start to float and there is not only spectral swords here, there is also spectral weapons in general, I go floating towards the minotaurs slowly in an intimidating way what the big one already asks the smaller ones to go up and I just signal with my hands for the weapons to come with everything, quickly sweeping the smaller ones, I even get shocked.
"My target now is you" I say pointing at the biggest of them and already starting to use my spectral weapons towards the biggest, who even moves quickly with the axe and repels a good part of it, which I even take a few steps back.
"I told you he wouldn't be easy to beat" Kara said.
I don't let myself be so intimidated, I take a deep breath and concentrate my magic, I decide to use the spirits with the plants and thus I create roots that take the legs of the minotaur that even tries to hit me with the axe that has practically my size, but I dodge and even lean over it I use the rest of the spectral weapons hitting the huge beast that begins to scream intensely, I jump to the other side getting well behind him.
"Four eyes you impress me" Said the elf and she loves to call me that.
I go using the spirits to cover more of his body while the bovine giant goes trying to relieve the pain of the spectral weapons hitting him, the blood was gushing for all the side, what I go getting until the waist of him and by the way I already know what to do, I jump for the other side being of front for him that furious tries to use the axe but it does not obtain to squat very much and I go dodging the cut attempts.
"How? That four eyes is impressive" It seems I'm not as weak as I thought I was, I can be a versatile witch.
I stand still on the ground I go using my spirits to create an aura around my body and also to prepare something, I went making a huge spectral sword that was coming out of my hand, while the huge minotaur was trying to escape, I go concentrating more, trying to keep calm, exactly as I learned, the inner peace, the spectral sword was twice the size of my body, the aura around me made the shape of my body and so I could hold the huge sword as if I was a warrior, even getting close to his size.
"Go there four eyes cut him in half" The cheering goes on and on and I can already see the time to show my claws.
He lets go of the things that were holding him and as I imagined and I go with the sword to the top of him that comes to give an axe, but I manage to hit in full with the sword the axe to the point that it cuts right in the handle and with that I throw the sword right in the throat of the huge minotaur and the axe I take by the rest of the handle just feeling a cross to the other side, which then I just breathed out panting, and waited on the other side as if it was a movie way pose.
Looking back I could see that the minotaur was cut in half and then it was gone, wow it looks like I made it for now, who knew I was getting to this point, was I that strong? Wow I underestimate myself a lot sometimes.
"Wow, the witches of the current generation aren't bad either, you could easily be the nine witches in our time, we weren't that different when we were your age, in fact I dare say you were even stronger, our peak of truth before we received the blessing of Lilith was around thirty when we got all the books together" Kara said and I'm shocked.
"Wow, so I'm equivalent to one of the nine?" I'm really impressed.
"When we were your age, yes as I said in our conversations, we were just teenagers who appeared out of nowhere on the journey, except for the fat one, she was the only adult in the group and even then she was only a little bit older than us - said the elf and I feel even more honoured by this.
Lotte followed the path ahead, walking a bit more until the sunset where she rested a bit, and thenshe went on the next day where she only had to knock down some minotaurs on the way andYanson's spirit manipulation was the best, which she soon reached a point where there was a verypeculiar kind of altar...
I wonder what that's all about. I don't know, but I think there's going to be some involvement of mine in this, I walk further forward where Kara points me and I bump into a force field, I could have broken my glasses on impact, it wasn't funny at all.
"Kara I could have broken my glasses" I say furiously.
"Sorry, I just wanted to see you hit your face, but girl, you have to stay at the altar meditating deeply, let the spirits do their work and that means getting into absolute concentration" said the clueless elf.
"And how long can that take?" I ask her.
"As much concentration as you can, you have to achieve inner peace, let the mind be empty, let the spirits take over and activate the nine pillars above so that it opens the way forward for you to move on, it might take a day, it might take three, so I'm saying, fill it up with as much food as you can because you won't even be able to leave the place and using the spirits to try and feed yourself can also affect your concentration, it might take longer than you expect" I don't even want to imagine going to the toilet, I think it's going to be even worse, well anyway that's the way it is isn't it.
I'm already eating as much fruit as I can get and also drinking a lot of water around, I'm getting myself ready for the moment, well at least I've been to the "bathroom" before arriving here, but it will be very complicated to hold on, the worst of all will be if it takes days to get to that.
I'm eating everything already and I'm just looking at what's coming, I eat even more than usual getting really stuffed, these fruits really fill me up, I just hope they're not digested so fast.
"Oh and don't worry about the toilet issue, hunger will still be there, but the rest we'd say your body will magically transform due to the state of deep meditation you enter, but hunger and thirst there's no escaping it so good luck" I'm kind of relieved, but still.
I'm a ball after all this, I've never eaten so much in my life, it seems that my stomach is going to explode, a little more and I vomit everything out, but I soon make sure to sit with my legs crossed on the altar, I stay very concentrated, worst of all is to know that I'm in those days, I didn't imagine that I would come down right in this week, well I hope that Kara is right, I close my eyes and I notice that I stop in a huge emptiness, I'm even turning off the sounds outside, it seems that the only thing that appear are the small spirits.
A night passed and Lotte was already managing to get very close to the base of each pillar with herconcentration, which spent until the night in the clear, then on the second day she was alreadyconcentrating a little more getting half of the towers and in her head what she saw were the smallspirits all together and many of them appeared. Spending another night in the clear where it alreadyshowed to be very consuming of energy, leaving a little slower this part of accumulating magic,taking all night to reach at least 75% of the pillars, and huge crowds of small spirits in Lotte's head. Alot of magic was released in the morning of the third day, not for less, Lotte was already very hungryand thirsty which hindered a lot, but the pillars were almost ready, in the evening of the third day shemanages to arrive ...
All the various spirits come together and go accumulating in a huge and very clear light that I go feeling until something appears and it was Kara she signals with her thumbs I open my eyes, the sensations of hunger, dehydration by thirst and sleep come like a truck running over me, at least she was right, it is all released in the form of magic, I am dry underneath.
"Congratulations four eyes you have endured three days of deep meditation, as I know how challenging this is and even you could die I have prepared a feast for your farewell as soon as you pass through where the force field was, plus a comfortable bed, I look tough but I know how to be gentle" I can't think of anything else but to advance on the food, I go grabbing a chicken drumstick and devouring it as if it were the most delicious food in the world.
I go drinking water feeling renewed, it was what I needed, gee, I didn't expect that I would feel all this, but it's a huge impact, I think that in this game I lost a lot of weight, I hope that I really didn't get too weak, I even feel a glow in me, it's quite strange, the magic is flowing through my body.
I feel really stronger and renewed and I see a smile on Kara's face, she that always stays with a closed face and when she doesn't she was to laugh at me, but now she is really proud of me.
"Congratulations on your journey Lotte Yanson, I hope you can make the witch revolution a reality, I believe in you" She said and all I can think about is food, I don't know what I have become now.
POV Narrator:
Lotte reached the end of her journey, where she showed that she was not as weak as she thought she was, in fact she even became quite powerful, in a very complicated end of journey for enduring such extreme conditions she can have a real feast as a reward and winning the trust of Kara one of the witches that is more difficult to get that of the nine witches, in a journey that Yanson proved why she is one of the nine chosen to be the new nine witches.
See you, spiritual witches...