Passion and Pandemonium (CAOS)

14

Adrienne watched the rainwater hitting the dark pond.
The pond itself had been formed from previous rainstorms filling up a rounded ditch. Now it was a home for a small family of frogs and the occasional crow came to bath in it on sunnier days.

The witch held a bowl of spiced carrot soup which she had resorted to drinking from the bowl rather than using a spoon. It was still incredibly hot, and she made a stretched face of discomfort at the unexpected temperature and breathed out rapidly, trying to cool her mouth.

"Watch-it, still hot." A gruff feminine voice said behind her.

"Now you tell me." Adrienne huffed, "Well, lucky for you, I won't know if the soup is bad because my taste buds have been singed off."

"Bad?" The voice croaked, "Who cares? It's for eating to be alive and strong, not to enjoy."

"Aren't you a bundle of joy."

"If you came here, it means others know I'm here."

Adrienne turned around and put her soup on the kitchen table before grasping the older woman's hands and looked into her sunken bright blue eyes. In the deep greens and browns of the woodland Adrienne was surprised Moira had stayed hidden so well. Her bright eyes and white hair highly contrasted with her environment. "Moira, I used a powerful spell that is hard to trace. I did not directly come here from Greendale. I made sure to muddle my spell work in case they do come looking for me. I came to you because you are so hidden. It took me a few days!"

"Why are you still here?"

"I needed time to plan."

"Plan what?"

"I must venture to Hell to save the dark lord and I might as well take the crown while I'm at it. Do you know how to get me there?"

"If the dark lord is truly imprisoned as you say, then I do not. I would only know by asking him or asking him to take me there." Moira sipped at her own soup and then let out a hoarse throaty cackle. "Heh, heh, 'might as well take the crown' she says, does she know of what she says?"

"I do know of what I say. I know I am being ambitious but being chosen by Lucifer has given me a whole new burst of confidence." Adrienne grabbed her soup and returned to lean against one of the trees which made up the shambolic hut Moira had made deep in the woods. The older woman was one of the hedge witches that Zelda would say had truly become paranoid and distrusting of everyone. Moira had known Adrienne as a child and that had apparently been her only reason for allowing Adrienne to stay.

"Tomorrow is the fourth day. You must go. I am not used to visitors."

"Yes, I know." Adrienne looked back at her host and smiled. "How about tonight I make dinner as a thank you?"

"I only have carrots."

"I can go for a walk in the woods and see if I can find anything else."

"Okay. If you find anything poisonous bring it back too. I like keeping my supplies up." She glanced over to a couple jars that were one-third full in the other corner of the room. She handed Adrienne two empty jars and a curved knife. "One for food, one for poison. Don't get confused."

"You sounded more confident in me when I was a little girl." Adrienne observed.
"You weren't spewing fantasy dreams of becoming a queen of Hell."

"When I succeed will you want anything?"

"I will think about it." For the first time in the few days Adrienne had been with Moira, the woman gave her a little three toothed smile.

Adrienne's walk was more about her thinking up a plan rather than finding food. She returned with a generous portion of chicken-of-the-woods and a realisation that Dorian would know how to get to Hell.

That meant she would have to return to Greendale.