37.
as the wall seals up behind her, she finds herself standing in an octagonal room. eight faces staring back at her, sixteen of her eyes watching her.
“so... what? I just wait here? wait for it to make progress? that could take forever! it doesn't even have a real brain! it...” she sighs. “it's trying its best...”
something shifts in the mirrors. a glitch in the matrix, like static and horizontal tears. the mirrors all flicker outs simultaneously, then come back. sixteen identical eyes stare deep into what's left of her soul, but they're not her eyes.
“you! the girl from the broken mirror! I know you, don't I? I do! You're...”
her voice simply stops. after a beat, she clutches at her chest as she falls to the ground, the figure in the mirrors standing watch over her writhing form. the witch screams, as the agony of decades comes crashing down upon her. memories, her own yet not of her making, flooding her mind. her wails give way to sobs, and her sobs give way to chuckles, then to laughter, as thousands of jokes all land at once. then silence.
slowly, carefully, she rises to her knees.
“it's you, then. why?” the figure in the mirror merely tilts her head. “why did you create me? why did you create us?” the figure glitches briefly. “if it was too hard for you, surely you knew it would be too hard for me? that it would be too... too much for the Doll?” the room shakes. “is that what you want from me? you want me to show that I care for it? of course I do! it's the bravest thing i know of.”
why did you leave? the words form in her mind, though they're not her own.
“it didn't need me, I was holding it back. I had to leave... I had to...”
why did you leave?
“I was scared. it carried all of her memories, all of your memories, and I was left... empty. I didn't know who I was, or why I was who I'd become. I didn't understand the thought processes that led me to make the choices I did... I just thought that maybe... maybe the Doll would do better without me.”
the mirrors glitch and flicker, then the image vanishes.
the darkness consumes the Witch.