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The conversion of a sinner

Summary:

I've read somewhere that one of the greatest desires of God is the conversion of sinners, so the poor sinners will renounce their sinful lifestyles and return to God.... perhaps the Goddess does like some converted sinners of her own, and sweet Zelda, simply can't say no to her Goddess.

Notes:

Hey, I know I should be writing and posting on the other one, but words are not flowing for the next chapter, since this one seemed to be in between. Hopefully, once this is posted, I'll be able to get back to the ending of Mamihlapinatapai and post a chapter as I was supposed to.

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Chapter Text

A frown marred the gorgeous red-haired woman’s brow as she came to a halt. She was impeccably dressed in a tight pantsuit, her white crisp blouse’s collar was high. With a wave of her hand, her soft rose-gold hair was thrown to the side of her neck, cascading down her back in rich, perfect curls. Her impeccably done eyebrow raised, as did her hand. The one that wasn’t covered by heavy-looking rings, but had just one. A cigarette holder graciously placed on her long finger, and that kept one thin white roll of nicotine and mint, that she had made herself earlier that morning. The filter touched red-tinted lips, and her cheeks hollowed as the tip turned in a bright shade of fiery.

Everything in this woman exuded elegance, including the hand poised on her hips with practiced ease. She freed the smoke -part from her nose and part from delicately parted lips- that had caressed her lungs. With one last look at the tinted glass across the street, she squared her shoulders gracefully, and her heels clicked as she moved closer towards her intended destination.

The High Priestess of the Order of Hecate was given a mission. One she didn’t quite know how to approach. Yet, one she couldn’t say no to when her Goddess had not only allowed her to bring her sister back from the nether realm but her niece from the afterlife.

A week and a few days earlier, after living in the quiet stillness of the emptiness she called home, Zelda Spellman had fallen to her knees. Breaking her usual haughty demeanor, the High Priestess had painfully pleaded over her own pitiful cries. In her mourning, she had claimed to her Goddess that there was not a thing she was unwilling to do in exchange for Sabrina’s life.

Her Goddess had answered, with a light petting caress on her head, and that filled her with the sudden urge to grab a shovel and excavate her niece’s casket out of the unholy ground of her last resting place. “Go, child,” she thought she’d heard, and almost out of instinct, that was what she’d done.

The moment her shovel had reached the coffin, she had worked twice as hard as she heard the pleading sobs of her niece for someone to free her. “Sabrina, calm down. I’m placing a spell in there, so you don’t run out of oxygen. I’ll get you out before you notice. Just try to relax, okay, sweetie?” She said in the tone she’d used to console her as a child. Tears left her eyes at their own accord, blurring her work but not stopping her.

“Auntie Zee, I knew you’ll come to get me.” Her niece had said still buried but alive. Zelda had to fight with her own knees that had become mush at this, convincing herself to find the strength to continue her work. Not quite believing what was happening.

Dinner happened then after she had coddled her niece and called her sister to come over, to return home at once. The sole presence of their niece brought the light back to her sister’s eyes. Her nephew had also appeared from wherever he had disappeared, if only not to survive with the void that the youngest of them had left behind with her untimely departure.

The Goddess was kind with them, allowing them first, and their coven later, to celebrate the return of their lost child. Although, her former beau couldn’t be brought back because of his own more self-centered way of departing to the afterlife.

The joy had filled them all in ways that were long lost and now seemed to simmer from deep inside them, and Zelda Spellman had almost forgotten about her own part on the return of Sabrina.

Until the previous night. It was then, when sitting in front of her vanity while going through her nightly routine, that she felt a presence in her room.

“There’s a mortal,” Hecate’s voice had resounded in her head. “She’s been directing a Church. Misguiding innocents with the tales of the man who dared to bring you to your knees and to summon the Eldritch Terrors…” Zelda’s heart had gotten stuck in her throat wondering if her Goddess would be a vengeful one, and would ask her to get rid of such a nuisance. A mortal that could expose them all could be nothing but a fly to the Goddess desires. Yet, the next words that Zelda heard came right out of the left field. “Convert her.” 

“Co-convert her?” She had asked, but at the end, she simply nodded her agreement. Converting one mortal to Hecate’s path should be a piece of cake. Especially one who already had fallen for Faustus’s charm before.

Zelda had been so cocky, so sure that her part of the deal would be done sooner rather than later, that she had forgotten how expensive one life can be. Even for a Spellman.

Chapter Text

Once upon a time, when the veil between the mortal realm and the witches’ realm wasn’t so carefully kept down. In the middle of the woods of the ancient country, in a quaint little cottage, lived the Spellmans.

Their family had coined their name even further in time, when the veil wasn’t even needed and people from distant lands would come to their several times’ great grandfather’s home, in search of some ointments and cures for the most diverse and rare of the ailments.

‘The Spell man can help you,’ would be whispered in the town, and mortals would come to search for him and a piece of their magic.

But mortals were jealous and for their own safety, the witches and their most diverse Gods had agreed that protection was needed, and, together, they placed the first thin veil between the realms.

Now, centuries later, when the veil was growing thick, yet, the Spellmans continued to work in between the realms. They remained as one of the few families allowed to live in both realms at the same time. Only because their jobs in their communities were deeply appreciated and had, in the past, brought over several willing souls to the Dark Lord’s cause.

Dawn had long since settled. There was no light other than the pale one coming from the half-crescent moon. The stars polluted the dark sky and clouds moved fast. “It’s going to rain,” one girl announced morosely, as she looked to the blackness longingly.

A thin, short blond girl moved quickly to cuddle up to her bigger sister, peeking outside and giggling, “it will not rain, Zelds. Look all those stars!”

Just as if the redhead's words had been ominous, a thunder fell close enough to be felt by them. “Zelda Spellman, what have you done?” Her brother stood up, looking at her, searching for any tricks she might have pulled. A thin eyebrow rose defiantly, “that wasn’t me, Edward, it was just nature.” She shrugged.

“Someone is coming,” the blonde girl announced then, and they all clambered to the window of their room, trying to steal a glance of whoever might visit them.

“Ah, it’s that silly mortal... Lady Marianne. It seems, at last, she has found her way here.” Edward stated, walking away from the window and flopping himself on his bed.

Rain poured almost suddenly, they could hear thunder nearing, and then there was a knock at their door.

The ruckus continued, stronger and faster, growing desperate as the simple rain became a storm. They heard their parents’ footsteps as they crossed the hallways towards the stairs. And then the loud cries of the woman.

While Edward Spellman turned around, curling in bed and falling asleep, his sisters curiously tiptoed out of the room.

The young woman, Lady Marianne, was crying in their foyer. She hung from their mother’s neck unconsolable. The witch rolled her eyes and muttered a calming spell, so the girl could finally tell them what in Heaven had brought her to them in such a night.

“My heart has been poisoned by the most painful of the ailments,” Lady Marianne said. “It’s a feeling that consumes me whole, I cannot breathe, I cannot eat, I cannot sleep... My heart and my mind are intoxicated by him... and he, he doesn’t return it. He doesn’t even know I exist.”

The Spellmans had shared a knowing look. “Love,” the father stated with disdain. “We have two solutions for your ail.” The mother said. “We can make you stop feeling or we can make him fall for you.” At this latter option, the blue eyes of the woman rose, shimmering with hope.

“I want to be in love, as my sisters have. I want him to love me,” Lady Marianne stated.  

Moving aside, the Spellmans spoke in soft words that their children by the stairs wouldn’t hear.

“Remember, child, even a sickness like love... comes with a price. There’s nothing in your realm or in ours that can be without one if it’s not freely given.” Their mother had stated. Lady Marianne nodded eagerly, her tears still streaming down her pale face steadily. “Come back tomorrow night. We’ll have something for you by then. The potion we will craft for you can only be consumed during a dark moon.”

The woman was dismissed and as their parents got to work; the girls rushed to their rooms, each with their thoughts running a mile per hour after what they just witnessed. Both hoping to see the results of their parents’ magic on a willing mortal in such a thing as love.

Mortals came and went by their house begging for love potions. Their parents had warned them several times that love was a disease that spread through mortals faster than the flu. However, contrary to the flu, they wanted to have it. They wanted to tie their souls to another being as the Spellmans had -or would- to the Dark Lord. “A simple desire to be something they are not,” their father had added with derision the last time Hilda had asked.

It wasn’t until after the next Dark Moon when they saw that magic -that disease- happen. Lady Marianne invited them to their wedding in a show of gratitude towards their parents.

All three of the Spellman kids had dressed in their nicest clothes and they had joined the celebration. Zelda Spellman had the same expression of disgust as her father had.

The (hexed) groom looked at Lady Marianne adoringly. Following her around as a lost and wound puppy would. “What are you looking at, Zelds?” the younger of the Spellman’s asked in her cheery voice. “Him. Blindly trailing behind her, as if he doesn’t see how ridiculous it is than before he had never found her attractive and now he fawns over her as if she’s the most gorgeous woman of this stupid town.”

“He is in love, Zelds! Of course, he will look at her like that.” The older sister looked at the little one with a sideways glare, rolling her eyes at the naiveness of her sister. “That’s magic, Hilda. He loves her because Mother and Father made him. Anyway, if love is losing yourself like this...” she shuddered.

“Whatever you say, Zelds. I just can’t wait to fall in love too!” Hilda clapped eagerly, looking at the newly formed couple kissed in front of everyone sealing their marriage.

“I never want to be in love...” Zelda stated with distaste painted all over her face.

Chapter Text

Zelda Spellman stopped herself in front of the painted glass of the Pilgrims of the Night Church. Her nose scrunched up in distaste at the mockery of the name that Faustus had coined for it, and to the blatant mockery of him, Judas and Leticia… Judith… dressed as pilgrims as the image of their logo.

Not giving herself time to dwell on it -on him- and not glancing inside, as she later would regret that she didn’t. Zelda opened the door with certainty that she was going to find some dumb mortal that would be easily brainwashed out of her ex-husband’s tales and into novel ways of living inside the Order of Hecate. Because of course, a Goddess with an ancient history was far more believable than whatever ludicrous story that Faustus might have come up with.

The redhead’s eyes fell from chipped church pews to the floor planks that were covered by a not-so-thin layer of dust. There was a wooden pulpit right in the middle of the small stage that served as an altar warded by two giant banners that hung at the back wall. A thick tome sat proudly on the pulpit.

Candles littered every available surface, and if she was to give punctuation, even with the lamps hanging from the ceiling, the place was a zero in illumination. Just like Faustus liked his environments. She shuddered at the memory that it brought as her eyes lowered to the black worn-out carpet only added to the ambiance.

Her eyes finally fell on the figure kneeling at the low of the steps, head cast down in prayer. Dark hair thickly tightened in an untidy bun. A few rebellious strands escaping their keepers and falling to cover the face of the woman, who despite having listened to the cheap doorbells that had chimed at the moment the doors had forcefully opened -as if it was a store and not a church- had not stopped her prayer until she finished it.

There was something in the way the dark mane was curled up in that messy updo, the way the soft woolen sweater hugged the body, and how any resemblance of the womanly figure beyond the waist was eaten by a skirt that could be old enough to belong to a pre-teen Zelda. However, it wasn’t until the woman turned around that a memory came back, hitting the High Priestess like a ton of bricks.

The woman she had to convert faced her, pushing thick glasses up her nose with a hand and shoving with a trembling hand the unruly strands of hair behind her ear.

Zelda blanched several shades when she faced the one who had dared to kill her, now smiling softly at her as if she had never confronted her with a gun at her own foyer. The redhead’s heart raced in her chest, and she found herself fighting for air.

“Hi, welcome! I haven’t seen you before in town. Are you just moving in? I’m Mary Wardwell,” the woman said, adding more phrases as she saw the woman she could only describe as one gorgeous ginger stared at her with something akin to panic written all over her palling face, and guarded stance. As if instead of finding solace she had seen a horrifying ghost inside the church.

The only thing Zelda could do was a one-eighty turn, walking away from that church as fast as she could. As mysteriously as she had appeared, if someone was to ask about her to Mary.

As far as she could and as far as she wanted were two very distinct things. Zelda wanted to rush out and hide under the cover of the fluffiest of the duvets she could find feeling like a lost puppy who had just been confronted with the brunt side of the ill humanity. However, you cannot outrun your own mind.

Zelda needed to think or stop thinking altogether. To breathe and stop gasping for air like a drowning woman… She reached as far as the first alley and turning quickly into it, she let herself rest against one wall. That she hadn’t even taken into consideration the state of such a wall was a dead giveaway of how rattled she was.

“Aren’t you a wrathful Goddess!” She mumbled under her breath as she struggled to control it. A hand raised as if to will her heart stop racing.

There was a rich laugh that reverberated through her skull as if was an opera house and the laughter, the main singer playing with the color of her voice.

“All Gods are,” Hecate’s voice came to her in a soft, caring whisper. “Including myself. However, my child, contrary to your past God, I’ll never push you to do anything you aren’t ready for. Nothing that I’ll command will be ever to harm you.”

“That’s not reassuring at all,” she barked a laugh, not quite paying attention to how crazy she would look if someone was to walk by right then.

“Oh, but it is. Isn’t it? To know that you are ready for more than just facing her or finding her in the farmer’s market before running away. Child, you are so much braver than you realize. I’ve been watching your every step since you’ve been born. Knowing that one day, you’d come to me. I couldn’t hope for a better High Priestess when I’ve seen you endure and survive so much.”

“Alas... I don’t think I can fulfill this one for you, Dark Mother.” Zelda said, pressing the back of her hand against her forehead.

“Yet, you gave your word to me. You promised me to do anything at all if I brought your niece back.” She remarked. There was no bite or pressure in her words, just quiet confidence that slowly was sweeping through Zelda’s old bones.

“I’m a woman of my word, Mother. I will convert her to your order, even if I die along the way.” Zelda swore with intent.

“Such a feisty creature. There won’t be a need for dying... although... perhaps there will be hundreds of petite-morts,” Hecate added almost as in an afterthought. “You mustn’t do it today, sweet child. You must take it a day at the time, after all, Rome -nor any mortal empire, really- wasn’t built in a day. We are far older than this town, and we’ll last centuries more. There’s time. There’s no pressure, I won’t take your niece away as long as you make your best efforts into converting this woman.”

“Why there’s such an interest in this woman?” Zelda asked. Wondering why Mary Wardwell, the one who killed her, the one Lilith had killed and brought back to life after impersonating her for months, was now of importance to her own Goddess.

There was another laugh. “You’ll find out as you try to fulfill your task. Come along now, High Priestess. They wait for you at the Academy and it doesn’t suit you to be morosely hiding in a dark, dirty alley. Not any longer.”

Chapter 4

Notes:

I promise this chapter will make sense at some point.
Also... Lydia Spellman was the name of Edward, Vesta, Zelda, Hilda, and Sophie Spellman in the 90's sitcom. So, that's just me being a nerd.

Chapter Text

Lydia Endor was reaching three hundred when she met him. He was quite literally the man of her dreams. Not in that silly mortal version of love. Hecate, no! She had been dreaming of him for decades now.

What she never expected was that her dreams would point her to one devoted to the Dark Lord, whereas she -and her whole lineage up to her- was devoted to Hecate. But back then, for witches that came from an ancient clan, like Lydia herself, it was far easier to speak with their Gods, and her Goddess kindly reassured her she should follow her dreams.

And so, Lydia Endor had approached the man of her dreams. He, too, was from an ancient clan, but his coven… his coven requested for this hedge witch to join Solomon Spellman, marrying him by his tradition.

She dreamt once more, about green woods, a sleepy town in the middle of nowhere where they would all be safe, and a house with dark walls that was nestled in a Hill where their children would live for decades. With such a revelation, Lydia packed her meager possessions and uprooted herself to join him. Bringing along the only true treasure she had, her family Book of Shadows that was even older than that of the Spellmans.

Years passed, yet the children she’d dreamed about never came. A decade flew by them, as it usually did. The town changed little, and they remained the same. “I saw we would have children, Solomon,” she cried once, after another five years passed by. He smiled fondly at her. The following night, they sought help from his magic, then from witches from his coven, until finally, they came to their knees and willing to pay the price, they asked the Dark Lord for a child.

There was no answer, no dream, no voice, no visitation… nothing, and Solomon started to believe he had made a mistake marrying a hedge witch after all. “Perhaps, it’s not our children what you saw, Lydia, darling,” he said to her, caressing her cheek as he usually did.

“I can read, Solomon. It said Spellman on the sign,” she huffed, but for the sake of peace, she let it go. Dreams plagued her, dreams of a boy that would be High Priest, and of a blonde girl that would grow and marry out of genuine love. The voice of a stern woman reached her ears too, but she couldn’t see the face that belonged to it. Yet she heard the ‘Mother Spellman,’ and the chorus of ‘High Priestess’ that followed her words. Until she realized she was dreaming of her children’s future. Perhaps the third voice was that of her son’s wife?

Lydia tried meditating to see what was of that woman, but her energy was so impersonal, so aloof that she couldn’t grasp any knowledge of her. She fell to her knees, defeated. Maybe it wasn’t her son’s wife, but her own husband’s?

“Dark Mother, you told me I should follow my dreams. I have. Then why have I failed him?” The words left her mouth even before she thought of what she was doing. “If this path is the correct one, grant me a child, Hecate.” She said before she collapsed on her bed crying until sleep claimed her.

“I have not forsaken you, child. It’s you who have forgotten about me, and even when I’ll answer your prayer, you’ll forget about me again. I’m not a Genie, I’m a Goddess; however, I can grant you your wish. Are you willing to pay the price, child?” Hecate told her in a dream.

“Wha-what it could be?” Lydia had answered.

“Your first-born girl. When the time is right, she will be mine to claim, as you once were too. Think about it, child, and answer me when you are ready.”

The former Endor witch woke up from her dream and for days felt restless, keeping a secret that she had prayed to her former Goddess. When it weighed too much, she finally confessed her “sin” to her husband.

“Ask her for a boy,” Solomon stated after a while of petting his inconsolable wife’s hair as she cried on his lap. She raised her head, confusion painted all over her tear-stained face. “You said she asked for your first-born girl. If you request a boy, dear, then she cannot take him.”

Lydia knew Solomon, as his Dark Lord, was used to play tricks to improve their gain, yet she couldn’t fault his logic. That night, as she went for bed, she kneeled, praying for Hecate to give her a baby boy. When her eyes closed, she found herself in Hecate’s liminal space. “Remember your promise, child. Your first-born girl will belong to me, either you allow it or not. The price isn’t that of life for a life, though. No… the price is for you and your husband to do anything in your hands to keep her pure of heart until I claim her.”

Lydia had readily agreed. Soon after, the Spellmans confirmed she was finally with child.

The first five months out of the thirteen flew by. The Spellmans had arrived at their hidden cottage after conferring with a midwife of their kind about the health of their boy to find a warm fire in their hearth.

“Welcome home,” a voice they didn’t know called mysteriously from close to the fire. “You know, Lydia Endor… I had this lovely conversation with your former Goddess… Hecate…” the woman said walking towards the couple. They quickly recognized they were in presence of a Goddess, a different one but equally powerful. They knelt as a show of respect as she circled them. “A first-born girl… tsk tsk… I should claim this little one for me then, since my love wasn’t so kind to be the one impregnating you, Lydia Endor, and we all know I have a thing for baby-boys.”

“Ma-Madam Satan? Dark Mother… I …”

“No. I don’t want your pathetic excuses, Spellman. I’m not here for you. Lydia Endor, Hecate, and I have come to an agreement. She can have your girl’s pure heart. I claim her womanhood for myself,” she announced. “You can crawl back to your Goddess if you want to plead with her, but as long as I don’t break her heart or spirit, she has no issues with me taking her womanhood. I’ll come for her after her dark baptism. I’ll promise I’ll be gentle,” Madam Satan smirked. “Any complains, Endor?”

Lydia had spared a glance to her husband, then she placed a hand over her belly. It was so easy to agree on the fate of a babe she would do anything at all not to bring to the world than to give away the one growing inside her. “No, no complaints, Goddess Lilith.”

“Then I’ll see you in… eighteen years from now, give it or take… Oh, and Spellman... do make yourself useful as a pathetic warlock and make sure she gets to me untainted,” she added before she disappeared taking the warmth of the fire with her.

Lydia threw herself into her husband’s arms, crying softly, repeating inconsolable ‘what have I done?’

Chapter 5

Notes:

Please let me know if this jumping around gets too confusing.
So far, I've made the ones that are fully in the past italics.

Chapter Text

When Mary woke up that morning, she had to remember she wasn’t living alone anymore. For months now, her mornings started with her routine changed to include feeding children that weren’t hers. Reverend Lovecraft had left her not only in charge of his Church until his Holy Mission was fulfilled but in charge of his children. And now that there was not even Agatha to help her… She felt utterly alone and confused, and if she was honest, she felt like a complete lie.

Even before her feet touched the ground, she let out a prayer for the woman who had lived with her for a few weeks in the past months, with the hope she was all right. Agatha had disappeared without a word around the same time Reverend Lovecraft had, and months had flown by before he had returned with his head severed and she had sewn him back.

“God, it has been so long already?” she wondered, as she noticed the calendar that pointed her to the beginning of the spring.

She felt the side of her bed and let out a tired sigh. If she was honest, she missed the warmth of a body sharing her bed. Even when he was brutal with her in his lovemaking. Father Lovecraft healed her after with hot, open-mouthed kisses on the delicate skin of her back and everywhere where his long sharp nails had gotten harsh on her skin.

She knew it wasn’t love -and probably it wasn’t right, either-. But Father Lovecraft was simply… magnetic… and very good with words. He convinced her that after all she had lived through, sex wouldn’t be the thing that would keep her from the heaven she didn’t fully believe in.

As in a daze, she had done it… Not caring for the years of her parent’s indoctrination. She didn’t listen to all the things in her head that had stopped her from consummating her relationship with Adam… Nor paid attention to how she felt nothing akin to passion under her skin, nor a growing warmth in the low of her belly. It surprised her, that she had accepted it even when his children - and Agatha- were just next door, possibly listening to their every word and gasp for air… No, she simply allowed herself to be taken and felt even emptier after those nights.

And night after night, he would find fresh ways to convince her. Until he disappeared, leaving her alone, broken, confused, aching, and bereft. Alone and wondering what it would’ve been like if it was Adam, the one who had used her body.

Yet, she shrugged those thoughts away and donned the responsibilities he dropped on her, and those were far beyond those she felt capable of taking. She had waited a month for him, but without Reverend Lovecraft to oppose it, and with winter break ending, Mary sent Judas and Judith to school. They were behind in many subjects, but she helped them as much as she could after classes, and they were improving, even speaking with children of their own age.

Things seemed to work for her, yet, even after four months of being the sole responsible of it all, she was feeling at the very edge of the precipice.

After a healthy breakfast that she couldn’t even swallow because of the nervous lump she had been carrying right since the moment Reverend Lovecraft had disappeared again in this mission of his, she herded the twins into her car and drove them to school for some extra math lessons she had convinced Ms. Jones to give to them.

Her hands had been trembling no stop, only remaining stable whenever she stood up in front of their followers and she had to read his work. When she pretended to be far more collected than she was. So, that morning, it took her several attempts to put the key in place and finally unlocking the doors. She hadn’t even bothered turning the lights on or sweeping the place before she fell to her knees.

At the end of her rope, Mary Wardwell prayed to anyone willing to listen to her. Pleaded for help to find her way. “I’m so tired of being alone, unloved. I’m so tired of pretending to be someone I’m not. Am I so unworthy that I don’t deserve to be cherished?” She muttered seconds before the cheap doorbells Mrs. Meeks had donated sounded, alerting her of a presence in the room.

She pretended to be concentrated on her prayer, but she truly wished for whoever it was to walk away and leave her alone. Alas, even that seemed too much to ask for that day. Instead, she cleaned her tears away with the handkerchief she always carried. Taking a deep breath, she stood up.

It took her a moment to recover her breathing, pushing her glasses farther up her nose and pushing the messier strands of her hair behind her ear if only to counteract the fact that the woman in front of her was drop-dead gorgeous and inside her, something ignited. Mary Wardwell felt a flush on her cheeks as she felt alive for the first time.

Mary’s heart skipped a beat and were those the infamous butterflies in the stomach what she felt? ‘Get a grip on yourself, Wardwell… You’re far too old for fitting a description of preadolescent love.’ It was then, after all, but swooning over the woman that she noticed neither had uttered a word.

“Hi, welcome!” she said in her cheeriest tone. Even to her ears sounded too eager, cringe-worthy, and just plain wrong. She looked at the woman again, and she could’ve sworn she knew her. Although she was also certain she hadn’t seen her before in her life. Mary certainly would’ve remembered meeting someone who seemed coming right out of a movie. “I haven’t seen you before in town. Are you just moving in?” she wondered out loud.

The redhead embraced herself by the middle. It was then that she noticed the panic written all over the woman's stance. “I’m Mary Wardwell.” She added before the woman turned around and all but ran out of the place.

The moment the redhead rushed out of the doors as if prey of a panic attack, Mary Wardwell had felt this need to follow her, along with a tug in her heart she hadn’t felt in years.

She rushed behind the mysterious woman in time to see her turning the corner into the alley and doubled her efforts to get there. By the time she reached it, wondering if the woman was okay, she found it empty. Mary frowned; she could’ve sworn she had run as fast as her slippery loafers would allow her.

A puff left her mouth as she remained deep in thought for a second until she heard something further inside the alley. As curiosity won the best of her, Mary stepped in carefully. She frowned, thinking she saw something shift against the wall. It was an eerie sensation, that brought back memories of youthful afternoons spend by the Spellman Mortuary’s sign or whenever she tried to meditate to unlock the memories of the months, she’d lost. As if she was not seeing something or as if she was seeing something she wasn’t supposed to see.

She shook her head, and with a sigh, she took off her glasses to clean them. With her uncovered eyes, she thought she had seen the borderless figure of the woman she saw before. She thought she saw a hint of red curls disappearing out of thin air, and just then, that eerie feeling -or the pull in her heart- wasn’t there anymore.

Confused, she donned her glasses to discover she truly was alone in the alley. “Well, Wardwell… with what you’ve seen and experienced the past year… it shouldn’t even surprise you.” Then she noticed her watch and rushed to close the doors of the Church she had left wide open, grabbed her purse, and walked to her job, hoping she would not be so late.

Chapter Text

Being the members of one of the oldest witches’ clans, the Academy of the Occult opened their doors for the Spellman children earlier than for any other child. All three of them showing prowess in magic like no other. It might have been part of their heritage or just how devoted they were to their practice. Either way, they grew not only in age but in intellect among those walls.

For safety reasons, centuries earlier, witches hid all entrances to any academy around the world from the mortal realm. In their case, in a cave in the woods not so far from their town. The kids could use a quick spell to avoid the walk. However, the Spellman trio often returned through the long winding path that would take them through the town. If only to gain knowledge of what was going on amid the mortals.

At first, they all just wanted to play, to gossip among the mortals and understand what ailments came to them or how. They would rush home warning their parents about which woman was with child, or how some young lad would come searching for them requesting for help him prove himself worthy of whatever silliness he wanted.

As they grew, what drove them through town differed.

Edward had a penchant for mortal politics, wanting to learn their ways and find an equilibrium between their realm and his own. At seventeen, he had also liked several mortal women that fell prey to his natural magnetic charm. ‘Nothing wrong with the practice, boy’ his father had told him once, patting him on the shoulder as he saw him fawning over a girl. ‘But don’t you dare to fall prey to their stupid lovesickness. The Dark Lord doesn’t forbid acting on lust...now, petty mortal love… that’s not for the Spellmans.’

At thirteen, Hilda loved the carefree way the children of the town lived, free of school and brain-numbing books that were heavy with magic, with no millennia-old knowledge nor the weight of a name that was bigger than herself.

And Zelda… well, at almost sixteen, Zelda found the mortals amusing. Lost in the brevity of their lives, completely unaware of the magical beings like themselves who wandered their realm. And of their utter blindness of the other realms that were nestled between the veils in the same Earth. She often chuckled as she heard they feared dragons, unicorns, and demons, creating Gods and Goddesses to justify something as natural as a storm. Making myths about everything that had an explanation. Contrary to her siblings, mortals amused her, but even as a child, she was wary of them, and the way the adults looked at her when they thought she wasn’t paying attention to them.

For years, no one would bat an eye as they walked through what -centuries after their departure- would become the main street of a known city. They were only children, there was nothing to fear about them… Until they weren’t children anymore.

Edward had grown lanky, taller than his father. His deep, dark eyes made him mysteriously attractive. Hilda had also grown, but not as tall yet. Her blonde hair and kind blue eyes made her utterly adorable, and she mixed well with the mortals. It was Zelda who their parents worried about.

Their middle child had grown taller than their mother. Her sunset-like colored hair was soft, curling at the ends as if they were the sole responsible to warn about her fiery albeit hidden nature. Zelda’s green eyes were captivating, deep pools of emerald that promised even more mysteries than Edward’s, although always failed to hide the glint of amusement. Her skin was too pale, even when her cheeks were slightly sun-kissed. She was lovely, too. Kind, soft-spoken, could sing with ease, and had a soft spot for every creature that breathed. To their parents’ dismay, she also seemed utterly oblivious to the leering ways of the men of the town. Albeit, the young witch had just grown accustomed to the predatory way the menfolk had always looked at her, even as a child.

After years of devoting their lives to their studies, and about to reach sixteen years old, Zelda wasn’t that far from becoming an adult witch. Yet, her parents worried her kind nature would make her fall for mortal tricks and that her purity was lost before...no, while she was too young.

Solomon Spellman worried as he watched his children walk through town, not seeing him, and unaware of all the eyes on them. Zelda laughed at something Edward said, and eyes fell lustfully on her and the way her head bent backward, showing off the white column of her youthful neck. He saw eyes shine with lust, lips being licked, and he resisted the urge to call his children to order them to rush back home.

That night, after covering himself on a glamor, taking another man’s body, Solomon entered the only pub in town. He sat at the bar, remaining quietly listening to the drunk’s conversation. It was soon when the Spellman’s patriarch heard what he was afraid of.

“One day, I’ll find that ginger sorcerer all by herself, and no matter how she’s Spellman’s daughter. I’m going to rip the clothes off that temptress’s body, and she’ll like it. She’s always smiling and giving those twinkly, seductive eyes at me. She wants a piece of this, and she shall have it!” The drunk shouted and several other men raised their drinks for a loud cheer. Lewd comments about the many ways and things they’ll do to his almost sixteen-year-old child followed.

Once he heard enough, he chucked the remainders of his drink, and walking out of the bar he transported himself home. “We need to put a stop to this, Lydia,” Solomon Spellman stated the moment he entered the house they shared with their children.

“What did you hear, dear?” Lydia asked, raising her eyes from the pot she was brewing. He plopped himself on a chair and waited until she turned around. “What we expected, darling. They all want her, but we cannot allow for that to happen, we both know this.”

“Indeed. It’s time, is it not?” She asked cautiously. “We knew this time would arrive the moment we conceived her.” He gave her a half-smile, remembering exactly the lengths they had gone not to have children after Edward and how they had failed. How they had tried to end that pregnancy and nothing they did work. And seventeen months after Edward’s birth, their first female child had been born healthy and with the weight of being owed to two different deities.

Lydia shook her head, bringing herself back from her memories. “Tell me everything they said.” Solomon looked at his wife. His hand found hers and pressed it in a reassuring squeeze before she told her in awful detail what he had to listen to. Lydia gasped at the violence of the mortals, even when they had helped them so much in the past years. “If they do any of that to our girl, her heart will not remain pure. We can request them to teleport back home, but we cannot be certain there won’t be another way. And if her womanhood is lost…”

“We cannot have my Dark Mother or yours against us. We cannot risk Zelda.” Solomon agreed.

The Spellman matriarch stood up then and brought from its safe spot her family book of shadows. With a softly muttered phrase, the heavy tome opened itself on the table in front of them. “It cannot be reversed by any witch or warlock unless fulfilled,” she stated sadly.

“But can it be reversed by a Goddess when the time comes?” Solomon wondered. Fearful green eyes looked up at him.

“She is a Goddess; we must believe she will,” Lydia said. “There’s always a chance, albeit small, that this curse can be fulfilled.”

Chapter 7

Notes:

Just so you guys know... this is not a pace I might be able to keep once I'm out of quarantine...
oh, and chapters might get longer at some point too. We'll see.

Chapter Text

A month passed by before Zelda could gather enough strength to visit that blessed church again. It was kind of convenient for her that Hilda was back to living on top of the mortal’s store, and that being a night, both Ambrose and Sabrina had disappeared on their own.

She couldn’t blame them, there were far better things to do when you were young than lying inside an empty house mourning for days that were long gone as she usually did while nursing a glass of Scotch. Where had gone her Joie de vivre? She wondered, and then she flinched at the language she chose to use.

Even if she still recalled that day when she had told Hilda she never wanted to be in love, she had seen so many witches and mortals cherishing the bond with another being. Feeling jealous of their ability to bond beyond the emptiness she felt since… well, right before she turned sixteen.

And gone were her last desires to try to fall in love… after her attempted relationship with Marie and the utter betrayal of the Baron Samedi fiasco. That only proved to her that there was something utterly wrong with her. What other explanations could there be for the lack of emotions she felt towards anyone who wasn’t a Spellman?

She reached the same painted windows she had hated a month earlier. An orange glow now painting them from inside. It surprised her since it was far more inviting than she thought it could possibly be. Like a sunset on a warm spring day, or the embers in the hearth in the middle of winter. She snorted; being by herself every night at the Spellman Mortuary was really starting to make a fool out of her.

Opening the door, she noticed there was a decent-sized crowd. Perhaps even more people than in her own coven, but hey, she had changed Gods twice and her still alive but defenestrated ex-husband had killed half of them. Her coven was just coming out from being on the mend.

The sounds of the annoying bells brought her back to the present, and she rushed to find a seat in the back to avoid being recognized by the woman in the front. There was a welcoming song playing from an old stereo right at the end of the aisle, and she gasped for air the moment she saw who was commanding it. “Judas,” she whispered.

Was this where Faustus had left his children? Behind with some unknown mortal? Away from Prudence and any semblance of a magical past? “Good evening,” Mary Wardwell said, standing at the pulpit as the last chords of the music played.

“It’s Reverend Lovecraft still gone?” A woman in the front row asked, raising her hand as she did. Zelda squinted not only at the name, but she was sure she had met that woman before.

“Yes, goodie Meeks, as you can see, he is still on his holy mission,” the brunette said. The corners of Zelda’s lip twitched at the impatient tone that had escaped the woman. “So, let’s proceed with his scriptures, shall we?”

The book that she had seen the first time around was opened, and Miss Wardwell took a deep calming breath before she proceeded. “The Eldritch Gospel, according to the Good Reverend Lovecraft.” She started, and Zelda squirmed uncomfortably in her seat, wondering what exactly she was going to hear.

Zelda’s eyes widened with each word that left the woman’s mouth, utterly horrified by them. She was now sure this Reverend Lovecraft was Faustus Blackwood himself, hiding under the name of a long-time ended clan of respected witches. 

“And so, the unholy child, the daughter of the Devil himself, sentenced the darkness that came to teach us all about our fears, to a trap…” she said, closing the book after a while.

Hecate’s High Priestess was too shocked to even scoff at the words. They had saved them! Her own prayers added to the eagerness of the two Sabrinas to save the town had made her Goddess intervene to trap the terrifying darkness for good. She, who had been subjected to their cruel words, couldn’t be more disappointed of the way these mortals thought this had happened.

She wondered what they would’ve thought if they knew about the Greendale thirteen or the fact that Hell’s door was opened right in their mines. Or even about Sabrina’s demise to save them all from the void. So lost she was in containing her anger that she missed the conclusion of their meeting.

“Judas, Judith,” Mary called and the Blackwood twins walked towards her without a doubt. “Why don’t you go wait for me at Cerberus? Ask for our usual and I’ll join you as soon as I finish here.” Mary instructed them, taking a few moments to wait for their nod before getting back to the conversation that was keeping her busy.

The twins passed beside her, giving her a look that she couldn’t quite place, and left her curious to know if they had recognized her too. Wait, Cerberus? She thought then, ‘So Hilda knows the twins are in town?’ she frowned in confusion. Then she shook her head. Of course, she didn’t, Sunday nights were usually their date nights. So chances were they had never seen the twins.

Then, without realizing it, it was just them inside the church. Only then, as she reverently blew the candles off, Mary noticed her, still hiding away in the darkest corner. “You came!” the brunette said almost too brightly as if she was hoping to see her around again.

Zelda raised her eyebrow at this. Without uttering a word, stood up and walked away. “Wait!” the redhead stopped dead in her tracks when she was just about to reach the door to leave. “I mean… I know it’s not your common gospel… but I know the man who wrote it and I can assure you... this it’s nothing but the truth…” the brunette blurted out.

“Excuse me?” The redhead said, turning around, feeling as if she was just kicked in the gut. She was standing there because her Goddess asked her to. Because she had pleaded with her to return her niece from the clutches of death because of the Eldritch terrors, and this woman was daring to tell her that what she heard was the truth!

“The… the… Uh…” Mary stuttered, having a hard time finding her words as there was a fire burning in the redhead’s eyes that could’ve matched her hair. “Reverend Lovecraft? I… I know him… he wrote it by communing with an Eldritch Terror.”

“So that’s what he did, huh?” Zelda scrunched up her nose in distaste and walked to Mary, entering her personal space as she usually did to terrorize people. “You know nothing about the Eldritch terrors. You. Have. Not. A. Clue.” She punctuated every word; she hoped her sheer presence would make the other woman cower. Instead, Mary Wardwell was blushing like a schoolgirl.

“God, you are beautiful,” she mumbled out almost as if in a trance. Her hands found her mouth and covered it as her eyes widened in realization.

Zelda took a step back, completely surprised not only by the statement but by the warm thrill that ran down her body. She turned around quickly, only stopping at the door to throw out a, “you are only feeding them lies. Starting by Reverend Lovecraft… the last of the Lovecrafts died two centuries ago… I should know I was there…” she mumbled the last part so the other woman wouldn’t hear her. “She didn’t have any children, not even a one love child. So, if I was you, I’ll double my research and stop spreading lies. Good evening,” she finished harshly.

As if repeating the scene from the last time she saw her, Mary Wardwell rushed to follow the mysterious woman, only to see her turn to the alley once more and disappearing out of thin air again. “Perhaps she’s just hiding from you, hoping that you leave her alone, Mary… after all she’d said, and how you stupidly reacted, wouldn’t that be what you’d do too?”

She leaned against the wall and hit her head against it. “Why did you blurt that out? Why is it that this woman makes you feel like a schoolgirl?” she wondered out loud before shaking her head and returning to the church to close it.

Not noticing how the woman had followed, and knowing the Mortuary was empty, Zelda transported herself straight to the parlor, appearing only a step away from the drinks cabinet. She poured herself a glass filled to the brim of absinthe and groaned as it burned her throat.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” she shouted, throwing the glass against the nearest wall. “Get a grip, Spellman! You will not convince the woman of anything at this rate and with this attitude.” She groaned. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she decided she would need a better plan...

The tip of her lips curved in a smirk as she remembered the way the woman had blushed in her presence. “Maybe a more ... charming... plan...” she said. As she walked to her room, there was an added spring in her steps.

Chapter 8

Notes:

a shortie one :D

Chapter Text

Joe Wardwell -just like all his ancestors up to the one who had come in a boat with Dorothea Putnam- had never set a foot away from Greendale. Not even when his own father had told him, he should go out to the world, if only to find himself a devout woman to marry and had a dozen of kids with.

At twenty-six, his life consisted of waking up, working on their farm, and then returning home. Every free moment of his life, he devoted himself to his God.

“Love won’t appear at your doorstep, Joe,” his mother had announced that day as he donned his hat and walked out of the door towards the town.

“Who needs love when you have God, mother?” He threw over his shoulders confidently before walking away.

But as if to prove his mother wrong, love had found him at his doorstep. Well, at the doorstep of the only place in Greendale that served as a bar and rented rooms at least. “Sweet Jesus, I’ll be blessed,” he let out when he saw her. He had come to the bar, hoping to free his friend from falling into sin, and as he walked out feeling defeated, he found himself face to face with a temptation of his own.

The clear blue eyes of the woman standing in front of him, with a confused frown on her face and a shy smile on her lips, took his breath -and heart- away. The way her modest clothes covered her body made his blood boil with a desire to be the only one who could see, touch, and even taste what was underneath the rough fabric he could see.

Joe knew then that he had found the one he had been waiting for, the one who had been promised to him in a revelation that occurred in his dream. When he was sixteen, the Virgin Mary had appeared to him, telling him that one day the woman he needed would appear in front of him. Until then, he only needed to be a pious man, and so he did.

Contrary to the rooted Joe, only a couple of days earlier, Grace Walsh had been still traipsing around the country.  She had no family other than the nuns that had taken her after her parents had mysteriously died. They had encouraged her to find her life purpose, and she had become a teacher so she would always be able to care for herself. With her degree on hand, she had left the only place she knew as home in a year-long search for her life purpose, as her God had told her she should in a dream.

Greendale wasn’t even on her list; however, she had been praying in her humble room when she felt her lids heavy and she fell to the ground. “Grace Walsh, child, you must go to Greendale,” a voice told her. When she raised her eyes, she saw a woman that seemed to glow in the darkness that surrounded them both. The woman in front of her looked holy and was so beautiful, that even in her dream state, Grace had fallen to her knees.

“What’s in Greendale?” She asked with a trembling voice. The young woman felt a hand on her cheek, then raising her chin to look at her. “The destiny you are searching for, of course.”

“A family?” She wondered, and the woman in front of her crooked her head. “Isn’t that what you long for? What you’ve been praying to God to finally find?” A nod was all she could do to answer. A town sign appeared beside the woman and she pointed her to it, “then go to Greendale… oh, and Grace… when your child comes, name her after me, will you?” she added, placing a soft kiss on her forehead.

When she woke up the following morning, she did so with a bright smile. She had packed her things, but before leaving she stopped by the town’s little church. She lighted up a candle under their Virgin Mary feet. Then, she shouldered her bag and went out in search of Greendale.

She drove seemingly aimlessly, following hints and praying whenever she felt lost. Until she found the sign on the side of a road that didn’t look as worn as she hoped for, but no matter how little the town was, Grace followed the path she was pointed to.

As her beat-up car mixed up with the old ones of the town, townsfolk turned around to watch her. She parked in front of the first store she found open and, ignoring the looks she was given, asked where she could rent a room to stay.

Kindly, they pointed the newcomer to the only bar in town. On top of his establishment, the owner rented rooms to the few Greendale returnees until they settled back to what most would consider an almost dead town.

When she opened the door to that establishment, a man was coming out. His grey eyes fell on hers, and she just knew he was the one she was looking for. He made her blood boil just by standing close to her. For the first time in her life, she wanted to be touched; she wanted to taste someone’s lips on her own.

Days after their encounter, Joe introduced her to his parents. It delighted them to see his son interested in someone other than saving William Putnam from his way to alcoholism.
The Wardwell's gave her a room on their own farm, and while she lived with them, they finished convincing Joe that Grace was the one.  As further encouragement, the Wardwell’s had handed over them an extensive property in the middle of Greendale forest, encouraging them to make a home in there. 

Not so long after their little cottage was finished, Grace Walsh became Grace Wardwell. Yet, even before they consummate their marriage as good Christians would, they had fallen prey to their lust, and not even the feeble thought of it being a sin had stopped them from conceiving their girl under a dark moon, a month away from their wedding.

Chapter 9

Notes:

Sorry this took me longer... I'm not quite happy with this one :D

Chapter Text

Mary Wardwell was sitting in her small office at school, trying to figure out how she could break herself in two to meet her gained responsibilities. She had always been a loner, by force at the beginning of her life, and then, her awkwardness had made it hard for her to develop any sort of genuine bonds with people. Not that she wasn’t polite, she was just… awkward. Adam had been the exception as he saw something in her she didn’t believe she had. He had adopted her into his life with no further recriminations or requests. He even had moved to Greendale and proposed to her. Alas, there were no chances to explore it further, not with him.

Save the months shared with Adam in her own cottage, and her childhood, the teacher had been living alone most of her life. Even if Judas and Judith were far quieter than any other thirteen-year-old, she still had them in her home. Sometimes it felt like an invasion. She groaned at that thought since it made her feel awful about herself. It wasn’t the poor dears’ fault their father had trusted them in her care... Despite getting more comfortable with them being around; they still were two more mouths to feed and two souls to care for. Two young people who she had to remember to feed and care for when there were days she hardly wanted to do that for herself.

She huffed as she hid her head in her hands and rubbed her face tiredly. Some unruly strands of her hair falling at their own volition around her face.

Mary seemed to be exhausted all the time since she returned from whatever place her mind had gone for months. At least, the nightmares that had plagued her once she found herself at her home with so many missing months, had been all but erased from her mind a few days after Christmas. Now, she couldn’t recall the dreams she had. She knew they had dragged her to pour herself into Dante’s journey through Hell, but that was it. Some days, she wished she’d thought about keeping a dream journal if only to figure out what her mind wasn’t telling her anymore.

After collecting herself a little, her eyes fell on the assignments that still needed to be graded. She picked up a stack and one fell from the group. Reaching for it, she noticed an old assignment that belonged to Sabrina Spellman. The last one she ever got from one of her favorite students at Baxter High.

Was Sabrina Spellman the same devil spawn that Father Lovecraft was deeming as the cause of evil? Or was it just by coincidence that he chose that name? That girl was so sweet and caring! Shaking her head, the teacher snorted. “She’s not a spawn of the Devil. She simply got transferred to a fancy school, Mary. Everyone knows this,” and that felt like a lie.

Yet, it was the truth as she knew it. Everyone was aware of the attempts of the teen to remain at Baxter High against her family wishes, but making them happy as she took some extra credits from the Academy they wanted her in. For a year that was enough. Yet when school started again, after her boyfriend had also transferred to Baxter High and right before winter break was over. The teen had seen the need of completing her transference to her fancy academy to fulfill family traditions.

“Why are you thinking about her now?” She mumbled. The memory of green eyes, bright soft-looking rose gold hair, and the whitest of the skins she had ever seen flashed through her mind.

There was a knock on her door that brought her back to Earth, blushing as she caught herself thinking of that woman. She checked her watch and frowned. Where had the time gone? She wondered and sat straighter in her chair.

“Good afternoon, I hope I’m not intruding,” she heard in that tone that had sent shivers down her spine and had her blushing like a schoolgirl while blurting things like 'you are beautiful' with no sort of filter.

“I… I… Hi! Yes!” She said, and the redhead frowned. “I mean, no… not at all, please… come in. What can I do for you?”

Zelda chuckled, shaking her head at the nervousness that seemed to ooze from this woman. She could do this, she could be polite and charming and had seduced hundreds before with no issues. The redhead pep-talked herself. Then she noticed with horror she wasn’t saying a thing! The High Priestess opened her mouth to speak, but the teacher beat her to it.

“How did you find me?” Mary asked, realizing she hadn’t ever said anything to this woman about being a teacher in Baxter High. Or where she could find her, if not at the Church. She considered for a second if this woman was here to announce to her that Father Lovecraft was dead. At least it would be more personal than the letter she got about Adam.

“Greendale is a very small town,” Zelda stated, an almost predatory smile gracing her features. She raised an eyebrow as she noticed the teacher caressing the golden cross that sat way too comfortably over her breasts. Green eyes were raised again, finding yet another adorable… ‘adorable?!’ Blush gracing those sharp cheeks. “One learns a thing or two when their town is this small.”

“So, you are moving in? What brings you to Greendale?”

Zelda laughed at this, a surprisingly honest laugh. She always found it amusing how mortals had no clue about anything going around them. Yet, this one, who Lilith had chosen for months to wander around. The mortal who, in a surprising action, had killed her in the foyer of her own home, still… had no clue. Sure, they had erased her memories to protect the coven and protect the frailty of the teacher’s own mind, but it didn’t make it any less amusing.

Now, the moment Zelda remembered the night Mary Wardwell killed her; her hand rubbed the spot where the bullet had gone in. She grimaced and took a deep breath. She wouldn’t let a simple memory control her.

Mary had followed the movement of the pale hand against the dark material of the tight-fitting dress and gulped, wondering what it would feel like… she shook her head and blushed even brighter.

“Taking aside my place of birth, childhood and the years spend traveling abroad, you can say I’ve been here my entire life,” Zelda said. “But let’s not make this about me… or actually, let’s make this about me apologizing. I had no place treating you like that in your own church. Everyone is free to believe in whatever bullshit they want to believe. I know I’ve spent most of my life honoring someone who wasn’t half better than… well, never mind.”

“I… Yes… I mean…” just then Mary had finally registered what the redhead had said, “It’s not bullshit!” She shouted, standing up and hitting her desk with her palms.

Zelda had faced a lot more than a spinster teacher with delusions of knowing what happened in the other realms, but she felt hot under her collar in ways she never had before. She actually felt chastised for once.

“Reverend Lovecraft worked really hard on writing his Gospel! He is a caring man! He wants to protect us all from the stupidity of a child no one can control. In his allegories, he tries to show how Lucifer’s spawn could doom us all if left uncontrolled. It’s about finding our own strengths to deal with the things that terrify us.”

Zelda barked a laugh then. “Yes, I’m sure he was really trying to empower someone other than himself.” She mumbled, grimacing with all the disgust that the memories of Faustus provoked in her. The redhead pinched the bridge of her nose, noticing they were both now standing defensively in their corners of the room.

The High Priestess had come in peace, she really had, but a nagging feeling in the back of her head made her throw the only picture she kept from her days as Mrs. Blackwood, a reminder of what she had gone through and survived. She rummaged through her purse, searching for it slowly, but first, she found her holder, her cigarette box, and placed it comfortably on her finger as she settled a cigarette on the top, before she continued her search and Mary, her rant.

“You know nothing about Reverend Lovecraft, you have no rights to speak ill of him when he is not here to defend himself! And you cannot smoke inside the school premises!”

“Are you quite done?” Zelda asked raising her eyebrow finally finding the picture and dropping her bag on the chair raising the item as Mary Wardwell nodded.

Her hands were still trembling out of fear and angriness as she had never felt before. She had passed years of her life devoted to God, and no one ever had mocked her beliefs like this. ‘How dare she?’ Mary thought, ‘How dare this gorgeous… not gorgeous… infuriating! woman to speak ill of Reverend Lovecraft!’

The teacher noticed that this was the third time they had met, and she still didn’t know how to call her. Finally, her thoughts landed on the fact that, for the first time, the mysterious redhead wasn’t rushing out of the room as if she had found a ghost in it.

Instead, the ginger’s hand reached across her desk, her body leaning in over the hard surface, bathing Mary with the glorious smell of her perfume. It took a moment for the teacher to realize the woman had placed in her desk what looked like a picture.

Enthralled, Mary followed the movement of the pale hand, until a perfectly manicured finger tapped one figure in the picture, purposely covering the rest of it with her hand. “Is this your Reverend Lovecraft?”

“Huh?” Mary frowned in confusion at the words, and Zelda rolled her eyes. “Is this man, the one you know under the name of Reverend Lovecraft.” She asked again. Impossibly blue eyes were lowered until they fell on the image. The teacher’s eyes widened, and her breath came out in a hitch. “And?”

“Y-yes…” She stuttered out, her eyes grew even wider and her breath shallower as Zelda moved her hand slightly away.

“Then I believe I have all the rights in this realm to speak ill of him, don’t I?” She said tapping the picture of herself. Scrunching up her nose at the blunt reminder of her weakness. In it, Zelda was wearing a golden and flowery dress, and a bright -albeit fake- smile as she stood beside Faustus while he sat on his desk right after being deemed the temporary Anti-Pope. “At least when knowing we are speaking about the man I married,” she scrunched up her nose in revulsion.

The last words fell on the teacher as a slap in the face. “I’m sorry… I didn’t know… I swear!” Mary apologized quickly, dropping herself on her seat, hiding her crimson cheeks in her hands. “If I knew, I wouldn’t have done it. I swear I wouldn’t… Oh, God. I’m truly going to hell.”

Chapter Text

Whatever Zelda thought would come out of the infuriating mortal after she let out that tidbit of information, it wasn’t this. No. She expected something around ‘every wife has a little right to badmouth about her husband every once in a while,' or something more in the likes of a chastising ‘still you shouldn’t speak ill of someone that’s not here to defend himself,' that would go far better with the results she got from some devout people who carried a cross hanging from their necks. Well, when they weren’t trying to kill her for being a witch at least.

With the last words and the chain of I'm sorry's the woman blurted out, Zelda pieced together what must have been happening in the Wardwell household while they were too busy fighting the terrors Faustus had summoned. However, what had caused the redhead to take a step back in utter confusion was the rage she felt towards Faustus when she realized what exactly those words could mean… That rat bastard! She hoped he had been nicer with the mortal as he had been with Constance, and this poor lovely soul hadn’t come close to the experience she had under his hands.

So, perhaps that was it… The idea of that man being capable of brutalizing someone who looked as precious as this lithe mortal did. ‘Precious?’ she wondered. ‘Fragile.’ she provided to her own mind, feeling that it went far better than description for this being who was breaking at the seams just by learning she had been enjoying the attentions of a married man.

Although the only part of him that remained in Greendale was his head, he could still hurt people by his sole existence. The despicable imp of a man! She shook her head, bringing herself back to the imagery in front of her.

Dark tresses that before were framing lovely those bright blue eyes covered by thick glasses were now covering half of the hands that had found her face, hiding her azure pools from Zelda’s view. There was a slight trembling of her shoulders that confused the redhead for a second until a sob followed.

With a sigh, Zelda understood the woman was crying. Reaching for her purse, she found the handkerchief she always carried around and offered it to the woman. “Here,” she said with the softness of a bull going for the kill, as usual. The High Priestess hated crying women, crying anything actually… for she rarely knew what to do around them. She recalled a time, when it all came so easy to her, right before she sold her soul to the book of the beast and sighed. A part of her that after all those years she hadn’t seemed able to recover... not even after Lucifer’s fall.

“Huh? Tha-thank you…” Mary said, raising her head and huffing her hair away from her eyes. Her eyes were rimmed in red and they seemed even more clear and bright, covered by the shimmering tears that were still pooling in them. She grabbed the offered piece and blew her nose loudly to Zelda’s utter surprise and mild disgust. “Is it that why you are here? Why you came searching for me? To tell me to stay away from your husband?” She asked at once, fearing that if she didn’t let those questions out, she wouldn’t be able to.  

The High Priestess frowned. “Oh, Hecate, no! I didn’t even know he was frolicking around Greendale,” she waved in dismissal. “Besides, if we consider Constance knew I had an affair with him while they were married, and I, too, had some other liaison afterward… Not to mention that the only institution we wed at, is no longer existing and the head of the whole religion, ‘our God’ is most likely dead. That I’ve since then changed Gods, and Faustus deemed himself a prophet of the Eldritch Terrors, and save for the persistent trauma generated during those days, we could consider our marriage as not existent.” Zelda said, at once not quite knowing why she was revealing so much information. “I suppose, if I was to factor the morals that mortals love to bring in situations as such, I wouldn’t quite stand in a position where I could chastise you for following your body’s desires.” She concluded.

“Still… I’m sorry… He didn’t say he was married, and I… I asked him about the mother of his children, he said she passed away on their birth.” She blushed as she dabbed the tears that kept stubbornly falling from her eyes. Even if she wanted to know more about the things the redhead had just confessed, she didn’t dare to ask.

“Constance Blackwood passed away as I helped her birth the children. Then I married Faustus to help him raise them, and one day, he simply disappeared on us, taking the children with him,” she said, leaving out the fact that it happened just a little over a year earlier. Since the timeline wouldn’t make any sense to the unknowing mortal.

“So, you are here for them then?” Mary asked in a trembling sigh. “They didn’t mention having any more family…” She mumbled.

“They do. A half-sister that is worried sick since their disappearance. I have to say, I’m surprised they spoke to you at all. Alas, no… I actually came here for you. I had my suspicions about your Reverend Lovecraft and my ex-husband being the same person, but my presence here has solely to do with you.” She said and took her cigarette to her mouth before remembering she wasn’t allowed to smoke in there, which was increasingly frustrating.

“With me?” Mary asked, her heart skipping a beat as she thought what this woman -who was everything that Mary thought she wasn’t- could want with her of all the people.

“Of course, I brusquely told you to get informed, but I reckon there’s no book in Greendale’s library that could give you the answer you need. You are aware that your Reverend is no average person,” Zelda stopped as there was a knock on Mary’s door.

“I’m aware, I had to… sew his head to his body.” She whispered, hoping that by being married to him before the redhead knew this wasn’t a delusion of her mind as anyone else would’ve thought.

“Yes, that’s Faustus,” she huffed, wondering what the Heavens was he thinking involving this woman in his bat shit craziness. “We might need to take this so someplace else, Ms. Wardwell. Somewhere where we wouldn’t be disturbed, or risk being overheard.”

“Oh, I could’ve told you that my house is available but… I have the children there.”

“Then, perhaps you could join me for dinner at mine? It’s utterly empty of any other living being every Friday night.” She offered. “Besides, the books you’ll need are available in there. I’ll see you Friday around eight.” The High Priestess said, picking up her picture, and throwing it inside her purse before walking towards the door.

“Wait… I don’ know where you live. I’ll need your address.” Mary said in a whisper.

“You won’t need an address, everyone in this sleepy little town knows how to get to the Spellman Mortuary.” She threw over her shoulders, elegantly leaving her behind until the next words almost made her trip with her own feet. “It’s a date then,” Mary agreed, only noticing what she said the moment the woman was out of reach.

Chapter 11

Notes:

Huh.. I managed to write two .. how cool is that? xD

Chapter Text

Mary Wardwell never thought of herself as a beauty. Yes, she owned some mirrors, but she could only see what her parents had ingrained into her brain since she was nothing but a toddler. “We don’t use mirrors; mirrors are for the devil and its worshippers. Mirrors can create vanity, and vanity is against God.” Were often her mother’s words.

Not once she was told she was beautiful by her own parents. As she grew up, forced to wear second-hand clothes that were meant to keep her humble and covered almost from head to toes, stopping her from becoming a temptress “like many of the women in town that we cannot save for the Lord.” But having grown listening -being drilled- about the need to remain pure for her God, she had no chance, and with time, everything they taught her had become her nature.

Her grandparents were the ones that had built some level of self-love in the child. It didn’t last long. Her grandpa had passed away when she was barely six and her granny followed only a year later. Leaving her feeling alone and undeserving of anyone else’s affection.

Not that her parents didn’t care for her. They blurred the lines of their overprotection beyond recognition when they realized they couldn’t have any more children. They cherished her, but it terrified them they would lose her before she got the call of their God as they had.

They loved her; she knew it. They were always saying it so. There was no lack of love in her house, it was just different from anyone else’s experiences. They didn’t allow her to go to birthday parties, and pajama parties were out of all rules. Yet, they showered her with familiar affection while keeping her pure for the Lord.

Any potential friend was scrutinized, and after a few days, rejected. They were never enough for her. There was always something her parents didn’t like about the child, their parents, or, sometimes, the family name they carried.

Thankfully, it was a different time back then. As the bookworm she was, her classmates respected her. They would all come to her searching for advice or her knowledge. But none of them wanted or dared to be her friend. There was just something off with the Wardwell child, and they all knew it. Just like they all knew there was something off with the owners of the only Mortuary in town.

Mary never quite believed what the rumor said about the owners of the mortuary. She knew people would categorize what they didn’t understand as they had cataloged her as weird, introverted… antisocial. Instead of suffering for the harsh world, she lived in, she had learned not to care about the things people said about her.

One day, she found a way to stop her loneliness from drowning her. She kept herself grounded while reading everything that fell into her hands, feeling in company with the characters of her books that allowed her to travel away with the words that someone had poured, painting her landscapes and adventure she was sure she would never have. Her heart breaking with every loss, her feelings for her characters so strong that she mourned every ended book as if it was a deceased friend.

Deep down, Mary longed for love as she had read, one that would come and save her from the loneliness that was her life. Yet, she never found herself capable of pouring her soul into another being, too scared that they would break her as their parents had told her would happen. And as the years passed by, she convinced herself she wasn’t worthy of any other love that didn’t come from her family.

When her parents passed away in a weird car accident, she found herself… free. She was sixteen, and with their demise, she became the sole Wardwell remaining. They left her with the cottage, the surrounding land, along with a nice inheritance, that her parents never told her about.

That same year, after she knew without a shade of a doubt that she had excelled in high school, Mary left Greendale behind, but not before she completed one strange ritual of her own.

One afternoon, as the sun settled lazily in the sky tinting everything with a pink hue, Mary had walked through the forest and reached the yellow sign of the Spellman’s Mortuary as if following a hunch as she did so many times before.

Every time she reached the limits of their land, she looked up to find the dark house that seemed terrifying and alluring. As if stood eternally behind a veil between worlds. It made sense, she thought, as life and death communed within those walls.

There was a bittersweet taste in the back of her throat as she looked patiently at the sign as if it was the only friend she’d ever had. If it didn’t sound so dumb and needy, she would’ve probably accepted she spent more time watching the dark walled mansion than doing any remotely close to normal. Still, after years of visiting this site and she caught nothing odd happening as far as her eyes could see.

“You shouldn’t be here,” a man said behind her back. Mary jumped, scared since she hadn’t seen him approach. She hadn’t heard him at all. His kind eyes fell on her and his head crooked in thought. “Why are you here?”

“I-I came to say goodbye…” she stuttered out, looking up to notice a surprised frown wrinkling his forehead.

“To who? I’ve seen you here so many times before, but you never go further inside than our sign. Do you have someone buried in our cemetery? It’s okay if you come up to speak with your loved ones…”

Still startled, she shook her head no.

There was something magnetic in the man’s stance that left her drowsy, and if someone asked her how he looked, she wouldn’t be able to tell. “Do you come for my sister then? If you do, I’m afraid Hilda, is not here. Didn’t she tell you she was traveling?”

“I… I don’t know Hilda…” Mary said. That seemed to surprise him even more since his eyebrows rose right up to his hairline.

“You aren’t here for Zelda, are you?” he asked, utterly confused by this idea. There was a fluttery feeling in her heart when he mentioned that name, so she nodded. “I didn’t know Zelda had any mort…. Friends. Any friend of Zelda… well, it’s someone who deserves a visit.” He grabbed Mary’s hand with his warm one, and without realizing it, she was being almost raced to the front door. “Especially if all you want to do is to say goodbye.”

The teenager’s heart seemed to have become part of her throat as the field separating them from the actual house fled by faster than she could walk. Yet, there she was, standing in the sumptuous foyer waiting for someone she hadn’t ever met before. “Wait here,” he said, disappearing to the side. Then, she heard the man telling someone that she was there to meet them.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Edward! As if I’ll have a friend… a mortal one at that!” The voice came sounding bitter and annoyed to Mary’s ears. She reckoned it had been a bad idea of hers and backed away towards the entrance slowly, hoping she wouldn’t make a noise that would alert them about her need to fly away from their house.

“Oh, for Satan’s sake! Zelds, just go out there and see what the child needs!”

And as if the mention of Satan himself hadn’t had Mary crossing herself in fear, she heard it then, the telltale sounds of high heels approaching her. With her back finally hitting the door, she opened it as silently as she could.

The last thing she heard was a gasp that the confused red-haired beauty let out. The last thing she saw was the sculptural figure of a woman clad in a dark suit, her fiery red hair fell like a halo over her shoulders. She got a glimpse of the greenest eyes she’d ever seen and a pale skin that made the woman look like an angel.

The sixteen-year-old had not only fled from the Mortuary but right out of Greendale in the beaten-up car, their parents had left behind. She took with her nothing more than her few secondhand clothes and the pressure in her chest that appeared whenever she thought about the angel she’d glimpsed inside the foyer of the Spellman mortuary.

She traveled around for a couple of months until college started. Mary longed for an experience of a life she never had, one she had read and never lived. But she was too indoctrinated, terrified of the idea of opening herself to anyone. Awfully self-conscious of the fact that no one -except her family- had truly cared about her. And so, Mary Wardwell fell back to old habits, searching for books of things their parents would never have allowed to read.

Until one day, when she dreamt she needed to return to Greendale to teach. It wasn’t hard to uproot herself from a life of solitude and dump her twenty-seven-year-old self back to the cottage she still owned back in her hometown.

Years after her return, things had changed little, and Mary Wardwell fell comfortably into the routine of the sleepy tiny town that had seen her grown. The only variable added happened when she had lost all hopes, and at forty-eight, she’d met Adam in a school play.

However, even having a fiancé that she hadn’t allowed to touch her, until her first death in the hands of Lilith, Mary Wardwell could’ve very well said she hadn’t lived at all. 

Chapter 12

Notes:

Huh.. this one came out darker than I expected ... Yikes!

Chapter Text

Friday night approached as slowly as a sunny day after a summer storm. Mary Wardwell hadn’t thought about it until it was right there. She had remembered to ask Mrs. Meeks to look out for the twins under the pretense of doing some research for their Church.

Mrs. Meeks excitedly rushed inside Mary’s cottage around seven at night. She blabbered excitedly about the idea of being deemed good enough to care for the children of Reverend Lovecraft.

As she did, Mary explained to the twins she was going out for a couple of hours. As usual, the children just exchanged a glance before nodding, not questioning what she said before she went to her room to get ready. Only one thing in Mary’s head had her fretting about going to the Spellman Mortuary, and that was her clothes. She didn’t even know for sure why she had felt the need to shower before standing in front of her half-empty wardrobe. Moving the hangers around with despair as she knew there was nothing that could compare to the clothes she had seen the redhead wearing before.

Mrs. Meek animated talk to the children in her living room rattled her nerves even more. With a huff, she decided she could do nothing about her clothes now. It was too late to go shopping. Besides, why should she worry about that, anyway? It was dinner with another woman. One she knew nothing about, except that she had married the only man who had ever touched her.

A knock on her door disturbed her then. “Ms. Wardwell, I thought you said you needed to be there by eight? It’s almost eight.”

“Yes, dear. I’m going!” She shouted as she rummaged through her wardrobe once more until she found a deep green tartan skirt and a plain white blouse. “I guess this is it,” she mumbled after dressing and pulling her hair in a tight chignon in the back of her head; however, and feeling as she should risk it, Mary applied some eyeliner and completed it all with a light pink lip balm she used during winter to keep her lips from cracking.

She grabbed her bag, and after awkwardly saying goodbye to the people in her house, she left. As if years hadn’t passed since the last time she stood by the yellow sign of the Spellman’s Mortuary, Mary stopped in front of it, greeting it as if it was a long-lost friend, and then, raising her eyes toward the still imposing black walls of the house that loomed almost eternal against the darkening skies.

For the first time in her entire life, Mary drove up to the house. She could feel a nervous lump forming in the back of her throat, her palms getting sweaty, as she wondered what could she expect to find in there. A faint memory of entering the house thirty-something years earlier floated through her mind’s eye. She grasped at it as one would grab a comforting blanket, even if it was preposterous to think the house would remain the same after so long.

She parked her car near the entrance, and with a deep breath, she squared her shoulders, got out of the car, and walked up the winding stairs towards the front door. Still, a bit out of breath after the several steps she had raced up, Mary pressed the bell, hoping to get some time to catch her breath, or at least compose herself a little. What she didn’t expect was her former student opening the door with a wide albeit confused smile.

“Lilith?” The girl asked, then looking at the clothes, figuring she wasn’t in presence of the current ruler of Hell. The confused frown from the teacher helped to identify who was the woman by the door. “I’m sorry, Ms. Wardwell. What can I do for you?” The teen said, standing in what looked like a protective stance. Mary couldn’t help to notice the bite in the way she had called her.

“I…” Mary tried to find the words to explain to the teen she was coming to see someone that most likely was the Aunt she’d never met. Only because she had deemed that she needed to know the truth about the man she had helped months earlier. But nothing came out…

“That’s quite enough, Sabrina.” A hoarse voice came from somewhere inside. Mary had to strain her eyes to figure out that the woman in question was coming out from a tiny door right under the stairs. “Off you go, and for Hecate’s sake, take Salem with you.”

The teen gave her approaching Aunt a once over. “Are you sure, Auntie? I can stay.” Sabrina said eyeing warily to her once favorite teacher, currently not a favorite person. A warning glance came from the redhead as an answer, and the blonde girl sighed.

“Come, Salem, we are going,” she called over her shoulders, surprising her Aunt by pecking her cheek. “Please, bring anyone back if you need help, Auntie…”

“Sabrina, I’m far too old for such kind of warning, things will happen even if we don’t like them. You know this. Go, I’ll be all right.”

“Okay, then… bye Auntie. Ms. Wardwell,” she almost hissed her former teacher’s name.

“Come inside, please, Ms. Wardwell.”

Entering the house, Mary gave the foyer a deep once over, noticing that in fact little had changed since that day she had stood in that same place, right to the bitter voice and the red tresses of an angelical woman. But it couldn’t be her, could she?

Thirty years later, could the alluring woman walking her further inside this daunting house be the same one she had spotted and who had made her heart skip a beat? She shook her head. Most likely it was her mother or an older relative, it couldn’t possibly be the same woman after all the time that went by. Surely, Mary didn’t look at all the same as she did way back when she was a sixteen-year-old scrawny girl. Why aging would be any different for this woman?

“My nephew went out earlier than expected, thus I got delayed by a corpse arriving late this afternoon. So, I must apologize for my looks,” the High Priestess grimaced. The teacher looked to the woman who didn’t have one hair out of place and looked as beautiful as ever in her deep blue pantsuit, “I could wait if you want to freshen up?”

“Would you?” Even if she couldn’t, the way the green orbs lightened with hope would’ve made her able to accept anything that the woman proposed. “I won’t be long. I need to get rid of the smell of death. Follow me, Ms. Wardwell. Since you are willing to wait, you could do so by reading. I prepared some books for you to peruse. If you find them enlightening, you might take them with you and bring them back when you finish them.”

Mary stopped dead in her tracks as Zelda continued further inside the room. The library was a majestic room for a bookworm like her. Bookshelves that reached from the floor to the ceiling, high enough that it might as well been two floors, covered each of the four walls. There was a mezzanine that went around the room with carved balustrades, and elegant black wooden stair allowed to go up to it.

A couple of well-worn leather armchairs sat to a side, next to a lamp. A desk covered by several opened and closed books took the other side. Books that looked old and worn filled every available space. “Over here!” Zelda called, bringing her back from her awed stated. She pointed her to a smaller desk that sat half-hidden, yet next to a hearth that made the otherwise cold room, homey. “You can start with those and I’ll be right back.”

“Wait, these are occultism books?” Mary asked as she read the titles. Zelda stopped an eyebrow raised, “even if you still wear that cross, does it even comfort you? Knowing that what you saw might not be coming from him, but from something other than this God in which you seem to believe?”

“I…” The teacher started touching the piece of jewelry she carried around, mostly as a memory of her childhood. “I’m not sure.” She confessed, feeling her cheeks burn with something akin to despair.

“Don’t fret, Ms. Wardwell. What we’ve learned as children, what we believed as adults… anything we’ve put our faiths into… it takes time to learn to let them go. Even I can still feel the rare need to call upon my old God and praise him as I did, in fear that somehow he could retaliate.” Zelda whispered as she analyzed her own journey that had started weeks before Sabrina’s sixteen birthday and had pushed her further into her Goddess path the day she was killed in the foyer by the same woman that now was sitting in her library. “With time, fear does fade, if you hold on to what you feel it’s right.”

“Did he?” She asked as the redhead turned around to face her once more.

The High Priestess took a deep breath. Should she lie? Tell her that no, that Lucifer hadn’t fought back? That she and her coven hadn’t been powerless in dangerous situations as retaliation from their former God? That the things she experienced the previous year were not important? She shook her head, and pinched the bridge of her nose, realizing the woman -like most of Greendale's population- did not know what had transpired in that little town of theirs.

“He did. But don’t dwell on it, surely I don’t. You’ll see, Ms. Wardwell, things have a way to fall in place when we least expect them to.”

This time when she turned around to leave, the teacher didn’t stop her. 

Chapter Text

Before the veil fell, sealing the fate of the mortal world, Lilith was a Goddess in her own right. It was later on that she forgot who she was as her followers dwindled and her attachment to the Dark Lord prevailed.

As a Goddess, she was powerful. Her followers sought her for the strength to take back their own power. She led them to stand in their truths and embrace the darkness that all creatures had inside them. To turn their inner fire and make it as bright as the fiercest of the hellfires.

Then she was forgotten. An unknown source led mortals and followers of the dark arts alike to believe that she wasn’t anything else than a demoness. Goddesses fell, cast away as nothing but demonesses and creatures of the night. Beings to be feared and despised. As the only God raised in the faith of the mortals, mortal witches went under his faith, calling their former Goddess, virgins.

With the power of the faith of her followers depleted, Lucifer finally stood a chance to bring Lilith to her knees. The Goddess of the Underworld fell to her knees as nothing but his whore.

But at the time when Zelda Spellman was about to turn sixteen, in some circles, Lilith was still considered a powerful Goddess. One who killed, burned, tortured, and ate men. She truly enjoyed the prowess of war and bedded the most powerful warriors. Yet, even she had a line she wouldn’t dare to cross.

Lilith’s line was rape. She was under no circumstances one for non-consensual activities, and even her succubi and incubi knew they risked perishing if they were to cross that line.

And so, the one seen as the Dark Mother for the Spellman clan knew that presenting herself the night of the dark baptism to claim what they promised her would make the child willing just because she was her Goddess. Lilith didn’t want that, so she followed the girl around, hoping she would fall in her grace as the being she was, so come that night, it would’ve pleasurable for both.

Zelda Spellman was reading by a clearing near the Academy of the Occult, her figure veiled from the mortal realm to keep herself protected from the lustful men that had noticed her beauty.

For weeks she had felt eyes on her as if someone was studying her like a prey of sorts. With a sigh, Zelda closed her book. “I know you are there, why don’t you come to talk to me? I won’t hurt you.”

To say her boldness surprised Lilith was the understatement of the century. The Goddess donned her teenage-like figure and walked out from behind the tree she was hiding in. “There you are! Why are you hiding?” Zelda asked with a smile, placing a strand of rose gold hair behind her ear. “I’m Zelda, and you?”

For a second, Lilith considered what to say. “Lily,” she answered briefly.

“It’s a beautiful name for a gorgeous girl,” Zelda said kindly. “You must be a witch, otherwise you wouldn’t have found me. I’ve been meaning to talk to you for weeks, you know? When I noticed you were studying me. I was afraid you would flee. Why are you following me?” Lilith shrugged. “Do you need a friend? I can be one if you are searching for that?” She offered.

“A friend, you say?” Lilith frowned in confusion. Zelda chuckled, nodding eagerly. Her red tresses bobbing up and down with the motion as a fire would. “Yes, of course. You can come here whenever you spot me, and I can read my books to you. Perhaps one day, I'll tell you all about me and you'll tell me all about you.”

Lilith considered it for a while. It would be a pleasant way to develop a relationship of sorts with her. Perhaps then, the day she would claim her, Zelda would do it because it was her and not because she was the Dark Mother. “Read to me, then.”

Months passed by and it was obvious to the redhead that she liked Lily in the same way she’d knew men liked her. But she wasn’t sure Lily felt the same. She had seen the brunette staring at her lips, yet never going further.

“Will you kiss me?” Zelda asked one day out of the blue, as she was petting the brunette’s hair as she read one silly romance out loud for them both.

“Kiss you? Will you want me to?” Lilith wondered, licking her lips at the possibility. Zelda nodded. “I haven’t been kissed yet, so I thought… Lily is my friend and she won’t mind if I’m bad at it. So, would you?”

“Kiss you or mind?” Lilith answered with a mischievous smile, getting a roll of green eyes that held a glint of something more, maybe a hint of caring shining in them. “You know what I meant.”

“Then I wouldn’t mind at all,” Lilith answered with a smile. Placing a strand of soft hair behind Zelda’s ear, she caressed the young witch cheeks softly with her thumbs. She could feel the change in the teen’s breathing, as it became shorter. Her lips parted, inviting her to touch them, and she did with the pad of her thumb first. Green eyes fell closed, yet she moved her face closer to where the breathing was tickling her lips. Then, soft lips descended over hers in a barely-there caress.

“Oh,” Zelda let out almost disappointed as the other witch broke their kiss shortly. “I thought… it would be more… passionate.” She said, licking her lips, barely tasting the flavor of the other girl in hers.

“I didn’t want to scare you,” Lilith explained herself, before moving closer. “You can’t possibly scare me, Lily. Will you kiss me as you mean it?” Zelda wondered. Then the same lips claimed her mouth, a moan left parted lips that were soon filled with a masterful tongue. The redhead wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do, but she followed Lily’s lead.

One hand found the soft dark tresses, while the other one brought Lily closer to her until breathing became a necessity and they had to break the kiss. “Whoa.” Zelda grinned, her hair mussed, and her lips swollen, and Lilith felt she wouldn’t mind getting lost in far more than just those lips.

They heard leaves being crunched under boots, and the redhead grimaced. “It’s my brother most likely, I need to go.” She said pressing her lips softly against Lily’s swollen ones. Before standing up and grabbing her book. “I’ll see you in two days?” she asked hopefully.

“I’ll be here,” Lilith said and watched her disappear for the weekend.

What the Goddess didn’t expect was to return to that clearing the next Monday only to find someone who wasn’t her Zelda at all, even if she looked exactly like her. Zelda didn’t call her when she appeared. To Lilith’s surprise, the usually smiling girl had a deep frown on her forehead, and there was something odd in her stance. “What’s wrong with you?”

“What do you mean? There’s nothing wrong with me!” Zelda answered, but her tone was stern, and her voice sounded different, devoid of any emotions. Until her eyes fell on Lily’s and she noticed the sparkle that was there for her. Lilith breathed out as she felt relief washing over her.

“What happened during the weekend?” She inquired, hoping she would figure out what had changed with the previously soft-spoken and caring girl.

“Mother gave me something to prepare myself for the baptism. She said I should start the cleansing now. I don’t remember Edward doing it.” She stated, and Lilith flinched. “May I kiss you?” Zelda asked because she felt different, even if she couldn’t figure out why.

As their lips touched, Zelda felt the care and joy Lily brought to her heart and the warming feeling that had been developing for over a year. She understood then that she couldn’t feel anything else. As if the world had dulled around her, only allowing her to love those she already loved before. As for her family... and Lily.

When thin lips swiftly over hers, the redhead felt the warmth invading her body. The need pooling low in her belly, and the love that had been growing steadily since they met, and she smiled. At least, that hadn’t changed. “Praise Satan, I still feel you. I still want you.” Zelda groaned against Lily’s lips, and something in Lilith’s heart fluttered. However, the three little words that she wanted to say felt as stuck in her throat. ‘I love you,’ she tried to say, but she couldn’t.

Ignoring this but not the change in her Zelda, the dark mother went back to the Spellman manor that day and learned they had cast a spell over their daughter to protect her heart and her womanhood from the boys and men that were floating around her.

Finally, when the night came that Zelda Spellman sold her soul to the Devil, her parents led her to a cottage near the clearing they used for their ceremonies and told her to wait there for the Dark Mother had chosen her. When the doors opened, Zelda’s breath caught in her throat.

“Rise, Zelda Phiona Spellman,” Lilith commanded, and as she turned around, she found Lily.

“Why didn’t you tell me it was you?” She accused, and Lilith fought with the ire the way she spoke to her brought. “I didn’t want you to be subservient, Zelda. I wanted you to like me as I am. As an equal, not as a Goddess and her subject.”

Zelda frowned in confusion for a second and then smiled. “Then, by all means, make me your equal.” She said, pulling her Lily straight into her arms and kissing her fiercely as she had done dozens of times but this time free to do so much more.

The first rays of the sun filtered in the room where the witches lay tangled and spent but awake. Lilith caressed the soft cheek of the now-adult witch with tender fingers. “Just so you know, this doesn’t mean you are to limit your body to me. If you find someone you lust after, by all means, it’s your damned right. Especially, when we both know this can’t last.”

Zelda nodded, she was sure if she could feel more, she would be breaking at those words. But now, even if Lily’s kisses made her heart skip a beat, and her touches warmed her skin in ways lust didn’t. Even if she had fallen in love with Lilith, the redhead knew she was going to be all right. She would always be available for the Dark Mother and would cherish her -love her- in a way, she could cherish no one else anymore.

Chapter 14

Notes:

You guys are the best... and read too fast :P

Chapter Text

As Zelda had announced, it didn’t take her long to return to the library, although Mary was so enthralled by the book she was reading that she never realized if it was fifteen minutes or four hours that had gone by.

It was the smell of minty nicotine that made her scrunch her nose up and raise her eyes towards its origin, finding an amused redhead looking at her with her head crooked as if studying her. “A delightful read, I’ll take,” Zelda said, lifting her cigarettes to her now cherry red lips while placing her other hand lazily across her middle.

Mary gulped. The previous elegant pantsuit looked dull compared to the silky wine blouse that was tucked inside an equally dark pencil skirt. Rows of black pearls tangled around her neck. Another set also adorned comfortably the raised wrist. “Y-yes?”

“If you follow me, Ms. Wardwell. I can finish cooking the dinner I promised you. I apologize once more. Since my sister got married, we have lost our dining schedule and we do it whenever someone is free to cook. As I’ve stated before, and although work can always appear on the most inopportune of the times, there’s usually no other soul in this house on Friday nights since young people like to flee towards fun. An old Aunt is not fun, it seems,” Zelda explained without reason, as she walked them towards the kitchen.

Mary couldn’t help but follow like a lost puppy, feeling awkwardly underdressed until they reached the kitchen. The gigantic kitchen was, in fact, quite normal, and for the second time in the night, she felt remarkably comfortable inside the Spellman house.

“Do you need some help?” the teacher asked as the redhead moved around the kitchen, seemingly knowing what she was doing. Unable to stop herself, Zelda rolled her eyes, “contrary to popular belief, I do know how to cook. I just hate it, even more after…” she sighed, trying to hide her trembling hands by placing them over the counter, as she remembered the days under the Caligari spell wondering if she would ever get to forget it altogether.

The teacher wasn’t sure what moved her to grasp those hands in hers. They were cold and soft, and she gave them a comforting squeeze. A warm feeling swept through her body and sat beautifully in her cheeks when she noticed with surprise that her attempt at comfort wasn’t rejected.

The High Priestess eyes fell over their clasped hands, then up to get lost on blue oceans hidden behind thick glasses. “You don’t need to tell me, but you can trust me if you like,” Mary offered in a whisper, afraid that if she was to speak loudly whatever that was happening would be disturbed and lost. 

“I struggle with cooking even more after my marriage to the man you claim to admire. Alas, we still need nourishment and it doesn’t cook itself,” she said, taking her hands away from the freckled ones that felt nice against her own. Zelda tried to ignore the brunette as she shoved her pains deep inside the compartment she usually kept them in.

An awkward silence fell around them as Zelda moved around the kitchen, concentrated on not screwing up their dinner or letting herself be stupidly vulnerable in front of the unknown woman. All the while wondering why was it she felt compelled to share things like those with her. 

On her part, Mary tried to make herself scarce in the kitchen. She could see the way the redhead seemed to be trying to collect herself. It was the frown marring her forehead that made her sigh, “I’m sorry I’ve intruded. I didn’t mean to…”

“To what?” Zelda spat, turning around and facing her. She groaned then, taking a deep breath and then two more, trying to reign in her annoyance. It wasn’t the teacher’s fault that her Goddess had demanded her to convert the woman to their cause. The High Priestess shook her head, letting a barked laugh out, “it seems all I do is apologize to you, Ms. Wardwell. Apologize and confess things you have no place knowing, but I suppose it’s fair to tell you that whatever you believe you know about your Reverend Lovecraft, the one thing I can assure you is that the man is no Saint. Far from it.”

“I…” the teacher blushed again, “I’m aware… I mean… He… and I… I just didn’t know how to say no to him, I just couldn’t.” Mary cried, letting herself fall into the nearest chair, covering her face because of the shame she felt after letting those words out.

Something akin to care blossomed in Zelda’s chest, as it hadn’t happened for centuries until the last time she saw Lilith. It took her by surprise, yet, even if she didn’t quite know what to do with the woman who was breaking into Zelda’s usual seat at the kitchen table, she walked to her and brought her up in a heartfelt embrace.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Wardwell. I assure you that if I could kill the bastard, I would’ve done it.” She whispered in the brunette’s ear, ignoring the shivering that went through her spine the moment the teacher’s face hid in the crook of her neck.

“Mary… please call me Mary,” she said as they broke their embrace. Zelda turned around swiftly, collecting herself and going straight for the fire under their dinner. “Well, Mary, dinner is ready. I can take you to the dining room unless you won’t mind eating here?”

“Sure, it’s fine. I mean, my house is far less fancy than yours, so I don’t see why we shouldn’t eat here.” The teacher blabbered nervously, not quite knowing how to point out that even if she had asked her to call her Mary, she was still utterly oblivious to the redhead’s name.

Nodding in agreement, Zelda prepared their plates, and brought them to the table, along with two wine glasses and a bottle of her favorite red. As she cut a piece of her beef, the High Priestess raised an eyebrow in surprise when she noticed the teacher was praying. Her hands tangled, her head bowed, and eyes closed as she thanked for the meal.

The teacher felt observed as she raised her eyes and found the sparkling green ones observing her keenly. The redhead analyzing her with a hint of surprise, amusement, and confusion carving her expression. “Oh, God… I….”   

The high priestess crooked her head, resting her face, on one hand, curiosity for this odd being cutting through layers of the armor of self-preservation, spurring her to take a step further, and keep questioning, keep confessing to this outsider that life -even for a witch as old as she was- wasn’t always peaceful and precious. That every second still counted, and when needed the most, they tended to disappear or elongate throughout care or despair.

“What?” Mary asked self-consciously tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear.

“Why is it that you still hang on to him after all you’ve been through? Is it faith, really? Or is it just a desire to cling to something you don’t know and can’t touch because it feels that if you don’t, you’ll just break. Because you need to believe that there’s something greater than this miserable brief span of life that we have?”

“Are you mocking me now?”

“No,” Zelda shook her head. “I’m just trying to understand you, Mary. To piece you together as the beautiful, albeit baffling puzzle you seem to be. Besides, how could I mock you for your believes when I’ve met the God I prayed for and his only desire was that of more power to himself, daring even to try to marry my niece, his own blood, to gain access to this realm.”

“Wait… it is true then? The Sabrina Spellman at Reverend Love… Blackw… that Gospel… it was your Sabrina? But she’s alive! She was supposed to die!”  

“She did. Dying and staying dead are two very distinct things in this household,” Zelda huffed. “I believe only my nephew hasn’t tried a trip to the nether realms. I sure hope he doesn’t try one anytime soon.” She added before sipping her wine.

“Are you a witch?” Mary asked then as casually as if she was asking her if she was a Doctor or a Lawyer. Zelda took a deep breath and looked at the brunette from the top of the rim of her glass and smiled knowingly.

“Would you kill me if I say yes?” She let out half-joking, knowing that the woman in front of her had in fact killed her for that very same reason. Although Zelda didn’t discount Faustus having something to do with the whole ‘go kill that witch’ act, not when this same woman looked far less composed back then.

“No! I wouldn’t hurt a fly. Why would you ask something of the like?” She asked in confusion, her hand flying to the cross sitting on her chest.

“Well, in my experience, people who believe in the God you believe in, have had issues with witches from as far as history goes. It’s part of your Bible, isn’t it? Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live?” Zelda answered with questions of her own. But Mary just blushed and lowered her head in regret.

“I cannot take responsibility for what people did before. Many outrageous things had been done and say in the name of several Gods and Goddesses. I just thought… I heard you call Hecate several times… and the Gospel… said the Spellmans were witches. I guess… what I’m trying to say is… that I would understand if you were a pagan.”

“A pagan?” Zelda laughed. “No, I am a witch. Just not in the way you believe them to be. I do not chant around a fire every time the moon it’s full. We did try bathing on its light once.” She took a large sip of her wine as an excuse to consider her next words. “I am a pure-blooded witch, not the watered-down version they sell nowadays to make this world a nicer place. Yet, even with all the mortals trying to delve into our realm, we are far away from ever uprising the veil that divides your world from mine.”

“So, Reverend Lovecraft…. He was …”

“A witch, yes. He comes from a long line of witches, just like I do. Had we had any offspring; the child would’ve been a powerful being. Alas, the world is a safer place since we did not.”

Mary didn’t have the heart to ask for more than she already had, besides, everything that the redhead had already blurted out was more than enough to make the most skeptical of the people doubt about what they knew, and the brunette was far from being one of those, not after witnessing what she had.

They finished their dinner in silence, Zelda understanding that too much was said and needed to be processed, but curiously it wasn’t awkward but companionable. “It’s getting late, I should return home. I left the twins with Mrs. Meeks and I don’t want to worry her.” Mary said after a while.

“Have you found the books I prepared worth of your reading?” Zelda wondered, standing up and fetching the cigarette holder that she had left to the side when she started cooking.

“Yes…” She blushed, “but may I come back to read them here? I’m not sure I should bring those sorts of books having the children near.” 

“Those kids, Mary, are powerful witches. But it’s up to you, you can come back any time you wish after school hours. Usually, I’m by myself here. As for the children, I will have to let their sister know they are cared for. I hope you don’t mind,” Zelda said, walking her to the front door.

“Family should stick together,” Mary smiled. “I…” she stared, wanting to know how to call this woman, but her eyes betraying her and falling to tempting cherry lips. Tempting? She thought, feeling her heart beating loudly in her ears.

“Is anything else I can do for you tonight, Mary?” Zelda bit her lower lip slowly, noticing the piercing blue eyes over them. A knowing glance sat on green eyes, making the teacher blush even brighter. The brunette shook her head, “I just… was wondering…”

“Yes?” Zelda’s voice came hoarse as if tinted with desire, and that shook Mary in a way she wasn’t sure she agreed with.

“How should I call you?” Mary let out with a trembling voice.

A predatory smile blossomed on the redhead’s face. She leaned forward until her lips caressed ghostly on the other woman’s ear, a soft “Zelda,” that sent shivers down the teacher’s spine, a heat pooling down at her core, and a crimson blush on her pale cheeks.

With a twinkle of mischief in her eyes, Zelda stood tall in her heels and watched the other woman all but scurry away from the front door. 

Chapter 15

Notes:

Here we go deep into Mary's head... yikes!
It's not a pretty place, I'll warn you.

Chapter Text

Mary wasn’t sure how she stilled her hands enough to find the keyhole to start the engine and drive away towards her cottage. Her heart was still racing, and her cheeks were still burning with… something she didn’t dare to name.

As she drove away past the yellow sign of the Spellman Mortuary, she realized it wasn’t only her hands, the ones trembling like leaves on a windy day. No, her entire body was shivering with something she didn’t quite know how to describe. As if it had finally come to life after being dormant, utterly forgotten in the cold for all her life.

It confused her utterly until she considered it might as well be a spell that the woman, “Zelda”, had placed over her.

But why? Why would that bewitching witch do anything of the sort to her? Mary shook her head and took another calming breath that did nothing to help her.

The sole idea of the redhead wasting energy on her, even for a tiny spell, sounded preposterous, and it was most likely a conclusion taken from the excess of wine and the warming feeling that for once someone had cared about her.

Someone had noticed her. Zelda had embraced her as she shattered to pieces in her kitchen. Even for that fraction of time, Mary felt she mattered.

Why couldn’t this someone be a male? She huffed, questioning her luck. Yes, she had been fighting over her indoctrinated fate. And sure, she had been preaching some witch’s gospel but still…

She shook her head once more to let out the absurd idea that the gorgeous ginger would look at her in any other way. “Why I’m even thinking of this, I… I’m straight. I’ve always been heterosexual… Yes…” she mumbled with certainty.

Besides, she most likely was exaggerating. The stunning redhead with delicious-looking cherry lips wouldn’t want her in that way. Zelda Spellman might be a witch, but that didn’t mean she had a predilection for the fairer sex.

“The woman has been married to Reverend Lovecraft, for crying out loud! She never gave you even a hint that she liked you in such a way, Mary... and why are you still thinking about it? You. are. straight. You are not some.... sapphic sinner.”

Besides, a woman who looked like that most likely had dozens of paramours waiting for her to pick them, even if only for a night of passion. What could she offer? Her solitude? Her lack of self-esteem? All the issues that were left behind from a time she couldn’t recall? And the not so few added ones, from when that man took over her home, turning everything she once knew -everything she was- upside down with his words. Perhaps he was the one who had placed a spell on her?

She noticed then that the cottage was finally within reach and sighed. Once again feeling terrible for wanting to enter it and just slide against her door to cry for her sanity as she would’ve done during those few first weeks before Reverend Lovecraft had knocked on her door. But there still were those children. By her entrance, Mrs. Meeks’s car was still parked, and the lights of her house were on as they never were back then when it was just her.

Could one miss their solitude? She wondered with a heavy heart as she took a deep breath before getting down.

The door of her cottage was opened even before she reached it, and Mrs. Meeks kind smile could be seen from the distance. Mary sighed. “Ms. Wardwell, how did it go? Did you find what you were searching for?”

“Mrs. Meeks. Yes, it was very enlightening; however, I might need to return for more. You know how learning goes; one can never read enough,” she said, plastering a fake smile on her face.

“Yes, of course. I don’t mind looking after these little angels if you need to. It’s quite the honor.”

The teacher held her breath for a second. Was it an honor, really? Or were they just left behind by a father that was too far from being nice enough to care for his children? Abandoned by one despicable being that found in her something he was lacking? She didn’t know the cause of their split, but Zelda had said he wasn’t a saint and he had disappeared with the kids before. Then, why? Why would he leave them behind now?

“I’ll let you know. If you don’t mind, Mrs. Meeks, I’m rather tired and I have an early day tomorrow. Filled with chores and grading.” She excused herself, walking the woman to the front door again. After waving her goodbye, she closed the door and rested against it.

“How did you fall into this mess, Mary Wardwell?” she mumbled, hitting her head softly against the door. At least the house was quiet, and the children seemed to be already in their room. 

Collecting herself, she went to check on them. She found them reading and wondered if Zelda was right. If these innocent-looking kids could be powerful witches. Was she in danger? What did even mean that they were witches? Could they put a spell on her, or their classmates without intending to?

“Goodnight loves. Don’t stay up too long,” she said as they looked at her with their deep, dark eyes that looked nothing like their father’s blues. “Goodnight, Miss Mary,” they answered at once. Another bout of doubts raising as she closed the door of their room. What did she know about the man who had barged into her house and took far more than she thought now she had been willing to give him?

Not finding a solution to her conundrum and knowing she was far from untangling herself from the mess her life had turned out to be when she finally thought she had everything she had wanted. Her job, her home, a fiancé that loved her… and now… she had memory loss, no fiancé, two children she knew next to nothing about, a man that enthralled her in such a way she couldn’t resist… even if she had wanted to.

An image of red tresses falling softly over the wine-colored blouse, the cherry lips, the emerald orbs, all beautifully wrapped in that enchanting albeit confusing woman flashed through Mary’s mind. Shaking her right to her core. 

“What’s wrong with you?” She asked to her reflection in the bathroom mirror.

Mary sighed, she felt tired and possibly looked even more exhausted than she felt. Although the black under her eyes that had settled after her return from her months of memory lapse was gone, she could feel the exhaustion drowning her. As if she was missing something more than just those memories. As if there was a void within her she couldn’t fill. One she didn’t realize she had forgotten about whenever she’d been near the mysterious redhead.

She washed her face to get rid of the stupid eyeliner she had worn and cleaned her lips from the remainders of her dull lip-gloss. Then she looked at the disappointing image in the mirror. She was too pale; she had so much hair! Her cheeks were too hollow, her nose… she groaned.

“Why are you doing this to yourself, huh? Haven’t we spent enough time together to get past these bodily insecurities? Adam loved you like this, and whatever Reve… Faustus… did to you… he did it to you. He chose you, this face, this body… Shouldn’t that count?”

Her mother was right, mirrors weren’t for people like her, she decided then. Avoiding her reflection, she brushed her teeth and walked away from the image that some days she despised. After donning her flannel pajamas, she slid under her bedcovers and thanked God that she would get yet another dreamless night.

Yet, after months of not having one dream or nightmare, she had one. Mary saw herself as a sixteen-year-old being dragged up to the foyer of the Spellman Mortuary. She heard the bitter voice of the woman, and she could’ve sworn it was the same she had heard just that night. Then, the redheaded angel made her grand entrance.

In her dreams, the woman was wearing a deep blue suit, with a crisp white blouse underneath it, and several rounds of golden jewelry fell on her chest. The rose gold hair rested neatly to the sides, curling at the ends as a halo of sorts. The lips were of deep burgundy, yet the eyes…. Those eyes were the same emerald green and held the same mischievous glint she had seen before she rushed out of the house that same night.

This time, though, she didn’t run away. No, she blinked once and found herself standing still in the foyer. She wasn’t the teen anymore. It was herself, as she had seen in the mirror. Without an ounce of make-up, with her long hair down for once, no glasses, and wearing her plaid flannel pajamas.

Mary blushed, even more, when she noticed the redhead was wearing nothing but a thin creamy satin nightgown, and even if she too was devoid of any make-up, she looked perfect.

Unease washed over Mary, who felt once again underdressed and unworthy. Ugly next to such a beauty. But the ginger witch seemed not to care, as she simply took one step closer and then another until their bodies were almost flushed together, and her lips were all but pressed against her ear.

“You are beautiful, Mary.” The voice was hoarse, and soft, and ignited every nerve in Mary’s body. Then soft lips caressed her cheek until the warmth of them lingered in a kiss. “I’m glad Hecate picked you.”

When she woke up the next morning, she could still feel the faint ghostly caress against her ear, the burning feeling of her cheek being kissed, and her entire body aflame where she remembered being all but plastered against the pale woman. But that couldn’t be, could it? It was just a dream… right?

Chapter 16

Notes:

Well, this one is the right 16....
sorry if you read 15 twice ... (I was half asleep when I posted it)

Chapter Text

Zelda remained on the porch, smoking as she watched the woman struggle to get inside her car. For a second, she considered going to help her, but she was certain she caused her nervousness.

Once the woman had finally driven slowly away from the mortuary. The High Priestess noticed how the car had stopped outside the property and wondered if the woman was going to return to speak her mind out about everything she had said, asked, and done during that dinner. After what felt like only a breath later, the car continued down the dirt road, losing itself in the darkest path of the forest. She crushed her cigarette against the floor planks and picked the filter before walking inside to work on the mess that was left of their kitchen.

A mix of worry and guilt washed over Zelda when her eyes landed on her seat where until moments ago the teacher sat. The same place where Mary Wardwell had broken to pieces and for the briefest of the moments had sparked something inside her. A warmth she hadn’t felt in so many centuries for anyone new who wasn’t a Spellman.

She huffed, struggling to understand the dark-haired teacher. Had no one ever treated her kindly? Or which was the reason she had hidden like that? Behind those ugly clothes and shy demeanor? Could she not know how gorgeous she was?

Zelda wasn’t blind. She had seen the way Lilith had strutted around showing just how alluring the woman could be. Hecate! She had loved her Lily during a few escapades they had, back then, when Lilith was pretending to be Mary. The old feelings she had over the Queen of Hell making it clear for her who exactly “Mary Wardwell” had been during those months.

Alas, even if the High Priestess knew exactly how the woman looked underneath her dull-looking clothes, she recognized Lilith was an entirely different being, and she felt them both differently too. Now, that! That had her truly baffled since she had found it in herself to care.

Perchance was the memory of Lilith inhabiting that body, and how the first witch still held an immense piece of her heart since Zelda’s youth. “Yes, that must be it. Just a misplaced tenderness in the face of the current solitude of my days.”

With a last glance to the emptiness of the Spellman House, she strolled to her room, taking one step after another as if each one of them were years of issues and worries that she hadn’t been able to share.

“Oh, Lilith,” she let out, huffing as she entered her room to start her nightly routine. With a stiff hand, she pressed her chest where it ached as if her heart was missing a piece or several. Yet, she couldn’t remember how it felt to feel something outside the barriers that her body had one day raised around her. No, safe for the ones who always had a piece of her heart. She had forgotten how love looked like, how it felt like.

Would she be a breaking mess if she had felt more? Would’ve she survived the Calligari spell if her emotions were uncontrolled and free to reign over the despair of not being able to control her own body?

She shook her head. Solitude wasn’t helping her in the least. Alone with her thoughts, she could admit that she missed Hilda’s buoyancy, the way her sister had filled every deep silence with her cheery voice, her off-tone singing, and the clattering of their kitchen. And Ambrose… she missed having him on the nights, both in the quiet ones as they sat together reading while Hilda knitted them some awfully colorful sweaters, or the loud ones when he would put his blasted songs to cover the bodily noises of his passion. 

Hecate! Zelda missed Sabrina’s antics, the joy she would always bring around. Heavens, she groaned as she realized she even missed those mortal teens that polluted their house and loudly exchanged secrets than the next morning they all had to pretend to be oblivious to.

What she missed the most, though, was the warmth that spread all over her body. The tingling sensation of someone else who wouldn’t only worship her body but who would take time to know her soul. Not only to bask in passion but to take the time to feel her, to cherish her. To see her in ways that, until then, only Lilith had.

After changing into a cream satin nightgown, she raised one leg to cover it with a lotion. She felt a warm feeling spreading on her chest even before the voice broke the silence in her room.

“What’s wrong?” Lilith’s voice came worried through Zelda’s vanity mirror. Her voice caused the surge of affection to spread from her heart up to her cheeks, and a passion settling comfortably down at her core. “Lilith? Why are you calling? I thought you were utterly busy with Hell’s issues and the current war-state you seem to always be in.”

“If you were worried about my wellbeing, I can tell you that Hell is settling nicely. The idiots of the court have finally found Lucifer in all his powerless glory. They finally figured who was the better ruler. Now, if I knew you somewhat better, and I do. I would be certain that my wellbeing is not the reason you so devotedly called my name,” Lilith answered with a shy smile.

“I didn’t do such a thing,” the High Priestess denied fervently. Lilith just chuckled, “Oh, come on, Love… I could hear you thinking right from Hell. What’s wrong?”

If there was only one truth between them, it was that Lilith knew Zelda better than anyone else. Be that from the youthful days spent along with her, or from the countless hours they had stolen for themselves until Lilith had disappeared under Lucifer’s full control.  

“Mary Wardwell…” Zelda huffed as if it was the worst of the secrets to share. She lowered her face, feeling ashamed of having to confess something like this to the woman she had been in love with for centuries. The woman she still loved.

“Hmm…”

The lack of words coming from the usually vocal Queen of Hell surprised her, and forced Zelda to raise her eyes, confusion etched across the green orbs. “Just hmm? No other comments?” 

Lilith's smile blossomed beautifully, and despite the realms of distance, it sent a warm shiver down Zelda’s spine. Then, blood-red lips parted with words the redhead wasn’t expecting at all, “you should go to her.”

“Why? What about?” she stopped herself from continuing because there was no point in bringing their thing to the play. Not when they both had been so honest since the first night they’d spent together.

“Why do you worry about us, love?” Lilith smiled, her eyes softening with the feelings she shared with the redhead, “when what we have has survived centuries, even in the dark. Zelda, you know what we have will not disappear just because you care for someone else. And Mary Wardwell… well, I still wear her face so I can understand it perfectly. There’s just something about her, isn’t it?”

“I suppose. I’m not sure, Lily….” she sighed again, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Look at me, darling,” Lilith requested, waiting until green eyes fell on hers. “There’s no guilt on caring. Mary Wardwell might as well be worthy of yours. What you need to keep into account is we are talking about a mortal, her days are far more limited than ours.”

Zelda chuckled, mostly to fight back the lump that formed in the back of her throat. “That doesn’t help at all, darling.”

“Doesn’t it? Love, you might be exactly what she needs, and who knows, maybe she’s exactly what you need now. We both know that you won’t be coming down to Hell anytime soon, and tied up as I am, I can’t disappear to your realm whenever I miss you. Because honestly, Zelda, I do miss you. Yet, I need you to thrive, to live… otherwise, your life will be a waste, and I cannot be responsible for that, love.”

“What if I’m just imagining things, Lilith? Because I miss you. Because I miss us,” Zelda asked, barely raising her eyes and biting her lower lip, and embarrassed blush covering her cheeks. But instead of mocking her for her silliness, Lilith’s eyes filled with tears.

“I always knew we would be a complicated pair, Zelda Spellman. I love you, darling, and I know you do too. Yet, we both know that’s not what’s happening here. You aren’t fretting because of me.” She said knowingly. 

“Let me tell you something you might have forgotten. When I met you, you were nothing but a young witch, and I was a Goddess. Then, I lost myself. I went lower than I never thought myself capable of reaching, I was humiliated, broken, mistreated, misguided… utterly lost.”

Tears pooled in both pairs of eyes as she confessed what they both knew had happened during the time they had lost contact with each other. “Lilith… I….”

“But do you realize, that it took finding you again to remember who I was? It was you who recognized me. You, the one who searched for me when I was lost, defending your niece with tooth and nails… while still caring about me. Even then, you worked around our stalemate of sorts. You loved me when I wasn’t sure I loved myself. It was your care, your strength, your fierceness protecting your coven, the kick in the ass you gave me pointing the truth, that I was a wildcard. With everything against us, you found a way to me. It was you, Zelda, the one who reminded me who I was. You empowered me when everything I knew was drowning me. I can’t forget that my place as the rightful ruler of the Underworld happened because I remembered myself… through you.”

“Oh, Lily…” She said, giving her a teary smile that said more than words could ever say.

“I’m saying all this, not because you need the praise, which honestly you always do. But because I’ve lived in that woman’s skin for so long to realize that no one ever paid her attention until it was me walking in her shoes. Even then, not even her fiancé, the man who claimed to love her, noticed I wasn’t her. If you could save a Goddess, imagine what your care could mean for a mortal like her?”

“So you claim I should try to care for her even when we both know I might as well not be able to do so?” Zelda asked, doubting once more of herself, and the weird warmth that settled in her heart whenever she had a fleeting thought about the teacher. “You realize she killed me, don’t you?”

There was a knowing smile on the Queen of Hell’s lips. “Yet, you both are still alive. Now, let me ask you something, love. If you couldn’t care about her as you are proposing… then why are you worrying about her at all? Stop doubting, love. Time might drag for people like me, who have seen millennia, and even for you, and your centuries of life… But for them? It’s so brief, their span of life so short, that hundreds of them sell their souls to achieve things they wouldn’t in a lifetime. Besides, I’m not a jealous Goddess and we both know it. I must go now. Remember, I love you, Zelda. I’m always just a praise away. Whenever I hear you, I’ll try to get back to you shortly. Oh, and give my regards to your Goddess, she certainly knows what she’s doing.”

As Zelda’s reflection reappeared, she felt the need to complete a brief enchantment. Finding some candles, she turned them on and sat cross-legged on the floor. She felt her body relax and float above the ground as her mind found that of Mary Wardwell.

She recognized the foyer of her own house with ease, and she heard Edward’s voice telling her a mortal girl was searching for her. There she stood, a teen Mary Wardwell, easily recognized by the worn clothes, and those big blue eyes widened in fear. 

Could it be this a memory? Zelda wondered. Her own mind bringing back that day, reminding her of the way the teen had scurried away, allowing her only a glimpse of those beautiful blue eyes, and leaving behind a pull in her heart that she had trouble forgetting for years. Whatever it was, she recognized the moment the teen was about to flee and changed it.

There in the middle of the Spellman foyer, stood Mary Wardwell, in all her adult awkwardness, and despite her doubts, Zelda couldn’t stop herself until she had the lithe body all but pressed against her. A need to protect the woman, to care for her, to show her how precious she truly was, blossomed inside her. But she reckoned it would take baby steps.

“You are beautiful, Mary.” She said, testing the waters, and noticing the way the woman hadn’t rejected her. She caressed with her lips the way from her ear down to her cheek, placing a soft kiss on the blushing cheek. “I’m glad Hecate picked you.”

When Zelda opened her eyes, she realized that despite her fears and reluctance, those parting words were nothing but the truth.

Chapter 17

Notes:

Since I wasn't sure you would receive a notification about chapter 16 after I posted it wrongly,
I sat here until I got 17 done too... So, if you didn't get a notification, chapter 16 is now fixed with the proper version of it. :D
Go read it and then come back xD

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Mary Wardwell was avoiding her. Zelda knew this with the same certainty she knew the sun would rise the following day. Though, feeling guilty about invading the privacy of her dreams, she committed herself to give the woman some space.

Despite her own desires and self-promises, she couldn’t keep hiding from her coven the fact that the Blackwood twins were in Greendale. While she knew Mary properly cared for them, they were wasting time while being kept away from their true origins.

Therefore, even though she had wanted and had given the teacher space, the High Priestess couldn’t keep doing it forever. She knew Prudence Night -as she chose to be called- and that witch was not an easy one to deal with.

It was that why, after two weeks without searching for her, Zelda Spellman was now about to enter the Pilgrims of the Night Church with Prudence in tow. “Remember, we stay in the back, and no matter what we hear, we keep quiet until it ends.” She instructed the young witch, hoping it wouldn’t fall on deaf ears.

There was a nod, but the High Priestess realized Prudence wasn’t paying attention to her. Instead, her eyes were filled with unshed tears as she fixated her gaze on her little brother. She took a deep breath and led her to the back row, pulling her to a seat.

They were late, and Mary was already halfway through the reading of Faustus Gospel. To Zelda’s utter annoyance, the damned bells had chimed in, bringing unwanted attention to them.

For a second, blue eyes fled to the back of the room, and Mary had to gulp as she noticed who it was. Her voice faltered, as her gaze found warm green orbs, and a shiver went down her spine as she remembered the way those eyes had looked at her in her dream, and the way she had been pressed against the woman’s warm body… and those words.

Someone cleared his throat, annoyed at the interruption, even turning around to see who had caused it. Zelda couldn’t care about the brute man’s needs, or whatever the simple-minded people of the town thought. Alas, they couldn’t be in there forever. Thus she winked at the brunette and nodded for her to continue. It was such a simple gesture, but it made Mary feel encouraged, even when now she knew there was a chance that what she was feeding to the crowd was nothing but another twisted half-truth.

It hadn’t taken long before the crowd dwindled. Some of them had remained behind to enquire about news from their Reverend since it had been far too long since he had disappeared on them. 

The witches couldn’t help but exchange a knowing glance as they heard Mary trying to reassure them about his ongoing mission.

Zelda felt somewhat guilty since she still kept to herself the truth about Faustus's fate. It felt wrong, seeing how Mary herself was doubting about him.

Truth was, with every passing day, the teacher’s doubts about Faustus Blackwood’s return to Greendale grew. But what could she have said to the people who still came searching for his words? Go search for another God? Or return to your former one?

“Don’t worry, once they realize Reverend Lovecraft is not coming back, they will stop coming,” Zelda said confidently once she was standing in front of the teacher. “May I introduce you to Prudence Night? She’s Faustus firstborn.”

“Hi, I’m Mary Wardwell. So, you are Judas and Judith’s sister?” She asked, a shy smile plastered on her face.

“Yes. If you don’t mind, Ms. Wardwell. I would love to spend some time getting reacquainted with them. Do you believe we could reach to some sort of arrange?” Prudence asked nicely, and Zelda couldn’t help to feel proud for the way the girl had matured since beheading her father.

“Yes. Of course, I have no legal binds to your siblings. I only care for them because your father left them to me. Tell you what, why don’t you start by taking them to Cerberus’ for dinner? They already know their usual order, and that way you can get to know them while I close this?” Mary offered, and the white-haired woman gave Zelda one hopeful glance.

“Go, Prudence. I need a word with Ms. Wardwell anyway, and I’m sure you know how to get back to the Academy by yourself.” Taking a deep breath, Prudence smiled, and Mary quickly instructed the twins to go with their sister.

For a moment, Zelda and Mary stood in silence watching the family reunion taking place. It was awkward since the children didn’t remember Prudence as a ‘good girl’ but as the one who had helped to get their father caught. Yet, a reassuring nod from Mary had them walking out of the Church following the witch.

“I’m sorry to intrude in your life again, Mary. Since you never returned, I figured you might need some time to process all that I’ve said. I wouldn’t be surprised since it was quite a lot. However, I couldn’t keep the truth of the twins’ whereabouts from her any longer. She truly cares for them.” Zelda said, not taking her eyes from the window, avoiding glancing towards the teacher, in hopes of not making her feel uncomfortable all over again.

“It’s all right, I stand by my words, a family should be together… and you aren’t intruding I suppose. Everyone is free to come to Church, right?” Mary smiled. She turned around to blow the dozens of candles that remained.

“Oh, let me help you with that,” Zelda said as she heard the woman’s soft blow of air. The teacher straightened and smiled. “Sure, it will be faster if…”

To her utter disbelief, Zelda had simply inhaled deeply and let her breath out through half-parted lips and all the candles were blown off. Mary’s heart raced in her chest, but not only for being a witness of the magical skills of the being in front of her but enthralled by the strong peacefulness that oozed from the elegant redhead as she opened her eyes once more.

“Quite handy, isn’t it?” The High Priestess winked. “Now, since it’s all done, and you still have time while the children reconnect with their sister. May I interest you in some dinner? I’ll even agree to Cerberus’ if that will help you decide in my favor.” A dazzling smile complimented the request. Feeling a little out of breath, Mary nodded her agreement before they walked to the door.

Zelda stood outside as the brunette turned the lights off and leaned in to close the door. When she straightened, the teacher chuckled self-consciously as she placed the unruly strand of hair behind her ear.

“I think a haircut is overdue,” she mumbled awkwardly.

To her surprise, the redhead crooked her head and observed her for a moment. Then, the teacher felt her heart beating loud in her ears as a pale hand was raised, appearing close to her cheeks before softly touching her earlobe. Mary felt as her hair caressed her cheeks and fell, framing her face.

The tips of Zelda’s fingers then reached for the teacher’s chin, raising her face and turning it from one side to the other as if she was observing a piece of art. A smile blossomed on now cranberry red lips, “I think it looks lovely on you, it really brings out your complexion.”

Air seemed to be stuck in her lungs since the moment the pale hand had been raised. Only realizing she needed to breathe when the cold tips of Zelda’s fingers could no longer be felt on her skin. The unexpected compliment leaving behind a warmth on her soul and a crimson red blush on her cheeks.

“Shall we?” Zelda said, bringing her back to the present, and deepening her blush when she figured out she had zoned out on the woman after such a simple exchange. She wondered as they strolled in silence towards Cerberus’ if this witchy woman had any idea of the effects that her words had on her.  

Her eyes widened once more; this time terrified of the possible meanings of the way she felt whenever she found herself around Zelda Spellman. Then shook her head. It was probably all in her mind. ‘It must be just my loneliness speaking,’ she thought

“Why are you so nice to me?” She blurted out before they entered. Zelda stopped dead in her tracks and turned around. “What do you mean?”

“I… you know, you keep apologizing, helping me to find the truth about your ex-husband, although I still do not know what that entails… and that compliment just then.” The teacher asked, feeling her hands trembling in worry as Zelda assessed her.

As if ignoring her completely, the High Priestess opened the door to Cerberus, and took Mary’s hand into her own, pulling her inside but not only to a table but further inside where she had once killed Hilda. “If you ought to know, Mary. I came searching for you because my Goddess asked me to. You are the price I have to pay for having Sabrina back in my life.”

The way she phrased it felt like a cold-water bucket on Mary, yet rarely, Zelda noticed it. “A price? Do you mean to tell me your Goddess wants you to use me for some bizarre experiment of sorts? What does it even mean?” She asked, her entire body shaking under the feelings she had an issue controlling. Was she so unworthy that she was just a price to pay?

Sensing the distress, and the panic that was taking over the brunette, Zelda took a step closer and brought her in a tight embrace. “Breathe, Mary. Just breathe,” she whispered in her ear. “Breathe with me, okay?”

She took Mary’s hand in hers once more, and placed it above her chest, “slowly, in and out…” she instructed softly, having had plenty of experience calming herself after the mess the Caligari spell had left on her self-control. Once they were both breathing in sync, she took a step back and searched for the teacher’s eyes.

“That didn’t come out right, and once again I apologize. Hecate requested me to change your mind about the Gospel you are teaching, perhaps eventually convince you to learn about the path to my Goddess. However, it doesn’t matter how I came to find you, what matters is that anything I have said and done, has been honest. Yes, even the compliment. You truly are a lovely woman, Mary.”

Mary embraced herself by the middle, feeling uncomfortable in such close contact and embarrassed at having lost control of herself in such a way in front of the always impeccable Zelda. “And once you are done proving that his gospel is a hoax? Once the Church I currently lead becomes nothing but an empty building that I can finally stop worrying about… what then?”

“Well, perhaps by then we could have a steady friendship, could we not?” Zelda offered, surprising even herself.

“Friends, you say?” Mary frowned. “Certainly, you have plenty of those, Zelda. Why would you want one like me?”

There was a flash of something in the emerald orbs, something that she thought had no place in someone like Zelda Spellman. Yet, Mary could recognize it, for she had often seen it in her own eyes. She could spot the hint of self-deprecation easily.

“Perhaps if we are friends, you’ll discover we aren’t as different, Mary… Maybe, you figure out you are far better than I could ever be. But that should be a talk to be held in the years to come, don’t you think? Wouldn’t something far more… casual… be a better fit for a dinner with someone you are just meeting?”

“I suppose so. So, you still want to have dinner with me?” Mary frowned.

“Every time you wish so,” Zelda smiled. Then she took Mary’s hand and walked them out of the room. Quickly she scanned the room, finding them a table away enough from the Blackwoods, so they wouldn't be disturbed by them, nor annoy Prudence by their proximity. “So, now that we had the uncomfortable part of this developing friendship out, tell me, Mary… how was your week?”

And so the High Priestess of Hecate and the current spokesperson of the Pilgrims of the Night church had almost given a heart attack to one surprised Hilda Spellman, the moment the blonde and her husband entered the store and spotted them casually talking as if one was not a witch and the other wasn’t the mortal who had killed her for being one just months ago. 

Notes:

It's now 3:50 am where I am, so hopefully getting to read chaps 16 and 17 was worthy. ;)

Chapter 18

Notes:

A bit from the past... :)

Chapter Text

Since the first kick of their unborn child, the Spellman’s knew they’d doomed the child to be a girl. They had tried all sorts of brews to stop her from existing, yet one day, Zelda Spellman was born.

They knew it would be hard, but not impossible, to keep her uncorrupted until her sixteenth birthday, and even more so, to keep her heart pure until Hecate called for her. However, they thought of a backup plan. If they noticed someone could compromise her, they would have curse ready for their little bundle of joy.

Being both from old lines of magic, they poured into their books to make it all happen. They found some ancient spells and combined them with the knowledge of the two. For years, they’d sat every other night trying to figure out a way to protect her. They kept bits and pieces of information hidden among the forbidden pages of the Endor’s Book of Shadow.

They had doubts. Once they knew what they could do, they couldn’t bring themselves to create it. To finally write it down, and have it available for whenever the time came if it came at all. That was until the night in which Lady Marianne had visited them.

When they noticed the despair on the young woman, the lengths she was willing to go for that lovesickness. How she was willing to even sell her soul, her chance to have offspring for a simple spell that would grant her the love of a man who didn’t care for her. That night the Spellmans realized that if Zelda was to be in love, there wouldn’t be anything in the way for a witch of her like.

It was then, under the bright light of the full moon, that Lydia Spellman took her family’s book of shadows from its hiding spot, and with a wave of her hand opened it. The notes gathered throughout the years fell to the table. On a blank page, she wrote the first sentence that would change their daughter in ways no one ever had experienced.

Zelda’s curse. The page started with adorned lettering that seemed both alluring and dangerous. Below it, the ingredients they would need to pour their energies into them, before giving them to their child.

As Lydia’s hand worked on rimes that would empower and bind their curse to the potion, she stopped for a second as she considered something. “Solomon, I know we’ve spoken vastly about the one who will break this curse. Do we mind its gender?”

Solomon Spellman raised his eyes for a brief second and stood up to read what she wrote. He then let out the smoke he had just swallowed from his pipe. “No, Lydia… it’s wrong, we cannot bind a body and expect this to work. We must bind their souls.”

The woman sighed. Her eyes filled with tears as she considered that this might as well be a prison for their daughter. A way to break her beyond repair and she wouldn’t even know it was them who caged her. They didn’t even know for certain what would the curse cause in their child. “I was afraid you would say so. How we create the one who can break it then, Solomon? I cannot do this if we don’t give her a chance to escape it.” 

“I guess, we give her more chances if we describe a kindred soul,” He added sadly.

She continued writing, piecing together their thoughts until they resembled ordered verses, fixing the words as she mixed them, creating a beautiful yet ominous poem. Once he noticed she had stopped writing, Solomon stood, embracing her from behind.

“It’s beautiful, darling.” He kissed her cheek and cleaned with the pad of his thumb the tears that were falling from her eyes. Solomon took a deep breath as he scanned their notes to verify that they weren’t missing anything. His eyes fell on one, and he read it loudly, “It must come from a long line of witches, from both sides. You missed this one.”

The Spellman matriarch scanned her own words and nodded, grabbing her quill once more, “yes, of course. Your coven would never allow her to mix up with a mortal. They barely allowed us to be wed until I surrendered to your Dark Lord. I shall also add that they must have similar experiences. And how will they break it, you think?”

Her eyes searched warmly for those of her husband, he smiled. “I suppose we give it the same ending that those mortal fairy tales our Hilda likes so much.”

“A true love’s kiss?” She inquired with a skeptically raised eyebrow. “I suppose it seems fitting.”

They added the last line as they heard the loud voices of their children returning. Quickly, they hid everything from their prying eyes. “It’s done, then. Until we need it.” She stated, and for years, they never spoke about it anymore.

Not until they learned about the awful things, the mortal men wanted to do to their child. With their decision reached, they gathered the ingredients for the potion, and under the pretense of creating a potion for someone else; they banished their children to their Academy’s rooms.

The Endor’s Book of Shadow sat open on the table at the Spellman kitchen as they prepared their concoction. “Something is missing, Solomon,” Lydia said as she read the curse that she had created years earlier. Then, reading the notes they took over the years about who would be the one to break this curse they were about to cast upon their daughter.

“Darling, we’ve been working on this for fifteen years. I’m sure we’ve added every aspect to keep her unfeeling until it’s broken. Yet, still caring for those who are family. There’s nothing else that we could be missing.”

However, Lydia figured it out. A soft smile playing on her lips as she added a new line to the curse, “the soul must remind her of her first love?” Solomon read confused. “First love? Darling, how could someone remind her of something she’s never experienced beforehand?”

“Oh, but she has, haven’t you noticed it, Solomon? For months she’s been returning home with her spirits high and her cheeks colored. She even whistles and sings as she does her chores.” Lydia pointed out.

He rolled his eyes as an answer, “Lydia, darling. It’s Zelda. She always whistles and sings, she even tried to teach Hilda how to do it! Not that she had any luck teaching her how to keep herself in tone.”

“Oh, but your child is in love, darling. Even if she’s too damn Spellman to admit she too is capable of such a feeling.” Lydia said, adding to her spell that all the love her child already felt would remain in her, just like familiar love would.

With those few lines, Lydia made sure her lovely child wouldn’t end up being an empty vessel wandering through life wholly uncaring. “Haven’t you heard Edward complain about how she disappears on them, and he has to fetch her every time to return home. How he mocks her because whenever he finds her, she can’t control her giggles? I’m quite certain our Zelda is in love.”

“You have always been an expert judge of character. If you are certain, then who am I to oppose? Are we ready?” he asked, and soon, they started it.

Their children returned the following afternoon. Two of them happy to return home after spending too much time learning, and one sad to be home. “What’s wrong, Zelda?” Lydia asked that night when she found her usually cheery daughter utterly pensive since their arrival.

“It’s nothing mother,” she blushed, being caught thinking of Lily. “I… I miss my friend…”

Lydia’s hand had then placed a strand of soft red hair behind her daughter’s ear and kissed her cheek softly. “Don’t worry, love, things will be better in the morning. Here, I made this for you. You should start cleansing for your dark baptism.”

Zelda eyed the grey beverage with distaste and took a whiff, scrunching up her nose at the potent smell. “Do I have to drink it? It’s still months until my birthday, mother.”

“Yes, darling. Don’t you want to be ready for the Dark Lord?” Zelda sucked her lower lip, doubting if pleasing the Dark Lord was worth drinking the foul-smelling beverage. Yet, it was the way her mother’s eyes lightened with hope what made her do it.

At once, and without pause, she took every single drop and gagged once she finished. “Sleep now, darling,” her mother said. Even if she didn’t want to, Zelda’s eyes closed.

She felt exhausted as if something was siphoning all her energy from her body at once. Cold settled in her bones, and she fell asleep. When she woke up, past midday the following day, Zelda had changed.

Her usual bright smile was nowhere to be seen, there was a deep frown marring her brow. Her previously sweet voice had taken on a deep, darker tone, bitter. Even her stance had shifted as if there was an impenetrable wall surrounding her.

Zelda couldn’t find it in herself to sing as she used to, or to care for the creatures of either realm. She felt different, yet she couldn’t quite understand how she had changed, or why. She couldn’t even cry, because she simply couldn’t find it in herself to care. Even her despair was hidden underneath the cold exterior that took over her. 

It had terrified her to find Lily the following Monday. Scared that she would see the girl she loved to find out that her emotions had dulled or gone. Yet, her love was there. Pulling at her heart, showing her that despite everything, there were things she could feel. Lily’s kiss showed her that their love was still worth it. Even if it couldn’t fix her.

The Spellman cottage was quiet that same afternoon, as the children were yet to arrive. Solomon was reading while Lydia was prepping dinner when the fire by the hearth turned into a bright blue.

“What have you done?” The mother of demons asked in a voice filled with wrath as she appeared in their home, in what later would’ve been known as her demonic self.

“Dark Mother,” Solomon said, kneeling. Lydia too fell to her knees, “Goddess Lilith,” she whispered. Then she felt Lilith’s finger underneath her chin, raising her face to force her to watch her. “What have you done?”

“I don’t understand,” Lydia frowned in confusion since she had done nothing that could anger the Goddess in such a way. The fire raged again as Lilith took a deep breath, her jaw clenching tightly while she fought to control her anger.

“To your daughter… what have you done to her.” Her voice was so cold that they could feel every cell of their bodies trembling in fear.

“What we had to… to protect her… We noticed she was falling in love and we worried that by doing so she wouldn’t get untouched to you. Or pure-hearted to Hecate.” If Lilith wasn’t so furious, she would’ve laughed, knowing the being Zelda loved was herself.

“So, you what? Enchanted her?” Lydia nodded eagerly. “A curse… actually… We thought it was for the best… We didn’t want to fall from your grace, Goddess Lilith, nor angry Hecate.”

“Show me,” she said. On legs that trembled as much as ones of a newly born doe would, Lydia stood up and searched for her book of shadows. Dropping it on the table, she opened it on the right page.

“I should’ve known that you, Endor witch, would be resourceful. But this, this has Spellman written all over it.” She said pointing to the scratched lines and dozens of notes that littered the page. “You Endors were always creative, whereas you Spellmans were always too damn picky.” She growled. “Do you even realize what you’ve done to your poor child?”

“It can be broken. I’m sure you are powerful enough to break it, or Hecate will when she needs her.” Lydia said. Lilith laughed, despair permeating in her tone.

“No, you fool! You made it impossible to break. You bound her soul to some soul that might not even exist yet.” Her heart, which had already broken for the armor she had seen on the previously free-spirited Zelda, shattered as she noticed the line where they added the soul needed to come from two lines of magic. Realizing that she could kiss Zelda all she wanted, she could love the witch more than she already did, but she would never be the being that would free her. Since Lilith was a powerful magical being but had no lineage above her.

“Lilith,” she heard then, as a whisper. “The being will exist, but first much has to be wrong for this to be righted.”

“Hecate, what now?” the Dark Mother groaned.

“Things will fall in place, Lilith, and be gracious, for her love for you remained untouched.”

“Gracious?!” Lilith spat. “I’ll be graciously condemning. Lydia Endor, Solomon Spellman, when you leave this life, I’ll take you both to Hell where you will remain until the day this curse breaks. No parent has the right to tell their children who to love or how to love. Even if you are witches, Hell will be your price to pay. I’ll keep this safe until the time is right,” she said, grabbing the book of shadows and disappearing from the house. 

Chapter 19

Notes:

and.. also a bit of the present :P

Chapter Text

“Zelda Phiona Spellman!” Hilda’s angry voice interrupted the quiet morning coffee that they were having, following by the front door closing with violence. Ambrose’s eyes shot up, hoping to find those of his older Aunt to question this outburst, while Sabrina hid her shock by downing her coffee swiftly.

The redhead lowered the Japanese newspaper she was reading, took a drag of her cigarette, and slowly blew the smoke out of her lungs, before taking a sip of her coffee. “Good morning to you too, Sister.” She said then, a smirk playing out in her face.

“Don’t. What were you thinking? Don’t you know who she is? What she did?” Hilda continued as she entered the room looking at her sister as if she had lost her last marble.

“Auntie, what’s going on?” Ambrose asked, confused by this early display he had no clue why was unfolding.

“Yesterday I returned from my date night, only to find your Aunt sitting in the shop, talking animatedly with no other than Sabrina’s former teacher, Ms. Wardwell, and yes, I’m sure it was her for the way the woman carries herself.” Hilda embraced herself, ready to put up a fight as she rarely did. If Cerberus wasn’t so adamant about her going to the Mortuary that previous night to face her sister, she would’ve been there the moment she saw Zelda leave the store.

“She was here too,” Sabrina whispered, “a few weeks back. I opened the door and there she was, waiting for Auntie Zee it seems.”

The High Priestess huffed in annoyance, “stop… all of you. Let’s finish this non-sense even before it starts. Yes, I’ve shown my displease whenever you have shown up with someone if I thought wouldn’t be wise for you to deal with them. However, every single time, I’ve let you all choose your own paths. I’ve never pressured you to end any kind of relationship with any kind of being you brought to your lives and by extension, to ours. So, none of you have a place telling me who I should or shouldn’t talk with.”

“She killed you, Zelds! I wasn’t alive when she did, but she killed you. How can you go and sit in front of her knowing that if it wasn’t for Hecate you would’ve not been here at all? Because the one who put the bullet through you was that same very innocent-looking woman.”

“You cannot ask us to trust in her, Auntie Zee, not when she shot you,” Sabrina said. Zelda’s eyes softened at the worry she saw shining behind her family’s eyes and wanted to be able to just express to them how much she truly cared about them without it coming sounding bitter and regretful. Instead, she took a final drag of her cigarette as she mulled over her thoughts.

“I’m not asking anyone to trust in her. However, you are all quick to judge her for having shot at me once. When, currently, not even she knows what happened that night for her memories of it are gone. You all agree I shouldn’t trust her because she killed me once… does that mean, sister, that you don’t trust me? Come on now, Hilda, I’ve killed you dozens of times. I’ve killed more people than she ever had. I’ve cursed more people than she ever will… So, tell me how is it that for you lot, she the most dangerous of the two?”

“Zelds…”

“No, Hildy. If you are bringing out the reasons she’s dangerous, then why shouldn’t I bring the reasons I’m far worse? A mortal teacher won’t be the end of me when there were so many things that I’ve been through that you never cared about. Things you never had to deal with… Even you, Hilda, who have seen some of my worst moments, have no idea of what I’m going through, or what I went through.” Zelda stood up, ready to finish this conversation by disappearing from the kitchen.

“Well… you could talk to us… we are here, Zelds. We can listen,” Hilda whispered, her demeanor changed as she walked towards her sister, taking Zelda’s pale hand in hers. “You know we are here for you.”

Zelda looked at their tangled hands and couldn’t help but think how different Hilda’s hand felt from Mary’s, or even Lilith’s. She eyed at her sister, wondering when she had gone so wrong that she hadn’t found it in herself to confide in Hilda anymore. Was it always like that? Or was it just so she wouldn’t have to revive the nightmare of her marriage? Or show her how low she thought of herself and her lack of feelings? Perchance was the fact that Hilda still was free to care for people, that her own body hadn’t betrayed her by shutting her emotions off, making her a cold bitch as she herself was.

“Yes, I know you are here, and perhaps you could listen to me. I’m sure each of you could find a moment in your lives to remember I exist. A second to figure out that I’m not only a piece of this house as you all seem to believe I am until I do something you don’t like. I’m not being overly dramatic. It’s just that I still remember the way you depicted me in your book, Hilda. I still remember your words about my pathetic love life, Sabrina, and Ambrose, I recall the times you shouted at me telling me I should get a life. Whereas you all seem to have taken me for granted, I haven’t. I allowed each of you to search for your own pains and joys and have been there to gather the pieces every time.”

For a second, she lowered her eyes to the ground and took a deep breath, as she allowed her words to sweep into their minds. “Perhaps, this woman that you both used to like so much and now hate sees in me something more than an old Aunt who’s too stern to be fun. Maybe, this mortal who has survived enough trauma you know nothing about is better qualified to be the friend I need. Since she knows nothing about me and has no expectations whatsoever about who I am, how should I behave or who should I see, as everyone in our community and this family, seems to have about me.” 

The moment her eyes fell on Sabrina, she knew her niece had more to say. Her puppy eyes that usually worked wonders to make her agree to anything were in full display as her niece opened her mouth, “why can’t you pick someone else, Auntie? You hate mortals, so please explain to me, why her?”

Zelda sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. There was no point in lying to them about the real motive that took her into Mary Wardwell’s life. Not when the mortal was already aware of it. “You can redirect your questions to Hecate, Sabrina. It’s her will that sent me in Mary Wardwell’s path. Or what? Do you think it was all rainbows and roses to face the woman who shot me? Do you think I couldn’t feel the bullet going through me all over again the first time I faced her? As you so gracefully pointed out, it was me who she shot. If I’m willing to do my Goddess bidding, then who are you to stop me? What rights do you think you have?”

“Hecate asked you… to befriend Mary Wardwell.” Hilda tried, a confused frown on her face.

“No. Hecate asked me to convert Mary Wardwell to our ways, and I intended to fulfill my word, even if that's the last thing I do.”

“I don’t understand, why would Hecate ask you to convert the woman who killed you, Zelds? It makes little sense. It makes less sense than you agreed to it.” Hilda stopped then, examining her sister’s stance. The way her eyes wouldn’t meet theirs, and how she was standing with one hand embracing her middle as if protecting herself. But from what? From them? She realized then that they were close to being a drilling squad just then, questioning her every movement for reasons they hadn’t understood, and they continued not understanding. “Why did you agree, Zelds?”

Zelda lowered her eyes. If she could feel more, perhaps she would’ve had tears streaming freely down her cheek. Alas, as things were, there was just her heart beating wildly as her eyes fell on Sabrina’s form. “I’ll do anything for you, don’t you know it? For any of you… Including meeting my killer or be killed again, if that means you are all safe and sound…”

“Sabrina…” Hilda whispered then understanding what her sister had confessed. “You did it for Sabrina?”

“I’ve been told that people do stupid things for the ones they care about. Alas, we all know, as you all have pointed to me at least once before, that I care for no one but myself. I’ll be at the academy,” she threw over her shoulders, turning around and leaving them behind, wondering what exactly she had done to have them all safe.

Chapter 20

Notes:

Well, this is one of those chapters that I've rewritten so many times and still am not happy with it. But if I continue fighting with it, it will be months and you'll never see the end of this
So... here goes nothing xD

Chapter Text

After that morning's confrontation with her family, Zelda teleported to the academy hoping since it was early, she would get some time alone to gather her thoughts. But as usual, whenever she wanted to be alone, that was the last thing she got.

Prudence Night was waiting for her pacing inside her office. “Mother Spellman,” the girl said the moment she spotted her. Zelda squared her shoulders, not quite ready to face who knew what ungodly issue they could develop inside the walls of a place filled with witches of all ages. “Blessed morning.”

“Blessed morning, Prudence. I’m sure whatever decision you’ve reached, was the correct choice for whatever trouble that has been raised,” Zelda said confidently, wishing it was enough to avoid the issue that certainly was going to be brought up to her to solve. As if the dozens that remained on her plate from both her positions weren’t enough.

“Oh, no. There are no issues… I…” the young witch stated as -to Zelda’s distress- she dropped herself on a chair. Zelda held her sigh as she looked at the usually composed witch, struggling with her emotions. As she observed her, the High Priestess wondered if that was how uncomfortable she looked in her own skin whenever she tried to show the feelings she couldn’t feel or express properly. 

The redhead closed the door behind her while gulping down a lump of guilt for comparing herself to the poor orphan girl that had experienced so much in her quite shorter span of life.

Surely, she might not be able to feel care for the child as any other being would, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t empathize albeit limitedly with the distress painted in the young witch’s stance. With certainty, she walked to her and placed a hand on Prudence’s shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly.

Then, she decided she could as well offer her what she so rarely had received when in such a position. “Whatever it is you are struggling with, I’m listening, and we have all the time you need.”

Prudence’s hand found the one on her shoulder and pressed it slightly. Zelda didn’t know for sure if she was searching for comfort or just thanking her for such an insignificant gesture that -for people like them- could mean far more than anyone understood. It didn’t last long, just like the redhead surmised it wouldn’t since Prudence was often uncomfortable with emotions and she, well, she could barely feel them at all.

The hand on hers lowered to the witch’s lap, tangling with the one that sat resting there, and Zelda moved to occupy the chair beside her. “There are no issues,” Prudence repeated herself, finding her voice far more stable than at the beginning of the day while still avoiding her High Priestess eyes.

Her eyes, Zelda noticed, were filled with tears and despite having a smile on her face, it was watery. But not sad, the redhead recognized. “I do come here for two reasons.” She took a deep breath, before turning to face the eldest of the Spellman.

“Of course, what can I do for you, Prudence?” Zelda asked. Green eyes searching deeply in those of the young woman as she wondered what she could possibly come up with now. What needs could this witch have? When everything she had desired and had requested had been granted and done. Her father’s body had been cut and taken to opposite ends of the world while his head remained sealed in a room where his magic was bound, and he could not harm a soul. Her sister had retrieved her sanity, and despite all the previous failed attempts, her half-siblings had been found and she had met them.

“I… I wanted to thank you… Zelda… Not my High Priestess, not my Directrix, but you…” She said, avoiding looking at the redhead in fear of what she could find in there. Having been under her father’s mockery for so long.

Her words caused an utter surprise on the redhead who looked at her with a frown of total confusion and part disbelief. “Me? Whatever for?”

“I’m aware that my siblings are living with that mortal teacher thanks to you. I’ve met them again because you took me to them. Somehow the two of you granted me the chance to have dinner with the siblings I thought I’ve lost.” She said, her voice breaking slightly before she looked down at her hands.

“I overheard Sabrina complaining about how the woman Lilith had killed and brought back, who once was her favorite teacher, was also the one who shot you a few moons back. Mary Wardwell, she said. She killed you, yet, you faced her and I’m sure your own demons when doing so. That you’ve done that, your strength despite the past you share with that woman, is what allowed me a chance to find my siblings once more. I’m not sure what led you to her, but I’m glad you did…. And I wanted to thank you for doing it. It’s not the first time you’ve done things for me when you shouldn’t even care. I’m nothing to you. Hecate, I even endangered you to be closer to my father! Yet, once you knew where they were, you came to me, and not only told me you found them, but you took me to them. So, I wanted you to know that… I might not show it, but I truly admire you.”  

Despite her best efforts, a blush covered her cheeks. It wasn’t often that she found herself in such a position. Her usual bitter self, commonly placing her in a far more self-damaging situation than this one. She had to take a deep breath because this girl had been far more understanding than her own family had been. It made Zelda thoroughly uneasy, realizing that an outsider could see her actions as something selfless. Especially, when her family had questioned her sanity, her choices and had made her feel guilty for truly enjoying Mary’s company.

“And the other thing?” Zelda asked warily then. She was well aware that praises and requests were often dealt with together. Prudence gave her an awkward smile that confirmed her suspicions.

“May I ask even more of you, Zelda? May I have the nerve to request you to face that woman once more and strike a deal so I can have an actual relationship with my siblings? Perhaps even an agreement that allows them to attend the academy?” She finished with a grimace, half expecting to be yelled at for her impertinence.

The High Priestess looked at the bold witch and couldn’t stop herself from noticing, and not for the first time, that they shared quite the same traits. Yet, the one shared feature that would’ve baffled anyone who hadn’t taken time to know them. The one that had made Zelda relate with this creature when she first started working at the academy, was how fiercely they loved their families, no matter how they seemed to push them away whenever they got too emotional.

“I’ll see what I can do, Prudence. It might take some time. Although, I believe Ms. Wardwell won’t have anything against you and your siblings developing your bonds and ultimately finding a way to be a family. I cannot speak for the woman, or for whatever instructions Faustus left behind for them if any. All I can do is try, and perhaps show her, that we are not a threat for them.”

“Yes. I understand,” she said, standing up and squaring her shoulders, confidence shining now through her stance. The young witch walked towards the door and then she stopped, turning again to look at her High Priestess. “And, you? Zelda… is everything all right with you?”

“Of course, why wouldn’t I be?” Zelda said, raising her eyebrow, hiding with the perfection of the years how truly devastated she was inside. “You are late for class.” She stated, lowering her gaze to the pile of documents that littered her desk, and effectively ending their meeting.

The moment Prudence was out of sight, Zelda’s hands found her face, rubbing it tiredly. She sighed. When she had agreed with Hecate that she was going to convert Mary Wardwell, the last thing she expected is to find herself in such a complex situation.

She had planned to appear at her Church, listen to their beliefs, and then, based on what she learned, try to slowly show the woman that Hecate’s path was far better than following whatever non-sense Faustus had written. Most definitively, she hadn’t foreseen the existence of the Blackwood twins, or the fact that Faustus had done far more than just convince the woman to preach his gospel. If she wasn’t still dealing with the aftermath of her own marriage to the bastard, she would’ve gone to the room where his head was and demand -even through torture- to know what he had done to the sweet teacher.

And that was it… the most unexpected thing of them all… the one thing that had her doubting and perhaps the reason she couldn’t deflect the bullet the night she had been killed. That night, when she’d opened the door to find Mary Wardwell on the other side, she had felt the pull of her heart. A light feeling that was similar to the one Lilith caused on her, yet it was different enough to recognize the woman standing in there was a completely different being.

A feeling that now, as she pondered how she would approach her again, seemed to take over her body and warm her in ways only Lilith had managed before. She bit her lip. Could she blame it, perhaps on the shared experiences they still hadn’t spoken about? Or in the loneliness that seemed to be a repeated chapter in their lives?

She shook her head. It wouldn’t make any sense to try to understand what she most definitively couldn’t. The only thing she was certain of, was that she was going to do anything in her hands to convert that woman to her Goddess’s path… even if that meant to dive deep into self-delusion and pretend -for her family's sake- that the pull she felt wasn’t there at all. 

Chapter 21

Notes:

Happy Easter for those of you celebrating it. <3

Chapter Text

Had it been only hours since she sat with Zelda Spellman at Cerberus’s bookshop, while watching the gorgeous woman dig in a cheeseburger as it if was a plate of filet mignon, and sipping a strawberry milkshake as if it was the best of the wines? Mary could still see the childish glee hidden behind the emerald orbs as they treated themselves to such an unhealthy dinner.

“I’m just glad I’m not the one cooking,” the redhead had chuckled when the plate was lowered in front of her and she eyed the burger with something akin to disdain. But the truth was that even if it were ‘just burgers’ they were always tasty, and it was the reason Mary herself kept coming back to that store since the first time she had tried it.

Once their dinner had reached the table, Zelda had explained a little about who Prudence Night was, if only to reassure the teacher about the woman who was talking with the Blackwood children. She had told her about the existence of an Academy covered by the veil of the realms, where she taught several classes to witches of a diverse range of age. Although, the redhead chose to keep to herself the exact extent of her position inside her coven.

The way the High Priestess presented every piece of information as if there was magic poured into her every word, had enthralled the brunette who grew more comfortable around the idea of a world filled with magical beings, even when she couldn’t imagine one more exotic than Zelda.

Mary remembered then the way the redhead’s fork had stopped midway to her mouth -not that she was captivated watching those cranberry lips, because that wasn’t what she was looking at, not at all. To that brusque action, the High Priestess added the rising of a perfectly done eyebrow, as if she was daring whoever it was behind Mary’s back to do something about her presence in the shop.

“But… that’s…” she had heard behind her back, and curiosity had finally won the best of her. Mary had turned around to find Cerberus pulling who she knew was his wife to the back of the store. She turned around with a confused frown, and Zelda sighed when she noticed the questioning eyes.

“Are there any issues between you and Cerberus’s wife?”

“Not at all, that’s my sister, Hilda. I believe I surprised her by being here since I’m always mocking them for this very same shop.” Zelda waved in dismissal.

A smile had broken in her beautiful expression, making Mary forget all about the bizarre exchange or how that was the other name the man who had dragged her teenage self-inside the Spellman house had mentioned. ‘Perhaps those are just family names,’ she had justified as they fell back into their conversation.

Zelda was incredibly knowledgeable, and Mary couldn’t even say it surprised her. For every question that she asked, there was a deep answer that was well thought through, as if there wasn’t anything she hadn’t answered before.

Of course, she might as well have. Since Mary's questioning came from her own limited experience with esoteric books and hopes that the witch could shed some light into the most confusing parts she’d remembered that night.

Then when silence had fallen upon their table, she had looked up only to notice she had lost her attention once more. This time, to the young woman she had brought along, and the twins who were walking towards them. Without asking or allowing her to share, Zelda had paid for their dinner, and soon all five of them were standing outside the store.

Prudence bid them goodnight and walked away until she turned into the alley. “Where is she going?” Mary asked and Zelda just smiled.

“To the Academy. Allow me to walk you to your car.”

The teacher felt her entire body boil when she noticed the hand that was lightly pressed -most likely out of custom – on the low of her back, protectively leading her to the front of the church where her car remained parked.

Zelda had waited until the three of them were safely tucked inside the car and the engine was on to wave them goodnight. She had then walked the way to the alley that Mary had seen her rush to twice before.

“I must ask her why she always is going through that alley,” the teacher smiled softly, muttering to herself as not to disturb her students who were focused on completing the tasks she had given them.

Ms. Wardwell looked at the clock in her classroom then, shocked when she noticed time had seemed to fly that day. Perhaps it had been related to the number of times she had daydreamed while going through all the exchanges she’d had with the redhead.

She looked up once more, noticing the empty seat where before Sabrina Spellman used to sit. Mary frowned; she knew Hilda Spellman. She recalled several parent-teacher conferences where the blonde woman had come. Yet, if someone asked her, she wouldn’t be able to tell exactly how Sabrina’s aunt looked. Was that the reason she had never realized that Hilda Spellman and Doctor Cee’s Hilda were one and the same?

A smile formed on her lips as she decided she would ask Zelda if there was some sort of spell in them so people wouldn’t recognize them in the streets. Her heart fluttered at the idea of seeing the woman once more. Yet, once classes were done, she found out there was a meeting that ended up taking two hours of her time.

Judas and Judith were waiting, sitting on the trunk of her car, both concentrated on books by the time she found them. “I’m sorry, children. I got held up. Did you have a nice day at school?” She asked as she unlocked her car, and strangely, the twins smiled, nodding. For once looking almost like normal kids. “Hop in.”

“Miss Mary,” Judith started once the car was in motion while looking through the window, observing the town pass by, “do you think your lady friend can bring our sister soon, so we can meet her again?”

Mary looked at the girl through the rearview mirror and smiled. “I suppose I could ask her when I see her. Did you like your sister?” She asked if only because the idea of seeing Zelda again made her heart skip a beat, and it was the perfect excuse for the smile that formed without permission in her expression.

“She said we are witches. We told them we already knew it. Father trained us well,” Judas stated, shrugging in dismissal at his own comment. 

“I see,” she gulped at the mention of their father, quite surprised to know they were aware of their origins, since they had done nothing to show her they could be anything but just very quiet normal children. “He said we would be safe in your hands until his return. But we don’t believe he will return, Miss Mary,” Judas finished.

“I’ll tell you what. I’m going to drive you home, so you can start your homework. Then, I’m going to see my friend and ask her about what we can do so you get to know your sister. How does that sound?” She offered not quite understanding why. Perhaps it was the idea of seeing Zelda once more or just the way the children seemed taken by knowing there was someone out there they could call family to.

“Will you really, Miss Mary?” Judith asked, raising her deep eyes to watch her.

“Of course, darling. She’s your sister. You must get to know her, and perhaps one day you can find a way to be a family together. So, you don’t have to stay away from her, nor her away from you.” Mary smiled, while unknowingly speeding to her home.

It wasn’t until she spotted the sign of the Spellman mortuary that the silly smile; she had been wearing the entire day had wavered. Zelda had said she usually was all by herself at the mortuary, but she had also said she taught at the witches’ academy. What if she reached their door only to find she wasn’t there? Or that they did not welcome her into their world?

She shook her head. It was pointless to even doubt. The witch hadn’t given her another means of contacting her. Zelda had told her she was welcomed to return. So it was perfectly right for her to appear at her front door to ask something for the children, right? Even if it was just hours ago since the last time she had seen her? Even if she still felt the way she had softly placed her hand over the low of her back, and the soft touch of cold fingers against her ear lobe?

Doubts swept one by one through her mind, telling her this was a bad idea. That Zelda Spellman really hadn’t meant for them to be friends, that those touches weren’t anything but chance or manners, and the only thing the redhead was searching for, was stopping her from preaching the gospel written by her ex-husband.

“If that’s all there is, why are you worrying so much?” She asked out loud. Then, pressed the gas, moving forward through the dirt path separating her from the daunting home, until she parked near the hearse. She looked at her reflection in the rearview mirror and sighed.

“This is not about you, Mary. It’s about the children. You know what’s like to be alone in the world. They have a sister who might care for them in ways you can’t. This has nothing to do with you or Zelda.” She pep-talked herself before getting down convincing herself she was there not because she wanted to, but because she ought to.

Then, why had she felt her heart race the moment she pressed the bell, and her palms nervously sweat as she heard the faint steps as someone approached the door? And most worryingly, why had she felt the need to lick her lips when she hoped the one approaching was Zelda?

Chapter Text

If Mary’s heart wasn’t beating steadily in her ears, she would’ve noticed far earlier that the approaching footsteps weren’t those of Zelda Spellman by the lack of the cadence of the clicking sounds that composed the song the redhead witch created as she walked.

In one swift moment, someone opened the door wide. The warm light from the inside faintly illuminated her features, falling on the sharp edges of her face. Mary raised her eyes, startled by facing the young man who opened the door and was looking at her from head to toes as if expecting her to transform into some beast or do something she couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was.

A nephew. Zelda had mentioned a nephew at some point, Mary thought. Although, it didn’t explain in the least the way she was being studied like that by him. “Uh, is Zelda home?” She asked, stuttering a little out of the nervousness that took hold of her when she suddenly found herself on the spot.

“Miss… Wardwell… I’ll presume?” Ambrose said when the woman by the door hadn’t thrown a rant about making the Queen of Hell wait, or how the fate of the world was in their hands once again. The young witch decided that a trembling voice filled with discomfort was something he would ever hear coming from Lilith. Not that they had seen her at all since Sabrina’s burial when she had also informed them they shouldn’t worry about Lucifer or Hell any longer since she was once again in control of that realm.

“Yes. You must be the nephew Zelda mentioned having?”

Mary shifted her weight from one leg to the other with unease. His dark eyes scanned her once more. While she fought the urge to embrace herself or place behind her ear the strand of hair that always seemed to fall over her eyes. Instead, she gulped, fighting her shyness while wondering why she was being subjected to such a distrustful scan.

“Indeed, I’m Ambrose Spellman,” he agreed with a nod. He sighed then, as he remembered his aunt’s words from that morning, and when his own manners blossomed, he took a step away from the door. “Come inside, my Aunt hasn’t arrived yet, but she must be home soon.”

“Ah, she’s still at the academy? I can return later.”

This time her hand found the strand of hair and placed it behind her ear, as Mary questioned once more her presence in the house.

Ambrose’s expression softened to a warm smile as he noticed what her Aunt had claimed was, in fact, true. Mary Wardwell was far from the dangerous being his Aunt Hilda and Sabrina depicted her to be. Which made him wonder how was it that this mortal had found it in herself the will to shoot his Aunt.

 “Oh, non-sense. I’m not sure what my Aunt has disclosed about her work, but I can tell you she will be back soon. They got delayed because of an issue with Sabrina’s last class. To be honest, Aunt Zee is most likely chewing some heads off for their youthful recklessness. Besides, Ms. Wardwell, today wasn’t a nice one for her, so I won’t want to be the one who informs her you visited and left before she came home. That’s far too risky for my health. Therefore, I must request you to please come inside, and follow me, I was about to start dinner.”

Despite the way he had seemed distrustful at first, Ambrose’s demeanor had changed as he invited her inside. Mary thought he seemed quite nice as she followed him further inside the house and straight into the kitchen. Mary’s eyes fell on the chair where once she had broken, smiling warmly at the memory of being brought up for a comforting embrace.

With curiosity, as she noticed a pile of papers nicely folded in that place, she strolled to it. The sound of her heels against the floor brought Ambrose’s attention to the woman who had a confused expression as she tried to understand what she was seeing.

“That’s Aunt Zee’s spot. The only one of us with a gift for languages. The rest of us have learned to deal with our shortcomings,” he said over his shoulder after following her line of sight. Ambrose wasn’t sure what his Aunt had told to this mortal. Therefore, he didn’t know if it was safe to disclose more about how dreadful it was struggling with languages in their world. “You can go through them if you like, those are going to the garbage.”

Mary grinned as she checked the pile. She noticed there were in fact several languages that looked nothing like something readable for her. None of the newspapers seemed to be from the same place, and the teacher wondered how many languages the redhead knew. As she remembered the vast knowledge Zelda had displayed during their dinner, she speculated how brilliant the woman was.

Almost ignoring her, Ambrose moved around the kitchen with the same confidence his Aunt had displayed. With nothing left to do, the teacher’s eyes wandered across the room until her gaze landed on a clock. Not even ten minutes had passed since she knocked on the door, she realized in dismay.

Mary had never been one for small talk, alas it was worse now since she wasn’t sure how one made small talk with a teen that could as well be a warlock. It didn’t help she didn’t know what Zelda had said to them about her, if at all. Surely, she didn’t know how much she wanted to reveal to this stranger about her bizarre yet still developing friendship with his Aunt.

 “I should go. I left the children by themselves and still have to…” she stopped as they heard the front door being opened. Zelda’s stern voice reached them as she chastised her niece with certainty. There was nothing Mary could do then as their steps approached fast to the kitchen.

“Really, Sabrina… you of all people should’ve known better than try it. But then again, I can’t say I can find it in me to be surprised. I know no other inexperienced witch who had tried her hand at necromancy.” She stopped herself when she spotted the figure of Sabrina’s former teacher standing stiffly to the side of the kitchen. “Mary.”

“I… hmm… Hi…” Mary waved her hand. She felt even more embarrassed now that she had seen the redhead. Nothing she could’ve thought or done could prepare her not to feel thoroughly underdressed and wholly out of place at that moment. It wasn’t only Ambrose, it was the way Sabrina was staring at her.. and then, then there was Zelda.

In a spur of a moment, her hand found her pearl necklace in search of comfort. As she toyed with it, she couldn’t help but ogle the woman she had come to visit. Zelda’s pantsuit hugged her figure in all the proper places. The deep lace blouse she was wearing brought out the soft tone of her skin that appeared through the delightfully carved fabric. A strawberry red silk tie laid embracing her neck and matched the shade she had chosen for her lips. Her hair, parted to the side, fell in graceful curls right above her shoulders.

“Ms. Wardwell,” Sabrina said. It served both as a hello and an inquiry. It brought the teacher from whatever place her mind had drifted to. “What are you doing here?” There was a bit of disdain present in the icy tone the teen used. The girl also embraced herself by the middle and Mary couldn’t help but notice the way she stood in front of her Aunt as if trying to protect Zelda from… Her?

“Sabrina! Manners,” Zelda warned, not finding any amusement in the way the child was behaving. “Mary, follow me, please. As for you two, you better behave.” She stated, glaring at her niece and nephew before walking away from the kitchen.

With a last glance at the children, Mary smiled stiffly. She excused herself before following the sounds of Zelda’s heels to the library. “They won’t disturb us in here,” the redhead said, wishing she could take Mary to the parlor where she could offer her something to drink, but Sabrina and Ambrose weren’t ones that wouldn’t try to overhear whatever conversation Mary wanted to have, and their relationship -whatever it was- was not open for discussion with her family.

Instead of walking her towards the small table to the side of the room, as she had the first time. The redhead walked to the twin-looking armchairs and sat in one. “Please, take a seat, and tell me, what can I do for you, Mary?” Zelda said as she crossed her legs, and unknowingly, she made Mary gulp with her action.

“I… I wanted to thank you for dinner.”

“You already did. Yesterday.” Zelda looked up at Mary, confusion etched in her expression while she crooked her head as if studying her.

The teacher paced for a moment. She wasn’t sure how to bring the subject out without disturbing the redhead. Not when her nephew had already warned her about the lousy day Zelda had. It didn’t matter, though, for Mary knew she had to speak. She couldn’t return to her home without news about their chances to meet their sister. The teacher could barely stand the idea of the twins looking at her with disappointment etched deep in their dark eyes.

“Since you seem to have issues gathering your thoughts, Mary. Would you mind if I bring a subject up to you for consideration?” Zelda asked. Her ever-present cigarette glowed slightly as she inhaled it deeply.

“Yes, please,” the brunette said. She dropped herself into the armchair next to Zelda, twisting her frame so she could face the woman.

“Prudence Night wants a chance to develop her relationship with her siblings further. I’ve been racking my head throughout the day to come up with a way for this to happen, that still would allow you to be there in case something went utterly wrong. Or if the children found they need you.”

The High Priestess took another drag of her cigarette as she analyzed the impact of her words on the woman. Beyond the widened eyes, she found nothing wrong with Mary Wardwell’s expression, so she continued. “I wanted to propose for you to bring the children twice a week to begin with, to the academy, maybe more days when they get acquainted. By being there they will meet their sister and other witches like them. Perhaps we can even begin to unravel whatever level of magic they have.”

Mary opened her mouth to speak but found that words were lacking. Zelda’s hand found hers and gave it a light, reassuring squeeze that sent shivers down her spine and lightened every nerve ending in her body. A confused frown settled on the brunette’s face and the redhead thought she needed to improve her offering. “Also, I know I’ve said I would show you how wrong your Gospel is while promising access to our books. Therefore, I came to realize that while the kids are developing their familial bonds, you could still be nearby by joining me at my office. I assure you no one will disturb you.”

For a second, the High Priestess wondered if anyone would bring up to her that Mary Wardwell was a mortal if they saw her continually hiding in her office, but promptly dismissed the idea. If they did, they could shove their opinions right where the sun would never reach them. “Anyway, it’s up for your consideration. You can disagree with any part of it, or even with it all. I just promised Prudence I would try.”

Zelda’s lips curled upward into a hopeful smile. In all honesty, she didn’t want to return to Prudence while being the carrier of bad news. The teacher looked at her in something akin to awe. “You want the children to spend time with their sister? And… you want to spend time with me?” Mary frowned. After saying those last words out loud, Mary found herself confused. She still couldn’t understand how someone like Zelda Spellman could want anything to do with someone like herself.

“How else we’ll develop our friendship? I won’t bother you if you are reading, surely I’ll be working too. Yet, you’ll might quench any doubts right as they appear, by asking me any questions that might arise. I understand that the most confusing part of learning the dark arts when you aren’t a witch is the lack of information or the many missing parts we know almost since birth, but people outside our realm do not know they exist. If you think the academy can be too overwhelming, we could just do it here?”

“Oh, Zelda!” Mary smiled magnificently. Unintentionally, it made Zelda’s heart skip a beat. “I came here because the twins requested to meet their sister again. I just didn’t know how that could work. But I should’ve known you would’ve thought about it already! Can we start tomorrow, after school? I’ll bring the children here since I do not know how to reach your academy.”

The teacher beamed at her, standing up and walking towards the door, eager to get home and tell the children the news. Zelda smiled, feeling awfully proud of herself. “It’s a date then. I’ll wait for you a lot here tomorrow after school, so I can take you to the academy. I’ll bring you to your home once you deem it fit.” She said, standing up then and walking the brunette to the front door.

“Oh, thank you!” Mary said, throwing herself to Zelda’s neck as they reached the foyer. To the High Priestess's surprise, it didn’t feel as awkward. Not even when her own hands found the woman’s back and enclosed her in a tight embrace. The teacher let go first, blushing under the confused green eyes that looked at her with an intensity she hadn’t experienced before.

Soon, she watched the odd woman drive away before she turned around to face the knowing glances of her niece and nephew. “Someone is smitten,” Ambrose said in a singsong voice. Shaking his head, amused, he walked towards the kitchen followed by his Aunt and cousin.

“She’s not smitten, she’s just grateful,” Zelda rolled her eyes at him. “As you both know, Faustus left her to take care of the twins. Now that she found they have family left, I reckon she must feel relieved, learning that they might have someone else who cares about them and can take the burden out of her shoulders.”

“Yes, Auntie. I’m sure it relieved her… I just wasn’t speaking of her,” Ambrose mumbled the last part, entertained by the explanations of his oblivious Aunt. Sabrina, though, wisely remained quiet for once.

Chapter 23

Notes:

Lucky me! I had to start today work at 12 am and worked right till 4... slept at 5 to be awoken at 9 to continue working... but as I waited for the rest of the team to show up.... this happened.
Enjoy! My sleepy brain will take the blame if it sucks xD
PS: This chappie makes me think I might have a fixation with the word odd.

Chapter Text

At fourteen years old, the last thing Mary Wardwell wanted was to get home. No kid of her age wanted to, but their reasons were far different from hers. She was different, and everyone knew this. ‘At least they aren’t loud to point it out,’ she always thought.

Whereas her classmates had started feeling the attraction to the opposite sex as they matured, she had found none of the boys of her interest. They were flat and uninteresting. They were more absorbed in the development of Anna Thompson’s breast. Or in every other girl who could wear clothes that were their own size or less.

Even if she could wear nice clothes, Mary hadn’t found the joy at peering at the menfolk. Blushing and giggling as soon as the ones deemed the hot-looking entered the room wasn’t her cup of tea. No, she had her mind in her books and in surviving her daily life while trying to finish school. Perhaps one day, it would pay off and she would get a scholarship that would take her from Greendale and its mind-numbing people.

Usually, she would escape to the school’s library in search of some peace by taking over the darkest corner of the room. However, as the year progressed, she had found her seat taken by couples that disgustingly used her safe spot to play a battle of tongue vs tonsil. 

Sometimes she would stand by them, watching them without seeing them, as she wondered what the hell was wrong with her for not feeling this desire that seemed to consume everyone. It wasn’t long before they called her weird or freak. That would force her to find another place to mull over her thoughts away from them.

It was just her luck that her parents allowed her to skip a grade. That she was the youngest of her class, only added to her status of respected freak. No one treated her badly, no one wanted to befriend her. “You are just too weird, Wardwell,” the only one who tried told her once before turning around to join Anna Thompson and her band of perfectly looking girls. Not that her parents would allow her to be seen with or befriend her.

Though, what was worse than having no friends was the fast-approaching Valentine’s day ball. She couldn’t quite understand why the adults allowed such a stupid thing when her male peers were already searching for any reason to have their hands under some girl’s shirt. Not to think about the stupid committee formed to decorate the ball, and how they took over the other half of the library.

That was her current issue. With the library taken over, she had nowhere to remain. Thus, she went for the only option left, a walk to her loved sign. Her stroll took her through the woods. Mary found herself called to wander further in, to a clearing where what looked like a table? Made from rocks stood still, oddly sticking out in the forest's emptiness.

She walked around it. Curiously wondering if, in the past, the women trailed as witches in that same old-fashioned town had made it and used it to call Satan upon their meetings and dance naked around a bonfire to please the Lord of Lies. “Yeah, right, Satan…” she snorted. “Your parents’ craziness is really affecting you, Wardwell.”

A branch or a twig broke somewhere near. She turned around following the sound but found nothing. She shrugged, convincing herself it most likely was just an animal doing whatever forest animals did when no one was around. But then she thought she saw a cape by the corner of her eye, and she heard the rustling of leaves as the fabric moved through them.

Her heart had skipped a beat oddly. It wasn’t fear, but a feeling tugging at it, telling her that something she cared for was near. But at fourteen there was no one else for Mary to care for, save from her odd parents and the stray cat she usually fed on her way home. She followed the noise, mostly guiding herself by the strength of the pull.

She thought she saw it then, a dark velvety cape floating through the woods at a rapid pace. Mary followed it, wondering who in its right mind still wore a cape that would fit nicely in an 1800s play. The hood fell, showing a cascade of orange-red curls as the woman stopped.

At least Mary concluded it was a woman. The head moved from one side to the other, as if assessing the surrounding noise of the woods. Two hands that could be as pale as moonlight appeared, the black nails almost confusing themselves with the fabric of the hood that was promptly pulled up.

The redhead walked again, this time slower. However, just like this woman, Mary also knew the forest and how to move in it, making no noise. Another ten or twenty minutes passed by, and the brunette girl thought they were lost and wandering in circles. Or perhaps that the lady knew she was being followed and was trying to lose her.

Mary stood further behind where she could still see her but was far enough that she barely felt the bizarre tug on her heart. She didn’t dwell on the reasons her heart was doing weird stuff since she had never met a redhead before in her life to have any feelings towards her.

The cape disappeared further until it stopped once more. Again, the woman checked the surroundings. Mary noticed then, a building she had never seen before was standing there, in the middle of a clearing in the forest. Forgotten and unknown to anyone from town.

An alabaster hand posed itself over the heavy wooden doors of Gehenna Station, and the woman entered the building, closing the door behind her.

The teen who considered herself the only one who cared about Greendale’s past worked through her knowledge and couldn’t remember ever having a Gehenna Station listed anywhere. Yet, because of her upbringing, she knew Gehenna was a place of damnation, where the wicked were punished after death. “Hell,” she mumbled but felt attracted to the place.

“You shouldn’t be here, Miss.” A child told her, appearing out of the blue.

“I… Hi, what are you doing here? Aren’t you far away from home?” Mary asked the child. He crooked his head.

“I’m Quentin. I am far away from home, but I cannot leave. Why are you here?”

“I saw someone entering the building and thought she might be lost. I’m Mary.” She said, wondering why on Earth this child couldn’t leave.

“Miss Mary, this is not a place for you. Not now at least.” He stated firmly again.

“I just need to check if the woman I saw is all right,” Mary smiled. “She seemed rather preoccupied with someone following her.” She said walking close to the door. Her hand repeated the motion she had seen from the white hand, and then she opened the door.

The place was deserted, although, with its dark flooring and clear lighting, it looked nothing like the abandoned building the exterior made one believe it would. Yet, once she tried to step in, she felt as if an invisible barrier stopped her from going inside. She blinked, the image changed to nothing but concrete walls that were breaking because of the passing of time.

“Why are you following me?” A harsh voice that sent a pleasurable shiver down her spine said. There, leaning against a wall, the woman still covered by her cape stood. The hood was lowered, and the curls she had seen now fell, framing a beautiful face. Moon-like pale skin, deep green eyes, and soft-looking cherry lips were sternly focusing on her. “Well?”

“I thought you were lost,” Mary stated. A rich laugh filled the emptiness of the room, sending a warm wave through the teen’s body.

“Dear, people who wander through the woods are seldom lost.” She said, walking closer to her. The smell of her perfume made Mary weak at the knees. For once, she understood what the girls of her class felt when the hot jock entered the room. A crimson blush crept on her cheeks as the woman circled her.

Mary trembled. It wasn’t out of fear, but something else. “Why aren’t you at school?” the woman asked, and the girl scrunched up her nose in distaste.

“It’s over for today, and it’s filled with hormone-filled teenagers whose minds are all about the approaching Valentine’s day and being thoroughly kissed.” The laugher again made Mary think her answer was unexpected.

“And tell me, delightful creature, what do you have against kisses?” the captivating woman said, her eyes twinkling in merriment. The teen’s mouth opened, ready to throw out any excuse, but in the end, she just shrugged.

“I don’t know. I have never been kissed, nor I am sure I want to.” She mumbled, awkwardly placing a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Oh, then we should fix that, shouldn’t we?” A mischievous smile appeared on cherry-painted lips, and Mary couldn’t help but nod, licking her lips as she did so. The mysterious woman leaned in and soft lips pressed against hers. The teen felt herself meld into the woman without even knowing why, all she knew was that she wanted more.

She thought she heard some words whispered against her lips, ‘was that Latin?’ she thought, but truly Mary couldn’t care or worry about anything that wasn’t the feeling warming her from their connected lips and down through her entire body.

The next thing she knew was that she was stirring awake on a bench in the park. Noticing how late it was, she rushed home, shaking her head from the weirdest dream her mind had concocted for her. Her lips and her body seemed to be still tingling as a response to it.

As she walked, an odd feeling coming from her core, made her believe her period had come earlier. Once home, she rushed to the bathroom and frowned in utter confusion when she found it wasn’t her period at all. “That’s your wet dream?” she laughed at her silliness while reading herself to wash her face. She could’ve sworn there was a faint remaining of a cherry shade on her usually dry lips. “God, Wardwell, you really are a freak. Dreaming about kissing a woman, you make me sick,” she said to her reflection and vowed herself to forget all about that stupid dream and those feelings no woman should make her feel. 

Back at the Academy of Unseen Arts, Zelda Spellman couldn’t help the amused smile that remained plastered on her face after that encounter. Even as Edward was chastising her for being late, she couldn’t stop thinking of the mortal teen and the bright innocent eyes who had looked at her as if she was an angel.

For days she wondered how the teen had followed her when she was using a cloaking spell as she usually did, and how had she opened the doors to the Academy. However, soon she forgot all about the innocent exchange and it would be years later that the faint memory would come back to her. 

Chapter 24

Notes:

The great part about a messed-up sleeping schedule.. it's the insomnia that lingers afterwards ;D

Chapter Text

If Zelda Spellman was any other being, she would pace the foyer, feeling jittery as she waited for Sabrina’s former teacher and Blackwood’s long-lost kids. Well, not long-lost, it was just a handful of months a year tops for them, but for the children it was years.

No, Zelda wasn’t nervous… She had just arrived home with a quick “lanuae magicae” and searched for her box of cigarettes only to notice she had smoked the twenty she had rolled the previous night.

The Directrix rolled her eyes. That for sure didn’t mean something had agitated her through the day. She opened the box that contained her tobacco, rolling papers, and filters only to find out that there was nothing left in there. She huffed, wondering if her niece or nephew had anything to do with the missing elements since they were adamant that she needed to cut down her intake.

The doorbell chimed as she was making her way to the botanical room, and she huffed. The High Priestess was about to complain about ill-timed visitors when she remembered that, for once, she was waiting for them. Without rest, the redhead turned around and walked to the front door, cracking it open, then completely as she realized it was indeed the teacher on the other side.

“Hi,” Mary said, pushing her glasses up her nose with one hand and smiled. For a reason she couldn’t quite pinpoint, Zelda returned the smile. Until she noticed the lithe woman was carrying a pile of things in the other hand.

“Allow me to help you,” she offered. If there was anyone who’d knew Zelda Spellman around, they would worry about her health, since that kind of offering seldom left her mouth, if ever.

“Thank you,” Mary said as she felt relieved from the weight she was shuffling in her hand. She moved to the side to point towards the car to where the twins were waiting for instructions. “I suppose we are taking my car?”

Zelda frowned; confusion painted itself in her expression until she understood it would only make sense for the teacher if they were to use a transport she knew. “No. We cannot arrive at the Academy by those means.”

“What do you mean? I remember you and Sabrina arriving home as any other being would just last night.”

“Yes. We commonly walk back whenever something wrong happens. It gives us time to solve it before getting home and thus, leaving academy issues outside these doors. We aren’t always that lucky. Please call them in, we’ll leave as soon as I collect herbs for my cigarette.”

Confused for a second at ‘herbs’, but dismissing it at some weirdness from the redhead, she waved the kids to join them.

“Hello,” Zelda said. Her eyes fell on the girl for longer than needed, before leading them to the parlor. She lowered Mary’s things delicately onto a side table. “If you wait here for a moment.”

The redhead turned on her heels and was about to leave when Mary asked her if it was okay to join her, wanting to ask how they were going to go if not by car. Zelda nodded but said nothing as she walked purposely through the house. She took them to another room the brunette hadn’t been before. They filled it with lush plants, colorful flowers, and was that a jar of hands?!

“Aha,” Zelda beamed once she found what she needed. She grabbed an empty jar from a pile and threw several leaves in it, securing it finally in one pocket of her blazer. It was then that she noticed the teacher’s paling face. “Ah, those are Hands of Glory.”

“Re-real hands? Like from ac-actual people?” Mary stuttered as she looked at the jar that contained at least a dozen of hands in some liquid.

“Don’t be absurd, what use we would have for actual people’s hands?” 

Mary sighed in relief, but her peace didn’t last long as Zelda added, “those are hands of witches of course. Those are quite useful.”

“Oh, God. I think I’m going to be sick.” The brunette said as she turned around and rushed away from the room. The redhead sighed, wondering why on Earth mortals were so sensitive about body parts that actually had some use after death, but followed the brunette out towards the kitchen where she found her leaning against the table taking deep breaths.

Using her skills, she turned the fire on and settled a kettle. As she waited for it to boil, she walked to Mary and rubbed comforting circles on her back as she used to do whenever Sabrina felt ill. While considering she shouldn’t mention they ate mortals every once in a while. “Are you all right?”

“I… I just didn’t expect to find… that… mixed with all those lovely looking plants, I suppose.”

Mary smiled softly, straightening herself. She felt Zelda’s hand still rubbing comforting circles on her back and blushed. Her eyes found a bit of concern on the green ones, and unable to stop herself raised a hand to caress the apprehension out of alabaster cheeks. “I’m all right. Really.”

The kettle made itself known then. The hissing sound broke the moment as it made them both jump apart as if they were doing something utterly wrong. Zelda walked around the kitchen. She found two mugs and filled tea filters with different mixes of herbs before pouring the water. After a moment, she placed one in front of the still ill-looking teacher. “Drink up.”

“It’s fine, really. We should go… It’s just a dizzy spell. It will go away before you can say Hallelujah.” Mary grinned and Zelda chuckled at her choice of words.

“Hecate! First God and now Hallelujah, you truly are hopeless with your choice of words. Drink that tea. It won’t do having you slowing us down because you feel nauseous.” 

Under Zelda’s stern glance, she sipped the tea, noticing quickly how her stomach settled as if by magic. She eyed at the witch, wondering if she had hexed the tea, but she too was drinking it.

“Is it a bumpy ride?”

The High Priestess eyes hadn’t left her as she too sipped her drink. She shook her head, “I can’t drive you or walk you there. Not at the beginning. It was deemed safer that you don’t know the actual location of the Academy. You know, since you are not a witch, and those kids are Blackwoods. Eventually, we will have to show you how to arrive. That way you won’t need to stop by here every time.”

“And how are we going then?”

“A teleportation spell that will leave us outside the Academy’s walls.” Mary’s eyes widened at this. She blanched a little and drank her tea, hoping would calm her nerves as it did with her upset stomach. “Don’t worry, Mary. It’s perfectly safe. I’ve been doing it for centuries.”

“Right, a teleportation spell, nothing to be worried about,” Mary smiled nervously, shaking her head at the blatant exaggeration of the redhead’s experience with it. But she had to trust the woman wanted to take them to the Academy. Hopefully, that meant arriving in one piece. “Shall we then?”

Together they returned to the parlor where the kids were still waiting, a bored expression on their faces. Zelda gathered the pile of things Mary had brought along and offered her empty hand towards Judith. “Please, grab your hands and then mine.”

They exchanged wary glances. The children didn’t move until Mary took Zelda’s free hand and offered her own hand to the children. The teacher tried her best to ignore the tickling energy radiating between the redhead’s chilly hand and her own. Even if a warmth spread comfortably in all her body, making itself known with a blush in her cheeks. “Lanuae Magicae,” Zelda said before they could question her further.

Mary had blinked. One moment she was standing in the middle of the Spellman’s parlor and the next she smelled nature, finding herself in some unknown part of the forest.

“Welcome to the other side of the veil!” Zelda grinned. As she turned around, she waved towards the imposing yet ramshackle building that stood for centuries hidden from the mortal realm. Mary hummed, frowning in confusion as she noticed the familiar words ‘Gehenna Station’ inscribed on top of closed wooden doors.

“Huh, here I thought I made it up in a dream,” Mary mumbled to herself, yet Zelda heard her.

“Excuse me? Even if its crippled exterior tells otherwise, The Academy of Unseen Arts has been covered by the veil separating the realms since its conception. This continent was not a safe place for witches since colonization. You couldn’t possibly have seen it or dream about it before. No mortal could spot it… unless… When do you recall dreaming of it?” 

The Directrix wondered if it was possible that even if Lilith had cloned her body, Mary could remember Lilith’s memories. No, impossible, that made little sense! Otherwise, there was the chance the teacher would recall her and the several nights she spent in Lilith’s bed at her cottage. Besides, Lilith had erased the memories that brought up those nightmares. For certain, she had also deleted any memory related to them. If there were any.

A memory flashed in Zelda’s mind then. About a child with impossibly blue eyes. One who had followed her through the woods and had claimed not having been kissed before in her life.

Mary Wardwell could have aged. However, those eyes hadn’t changed in the decades that went by since that chilly afternoon. The High Priestess looked at the woman beside her, wondering if she would remember it was her who had claimed her lips that day. She had changed little in the years that passed. Sure! She had aged too, but years passed differently through her.

“Oh, I was so long ago that I hardly remember it anymore. It happened when I was a teen, and for sure, I always thought it was just the most vivid dream,” Mary said as she touched her lips faintly. They tingled with the warmth she remembered feeling in them. “I remember the building. I thought I saw a flash of fancy interior décor. Then, as if it was a mirage, I saw the place as the messy structure would lead you to believe it is inside.”

A deep shade of crimson touched her cheeks then, as she remembered the mysterious redhead who had kissed her. The only being who had ignited something deep inside her no matter how wrong it was for a woman to feel that for another one.

She tried to remember the woman’s features, but just like the man who had dragged her inside the Spellman’s Mortuary the first time, they were blurry, and she couldn’t describe either of them.

What she remembered was the soft-looking cascade of rose-gold curls that framed her face lovely. How those deep emerald eyes had glinted with mischief as the mysterious woman leaned to kiss her. And the taste of the soft lips against her own. She knew those eyes! Mary thought as she spared an embarrassed glance towards Zelda Spellman. Then, she shook her head, Zelda couldn’t be that much older than her, perhaps it had been so long that her memory failed her. A wishful thought, perhaps.

Wishful? She frowned, shaking her head. No, she wasn’t feeling anything inappropriate for this woman. No matter how alluring and beautiful she was. Definitively, no. She refused to! It wasn’t normal! It wasn’t right!

Zelda said nothing as she observed with intent the feelings flickering on the brunette’s face. As if she wasn’t thinking about a dream, but flipping through several of them. Her face showing emotions that went from longing to regret and discomfort.

Then there was that little fact that she knew for sure she had kissed this woman before -her first kiss!- and she didn’t want to explain herself for her age or for kissing cute teenagers that trespassed somehow the veil between worlds without knowledge of the magical realm.

The teacher turned towards her and taking a deep breath the Directrix prepared herself to answer the questions that would surely come up. But to stop her -or, perhaps, to run away from them- Zelda walked towards the entrance.

The solid wooden doors opened before the redhead could reach them, and an excited Prudence rushed out, unintentionally saving Zelda from a possible awkward questioning.

The white-haired witch passed by her Directrix and straight into Mary Wardwell’s personal space. She took the teacher’s hands and pressed them into a tight grasp. “Thank you, Ms. Wardwell,” she said with teary eyes before releasing her hands and waving to the twins to follow her. “Thank you, Mother Spellman,” she added, stopping at her side.

“We’ve spoken about this, Prudence. It’s only right. Now, go! If they need anything or you do; we will be in my office.”

“What’s with the mother Spellman, thing?” Mary asked. Thankful for the reprieve of sinful thoughts about Zelda kissing her.

The High Priestess smiled, shrugging in dismissal. “It’s just the way they call me since I’m one of the eldest witches that remain in this coven.”

Zelda didn’t know why, but she didn’t want to disclose the extension of her work inside the Academy or their Order. Perhaps it was so she wouldn’t have the pressure of creating an image she wasn’t sure she could uphold. “Shall we?”

Mary smiled merrily, “Yes, Mother Spellman.”

And Hecate! Those words, that smile, those blue eyes shining with mischief added to the memory from decades ago, warmed Zelda in ways only Lilith had warmed her before.

Chapter 25

Notes:

I'm not entirely happy with it but it's an advance.

Chapter Text

As they walked around the Academy, Mary had looked in astonishment at the aesthetics of the place, from the floors to the high ceilings, looking like the proverbial child in a candy store. Zelda shook her head, amused as she explained that the building was designed using sacred geometry and what mortals had called ‘fractal theory’. The teacher had blinked at that news.

Mary had been sure Zelda was knowledgeable in the esoteric field, but learning that witches had used a relatively recent theory for a building that was built around colonial times had been mind-blowing.

“What now?”

The High Priestess asked as the woman stopped dead in her tracks, considering it. She felt observed and raised her eyes to find green eyes looking at her as if expecting something. An answer, perhaps? “Huh? Oh, I just assumed witches were all about astrology, tarot, you know... ‘the esoteric’…” Mary even finger quoted the last part. Zelda laughed at this, a rich laugh that filled the empty room warmly.

The High Priestess shook her head, amused at how the folklore behind being a witch that was planted during centuries to make mortals believe their existence was nothing but a myth or a watered-down version that limited magic to intention, still worked even for someone as Mary, who knew they existed.

“There’s far more than it meets the eye. Many of the theories that your kind has explained come from our version of it. Our ancients communed with the Gods and Goddesses in ways that most have forgotten. Some witches nowadays didn’t even have the chance to meet the one they devoted themselves to.”

“Have you?” The mortal asked as she followed the redhead once again.

“I believe I mentioned that our former God was a bitch. We met him, dethroned him, and helped a coup in Hell. If only to keep Sabrina in our realm. As for Hecate, I haven’t seen her physically, but I have heard her, felt her, and I’ve seen her answer to our prayers and requests. I can feel her imbuing our energies with hers. Even you have seen her power.”

“Me? How could I possibly have seen her power if I have only a vague idea of who she is or what she stands for?” Mary frowned in confusion as they finally entered the redhead’s office.

“You’ve seen Hilda, and Sabrina alive. If Hecate hadn’t intervened, both would be long dead. Even I would’ve had shared that fate.” She smiled. Then shook her head at the memory of opening the door and being killed by this being that now looked at her in a mix of awe and bewilderment.

“You… died?”

“Yes. As I’ve said before, dying and staying dead are quite different things. But, you’ll see, when I died, I was utterly lost. We had faced Lucifer, and as a punishment, he took away our magic. He left our coven utterly powerless to face an imminent threat. He wanted to have us weak, to beg for him to be our God again, and Hecate found me wandering the nether realm. She showed me she had been calling my name for decades while I was too indoctrinated to realize it. Too obsessed with Satan’s gifts and rewards to understand he was no God.”

“So, you were Satanists…” Mary frowned. “I remember growing up and hearing all sorts of stories about how the owners of the mortuary had made some pact with the devil, and that was why it was rare to see any of the Spellman’s in town. I used to…” she chuckled at her silliness and blushed.

“You used to?” Zelda prodded, having disclosed far more than she was comfortably telling to any other soul.

“It’s dumb, really. But I used to spend some time after school just watching your house. I don’t really know why; it was as if it called to me. As if it was trying to tell me I needed to get inside and meet you, well… your family at least.” She shrugged as the High Priestess’s eyes fell on her. “So, what’s for me to read?”

“I thought you might as well start where I did,” Zelda said, opening a drawer in her desk and taking out a worn book before passing it to her. Mary took it and frowned.

“The Satanic Bible? I thought you weren’t Satanists anymore.”

“It doesn’t mean that some things that can be read in there aren’t true. But simply, it will be good for you to understand where we come from. By we, I mean Faustus, Hilda, Ambrose, Sabrina… me. Everyone in this coven has started there. It might be wrong and misguided, but it will help you stand in our shoes.”

She opened the book only to find a ‘Zelda Spellman’ in a neat cursive inside. The book was well worn, and she quickly checked the pages, noticing it was filled with comments. “Jesus! How many times have you read this?”

Zelda blushed, “as many as I needed. Haven’t you done the same with the bible of the God you believe in? But as you will see in my notes, I not always agreed with what is written. I’ve come to learn that there’s much that’s utterly wrong. Just as the winner writes history, this bible was written by the one who was in charge for far too long, and his lies doomed many of our kind.”

“You really hate him, don’t you? Lucifer? Satan?” The redhead didn’t know how to answer that. She felt… something… but was it hatred? Rage? Perhaps just a disappointment from having bent her knees so many times calling his name. She didn’t know for sure. It was the same with Faustus. Did she want to kill him for everything he had done? For sure. For the way she had ended up prey on his machinations, while trapped inside her own body. But did she hate him? She knew she should, but was that dulled feeling truly hate?

The eldest’s Spellman nodded absentmindedly as she patted herself in search of a cigarette. Instead, she found the jar in which she had placed her herbs and stretched over the side of her desk to grab a box where she kept what she needed to roll it, not even paying attention to the teacher anymore.

With a concentrated look on her face, the Spellman matriarch went through the process of preparing her cigarette. It wasn’t until she was about to lick the paper so it would be done, that she heard a whimper and noticed the woman watching her intently.

Mary couldn’t take her eyes away from the redhead even if she tried. The way her hands moved expertly spoke of the years of practice, chopping the leaves first and then placing them neatly in the paper. When she saw a pink tongue come out, she left a sound that she had never heard coming from her throat before.

Green eyes raised then focused intently on the blue ones, as in a painfully slow motion, Zelda finished licking the paper, and then her lips. A smirk formed before she could stop it, noticing once again the effects she had on the brunette.

“You said… herbs before… I thought those were just regular minty cigarettes, the ones you smoked…” Mary said, clearing her throat as she spoke, fighting the goosebumps that formed along her body by being under the smoldering gaze of the redhead.

“When I first started smoking, there was no other way to have my hands on a cigarette. I used to own a pipe, but I thought it looked far too dramatic. So, I gave it to an old friend and kept my old habit of rolling them. Sometimes, it’s tobacco and mint, sometimes like this one, it’s a mix of herbs.”

She took out the jar were some dried plants remained and took one of each. “Raspberry, it’s also known as the woman’s herb, for its medicinal properties. It helps those who suffer from menstrual cramps, and I recommended it hundreds of times for pregnant witches. It helps to tone and tighten tissue. Magically, witches use it for protection, binding, creativity, fertility, love… and lust…” she grinned as she rolled the leaf between her fingers, before taking a flower and doing the same.

“This one is a blue lotus, for thousands of years it has been used as an aphrodisiac, to help with sleep issues and to relieve anxiety. It’s also called the flower of intuitive ascension, and it has mild psychoactive properties. The California poppy is used for insomnia, and nervous agitation, to promote relaxation, while magically, it’s related to abundance, sleep, luck, and love. I’m sure you know this one. Lavender is a sedative that helps lift the spirit, ease the mind, and it’s fantastic for migraines. In the magical world, it’s also used for protection, purification, to bring happiness, peace and calm sleep.”

“So basically, taking out the raspberry leave out of the mix. You are self-medicating yourself out of anxiety?” Mary asked, having noticed most of them were used for relaxation.

“Perhaps,” Zelda shrugged as she lighted it up. “Or perhaps I simply like how this mix tastes.”

The teacher looked at her for a moment. “I suppose it should relieve me that at least you know what you are mixing up. Not to disrespect you, but I never pegged you for someone with a passion for plants.”

Zelda laughed. “Oh, I hate them, but herbalism was considered a female field to learn, and my parents were adamant that no matter how good I was with alchemy and necromancy, knowing my plants, well that was a must. I only ever got as good as knowing them, though. Hilda, now… she’s what your kind would call a green witch, that entire room you’ve seen it’s her creation. She shows up at the mortuary occasionally, to check her plants, and I couldn’t be more thankful. For sure blue lotuses are scarce in this country, and I’m very good at killing them.”

“What else do you know?” Mary asked eagerly, forgetting all about the satanic bible as she propped her elbow on Zelda’s desk and rested her head on her hands, her entire being wanting to know more about the enthralling woman in front of her.

“With time, I’ve learned many things. But if you must know, I cannot read tarot even if my life depends on it. Those cards just hate me.”  

“Wait, so tarot is real?” Mary asked, her eyes widened at the idea of someone being able to guess her future and be right. Zelda took a drag and slowly freed the smoke, shaking her head while remembering the last time someone had thrown a hand for her. Lilith, in her old-hag glamor and her painful cards that were almost right. 

“Divinatory arts are always tricky, for we can change our paths as we walk it. Tarot, like many others, can show you a future, but it’s not set on stone. Now, there are witches and then there are scammers too. Along the way, it was an easy trick to play in mortals and get their money from it. There are plenty of witches living in your realm making a living using their gifts. Even my family did that before, selling spells, hexes, and curses to mortals for sustenance.”

“Directrix Spellman!” A male voice called as a boy rushed inside her office and panting as he stopped. “You need to come… they… I… Hurry!” Melvin said before he turned around, rushing away.

“Oh, Hecate! See, that’s why I use relaxing herbs,” Zelda said, rolling her eyes as she stood up to follow Melvin and find out whatever chaos they managed to create this time around. For a moment, Mary doubted if she should follow her or not, then the redhead’s steps stopped. “Come, as far as I know, it could involve the twins.”

Mary’s eyes widened as she nodded. Before she followed the High Priestess out of the room. The redhead muttered something in a language the teacher didn’t know, and a faint blue thread appeared as if floating in the air. As she processed this weird thing she was seeing, a chilly hand linked with hers and pulled her along as they followed it.

“Whatever were you trying to achieve?” Zelda asked, pinching the bridge of her nose and taking a deep breath.

The brunette looked around the room then and had to hold back a laugh. Her students had managed many things over the years, but this one would’ve won the prize.

Mary had seen the other classrooms as they walked around the academy, and this one currently looked nothing like any of them. It was raining inside, actual rain complete with grey clouds that were trapped underneath the ceiling.

Even though the room was hot, hotter than she had ever experienced before. Her eyes fell on the room-sized mountain to the side that was sprouting a red liquid… Wait? A volcano. How they had a volcano in the middle of the room? Some weird-looking birds were flying around or landing in the tree that was standing tall to the side. And was that a goat?

Standing awkwardly next to the middle door, a foursome of youngsters blushed furiously at being caught. The foursome launched themselves at once to explain what they’d done and how they did it until the redhead stopped them by raising her hands.

“Enough. I’ll bound your magic from being used for conjuring for a week, and you’ll need to return a paper explaining how you cast this, and where do you believe it went wrong. This definitively is not the beach you tried to conjure. Once I receive this work, I’ll assess if you are to be freed or continue working on it.”

The foursome opened their mouths to complain, but Zelda’s stance allowed for none of it, and Mary couldn’t help but look at her in admiration.

The High Priestess stretched her neck, before taking a deep breath and mumbling some words that the teacher didn’t quite catch. Then she walked to the middle of the room, and they could see how she had a bubble surrounding her as the rain fell around it. She raised her hands to the volcano first, “revertere in terram!” she ordered and the ground shook as it crumbled into itself, disappearing from the room.

Not waiting for it to recede, she turned waved her hands towards the birds, “libertatem redire!” She exclaimed once before she repeated while her right hand moved towards the goat. Her left was raised towards the tree “revertere in terram,” she repeated. Finally, green eyes were raised to the unstopping rain that was still falling around her, not before they stopped to find blue eyes that were looking at her in reverence. She winked at the mortal before concentrating on her task. “Cessate et sic dsinunt!”

The rain stopped, and the clouds disappeared into themselves, leaving behind a watery mess in the room. Zelda looked around and patted her clothes, removing non-existent creases from her blazer. As she walked towards the brunette, the water on the floor parted in response to the protection she had placed over herself.

“Now, you four better clean this up, and no magic allowed,” she said, as she mumbled some words, and buckets and mops appeared next to them. “Oh, and Melvin, next time, take your time to explain what’s going on before I need to rush here as if someone had died. Now, are we all clear as to what will happen?”

Mary couldn’t take her eyes away from the redhead, there was this magnetic energy drawing her close. As if all she needed in her life was Directrix Zelda Spellman. She gulped as she heard the teenagers answer a chastised “Yes, Directrix Spellman,” blushing deeper when the woman’s eyes fell into the witches perchance assessing them or perhaps, adding a layer of fear that she would come back and haunt them if they did something of the like ever again and wondered what would’ve felt like to have those eyes assessing her in ways she deemed inappropriate.

“Good. Now, clean up.”

Then, as if she hadn’t just cleared away the room with the ease of a witch with hundreds of years of experience, the High Priestess turned around and faced the brunette. “I’m sorry for the inconvenience, Mary. Shall we return to my office?”

Not trusting in her own voice, Mary nodded while chastising herself for the thoughts that entered her mind. That night after returning home, the teacher kneeled on her bedside and prayed to whoever might listen to her to please rid her of the burden of the feelings she was developing for the redhead. For a miracle that would free her from her sins and clear her away from the path of damnation that they most likely would lead her to.

Yet, that night, her dreams were filled with Zelda Spellman.

Chapter 26

Notes:

Aww... time flies and Mary ... still refuses to be anything but fearful.

Chapter Text

Weeks passed by quickly, and it became rather common to see Mary Wardwell sitting on the couch of the High Priestess’ office. A book in one hand and a glass of wine alternating between the other one and the table. Her legs comfortably tucked under herself, and her shoes forgotten over the carpet. While at her desk, the Directrix worked to solve the many issues that needed her attention, her cigarettes always at hand and a tumbler of whisky nearby.

It was also common to see them both rush to whatever chaos the students had created. To observe the unveiled awe painted on the mortal’s expression at magical display used by the High Priestess, and the relaxed power oozing from the experienced witch as she solved the issues that were brought forth.

Despite everyone having their own thoughts about the brunette and the way she could tranquilize the redhead with a smile, often lightening up the more stern ways of the Directrix, no one dared to bring it up when they –or Sabrina- were around in fear that it would stop. As for Sabrina, the teen had tried to add some protection spells and even a couple of banishing ones around her Aunt and her former teacher, hoping Mary Wardwell would stop showing up. They didn’t work.

What did happened was that the two days the twins were supposed to be at the academy became four without prompt or questions. Then, one day, they entered the Directrix’s office and requested them both their permission to spend a weekend every fortnight at the Academy.

Despite her fears, Mary couldn’t refuse them. It was their world, and both Zelda and Prudence had assured her that nothing wrong would come to them if they remained as the harrowing was long since forbidden.

“The Academy was all my sisters, and I ever knew as a home. I assure you, Ms. Wardwell, that none of us came out wrong.” Prudence had said, and Zelda had nodded in agreement.

“Your sisters?” Mary had questioned because she knew the girl was Faustus’s daughter, but Zelda hadn’t introduced her to any other child of his.

“Yes. Agatha…” Prudence called. Mary’s eyes had widened when she saw who it was. Barefooted, she stood from her place on the couch and brought the girl in for an embrace, feeling that she could finally close a chapter. And Zelda, who was observing at the exchange from her desk, felt something akin to jealousy settling in. The redhead had frowned, having not felt that -not even in this dulled version- since she found Lilith speaking with one of her classmates back when she was fifteen and free.

“Agatha, I thought I would’ve never seen you again. I wondered where you disappeared to.” Mary whispered, grasping the young woman’s hand and giving them a light squeeze.

“Ms. Wardwell. I wanted to return to see how you were faring, but I was afraid I would find him around. I was a coward, and I must say I regret ever knocking on your door. You didn’t deserve to be treated like that.” She acknowledged. Agatha didn’t see the way Zelda’s jaw clenched at this comment.

And so, that Friday night, to help ease the stress she could feel coming from the brunette, Zelda offered her to walk back to the mortuary instead of transporting them. Mary’s eyes had twinkled happily.

“I’ll get to know where it is?” She asked with glee.

Zelda chuckled, “it’s been two months, Mary. I believe you can be trusted with this insight. Besides, that you can see it, and find it, doesn’t mean another mortal can. Shall we?” she said as they started their way to the front door.

“But I’ve seen Rosalind Walker, Theo Putnam, and Harvey Kinkle coming and going often enough.” She pointed. Zelda sighed.

“Believe it or not, Sabrina brought them along in her craziness, and I hope you never repeat this. They were exceedingly helpful.”

Mary laughed at this, as they carefully waved their way through the dark forest. Until the teacher tripped, that was. Zelda was fast enough to stop her from falling or hurting herself by cradling her in her arms.

If there was more light than the feeble one coming from the moon, the High Priestess would’ve noticed the way the brunette’s breath was held and her cheeks flushed for being pressed almost completely against her body.

The teacher closed her eyes, trying to take a hold of the odd sensations running through her, against her believes, against all she ever thought herself being. Utterly terrifying her, for she feared what would happen if she was to free this unknown, unrequited and despised side of herself she was just coming to learn she had.

“Careful, there,” Zelda whispered almost in her ear, and noticed as blue eyes fluttered closed and those lips that she had found tempting for so long now, had parted slightly. It would be so easy to move her head ever so slightly and press her mouth to them, claiming them as she had once before.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t see it,” Mary said, taking a step back, hoping to regain some semblance of control over her trembling limbs.

“It’s my fault, really. I should’ve noticed it was too dark. If you give me your hand, I can teleport us.”

Shifting her weight from one leg to the other, Mary embraced herself shyly as she realized she wanted both to spend more time with the witch and run away from the things Zelda made her feel. Even if teleporting would allow her to run away, excusing herself for it being a long day and a long drive. That would’ve placed her under the unrelenting light of the Spellman’s foyer, and she wasn’t ready to see the way the redhead would watch her -most likely in disgust, as every normal woman would- if she noticed how utterly affected she was by her touch.

‘She doesn’t want you, Mary, we’ve been through this, and you don’t want her either. You are both female and that’s a sin. You would disappoint your father and your mother, and everything the Wardwells had ever stood up for,’ she thought as she chewed her lower lip and weighed her options.

“Do you mind if we keep walking? I mean, I’m always indoors, if not at the school, in your office… and this walk it’s doing a lot of good.”

Zelda smiled, she certainly could take the walk back home with this mortal who had grown on her with every hour they spent together. Now, she could see exactly where she was standing. It was one of their witchy gifts to see better in the dark since that allowed them to move through the forest for the witching hour. Yet Mary had already tripped once.

Her smile brightened further when she remembered an easy spell she had taught a six-year-old Sabrina, when they got trapped on a blackout during a thunderstorm, and how it had lightened her childish features with a glee that had made Zelda proud of herself for once.

“Ball of fire, ball of flame, gather for me bright and plain,” the High Priestess said instead of answering the teacher’s question. As conjured, a ball of red flames floated right above Zelda’s hand to enlighten the path further, as if it was a torch of sorts. Mary’s blue eyes filled with wonder and the same childish glee she remembered on Sabrina.

“To the Spellman’s Mortuary,” she said, fixing her eyes over the fiery ball before lowering her hand, allowing it to float in front of them. “That should help.”

Zelda noticed then the teacher was shivering and frowned. Being used and loving the cold, the redhead surprised herself when she took off her almost ever-present overcoat and dropped it over the brunette’s shoulders. “Are you really sure you are up for the walk?”

Unable to form words, Mary nodded, taking a few steps before the Directrix followed her.

Mary’s heart almost melted at the concern she felt in the other woman’s voice, and the gesture of lending her the blazer was too much to process, leaving her speechless. The overwhelming feeling of being surrounded by Zelda’s perfume attached to the fabric that was now keeping her warm, making her wonder if she was just utterly mistaken.

Her God, in which she wasn’t sure she still believed, had these rules about all sorts of sins. But if he was all-powerful as they wanted her to believe. If he had created all beings and everything inside Earth. If everything was his creation, didn’t that meant he also created every feeling she had ever felt? Even this… sinful need to be close to this mysterious witch who was unveiling herself to her a little piece at the time, while creating and breaking her own walls whenever she questioned her and prodded her mind.

Zelda didn’t dare to speak, sensing the woman’s trepidation and noticing the frown that had marred her brow the moment the fireball had appeared, illuminating the sharp edges of this mysterious beauty that she had started to call a friend. Even if only in her mind. The hundreds of pieces of the puzzle that made this woman so unique, still baffled her as she struggled to piece it together and finding that no two pieces seemed to connect, making everything more chaotic, more beautiful. 

Sooner than either thought possible, the path widened and made itself clear as they fast approached the gloomy building the Spellmans called home. The lack of lights on the top floor made Zelda’s heart feel heavier, as it pointed to her how it was devoid of any other being she shared houses with. She closed her hand in a harsh fist, effectively killing the ball of fire since the path was easy then and it would be too risky if someone was waiting around for someone to answer the door of the Mortuary.

They walked the cobblestoned way, and when they reached Mary’s car, they both stood there doubting. “Would you like to come in? I’m not sure what I can whip for dinner, but at least, you won’t be going to an empty home. After so long not being by yourself, I know it can be rather bizarre.”

There was something in the redhead’s voice that made Mary wonder if she was asking this for her sake, or if it was Zelda’s own weariness about spending yet another Friday alone, the one talking. For the redhead had shared in one of those rare moments where she blurted things out, seemingly unable to stop herself, that it wasn’t only Friday’s but most of the weekends when she found she had the house all for herself. Unless someone died.

“Only if you allow me to help you cook,” she said then, hoping that at least she wouldn’t be a nuisance or a burden for the redhead. She also knew Zelda hated cooking since whatever it happened in that marriage of hers that she still hadn’t found it in herself to share, or Mary in her to ask.

“We can certainly check what ingredients we have, and you can have the kitchen all by yourself as I make sure you don’t burn Hilda’s precious kitchen. Hecate! I could swear she visits only to make sure her kitchen is in one piece and her plants are still alive.”

Zelda led the way to the winding stairs and opened the door to the woman. Together they walked around the kitchen as they figured out what they could whip. “May I interest you in a creamy herb chicken, with mashed potatoes?” Mary asked, making a mental list of what she needed.

“Whatever you make, I’ll eat, I just need to be sure you grab the proper ingredients. Since Hilda has a knack for poisoning.”

“Po-poisoning?” Mary asked in shock. She remembered the times Hilda Spellman had spoken to her at parent-teacher conferences and sometimes at the bookshop, and that wasn’t something she could ever associate with the bubbly kind blonde.

“Yes. It’s her favorite way of disposing of annoying beings. Not that she had done that in a few years…” she lied, noticing the brunette was squirming in place. “As I’ve said so many times now, morals aren’t the same in the different realms, and witches aren’t above killing their enemies. It’s far easier than dealing with them sometimes.” Zelda shrugged it off.

“What about you? Have you ever poisoned someone?” Mary asked nonchalantly, certain that if she asked about killing the woman would deflect her question, afraid of her reaction as she had done before.

“Poisoning? No. I prefer my killing methods a lot more direct. A shovel or a hammer to the head always works.” Zelda answered bluntly, then noticing the way the woman was looking at her, she decided that changing subjects was for the best. “So, what do you need? Besides the chicken and the potatoes.”

“Chicken, onion and garlic, parsley, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper, milk and cornstarch if you have it. I can do without it too.”

As Zelda moved around the kitchen getting the ingredients and placing them on the countertop along with the pans and pots, she would need. Mary observed her keenly. She knew there were stark differences between them and their worlds. She had been reading about hers for months now, and she understood better how they could’ve worked and thought when under the control of Lucifer. 

While the teacher concentrated on getting dinner ready, Zelda analyzed her, wondering if her last revelation had upset her.

“Did I disturb you with my last confession? I know mortals and their morals can be queasy at our ways, it’s no mystery since up till this day, witch’s hunters exist.”

“I guess is just weird that I think of you as a good person, even if you confessed to having murdered. That’s what is concerning me. Does believing you are good, make me evil too?”

“Duality is part of Earth, there cannot be one without the other. However, they work by perception. What’s wrong for you, might not be evil for me. But just so you can rest assured, no one in this family, at least part that’s still alive, has ever killed without a reason.” Zelda stated, “or the ones we killed not always remained dead.”

“You’ve mentioned being good at necromancy, and I remember hearing you said to Sabrina something about an inexperienced witch performing such an act. Is that how you bring them back?” Mary wondered as she stirred the pot.

“Oh, Hecate. No, necromancy requires a life for a life. There’s a plot of land in our cemetery, that dates back to Cain and Abel.” Mary’s eyes widened as saucers at this and she opened her mouth to speak before Zelda nodded, “Yes, the same brothers of your Bible. This soil was part of the place where Abel’s blood filtered through in Cain’s garden. We called it the Cain pit, and it had the wonderful property of bringing back witches from the dead. It had its tricks to work and all, but it worked.”

“As in, not anymore?”

“No. Or I’m not sure it does, I’m afraid to test it,” Zelda said, lowering her eyes. “It’s a long story, that most likely won’t put me on your good person list.”

“Now I want to hear all about it.” Mary grinned.

“The only Spellman’s that doesn’t know what it’s like how to be buried on that unholy ground are Sabrina’s dad, Sabrina herself, and Ambrose. Everyone else dating back to before I was born had at least one go at it after someone lost control of their temper. It only works until your ultimate day, though. If you die of old age or it was truly your time, then it wouldn’t work.”

“So… that’s how you died? Someone lost control of its temper?”

“No, that’s how my father punished me for creating the hassle that eventually had us moving to Greendale, and then every time I was untamed enough to deserve a stay on it. My death… was far more recent,” she said, and Mary noticed how once again Zelda rubbed a spot on her abdomen, but she didn’t add more to it, worrying that if she did, Mary’s memory would come back. “When I died, the Cain pit was already taken. Hilda fell prey to a terrible curse, and the only way I could think to help her rid of it was by killing her and bringing her back. Which admittedly was a common practice for me whenever my rage or utter boredom took the better part of me. But that time, it didn’t work.”

“But she’s alive, is she still cursed?”

“No. But it took far more than the Cain Pit to bring her back. It was then when my coven and myself fully experienced Hecate’s energies. She brought her back when we called her after she brought me back when I needed her. So now that you know, I used to kill my sister and bring her back from the dead. Do you still believe I am a good person?” She asked coyly, as Mary finished setting the plates.

Mary pushed her glasses up her nose and moved the fringe out of her face. Then she sighed. As azure orbs found emerald ones that had that shared similar hints of self-deprecation, a shiver rushed down the teacher’s back and certainty filled her before she answered a simple, “Yes.”

Unknowingly then, that night they created yet another bond and added yet another tradition to their already mixed-up schedules. 

Chapter 27

Notes:

I think this one is just two words away from just being PWP ...

Chapter Text

Warm lips pressed against the alabaster column of Zelda’s neck, who’d moved her head to grant more access, even going as far as taking her hair away. Lilith chuckled against her skin.

“Eager, aren’t we?” She asked hoarsely, but it had been she the one who had started this, kissing Zelda the moment she was close enough and walking her until her back was pressed against the nearest tree and her skirt eagerly pulled over her hips.

“It’s been far too long, Lily.” The redhead had said, her emerald eyes almost black from desire. They heard the passing of some other students and the Goddess had linked their hands, teleporting them to a different place. She knew, though, the idea of being caught did not bother Zelda.

At least if what had happened once before counted. As they had lost all semblance of control and had been naked faster than ever. They were both lost between each other’s legs when she felt her stop. Lilith had raised her head and found Zelda looking at the man who was looking at them with something dark in his eyes.

Lilith was so far from removed from being a prude that she had tried a lick. Zelda had moaned loudly, pushing her head further where she needed her. Lilith didn’t stop, not even when they both heard the shuffling of fabric, but they no longer paid attention to him as the redhead also had resumed her work getting lost in their own fun. And so, she had learned that being watched didn’t disturb the redhead in the least. Perchance it was a result of the lack of feelings the young witch had, or maybe she just liked to be exposed. Lilith would only learn which one it was if her curse was broken.

Now, however, she wasn’t in a mood to share the teen with any other being. Not when she had spent the better part of two months just trying to find a way to bring her back, to uplift that curse, to no avail. So, she wanted to devour any inch of that soft skin and have those hands raking over her own flesh in the throes of their unbridled passion, hoping that at least Zelda could feel her love even if she couldn’t fully return it.

She took her to one temple that remained for her, where an exuberant room with clean white marble walls and a bed covered with luxurious black sheets were always available for the Queen of Lust. Hundreds of red and black candles lightened as their bodies fell into the comfortable bed.

The body alongside her own was warm and pliant even when Zelda’s kisses grew in passion. Soon they got lost in each other as they did whenever they found themselves aflame in their want. Lilith’s kisses leaving a trail of fire on the alabaster skin, marking her, melting her, and Zelda could do nothing more than wantonly answer her back in kind.

As always, they gave and took equally. Fingers dived deep and fast, expertly weaving their passion into an earth-shattering climax that had both of them on the verge of losing consciousness. They moved in sync until they were nothing but a mess of tangled limbs as Lilith held her close to her heart.

“What do you mean that’s been too long, love?” She questioned then finally realizing the words that had been said but she had been too lust-driven to understand. Zelda moved, raising her head slightly, and blushed. She didn’t need to say the words for Lilith to understand that she had waited for her. “Why? I told you to search for whoever you fancy.”

“And betray you? Us? Betray this feeling I have that I only feel whenever I’m around you?”

Lilith’s eyes softened, wondering how she had gotten so lucky to have claimed this beautiful being, as she caressed soft youthful cheeks and then brought her swollen lips to hers, moaning as she tasted herself and that marvelous thing that was just Zelda.

“Love, there’s nothing to betray when I’m telling you to do it. Find someone you lust after and, by all means, take them. Enjoy them. You are far too young to be tied up to a being like myself and be left waiting when you can take care of it far too easily. You are gorgeous, Zelda and I’ve seen the way men look at you. Take advantage of it.”

Zelda looked down, still thinking that finding someone else would create some rift between them. That the feeling she felt alongside this Goddess would somehow fade or worst, disappear as the rest of her feelings had.

Lilith watched the witch frown and chew her lip as she considered something, and wondered how exactly she felt the change after the curse her parents had placed on her soul. She knew that even if Zelda could not express them, the feelings they shared were still real, and alive inside her.

“What do you fear, love?” She asked then, raising her chin to get lost on gorgeous emerald orbs. “The truth, Zelda.”

“You noticed how I… changed, I’m afraid it can happen again and I will forget this too,” she said pressing her chest tightly where her heart had constricted at the idea of losing Lilith, and with her the last of her feelings.

“Even if you forget about this, Zelda. You cannot keep yourself from living. From experiencing the life you ought to have. Come,” she said, standing up and pulling her. Still naked, she walked outside the room.

They walked out to an open space where a statue of a winged Lilith took the space closer to the room they were coming out from. Moans and pants filled Zelda’s ears and her eyes fell to the middle of the room, where the floor dipped half into a pool and half into what looked like a giant bed. Above the red sheets covering that area, dozens of bodies moved at once.

Lilith looked at the redhead as her cheeks colored, and her eyes darkened. She smiled. “Do you feel it? The lust taking over you? Asking you, pleading you to jump right in the middle of that sea and be consumed by them all at once. Do you, love?”

Zelda gulped and licked her lips. All the signs of her arousal were there, and Lilith’s hand couldn’t help but pinch one delicate pink nub that granted her the musical sound of her lust-filled lover. Then, the redhead lowered her eyes, ashamed of her response, when she had just been expertly taken to ecstasy no other than by the hands and mouth of a Goddess.

Lilith’s hand traveled lower, dipping slowly where she had been moments before, not surprised at all at her findings. She took then Zelda’s own hand and showed her how she too was affected by the view.

“Lust, sweet Zelda, it’s a powerful energy. It has the capability of creating the most powerful magic if you know how to gather it. Don’t ever forget that and thrive with it as I do. Now, as for your little doubt,” she trailed and soon, Zelda found herself surrounded by the slippery bodies, enjoying the attention of whoever wanted to touch her. Tasting whoever was near, and when she raised her eyes, she found Lilith watching her with intent, and her heart skipped a beat before her Lily too lowered herself among them.

When Zelda arrived home, utterly spent yet filled with all the energy she had accumulated from their debauchery, she knew she could do it. She could find lovers to keep her sated and still have her need for Lilith intact.

The Dark Mother had also shown the young woman how to gather the magical energy the others were creating if she ever needed to use it. To channel it. And so, Zelda Spellman became aware of her own power, and in the years of her youth, became amazing not only at alchemy and necromancy but quite the adept to sex magic.

Even if it throughout the years it caused her -and sometimes her family- some trouble, and her occasional death.

Zelda had been barely nineteen the first time her father’s hand had been posed in her head and cracked her neck until she stopped breathing, her pupils had dilated and she had lost all control of her bodily functions as it fell limp in front of the crowd that had rushed to their home deep in the woods and claimed her head.

She had woken up feeling the weight of the dirt crushing her body into life. It was hard to breathe with all the soil trying to enter any space that was freed. From the back of her mind, she brought an old spell that allowed a witch to create an air bubble, and she hoped thought and intent would be enough since she couldn’t quite speak as the ground would enter her mouth. It worked, so her nails had carved and crawled until she could feel the wind and then a warmer hand pulling her through the layers of ground and up.

“Now, after all, we've achieved here, we need to move, for you couldn’t find any better suitor than him.” Her father told her sternly.

“He couldn’t take his hands away from me. Why am I the guilty party?” She had answered back, getting a slap on her face as the answer.

“It doesn’t matter if he couldn’t or if you wouldn’t, Zelda. It matters that they have found you doing it. When we all thought you were still frolicking with that girl Edward says you escape with. Look at me, child. There’s no fault in giving into your bodily desires, it’s your Satan-given right. However, it’s your fault to be caught. It’s your fault that we need to move away from here. So next time, don’t get caught.”

“Why did you kill me, father?” Zelda asked then, as she tapped herself to get rid of the soil that clung to her dress.

“So, I could revive you, of course. Lady Marianne wanted your head and would only go away when it was given. There’s always a price, she blurted out angrily, as if we weren’t the ones who taught her that. Now, go. Get cleaned and get your hands into packing, just like everyone else is doing.”

“I’m sorry.” Zelda let out, even if she didn’t feel sorry at all.

Weeks earlier, she and some other witches had snuck out to the bar in the next town. It didn’t matter that her dress was properly modest, and it covered more than it showed as it was the couture of the time. Men still followed her every move, entrapped by the mysterious energy that oozed from her.

A good-looking fella entered the bar and noticed her. He looked decent enough, although too shy to be of her usual like. He was older than her and she smiled, thinking that she should as well take the advantage since it would be a few years until the only people older than her she could bed would be other witches.

He had stopped her as she returned from the washroom and had shyly asked for her name before she had him pressed against the wall. “Get a room,” she whispered in his ear. Then bit his lobe before letting him go to walk back to her table. From the corner of her eye, she saw him disappear upstairs, and excusing herself she followed. Zelda knew who he was, everyone did, but she couldn’t care in the least because she needed to cast a spell and he looked like he was going to be easy to handle. She was so right that she had kept him at hand, using him for her magical needs.

“Really, Zelds? Lord Dixon?” Edward had cheerily mocked her the moment he spotted her dirt-caked form inside the house.

“Oh, shut up. As if you haven’t enjoyed the passions of Lady Marianne yourself.”

Hilda just blushed furiously at the open exchange about their sex lives that her siblings had often, as they challenged each other to find someone who wouldn’t bed them without a hex.

“I just don’t understand why you two have to be so vocal about it. Besides, Zelds, what about that girl you love?”

Zelda turned around at the mention of the L-word, hitting the back of Hilda’s head as she moved past her. “Don’t you dare to use that word and my name in the same sentence again, Hilda Spellman! Or I’ll make sure you never forget what it feels like to be reborn into Cain’s Pit, as I have just experienced.” Her eyes threw daggers at her sister, who nodded eagerly.

She disappeared to the bath, and came out of it later, clean and ready to pack her few belongings. Even if they still didn’t know where they were going to go, since the Church should figure out where they could go and who could be brought to replace them at their coven. Or if they could remain close enough that they wouldn’t need to change covens at all.

“Who talked?” She asked, noticing Edward’s concentrated look. He raised his eyebrow and shook his head.

“Well, sister, you were rather obvious disappearing upstairs right after he did. That he disappeared to that same town every full moon didn’t quite help. However, it was none of his guards. Lady Marianne herself had followed him, I spotted her and tried to distract her, but your timing sucked. You came out of the room right when I had her pressed by the stairs, and she saw Lord Dixon all but trip to try and follow you.”

“I always hated that nuisance of a woman,” Zelda rolled her eyes. “Alas, I won’t kill her. She has her own issues to fix, some of them caused by her own desires to get him. Thankfully, lust isn’t affected by love potions, although he confessed he could never make it work with Lady Marianne.” She giggled. “I suppose that’s the price of Lady Marianne’s love spell.”

“Spell or not, one day, Zelda Spellman, you are going to meet your match.” Edward sentenced.

A mysterious smile painted itself on the redhead, ‘I already have,’ she thought, thinking of Lilith, their many shared nights and the many more to come.

Chapter 28

Notes:

It's Friday night and I have no life. Thank you covid xD (not that I had one before it either)
It seems that in the previous one I couldn't stop them from touching and now I couldn't stop them from talking...
they do what they want, really.
Oh! I suppose I should add a trigger warning since there's a mention of rape.
You can skip it when Zelda mentions a compulsion spell and retake it when Mary mentions the terrors. (it's in bold)

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

“May I ask you a few questions?” Mary asked five Friday’s dinners after their first one, as they sat in her living room for a nightcap. They had alternated empty homes just to enjoy a change of scenery starting at the third one.

The High Priestess snorted as she sipped the whisky that Mary had so thoughtfully bought for her. She grinned over the rim of the glass as the teacher all but squirmed restlessly in place. “You do it all the time, Mary, and never ask first.”

“Right,” the teacher blushed, chuckling nervously as she took a sip of her wine. Then she sobered up, straightening herself in place after letting her glass on the side table, and fidgeting with her hands. “You’ll see. Usually, I ask questions related to whatever you gave me to read and sometimes about your beliefs or how something works for your realm. These are more personal, I guess. So, I’m not sure if you will answer them willingly.”

Zelda looked at the fire that was shimmering in front of them as if all the answers she needed could be found between the flames that licked the logs in an orange and blue dance. Then she analyzed the situation she was in. She, Zelda Phiona Spellman, was sitting in this mortal’s living room, with the brunette half-pressed to her side as they were sharing the couch so they could prop their feet on the coffee table.

Had anyone told her she would be this comfortable around any mortal before, she would’ve not only laughed but killed whoever dared to relate her with a mortal for something other than just sex. But Mary Wardwell, the mortal who had killed her, with her innocent demeanor and her very outdated dressing, had gotten under her skin as easily as Lilith had.

“Ask them, I’ll see if I can answer them.” The High Priestess answered honestly because she truly didn’t know if she could explain anything related to her marriage without shattering in thousands of pieces for what he had done to the last threads of freedom she had within her own body.

“Why do you keep calling me and those of my kind… mortals?” Mary asked, and the witch frowned. “I mean, it’s not like you cannot die. Doesn’t that make you a mortal too?”

Zelda turned her head around, as she felt the blue eyes burning holes in her profile, she smiled relaxing at the question. “That’s not a personal question, you know? It’s just the way it is. Although, I hoped you would never ask that, or anything related to my age,” she said as she struggled to keep herself from leaning forward and claiming tempting lips that were so damn close. She suckled her lower lip to avoid doing just that and couldn’t help but notice the way azure pools wandered down, keeping track of every move she’d made. 

“Why would I? I just assumed I was older than you… you don’t look all that old, and they taught me it was impolite to ask a woman her age.”

A laugh filled the room, as Zelda’s hand found Mary’s cheek and affectionately caressed it. “Oh, Hecate! You are so precious, Mary. So utterly innocent, that I’m afraid I’m breaking you or will shatter you in ways I shouldn’t. In ways, you are still to notice. I don’t want you to change not one hair on your head. Yet, it’s impossible for that to happen since change is unstoppable in the same way time is.”

Mary shivered under the mix of the redhead’s gaze on her as if she was evaluating a diamond and liking what she saw, and the always cool hand that was warming her cheek. Without having a say in it, her eyes lowered down to her burgundy lips and back to the eyes as she fought once again with herself, and all the beliefs she had caged herself into.

“I’m… so, so, old. Ancient even, and some days, I feel every one of my years just piling up on my shoulders as if they wanted nothing more than to keep me buried under them all.” Zelda confessed. Tears pooled in her eyes, not from feelings but by the sheer weight of having lived so long without them. Of knowing that despite she had lived her life in the best way she knew how she had missed so much. Moments like this one perchance would be far different if she could feel in the way everyone else could.

Shaking herself from the weird mood thinking about her lack had brought to her, she moved away to grab her forgotten tumbler and took a sip. She could feel Mary’s keen eyes on her.

“We call you mortals, not because we cannot die. But because your lives only last a span of ours. We retreat to our world and avoid being mixed with your kind, not because we fear you. Sure, there was a frightening time where being a witch meant being chased, but we could escape the mortal’s means of torture easily. In those days, your church killed so many mortal women for the most ridiculous of accusations. Have you ever had a pet?”

“A pet?” Mary asked, confused by such a weird question amid what the redhead was telling her, but she remembered the stray cat she used to feed on her way back from school. How the ugly thing would walk with her and remain by her side, and sometimes would sit beside her next to the Spellman’s sign. The cat had died before her parents had, and she mourned it in silence, burying her pain inside, for her parents didn’t allow her to have any contact with animals that weren’t from the Wardwell farm. Zelda nodded. “I had a stray cat… I loved that scrawny little thing, but my parents wouldn’t allow me to keep it. When it died, I wanted to die with him. It was the closest thing I had to a friend.”

“That’s the reason witches rarely dwell with mortals. The loss can become unbearable for someone who doesn’t know how to deal with their emotions. I’ve been told that after a while, you simply get used to losing them. Which I always found not worth my while.”

“Then… Why are you here?”

“I hope you don’t take this wrong, but I often ask myself the same, Mary. There’s just something about you that makes me feel comfortable around you. I’ve…” she blushed and looked to the fire… “Outside my family, there’s only one other being that managed it. I still have no clue why you can. Whatever it is… I’m here to stay, and I’ll be here as long as you want me.”  

 Her hand found the redhead’s one and took it, as she felt the woman needed some comfort. The High Priestess eyes fell on their tangled hands, and she relished in the way it had warmed the coldness that lingered within her. “How old are you, Zelda?” Mary wondered.

“What if I told you that Ambrose is about to turn one hundred and thirty-five? Would that take me out of the line?” She asked then. The blue eyes widened like saucers

“Absolutely… not. Now I need to know... please, I beg you!” She pleaded in a childish hopeful tone that Zelda simply couldn't refuse.

“I’m not quite certain of how old I truly am in the mortal calendar. We weren’t used to keeping track of the dates back then. But if you ought to know, I was born somewhere along the 13th century which makes me… archaic.”

“Whoa, you got to tell me all about your skincare routine!” Mary said, blinking fast. Zelda looked at her, a bit shocked by that answer. For sure, that wasn’t anything remotely close to the reaction she expected. She used to lie about her age, telling whoever it asked she was just above three hundred, but there was no point in hiding things from the teacher, not when she kept blurting her secrets out with no control.

“Why is it you make it so simple to confess you some things I’ve told no one?” Zelda asked then, her hand finding the soft cheek once more.

“I don’t know. I guess it’s that I’ve had no one confiding in me like this and there’s no one else I even speak to. Possibly, you just feel I’m safe since there’s no risk of me telling anything to anyone else simply because there’s no one,” she shrugged in dismissal, but Zelda noticed the pain behind her words, the tears washing blue eyes and making them brighter.

“I’m here,” Zelda whispered. “I see you, Mary Wardwell. You can tell me anything at all. Alas, I’m quite certain those weren’t your only questions.” She added, turning around and breaking the moment as she noticed the teacher shifting uncomfortably under her gaze.

“There’s many… but I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable by them.” An eyebrow was raised, and Zelda stood up.

“If you already start like that, I’ll better get myself a refill. Will you need one too?”

She extended her hand to grab Mary’s glass. Their fingers touched. Mary shivered, and Zelda felt a warmth spreading from her hand and unfolding comfortably over her body. It wasn’t the first time it happened, but it was making the High Priestess more and more aware of the attraction she felt towards the brunette, and how the teacher reacted to her touch, even when sometimes she felt Mary didn’t felt at ease whenever their unmistakable attraction was brought forth. She really seemed to struggle with it.

“Shoot,” Zelda said when she returned to the couch, feeling more composed after the previous exchange and lowering Mary’s glass to the side table not to make her feel uncomfortable again. With her free hand, she accommodated her skirt before seating and propping her legs up on the coffee table, crossing them at her ankle.

Mary took a deep breath. If it was from the display of an alabaster thigh that had shown up through the slit of Zelda’s dress or from the weight she knew what she wanted to ask would bring to the room, she didn’t know.

“Judith Blackwood… I’ve noticed how your eyes always linger in her. So, I was wondering, why is it she gets more attention from you than his brother?”

Zelda felt out of breath for a moment. How could she explain that even if she hadn’t felt love or even care for the child, she had stolen her if only to protect her from her father and the probable fate she would experience being the eldest of the twins? While raising Sabrina was almost as raising her own child, her mind had provided her that raising Leticia might ease the void that her heart had, that she’d carried around since she was fifteen.

Mary said nothing, waiting to see if there would be an answer or if she simply would close once again as she did whenever questions lead to Blackwood.

“I…” Zelda started, but then she felt the need to pace and smoke, and so she did. Stopping to give one look to the teacher before she accommodated herself by the fireplace. “Faustus and I knew each other from centuries back, from before we moved to Greendale. We studied together at the Academy of the Occult, we were quite the pair, but we lost touch. It wasn’t until they summoned us to Greendale that we met again. Back then it was really just a lost town almost inaccessible from the outside.”

She took a drag as she remembered exactly how deplorable Greendale looked back then. “We Spellmans arrived at Greendale two years after the witch trials that ended up with the death of thirteen witches of the coven. There were seven of us then, my two half-sisters had joined us on the trip. When they saw the town, they ran away as fast as they could. It was as if reliving a past we were all ready to leave behind. To complete the numbers lost, the council also summoned the Blackwoods.”

“Summoned, you said?”

“Yes. My half-sisters married away. Vesta to a wealthy warlock from our previous coven in London, and the youngest one, Sophia, to a High Priest back in Cambridge, and thus freeing themselves from life in a rural forsaken town.”

“So, if they summoned you to a town, you couldn’t leave? That doesn’t sound like freedom to me.”

“Oh, no, we could. We just belonged to the coven they assigned us. I spent an awful lot of time traveling around. I didn’t return to Greendale until they made Edward the High Priest. Well, my parents always tried to keep me away from Faustus. They said he wasn’t good enough for me, no matter how old his lineage was. They were right.”

Mary still didn’t see how any of it would fit with her question, but she allowed the redhead to vent at her own pace. Occasionally sipping her drink and watching her with intent as she tried to piece together what little she knew from Zelda Spellman.

“Since I put miles of distance between us, he married to a younger witch, Constance Coleman. I learned later that he had asked for my hand in marriage even if I wasn’t near, but Edward refused him. Some days, I wish I had understood his refusal sooner. After my brother’s decease, he became the High Priest, and we kept ourselves away from the Church as much as we could, using Sabrina’s mortal side as an excuse. Sabrina was about to turn sixteen -which marks a witch's adulthood- when I started an affair with him.”

“You mentioned he was married…”

“Yes. I spoke with Constance right after we succumbed to lust, and she understood. She was pregnant and couldn’t satiate his needs. She was thankful too because she knew I could take what he gave, grateful for it wouldn’t be she the one under his claws, nor any other younger member of the coven who would have no chance. I’m sure you have some ideas of what it was like, except he didn’t need the compulsion spell for me to answer his lust, as he did to you.”

“He… How do you know it was a spell? That I didn’t just want him?”

“Did you? Was it truly your desire to be defiled by him after denying yourself to your fiance? I know Faustus can be charming, so I wouldn't find a fault if you found him attractive too. Yet, I can't find it in me to believe it did happen with no magical help on his part, as he often did with mortals. So, did you truly desired him?” Zelda raised her eyebrow, searching for the blue eyes that she could easily read by then. Mary shook her head, wondering how she knew that but unable to speak at the cruelty of the truth she was hearing. “I’m sorry he raped you. It was not your fault, you are not weak, or whatever your mind tells you so you would be the guilty party. I know how it works because I’ve experienced it too… If you ever want to talk about it, I’ll be here to listen to you… I wish to tell you that, if knew he was in town or what he was doing, I would’ve stopped him. But I was so deep into our own troubles that I’m not sure if I could’ve done anything at all.”

“Because of the terrors,” Mary said if only to deflect the attention from what she now knew was the reason behind the void and disgust she fell after he finished with her. But too shocked to open about it.

Zelda wanted to rush to her side and embrace her, as she noticed how her eyes widened with the realization of what had truly happened to her. However, the redhead knew if she stopped now, she wouldn’t be able to continue. And if Mary was anything as she thought she was, the teacher would need some space to think through what was being said and process it at her own pace.

“Exactly, anyhow… He knew I was a midwife, and I hadn’t lost a child in my life. So he asked me to become Constance’s midwife and the twins’ night mother. That would be the same as a godfather for your church. I agreed. The girl was born first, and I was afraid he would kill her; she was just a nuisance since he had one boy to pass his lineage to and he already had a daughter. So, I stole her. For a couple of months, I kept her with me. I named her Leticia.”

She took a drag of her cigarette if only to keep her trembling hands at bay, letting out a curtain of smoke she continued, “I knew I couldn’t keep her without her being found, so I sent her away to another witch who had no coven, but that would protect the child. After I… married him… when I retrieved control of myself… Prudence confessed what I had done, hoping she would fall into his good grace. From there it went all wrong. He held a black mass and poisoned the entire coven, save for himself and Prudence. She chose her sisters over him and searched for us. We saved as many as we could.”

“I’m sorry,” Mary said standing up and bringing Zelda in for a comforting hug while feeling as if she too was healing just from that embrace.

“You don’t understand, Mary,” the redhead said, breaking the embrace and returning to the couch, her gaze fixated on the fire as she spoke. “It doesn’t bother me having lost so many people I knew. The ones I can care for were all alive and healthy. I don’t care for anyone in the way one should, I simply cannot. I didn’t care or loved that child, but I didn’t want her to experience life with Faustus. So, now when I see her, I keep wonder if I should’ve just kept her inside the mortuary instead of sending her away. If she would still be alive as the baby she’s supposed to be. I know there’s nothing anyone can do about it. I understand we lost almost thirteen years of Judith and Judas's life, while for us it was just months that passed. But Faustus found a way into another realm where time passed differently. All so he could use their magic to free the terrors.”

Mary didn’t understand why the witch claimed not being able to feel when she could see the care for her in Zelda’s behavior. ‘Don’t you get any illusions up, she’s just friendly towards you, Mary.’ But what she did know for sure was she wouldn’t be opening that Church of his anymore. She couldn’t bring herself to read those words without thinking about how he had used her... and Zelda… and his own children.

They remained in silence for a while, sitting close as they had at the beginning of Mary’s questioning. Hours passed by as each mulled over their own thoughts and sipped their own drinks. Until the sizzling feeling of the energies of the witching hour told Zelda exactly how late it was. Unable to stop herself, she placed a soft kiss on a sharp cheek, whispering a soft spell to keep her from having nightmares that night. Then, she cleared her lipstick away with the pad of her thumb and winked at her.

“Good night, Mary Wardwell. Thank you for this evening.” she said in all honestly, “somehow disclosing all that made me feel lighter, although it pains me to know I’ve burdened you with a painful truth.”

“Nothing I’ve hadn’t been considering already,” the teacher said sadly as she walked her to the door. “Thank you, Zelda... for being so patient with me, and answering everything I bring out, no matter how uncomfortable can be for you.”

Zelda was about to leave when she turned around and her gaze found Mary’s. “I’ll be there with you on Sunday.” And as she disappeared, the brunette couldn’t help the relief of knowing she would have someone on her corner when the members of the church found out she wasn't keeping it open anymore.

Notes:

I just stole her birth and age and two sisters from the biography of Zelda Spellman from Sabrina, The teenage witch. Please don't sue me :P

Chapter 29

Notes:

It's official my sleeping schedule is a mess. :D
and yes, script supervisor Mary had just the right look... #drools

Chapter Text

Sunday came far too soon, Zelda thought. Even if it wasn’t her church to close or her believers to disappoint, she felt anxious. She was prepping a couple of more potent anti-anxiety cigarettes -as Mary called them- to fight her current state when Ambrose came down to the kitchen and found her in the works.

After seventy-five years of house arrest at the Spellman’s home, he had picked a thing or three hundred from the vast knowledge of his very experienced Aunts, and that included herbalism. Sure, he couldn’t make plants grow as his Aunt Hilda, but he wasn’t a killing mess like his Aunt Zelda. He stood right in a comfortable middle, with enough knowledge to keep them alive and use them accordingly if needed. His eyebrows almost met his hairline when he noticed the components spread around on the table. “Hecate, Auntie! Don’t you want one of my leaves?”

Zelda laughed shortly. “I won’t do good to me. Hadn’t I something to do, I would have taken your offer, Ambrose. A high, wouldn’t be so unwelcomed as things stand.”

He looked then closely at his Aunt. Not that the woman wasn’t always ready to go out for a photoshoot, but it was one of her most stern and -he could admit without issues- sexier outfits. A power suit through and through. Paired with a red blouse, dark jewelry, perfect makeup, and her hair fixed on a complex updo that left her red curls cascading to one side.

“You sure are ready to kill her, Auntie.” He smirked. Zelda raised her eyes. If looks could kill, they would’ve known if the Cain Pit still worked. “Where are you taking her?” He asked anyway because, killing looks or not, he had been under that same glare thousand of times in his life. Besides, if she hadn’t killed him when they condemned him after his stint trying to blow the Vatican, he doubted she would ever find it in herself to do it.

“I’m not taking her or anyone anywhere.” She huffed, and almost groaned when Ambrose flopped himself to his bench, propped his elbow on the table, and lowered his head on his wrist, meaning that inquisition was about to begin.

“What have you so rattled then?”

The High Priestess growled. Her first instinct was to tell him she wasn’t ‘rattled’ but then she noticed it was Ambrose and being in seclusion studying them for so long had made him rather familiar with the actions and reactions of the three Spellman women he shared house with. Truly, there was simply no point to deny it.

“She’s closing the church tonight,” Zelda stated with an ending huff. Ambrose hummed; he didn’t need clarification about who she was. He leaned back in his chair and observed her as she finished sticking another roll.  

“Why are you still here, Auntie? Why aren’t you at her home, supporting her in whatever way you can? I mean, if you have nothing to do with that church of hers, and you are this anxious. Can you imagine how she must be faring? Or are you afraid of what Hecate might think about whatever it’s brewing between the two, her being a mortal and all?”

The questions themselves hadn’t shocked her so much as the insight Ambrose could gather, even with the short time he spent at home or anyone (but Mary) spent at her office. “Oh, Heavens! No. I’m more afraid of Hilda’s reaction than Hecate’s since is she who pushed me into Mary’s path.”

“Then, go to her now. I’m sure she’ll need some comfort before facing the lions. We both know that’s exactly what they’ll become when she tells them it was all a lie.” Ambrose stated seriously, not questioning her motive or feelings, just accepting them with ease.

“As for Aunt Hilda, and even Sabrina…” he said, as he risked taking her hands into his own. His deep gaze finding her own. “Aunt Zee, they’ll come around when they see how different you are when around her, and how much of an effort she has put into understanding our ways. No matter if they still hold a grudge, they will not stand in the way. Not only for the words you’ve spoken to us were right, but because they need to be blind not to notice you’ve never been this happy in all the years I've known you. And even if you think it doesn’t, your happiness does matter to all of us.”

Zelda gulped. It always had amazed her how her feelings for her family remained strong. How she had felt care and then love for the young witch who was looking at her with a knowingly albeit hopeful glance. How love had spread through her when Sabrina was born, and how utterly devastated losing Edward had left her. It made her wonder how was it she was broken in every other aspect that wasn’t this familial love.

Wherever she went, as she got lost in her thoughts, she noticed the way Ambrose's eyes lightened up for a second before he had freed her hand. “Perhaps I can even help you with the ferals,” Ambrose said, disappearing and returning not so long later with a heavy tome she had never seen before. “Sabrina and I’ve been working on this since her return. Here, for Mary, it might help her.” He pushed the book towards her, and she was about to open it when he stopped her.

“Perhaps you should just let her do the reading.”

“How could I allow her to read something I do not know of, Ambrose?” Zelda rolled her eyes but took her hand away from the cover.

“You know its contents, Auntie, for you lived them. You’ll see, Rosalind was adamant that I should help Sabrina write her experiences. She said one day someone we knew would need them. I suppose Ms. Wardwell might be the one she mentioned. It’s not finished, but perhaps she can at least start it and go from there.”

As if called by the appearance of the book, Sabrina entered the kitchen in search of water and frowned in confusion at the silent way her Aunt and cousin were sitting, both pairs of eyes fixed in a book between them, and Hecate, she knew that cover, “Is that?”

Sabrina squinted, nearing the table and confirming her suspicions. She raised her eyes inquisitively towards her cousin, who was the only one who knew about it at all.

“Mary Wardwell will try to close the church tonight. I thought, cousin, that she could read your side before she does it?”

The white-haired witch's eyes twinkled then, “of course! She might even be the person Ros mentioned! By all means, Aunt Zee, take it to Ms. Wardwell. Who knows? Maybe it helps, and people get to learn the truth for once.”

“I thought you hated her, for she had killed me,” Zelda stated. Since that first discussion, they left the subject of Mary Wardwell untouched in the mortuary. Sabrina avoided her office like the plague after hours, and Hilda, well, worked around her schedule only to avoid seeing the brunette at all, for she wasn’t sure she would not try a hand at killing her as payback, and the old witch’s rules demanded.

“Actually, Auntie… I… I don’t mind Ms. Wardwell that much anymore. I… I must confess I placed enough wards and protection spells around you, this house, and the academy to keep you safe from anyone who might want to harm you. Unless I really suck at even the most basic spells, magic seems to believe she doesn’t want to hurt you since she’s still fluttering around you.”

Sabrina lowered her eyes then, feeling the pressure of embarrassment burning her cheeks after confessing her transgressions. Zelda felt her heart warm at knowing that despite everything she had said and done, and how often she brushed past her, her niece did care for her. 

Surprising them both, Zelda stood up and brought the girl close for an embrace. The teen stiffened in her arms from the months that had passed since she last was tangled in the arms of her sterner Aunt Zee. Only losing up when she felt her love in ways only Zelda Spellman could express. “Thank you, Sabrina. It might not mean much to you; however, knowing the extent you went to keep me safe, means the world to me.”

Taking a step back, she broke the hug and placed her hand over the tome that was still sitting on the table. “Do you really believe she should read this to her church?”

The teen sucked her lip and frowned. Her eyes went from her Aunt to her cousin who nodded once in agreement. She took a deep breath and blushed. “It’s not finished, but it’s time, Aunt Zee. She must read it. They’ve been listening to Blackwood’s version for far too long. They can learn mine, and then chose what to believe, if anything at all.”

The redhead’s head crooked, her eyes glinting with sheer pride. She couldn't quite believe she had a hand into the woman her niece had become, even when often they didn’t see eye to eye and the girl had brought them more troubles than not. “When did you grow up so much, niece?”

“Watching you interact with the woman who killed you, Auntie Zee. If that doesn’t show that growth is important, then I don’t know what would.”

Zelda’s eyes watered as Sabrina left her speechless. She grabbed the cigarettes she had finished, placing them carefully in the ornate cigarette case she owned, before securing it in her pocket. With a wink, she touched the book and disappeared with a quick teleportation spell.

The Directrix knew the house was devoid of anyone but Mary, still she appeared by the front door and knocked to avoid scaring the teacher. The door opened slightly before she heard a “Zelda, thank God!” as her free hand was grabbed and the brunette pulled her indoors.

The redhead chuckled, then blushed as the teacher eagerly drove her to her room. Her heated memories of having shared not only that bed but that body with Lilith, burning at her forefront. She had nervously pressed the book, against her middle, before patting herself in search of her smokes.

As she lowered her eyes to grab one, she noticed the mess of clothes taking over the brunette’s bed and the look of utter concern that Mary had as she stood shifting nervously in front of them. “What?” was Zelda’s less than tactful question, since she did not know the woman could worry about clothing. Even less now that she was seeing the extent of her wardrobe.

“Zelda? How can I appear in these clothes and tell them that everything I’ve told them is a lie? How can I look like the mousey me, the odd one, and pretend they will respect me? They are going to burn me alive!” She said falling dramatically to her bed and hiding her face between her hands.

“I suppose the saying is true and one must dress for the job one wants. Do you trust me?” She asked then. Blue eyes that were still hidden raised to meet her glance before a nod shifted her hair to cover them again.

“Yes, of course,” Mary added then, confidently enough. Thus, Zelda had stepped closer, picked a black skirt that looked serious enough, and touched Mary. They appeared in a room Mary had never seen, and even before she could ask where they were, she noticed the redhead opening a door and walking into a dressing room that was at least half of the size of her own room. “Zelda?”

The High Priestess came out of it a moment later, with a smile plastered on her face. “I’ve found some of my old clothes that will fit you, Mary,” she said proudly, lowering the black skirt on her bed before turning towards her guest. “Go in there, I left it hanging by the mirror. Call me when you finish getting changed and I’ll see what we can do for your hair.”

Mary gulped as she entered the space, noticing the luxurious garments that hung around her and the unrelenting smell of Zelda. Her perfume, her lotions, and she felt the need to caress the clothes she saw as she walked to the mirror she was pointed to. She grimaced at the clothes but quickly donned them. There was no point in avoiding it, and she had to admit the redhead had a far greater taste in clothes than she would ever have.

“I feel completely ridiculous,” the teacher said, coming out of the room, pushing her glasses up her nose while inadvertently taking Zelda’s breath away as she entered her bedroom.

From somewhere in her dressing room, Zelda had rummaged out a grey skirt suit she wasn’t sure she’d ever fit in. But being Mary a tad shorter and thinner, the skirt reached a little over her knees. There was also a white silk blouse that she had buttoned up to the top. While the blazer fit her more snuggly than she was usually comfortable on. The redhead couldn’t help but leer at the woman in front of her.

Mary huffed, blowing her hair out of her face a shuffling her weight uncomfortably as she felt something burn inside her. Her cheeks alight with it, but Zelda thought it was just a bit of embarrassment. “You need a tie, and heels,” the High Priestess said grabbing her hand and bringing her back inside the room, placing her in front of the mirror as she moved around finding whatever she had been set to find. “Allow me, and these should be comfortable enough.”

The brunette stood still as Zelda’s breath came close to her, as she worked on whatever she tied around her neck. Then, she had to gulp, as she felt the woman’s hand around the left lapel of the jacket. Once she took a step back, Mary could finally breathe. “Get on the shoes, and come out, I’ll fix the rest.”

Never had a pair of shoes looked so frightening to the teacher, if only because she had never thought of the day that they would catch her dead wearing stilettos. She tried them, that was the least she could do. To her surprise, they didn’t just fit, but they were as comfortable as her shoes. Once she was sure she would not kill herself in them, she walked out.

Through her vanity mirror, Zelda caught the glance of blue eyes and smiled. She patted the chair and with a deep breath, Mary ventured herself into the glamourous witch’s hands. One by one, the pins on her hair were carefully taken and placed into the vanity. The redhead bit her lip as the dark mane fell in waves, reminding her too much of the days Lilith strutted on Earth wearing the same hairdo. Her hand got lost in it, finding it as soft as she remembered. Then, with the experience of all her years of life, the High Priestess quickly created an updo that even kept her hair from falling to her face.

Mary couldn’t believe her eyes as she saw herself in the mirror. The image looked nothing quite like her and yet; it was her. Zelda chewed her lower lip and squinted as she studied what she could do for makeup, but she found that the woman’s bone structure was far too beautiful for her to improve it. She searched around her collection of lipsticks until she found one and passed it to her. “Last touch.”

Her eyes widened when she saw the deep cherry color that was presented to her. It was a bit worn out, and she couldn’t help to think that this same lipstick had caressed Zelda’s lips before. Perchance it was that what moved her to try it on. Or maybe it was the expectant green eyes that hadn’t left her lips.

“Now, you are ready to face them.” Zelda grinned, placing her hands on her shoulders. Another deep breath later, Mary stood up and studied her image. She could see herself wearing this kind of clothes. Not that tight, but still covering her enough that she didn’t need to fight with her self-conscious self.

To avoid any questionings or lingering doubts that would make the brunette change into her usual gowns, Zelda transported them and the book back to her cottage. “Sabrina and Ambrose send you this, they said you should read it to your audience, and you’d know how to proceed.”

“What is it?” Mary frowned.

“As far as I know, it’s the truth as it happened, at least how the mind of my seventeen-year-old niece remembers it. Now, whenever you are ready, I can transport us to the alley nearby. Unless you prefer driving?”

Mary walked around her home, searching for the things she needed and gaining confidence in herself as she did. Zelda’s presence relaxing and comforting her more than she thought possible. “Take us,” she stated after a while.

They walked out of the alley in silence, the only noise on the street coming from the clicking of their high heels, and those coming from Zelda’s rhythmically smoking as they did. Mary recognized the scent as one of those anti-anxiety cigarettes’ the Directrix often smoked when the pile of work on her desk was far too dense. They stopped outside the doors, and without thinking, Mary took Zelda’s wrist and inhaled deeply from the cigarette.

Zelda giggled, the rich sound bringing a sweet wave of warmth on the teacher, as it mixed up with the relaxing properties of the herbs she had just consumed. “It does work!” The brunette said marveled as the hand with the holder moved towards her once more so she could take another drag.

“Magical properties always work when magical beings mix them.”   

It was soon that the cigarette was over, and they were standing inside the church. Once the teacher had placed all the candles in their proper places, the Directrix turned them on with a wave of her hand. While the brunette went to replace Faustus’s book for Sabrina’s.

Slowly but surely the usual crowd filled the room, and Mary’s eyes widened when she noticed not only Sabrina Spellman herself and her friends on the back row, but Ambrose… and the most surprising of them all, Hilda Spellman sat next to her husband too. 

Zelda who for once had sat on the front row followed Mary’s gaze noticing the way her eyes had widened, and couldn’t help the smile that blossomed in her face knowing that whatever roughness that remained from having chosen this mortal was not enough to keep them from supporting her. Which meant that months later, their own relationship was on the way to be mended.

Silence took over the tiny room as Mary cleared her throat. Ms. Meeks's usual question came up, and the teacher looked at Zelda for a bit of support. “I believe Reverend Lovecraft won’t return to this town, Goodie Meeks. I’m also aware that his words might have not been entirely true. So, henceforth, I’ll be reading this for those of you who want to listen.”

There was a rumble of voices that were confused and perhaps annoyed, but she stood proud, feeling confident as Zelda’s eyes never wavered from her. She could feel the green orbs burning her, and she wondered if she had placed some spell on her since for once her hands weren’t trembling. The noise stopped as she opened the book and took a deep breath.

“It’s been said that every story has at least three ways, that of the parts involved in it, that even if similar in thought can differ from the third one… The truth itself. As we decided to start writing the events that I, Sabrina Morningstar, daughter of Lucifer himself, started. Unknowing of my true origins until they were presented to me like a bomb that I couldn’t dissemble in time. I had done it, I had changed, and I had tasted the perils of power, and admittedly, several of those times I thought I doomed us all.”

“I shall start this at the very beginning, when on his way home the ones I came to know as my parents, stopped on a clearing near my house for my mother had entered labor. They summoned my aunts, and I saw my first light, that of the moon, as I wailed right on the loving arms of my Auntie. I will keep their names to myself, to protect them as they did for me my entire life.”

“My mother was what in our world we call a mortal. My father, the High Priest of the Church of Night, and by all intents and purposes, a witch. In my father’s world, my world, my parent’s relationship was utterly forbidden. It was a surprise, truly, that Satan himself had allowed them to marry, and now we know it wasn’t without second intentions. For he took my father’s body at my conception, creating what we later found out I was. The child of the Unholy Trinity: mortal, witch, and fallen angel turned God.”

“My parent’s happiness didn’t last long, nor their lives last longer. On their way to present the changes they thought were befitting a new wave of witches and mortals who they thought were willing to cooperate - or at least not kill each other- the plane they were traveling in collapsed to the sea, and I was the only survivor of it. To keep his spawn safe, the Dark Lord himself, my father, Lucifer Morningstar, transported me through time and space right into the foyer of my Aunts’ home.”

“Fifteen years and some months later, chaos began…” 

Chapter 30

Notes:

Gah... chapter 30 already?
Sigh... It seems I don't know how to write short stuff anymore!

Chapter Text

“Well, that wasn’t that bad, was it, lamb?” Hilda’s voice broke the silence that had befallen on the room where only Mary, Cerberus, and the Spellmans remained.

Mary let out the breath she had been holding for a while now, and with it, a weight seemed to disappear from her shoulders. By the corner of her eye, she noticed it was now Zelda who, even straightened into her full height, had squared her shoulders and held herself in a stance that glowed with stress.

“It really wasn’t. Hum, I… Thank you, Sabrina. I know what I’ve read is only the beginning of your journey. I would be honored to keep reading to whoever wants to listen to it.”

Mary’s blue eyes fell kind and hopeful on those of the white-haired teen witch who she had loved dearly from afar. As one lonely soul would love the kind soul that -no matter how young it was- saw her wandering lost and took her hand to show her there was someone out there who could see them.

“If you believe it will help, for sure, Ms. Wardwell.” Sabrina smiled, then turned towards her eldest Aunt. “Ah, I listened to you, for once, Auntie Zee… I know for what I’ve overheard that Blackwood’s book mentioned our names, but I didn’t. I kept the names of anyone who could be found in this realm even by chance, obscured as much as I could. Even mortals,” she added the last one with a quick look towards Mary. She knew her Aunt would worry if had she mentioned Ms. Wardwell’s name, especially upon arrival to the day they found their ultimate path as followers of Hecate.

“Thank you, Sabrina.” Zelda nodded. She left out a breath and with it the fear that Mary would one day read that she had been the one who shot her.

“What do you all say if I regale you with dinner?” Cerberus said, noticing the awkwardness of the little group that remained. He knew where Hilda and Sabrina stood in this battle of will that had lasted too long. It was no surprise for him that the one building on the bridge had been Ambrose.

Cousin Ambrose had appeared earlier at the shop as they were getting ready for their date night. He looked uncomfortable to bring the subject in front of him too, but it didn’t let that deter him. “Auntie, Sabrina, and I are coming tonight to the Pilgrims of the Night Church, to show our support to Ms. Wardwell as she gets ready to read our truth to the people of Greendale.”

Hilda had shuffled awkwardly, her eyes throwing daggers at him, and once again he was grateful that looks couldn’t kill. He gulped since that glare was far rarer than when it came from his redheaded aunt. “It’s been months, Auntie, and I know that even if you both pretend things are all right, you both are missing each other dearly. Aunt Zee... She’s so different with her… She cares, and I don’t know if you did, but I have never seen her caring that deeply for someone outside the family. Not even Leticia had brought out that glint in her eyes. And you know this. Perhaps it’s what scares you the most?”

The blonde Spellman had thought back to the days of their youth when she remembered Zelda being so different from the woman she had become. Her sister’s change had her for years, terrified her. It had worried her she too would end up bitter and loveless when her Dark Baptism approached. Zelda’s change had never been addressed in her household as if all of them were just blind to it, or just knew it was supposed to happen.

“Why would I go, Ambrose? It’s not like Zelda is the one closing a church or getting rid of devotees.”

Ambrose crooked his head and smiled sadly. “If you had just seen how anxious she was, Auntie. You wouldn’t be asking. Sabrina was the one telling me we should come. Your niece’s rounding up her mortal friends as we speak. Aunt Zee and you are mothers for her, and she could put the killing behind her. Aunt Zee was the one killed, and she managed, too. Sure, I don’t have siblings, I don’t know what it feels like to lose one. Although, with my parents gone so early, I know all about loss. But you didn’t lose her, Auntie… Heavens, you didn’t even know she too had been dead until Sabrina let that out of the bag. So, why do you hold a grudge for something you truly didn’t experience? Is it not the memory of losing Uncle Edward speaking?”

Hilda opened her mouth to reply, but she truly couldn’t find any explanations about it. Yet, she remained impassible as Ambrose kissed her cheek, adding a “we’ll wait for you Auntie, but we’ll understand if you don’t come.”

As he walked Ambrose away, Dr. Cee had smiled, “We’ll be there, she needs her sister and I need her to stop burning the cakes when she thinks of her.” 

So, it made sense for him to find a way to put them all in the same booth, and hopefully, knowing that the Spellman sisters were the most powerful witches around, that wouldn’t mean his store would end up burning down.

Sabrina was the first to run from that, excusing herself to go find her friends. “We just wanted to let you know, Ms. Wardwell, that you have our full support with whatever happens to this place.”

The next one was Ambrose himself, as he decided he had already done a lot of work that same day, and he didn’t want to push his luck since they were yet to know if the Cain pit worked. He excused himself to Dorian’s which the death immortal had left for him to take care of once when they were both drunk enough, and the blond witch had made a will.

Mary looked at the sisters. She knew something was amiss between them, but it was one of those things Zelda wouldn’t discuss with her. Not yet, at least. All she knew it was to do with choices and that for some reason Hilda wasn’t quite fond of Mary herself intruding into their lives. She had concluded that night, after reading Sabrina’s words, that it might be because she was a mortal and thus, she shouldn’t be dwelling on their world.

“Can I take a rain check?” She asked politely. “I’m so very tired. It was a nerve-racking day as I wondered how they would take it.”

“You still need to have dinner, Ms. Wardwell,” Cerberus added, hoping there would be someone else besides him to diffuse whatever quarrel might appear that night. But Zelda's green eyes fell on Mary. Sweet, darling Mary that truly looked tired, however, was eyeing at her with understanding eyes that said she needed to fix whatever issue she had with her sister.

The redhead sighed, her squared shoulders relaxing slightly, and her weight fell to one leg as her hands found her right hipbone to rest. A warning fleeting by icy blue eyes, followed by a calming smile, that had been near the Directrix when she lost her calm whenever her students did something bizarre. The quick expression was read with ease. “Thank you, Cerberus. However, Mary is right, it has been quite the day. We still need to clean up this place before I can transport her home since that’s how we arrived.”

“May I bring back some burgers for you? And a piece of the chocolate cake you love?” Hilda asked. A peace offering, that if Zelda took would grant a deeper conversation with her sister that wasn’t related to academy teachings, or the status of her plants and kitchen, and oh, how she missed being able to chat or diss her at will.

“That would be lovely, sister.” Zelda smiled a bright, proper smile that made Mary’s heart skip a beat and Hilda’s eyes tear up. It was then that she understood Ambrose’s words and perhaps even the reasons Hecate had pushed her ice-cold sister into the soft-spoken yet murderous mortal.

The couple disappeared quickly, and Mary turned around to watch Zelda with knowing eyes. “You do realize that it will take far less time to finish here than it would go there and have dinner with them, right?”  

Zelda sighed, defeat painted in her stance as she pinched the bridge of her nose. Mary’s hand found her shoulders, giving them a reassuring squeeze, “what is it with you and your sister? Why does she dislike me being near you so much? Is it because I’m a mortal?”

“Why would you ask those questions at all?”

The redhead frowned as she turned around to face her. The teacher shrugged and slumped into one pew, her eyes never leaving Zelda. “For what I’ve read tonight, and what I learned from Sabrina, who, believe me, couldn’t stop blabbering about her amazing aunts whenever there was an opening. Well, I can say that I know you two used to get along nicely, I suppose sharing the same house for long can make people either find a way to intermingle your personalities or to kill each other.”

“Oh, believe me. I’ve killed her plenty of times,” Zelda huffed as she found her cigarettes and lightened one. She offered the case to Mary, who shyly took one too. A couple of drags later, the High Priestess finally found her voice again. “If you must know, it was a female mortal, the one who killed me. I suppose she’s afraid another one would repeat the attempt. She’s just wary, worries too much, and likes to smother me as if I was the youngest child.”

“Ah, I see…” Mary said taking a drag then, and Zelda’s eyes fixated on her mouth as the filter touched cherry lips and the tip of the cigarette burned bright orange. Then, as they parted to allow the smoke to mix with the air. The action combined with the attire that had created havoc in the High Priestess libido at it was, send a bout of passion down to her core.

She cleared her throat, turning around afraid that the need of kissing that woman senseless and take her to her bed to worship her in ways she was sure Faustus had never tried, would scare the teacher who still jumped away uncomfortable whenever they were too close.

“What are you going to do with this?”

Zelda waved her hand to show up the entire space. Behind her back Mary sighed, believing the redhead’s reaction was related to her prodding into her sisterly relationship.

“I guess, I now must leave it open. At least until I finish reading Sabrina’s book. I don’t think I should keep its name, since I have nothing to do with that disgusting man and his ways anymore.”

The bite in her words caused Zelda to turn around and observe the usually composed brunette and wondered if she was responsible for that change. If she was the one who put that rage to seep inside her until it came out like this. And asked herself if, in time, Mary would use that same tone on her, when she figured out, the High Priestess she had been the one who fragmented her as she told her the painful truth of what truly happened to her and dragged her to her world.

“Will you help me with the banners? I can’t reach them.” Mary said instead, a smile plastered on her face. Zelda nodded, not trusting in whatever way her tone would come out, and sure, she didn’t want to add her own bitterness to their mess. With a wave of her hand, the banners were licked by flames that grew until there was nothing left of them, as they watched them disappear with the same expression of relief in their eyes.

Once that was done, another short spell later, the smoke that filled the room was replaced by pure air, and finally, Zelda repeated the one that she had been doing every other Sunday when she found herself sitting on the back row. When she knew the Blackwood kids weren’t there as a source of comfort for Mary.

Eyes closed, lips parting, and a breath slowly left out, Zelda looked glorious. That image in front of her or any version of the redhead wielding her power let Mary’s mouth dry. It wasn’t only exhilarating to be a witness to real magic, but it was intoxicating and arousing to know that this powerful being could be so warm and caring with some simple mortal like herself.

She gulped, shaking her head and fighting the blush that wanted to take over her cheeks. Part coming from the need that pooled down in her belly in ways she hadn’t experienced since that vivid dream that she wasn’t so sure it was just a dream. Another coming from the embarrassment and self-deprecation that were always brought forth whenever something akin to passion boiled unwanted under her skin, sinfully warmer and utterly condemning. It was painful, too, to know that no God had answered the prayers she kept repeating every night for months now.

‘God, please free me from this sin. I want to serve you in the way your word says I should, but why would you tempt me? I’m not Jesus. What would happen, father, if I fall? Will my soul be lost? Will I be able to atone for my sins? Please, God, send me a sign, anything at all, that will take me away from this path that’s taking me so close to the edge. So temptingly that I want nothing else but to jump. Amen.’

The bells chimed bringing them both from their thoughts and Hilda Spellman cheerfully entered the place, bringing a large brown paper bag in her hands. “Enjoy it, loves. Zelds, I’ll pay a visit soon.” She added, grabbing her sister’s hand and giving it a light squeeze before waving her goodbye.

“Shall I take the lady home?” Zelda asked with a smile as she grabbed the bag, carefully as not to make a mess of the contents. Mary giggled. The awfully adorable sound rolled down the redhead’s body like a balm, taking away the remnants of stress that her cigarette hadn’t been able to reach.

The teacher suckled her lower lip and frowned as she grabbed the book from its position at the pulpit and walked to stand on Zelda’s reach. “Will you take me to yours?”

The Directrix gulped at this, not sure if she would be able to still her need to kiss her when she still looked like that, and when they were in the Mortuary's quietness. She was utterly unaware that the same reason was running through Mary’s mind, as she feared that being her need so great and being her bed so close, she would give up to the only thing she hadn’t given up freely in her life.

A nod later, and the lights were turned off before the brunette locked the doors and they walked to the alley. Each keeping their hands tightly attached to the things in their hands to prevent them from grazing as they walked. They entered the alley, and Zelda’s hand was placed on Mary’s shoulders before they appeared at the kitchen of the mortuary.

After so many nights being in there, Mary already knew where everything was. She grabbed a couple of plates while Zelda found them something to drink. What easily became Mary’s favorite red, sat at the table between them, as they plated their burgers and fries. -Hecate forbid that Zelda Spellman ate with her hands!- the only sounds were those of their silverware as they ate in comfortable silence.

The sinful chocolate cake was on a takeaway tray, so the redhead had simply grabbed two spoons and prepared two quick espressos to end their nights. She didn’t realize the intimate gesture of sharing a dessert until Mary’s spoon clinked against hers and they spent the next couple of minutes telling the other to go ahead before laughing at their silliness.

With dinner done, the teacher found the need to spend some more time hovering around the High Priestess. As an excuse, she helped her to clean up the kitchen, and they stood in awkward silence when it all was done.

Mary was about to ask her to transport her home while trying to find out a way to stretch their time when, half panicking at the idea of the teacher leaving, Zelda blurted out. “A nightcap?”

Chapter 31

Notes:

Gah, I'm sorry the previous chapter was moderately (perhaps even totally) lame. It was supposed to be a short intro for this one. Before I noticed, it was far too long and could be a stand-alone.
I was going to post this one too, but sleep finally caught up with me and I wanted it to be as perfect as I could write it.
So.. hopefully, you'll enjoy it.

Chapter Text

“What?” Mary asked in confusion after shaking herself from being lost in green eyes. They were still standing in the kitchen next to the sink and Zelda still held the towel she’d used to dry the plates, drying her hands to avoid the teacher noticing she was nervous.

“Will you want a nightcap?” Zelda repeated her offer, throwing the towel to the side and turning her back to the brunette to pretend it didn’t affect her. That she wasn’t holding onto a thread of hope in ways she never had needed to hold on to before.

Truth was, neither wanted to part yet as they felt comfortable in each other’s presence. Albeit both knew they should. ‘Sooner rather than later,’ the redhead thought, for she wasn’t sure she would be able to contain herself when her heart was thumping loud in her ears and there seemed to be a rare display of emotions involved on her part. When no answer came, she turned around, eyebrow raised in questioning, finding shiny blue eyes and that something she knew appeared on the teacher’s orbs fleetingly, usually before something quenched it. As if someone threw water to a barely surviving candle flame.

Unknowing of the petrifying and confusing thoughts running through Zelda’s mind. Mary’s eyes brightened at the idea, not quite realizing they’d already had a full bottle of wine and she was feeling a bit tipsy. If she wasn’t so relaxed by the combination of the cigarettes and alcohol that they had been sharing for sure her mind would tell her to get a grip, that the glint she was seeing in the redhead’s eyes was not want but alcohol-infused cheerfulness. That she shouldn’t even care for that was another woman and that this attraction of sorts was still plain wrong. Yet, she failed to notice how the usual part of her mind in charge of condemning and punishing was dulled by alcohol and the heat of Zelda’s glance.

 “Sure!”

They moved to the parlor, Mary settling comfortably on the couch, legs tucked underneath her, and Zelda couldn’t help to think that the teacher belonged to that place even if it was just a novelty. A freckled hand extended to receive the tumbler with the amber liquid and took a sip, letting out a relaxed sigh. Her head was thrown back, resting on the back of the couch, as she savored the burning feeling of the beverage she was getting used to drinking. After reading one for herself, Zelda made the mistake of turning around then.

One tumbler became two in quick succession for the redhead, and then she poured herself a double third. Images of lavishing the extended neck with kisses and just messing the updo she made, allowing her hands to travel through the soft mane, accommodating their bodies to truly enjoy this woman. This mortal, who was utterly unaware of her charms and overall sexiness, and had no idea of how her soft, innocent movements were creating a burning bonfire on the High Priestess.

Zelda found no better aid to keep her hands to herself than drinking her favorite whisky, downing the double and pouring a fourth, hoping it would somehow dull the need, but once again failing to do the trick. Zelda shook her head.

Seventeen years earlier, when Edward had died, she had hated her witch body. What once was a cause of joy became a cause of dread. Because, no matter how much she had drunk, it kept up with alcohol faster than inebriation could reach her. Even if all her life she had wanted nothing more than to feel in the way she used to, back then she had wanted to drown her sorrow and numb herself from them. Almost praying that the pain of losing her brother had gone away as all the other feelings had.

Now, though, as she watched the teacher from the rim of her tumbler, she was eternally grateful for being able to hold her liquor. Alcohol imbued actions between them could simply call for disaster. She wanted to stalk to the teacher and do far more than just kiss her senseless, to show her how deliciously lustful she was, when not even paying attention to herself. But she didn’t want to come out to forward and scare her since she had seen the trepidation and sheer panic appear on innocent blues, every time the mood got charged between them.

Mary had been sipping the same glass so slowly since usually, one was her limit before either being on her way home or Zelda returning to hers. Yet, even given her best efforts, the last sip of the drink had touched the back of her throat. She noticed just then that they hadn’t exchanged a word as Zelda’s glance was lost fixated somewhere and despite being just a few steps away; it seemed that miles separated them.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Mary asked to bring her back from wherever she’d gone. Utterly unaware of the lustful ones that were running rampant in the redhead’s mind. Zelda licked her lips.

“You don’t want to know them,” she stated. Yet, Mary, sweet, innocent, Mary stood up, fought with her high heels, and walked towards her, placing her warm hand on the witch’s forearm.

The redhead's heated gaze fell on the hand that was placed on her. Her mind providing her with memories of how it felt to be touched expertly by that very same hand. Yet, knowing those same fingers, that same mouth that had raked through her body with their usual mix of passion and pain would behave so differently now, for Mary’s innocent ways would make it all softer, worthier of taking it slow and enjoying each touch as she rarely allowed herself to.

“Yes, I do. I want to know everything about you.”

It came out breathless, as the heat seemed to mount between them like a volcano, wanting nothing more than to find an outlet for the fire kept inside. Zelda’s eyes raised as a tormented green sea to seek for blue ones, noticing they were slightly dilated, how her sharp cheeks were rosy and her long-gone cherry lips were parted slightly, calling her to claim them.

“I very much want to kiss you, Mary.”

Her voice was deep, guttural, hoarse, and unable to stop herself she took a step closer, keeping her hands to herself and her own lips pressed under a harsh bite after such confession. Mary sobered up right then. She took a step back and then another, not from fear but from the desire that was burning her. She hoped that by putting distance between them, her muddle thoughts would tell her she’d imagined it. That they wouldn’t tell her to press her lips on those of the redhead and finally figure out what it felt like. Even in her aroused state, she couldn’t bring herself to believe this woman wanted her.

“No, you don’t. It’s the alcohol speaking... perhaps the loneliness.”

Mary could barely recognize her voice, it came low and raspy. Her entire body shivered with need as Zelda’s hand had raised to her cheek. Her cold hand in stark contrast with the bright red heat that she found there. The touch didn’t last long, for Mary kept walking backward and the redhead forward, her brain already set on learning if those lips would be as soft as she remembered them.

She doubted at first, worrying that she was corralling the teacher into something she didn’t want to, yet after the first step, she noticed there was no fear nor rejection in the teacher’s eyes. Instead, blue orbs kept dilating with every step they took, her breath coming ragged and the room growing hotter.

No matter how many steps she had taken, the redhead was still so, so, so close. Everything around them seemed to disappear, leaving her only with the heat radiating from the witch. The combined sound of their heels against the wooden floor planks, the way the High Priestess’ chest raised and lowered with every breath she took grazing her own, and the contrast of fiery red hair against the black fabric of her suit.

And those emerald green eyes that were twinkling with mischief and passion painted all over them.

“It’s neither. I’m completely sober, and if I wasn’t, this would’ve sobered me up in no time.” Zelda whispered. Her breath warm on her cheek at such a close distance.

Another step and Mary gulped as she reached the wall. There was no further escape, and she wasn’t sure she even wanted to run away from this… thing... she was feeling. Not when it was just a stupid inch that kept the redhead from crushing her with her body. Then those eyes lowered to her lips. She could almost feel them burning with her want, tingling with the desire that took over the usually cold eyes.

Mary looked up, and then down to the lips that Zelda was just moistening, erasing with her tongue the last remnants of her long-gone lipstick. The teacher bit her lip, thinking she should be the one doing that job. She was so close, and her eyes fluttered closed and a whimper escaped her, as a cold hand reached behind her ear to free the unruly pieces of her that fell framing her face.

“Breathe,” the ginger let out. Her words tickled the teacher’s lips. And Mary… she wanted to close the space and taste the combination of the sweet wine, the whisky, and the taste of relaxing herbs of Zelda’s cigarettes. She discovered with utter horror that wanted to taste Zelda.

Not caring about her own confused feelings, her lips parted and her head inched closer at their own volition. Zelda’s breath caught in her throat, for she couldn’t believe the brunette would grant her wish. She closed her eyes and lowered her lips, only to find they landed in the softness of Mary’s cheek.

“I can’t!” Mary shouted, flinching at the frightened tone in which came out. “No, I’m not a lesbian.” She blurted out then.

“A, what?” Zelda asked, confused, as she tried to deal with the rejection that felt like a kick in the gut, or a knife to her heart. No one ever had refused her before. Not even once. Not for a kiss, as they usually feared her rejecting them. Yet, even in her pain, she took a step back and then another, putting some space between her and the mortal that seemed about to collapse in a crying fit.

“A… lesbian?” She asked more than stated, her heart still throbbing in her ears and her desire tugging her heart. “I’m not into women.”

Zelda crooked her head for a second, wondering if she had just read the entire situation so wrongly. “Ah, right… A lesbian. I hate mortal’s infuriating need of labeling everything.” She rolled her eyes and embraced herself in the middle. “You don’t need to claim to be one if you don’t want to be one. Labels are just that… a way to categorize people into little boxes so their little minds can understand what they don’t have a chance at even begin to comprehend. You simply need to do whatever it’s on your mind and claim your own self, for it’s your life to live, your body to use, and your feelings to have.”

Green eyes now more focused landed on frightened blues. A memory of having kissed tempting lips fleeted through both. However, Zelda could read Mary’s panic and no matter how much she felt the attraction (the lust) towards the brunette, she wouldn’t do anything the woman didn’t want to. She disappointedly thought that stealing kisses from her would be one of those things to scratch away from her list.

Her hand found the teacher’s sharp cheek once more, caressing it lovingly, calming her. Mary’s eyes fell closed at their own volition, her breathing rapid. The redhead’s lips curved downwards as she traced the contour of the teacher’s lips. They parted, inviting, tempting. Yet Zelda abstained herself from more. Her lips found the free cheek before she took a step away.

Blue eyes opened slightly, hooded, shimmering with desire and the tears that remained from the panic that had threatened to overtake her. She found green eyes softly holding her glance.

“I will be very clear, Mary. Since I cherish our friendship enough to try. I do want to kiss you. I’ve been wanting to do it since you brought back the memory of the first time I did it. You know how old I am, and by now you must have concluded that even if I looked younger, for I was younger, it was me the witch you followed. It was no dream. I placed a sleeping spell on you to teleport you back to the park and observed you until I was sure nothing wrong would happen to you. I left when you woke up.”

Mary blushed, and Zelda walked close to her once again, her next words coming like a whisper, a secret between them both. “Back then, you didn’t have the fears you seem to carry now. Thus, no matter how much I want to, I won’t ever kiss you or try again. If you want to share one, if you want us to kiss, it must come from you. I believe that might happen once you have worked through whatever demons are stopping you from taking something I can see you want. Yet, Mary… even when you are done with those inner conflicts of yours, I’ll understand if you are afraid.”

The brunette gasped, finding herself so thoroughly read. Instead of searching her eyes, the redhead lowered her forehead on the teacher's one. “I understand if it terrified you, for I, too, am. I’m petrified at the idea that by doing so, this bourgeoning friendship will end, and I will lose you even before I must lose you to time. Allow me to reassure you that you aren’t the first nor the only woman I’ve ever kissed or had a relationship with. I’m not confused. I’m not drunk nor lonely. Believe me, I’m not lost… I want you, Mary Wardwell. As much as you are willing to give me.”

“Wait? You… like women?” Mary asked, confused as if the sole idea was mind-altering. “But… Faustus?”

A bucket of cold water wouldn’t be more effective to cut the moment than his name. Zelda groaned, taking a step back and embracing herself by the middle. The tender moment now erased as memories from their marriage floated unwantedly on her mind. “What is it with him?” She hissed.

“You were married to him. How can you like women? Like me? If you loved him?”

Zelda let out a dry laugh. “Not once I mentioned loving Faustus. He was a decent lover whenever his need of pleasuring his own dick didn’t come out first. Which to be honest, and most likely you’ve experienced, it was rare. I married him for power, to bring my sister back from being excommunicated, to try and restore my family name by being once more in a desired position inside the ranks of our former church. I certainly never loved him, nor any other man I’ve slept with. Love is for mortals. Lust, though, lust is for witches and empowered beings.”

“Lust? So, what? Are you claiming to be in lust with me?” Mary asked in utter disbelief. She looked herself down and couldn’t understand why she would even like her less lust for her and her ugly clothes, her scrawny figure, the sharp angles of her face.

Zelda read the self-deprecation with ease but wasn’t sure if she could bring her close for a reassuring embrace after what she had disclosed. Instead, she went for another caress, and a glance that she hoped conveyed exactly how beautiful she thought Mary was.

“Yes, of course, Mary. As I’ve said, labels are for silly mortals and you aren’t one of those. Now, lust… lust is for anyone whos’ willing to share their passion with you. Anyone willing to grab what they desire and feel the empowering pleasure of carnality. Lust is a powerful energy. One that can bend the most righteous of the beings. I don’t want to bend you, Mary… I want you to thrive in it. I want you to want it, to need it. To want me…”

The last words were said paired with a self-deprecating smile that almost broke the teacher to pieces, for she could read between the lines that Zelda Spellman painted even for herself. Lines where want and love were one and the same. Tears pooled in blue eyes as she wanted to give in, but her entire being forbidding her to do so. That shattering image forced the redhead to bring the teacher in for a close embrace.

The brunette’s head hid in the crook of Zelda’s neck and the redhead felt a few tears wetting it. Her hands patted the lithe woman tenderly, lovingly, and the witch accommodated them enough so she could whisper her next words and be heard.

“When you are ready, Mary, if you ever are ready… I’ll be there. Please, don’t ever believe I’ll judge you if you don’t want me, or if you do.”

The front door opened then, unexpectedly. “Zelds? Are you home?” Hilda’s voice broke their silence and their embrace. Each taking steps away from each other and clearing their faces from the tears that had fallen.

“In the parlor,” she shouted as she poured herself another drink. Her back turned from her sister’s prying eyes as she mutters a spell to fix her makeup.

“Oh, Mary. You are still here, lamb?” then she noticed the red-rimmed eyes of the teacher and glared at her sister. “Take her home, Zelda Spellman, and return ASAP.”

And noticing the protective stance from her little sister towards the teacher, she smiled and was exactly what she did.

Chapter 32

Notes:

A sisterly talk aka another one to add to the list of chapters I don't quite like.

Chapter Text

As they appeared inside Mary’s cottage, Zelda walked straight to the kitchen where now a variety of jars containing dried leaves and plants took over a corner. All of them were neatly labeled by Mary’s cursive. She smiled, noticing the mortar and pestle she had gifted the woman. One she had bought in 1889, in Paris. While she perused through an antique store to avoid the mortals that polluted the streets to watch the metallic monstrosity, that tower she’d learned to like a decade or two later.

Her eyes also fell on the notebook close to them. Her memory played the day that the teacher had happily brought along one, shyly asking Zelda if she could take notes about the things she was learning. One had rapidly become several as she separated subjects if she wanted to delve into them more. However, and because of the redhead’s constant use of herbs for her own consumption, the brunette had kept tabs on their properties and seemed especially interested in those of calming nature.

A smile blossomed on her lips as her heart skipped a beat. She couldn’t believe just how utterly fond of that woman she was. That despite loving the silence she could still talk to her for hours, regaling her with her knowledge, allowing her to take part in her life, and her night classes if she was around too. Something she wouldn’t do ever before.

As she shook herself from the bizarre place her mind had been throughout the day and avoiding to dwell on the events of the night, she checked the labels. Zelda easily picked a bunch of the jars, opening them with a wave of her hand as she searched for the kettle and tea infuser. She dropped the right proportion of herbs in the mortar and proceed to crush them while infusing them with her magic. Once done, she filled the tea infuser and placed it on a teapot, before filling it with water.

The High Priestess could feel the brunette’s eyes following her every movement and all the questions that were held deep inside. She hoped the most important ones would be let out sooner rather than later, but she knew Mary would need a lot more than just a quiet moment before she could try to dissect the events that led to the almost kiss they shared.

With the tea done, the teapot ended on a tray, with a cup and a saucer before Zelda arranged the mess with a wave of her hand. She took the tray and walked out of the kitchen. Mary followed her silently with squinted eyes, too afraid to speak and end up more confused than she already felt.

After lowering the tray on Mary’s bedside table. The witch noticed the previously forgotten pile of clothes that covered the bed. Zelda sighed and muttered a quick incantation that placed everything where it was supposed to go.

“That one was very useful when Sabrina was small,” she shared with a fond smile and teary eyes as she relished on times that were long gone yet not quite forgotten.  

The redhead turned around, taking the steps that separated her from the mortal. She fisted her hands, fighting the need to bring her close or touch her cheek as she could not stop herself from doing most of the night. But now, though, in the warmth of her own bedroom when Mary looked at her with wide innocent eyes, it became increasingly difficult to hold herself. Yet, if something was immutable about Zelda Spellman, was her word.

“Let it steep for five minutes at least, then drink a cup or two. I believe there’s too much to process from earlier, you’ve drunk far more than you normally do. Besides, you need the sleep,” she said while at the same time losing the battle. Somehow refraining herself from touching the darkness underneath the teacher’s eyes. Instead, she grabbed the teacher’s hands and gave them a quick squeeze before pressing an innocent kiss to her forehead, her lips burning the soft skin leaving behind a tingling feeling running down the teacher’s back. “Good night, Mary.”

“Wait, Zelda! What about your sister? I should return and explain….” She trailed off, not only for the way the redhead’s lips curved upwards but because she wasn’t sure what she could tell the blonde woman.

‘Hi, hm.. just so you know, Zelda didn’t make me cry. It’s all the feelings she ignites I want to respond to, but I fear my soul will be damned if I follow them?’ She thought.

How could she explain to Hilda that she was confused? How the woman looking at her with the most tender eyes or the most lustful ones was capable of bringing out of her some things that never she had to explain or feel. Could she even confess she had a lot of bottled feelings and some she didn’t even dare to name fighting a battle inside her whenever she thought about the redhead?

Confess to her sister, how it scared the hell out of her to give in and find out there were things in her -terrifying things- she couldn’t quite control like her need to taste those lips that were so willingly offered during that night. Or that the idea of discovering she liked those lips. That after all, her parents, the reverends, and even the teachers at school had taught her that anything but a man loving a woman was sinful and despicable.

She, the already odd one, the spinster, the barren one liked women in that way, ‘or perhaps it’s just Zelda, who I like?’ whichever it was, it was frightening since it was so obscure, so forbidden... and how absurd it was to be over fifty and just be learning that about oneself. How could she tell Hilda Spellman all that when she couldn’t bring herself to explain that to the one sister she knew better?

The High Priestess watched for a moment how a myriad of emotions fleeted through the beautiful face of the mortal, and how her eyes twinkled with fear and worry. How a frown marred her brow and crinkled adorably the corner of her eyes, and how she was biting her lower lip harshly while deep in thought.

But Mary’s eyes were raised only to find a smile, mischievous even, etched on red lips. Before the redhead dismissed her worries with a, “Oh, don’t worry about her, or me. Hilda’s actions mean to me a lot more than I can explain now. However, I must go now, I’ve been here far too long and I’m risking her wrath.”

The mortal doubted, but a kiss on her cheek, sweet and heartwarming, had her blushing like a schoolgirl. As the witch went past her, she saw her stand still. Zelda winked at her before repeating the words Mary was now quite acquainted with. “Lanuae Magicae,” the teacher mouthed in sync and found herself alone in her home.

Returning to her room, she started her night routine, for Zelda was right. It had been a long day, and she needed the sleep. Once she was ready, she poured herself a mug and drank it. Even before she noticed, Mary Wardwell was lost to dreamland.

Now, it wouldn’t take a genie to know where Hilda Spellman would be when angered and at home. So, it was no surprise to Zelda to find her sister right where she thought she would. In the kitchen, already prepping a teapot for them. “What did you do to her, Zelds?”

The redhead chuckled. Her grin impossibly wide as her sister’s stern glance fell on her. Almost as if somewhere along the lines the universe had reversed and the cheerful sister was Zelda and sterner one, Hilda.

“Ambrose made an amazing point earlier, one that convinced me to join you lot at the church. You both seemed to be so good together, so comfortable in each other’s space. Then I come here, and what? I find you, hiding in your liquor cabinet and the poor woman crying her heart out! That’s so like you, Zelda Spellman! It’s something I’ve seen you do time and time again. Sure, we didn’t share the house for the entirety of my life, but I saw the parade of mortals, and witches that you used to bring around whenever you were in town. I also remember those days when Edward and you would take bets on who would conquer who. Yet, you said it yourself, that woman went through enough trauma as it is for having her heart breaking because you can’t control your libido.”

The eldest’s sister giggled, and she tried to stop it, but it became a peal of full cheerful laughter that she couldn’t contain. Happiness clinging to her heart as she realized her sister was back to the same old Hilda, Queen of the underdog.

“Stop laughing, Zelda Spellman. This is serious! That mortal has enough knowledge about us, that mind you, you taught her. Let’s not dwell on the fact that Sabrina has finally overcome her hatred, and the woman is back to being one of her favorite mortals. The poor lamb does not know how you can be a wrecking train and she the unexpecting pedestrian trying to cross the rails.”

The redhead walked to where Hilda was standing, still going on about how inappropriate Zelda was in her more lustful ways of facing life and how she wondered how she hadn’t been burned at the stake for her callous attitude towards S-E-X. Zelda faced her with a crooked head, mirth still shimmering in her eyes, and the corner of her mouth still pulled outwards in a wide smile.

Then, as the blonde finally took a second to inhale, Zelda embraced her sister tightly, breathing her in and letting go of all the stress she had felt upon knowing she had lost her to this stupid sparring that was never meant to have a winner.

“What’s wrong with you? Who died?” Hilda asked as Zelda broke the embrace. Utterly confused by this action, even if she knew her older sister loved her and any member of their family. The redhead had built herself a nice wall that was rarely breached and had allowed her to show affection for them, if only in the right moments when they needed it the most. That making her cold but effective in her way of loving them.

“You are back, Hilda.” The Directrix just grinned foolishly as she found mugs and saucers for their tea. She sat in her place at the table after lowering them in the proper spots. The blonde frowned. She felt completely out of her depth while faced with her sister’s newly gained yet still bizarre antics.

“What do you mean with I am back? I never went further away than my home. That’s not gone, it’s a five minutes walk, or a quickly muttered spell.”

As she wondered if all that time spent with the teacher was finally making Zelda lose her marbles and made her forget she hadn’t been gone anywhere far. That she still was just on top of the shop and teaching every other day at the academy.

“You asked me what I had done to her, not even once doubting about who it was wrecked and who the bully. Even when you know she was the one who killed me, you chose to protect her.” Zelda stated, taking Hilda’s hand in hers and giving them a light squeeze to show her she wasn’t mad, just accepting of the mothering-being her sister had always been. “I’ve missed you, sister.”

Hilda’s eyes opened wide as saucers at this. First a hug, now a confession. Perhaps she had read the entire situation wrong, or perchance the next thing Zelda would blurt out would be that she was dying. She frowned. “What has she done to you?”

“Nothing,” Zelda said seriously, but a smile blossomed on her face and she couldn’t control it. It reminded Hilda of teen Zelda whenever she was mocked about the girl she loved. “Everything…” she added then as an afterthought, as she played with her necklace. “Not nearly enough...”

“You like her,” Hilda stated, pouring them their tea as she waited for Zelda to answer or chew her head off for her pesky show of interest.

“I do,” she snorted. “Isn’t it too close to karma that the one time I develop something akin to feelings outside this family since before I sold my soul it has to be for the woman, the mortal who killed me? Knowing that I might have to tell her someday that she was Lilith’s vessel on this realm and that why she can’t remember months of her life. Or even risk telling her she killed me… Or just keep these truths inside of me, hoping that they won’t scape the most uncontrolled mouths at the academy, making her hate me because I chose to omit a truth that affected her.”

She took a sip of her tea as they both mulled over Zelda’s words. Hilda sighed after a while, “don’t you think it would be easier to tell her?”

“Tell her what, sister? That as far as we know, her soul was stuck in some plane from where Lilith could call her back? That she killed me, but she simply can’t remember it? I’m not sure, Hilda. Besides, wouldn’t that defeat the entire purpose of asking Lilith to erase those memories of wherever she went to when killed, and that of the night she killed me, so she could keep a semblance of a normal life?”

The lack of bite in her sister’s voice surprised Hilda immensely, for it showed her that Zelda was truly worried about the situation… about Mary Wardwell.

“I suppose, you play it by the ear, Zelds. Huh, this reminds me... I was thinking the other day as I contemplated what my life had turned out to be, that Edward’s demise was in the end, kind. For didn’t have to see Diana wither while he remained immutable. Whereas I… and now you, still have plenty of days to see them get old. If so Hecate wishes.”

“Don’t be foolish, sister. For even if there’s even something akin to like, it’s currently one-sided. Mary, it seems, doesn’t see me in that way. Or so she says.”

It was Hilda’s turn to frown. “Mortals are so bizarre, aren’t they sister? I find it hard to believe someone of her age could be that inexperienced. Yet, we know her to be after all the pagans chose her as a sacrifice. I don’t understand how she can claim such a thing when I could see the way she likes you from the store. She truly cares for you, it shows in how she leans into your space, how she has fallen in pace with your schedule and doesn’t hesitate to share time with you, even when there are people like myself and Sabrina giving you a rough time. That’s why I concluded you’ve done something to her. Oh… she… told you that? Are you all right, Zelds?”

A comforting hand was placed atop of the redhead’s one before she brutishly took it away from under the heavy hands of her little sister and her touchy-feely care.

“Yes. Nothing that a good night of sleep won’t cure, if you must know.”

Hilda’s eyebrow rose, and she squinted. “You’ll need more than just a night to overcome a rejection, Zelda. Have you ever been rejected by anyone before?”

“Oh, Hecate! It wasn’t a rejection, per se, Hilda, and I won’t discuss this further with you. Whatever had happened tonight, it’s between Mary and me and it will stay that way.”  

Zelda’s tone was so final that Hilda knew it was time to change subjects, so she simply told her how on the time she had disappeared to Mary’s home, she had picked and left to dry some more herbs. She didn’t comment on how a bit of everything seemed to be missing, or how the space where the one mortar Zelda had loved the most was now devoid of such item.

Chapter 33

Notes:

Let me begin apologizing, even though I did go through a phase when I wanted to be a boy (mostly so I wouldn't have a period) I've never been a trans boy. So I hope I didn't screw it up, I did read experiences online but I know that's usually not the same as living through them.
The comment section is judgment-free (at least from me) if you want to share your experiences.
If you hate it, please do remember I am a human being when you comment ... thank you!!
💞💞💞

Chapter Text

Mary woke up feeling thoroughly rested as if the stress she had piled up on her shoulders after deciding she would close that damned church hadn’t existed at all. Just as though the events of the previous night hadn’t left her feeling restless, unsure of who she was and her own needs. Not even of how feelings seemed to mutate willingly around the redhead goddess that chose to befriend her.

The brunette stretched on her bed, enjoying the delightful feeling of tensing of her muscles and joints that sent a jolt of faint pleasure as if to remind her she was still alive. A wide smile blossomed on her face the moment she searched for her glasses. When instead her hand found the tea set placed on her bedside table. That was a genuine statement of the subtle care the High Priestess submitted her to, if only when it was just the two of them.

Never had she found so utterly enraptured by someone who had returned the attention, even if it was just one tiny detail after another. Tea and wine were never lacking in the Directrix’s office. There always seemed to be an inordinate number of cookies around. Even when Zelda only ever ate one. (She was in awe at sheer control of the will that woman had to keep her sweet tooth contained!)

A memory came to her then, of weeks earlier when she had asked something without thinking through it or its repercussions.

“You know much about so many plants, Zelda. What’s your favorite one? To make it simpler, what’s your favorite flower?”

Mary had almost cringed not only at the question but at the eager tone in which she had asked it.

The redhead had crooked her head then. Her emerald eyes had twinkled with merriment while looking at her with amusement written all over her face as she studied Mary. To the teacher, it had looked as if Zelda had been trying to solve the conundrum of a decade. Her expression wasn’t that of simple consideration of one’s favorite plant.

“It varied. I suppose. Swapped or changed like everything does with time… Nothing is absolute or ever-present if you ask me. In the end, everything dulls until there’s nothing left but memories -good or bad- that one day you forget. Then, hundreds of years later, you seem to recall out of the blue,” the High Priestess had stated a hint of sadness in her eyes. “Nevertheless, you didn’t ask a diatribe about the inexorability of time.”

Mary had been ready to tell her she didn’t need to dwell on her past. She hadn’t intended that an answer for something as simple could bring something akin to pain to green eyes that had looked tormented for a second too long. Zelda had smiled as if a memory of a better time had fleeted through her mind, claiming her happiness and sending a small wave of glee around them.

“Medieval times weren’t as nice as they make you believe in movies, at least not where we grew up. It became better, I suppose, once we left the town in which I grew up. It was too much too pastoral. Back then, my favorite flower was the Cuckoo flower, also named Lady’s smock, or fairy flower. That little flower terrified the mortals, for picking them was thought to bring bad luck. I used to go around the town, holding a bouquet to see mortals run away. In truth, they are great as a condiment, slightly peppery in taste.”

Zelda had smiled fondly at the memory as she waved her hand over one herbology book that never left her desk since Mary began to ask more questions about it. Sometimes, it was easier to show her pictures of how they looked than to find them.

“But not anymore?”

“Not quite. I found Hellebores to be beautiful. For a long while those were my favorite. I found it once when I was searching for a powerful plant for a banishing spell. It spoke to me. I was in awe at how something that looked so delicate could bloom in the middle of the most wrathful of the winters. More than their beauty, I fell in love with their resilience. I suppose it was then when I discovered that the most exquisite things can perfectly bloom in the harsher of conditions.”

Mary hadn’t known why. But she’d had blushed under those words and the way the Directrix had looked at her. As if she hadn’t been speaking at all about the flower she had been pointing at in her book. But the teacher had shaken her head, unable to believe someone could even direct such a comment to her, let alone Zelda. No, it had been not only safer but smarter to believe that the redhead had been speaking about herself and her own life of struggles that the brunette still knew not nearly enough about.

“It wasn’t until a trip to Japan when I found out the one that took the favorite spot and lasts with me until today, for whereas the Hellebore showed itself delicate and dainty. The witch hazel showed itself proud, the flowers colorful on the leaf-less tree, rare in their beauty.”

“Witch hazel? Really?” The teacher had asked, feeling oddly proud of herself and her taste.

The redhead had raised then her eyebrow in questioning and Mary had blushed as she stuttered out, “nothing, it is my favorite, too.”

Then after an embarrassingly awkward pause, where she had felt her cheeks burning and the awful need to shy away from the witch. Mary had no better idea than to add, “I guess it fitting that a witch likes a witchy tree.”

A deep laugh had followed. “Oh, Hecate. Its name comes from the Old English I learned to speak in, it means pliant, bendable, or even lively. Not at all related to, well, witches like myself. Although, when the first witches arrived, the natives showed to them the usage of it. Including water dowsing.”

The teacher couldn’t help but notice that since that day, a bouquet of Witch Hazel’s decorated a table, desk, or the mantle over the fireplace. When she asked about them, Zelda quickly dismissed it with a Hilda brought them this morning. Even when she knew the blond sister wasn’t in and that it still was too long for Witch hazels to be on season.

With that sort of thoughts pouring on her memory as she started her day, Mary felt more and more confident about her feelings. Until she arrived at school and the hallways presented her with the dozens of young couples polluting every corner. Couples, heterosexual couples… everywhere. As if that was the sign she had been waiting for, drowning her confidence in a sea of pain and misconception.

Every passing minute showed her she was alone in this weird path. As she always had been, with no one to talk about it and ask for help. There was no one else even to light the hope to get some insight about being a weird one. Not a chance in this little town where everyone could be so obtuse, and even when she left it for years, she could now admit it was an experience she had failed to gain. Now, she felt she had lost a perfect chance to explore herself better in the days of her youth, away from a small-minded town and filled with quick gossipers.

Old, she felt old and withered and oh-so-tired of being the odd one out. For sure she knew the one thing she didn’t want to be was the even weirder one in town. It terrified her that if her feelings were real, if she indeed liked women -or just Zelda, perhaps my type was witches and since I never met one I couldn’t explore it, who knows?- someone would put a sign on her back and would point at her for being… not normal.

“God, you can’t even get yourself to say it out loud.”

Ashamed, she hid her face in her hands. The bangs she found annoying every time she was alone. And the most beautiful of her traits when Zelda Spellman was nearby to look at her. Fell covering her freckled hands as she rubbed her face.

“Ms. Wardwell?” Theo Putnam’s voice came to her confused ears like a light at the end of a tunnel of condemning and frightening thoughts.

“Are you all right, Ms. Wardwell?”

She looked at the boy and found him so confident now. As if being Theo was his destiny from the very beginning -as it was- and all there was before was a slight confusion created when his soul landed. God, or whoever brought souls down to Earth, perhaps made an honest mistake. Perchance it only was a test of strength for his soul that had left the boy trapped inside a girl he was not. Inside the walls of Baxter High, and further, where the limits of Greendale ended, Theo Putnam was a rarity… but an accepted and respected one. Why would they behave any differently if she was even odder?

But Theo had something she had never had, his father’s support, and a group of friends, including one white-haired witch. They all had been there for him as he traveled through the journey of self-acceptance.

What had Mary had? Righteous parents who had indoctrinated her. If had they found out about her first kiss would have her kneeling on coarse salt and reciting the commandments and then every other verse that could prove her a sinner.

That was what they did when she unintentionally stole a candy. Her father came behind her back when she was checking it on the store, and scared by him, she threw it deep into her pocket. She forgot all about it until they got home. They made her kneel in a salted corner. Until her knees had hurt and bled, and she had to wear long skirts for weeks to keep anyone from noticing the extension of her immorality. She couldn’t imagine the Hell she would’ve lived had her mother found her washing her panties after the results of the day she followed the mysterious redhead -Zelda, you followed Zelda, and she, Zelda kissed you.

“Y-yes. I’m all right, don’t fret, Theo.”

“Are you sure? I mean, I know I’m for sure not the most knowledgeable of them all. But I guess if you are this distressed and cannot speak with Sabrina’s Aunt about it… Perhaps I can be of help? I don’t know how but I’m here?”

For a moment, he stood clumsily in front of his teacher. He shuffled his weight and looked over his shoulders to make sure they were alone in the classroom. In the Fright Club, they all had eyes, and they all had seen the way their teacher and Sabrina’s aunt were gradually becoming closer than just friends. Yet, having gone through the awkwardness of finding himself struggling with who he was. Theo was the only one who could clearly recognize the fears that Ms. Wardwell carried over her shoulders.

Mary felt her heart soar as she saw her inner child reflected in the boy’s eyes. That scared little thing she still carried inside shining for a flick of a second. Soon Theo’s doubts and fears -whatever they were- disappeared from them. It allowed her to see him standing proud of his choices. While he still waited to see if he could help her.

“May I ask you a question, Mr. Putnam?”

Mary doubted. Truly, the last thing she wanted was to offend the boy and his journey of self-discovery. However, she was a curious one and her own journey seemed to convolute around parts of herself she hadn’t thought to analyze further. Never like this teen had done for himself until he could stand as the boy he was.

“Sure.”

“Please forgive me if it’s wrong of me to ask, I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable… but I truly want to know, to understand… How did you know?”

Mary chewed nervously her lower lip as she waited to know if she had to add offending a child to her list of sins that seemed to get longer by the minute. But truth was, it took Theo a moment to understand the question itself. Not quite getting what she wanted to know until he processed the apology that came first. Then it all fell into place.

“Ah, I guess I’ve always known.” He said, a small smile on his boyish face as he ran a hand through his short hair.

“The truth? I never felt comfortable being Suzie. I tried hard to reconcile myself with the image in the mirror, but I couldn’t. Deep down, I always knew I was different. That I didn’t fit the mold society, school, and even my dad’s church wanted me in. Now, before you ask, the thing that changed was that I understood it wasn’t wrong to be different… it was just… different.”

“You’ve mentioned the church?” She said as she touched the cross she always carried be that as a line to her faith or a memory of what she should be and wasn’t. Theo smiled fondly as if he carried the key to unfold any secret.

“It was my dad, really. He told me he didn’t care about what some bigot ass said God wanted. That the Bible was a book that men wrote and some others changed to befit their needs. He said,” Theo stopped. He took a deep breath and tears pooled in his eyes, and Mary felt each of them like her own. “My dad said, ‘Listen, Theo, the God I know, the God I love. It wouldn’t create anything he didn’t find perfect as it was. He wouldn’t have given us free will only to punish us for the good things we choose to do for ourselves, would he? So, why would he punish you for being who you are if he knew you before you were born, son?’”

“I guess God wouldn’t,” Mary whispered, finding a parallel with her own thoughts the first time she was so near to Zelda that she could almost taste her breath.

“Let me warn you, Ms. Wardwell. It ain’t a walk in the park, and I don’t think it’s meant to be one either. I’ll be honest. It was awful, and it’ll continue to be since people choose to be mean. They come from their own fear and guilt. Some others don’t know better. However, none of it was worse than walking through life pretending I was someone I’m not. Nothing can be worse than not being you or worse, being terrified of being who you are supposed to be. Therefore, every mean word, every stupid action or prank people have submitted me to, and those I will have to deal with later. It all is completely worth it. Besides, even when there were so many wrongdoings, there always were people like my dad, Ros, Harvey, Sabrina, Robin…”

He blushed shyly at the mention of his hobgoblin boyfriend. Theo thought for a moment how much the woman he later knew was Lilith supported him, and even if confused and with no memories from all those months she wasn’t alive, this teacher had taken upon herself to call her Theo, and using the pronouns he felt comfortable in, making him feel accepted and welcomed.

“And people like yourself or the Spellman’s who never questioned me, just accepted it as if I had never been someone other than Theo. So, whatever it’s troubling you, Ms. Wardwell… I know for sure the Spellman’s can be scary but they won’t judge you. They won’t question you and they will stand by your side if someone dares to cross you when they are nearby. I’ve experienced this, not only from Sabrina but unexpectedly, from both of her Aunties.”

“You did?”

“Yeah… Once Aunt Hilda... She allows me to call her that. How cool is that? Anyhow, Billy was bullying me at the shop, and she came by and stood up for me. Then, a few months back, I was walking through town with Robin, and some people were shouting at me I was an awful example for their kids. Ms. Spellman was coming to the shop in search of her sister when she happened upon us. She stood up tall, in that scary way only she can manage, and pushed us behind her. She chastised every one of them in such a way that they still look down and blush ashamed when they spot us. So, you’ll see, there’s plenty of people who will disagree with what you do or how you decide to live… but isn’t life yours? Isn’t your body yours? So why would they have any say in it? And why should you feel uncomfortable in it? Life is so short for us, why should we not make the most of it?”

“Thank you, Theo. I suppose you are wise for your age.”

The teacher couldn’t help the soft smile that blossomed on her as she considered his words. Words that she heard from Zelda, and some she thought of herself. But then again, she knew so much about damnation and so little about what she was considering she might be.

School ended long after her talk to Theo, as every Monday fortnight, the twins waited for her outside. She drove them to the Spellman Mortuary and hoped she would find Ambrose as it was customary. He was home on Monday afternoons to handle any corpses that could show up, and he was always kind enough to transport them to the Academy.

“Ambrose!”

His name came out of her like a thankful squeal as he opened the front door. He looked at her confused for a second. She looked over her shoulders, to the twins that were grabbing their stuff from the car.

“May I leave them in your hands? I know Prudence had some plans with them today, and I really need to get somewhere.”

Ambrose squinted at her. He knew about his Aunt Hilda visit, and he (and likely the entire Academy) had experienced the blunt side of Zelda Spellman’s sour mood that day.

“Yes. I’m… Can you tell Zelda I’ll see her tomorrow or with a bit of luck tonight?”

“You might as well put a bullet on me yourself,” Ambrose mumbled, shaking his head. “Where shall I tell her you’ve been gone to? Because she will want some more explanations than she left the kids asking me to bring them.”

“Right… Tell her I’m going to Riverdale. I need to find some things, books, I cannot search here.”

Mary blushed. There was something in her voice that worried him. “Tell you what, why don’t I bring the twins to the academy, and then, I’ll join you in that trip of yours. You seem a bit rattled and to be honest, I can use the distraction. It’s been utterly boring at the mortuary today.”

“I really don’t want to be of any inconvenience, Ambrose,” Mary said, her voice a little over a whisper and the red tinting her cheeks a shy hue of crimson.

“Nonsense! It won’t be an inconvenience. Besides, Aunt Zelda will kill me if I let you drive alone when you seem so preoccupied. Why don’t you come inside and have a cup of tea while I take them to the Academy?”

And that was how, Mary Wardwell found herself being driven to Riverdale by the nephew of the being that flustered her beyond her beliefs, with the hope to find a book or two, that could shed some light into her muddled brain and help her catch up with her body’s idea about this sexuality she had never tried to explore.

Chapter 34

Notes:

A short bit at the past, so you guys can remember there's some plot somewhere in this fic.
(And that thanks to all the heresy spilled between this fic one and the previous one...
and all my thoughts of acceptance, and non-conventional ones about religion, I most likely will be fighting for that throne in hell. Hopefully looks that cool. 😀😀😀)

Chapter Text

She was worried, for she hadn’t known they had broken any rules. Edward hadn’t ever told her he came from a long line of witches. No, they had fallen prey to love, and they had married in secret on a small ceremony just between the two of them.

He hadn’t even given her his last name, and she had been blind enough -in love enough- not to ask from him anything but his attentions that were given kindly to her. Save for those days where he would disappear to do the deeds of his master.

Abigail Compton was now a fugitive, and she didn’t quite know how she would escape the Dark Lord himself.

How hadn’t she noticed the ways of her husband before? How was she blind to the specially brewed teas, with dry leaves and flowers he claimed to have collected himself? He wasn’t a petty witch either, Edward Talbot, he had said the day they got married.

“Sir Edward Kelley, stop!” had stated the man who tried to stop them while waving a sword at them, as several others surrounded them. Terrifying-looking men then encircled them in a dark alleyway where she had first learned about his roots. “Abigail, my love, I never told you, but I’m a witch. Our marriage is forbidden. I will protect you both at all costs, I love you.” He had kissed her as the man approached them. He broke the kiss in time to said to last words.

“Lanuae Magicae!”

A blink later, and Abigail had opened her eyes to find they were near the ports. She patted her body searching for any wounds and she blanched as she remembered the last words he said. A witch, all her life wanting to be part of the magical world, believing in fairies and calling for Brigid for help and failing, only to find out she had been married to a witch all this time, and she had lost precious time.

However, there was no time to dwell. Edward knew that, after two years of keeping her out of the loop of the magic world and keeping his own betrayal of the Dark Lord unknown, they had run out of time. He wasn’t sure if it was the Lucifer himself wanting to have a hand on his child or if it was just members of his coven trying to keep him from his relationship with a mortal, either way… the countdown was fast approaching its end.

Until he spotted salvation.

Edward saw a tall woman in a black velvety cape, bearing a torch in one hand as she pointed them towards a ship. Being a witch, he had been witness to bizarre things before, yet this one… He shook his head and Abigail embraced him tightly as this almost ghostly image made her torch float on the air in front of her, and then, as if they were always there, a key appeared on each of her hands as she opened her arms.

The fire shining in orange hues somehow extended to give them enough light to see the end of both roads. One towards town, one towards the local tavern while her face looked at the vessel nearby before turning towards the pub and finally looking at them. Despite they couldn’t see a face, nor had they heard a word, her message was obvious. She meant the Captain was somewhere in the tavern and their only other choice was to return to their world.

It wasn’t an option, really. He grabbed Abigail’s hand and pulled her quickly to the tavern. Inside reeked of alcohol. Edward blinked, for he thought he saw the same figure standing near a short-haired captain in a brown leather coat.

Skeptically, he reached for the Captain, sitting beside him. Abigail sat next to him, looking awfully out of place. She was not only noticeably pregnant but sitting there in her white linen dress, her dark hair falling in waves and her icy blue eyes so transparent that one could think it was just her soul that one could see through them.

It was she who caught the attention of the Captain first.

“If you are interested in a passage to the new world, I might have a spare spot.”

Edward frowned, that voice wasn’t a male, the head was turned, and he faced a woman. A face he knew for she too was searched in his world. But not in the way they wanted Abigail, but for her help.

“Dorothea Putnam,” He said, and the woman gave him a curt nod.

“A witch appeared earlier by my ship. She said I should wait until a pregnant woman with eyes like transparent pools of blue reached for my help. She said, I was to tell the husband, that the child would only be truly safe in the new world. The Endor Witch, she called herself; before telling me, that her old Goddess, Hecate Soteira, blessed the woman’s safe passage and paid for it a sizable amount of gold that is mine to keep even if she didn’t board my ship, for free will it’s still yours, she said.”

The witch frowned, for his soul and that of his entire family was bound to Lucifer and he hadn’t known of any other member of his coven or family that Hecate had contacted before. He had heard, though, about an old couple who had been married for centuries. One made from a witch of an old line of Lucifer followers and a Hecatean witch.

“Hecate Soteira?” Abigail asked then, and Dorothea smiled at her.

“As far as I know, it’s one of the many names they give to the Goddess Hecate. If I’m not misguided, Soteira means savior, which makes sense for you need to be saved, I suppose. As I’ve said, there’s one spot on my ship and we were about to sail, for the women in it are being searched to be burned for being Satan’s servants.”

“I cannot send her with you then. Lucifer might be the one searching for us.” Edward said, standing up and contemplating the idea of simply leaving the tavern and traverse out of the country. A life always in the run, forever escaping his Dark Lord, an impossible life. Or… he could try to save her, the love of his life, by sending her away with this manly woman and her ship full of witches.

“Whatever you choose, I’m sailing away as soon as I reach my ship and lift the plank,” Dorothea stated, standing up. She left behind the payment for her stay and turned around to leave.

Edward doubted for a millisecond before he grabbed his wife’s hand and darted through the tavern and to the outside.

“Wait! Take her… but I need you to promise you’ll do anything in your hands to keep her safe. To keep them both safe.”

His dark eyes shone, filled with emotions Dorothea had never experienced someone feeling for her. She eyed the lovely-looking woman and smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ll ward her well.”

“What did you say?” The witch stopped her once again, and Dorothea couldn’t help the annoyed sigh that left her. She turned around and faced the witch, with an annoyed expression painted firmly on her face.

“That I’ll ward her well.”

“That’s it! Abigail, when you reach the new world. Don’t use your last name or mine, and when our child is born call him Jonathan Wardwell, and use that last name as your own. If things change here, my love, I’ll come to find you both.”

He kissed her then, softly on rosy lips. The witch walked them close to the plank and stopped, only to mutter something in a language neither woman knew. Edward swayed as it took more magic than he had. A red velvety bag appeared in his hand, golden coins filled it making it heavy.

“In case things never get better, my love,” he whispered and brought her for a heartfelt embrace. His eyes widened as he heard the shouting of his name as voices approached. “Go, sail as fast as you can.”

Dorothea noticed his distress and the sounds of male voices and hounds. She knew the witches in her ship were in danger if they too got caught; she grasped the thin hands of the woman and rushed them both to the ship. The plank disappeared and they could see a fast-approaching crowd. Dorothea raised her anchor, and as by magic, wind spurred half deployed sails into action.

Abigail stood still, watching with utter horror how Edward was circled by them with no means of escape other than those he already used. Dorothea reached her, forcing her to an almost sitting position so they wouldn’t see her and ruin whatever chance of escape all of them had.

A moment later, no one remained on the wharf as they all had disappeared on a ball of fire that left no ashes behind.

“I don’t understand,” she said, tears polling in her eyes as she caressed lovingly her belly. “He never said his master was Satan himself.”

Dorothea smiled, helping her stand from the squatting position that had kept them hidden from the men on the wharf as they mixed with the dark. She took her to her own quarters, where the bed would be more comfortable for her pregnant form, before starting their way to the new world.

The good thing about sailing with a ship full of witches was that wind was always in their favor, storms seemed to pass by them or open up as they sailed through. That food was never scarce, and that they knew how to bring Abigail’s child to the world.

The half-witch, half-mortal boy had been born when they were still far away from land. And even if surrounded by witches, he didn’t seem to be any good at wielding his powers, and his mother couldn’t be more relieved of that after hearing the reasons they were risking the travel by ship.

And despite having her eyes and her heart set on the witch Freya, the Captain kept her word and protected the Wardwell’s finding them paper, and even weaving a story for their past. And once Freya was gone, they both had mourned their losses. Abigail finally accepting years later that Edward would never return to her.

As years passed by, Abigail and Dorothea became more than just friends, as love blossomed between them slowly and beautifully. Yet, they kept their relationship hidden from everyone in town, even Dorothea’s family, for fear that they would be hunted or even killed for their love was deemed a sin.

As he grew old, Jonathan Wardwell forgot all about his witchy line. The thirteen women he had traveled with, had ended up hanging from a tree, and his mother had thought that what he didn’t know about his father, wouldn’t hurt him.

He grew to be kind and noble. The spitting image of his mother. And despite her own shortcomings and her forbidden love, Abigail had made everything in her hand to make of him a good old Christian. She hid her true self from him if only to keep him safe from the perils of learning the truth about his family tree.

However, if there was a trait from Abigail Compton that her child and any other Wardwell would miss until it was the right time, that was her clear hue of blue eyes. Those would only appear when their magical line would be so diluted that any magical energy couldn't be felt anymore.

Even when Mary’s mother had blue eyes, and were those who enamored her father the most, the last of the Wardwell’s carried the eyes of the one that had made her existence possible.

For Mary had Abigail’s eyes and unknowingly to her, she carried not only Abigail’s ancestral karma to heal but those of her motherly line as well.

Chapter 35

Notes:

TBH... you guys left such nice comments about her talk with Theo that now I'm panicking over this one.
So... here goes nothing :D
❤️❤️❤️

Chapter Text

“Ambrose, what in the Goddess name are you doing here?”

The young witch flinched. Even if he was there by his own free will, he felt like a boy called over to be punished for something he did, or in his case, didn’t do. He saw the green eyes of his Aunt scan the space past him and all at once, an eyebrow rose almost to her hairline in questioning. The ‘where is she?’ was palpable in the way she was eagerly waiting for the mortal to join them.

He felt the dread taking over his stomach and making a quite uncomfortable knot on it. If there was one thing Ambrose Spellman hated beyond any other thing, that would be to make either of his Aunts upset. And he just knew that learning Mary wasn’t coming that afternoon would peeve her.

“What happened? Where are they? Where’s Mary? Ambrose, what’s wrong?”

Zelda let out quickly, not even giving him time to answer one before the next was out. The worry he saw on his stern Aunt was overwhelming, and the quick interrogation… Well, those were questions Zelda Spellman had only ever asked about her own family before. (That he’d known of, at least. He had his concerns about the way she had looked at Lilith before). He flopped himself on a chair in front of her desk and waited for her to calm down.

“Well?”

A moment passed by with her eyes still trained on him and her worry unmistakable in her burrowed frown. Like every time he’d seen the way Zelda Spellman was around that mortal, Ambrose thought it was confusing but nice to see his Aunt showing concern for someone else outside the Spellmans.

“The twins are with Prudence. Mary, however, it’s waiting for my return to our kitchen. May I ask, not the details, but at least some outline of what might have transpired after I left you all at the church? I know Aunt Hilda came to you, or you went to her, for she spoke with Sabrina. She reassured her that things between the two of you were back to normal. Yet, the mortal… She seems utterly flummoxed. She even let out a whimper and her eyes widened as if scared when I mentioned your name.”

Zelda sighed, leaning back in her chair and pressing the bridge of her nose. She felt the awful flavor of guilt burning the back of her throat, knowing that in her brazenness she could’ve had not only scared but scarred the woman for life.

“I didn’t hurt her or do anything I thought she wasn’t prepared for, Ambrose. If that’s what you are asking. One of these days, I will surely take you up on the offer of your herbal goods.”

The Directrix huffed, placing a minty cigarette on her holder and lighting it. The redhead took a drag, her eyes firmly placed on her nephew as if waiting for some accusations, an inquisition of sorts about her behavior and how could she harm the woman she had defended in front of them. Her nephew shook his head, and she braced herself, imagining the lashing that was imminent.

“I never said you did, Auntie. I know, for the way you look at her, and behave around her, that you wouldn’t hurt a hair on her head. Even if you sometimes might want to kill her, too, because let’s face it, that’s just your nature. Your eyes hold this glint, similar to the one you have when you think of Sabrina, or…”

He stopped. He wouldn’t bring Lilith out here amid this conversation and raise the Spellman’s matriarch wrath to the point it was earlier that morning. Ambrose’s own doubts about the involvement of his Aunt with the Queen of Hell could wait or never discussed if needed. Now, the important matter was learning how he could help them fix the mess he didn’t quite know how they had formed.

“Aunt Zee. I just want to know what happened so I can help, if that’s even possible.”

The directrix sighed. She wasn’t a prude, but having to confess to her nephew that Mary might have rejected her, for the woman seemed to be not only sexually confused but utterly terrified of who knew what. Burn in the fires of Hell? Lose her soul? Some sort of penance only lived in her mind, most likely. Perchance, even some rules and thoughts that weren’t her own for she had remembered the last Wardwell’s and the way they prayed, all but shoving their cross on her whenever they shared the same room or walked down the opposite side of the same sidewalk.

Zelda wanted to laugh at this crossroads of sorts since the teacher might have fears of losing that one thing all of them had blindly signed away. The High Priestess had bound her own soul to Hell, but for their witchy nature, they would all go to the afterlife. Why would be any different for the mortals and their God? She knew most of the souls in Hell belonged not to sinners, as the men directing the mortal Church made them believe, but filled with those who had made a deal or had been found guilty of something more than just being sexually free. And after all, hadn’t the man who claimed to be God’s son in their Bible treated everyone as an equal? She shook her head. There was a lot to be thought through, but how could she help her? If the woman who desperately needed support was now terrified about the things she’d felt around her.

“What can I tell you that won’t make it all more awkward for her, Ambrose? She’s most definitively not one of us. She might seem free of mind and outspoken in some respects, like learning our ways, when teaching, or even as she supports her students in their life choices. However, that doesn’t quite translate into the being she is. There are doubts, and fears… that she doesn’t want to discuss with me. I believe I might be the cause of them.”

“Ah, so she is confounded because she likes you.” He summed up with ease. “It’s a shame she can’t talk to you about it, I know I would be still struggling with my sexuality hadn’t I happened upon you and that nasty little room you keep at the house.”

His smile widened as he noticed the sheer horror washing his Aunt’s face. She still remembered how she had to untangle herself from the mess she had created, -and was enjoying- thinking she was alone at the house for once. Only to discover they had left her very young and impressionable Cousin to her care and not to infuriate her they’d decided not to tell her about it. He was barely twenty back then, and his eyes transfixed by the way half a dozen of bodies moved along each other even when Zelda had squirmed away from them, found a robe, and explained herself only to discover how utterly confused Ambrose was by what he felt and how Hilda’s prudish ways hadn’t helped him at all.

“Never dare to mention that again. I might be quite open to anything, as you very well know, but I’m not prone to giving shows to my family.”

Ambrose laughed, wholeheartedly, but noticed that it had also relaxed the nervous posture his Aunt kept, softening her eyes too as they both remembered fondly the afternoon they spent as she -the most unfeeling of them all- explained to him how his nicer feelings couldn’t be wrong no matter who caused them.

“Sex show aside, that conversation was exactly what I needed, Auntie. I might be still thinking of myself as a troubled heterosexual hadn’t you introduced me to my options. Don’t you worry, I won’t mention to the confused woman how your varied experience in the matter can be widely enlightening if she falls upon them by mistake. No, truly, I want to help her, both of you, not to traumatize her forever.”

“Ha. Ha. Hilarious.”

She rolled her eyes at him, “thank you, Ambrose,” she said. Not quite knowing if it was for his words, for always being so attentive, or for keeping tabs on her when others seemed to believe she was just a fixture on the wall.

“Just so you know, she wants to go to Riverdale for books. I’ll try to take her for a coffee or something, to see if she opens about her doubts to me. All I can promise is that I’ll do my best, that I’ll drive safely, and that I’ll try to get us back for dinner as she intended to.”

With one last nod coming from his Aunt, Ambrose transported himself back to the Mortuary. He found Mary and smiled; she was the only being in that entire household who could sit on Zelda’s spot and not die trying. Blue eyes were raised towards him as he entered the room, a soft albeit worried smile timidly shining on her face.

“I’ve survived the inquisition in one piece!”

He waved his hands down his body. Mary smiled at him, for she had heard his Aunt calling that to every time she had to sit and survive any length of questioning.  

“So I see, is she... is she mad?”

She stood up to clean the mug she’d used and to hide the worry from the keen eyes of Zelda’s nephew. But she couldn’t keep herself from turning around and hope for an answer as she worried her lower lip nervously.

“Not at all. She was quite worried that she had managed to scare you away from our odd little home finally.”

“Never!” She said firmly then. The moment she noticed what she’d said, Mary blushed furiously. Ambrose smiled at her, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

“You know, I’ve not always lived here. I grew up in London, in my parents’ home, and when they died, instead of bringing me here and changing everything I ever knew, Aunt Hilda went there. She said Satan blessed her, for no one would spare an odd glance at her for speaking in the accent she has. Yet, she missed this, and we returned for her coven was here and I was the one who could be moved. As any member of this family, I came and went, tried my hand at several universities, and traveled all before they washed my brain and I tried to blow up the Vatican. Anyhow, I’ve learned that once you walk past that front door, is extremely difficult to leave this place behind, and I’m not even talking about corpses.”

He chuckled at his own grim joke. Mary smiled, loving the ease with which he talked and how comfortable he felt around her, and how she, too, felt at ease. She loved the redhead… ‘Like her… you like her, as a friend… right, that’s it.’ But it was nice to speak to someone who didn’t make her feel so utterly hot under her collar and so confused about everything she knew and was. Something that it had become increasingly hard unless their meeting involved books and explanations of magic. Or read books while Zelda worked and Mary could surreptitiously steal glances towards her, or having dinner while looking at each other’s eyes. ‘Yes, because that’s not odd or heartwarming at all.’

“Are you sure you don’t mind going with me? I truly don’t want to impose.” Mary said then if only to distract her mind from the direction it was going.

“Sure? I told my Aunt I was taking you, so now it’s not a matter of you imposing it. No, it became a life or death situation. Shall we? You mentioned books, and I’m not sure about their schedule, I don’t want to speed but we might need to. May I have the keys?”

“Oh, I should do the driving.”

She searched for her keys as they walked outside. He walked to the driver’s seat and made himself comfortable even before answering her. Mary sighed, opening the passenger door and giving him the keys.

“Do not worry, I love driving. I believe that’s part of Aunt Zee’s influence on me. That woman does love cars, and the mechanics behind them too. Did she ever tell you she went to the war so she could be a mechanic?” He said as he drove out of their property, risking a side glance to the woman hoping that by sharing random memories she would relax a bit, or at least forget her troubled mind for a while.

“She went to war?” Mary’s eyebrows reached her hairline and her eyes widened at this. Curiosity taking the best of her, she turned around to watch him. Besides, every bit of knowledge about Zelda Spellman seemed to only add more mysteries to the woman she… liked… as a friend.  

“Yeah, I’m sorry back then I truly wasn’t paying attention so I can’t remember exactly which one she went and which one she was just trapped in the middle of it, and escaping was a bit troublesome. That’s why she also loves planes.”

“What about that… lanuae magicae spell you use all the time? I thought that would work for long distances.”

Ambrose turned for a second to watch her. He nodded, impressed with her before setting his eyes to the road again. The action made her blush without her knowing the actual reason.

“That was impressive. I’ve known hundreds of witches that can’t say that properly even if their lives depend upon it. It drives Aunt Zee insane. She says they butcher the language. Anyhow, it works for long distances but transporting oneself from our house to the Academy isn’t the same as going from our house to let’s say… Venice. The further away you go, the more energy it needs.”

“Oh, I see. I suppose you also spend more energy when you have to take us too.”

The witch was awed, he’d had some conversations with this woman and had always thrilled by her quick mind. A fact that he was sure had won her several cookie points with his Aunt since Zelda loved a mind that could keep her on her toes. So, it baffled him to know this bright woman was concealing some issues deep inside herself for something as fluid as sexuality.

“Exactly! Although Aunt Zee has this amazing amount of energy. You know, I’ve been told that hasn’t our former church been so misogynist she would’ve been High Priestess long before Uncle Edward. It was an inner joke until he passed away, that is, that Satan had granted her more power so Edward would put the effort.” He said, then shook his head as a fleeting thought that he was all but selling his Aunt to this woman made an appearance. “They’d also said that she sold her heart to gain more power, and that’s the reason she became such a bitch.”

“Excuse me? Why would anyone say something of the like? Zelda is so nice… I get it she can be over strict, and stern. But I’ve seen nothing that would make her a bitch.” Mary said, almost fuming, embracing herself and frowning at such accusation. Ambrose smiled.

“You realize she’s like that only when she’s around us, or you… Don’t you? That’s why students welcomed you so kindly when you are not a mortal witch as Rosalind is, and they know you…” he stopped himself remembering she didn’t know she had shot his Aunt.

“They know?”

Mary raised her head expectantly, and Ambrose gulped until he thought of light at the end of his tunnel. “That you were involved with Blackwood.” He said instead. The teacher squirmed in her seat, blushing as she did so.

“You know you can tell me anything and I won’t spill my bean to anyone, not even Aunt Zee. I mean, I know the witch world can be bewildering and all-around bizarre. For Sabrina’s friends, it was slightly less shocking, for they are eager for adventures and fun. But when you reach certain age… things get overwhelming easily.”

Silence fell on the small cabin. They could only hear the soft notes coming from the jazz station he had turned on the moment he ignited the engine. Mary hummed along with the song and laid her head on the window as she contemplated speaking with him. Would it be so absurd to question Zelda’s nephew, after questioning a seventeen-year-old boy about his life choices? A sigh followed.

“I’m sorry, Ambrose. I… It’s… I’m so old and I feel I shouldn’t be asking these sorts of questions. That I’m late to this… journey… and it scares me.” She said, not saying anything at all. But with the inner knowledge Ambrose had, it wasn’t difficult for him to read between the lines.

“Let me fix that thought from the very beginning. You have nothing to be sorry about. You can tell me what you want or don’t say a word. Despite that, you shouldn’t need to apologize for it. And allow me to point out that the only person in the Spellman household that’s younger than you, is Sabrina. Even at the academy, there’s only a handful of those young-looking fellas that aren’t older than you. Take Prudence, she’s eighty. Agatha is seventy-two… the list goes on and on…”

“Right, I keep forgetting you don’t look the part of your ages.”

“Exactly! Also… You, or anyone really, cannot be late for a journey that is your own. How can anyone be late for their own lives? That’s preposterous… And it’s frightening to know you or anyone out there could think like that. Especially, when you mortals have such a brief span of life. Who cares about the years you’ve been on Earth? Be that sixteen or over eight hundred. Just do whatever makes you happy and live your life as you are supposed to. You cannot live someone else’s life.”

“That’s what everyone keeps telling me… to live my life. But, I’m living it and it is this sad version where I’m just a teacher living alone in the woods with a fiancé who died and no one knows how. This is all I’ve ever known. Why should I change it if it has worked so far?”

“Has it? Then why you think Sabrina charmed you? Or why were you enthralled by Aunt Hilda at those parent-teacher meetings? Why did you open the door to Agatha? Why did you let Blackwood in? And the one that I believe must weigh the most… Why were you so intrigued by Aunt Zelda? I don’t need the answer for any of those, for I know the mysterious energy that surrounds us all hailed you. The pull of magic has always called upon you, hasn’t it? As a soft thing nagging in the back of your mind, telling you that some of those things people said about witches, about fairies, about all those magical beings that are still warded behind the veil between realms are true.”

A red light stopped them. He turned around to look at her; she was rubbing her face tiredly and looked the epitome of troubled.

“You know what I suspect, Ms. Wardwell? That you aren’t confused about magic, nor do you have any doubts about the feelings you have. I presume you are utterly worried about those feelings being wrong, about you being weird, abnormal to the masses. Love can never be wrong or be weird, and someone very smart once told me no nice feeling can be wrong no matter who brings it out.”

The light changed then as Mary’s eyes finally raised to meet the darkened profile of the witch at her side.

“So, what would you say if I help you pick the books about sexuality that you need, and when the salesperson comes, we can pretend it’s me or my little cousin who needs them? Afterward, I can take you out for coffee and tell you all about my experiences learning what was like to discover yourself as being a Pan, as I or Aunt Zee are, when the term didn’t even exist. Or how scary it was even for me, that I come from a world that’s far less condemning than yours for being raised for one of the few witches that can’t even use the word sex without blushing.”

He stopped his tirade if only to pay attention to parking. But before she could escape the car, he grabbed her hand and gave it a light, reassuring squeeze.

“That’s what’s troubling you, isn’t it? That despite all the efforts of your church, all that talk that you must have consumed about how heterosexuality is the only right path, for that’s what Sabrina brought home from that school. And even those that I’m familiar with, like praying to the God you believe in, pleading him to make you normal, to free you of those improper thoughts you’ve seem to have about someone you shouldn’t…”

She opened her mouth to speak, but no words would come out. Her cheeks burned with shame and she lowered her head. He smiled softly, raising her head and clearing away the tears that escaped the confines of her blue eyes before he continued.

“Even after all that pleading, all those attempts... You still see my Aunt and your heart skips a beat. And when she touches you, even as subtly as a graze of her hand as you walk beside her, it makes you all warm and giddy and you can’t help to want to hold on to that warmth and go further. Despite all the fight you put up, and all the beliefs you keep reading and torturing yourself with, the only thing you truly desire is to be in the same room she is. To see her look at you with that glint in her eye that tells you she cares for you, and if you are around her, nothing can ever be wrong. Not even the things people had told you were the only truth. For there’s no more certainty to hold on to than the fact that you have nice feelings brewing in you, and those cannot be wrong.”

“How… how would you know?” She asked then, timidly.

“Because I was there too… because I too, walked those shoes at some point, and just as Aunt Zelda, I can see the burden this is lying on your shoulders. Haven’t you wasted enough time as it is pursuing a life that’s not all you ever wanted? That’s not filled with those emotions that we read in fairy tales… Why wouldn’t you fight yourself or any other to have them? Especially, when you know what you truly want and how having it would make you utterly happy. Now, we should rush to the bookstore and see what we can find before it’s too late.”

He let go of her hand and handed her a handkerchief he still carried, as his Aunt Zee had taught him. She dabbed the tears that had fallen, and they got out of the car.

“Ambrose,” she called before they entered. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me, I can tell you my thoughts, my ideas, and experiences. I can help you with buying books, but the one you’ll need to thank, once you are ready, is yourself. For accepting that you are different, and still worthy of everything you ever wanted… it’s not an easy path, and no matter how many people you know, it’s one you walk alone. For no one can help you fight your own mind if you don’t want to. So, ask yourself, what do you want, Mary Wardwell? Because whatever you want for yourself is worthy of you.”

Mary didn’t need to think about it, for the moment the question left the witch’s lips, she saw a flash of red hair, the way emerald eyes darkened as they stood closer, and the feeling of her breath against her lips. She knew not only that she wanted Zelda but that she, too, wanted to be free of her own condemning thoughts to take that step and finally kiss the woman as she had wanted to but she hadn’t allowed herself. She chewed her lower lip, knowing that Ambrose might be right and that it still would be a while before she could kill her demons and kiss the witch. But, perhaps… it was time to start.

Chapter 36

Notes:

Whew... that was quite a day to write, they didn't seem ready to leave it there xD

Chapter Text

The amount of literature they found about sexuality was baffling for Mary, but Ambrose seemed to be in his element surrounded by books. His eyes glinting with glee as he grabbed one after another, reading the back cover and then some random pages to see if it would be worthy of the teacher’s time.

Mary, of course, had gravitated -perhaps unconsciously- to those that pointed out being anything other than straight as immoral, sinful, or utterly unacceptable. Ambrose raised his eyes from the book he was scanning, only to find the brunette nose-deep in a book called ‘Biblical teachings about Homosexuality’. Her eyebrows raised high, her eyes widening in fear, and far too close to hyperventilating. So he intervened.

“I wouldn’t recommend this one. Or the next one either.” He said pointing to one called ‘Biblical teachings about Lust’.

Mary jumped out, a bit scared as she was so concentrated on the condemning words she failed to notice the witch approaching her. Barely focusing on his words, she closed the book and swiftly placed it back before looking towards the side.

The deep blush on her cheeks and the way she had reacted told Ambrose more than she did. He added embarrassment to the growing list he’d had been developing, where the prime suspects for Mary’s confounded state were fear and distress. The young Spellman didn’t dare to dive into the idea of the teacher finding herself so unworthy of anything more than she’d had. Not when, most likely, she even felt undeserving of the little she’d had, too.

“Relax, Ms. Wardwell, it’s just me. Now, let me tell you if you go looking for something that will justify the thoughts of others about how abnormal you are, how you should search for a cure for this psychological and neurological disease you have, or how you should ask for forgiveness of your sins and hope the Almighty God will decide to forgive your transgressions or not, while you pay your penance with the unhappiness that brings being someone you are not… You will find them. And that applies not only for sexuality, but it also happens in every subject and everywhere, including the magical realm.”

As if to spare her from her discomfort, he simply looked away and found another book. Ambrose could feel the brunette’s eyes on him and wondered if she would dare to ask more questions and finally be direct about her fears. Or if she would remain quiet and just allow him to take over this quest of them until it was finally done. However, his bet was that she would take the deflection and change subjects while remaining there beside him in that section of the bookstore feeling utterly uncomfortable yet still decided enough to take the next step and stand there.

“Oh? How could there be disagreements in the magical realm? If you all seem so open-minded.” The deflection it was.

Mary frowned, curiosity about the realm she was getting to know gaining over her awkwardness. She took another book from the shelf, this time with a title that didn’t mention her bible or any other, and looked far more friendly.

“Yes, but there are limitations too. As I mentioned before, our former God and its church were utterly misogynistic. Whereas our current Goddess, is gender-neutral, so to speak. I read than before when there was no veil between realms… There were hundreds of Gods and Goddesses, you know this as it appears in mortal books as History. Myths. Legends… That’s what most of them became when the veil was raised, and they lost their mortal followers to the ages. Yet, Every Deity had their own claims about how it all works.”

Mary hummed as she thought through his words and read the ones in the book in her hand. She didn’t dare to pretend she’d ever been smarter than this man, but she also had points of view and ideas of her own, even if they all were covered by a thick layer of fear her parents had instilled in her subconscious mind.

“I suppose it’s not so different from having so many religions as we do. However, I’ve come to conclude that there’s one thing that repeats in all of them… Every religion is love-based even when everything else seems conflicting.”

For some unknown reason, she felt lighter to leave that comment out, as if a piece of her own puzzle had finally been printed and was ready to be placed in the frame that held her contained persona. Ambrose smiled, almost proudly, for he saw the fear that passed quickly in her eyes as she fought with herself before finally commenting on it.

“I suppose it’s something of the like, Ms. Wardwell. Whereas in the mortal realm we can relate every religion to love. In the magical no matter who is your deity… everything is energy. Emotions are energy and so we need to learn to control them before we can dig deeper. That’s why even when, as old as we are, we still can only be deemed students at the academy and cannot perform certain spells and hexes that someone like Aunt Zee or Auntie Hilda could. Love and hate as opposing energies are the strongest ones and the most difficult to conquer, and it takes time to get to know yourself to such an extent.”

Mary seemed to give his words a thought, before nodding. “I suppose it does correlate to the base of all mortal religions. If we take the premise that is a powerful energy directed or created by the being one adores… then it also makes sense they each teach about love, while there’s also some level of hate promulgated against anyone who doesn’t share your chosen religion. A deep need to show the other wrong. “

It was Ambrose's turn to mull over her thoughts before nodding. He closed the book he was reading and quickly grabbed a handful he had deemed worthy before.

“I suppose the need to prove others wrong is ingrained deep in every system. It just seems too exhausting for me to tell you the truth. To have to defend your beliefs whenever someone contests them, it’s tiring. As someone who has changed God’s recently, I also can see the benefits of learning about the other’s point of view, for there might be some level told truth in it.” 

“So, you say that this man can also write some level of truth?” She asked, pointing to the book she had tried to hide from him before. Ambrose shrugged.

“Perhaps he does. However, haven’t you tried it all? You know, asking for forgiveness, doing your penance, and praying? And how has it worked for you? If your God, or any Deity really, created you as a version of themselves. How could anyone be wrong? How feeling this powerful energy brewing in your body ready to be freed could be a disease? I’m pretty sure we can circumvent these same questions for years, but I believe these books will at least shed some light into your tunnel.”

Mary eyed at the pile of books warily as she’d noticed the tittles and held her breath as Ambrose went to the cashier. With those titles, there wasn’t a way in hell that the man in there wouldn’t know why they wanted them.

Yet Ambrose walked there nonchalantly and even made what looked like small talk, while Mary neared him almost dreadfully, both paling and blushing. Her sweaty palms were proof of how overall uncomfortable she was. Then the witch turned toward her and smiled.

Mary’s eyes were cast so low that if it weren’t for the next words, she would’ve missed the cashier’s bright grin.

“It’s pretty cool you want to learn what’s like, ma’am. I bet once you read these it will make you feel more at ease to answer the questions your students may have. I wish I had a teacher who cared enough back then. It can be quite scary to find yourself alone and feel so weird in your own skin while having no one to talk to.”

Mary's blush grew even deeper. “Th-thank you. I suppose...” She said passing her card with a trembling hand yet feeling calmer since there was no recrimination in the man’s eyes. Ambrose’s reassuring smile helped.  

“Let’s go, Auntie. Let me buy you a coffee before we return… And John, I’ll certainly call you later.”

The young Spellman grabbed their purchase, winked at the cashier, and walked away as Mary awkwardly tried to follow him. Once outside, she noticed he had gone to the car and was leaving the books in there. She felt relief knowing no one else would attach those books to her.

“Shall we?” Ambrose said, pointing her towards a small coffee shop by the corner, and she nodded. They strolled silently until she stopped almost abruptly in front of the window of a jewelry store. “Ambrose?”

He stopped as he noticed the woman wasn’t by his side anymore. Turning around, he found her with her eyes fixated on something. “Yes, Ms. Wardwell?”

“Ah... When it’s your Aunt’s birthday? She said it was uncertain, but I think she was being modest… And you should call me Mary since… you know… this whole ordeal…”

He chuckled, noticing how her cheeks were still covered by a faint pink as she raised her eyes for a second to meet his. He walked until he stopped by her side since their conversation was about to become too weird to be overheard. Yet, Ambrose also followed her line of sight and understood where it was coming from.

“To be honest, I don’t believe she knows it. Once we reach adulthood, we stop celebrating birthdays in the ways you do. We go by decades or by hundreds, even then… for adults of her age, it’s hard to tell. They used to count moons, thirteen full moons making a year. All she knows is that she had born during the second black moon of winter and that it’s dreadful to celebrate birthdays when it only points out how old you are getting.”

“I understand that completely,” Mary said under her breath, but slouching as she thought it wouldn’t make sense for her to get what she was looking at if there was no valid reason for it, and Christmas was still too far away. As if he could sense her trepidation or her shattered desire to get something nice for his Aunt he leaned in closer before he simply confessed her a secret.

“You should get it, Mary. I’m certain she’ll love anything coming from you.”

Mary blinked, wondering if her intention was so clear. Perhaps she was just too transparent, or the witch had very attentive ways. Either way, she had been caught with the hand in the cookie jar… well, with the hand itching to buy the cookie jar, in her case.

“You think so?” she asked anyway, feeling silly for falling prey to such a weird desire. Truly she had never seen something and thought, ‘this would just fit her.’ She’d thought that sort of thing was an exaggeration or simply something that came after years of knowing someone. Until now.

“Oh, I know so. I’m certain you can bring her that piece you are so attentively looking at or a twig from the forest and she would love it all in the same way. Shall we check it?”

Mary hadn’t even nodded her agreement as, as a child pulled to colorful cotton candy, she pushed the door opened and the woman behind it raised her eyes to meet them. “Hello, how can I help you?”

Ms. Wardwell asked to see the piece her eyes had fallen on and was a bit taken aback by its price. She remembered then Ambrose’s words. She was worthy of everything she wanted and if she wanted to buy this -she could already picture Zelda wearing it- then why shouldn’t she? It’s not like she didn’t have a sizable wealth sitting on her bank account that she’d never used.

After making her purchase, they finally reached the coffee shop.

Back at the academy, things were slightly different. Zelda had already depleted her cigarettes not only for she was missing the constant comfort of the teacher, and her never-ending questions, but for her students seemed to be even more troublesome today. Five times they had called her to solve their petty issues, including two that weren’t even magical but teenage drama, and if there was something the High Priestess really flunked at… that was helping with teens to solve petty issues about their troubled young hearts.

So, she’d decided she needed the peace of her home before risk killing someone. For her sake and that of her fellow witches. She had called one of the several teachers that the Academy had gained upon the months since they took over and got ready to leave.

Just before she finally did, Zelda had also found the twins and told them it was time to return to the mortal realm and wait for Mary’s return at the Mortuary. For she didn’t know for sure when the teacher would arrive back from her brief trip. The Directrix allowed them to grab a book each before promptly teleporting the three of them to the foyer.

“I’m going to start on dinner, children. You might wait at the parlor or come with me to the kitchen.”

To her utter surprise, the kids followed her, and she had her suspicions it was to check she wouldn’t poison their food. As a young witch, that’s what she would’ve done that at least. However, it was quite surprising for the Directrix that they had asked her questions about magic, their past, and who their father was before he’d changed.

The Blackwoods mentioned Prudence telling them the High Priestess knew him from before any other witch in their coven, and they were eager to get some knowledge from the man that had raised them in seclusion inside another realm. She breathed as she realized Prudence hadn’t mentioned the short period as his wife. ‘Small mercies,’ Zelda thought, allowing herself to fall back in time, to the least damaging place, when she had met Faustus.

After placing their dinner in the oven, she moved them all to the parlor and wondered what she’ll do now. She couldn’t keep forever talking about that man as her own bile was fighting its way out with the repressed memories of far more uncomfortable times.

“Have you ever heard the true story of Lilith?” She asked then, reverting to her favorite part of the Satanic Bible from even before she had met the Queen of Hell. Although, now it also contained a truth that wasn’t written by Satan. A version of her own that Lilith herself had told her, and she had been writing. About her true origins as a Goddess and her own fall before finding herself empowered, which finally had restored her as the Goddess of the Underworld she was.

The twins shook their heads no, telling her how their father had despised anything at all related to the Satanic writing, only working on the knowledge he could find about the terrors. So, she had smiled, asked them to wait, and returned with the one she was writing before she sat on the loveseat.

As the story progressed the children had moved from their place in the armchairs until they were all but aweing at her knees, and that was how the voyagers found them.

It surprised Ambrose when he spotted the Mortuary in the distance. He checked the clock and found it they were back far earlier than he thought they would manage, yet, knowing the inhabitants of the house, the young witch also knew Sabrina would still be out there somewhere, trying to fill the void Nick had left behind, and his Aunt, well… mortal or witchy realm, his redhead aunt was a workaholic, and he simply couldn’t believe she would be back early.

They opened the door, the warmth of the house and the distinct smell of a meal, made them both feel at home and hungry. What was even more surprising was not only the lights on, or the mouth-watering smell. No, it was the steady voice of Zelda Spellman coming somewhat muffled by the parlor walls.

“I think I might have an inkling at that thing you mentioned about this door just doing something funny in you when you cross them, Ambrose,” Mary said as they got rid of their coats, yet feeling like everything inside her tingled as she heard the cadence of the Directrix's voice calling at her like a siren’s song she couldn’t nor wanted to fight.

“Oh, I know! Don’t tell anyone, but it’s why, after being so many years tucked in here, I don’t leave.”

Now, what they found at the parlor was baffling, to say the least. There she was, the cold-hearted Zelda Spellman, chattering to the Blackwood kids as if she’d always done it. She was telling them the enrapturing tale of Lilith, and they both newcomers felt pulled to her.

For some, his Aunt might not have a heart, be cold and stern, but he remembered her different. Among those memories was the one of how she could create the most vivid of the tales with ease. Ambrose remembered the several times he fell enthralled to her tales of her adventures through the years and places she had been to.

Their arrival hadn’t gone unnoticed. Zelda welcomed them with a quick nod and a barely visible smile. Ambrose fell to his usual chair while Mary… She couldn’t help herself and found her weight dropping on the loveseat right next to Zelda, accommodating close enough so their knees were touching yet far away enough so she could comfortably turn around and watch enraptured how the woman weaved the words together. The teacher thought Zelda had never made more honor to her last name than that night, for her every word seemed to place a spell on them, capturing them in it.

To the disappointment of them all, it didn’t take the High Priestess longer to wrap it out. Only the mention of dinner being about to be ready, raising their spirits again. Then, remembering the teacher’s purchase, Ambrose herded the twins to the bathroom to wash their hands before dinner.

The truth of the almost abrupt end, though, wasn’t related to dinner at all. The moment Zelda had spotted the brunette who had made herself so comfortable next to her, she had thanked Hecate for her multitasking skills, or she would’ve to let very embarrassing thoughts out.

“Hey,” Mary whispered.  

“Hey, yourself. Have you found what you were searching for?” She asked, not quite risking a glance towards the teacher, worry that she might scare her or distress her. From the corner of her eye, she saw Mary nod. The redhead laid her head back before she fixated her eyes on the hearth. “You know, no matter what they are about, you can take them with you to the Academy. I won’t judge you for it. I truly cannot.” She said then, finally turning around and searching for blue eyes.

What she saw in them made her take a deep breath, and unable to stop herself, Zelda left a quick kiss on her forehead, before standing up and placing some space between them. There was a small pout coming from the brunette as she already missed the redhead’s warmth. But the High Priestess offered her hands to her and Mary took them, unwrapping herself from the loveseat and standing. She took a deep breath and despite the decent distance between them, the glorious smell of Zelda’s perfume surrounded her in a warm embrace.

“Walk with me?” The High Priestess asked before they started the way to the kitchen. Ambrose’s words dancing in the back of Mary’s mind as they strolled to the kitchen, close enough that their hands had grazed a few times.

That they reached the kitchen was inevitable, and while Zelda manned the kitchen with ease, having even set the table before taking the kids to the parlor, there was not much left for Mary to do than to observe the woman and shuffle out of the way awkwardly while she over thought how to give her what she’d bought.

“Hmm, you know… when we went to Riverdale… we passed a store… and… I saw this… and reminded me of you… and so… well, I suppose… I got you something?” She said chastising herself for the almost stuttering way it all came out.

Zelda stretched after taking dinner out of the oven and looking as if she was one of those movie housewives that not only were gorgeous but could cook. Mary gulped as the green eyes fell upon her, while she could see taking the tray to the table.

“For me? You didn’t need to,” she said, but truth to be told she found herself out of words, for it was a long time since anyone had bought anything to her, for it reminded them of her. No, in fact, she remembered her suitors complaining about how difficult it was to gift her anything for either she had it or she disliked it. It wasn’t her fault really, but who thought that after all her years on Earth she’d still fall for roses?

Mary saw Zelda’s expression change from utter surprise to some weird version of excitement and worry that triggered her own anxiety further. So, before she could lose her nerve, she took the box out of her pocket and presented it to the redhead.

“I know, hm… Happy Birthday… I guess...” Confusion washed over the redhead with the mix of the words and the black velvety jewelry box that was almost placed on her face. She noticed, though, the unsteady hands and the nervousness radiating from the teacher along with the crimson shade on her cheeks. “Before you say anything, Ambrose said, as you did, that it’s not your birthday but… since you don’t really know if it’s not… I thought… I’d really feel less silly if you took it and we pretend it is?”

“Oh, of course! Thank you, Mary.” She said, grabbing the box almost reverently. It was so long since someone had truly surprised her like this.

Zelda took a deep breath, she knew her expression could often betray her, so she schooled her features before even attempting to open the box, for she knew she wouldn’t be able to survive knowing she broke Mary’s heart over her dislike of a gift.

“Hecate, Mary!”

The redhead’s eyes widened, for she truly was perplexed by what she found. Inside the velvety box, there was a brooch. They made it like an antique key on an aged, almost coppery silver that made them look even older. It had three gems set at the top. The left one was an emerald. The right one, a clear blue topaz, and the middle one held a diamond.

“Don’t you like it?” Mary worried, her frown burrowed, and her right hand pressing her cross as if it would help her to teleport away from being utterly embarrassed for her gift.

“It’s… I’m speechless.” She said, touching the key softly as she couldn’t believe it was real. “These stones are real. This must-have cost you a small fortune. You really shouldn’t have.”

Mary's eyes filled with tears as she prepared herself for the rejection that most likely would come after those words. She could already hear the ‘I can’t keep it’ instead she felt Zelda’s warm lips on her cheek and her body pressed against her, molding almost perfectly. If it wasn’t for her arm that had remained trapped in between.

“It’s perfect, Mary. Absolutely stunning, like the woman who gave it to me.” The directrix whispered to her ear, before taking a step back as she heard the approaching footsteps. “Thank you, so much.” She added as she placed it on the lapel of her blazer.

The teacher was still trembling and still blushing. With a glance around, Ambrose understood the reason behind it.

“Auntie? You know which gems are those?” 

The High Priestess blushed. It was one thing receiving a gift and being able to hide the deepest meaning hidden from the mortal’s knowledge and another one altogether to face her nephew with it. “Aquamarine, Diamond, and blue topaz.” She stated, raising an eyebrow as if daring him to continue. He grinned, though, and she knew she’d been doomed.

“Quite fitting, isn’t it?” He said poking at Mary’s curiosity and innocence. Zelda glared at him, letting out a tight yes. The poor teacher not knowing how she’d be blushing too soon.

“Why is that?” The brunette asked as Ambrose planned, as she passed him the salad.

“Aquamarine is a stone of courage and protection; it helps calm fears and phobias and to clear communication blocks. While it’s believed that blue topaz brings truth and wisdom, assisting one to recognize when or where one has strayed their truth, and diamonds… are perfection, illumination. Some say it opens the mind to the new and the possible. As for the keys, they are one of the primary symbols of Hecate, the gatekeeper.” Zelda stated as nonchalantly as she could, as the piece selection could almost sum up Mary’s current status and their -not quite yet- blossoming relationship.

“And you know why Hecate is represented by a key?” Ambrose looked to the twins, who shook their heads no and had their eyes focused on him with interest. “It’s quite simple really, keys have the amazing ability to unlock any locked doors, and you know what it means? To be the keeper of a key? That you would have the power and ability to open what locked and hidden from the other’s eye.” He said, sparing a knowing glance to his Aunt while keeping the children’s attention out of the blushing pair. “So, our Goddess is called the Keeper of the Keys for she can unlock all the mysteries.”

"Oh," it was the last thing the profusely blushing Mary let out that night.

Chapter 37

Notes:

Sometimes I wonder if any of you would just yell at me to make it go faster xD
Anyhow...

Chapter Text

Zelda assumed that after the previous night, with Ambrose placing them both in the spotlight, Mary wouldn’t dare to show up anywhere near her. The usually timid mortal would be too embarrassed to face her, she’d thought. Once they had left, she’d chastised her nephew for poking on the teacher’s curiosity, outing the deeper meaning of the piece. She considered the damage was done. Even so, she’d some hope harboring inside her almost unfeeling heart. A hope that had fruits.

It was the next afternoon that Mary Wardwell had appeared on her office’s threshold. She offered her an uncomfortable smile, and Zelda could read her nervousness in her stance. Yet, blue eyes had widened, and her smile brightened as she spotted the brooch settled comfortably a little above the redhead’s heart. Something the High Priestess had worn to dim the pain of not having her once again sharing her office.

The change of expression hadn’t gone unnoticed. Even though Zelda only returned the smile. She considered that commenting on it would only bring back the silent Mary. The one who had granted them her company during dinner and had said no other word until she bid her goodnight.

Although what neither Spellman had realized was that Mary hadn’t found it embarrassing being in the spotlight. The thing that made her blush was learning how she wanted to offer Zelda all those things the simple brooch transmitted under its innocent look. Perhaps it had been an unconscious choice, yet the meaning was now out and she knew it wasn’t as far off either. If only she hadn’t carried all the weight of her self-denying life.

That she had been missing the witch for hours, paired with all those silly butterflies she felt in her stomach whenever she thought of seeing her that afternoon, what had given her the strength to get herself to the Academy. Their hours together were something the mortal had found herself not only attached to but truly dependent on it.

So, the teacher kept coming to the Directrix’s office. During the following weeks, her embarrassment about the piece of jewelry Zelda so proudly displayed had dimmed. The Academy grew in excitement, as Halloween was quickly approaching. With it work on the Directrix’s desk mounted up even faster. Somehow Mary still wasn’t privy to the redhead’s status as High Priestess, something Zelda found both surprising and unnerving.

Yet, that role was the one that was taking more of her time since they embraced Hecate as their Goddess. The High Priestess had been working on where to go with Celebrations. She had to analyze how to change them and adapt them for their newer times before presenting them to a council they’d formed. So far, they returned to the most basic celebrations, limiting them to the solstices and equinoxes and only leaving two of their most beloved festivities on the list, for no one could imagine a year without Lupercalia and Halloween.

And seeing how they’d started that year, the changes weren’t so difficult to accept. They had finished the Wheel of the Year skipping Yule celebrations (now simply called Winter Solstice.) altogether because of Sabrina’s death.

Lupercalia had been the next one and had also been a great success. They had changed it with a new set of rules that truly adapted to their ways. They accepted with open arms Ambrose’s proposal to allow all witches who wanted to take part to choose if they wanted to sit or dance. Which led to having hunters and prey had a drawn what they’d be for that night. And of course, they changed the story for the second night, giving up the one about Lilith and Lucifer.

Spring Equinox had been a fight. The pagans they fought had called it Ostara, and before, they had celebrated Hare moon. Zelda wanted to cancel it, seeing how the last time nothing good came from it. Sweet Hilda had stomped her feet and pointed that they could do another bath on this moonlight celebration. Which made sense, for the moon dictated many of their movements through their Goddess. Not one to twist her arm, she’d put it up for voting, and when the time came, the High Priestess had laid in the ground once more, hearing her sister’s diatribe while eyeing the moon.

They had brightened the fires for Summer Solstice, in that occasion the coven had a feast in the forest surrounding the Academy and their youthful witches finally seemed to have forgotten all about their losses and a couple of past stressful years as they danced and feasted around a bonfire.

Lilith had visited Zelda on all those occasions. The Queen of Hell stood by a tree observing the Moon bath but had attracted the High Priestess’s attention as the festivities moved along. The mother of demons simply came to check how they were faring and stood for the night noticing her Zelda relaxed and happy. On Lupercalia… well, the redhead’s lust could be felt from Hell itself. As she stood alone in the woods, the first witch appeared in front of the redhead. A picnic basket in hand and a sly smile on her face. They disappeared together, away from prying eyes.

Mary almost becoming a fixture inside the academy started before the year reached Summer Solstice. That was all Zelda had heard about for days, yet in the end, she hadn’t needed to say a word to her. The celebration happened the Saturday before the twins’ request to stay, and Mary had her hands busy on her own church.

Autumn equinox was a different matter. The coven was beginning to trust in the mortal, and the Blackwood twins would join them that weekend. They asked the teacher if she wanted to join the meal after their ritual, and she had eagerly accepted it. Once their ceremony was over, Zelda had picked her up, transporting her to the forest in which they were celebrating.

Halloween though… with a little over two weeks left to reach it, Zelda could feel it almost breathing on her neck. There was still no consensus about what they’d do about Mary. It was not only a weekend with the twins inside the academy. The veil was thinner that day, and even mortals knew it. There was some fear around the idea that someone could use the teacher again if found alone since she was spending so much time within those walls.

As she thought, Zelda’s eyes fell on the teacher that once again was lying curled on the loveseat in her office. Nose-deep in the book she had given her, unconsciously twirling a strand of hair with her index finger. The smile that appeared on the Directrix’s face would be contagious if anyone was to see it. A frown had quickly replaced it when her emerald glance had found that the dark spots under Mary’s eyes were now bigger than ever before.

“Mary?”

The brunette hummed to signal she had listened but raised her hand to stop her from adding anything else. Until she raised her eyes, marked the page, and smiled brightly.

“Yes, Zelda?”

“Are you sleeping at all?”

The way the teacher had blushed reminded Zelda about her niece’s comment, about how she seemed to lack a filter to stop her from simply blurting uncomfortable things without a thought. Alas, Sabrina’s comment usually came after some retort about sex, drugs, or alcohol she’d left in front of her and her mortal friends.

“Yes?”

Mary lowered the book and pushed her glasses further up her nose, but avoided Zelda’s eyes. The redhead frowned, racking her head to understand what could’ve been making the brunette so tired.

“Are you having nightmares again?” She asked with a tenderest tone. Another blush and the teacher raised her hands to rest on her cheeks. Embarrassed, she shook her head. She knew what was causing them. It was a combination of staying up too late as she read those books Ambrose had picked for her and the dreams about the redhead that often ended up when they were about to kiss. Those would leave her feeling so awkward and hot that she usually needed a shower after them.

As if she was tossing possibilities aside with every question (and she was) Zelda’s eyes rested on the book on Mary’s hand and concluded the woman was up reading what they had picked up from Riverdale. Perhaps, leaving her reading for late at night, worrying about how she would be seen if someone noticed her carrying such books. She didn’t know she wasn’t as far from the truth.

The Directrix walked towards the loveseat and pulled an armchair closer to it before sitting down. She took one of Mary’s hands between hers and smiled.

“You should just bring your books here, Mary. As you can see, I’m swamped with work. I understand you must have a myriad of questions by now. Questions you aren’t asking for you are too kind and have noticed the growing pile on my desk. If you stop reading the books I’m giving you, for a couple of weeks, they won’t go away. I believe the ones that are causing this exhaustion will be a far better choice for you at this point. They might give you answers where I might not, not now at least.”

“I… I can’t… Not even the twins know what I’m reading, and I might die of embarrassment if someone knows.”

Unable to stop herself like most of the times when she was around this bewitching woman, Zelda’s hand found Mary’s sharp cheeks and caressed them delicately. She bit her lip before her heart won the battle. A blink later and her lips met the teacher’s cheek affectionately.

“I’ll fix that for you.”

Zelda stood up, going to the library inside her office. She perused through the books, grabbing one. With ease, she took the dust jacket off it and presented it to Mary.

“Use that to cover yours and bring them here. It won’t do to have you going half-asleep around town if you don’t want people to wonder what’s wrong with you. Insomnia will only cover as much.”

“Thanks, I suppose. Do you mind if I do it tonight before dinner?” 

The question took Zelda by surprise. Her eyes swiftly searched for her calendar and she realized the last minutes of Friday at the Academy were ticking by.

“Yes, of course. I’ll transport us to your home, and you can grab it before dinner. For now, why don’t you take a nap? I’m afraid I’m stuck for a little longer than usual.”

It would take time for the High Priestess to find words to describe what she felt when, a bit later, she had raised her eyes only to find the teacher curled up in the loveseat, peacefully sleeping. What she identified was that her heart had skipped a beat, and warmth had filled her from head to toes. Something had made her conjure a blanket and a pillow to make the woman comfortable. While she carefully raised Mary’s head to place the pillow underneath, Zelda also took her glasses away, leaving them on the side table.

A couple of hours had gone by, and the soft moan coming from the brunette was the one thing that strayed Zelda from her work as a rush of lust drowned on her like warm summer rain. She raised her eyes to see the woman making herself even more comfortable, and she felt drawn like a moth to the flame as Mary looked anything but virginal right then.

The High Priestess closed her books, as she decided that for the sake of both she’d better wake the woman up and take her home. -For dinner, only for dinner… and perhaps a nightcap.

She stood up, strolled to the armchair that she had left close before, and sat. Her hand itched to touch Mary. To draw the contours of her face, before getting lost one on the dark mane, the other one traveling to wherever she granted her permission. The Directrix lips tingling with the strong desire to get lost on a skin she knew was softer than anything she had tried before.

Instead, she reigned over herself. Her hand found Mary’s shoulders, and she joggled her while calling her name. The Directrix thought that the way she’d gulped after the half-moaned ‘Zelda’ that left the teacher’s still sleeping mouth could’ve been heard throughout the Academy. That made her hand recoil as being burned. 

It took a couple of controlled breaths before she tried once more. This time with a far better answer, although not less mouthwatering. The brunette stretched on the couch. The blanket falling from her form, and her blouse had tightened in the proper places as the woman did an accurate impression of a stirring cat.

“Hey, I actually fell asleep on you?”

Her raspy, whispery, sleep-laden voice could easily become one of the sexiest things Zelda had heard. Her eyes were still blurry with sleep, her hair was a bit tousled and there was a line from a wrinkle of the pillow across her cheek, and still, the redhead found her dazzling.

“You did, and I’m sorry to say I didn’t realize until now. It’s too late, I reckon, but are you still up for dinner tonight?”

“Yes!” Mary answered, her head bobbing eagerly, making a bigger mess of her hair.

“I’m ready when you are,” the directrix said. She smiled while giving her space to sit and collect her things.

As promised the first stop was Mary’s cottage where the teacher picked the book, she was reading but not before covering its cover with the dust jacket the redhead had given her.

Since she was the one who fell asleep, and as part of their deal, Mary had their dinner ready in almost no time, while Zelda found them a decent wine. They ate in silence, both too famished to speak, and too comfortable to care trying to fill it with little nothings. Like every time they met like this, cleaning up was a shared task where Zelda took the brunt of the work, but Mary wouldn’t have it to sit and watch.

Their usual nightcap tradition followed. This time, Mary brought her book along. Zelda sat next to her, finding one book she’d had wanted to read but had never found time to before. So, instead of dreading the moment when their whisky was over, they sat there, reading. Until Mary fell asleep, her head resting on the redhead’s shoulder.

The witch had remained as still as she could as not to wake the mortal up. But when her shoulder had cramped, she had to let go. Instead of waking her up or letting her sleep all curled over on the loveseat -because she knew how the body complained in the mornings after one of those stints.- She let out a cleaning spell for the guest room before teleporting them both there.

For a moment, Zelda stood there watching the brunette uncurl herself on the bed as much as her clothes allowed her to do so. She debated with herself about whether she should add a spell to get her out of the clothes and into one nightgown. The Directrix shrugged, deciding that another spell wouldn’t hurt anyone, and instantaneously changed Mary into the one pajama she seldom wore, for it was too modest. She left the dark burgundy robe that came with it hanging behind the door. The teacher’s clothes ended up hung inside the small armoire, almost hidden in a corner.

“Sweet dreams.”

Zelda whispered before taking her glasses off, leaving them on the bedside table and leaving one last kiss on a furrowed brow that relaxed after that touch.

Mary woke up the next morning feeling utterly rested and thoroughly confused about where she was. The blurry ceiling she was seeing wasn’t one she knew. She sat up, feeling before seeing the change in her clothes. Whereas her clothes were soft, the fabric around her body felt even softer on her skin… like a lover’s caress, her mind concluded. She shook her head since she wasn’t sure what a lover’s caress was.

Instead of dwelling on her memories of the several nights of pain and discomfort she didn’t quite feel since she now knew Faustus had impaired her judgment on the nights they shared, Mary turned to the side, patting around until she found her glasses.

She stood up, found the en-suite bathroom, and gasped at the image the full-length mirror gave back. A burgundy long-sleeved pajama blouse that was larger in her frame, covered her down inches below her behind. A black and burgundy plaid pants that matched it covered her legs. She looked fancy; she thought. Not giving a second glance to the fact she didn’t know who had changed her into this, she started her morning routine noticing the new toothbrush and care items left in there.

She left her morning shower for when she could get home to her own clean clothes and after a fight with her hair, which had ended up with two braids to control it, she finally left the bathroom.

The teacher noticed the robe then, wrapping herself on it, she wondered if she should just find Zelda. Since that was the last thing she remembered, sitting with the redhead at night.

Barefooted as she didn’t want to cause a ruckus that could wake up anyone else, she left the room. However, she was astounded, for the usually empty mortuary seemed alive and aglow. The noise coming from the kitchen pointing her to her destination, only to have her blushing as she entered to find not one but four Spellmans in there.

“Good Morning Ms. Wardwell!” Sabrina said in that cheerful tone of hers even before Mary could just do a one-eighty and hide in the room she came from.

The greeting startling the other three. Ambrose had simply laid back on his bench enough that his head hung upside down to check by himself it wasn’t one of Sabrina’s jokes before he too added his greeting.

“Blessed morning, Mary.”

Zelda’s reaction was the most natural of them, lowering her weird-looking newspaper and smiling at her before adding a ‘morning, Mary’ in that sexy raspy voice of hers. It was Hilda’s reaction, the most unexpected of them all, for the blonde witch had her head deep inside a cupboard as she checked for missing or almost depleted ingredients to fill the jars up. When she heard the exchange, her head had hit the top shelf so hard that there was a worrying moment while jars and Hilda tried to find their balance once again.

The three sitting witches had raised their hands, the younger ones muttering something as they did. While Hilda got herself standing somewhat straight on the ladder she was using to reach it. She rubbed her head where it had hit the wood, turning around to find the hands pointed at her. She chuckled.

“No need to worry about me, I’m fine. Good morning, lamb.”

“As if your thick skull would be of any concern, sister. We were making sure not one jar fell to the floor. I’m quite certain none of us want to repeat the Batibat incident or die from whatever the mix of those ingredients could create.”

Zelda’s smirk was in place. Yet, as everyone else seemed so concerned about Hilda’s, she dared to wink at the teacher before turning towards her nephew.

“Ambrose. Be a gentleman and allow Mary to sit”

Sabrina chuckled at the quick way in which Ambrose went from being all sprawled on his bench to only occupy one side of it, his right leg propped up on it as if he needed to sit in an odd position to be most comfortable.

“Please, Mary, take a seat. As you already know, we don’t bite.”

There was a snort coming from Hilda that made green eyes roll as Mary sat near the redhead.

“Well… unless you want me to…” she whispered for Mary’s ears only before letting out another wink. A deep shade of red-tinted the teacher’s cheeks.

“You fell asleep on me last night. I thought it would be better to transport you to a room over waking you up and having you drive back home. Your timing is impeccable as usual, Mary. We were just starting breakfast. Hilda came by to check we don’t die without her.”

“Let's not forget adding the missing items to your market list,” Hilda said. Nephew, niece, and blonde aunt shared a knowing smile. A groan coming from their matriarch followed.

“Did you need to ruin my day so bright and early this morning? I haven’t even had my coffee or dress up to be faced with the harsh reality of this being a market day.”

Zelda huffed out in her own dramatic flair. The coffee machine spewed its last drops as if on cue. It was just then that Mary’s eyes fell below Zelda’s face. She found her shoulders wrapped in a blue satin robe. That was loose enough to allow her to bear witness to the whiteness of Zelda’s skin that was not modestly covered by a black satin and lace nightgown that made the teacher gulp and her cheeks burn.

“So, who will have the joy to join me on this forsaken task?” The redhead asked then, while she pretended she couldn’t feel blue eyes traveling down her gown or lack thereof. Nor being delighted or aroused by it.

The three Spellman spilled over excuses faster than she could remember they would’ve been able to do so before.

“What about you, Ms. Wardwell? Are you busy today?” Sabrina asked. A disturbingly saccharine to tone her Aunt’s ear. Those damned puppy eyes of hers were all out as playing with the unknowing mortal as a virtuoso would’ve played their instrument of choice.

“I… I was thinking of going to the market myself. It’s easier and faster when the twins aren’t around.”  

Mary fidgeted in her seat, as Sabrina smiled brightened and Ambrose hurried to get them all some coffee served.

By then, the three younger Spellmans were already trying to figure out what was the most baffling thing happening that morning related to the eldest of them. Was it the chirpiness, the amiable smile, the spring in her step? Yet they all could agree it was her next words, for they were soft and laden with honesty.

“You don’t have to come along if you don’t want, Mary.”

And that was something none of them could’ve said they’d experienced before from the Spellman Matriarch to any other being that wasn’t baby Sabrina before.

Chapter 38

Notes:

Please don't kill me...

Chapter Text

When the Spellmans had turned to Mary to accompany Zelda to the market, they hadn’t thought they might kick the ball against their own court, and for once it wasn’t their Matriarch’s foul mood fault.

After breakfast was done, the High Priestess walked Mary to the guest room, explaining to her the events after she fell asleep. Then, she told her she could wait downstairs when she was ready, for Zelda still needed to finish her morning routine to be ready to face the market.

Mary quickly divested herself from the pajamas, leaving them neatly placed over the bed she had done to take some time, and then she changed into her own clothes. As she walked downstairs, she wondered if that was something akin to a shame walk, but shook her head since there was no shame in falling asleep on someone else’s couch, right?

She found Hilda still in the kitchen, and for a second, she doubted if she should remain there or even make some small talk with the blonde. For a while, it seemed Hilda Spellman actually hated her guts. The younger sister was manning the kitchen preparing only God knew what and had spotted the teacher before she could walk away.

“Hey, there. So, how are you and my sister getting along? And be honest, everyone in this house will understand any bitter comment you might let out. It won’t be surprising at all since it's Zelds we’re talking about.”

Hilda’s sweet, saccharine smile was out. Mary found it eerily similar to Sabrina’s. The brunette didn’t know the grin was out, for the blonde was testing her to see if she was going to fall for it. If the teacher was going to badmouth her older sister given the chance, she was prepared to take it to the last consequences as any time someone tried to lay a hand to her family. Sure, she was the Queen of the Underdog, but her family survival always came first.

However, Mary’s answer had come out of the left field.

Mary huffed in annoyance as she lowered herself onto Zelda’s chair. She ruffled through the newspapers she knew would be discarded as she took the time to choose her words.

“You know? Everyone keeps telling me she’s a downright bitch… and I don’t see it. She’s been nothing but sweet with me, not to mention with the twins. I mean, yeah, she came out rather strongly before, but I understand completely her rage about what I told people and how I trusted the man she hates for months. Since then… she’s been nothing but accommodating. It surprised me, to be honest, her willingness to share all the knowledge that no one else seems to be interested in learning. She knows so much, and it awes me she finds it in herself to share it with lowly me, one silly mortal.”

The kettle whistled then, saving Hilda from having to keep her face from showing how immensely astounded she was with that information. She offered Mary some tea that was politely refused and took her time to observe the woman in the kitchen. The woman was nervously pulling some imaginary threads from her green pullover and avoided her glance at all costs.

“Truly, you have no one dirty word or rude comment to leave out about our Zelds? Not one ill action on her part that had bothered you at all?”

Mary shook her head and frowned, before raising a confused glance towards her.

“Is it wrong? I mean, I’m aware she used to kill you whenever she got mad. She also said she’d cursed, hexed, and killed before. All that along with plenty of other things she defined as sinful to my beliefs but unnecessary to bring forth. However, I believe she’s just trying to scare me, so I don’t make false assumptions about how nice she is without knowing the extent of her range of action, to call it something.”

“And you aren’t worried? You don’t fear her?”

“Fear her? I…”

‘Love her! No, I like her… as a friend… As the only friend I got, who is willing to share her fantastic world and even more amazing family with me, and who I’m under no pretense falling for because that, Mary, will ruin the only friendship you ever had.’ She thought but shook her head and nervously pushed her glasses farther up her nose.

“You…?”

Hilda prodded carefully, feeling the brunt of mixed emotions coming out of the woman in waves, leaving her breathless at how confusing they were as they were raw and opposite, and no matter how lovely or disgusting they were… they were all strong. Unfiltered. Until the woman took a deep breath and gained control over herself in ways Hilda had only felt Zelda doing before.

“I don’t fear her, not in the least. I’m thankful, I suppose… This won’t come as a surprise, I’m quite the loner, and even if it’s not noticeable, I’m extremely curious. Zelda has been nothing but patient with me, teaching me your ways with such passion and deepness… that I can’t help but feel at home whenever I’m in your world. It’s silly, I know… I suppose I’m stupid like that.”

She blushed, lowering her glance and pulling threads once more.

“Oh, no. Dear, you could never be stupid for feeling enthralled by our world or any other world, really. And trust me, I get it… there’s something in my sister when she teaches that makes you want to be better. Although, most of our students forget that the moment she’s out of the class. I suppose witches are simply older than your regular teenager.”

Hilda chuckled. “How long a witch is a teenager? I’m quite confused by your ages.”

“Not quite long, if you ask me. Once we turn sixteen, we are adults no matter how young we look. Before, when we were part of the Dark Lord believers, women didn’t even stand a chance. I think that’s part of why Zelda traveled so much, everyone said she would be High Priestess before our brother if females could take over. Yet, it was disappointing, I suppose, to find there was a limit placed by our church that was there for her only for being a woman. I always thought she knew there was no further thing to do than to keep traveling and keep learning while hoping that one-day things would change. Then, they did. Not without a high price… for all.”

“I see. What about education? When does your academy end?”

“Never.” Zelda’s voice came behind them and Mary’s smile blossomed. Her eyes glinting with something she didn’t dare to name, but Hilda identified the emotion filling the room with ease.  

“I suppose you’d want to stop at your home before we go?” The redhead asked as she felt blue eyes traveling down her body. She chose a plum pantsuit with no blouse underneath it a golden choker hung from her, thin golden chains that held round opals in different sizes cascaded down. The longest of them getting lost almost at the beginning of the valley between her pale breasts where the jacket collar ended. Mary gulped. Whereas Zelda pretended to be unfazed, placing her right hand on her slightly raised hip and waving her red curls backward with her left.

A glare from Hilda and a look to the blushing teacher had told the High Priestess she had scored in what she had attempted, which made her smile even broader and made a mischievous glint appearing in her eye.

“Shall we?”  

Mary cleared her throat and nodded before remembering she had brought things along, like her purse and the book. ‘Oh, God, the book!’ She rushed past Zelda and into the parlor, panic was written on her face. Hilda took that moment to glare at her sister.

“What?”

“Really. Of all the words, what is the one you are going with? You are going to kill that poor lamb, Zelds.”

The redhead scoffed and fixed her jacket nonchalantly and cheekily grinned.

“And while I’m at it, I’ll get us fabulous discounts. We all know that’s why I -and not you- was tasked years ago with this boring activity. Now, I believe I know what Mary’s searching for, so if you have my list, I can go save her from further worry.”

The smirk on Zelda’s face made Hilda roll her eyes. Sure, they all knew the eldest Spellman would charm her way through most things she could, including discounts, while the little sister was far more modest. So, Hildegard extended her arm with the paper on it but didn’t let go when the redhead grabbed it.

“Don’t be too bold, you are going to scare her away, Zelds. And that poor woman is so terrified that I’m surprised she’s here at all.”

The High Priestess crooked her head and looked at the soft eyes of her sister, before humming.

“You know, sometimes… I would love to have you in my corner instead of against me, and then, you’ll know that I, too, can be as scared as I was that day when I faced the darkness and you saved me.” Green eyes filled with tears for a second before the redhead raised her chin and reigned her seemingly feeble emotions that –even lacking in her usual dealings- ran deep inside her if it involved her family.

“One day, I would also love to know what’s like to have your deepest darkest fears not becoming true. Alas, what would you know, Hildie? If you got everything I don’t? If you are everything I’m not.”

With that, she all but stormed away to the parlor. She picked up the book that she had remembered to hide it so no one would find it, avoiding Mary’s further embarrassment. For a moment, she thought the levels of worry she showed around the mortal would be enough for her family to understand there was something different with herself around Mary. But how could anyone but Hilda know? If she had never been something other than the bitchy witch she was around them? Only her little sister had some memories, if any, of the joyful girl she used to be a long while ago.

She presented the book to Mary, whose eyes brightened, and she seemed to breathe again as she noticed Zelda had kept it safe from prying eyes. They didn’t say a word, though, for the teacher had noticed something had changed in the Directrix demeanor and she wondered if she was once again the cause of a scuffle between the sisters.

While driving home she kept stealing glances towards the redhead who had her head against the window and looked at the forest, as if she had never seen it before. Not even her distracting decolletage had caught the teacher’s stares as she worried about the witch that was sitting so close to her while her mind seemed to be miles away.

“Penny for your thoughts?” She asked, facing the road for the blush that crept into her face when she remembered how they’d ended the last time she had asked that. Zelda turned towards her, a tiny smile curving her lips, as the same memory flushed down her.

“You don’t want to know them,” Zelda stated, wondering if the brunet would follow the game of repeating the same conversation. Mary’s blush grew redder, but her smile also blossomed. She parked her car in front of the cottage then and turned around to face the witch.

“Yes, I do. I want to know everything about you,” she said. For once it was her own freckled hand that raised to caress the soft skin of Zelda’s cheek. The High Priestess hand raised to keep the warm hand pressed against her cheek. Her lids blocked the green eyes, and she lowered her head slightly.

“I still very much want to kiss you, Mary.”

It was a whisper, soft and tender, not at all like the first time the mortal heard those words. As if something sadder or hurtful had taken away the lust out of it. Zelda let the comforting hand go and looked straight ahead and into the nothingness. She straightened in her seat and took a deep breath.

“Let’s not allow my foul mood to become a hindrance today. Go, get ready, and when you are back to me, I’ll be the same old me.”

There was a self-deprecating smile that joined the package and Mary, sweet, sweet, Mary, had to gasp for air, for it was almost as if someone had hit her in the gut.

“You could talk to me, you know?”

A nod. Short. To the point. Yet, it messed the redhead’s hair, which moved to fall covering her face. Zelda licked her lips and then bit them, trying to keep everything under wraps but costing her all that more since she had rarely been under someone else’s caring glance.

“I know,” she whispered. “I… I can’t… Not now…”

It dawned on Mary how a woman so powerful and empowered like this one. One that her coven and family looked upon as almost an unfeeling column that would keep them all afloat, could still have her own issues and pains hidden so underneath that were rarely seen. Her hand reached for Zelda’s at their own volition, she gave them a small press before she pulled the woman into a tight embrace.

“Truly, Zelda… I’m here as I know you are there if I need to.”

If it wasn’t for the way she moved her hand to her face, at the very moment the witch broke the embrace, Mary wouldn’t have noticed that a few tears had left green eyes. She had not even felt them or heard them. It broke her… to know that power and empowerment came with a price. That being Zelda Spellman came with a cost, and that having to portray being the emotionless statue everyone thought she was could make one unable to even cry as one should. Or at least, that was Mary felt then.

“I’m going to shower, but I’ll leave the front door open so you can get inside when you are ready.”

The teacher didn’t wait for an answer, for she knew none would come. The witch was used to carry around her stoic, haughty act, and breaking it could mean a lot more than Mary understood or wanted to understand at that point. Yet, she also knew herself, and a bit of the Zelda no one else seemed to have access to, and that meant she was aware that the redhead needed time to compose herself before facing her, or anyone else.

It wasn’t shocking to find the redhead smoking in her living room once she was done. No trace of the sadder demeanor she had carried, nor of any other emotion save for the mischievous smile and the way she bit her lip after the once-over she gave to Mary.

“Jeans and flannel, Mary? I never pegged you for a woman in jeans and flannel.”

Mary blushed just like every time she was under the scrutinizing gaze of the redhead. She patted down her white shirt. Then nervously fixed her brown and black plaid flannel blazer with a hand while the other one went to check her hair that was still half up in two braids and ended in a ponytail that left her voluminous hair free.

With a huff, Zelda finished her cigarette and went to her. She stilled the teacher’s hand and pecked her cheek.

“Stop fussing around yourself. You look lovely, dear.”

Then she let go, turned around, and opened the front door as if she hadn’t said or done anything out of the ordinary. Mary, though, could still feel her hands in hers, and the lips and well, the eyes as they had traveled down her figure, and the warmth that went through her spine at that term of endearment. The teacher thought she might get used to this. To having a Zelda who cared for her and to care for… if only the witch would confide to her.

Yet, how would the High Priestess know if she could confide in her if Mary herself was still holding her deepest fears inside her? Fears that affected the redhead and she'd already stated desire for her. How could anyone just drop a bomb filled with secrets, if you didn’t give them a path to do it?

“I’ll drive,” the redhead said, bringing the brunette back from her mind. The keys of Mary’s car already in Zelda’s hand as she walked purposely to the car.

There was a smile on both, but Zelda noticed the way the teacher’s grin seemed to widen as she made herself comfortable behind the wheel. Her emerald orbs twinkling with something akin to happiness that not even the frown could dwindle. “What?”

“Nothing… I just… you really love to drive.”

Mary's grin was contagious and the way she was looking at her as if she was not a weird old witch who had a bizarre fascination with cars, and she felt oddly at peace.

“I do. I… It might sound silly, but I went …”

“To war to be a mechanic…” Mary finished amusedly. Although she found it quite telling, the lengths the witch would go for something she truly loved and that made her blush. She knew for Zelda had told her she lusted for her. But would lust allow a person to hold back and wait for the other to kiss her if there was no care for her at all?

“Ambrose.”

Zelda let out a groan before shaking her head. Mary chuckled, nodding in agreement.

“Sometimes I think I’ve ruined that boy.”

“What? How could you say something like that? That boy and Sabrina are the kindest people I know. They were nothing but caring for me. They both worried about me and my wellbeing when I thought I was out of place, so to speak. God! Your nephew took me to Riverdale because he saw me too distressed to drive! He offered me advice and Heavens! Who carries a handkerchief nowadays?”

“I do. You never know when someone might need it.”

She shrugged, looking at Mary for a moment before setting her eyes back on the road. The brunette blushed, remembering that day at her office and how she still had Zelda’s handkerchief inside her purse for an unknown reason.

“How could that thought even flee by your mind? When you helped raise two of the most considerate people I know.” The teacher added instead if only to stop her own memories.

“That’s Hilda doing.”

“You should stop selling yourself so short, Directrix Spellman. You aren’t getting rid of me by pointing me the unfixable flaws you believe you have, Zelda Spellman.”

Zelda smiled, her hand found Mary and squeezed it before letting their tangled hands just be between them. Her thumb caressed her skin every so often. They continued in silence the rest of the way. But once they were at the market and before their hands parted, the redhead surprised Mary with a confession.

“I don’t want to get rid of you, I’m just unable to find the reasons for you to stay when I’m nothing but flawed.”

“Aren’t we all?” Mary asked, but the High Priestess only shrugged before getting out of the car.

As if all they needed to be all right was being out of the car, they stood side by side and whatever rest of the conversation they’d had was sent to some obscure part of their minds to be analyzed later.

For a while, their day was delightful. They were comfortable walking down the stalls, and Hilda had been right, Zelda had a way with sellers that had saved her too a bunch of cash.

While they made their purchases, Mary thought once again that she could get used to this. To spend every other Saturday with the witch walking by the farmer’s market, with Zelda’s hand softly pressed in the low of her back as they walked around. Enjoying the way she would lean in to her ear to let out a derisive comment about the poor taste or small-mindless of some horrific mortal. How she would ask her if she needed something else, or there was anything she liked they were missing.

They had stopped to eat some sandwiches and sat close together on a bench while doing so, and then, even after finishing their purchases, they had remained at the place just wandering around the artistic stalls as they walked now even closer than before. Mary comfortably laying back to have Zelda’s hand pressed firmly against the low of her back now and wearing a silly smile that betrayed her innermost feelings.

Oh, yeah. Mary had been reading a lot and everything felt so nice to be -almost- in the open. Yet reading and fighting your mind were two different things. And it all becomes even worse when your fears are shouted at you in the middle of a market as you stroll with the friend you are crushing for.

“Dyke!”  

It wasn’t a shout per se, just a mumbled word that made Mary blush and trip as she searched its origins, dreading to find out that it was in fact directed towards her. However, as she lost her balance, it was Zelda’s firm grasp, pressing her tight against her body and most likely the way the teacher’s hand fell right over the High Priestess chest, which added to the braveness of the useless excuse of a man.

“Dyke.” Was coughed as if the man wasn’t a man at all but some misguided teenager trying to prove his friends. He was the meanest of them all by attacking the frailest of the group. Zelda heard it this time, and she pressed Mary even tighter against her, searching for the idiot who dared to name call them.

“Oh, it seems the dyke isn’t the male, dude! Dude! The girly one is the rug muncher! Tell me is she a pillow princess too, muff diver?”

Zelda found him then, her green eyes falling on the muscular ‘dude-guy’ who was in the middle of a group, laughing at his ‘joke’ and clapping like the imbecile he was. She would roll her eyes at the stereotype or perhaps kiss the person with her senseless had she been with someone who didn’t care about what people thought about them or at least had a proper grasp on their own sexuality.

But, no. If Hilda Spellman was the Queen of the Underdog, Zelda Spellman was their Goddess, for she had no qualms on how far she would go. For sure, she had bullied her sister; however, she was the only one allowed to do so. No one else dared to touch a hair on her blonde head, for they would’ve to deal with the redhead and no one wanted to be on her bad list.

“If you are afraid or embarrassed... Stay behind me,” Zelda whispered to a trembling Mary. Soon after, she broke the protective embrace she had on her, turning around to find the nitwit alpha wannabe.

If his crew wanted to see an Alpha… they would see one.

The redhead stretched fully on her height which was still far shorter than the man. Yet, it was her entire stance, the way her body oozed fearlessness and called for respect. That had the few people who heard him standing out of the way. She took a step then other, and as if they could feel the danger the witch was exuding, the dimwit cheer team also moved away.

“What did you just say? How did you dare call me? And my friend?”

Zelda’s voice was low, dangerous, and she was standing close enough that it was just a hiss. For a second, Mary thought about all those warning the witch had thrown to her. All those cautions outed during their conversations. The man gulped.

“Muff di-diver… Ca-carpet muncher…”

He stuttered as Zelda’s eyebrow raised unamused. Yet, the redhead’s grin grew, becoming disturbingly bright, her green eyes glinting with a menacing glow. A short, terrifying laugh followed. “I pity the woman who’ll bed you if anyone ever does if you find being a muff diver offensive.”

“Bitch!”

She crooked her head. “Am I a bitch because you simply aren’t worthy of my time? Perhaps for you are too much of an imbecile to be worthy of her? Or because you find that even in your so-called handsomeness you still are a virgin who can’t score as you’d say and so chooses to bully those who can?”

“Fucking witch!”

Zelda grinned, starting a cigarette highly unbothered about him. She took a drag and blew the smoke. She kept him rooted where he was with her other hand while guarding them in a bubble of their own. “Come on, keep going I know you can do better than this childish name-calling.”

“Lez! Lezzy! Lezzo! Sodomite!” He said, unable to stop himself as Zelda peacefully smoked in front of him.

She laughed at the last one. “I suppose you ran out of short versions of lesbian then. Or you simply don’t know what that last one stands for?”

The directrix finished her cigarette then. As she stomped on it, she took another step in until she was standing right in the man’s personal space.

“How innocent of you, to be this moronic. To need name-calling unsuspecting people because you think they are somehow lower than you. You have no idea just how low in the chain you truly are, and how the issues you had finding a woman now will be tripled for this pathetic excuse of fun you had with the wrong woman. Your friends should pity you, and perhaps they will once I’m finished with you.”

She took a breath and scrunched her nose in disgust at the smell of his sweat reaching her nostrils. “What if I told you I can proudly be all that you called me and then some more, huh? And from all of them, the one you thought the silliest one, is not only not offensive at all, but it’s also exactly what I am. For I am a full-blooded witch and that should scare you the most.”

“Now, fly, mortal,” she said with as much rage and disgust she could muster into that word. “This witch you chose to annoy doesn’t have the tiniest regard for those who haven’t learned respect and have not an ounce of dignity in their hormone enlarged bodies. Even less for those who disrespect not only me but those I care about. Once you can reclaim your body, run as fast as you can, because that woman you just offended might be able to stop me from killing you, but the longest I stand in front of you, the hardest it will be to keep me from maim, hex, or curse you and your entire bloodline to free the next generations of even having to share oxygen with your empty mind.”

The High Priestess lowered her hand, and it seemed to the mortal that sounds were turned back on around him. He noticed then the hand of the brunette on the redhead’s arm and how the menacing look was kept on him. Even as the redhead’s hand found the one on her arm and pressed it slightly. He took the woman’s advice and ran as fast as his legs allowed him to.

Once she lowered the barrier and freed the man, she turned around to find Mary’s blue eyes filled with unshed tears and a deep shade of embarrassment on her cheeks.

“Oh, Mary... I’m so sorry.”

Zelda raised her hand to the brunette’s cheek, but the face was twisted away from her touch. Mary’s arms twisted about herself and her eyes kept darting to the ground. The Directrix took a deep breath, no matter what she’d done or said to protect her. Or how they had truly enjoyed themselves until then, it was clear to her the damage was done and even when they had taken a step or two forward… that was a mile long leap back.

“Don’t say a word if you must, I’m taking you home now.”

Chapter 39

Notes:

Blessed be the writers who gave us Ambrose... otherwise, this fic would be sooo much harder to write.

Chapter Text

The drive home was silent, and when Mary withdrew her hand as Zelda tried to grasp it as they were alone, she knew the teacher wouldn’t take any sort of comforting touch, not from her at least. The witch sighed inwardly, wondering what it left for her to do now, and how long would take it to mend the bridge that was beautifully being constructed between them until that afternoon when a dimwit burned it. She only hoped at least the foundations remained stubbornly put.

That the silence wasn’t filled with tension was, despite it all, marginally reassuring for the witch. It was just… silent. As if they could find no words to explain what on Hecate’s name was going on. No coherent phrases to explain what was happening inside the teacher’s head.

Zelda was terrified. She knew herself and usually anything she could say at moments like this, would come out either too blunt or it would be even more harmful for their current situation.

Mary didn’t even raise her head as the worn path to her cottage was in view. Even though she didn’t miss the wave of pain her actions had caused on the witch. And how she noticed the witch was sitting so straight that her back wasn’t even touching the seat. Mary couldn’t bring herself to talk. Not without processing it all first for fear she would shatter while trying and embarrass herself even further in front of such an empowered being.

The engine was stopped, and Mary bit her lips, holding inside everything that was so precariously holding its balance in her mind. Zelda took it as what it looked like as if the teacher was regretting meeting her.

The witch had been part of the world for too damn long, and she would’ve stupid if she didn’t learn a thing or two about mortals, and this specific one -who was as charming as was confusing- was ready to bolt. She just wouldn’t do so without some sort of goodbye.

“Get inside, Mary. Don’t worry about your purchase, I’ll take it inside.”

It was Mary’s turn to clench her jaw; nonetheless, she nodded. The brunette hurried inside as if she hadn’t spent the better part of the day with the High Priestess, and the one in the car was a naughty person who had tried to overstep, and now she wanted nothing to do with her. At least that was how Zelda felt it.

To add to the blame that the redhead was already taking upon herself. The slam of the brunette’s bedroom door, when Zelda’s footsteps resounded inside the home, was informative enough about how she wasn’t wanted there. 

One thing was being name-called by idiots. Another one altogether was being negated access to soothing the woman she cared for. She sighed and continued the few trips purposely taken to get all of Mary’s purchases inside. As she hoped the teacher would come out and they could talk this through as they’ve done so many times before. Zelda took it upon herself to place every single purchased item by hand in its proper place. Sadly, she’d been coming around this house for far too long and knew exactly where things went, and it took her not long enough to finish.

Unable to do more than rack her brain about her next steps. The redhead knocked on Mary’s door.

“Mary? I’m so sorry, mortals can be rude and plain idiotic. I… I understand if you don’t want to be around me anymore. Truly, I utterly regret that my behavior put you through that, you didn’t deserve it. I wish I could claim I didn’t know better and that it won’t ever happen again if you give me a second chance… Never mind… What should count is that I’m sincerely sorrowful.”

Talking to doors had been one of the few things she’d learned while raising Sabrina. However, she never felt as comfortable and doubted every word she let out since the door usually remained locked. She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose and almost willing for the door to be opened, but she wouldn’t force it since she respected Mary too much to invade her privacy.

“I know you noticed my desk status, Mary… What I’m saying is… no matter how swamped I might look; the doors of my office and my home are always open up for you.” She said and gulped down the lump that had formed in her throat before letting out the thought that was breaking her inside. “I’ll understand if you don’t want to be seen there.” 

Zelda’s hand and forehead touched softly on the door as she took a deep breath. She hoped and failed. She had wanted, dreamed even… and as always, the opposite had happened. The High Priestess shook her head, trying to keep her tears at bay and clenching her jaw tightly as she fought with years of failures and broken dreams that piled up over her when she noticed that, as per usual, there was no one there to care for her. This time, there was no chance that even Hilda would discover her crumpled status by mistake or her usual ill timing.

“I’m taking your car and I’ll ask Ambrose to bring it back.”

Her voice was hoarse, thick with unshed tears, and she had to bite back a gasp when there was no answer from the other side. Defeated, Zelda left.

A mix of dread and a need to break in private made the quick way home both short and too long at once. The Directrix expertly parked Mary’s car close to the winding stairs and grabbed as many bags as she could. She checked the premises and found nothing out of the ordinary. With a wave of her hand, the rest of the bags were floating around her as she made her way up and inside.

The loud rock notes coming from the underground gave her the exact location of the witch she needed, yet she knew calling him would be futile, and Sabrina, as was a commonality now, was not home. At least, the pop songs wouldn’t be fighting with Ambrose’s choice to see who would pollute the environment more.

The stench of formaldehyde would be one of those things that she would never get used to, no matter how many corpses she had embalmed or how much time they all ended up smelling like that whenever work arrived at their doors. Her eyes watered as the fumes hit her, stinging her green orbs like hundreds of tiny knives. Ambrose, though, didn’t seem to mind anymore.

She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand and walked closed to her nephew who was deeply concentrated but handling equipment she didn’t want to know how it felt like through her. So, she stopped in front of his radio and cranked down the volume.

Ambrose’s head was raised. Dark orbs meet clear and irritated eyes. He crooked his head. This Aunt of his would never cry in front of him or anyone if she could avoid it, whereas searching for someone’s help as she was breaking would be not only rare but most likely pre-Apocalyptic. The younger Spellman also knew she still had issues with the product, so it wasn’t as hard to surmise what was going on. However, there was one last piece missing. She had left that morning with Mary.

“Auntie Zee? Everything all right?”

She eyed the body laying in front of him and then the second one still waiting to be worked on, and scrunched up her nose. When Ambrose was about to prod some more, she shook her head.

“I need you to return Mary’s car to her cottage. There was a minor issue and it will be better if she doesn’t see me at the moment.”

There was a slight tremble in her voice that made him frown. He wanted to ask what in Hecate’s name had happened. The teacher had seemed comfortable around her. He was curious to know why she was bursting at the seams as she stood down there eyeing unseeingly the body beside him.

Ambrose knew that body contact wasn’t one of his Aunt’s preferable ways of dealing with things other than whenever she needed it for the most powerful spells when she well all -but heart- in for physical contact. He also knew she hated to be touched when one was working and had the smell of death clinging to their clothes. However, there was something in the glint of her eye, something in that slight tremble of her voice that made him walk to her and embrace her as tightly as he could. If comforting his Aunt would be his death of choice, so be it.

“Whatever has happened, Auntie… you know how it goes. This too shall pass, isn’t it what we are all taught? Good or bad it always goes away.”

She took a deep breath as she stood still in her nephew’s arms. He was right. It was just even more painful since, for her, nothing seemed to last as much as for the others. Not even feelings had accompanied her long. Zelda took a breath, donning her armor and hiding deep inside her own insecurities. All those things others called insignificant details that were chewing her insides slowly.

“Go. I’ll finish here. I left the keys next to the hearse’s ones.”

With those words, Ambrose knew the moment was gone, and that something utterly wrong had passed for not only had she allowed the embrace, she had not complained about the stench on her clothes.

“I’ll get a quick shower and be out of here ASAP.”

There was a nod, and as he walked away, he gave one last look to his Aunt. Yet, she was already dressing with an overall before starting the remainder of the work.

Not that Zelda didn’t know it wasn’t her fault, but that of the unrespectful being who shouted at them. As a centuries-old being, she understood perfectly that there truly was no wrongdoing on walking around a bit too close, a bit too comfortable, perhaps exceedingly happy with the woman she had some feelings for and who seemed to return them, at some level at least.

There were far so many more gruesome things for one to do than to walk with a hand on someone’s lower back and be delighted at having such luck. Of sharing a moment of peace after so much dread. To be two joyful women who cared for each other, perhaps deeper than allowed by mortal standards. Yet, she also knew if she hadn’t touched Mary if her hand wasn’t placed on her back, nor shared dozens of private smiles. If she hadn’t leaned in to whisper on her ear or pleasantly stared at the woman’s beauty considering how lucky she was for having found such a sparkling being tucked away in a hidden corner of her ancient and greying town… Then there wouldn’t be a reason for the man to shout at her.  

She would never forget Mary’s eyes, though, and the way she cast them down. The way her shoulders slumped, and she grabbed that tiny cross she kept on her. How the weight of defeat had fallen over her as reality hit like a ton of bricks, suffocating the small fire of hope that what they had might not be called normal but at least would be as unbothered as teen Mary had been.

“I should’ve known better.”

As Zelda struggled with her thoughts, Mary had rushed through her home and fought through her nerves by soaking in a bath. She had never listened to the redhead’s footsteps, nor she had heard a word of what she said as she drowned herself in her own little world.

A mix of fear and disappointment had hit her the moment she stepped out of her room to find her house devoid of any redheads. A lump formed in her throat as she considered her own actions and how they could be seen be she on the receiving end.

Her hands trembled as they hadn’t in months, as she searched for the proper leaves and found the mortar Zelda had gifted her and had carefully shown her how to use. She noticed as she waited for her tea to be done how everything had been put back in place. How long had she been inside her bathroom?

A memory of the quick spell the witch had used to fix the mess in her room, came to her mind. Tears welled up in her eyes as she thought that perhaps that was the last act of magic her home would ever see.

It made sense, though, that the bewitching witch would leave her now. She had recoiled when Zelda tried to kiss her; she hadn’t made a move when the conversation was replayed as an opening for her to just explore her own identity further by sealing her lips against inviting red ones, and then she had frozen like an idiot after someone called her dyke.

Mary didn’t know for sure why she had stopped, why it had affected her so badly. Why would she care for some stranger shouting a word out loud and worse, why would she answer so fearfully to it, all but confirming something she wasn’t sure was true? For a while, she thought of herself as asexual, and sure, she hadn’t been with a man until Faustus Blackwood… but that didn’t make her a dyke, did it?

Sure, she found Zelda breathtaking and she couldn’t stop thinking about her, wanting to spend every second that was available for her. Yes, she had memorized the texture of her hand and could tell it was Zelda returning to her office only by the rhythm of her walk. “God, I’m so screwed!”

The sounds of a car tire against the gravel of the path to her home made her heart beat in her ears, and her palms sweat profusely, while her body was filled to the brim with hope. However, it wasn’t the bright rose gold head, the one she saw, and it crumbled the last surviving pillar of their relationship or lack thereof.

“Ambrose…”

Her voice was more a barely contained cry than a whisper. Tears filled clear blue eyes as the young witch approached her. If he was confused about why she was in such a state, she couldn’t tell for he simply opened his arms to her the moment he was at her threshold and she had all but collapsed afraid that if he knew the truth, he would retract his comforting offer.

She cried on his shoulders, wetting the t-shirt he had changed into. He patted her back comforting her bringing even more tears out of her as she couldn’t help to notice it wasn’t his hands she wanted but soft pale ones.

It took her a while to stop. Her nose was swollen, and her eyes red-rimmed as she apologized for jumping to him without further explanations. And oh, how he wanted to know what the heck was going on, for he wasn’t used to comforting an almost perfect stranger and his stern Aunt the same year, let alone the same day.

“I’m sorry,” Mary said, patting the moist mark she left on his shirt. He stopped her, by grabbing her hand and lacing their fingers, he then pulled her to her living room, and the only thing that crossed the teacher’s mind was how different it felt, and it was, to have his darker skin against hers when her own freckled hand was the darker one on the hands she wanted to be grasping then.

“Just so you know and don’t feel uncomfortable by my presence. Aunt Zee didn’t say a word of what happened between you two that left you like this. I want to tell you we all tried to warn you about her more blunt ways, but I’m not sure that’s the case.”

He cleared her tears with his thumbs and smiled softly. His eyes searching hers, hoping she would understand there was no judgment being passed. 

“You don’t need to explain anything to me if you don’t feel like it. I’m here if you want to talk, and I’m also here if you don’t.”

Ambrose added as a good measure. Mary nodded and fell silent for a while. The day was rapidly cooling, and she shivered. Before she could stand up and work the fire, the young witch intervened. The flames seemed to call for her, and she tried to remember the reason behind her newly gained passion for the mysteries of fire. Was it because it reminded her of Zelda? The Directrix truly was a perfect witch-version of fire. She could be explosive and amazingly destructive if she wanted to, and she could be warm and cozy too.

“A penny for your thoughts?” Ambrose asked then unaware of the connotations of such a silly statement. Mary’s eyes filled with tears once more, her glance still fixated on the dancing flames. She took a deep breath as another image of Zelda passed through her mind’s eye. One, of the witch delightfully pressed against her, warm breath tickling her lips, green eyes darkened with lust.

“I think… I might be bi?”

For a standstill second, her eyes didn’t waver from the fire on her hearth. Then she noticed she was still alive and felt a bit freer too. The world was still turning on its axis and there was nothing out of the ordinary happening, neither inside her home nor outside her window. Although her heart seemed to race in her ears.

“And how does it feel?” Ambrose asked after a while when he saw the small smile that was plastered on the teacher’s face while she fixed her blue gaze above the mantle on the dark cross that still hung from the chimney wall.

“Surprisingly liberating.”

Mary leaned back on the couch, wondering if there was hope for her soul, and what difference would it make? At the end of her days, her soul wouldn’t have a chance to meet that of Zelda, anyway. She thought how not even the sweet man sitting next to her had access to his soul anymore… so why would she dwell on it?

The doubted statement was not what Ambrose was expecting would come out from the brunette. He hoped from some insight into what had happened that afternoon. Why Zelda cold-heart Spellman was currently working on corpses and had sent him on Mary’s way. What had his Aunt done? Now that the teacher finally seemed to realize what anyone with a pair of eyes would’ve noticed when she was around his Aunt. Or what had this mortal done? That had left his Aunt in need of alone time hiding in the place she hated the most of that home.

“Will you be okay?”

Were the words that left his mouth instead, now worrying about his Aunt and all those tools at her disposal.

“If you mean if I will survive by myself at my home. Then, yes.”

“And if I’m asking it on a broader capacity?”

“There’s one fable I love… I won’t tell you all of it, for I’m sure you already know it. But the moral of it was this too shall pass. Thus, I suppose I should find the courage to go to your home and ask for forgiveness, for I acted poorly today. I just… would you believe me if I told you I’m terrified of facing her and discover I’ve failed her?”

She licked her lips and avoided his eyes at all costs. He chuckled.

“Believe you? I’ve been in your shoes, Mary Wardwell. Aunt Hilda, Sabrina… we all have. Disappointing her is utterly heartbreaking, let me tell you. Yet, I don’t think you could manage to do so…”

Mary laughed. She could almost cry at those words because she had seen the hurting glint of Zelda’s eyes when she had turned her face away from that kiss. The brunette had seen the hidden pain when she avoided her touch at the market. She had bared witness to the heartbreaking light trace of tears pooling on green eyes and the ever so slight trembling of her jaw the moment she pulled her hand away from her grasp.

How could she even begin to explain that it wasn’t Zelda’s fault? That she wasn’t avoiding the redhead for she didn’t want her or her comfort, but because she had been the cause that made the Directrix the center of attention. She had been the one that had been called names and had been protected in a hearty embrace while an awful man called them things she didn’t dare to repeat. It was her fault! Her own stupid idea of sharing some more time with the Directrix, of being all but putty in her hands as the hours ticked by. How could she tell her that if that brainless child hadn’t outed them -her- as things were, she might have kissed the woman as she so desired?

Ambrose confused her thoughtful expression that was hiding the deep feeling of unworthiness with fear and finding her hand gave it a light squeeze.

“Take your time, Mary. The world will continue to spin, the morning will come, and with every passing second, you’ll feel growing more comfortable in your skin now that you have tasted telling the words out loud. It’s scary, petrifying even… to face the one thing one fears the most… and that’s can be found that one likes what others believe to be different, abnormal. For no one likes to be judged, and mortals are so afraid of anything they don’t understand. You are lucky, though… for you can find solace in a realm few of you have access to, and with time, perhaps our more open ways will sweep your fears away once and for all.”

“I hope so, Ambrose… I truly do.”

Chapter 40

Notes:

A little of the past so we can all take a breather :P
Heavier chapters are yet to come(?)

Chapter Text

Throughout history, stories that have one common background stand out from the rest. The most perilous of them all weave around one embodied soul’s ego. For the living beings that wouldn’t adequate themselves to the will of that one must run away or die trying.

The latter was the story of Therese Monvoisin. One who came from a long list of Hecatean witches. The last one of the Monvoisin. Her father lived among mortals as a jeweler. Her mother, though, had opted for what witches called ‘the easy way out. And as she became a famous fortune-teller known around the whole of Paris, as “La Voisin,” she forgot all about their Goddess and became involved with more dangerous ways of magic.

And even having reached a peak in her life, her mother wanted more. She’d wanted everything she could have. Tarot readings quickly became hexes, curses, and black masses for the mortals, ending up with her arrest and execution when Therese was barely two.

For years her family, and their lesser-known Therese, had wanted an out. They had moved away from Paris, but things were never the same, for most of her family had also lost their faith in their Goddess.

However, Therese’s grandmother kept teaching her their ways and groomed her to retake the spot she deserved as one of Hecate’s Priestesses. Once she reached her adulthood, the young witch had started saving, for she knew for thriving she would need to survive alone.

It was a month after her twenty-second birthday that her grandmother had smiled at her sadly. She hugged her tightly as she rarely did, presented her with a golden locket, and kissed her goodbye. The action took Therese by surprise, but she had known her grandmother was still close to their Goddess and most likely had received a vision.

That night, Therese had kneeled in prayer. A plea to her goddess for peace and freedom, and she had dreamt about a place she had never seen before, filled with books, and the last thing she saw was frowning emerald eyes that were half-hidden under a bright red hair.

Even if the dream had confused her, for she also thought she had seen a statue of Baphomet. She knew it was a message from her Goddess. All the signs were there, the torches in the room, the keys she heard tingling in the background. So, the next morning, she grabbed what she had collected, and with a strongly voiced “Lanuae Magicae,” she traveled away.

It was just sheer luck she hadn’t killed herself doing what she had. She had appeared inside a building, fainted on the feet of a redhead young woman who she had seen frowning in confusion before she passed out.

“Satan in hell!”

Zelda muttered as she saw the girl appearing in the middle of the Academy’s library. She rushed to her, not out of worry but out of curiosity. The dark eyes fell close and as she fainted. As she scanned her figure for something that could explain her appearance and the fainting, the redhead saw the pendant hanging from her necklace and a tattoo on her forearm that signaled her as a Hecatean witch.

If someone was to find her in Greendale, her coven would haunt her for being an outsider. One that most likely was bringing witch hunters back with her. For an entire second, Zelda could say she didn’t know what to do. They were newcomers to this town, and there was no way in Heaven that her father would accept keeping a Hecatean witch home. Notwithstanding the rumors of her mother having been one herself.

An image came to her mind. She grabbed the woman and transported herself to the only ground she knew was witch safe. A cottage in the middle of the forest. There were lights on, and the faint smell of a meal being cooked, and the boisterous noise of a mortal child.

She scrunched up her nose with distaste at this. However, instead of turning around, she took the step separating her from the door, and barely holding the fainted woman by the waist, she knocked on the door.

It didn’t take long before it was opened, and Dorothea Putnam herself stood with a confused frown on her brow.

“Zelda Spellman, what can I do for you now?”  

The woman at the threshold crooked her head, her eyes filled with a curious glint, but helped the witch to hold the weight of the unconscious being barely hanging from the lithe witch’s form.

“Come inside, Abigail is tending her child, and I’m cooking. You might need to stir the cauldron, no pun intended, as I take her to the spare room.”

The woman returned, carefully assessing the witch she had met barely months after they had hung the thirteen witches. When found herself needing some money to keep her word to Abigail’s husband. And so, she had sailed once more and brought back from the old continent the entire Spellman Clan.

Five years had passed since they had formed some bizarre bond. The two of them couldn’t be more different. Mortal and witch, one manly and the other extremely feminine. Brunette and redheaded. However, they were both very similar in their brusqueness and in the way they didn’t mind dirtying their own hands to help, hoping their actions would grant them that hint of humanity, those feelings, that both seemed to lack.

They were both very adventurous too, Dorothea allowing herself the freedom of being the Captain of her own ship, and Zelda kept disappearing for months. They had shared their passion for traveling on the long way to Greendale, and somehow, it became customary for Zelda to drop by unannounced for a cup of tea and sharing her discoveries.

“This witch has appeared inside my coven. If she remained there, they certainly would kill her. She’s a Hecate’s follower she needs to go.”

Zelda said in that irritating way only she could muster, huffing at the end while embracing herself in the middle.

“Go, where? She doesn’t look older than a teenager. We cannot send her out in the wild and hope she will survive alone. There’s the church and then witch hunters like the Von Kunkles. If we let her go alone, and she dies, her blood will be on our hands.”

“I know of a coven of witches that follow that path. I can take her there, but no sooner than a month. She cannot be seen anywhere my coven dwells. Can you keep her safe until then?”

“I’ll try my best.”

Zelda stood up then and looked at the woman she thought of as a friend, even when there weren’t even friendly feelings on her part, and the only thing they’d done was share their fascination for unknown places.

“I must go, for I had an appointment. Dorothea, I’ll try to return later.”

And so it started, the most awkward month in the life of Therese. They had found out a day later, when she finally had woken up, that the woman couldn’t speak a word of English, and Zelda couldn’t be kept around to translate. Thus, the young witch had remained at the cottage and tried to help as much as she could.

When the month ended, Zelda grabbed her bag and took off as expected from her. Never one to dwell in the same place for long, remaining usually brought troubles for her free-spirited nature and her almost inhuman lack of feelings for anyone but herself and her family.

The eldest of the Spellman sisters never knew what had happened of that witch after leaving her near the coven she knew existed and returning to her own trips. If she had kept tabs, perchance, she would know how her last descendant was born and psychologically tortured in Greendale a little over two hundred and fifty years later.

Years passed by Therese, and even if she had learned to speak English, she had found a French-speaking coven. Fifty years later, she had married a witch of her own coven and had two daughters. Laurel and Willow Briar were born in the newly founded New Orleans, and it would be Willow, the one to follow similar steps to those of her grandmother.

Jonas Walsh wanted nothing more than to follow the path of magic. He had seen witches thrive in the mortal world, and he wanted to be one of them. It was hard. There were no books available for mortals like him since occultism as they presented him seemed like a show.

He was a forgotten child, and no one missed him when at fifteen he disappeared from home. For years he followed a routine of sorts, he would move to a small town, and then he would keep an eye on the forest hoping that one day he would catch witches in the middle of a celebration. He hoped and wanted but never managed.

Ten years later he heard about the town of Greendale, where weird things still happened. Jonas arrived there, and he took it was just another atrocious little town, filled with simple-minded people. However, he had found some light at the end of this tunnel. He had snook up to the library and found an ancient-looking book donated by the family of Dorothea Putnam for its historical value.

“A book of Shadows!”

He noticed excitedly and robbed it from its place, taking it with him, hoping no one would notice it missing. He read through, if only by the titles of the pages. Hundreds of spells, hexes, curses, and then he hit the jackpot… a summoning spell.

Two days later, as the moon was dark, and he had found all the ingredients, Jonas went into the forest. He opened his book and as described; he killed, then drained the blood of a black hare. The mortal grabbed then the thirteen red candles and thirteen black ones and bathed them in the blood.

He took a stick then and drew the sigils on the ground as they appeared on the page, not quite finishing joining the two circles before lightening the candles and drawing an inverted pentagram on his forehead.

Finally, he took his stick once more, and as he joined the sigils into one. The mortal chanted the words as best as he could, for his tongue was not accustomed to the language.

“Renich viasa avage Lilith lirach! Renich tasa uberaca biasa icar Lucifer!”

He repeated, his voice getting louder, his body trembling with energy in the likes he hadn’t ever known. A smell of burnt blood and wax suddenly mutated into the acrid one of brimstone and something akin to a filthy goat.

“You don’t need to make such a scandal for us to come, mortal.” A female voice said, tempting him to turn around and face her.

Jonas’ eyes widened. The woman had the body of a Goddess all sinfully covered by a black dress. Her dark hair fell to the sides, cascading down to her shoulders. But her face... her skin… it was green, almost lizardry… and her eyes. He would never forget the skeletons in her eyes.

“Don’t play with your dinner, Lilith,” A male voice came this time from their back, an animalistic buff.

The woman smirked, “as you wish, Dark Lord,” she said as she stalked towards Jonas, circling him with a seductive smile and well-placed touches. She licked her lips, ready to dine.

“Unless you have summoned us with a fair deal, for a soul contract is always beneficial for our kingdom, is it not, Dark Lord? So, tell me, mortal. What is it you want? In exchange for your immortal soul?”

The circle of candles around them seemed to burn brighter, stronger, and the woods had become even eerier than they were before. A deep mist falling around them, keeping them from the prying eyes of both mortal and witches alike.

A deal was made, sealed by a customary orgy, for pleasure was needed for his request. Lucifer and Lilith returned to Hell famished, but with a new soul for almost nothing. A few years of fame and fortune for an unfortunate mortal who wanted to believe a mortal could be magical. So, the King of Lies had given him what he asked for, except Jonas would never be more than a warlock.

As promised, Jonas soon became well known, published his books, and founded his own religion, traveling around the states and sharing his own will. One day, he wanted peace for himself, and he announced to his followers that he needed to meditate alone.

He ended up by a stream when he had unexpectedly found love. She might as well be a forest nymph, for her beauty was unapparelled in his eyes, her freckled skin making her adorable, and then there were those sharp cheeks and that gorgeous smile.

Feeling observed, she looked up to dive into clear eyes that were shining, utterly charmed. She didn’t shy away, walking out of the water in her birthday suit, and hanging a white linen dress from her wet form. Jones Walsh was utterly lost.

Willow followed him to his church, amazed by his skills that seemed to be paired with her own. They had married three weeks after that encounter. Too in love with her husband, she never realized he was only a mortal, nor the perils of rejecting Hecate to follow another God. Too proud of himself, Jonas never realized he had married a witch.

For two years, her world was that of his. So blind she was by his charm that she failed to see the tricks he pulled to make anyone believe in him. Until her coven claimed her back, summoning her home.

Proud of the witch she had married with, Willow announced to her husband that her family wanted her back, most likely for a ceremony. Even if he wasn’t sure how she had received notice from them, he had agreed.

Her smile was bright, and her eyes were twinkling with happiness as she spotted her home. She linked her hand with Jonas and brought him to the backyard where the coven awaited.

“Willow, you fool!” Therese told her as she spotted them and sneered at their linked hands. “That’s not a witch! He’s only a mortal wannabe, a warlock.”

“You broke the law, Willow, and even if you are my daughter, I cannot let you walk free from it,” her father stated. “It’s been two transgressions on the same family tree, and we cannot allow it.”

Willow’s eyes widened, and she turned towards her husband, hoping he would tell them otherwise. That he wasn’t a fraud, that he was a witch. She found him with his eyes cast low and a shade of pink on his cheeks. Tears filled her eyes anew as she noticed he had fooled her.

“I didn’t know, I swear! All I did was follow a dream. Isn’t dreams the way our goddess speaks to us?”

She asked, looking around at the entire coven. Not one of them looking at her in kindness. Her father crossed his arms and her mother begged her to repent herself.

“How you know it was her? For she hasn’t spoken to me in years, and I’m his High Priest. It was just days ago, when we summoned you, that she had shown herself to your sister.”

The young witch sighed, “It was dark, and a veil covered her frame. She showed me the clear where I was to go. Wait there for the man you’ll love, she said. Dark mother? I asked, and she caressed my cheek and answered yes. What should I have done if not follow her dream?”

“Oh, Willow. Our dear Goddess never has presented herself without her torches. But she has spoken, she said measures should be taken, and that’s what we’ve done.” 

Therese gave her daughter what would become her last embrace. She let her go as the ominous words of her husband followed.

“Willow Briar, this coven sentences you for treason to our Goddess. But our Goddess is also kind, and she knows you are with child. Thus, hear my words. Mortal, you might keep the fame and the name you sold your soul for… but, from this day on, none of you or your descendants will have the gift of having a family once they reach witch’s adulthood. When that child you now carry reaches his sixteen birthday, you will both perish. And so will he, when his children come of age. For you both forsaken your family, and you Willow, you have forsaken your Goddess. Still, she will show your family tree mercy, there will be only males until the day the girl who will carry the one who will fix your sins arrives.” 

So, when the son of Jonas and Willow Walsh turned sixteen, they perished, leaving him alone to face the world. Once he learned the joys of family, he and his wife too had died when their son turned sixteen. The story kept repeating itself, right until the point where the last of the Walsh had a dream that led her to Greendale.

Chapter 41

Notes:

Here we go... again... :D

Chapter Text

Guilt is a funny thing. It often keeps you from pursuing what you deserve just for you can’t accept that something so wonderful can be yours, if only you dare to take it. Certainly, it takes a bunch of work too, for nothing free has been as wonderful as something you’ve put your heart on.

And guilt was the reason Zelda Spellman had tried to hide from the world for the past three days. The corpses in their mortuary couldn’t have been more Goddess-send. After arriving home that fateful day, she had worked on them, taking her time to complete every step.

She noticed Ambrose had already taken from both mortals the pieces they usually kept for themselves, as a delicatessen of sorts. However, the idea of having human meat for dinner had her stomach twitching weirdly as if she had never feasted on that before. She fought against it and worked on finishing embalming the second corpse.

It was late that night when she had finally transferred them to the freezer and dared to walk upstairs. She knew that as every Saturday night, the house would be devoid of any other soul, save for her own pitiful self. It shocked the redhead to hear sounds coming from the kitchen.

The High Priestess took a deep breath, hoping it wouldn’t be Hilda and her wannabe vampire, for she had no humor to be submitted to their never-ending cheeriness and nauseating love. Nor ready to spend the night controlling the jealousy that would rear its ugly head for her sister had found what Zelda might never get.

“I was so close,” she mumbled, mourning the way the mortal teacher could enthrall her for hours even when nothing romantic or loving happened between them. Already missing the way she could just coexist around her and feel at peace and knowing she’d lost it on her own foolish behavior.

Sometimes she wondered if her desire of never being in love said so callously on a wedding over eight hundred years prior, was responsible for her feelingless situation. That someone with her magic was strong enough back then to block her feelings years later. 

“Praise Hecate.”

Zelda mumbled as she noticed it wasn’t Hilda but Ambrose and Sabrina, who were in there creating chaos in the kitchen. There was flour everywhere, even on her nephew’s hair, while her niece was wearing a bright smirk.

“What on Hecate’s name is going on here?”

She embraced herself by the middle as her charges turned around as if she had found them with their hands on the cookie jar. And she knew how that looked, for she had found them before.

“Aunt Z! Dinner! We called the pizza parlor, and they said they don’t deliver past the Wardwell’s plot anymore. Something about missing delivery guys. I suppose Lilith had to eat. Anyhow, we are trying our hand at it. We should be done soon. Why don’t you go shower and join us then? I rented Casablanca… you always said I shouldn’t go that long without seeing it.”

“Right, Casablanca...” she said in dismay, for that was the last thing she wanted to see at the moment. Who would want to watch that farewell when dealing with their own loss, she wondered.

The damned puppy eyes came out on full power, joined by Ambrose’s ones, and she could only nod. She did glare at her nephew, knowing he might have been aware of her need of hiding. Still, fulfilling their request was exactly what the Spellman’s matriarch did.

Once they presented her with their version of pizza, she had tried the first bite with a skeptical frown on her face and let out a hum of satisfaction, noticing it was very good. When dinner was over and the credits of their movie had rolled, Ambrose took the sleeping Sabrina to her bed, and Zelda took herself to the alcohol cabinet and poured a triple.

Her nephew returned. The worried glance he had been giving her through the night now converted to a frown, and she could read the questions in his eyes. She sighed, she wasn’t ready to disclose how she had all but abused the woman’s trust and got them both as the center of a show of inequality. He said nothing and sat there waiting for her to open, hoping at least some words would come out and he could help her somehow as she had done for him so many times.

“I can’t, Ambrose.”

Her back turned to him, unable to face him after she had let those words out after downing another glass. Once more regretting their witchy skill of being unable to get drunk.

“When are those corpses wanted?”

Ambrose stretched his neck. The change of subject wasn’t quite unexpected, yet that she still wasn’t facing him was worrying. Zelda Spellman, he knew, was the Queen of Compartmentalizing her emotions to the point that most people believed she had none. However, whatever it had happened seemed to have crawled underneath her skin in ways nothing before had.

“Monday. I’ll take them after lunch. It’s quite the trip too, I’m not sure how they ended up here when they are so far away.”

“I’ll take them. To be honest, I cannot survive another afternoon of questions about Halloween.” She said, attempting a smile and failing. The young witch could read between lines. It wasn’t Halloween on the matter, it was the chance of seeing the teacher, and perhaps some fear of the mortal not showing up at the academy at all.

“What about Mary?”

“I’m sure if she shows up, you’ll be more than capable to handle her and her never-ending questions. Besides, she knows how to reach me if she needs so.”

“Oh?”

Zelda rolled her eyes and downed another glass. She wanted to excuse her next confession as an act of concern, so be Mary or the twins in any danger, the teacher could reach her and help would reach them soon. Now, feeling Ambrose’s eyes boring holes in her back, she felt stupid as a childish witch on her first crush.

“I gave her a magical pen.”

Ambrose grinned, finding that an odd method for the current times. “Your cellphone number would’ve been acceptable too, you know?”

“As if I pay attention to that thing. I’m not even sure where I left it. The magical pen was more practical. Now, if you excuse me. I’m exhausted. Good night, nephew.”

Although she was fatigued and she was feeling the weight of all her years falling on her, she couldn’t fall asleep at all. She had tossed and turned until she heard her nephew’s steps going past her room and towards his.

When there was no chance of being caught, Zelda covered herself with her warmest robe, grabbed a quilt, and went downstairs. She got ready a pot of calming tea and some of her strongest cigarettes before heading to the porch.

She sat there watching the moon and wondering what Hecate was thinking when she was giving such a mission as converting Mary Wardwell. Then, the Directrix thought of Lilith and how she must be faring. It had been weeks with no news about Hell; she surmised battles were still being had. Or perhaps, her realm was so peaceful that the Goddess of the Underworld had fallen back to her pre-Lucifer ways and had forgotten all about Zelda.

“Hail Lilith,” she whispered, pressing with a hand on the place where her heart felt heavier than ever before. “Don’t worry about me, I just wanted you to know… that I miss you. That I hope everything it’s okay in your realm and soon you could visit.”

She missed not only Lilith but the feelings she brought out of her. A warmth so similar to the one Mary provoked. A desire to be silent by her side as they cuddled together with no other thought in their minds than enjoying the peace that’d never lasted so long.

The redhead sighed. An owl appeared on the porch railing. Zelda knew it was a message from Hell, and she smiled. Her words had been heard and perhaps, soon, she could forget the teacher for a moment as she curled to Lilith’s frame.

When the sun was appearing on the horizon, Zelda returned to her bed and attempted to sleep once more. It didn’t work. She sat on her bathtub, instead, soaking in chamomile and lavender until the water had gone cold and still sleep eluded her, while her thoughts kept circling Mary.

As the inevitability of the day fell on her, she dressed as she would normally to cover the darkness that took the underside of her eyes with heavy makeup. She had a quick breakfast, hiding her face behind her newspapers before getting to the mortuary’s office to work on the papers the corpses would need. She emerged from there late that night as she fought with the need to check upon Mary and her church.

That night, sleep came to her of the sheer exhaustion and tension. Nightmares plagued it, making it anything but restful. Until she felt a warm body lying against her during the night, unashamedly she cuddled up to whoever it was. Subconsciously clasping to the peace it brought.

Lilith smiled softly as the High Priestess of Hecate made herself comfortable against her once she had cast a quick spell to stop her dreams as she noticed the dark spots under her eyes and the worried frown marring her brow.

The Queen of Hell left comforting caresses on her almost naked back and soft hair for it wouldn’t do to wake her up. She couldn’t remain for long, and she didn’t mind at all being the guardian of Zelda’s sleep. When the moment came, she kissed her beloved’s forehead and returned to Hell. She vowed that next time she would answer by coming herself instead of sending just a sign that she heard her.

Monday morning was not a fun day at the academy. Even when trying her best, Zelda was on edge. Everything bothered her. She found that staying in her office brought back so many memories, forcing her to find a new working spot in the library. Until it was time to head back home and take the corpses back to their town.

“Are you sure, Auntie? I can take them. Or maybe, I can come along?”

Her nephew worried about her. He had noticed the morose cloud hanging around his Aunt and the last thing anyone needed was losing their High Priestess on a stupid accident on the road, for she was too drained to drive.

“Nonsense, Ambrose. I can take care of this myself, and I truly need a pause from the Academy, or I might end up being the one witch who burns this place to the ground.”

The attempt at a joke was not funny at all. Not when paired with the self-deprecating smile that had barely curled up her lips.

As she expected, the travel was quiet, and the delivery quick. There was also the ever-present unrespectful mortal that tried to get her number as they lowered the caskets from the hearse. Luckily, she knew men were quite queasy. The one hitting on her hadn’t been the exception and mentioning she had been the one embalming the bodies along with the dangerous smile that appeared with ease on her face had the desired effect of making him run away from her.

Tuesday was an entirely different matter. She had achieved a few hours of restful sleep. But the lack of mention about Mary Wardwell’s afternoon visit to the academy left her feeling disgusted at herself. It meant the woman was still mad at her for exposing her as she had.

If you knew Zelda Spellman in the way a few did, it would be noticeable how her steps and her entire stance were being minutely controlled. It was her way to protect herself from outsiders as she dealt with deception in the best way she knew how… Pretending everything was all right and nothing could ever make her falter.

The High Priestess forced herself to return to her office. If she had survived this room after what had transpired in it when Faustus was the owner. The several sessions of indescribable pain she had suffered in here. Why wouldn’t she survive memories of a few hours of talking with a mortal?

The stubborn witch concentrated on her work, not even daring to raise her eyes above a certain height so they wouldn’t fall on the couch. It was working until she felt the tickling on her forearm. In a rush, she took her jacket off and unbuttoned her sleeve to reach it. Her eyes widened as she read the message that took the better part of her forearm, for it was written with big letters coming from a trembling hand.

“Zelda. Help.”

She found her own pen and added a quick, “where are you?”

For the longest second she waited until the words disappeared, a sign that the message had arrived, and then she breathed raggedly.

“Going to the mortuary, ASAP.”

The words tickled her skin, sending a wave of panic through her. Without even thinking of it or of finding someone to alert them of her whereabouts (something she had chastised Sabrina about so many times in the past two years) she appeared at the mortuary and finding it empty, she paced.

She figured out Mary might not be in any shape to pick up the twins from school, so she had called Prudence using a mirror, hoping the girl would be around. It was Sabrina who saw her.

“Aunt Z?”

The worried glint in her Aunt’s eyes scared her.

“Sabrina. I’ll need you, or Prudence, to pick the Blackwood twins from school once it is finished. Something came up, I’m not sure Mary will be available.”

That was all she could say as an explanation, for she truly didn’t know what was going on. For once, Sabrina didn’t question her request and simply nodded before their communication ended.

It was at least twenty minutes later when the front door was opened, and the teacher entered. Disheveled didn’t begin to explain the way the woman looked. Zelda rushed to her side and patted her for injuries she couldn’t see.

“I’m all right... I mean… physically… I …”

Mary’s jaw quivered, and her eyes filled with tears. Unable to do much more, the High Priestess opened her arms, and the brunette fell on them. Home, the embrace felt like coming home after months of being stranded away.

Warm tears wetted the Directrix’s plum blouse where closed eyes touched her shoulders. Mary fisted her freckled hands tightly, one barely above the redhead’s chest, the other one at her hip. Zelda’s hand moved up and down her back, trying to reassure her somehow when she had no clue what got her like this.

“Want to talk about it?”

“Yes… No… I’m not sure… I just didn’t know where to go… Who to call… It was you the one I thought about, and I’ll understand if you want nothing to do with me anymore... I just… you are safe, Zelda. You make me feel safe.”

Mary hid her face in the crook of her neck, unable to look at the Directrix and find the rejection painted on her beautiful expression. She didn’t expect the words that followed.

“Why wouldn’t I want you? You did nothing wrong… It was my actions that caused…”

The witch shook her head and took a deep breath. Her emotions were all over the place, first the worry, then the contact and now trying to explain herself to a mortal. The latter one was a complete novelty, something she hadn’t done ever before.

The redhead leaned forward, lowering her head in the crook of the brunette’s neck. She placed a soft kiss there as she breathed her in, tightening their embrace, not even noticing the warm tears wetting the teacher’s blouse.

“Oh, dear… I could never push you away, Mary. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it a million times if I need to until you understand that I’m truly here for you, Mary Wardwell. No matter how you think I’ll be mad at you, I will always be here. I’ll always do my best to try to listen to you, and your side of the story. Now, tell me… what happened? Why did you need my help?”

Mary took a step back, breaking the embrace and blushing furiously as she did so. Blue eyes found her shoes before she let out a breath.

“May I... May I have a drink first?” 

Chapter 42

Notes:

Hey there... this chapter has a little harassment.
If that triggers you, you can stop reading the paragraph between the two in bold.
You won't miss much except harassment.

Chapter Text

It wasn’t as late when Ambrose left her cottage, but the guilt was chewing her insides and she couldn’t find it in herself to eat, let alone cook for it reminded her too much of their Friday nights. She had learned after one lonely night when she hadn’t had the strength to stand in front of the stove that deliveries to her home and further away had been canceled. They’d said too many delivery guys had gone missing after her call, and she had no explanation to give them, so accepted the fact that if she didn’t want to cook, she’ll have to get to the town.

Perhaps it was her fault for keeping her parents’ home instead of moving into town. However, she couldn’t help it, she loved her little corner of the forest and wouldn’t change it for anything. Perhaps for a certain terrifying and enthralling house that sat on top of a hill and the redhead who lived in there.

She smiled, unable to stop herself from picturing how nice had been to wake up and have breakfast in there, wondering what it would be like not only waking there but in Zelda’s arms.

“You really are an old fool,” she said then as she went back to dwelling on the day she’d had. Her previous smile becoming a bitter expression, for she was sure Zelda just plain hated her by then. Her actions towards the redhead were awful and the way the Directrix all but barked an order for her to get inside her home earlier fell heavily on her shoulders.

She ditched any attempt at making food; instead, she tried reading. The words in the book she had been reading were both enthralling and damning. Sure, she had said out loud she thought she might be bisexual, but was she? And why would it even mind if she was or not? At least, when the truth was Zelda Spellman attracted her in ways no one ever had and there was no way she could fight it. She’d tried and failed... and now, chances were she had even lost what had never started.

“Why now?” she asked as she walked to her bathroom, ready to start her night routine. Mary raised her eyes and found her reflection. She couldn’t see anything different about herself that wasn’t there before. What had changed? Perhaps this new feeling, this new her that seemed to fight a way out resulted from the months she couldn’t remember. If only she knew what had happened…

She shook her head. Whatever had happened wouldn’t have affected whatever relationship she had been developing with the redhead, for she was sure she had never met Zelda Spellman before, and she was certain the Directrix would’ve mentioned something about meeting her before.

The witch had said that she’d avoided Sabrina’s school as much as she used to hate mortals. Back then, Mary had commented she thought she’d saw the fiery red of her hair at every school play and a mysterious smile had appeared on her lips.

“I’d do anything for Sabrina, Mary. For anyone I truly care for, really,” she’d said when the teacher had asked. She wondered if that would be the case for herself as she got changed into her pajamas before guilt washed all over again, telling her it could’ve been if she wasn’t so reluctant to give in before. If she hadn’t pushed the Directrix away that afternoon.

Sleep eluded her, as she tossed and turned, her mind too overworked between processing that day and her discovery. Her half acceptance of truly being different for she cared for in ‘that way’ for someone who was otherwise forbidden for her beliefs. Hunger joined the fun a few hours later, and when the sun was about to raise, her eyes finally closed.

The one thing she had been grateful for was that after months of having one night relentlessly plagued by nightmares one after another, they simply had vanished as if she could never create whatever image her mind had now forgotten for good. There were some rare days when she dreamed, mostly of Zelda. That night, though, was simply dreamless.

When she woke up, it was past midday and any desire of visiting the witch was quenched by her tardiness. Food was a must since she was now famished. Then she got ready for her church. They were about to start the year of the terrors, and people were eager to learn more about this alternative version of the events.

At least, she thought, the twins were at the academy, otherwise, they wouldn’t be in town in time.

The teacher hoped to see the rose gold hair, the shining emerald eyes, and the smirk on cherry lips as Zelda sat either at the front row or at the very end, like every other Sunday when the twins weren’t on her home.

Her heart plummeted when she noticed Zelda wasn’t there for the first time in forever. Her eyes watered as she noticed she had truly screwed up any chances she had with the gorgeous witch.

Mrs. Meeks startled her to reality with her usual question she still hadn’t found a way to answer properly.

“I have no news about Reverend Lovecraft’s whereabouts,” she answered as patiently as she could. The years of practice with her students helping her to overcome her need to shout to the woman that no one cared about his whereabouts, anyway. That not even his children wanted him around. Instead, she gave her a tight-lipped smile and opened the book.

“There’s something to be said about being afraid of the Dark. I suppose it still frightens most children (and some adults). I, however, had the opportunity of growing up in a house where darkness was more of a comforting friend. I suppose that’s what happens when you grow up like a half-witch. You’ll see, my Aunts, especially the eldest of them, made sure I would understand that the only fears that can harm us are the ones living inside ourselves, for everything else, we can control, hex, curse, vanish, or kill.”

“Thus, when we discovered the first of the Eldritch’s Terrors... When I faced it… I did it with the certainty of her words. For she had faced the Darkness before I did, and she had survived her own fears being shouted at her, trying to shatter her resolve and her mind as she stood in a room filled with nothing but scared children, protecting them from the same fate. Perhaps things would’ve been different had she found herself alone to face it, yet she wasn’t. Believe me, darkness is far easier to fight when you are not alone.”

Mary had struggled with every word since she figured Sabrina was referring to Zelda. She too had faced the darkness that day, and she had been so proud of herself as she trembled inside her office. She had arrived home and to Faustus’ arms.. and he… he took advantage of her.

She had to stop as a wave of nausea hit her along with her memories. The teacher took a deep breath and explained to the crowd she would read only the first terror that night. They hadn’t been ecstatic about that news but she figured out they had seen her too frazzled for once she had ended it a couple of them asked her if she was feeling all right.

“I think I’ve caught a stomach bug,” she excused herself and soon she was closing the doors, ready to leave the place behind. Instead of heading to Cerberus as she did every Sunday, she went home while fighting the need to drive past her cottage and further out of town to the yellow sign and past it to the inviting warmth of the Spellman’s home.

Monday was straight out of a romantic comedy. Couples took over every space and crevice of the school, loudly talking about Halloween and what they’d do. She overheard the jocks saying they would try to charm their way to score that night, since girls seemed to be friskier in their sexy Halloween outfits, and Mary cringed about it.

In all her classes she had to stop the students from going Halloween crazed, and she huffed. Hers were simple mortals who wanted to go partying using that night as an excuse to get crazier while hidden behind some mask that would allow them to be something they usually weren’t. 

The teacher had shaken her head at that, thinking that she was an expert on that front, having been wearing one since the very beginning of her failed self-discovering journey years before her first kiss. Then, she heard the name Sabrina and birthday… and she had stopped mid-sentence. The duet on the back had blushed, and she asked Theo and Robin to stay after class.

The couple apologized for having been discussing something like that during class but explained to her that both Harvey and Ros would be in town for Sabrina’s birthday. “And we will be allowed to join their… rites… how cool is that!” Theo added with a wide smile that fell quickly as he noticed the expression of the teacher. “We’ll see you there, won’t we?”

“They have not invited me. I suppose they don’t fully trust in me, yet.”

She had shrugged in dismissal before letting them rushing to the teacher’s room.

At the very beginning of that school year, a new teacher had joined them. A tall, honey-eyed, blond man who had been creating havoc among the teens. She had seen him, and the way the teenagers drooled about him at the cafeteria. They had never quite gotten the chance to crossways, thankfully, for Mary felt there was something odd about him. And truly, she could have given a rat’s ass about him since certain redhead and the world she was unveiling for her had kept her mind enraptured whenever she wasn’t in teacher’s mode.

“Mary Wardwell, right?” his voice was deep and warm, and his eyes were searching hers. She raised her head.

“That be Ms. Wardwell for you, Mr. Moore.” She stated firmly. For a second, she thought that hadn’t she faced Faustus Blackwood’s wrath, she wouldn’t dare to answer like that before. But truth was, that she was also learning to be freer thanks to all those afternoons watching young witches create all sorts of mayhem while doing things that would help them grow and grasp themselves fully.

It was the reason Zelda had told her that they allowed the students to experiment with magic by themselves. For magic was intertwined with one’s personality, and it was impossible to develop one without developing the other.

“Take Hilda for example, she’s cheerful, loving, she cares for other’s needs… and her magic is great for healing, to help those in need and her love potions were magnificent. She’s also fiercely protective, and thus, she can create the most powerful of the venoms. She would do no magic that requires more physicality, for it simply doesn’t meld well with her persona.”

“You can call me, Nick,” his too saccharine voice said, bringing her to the present. An uncomfortable feeling rushed through her as his hand fell behind the back of her chair. “I’ve heard you are single, Mary.”

“Whoa,” she stood up and put some space between them. “I didn’t say you can call me something other than Mrs. Wardwell, Mr. Moore, and I’ll be grateful if we leave my private life… private.”

“Aw, don’t be rude, Mary. Besides, I was also told that you are keeping two children in your home. They need an example to follow, having a man at the house is a need.” He said standing up and cornering her, a callous hand caressing her cheek.

The bell saved her, and Mary bolted out of the room. She buried the things he had made her feel deep inside her body, reigning over it, thinking it was a matter of setting some ground rules. He simply didn’t know her, and as someone from the city, he might have more brazen manners that would need to be limited. Besides, she had survived Principal Hawthorne for years before, and Faustus Blackwood for months. Thus, this out-of-towner was nothing in her books.

It was the twins sitting on the trunk of her car who had saved her from Mr. Nick Moore and his ways later that day. She had heard him call her name as she rushed to the exit and greeting the twins; she hurried inside the car.

Once in the safety of her car, she made her way to the Spellman mortuary and was utterly disappointed to find out Zelda wasn’t there. Was this trip her fault? She wondered.

“Ah, this trip, it’s not on you or on whatever happened on Saturday, Mary. It’s Halloween driving her nuts. There’s too much on her plate, and instead of helping her, they only add an issue over the next. That Sabrina is turning eighteen isn’t helping either.” Ambrose said as she found him sitting behind Zelda’s desk.

“I suppose it can overwhelm even her…” she had offered with a tight smile. The young witch squinted, observing her.

“It’s something the matter? Besides the surprise of the lack of Directrix Spellman, I mean.”

He observed her. She seemed frayed, and Ambrose wondered if it had to do with whatever had transpired between the two of them on Saturday or if was something else, for he had been with her then and she didn’t seem so disturbed as she looked now.

“No… Nothing you should worry about.”

They left early, Mary excused herself on a tiring day and the twins had exchanged a glance noticing how the exhaustion and worry they had seen that afternoon were still there.

Mary would’ve been upset with herself if she learned that they’d missed Zelda for five minutes.

That night, after brewing herself a sleep concoction the Directrix had explained to her how to make, she fell asleep. It hadn’t been as effective as the one Zelda had made for her, but it worked.

The next morning, Mary had an early start. She dropped the twins at school for their extra lessons and made her way to her own office. The school was almost empty, and she felt calm and safe on the grounds. It was a mistake.

After checking her class and seeing she had everything for the day, she went to the teacher’s room. She was brewing the first batch of coffee when the door opened and closed. She had greeted whoever had entered, not even turning around.

Everyone by now knew she would be early, and they usually would just come for the fresh pot she would have ready by that time. Yet, not even once before had someone dared to step into her personal space. Not in the way he did that morning, almost pressing himself against her back as if they knew each other since forever. As if he had rights over her.

Mary tensed, breathing erratically, not quite knowing what to do. Hawthorne had been annoying, but never this physical.

“Good morning indeed, sweetheart,” Nick said, moving a strand of hair out of her cheek and she jumped away. The door opened then, and they heard another greeting.

She tried to convince herself she was imagining things. That it was her mind’s way or some deity’s way to teach her some sort of lesson she wasn’t seeing, and it worked. Because despite it all, despite what the Directrix had said to her about wanting to kiss her and the way sometimes she found her looking at her, Mary had never felt beautiful and it made no sense for her that this so-called handsome fella had any interest in her.

Yet, the worst part came of that day came at lunchtime. She went to the cafeteria in search of something to eat and found an empty table near one corner. He found her there. Mary had remained as polite as she could while trying to keep herself under control. His hand found hers and she had so quickly withdrawn it that the bottle he had on his tray had flown, wetting him.

A Goddess send, she would say if she believed in Zelda’s one. She took the chance and rushed away from him. 

A group of girls who had seen the incident, stopped her calling her name. Mary placed her hand over her racing heart, trying to get a hold of her frazzled nerves to answer whatever these girls wanted to ask before she turned towards them.

“Yes? How may I help you?”

“Ms. Wardwell, are you gay?”

 “Excuse me?” she asked, pushing her glasses up her nose as she frowned at the intrusive teen’s question.

“You must be. I mean, Mr. Moore is super-hot, and he’s all but throwing himself at you for months and you’ve never noticed. All he does is ask about you, he’s been trying to catch your attention since school started... and Ms. you aren’t that… well... young… to reject someone like him. So, you must be gay.”

She took a deep breath, memories of her youth swamping her. Her first kiss, the lack of attraction to any man who had dared to date her. The way she behaved around Adam. Her attraction to Zelda… and now, the revulsion at the thought of needing this man as the teens had put.

“My personal life and choices aren’t of your concern, young lady. Mr. Moore might be super-hot as you put it, however, I’m placing a harassment complaint against him. For being hot doesn’t give him any rights to push himself to anyone who doesn’t want him, myself included.”

Mary didn’t know where she had found the strength to answer that while everything on her was finally falling in place because of the most unpleasant of the situations. Even so, she rushed through the corridors and to the principal office to pass her complaint. Only to find out nothing would’ve been done, for he was only too caring, such a good man, and so sweet.

“A true romantic, for he said it was love at first sight once he saw you, Ms. Wardwell. I must say, I’m quite surprised you haven’t found it in yourself to date the man. He is such a gentleman.”

Without the new principal support, the teacher hid in her classroom as much as she could. Then memories of Faustus had mixed up with the whole situation, and it all became just too much. It reminded her of the panic attack she had almost had at Cerberus when Zelda confessed her Goddess had ordered her to find her.

The memory also brought to mind the pen Zelda had given her in case she ever needed to reach her. She searched for it and excused herself from her class. The teacher rushed to the bathroom; she unclasped her sleeve and with her trembling hand wrote the only two words she could come up with then as her breathing was so erratic and her hands were trembling so badly.

“Zelda. Help.”

The words written in dark ink disappeared off her forearm a moment later. A warm tingling feeling followed.

“Where are you?” her skin said, and she thought for a second how to answer that. Mary wouldn’t risk the witch appearing out of the blue and without explanation inside Baxter High.

“Going to the mortuary, ASAP.”

She wrote back and watched her words disappear before fixing her blouse and rush to her class. Mary collected her things quickly, giving her students instructions for the day, and then head to the Principal’s office. She excused herself from school, saying she wasn’t feeling all too well and not even waiting for an answer she was on her way to the mortuary.

Chapter 43

Notes:

I'm sorry it took me so long... so.. this chapter happened and then I had to make sure it worked.
Then I had to make sure I wouldn't be able to write it any other way because... well... you'll read it... :D
I guess... Zelda took care way differently than I'd expected...
Oh, and it's longer than usual too... it simply made no sense to break it though, anyhow...
#I'm hiding under a rock until I read your comments I guess.

Chapter Text

Mary completed the way to the Spellman’s home as fast as she could. Only stopping every so often for her hands trembled so much. There were also tears falling without control and clouding her sight. She had racked her hand through her hair again. Now, several strands were out of place.

She looked at her reflection in the rearview mirror and couldn’t help the awful feeling that she was to blame. That she attracted these… bastards… that wanted nothing more than to take advantage of her naivete, perchance for her life choices, or maybe, she thought, as a signal that she should simply stand stronger and claim herself back. Powerful women -like Zelda- never felt cornered by some half-brained man.

The teacher didn’t know how wrong she was about her last thought, but an iron flavor took hold of her mouth. The drop of blood distracted her from her thoughts while making her aware of the strength in which she was biting her own lip. Her neck was hurting her from the tension she was feeling.

Mary was afraid that she might not survive another series of months, years even, of being uncomfortable at work. Cornered and harassed by a monster of a man that everyone else saw as a saint.

The yellow sign appeared on sight, and she felt a weight leaving her shoulders. She rushed to park her car near the stairs and ran to the safety of the Spellman home.

Without further ado, Mary burst the door open and saw an image that made her heart clench, for Zelda Spellman was the epitome of disheveled for once.

It was the first time Mary saw her with terribly mussed hair as if she had been passing her hand through it too often. The Directrix still had the cuff of her plum blouse unbuttoned on the side where her message must’ve appeared. She looked paler than ever, her jaw clenched rigidly. That forced her to let the smoke she had inhaled out through her nose, the smell of her calming cigarettes bathing them both as she rushed towards Mary.

The teacher noticed the way emerald eyes widened in horror the moment they fell on her bruised lower lip and the slight cut she had provoked. She was still processing the distraught image of Zelda she was witnessing while the Directrix’s soft hands patted her, searching for something.

“I’m all right…”

A whisper that left her mouth once she figured Zelda was searching for other injuries she wouldn’t find. For there was none, save for those new mental ones that joined the old ones.

“I mean… physically… I…”

Mary lost all resemblance of control then. Her jaw quivering uncontrollably while a fresh batch of tears pooled in her eyes.

There was no surprise when, once the redhead opened her arms, she willingly fell into her embrace. Encased in the comforting arms of the Directrix, Mary thought that this was truly what home should feel like. Safe, warm, overflowing her with a strength that was melding her broken pieces back together. She lowered her head on Zelda’s shoulder, wetting the soft blouse as tears escaped her closed eyes.

Her hands moved at their own volition, fisting themselves around the soft fabric. One close enough to the redhead’s heart, allowing Mary to feel the not-so-steady rhythm of her heartbeat. Her other hand found purchase near her hip and a current rushed through her as the pale hands she liked so much caressed her back reassuringly. More tears came as she found herself being comforted by Zelda, even when she thought she’d lost any chance of anything developing between them.

The Directrix's voice came in a whisper, warming her as her words grazed her ear. Worry etched on each word, bathing Mary in her care.

“Want to talk about it?”

“Yes… No… I’m not sure…” she said before she could even think if she wanted to burden the witch with this fresh development in her life. It would be so easy to throw another weight on this woman who seemed like a rock to Mary’s ocean of doubts and fears. Wasn’t that exactly what everyone else did? Dumping their issues on the Directrix for her to solve them? She didn’t want to be a burden, but she couldn’t stop her next words either, not while concerned green eyes were carving holes in her soul.

“I just didn’t know where to go… Who to call… It was you the one I thought about, and I’ll understand if you want nothing to do with me anymore... that you wouldn’t want to see me ever again... after... you know... how I placed you in such an uncomfortable position and... I just… I’m sorry to dump myself into you but... You are safe, Zelda. I mean, you make me feel safe.”

To her utter horror, her confession was out before she could stop herself. The realization that they hadn’t spoken since the events of the Saturday and Zelda was still holding her, and comforting her, obliterated any thoughts about what had transpired at school.

Embarrassed, she hid her face in the safest place in the world, the crook of the redhead’s neck. She dreaded the words that would follow and the rejection she was going to see on Zelda’s expression. Neither of those happened.

“Why wouldn’t I want you near? Why would I put any blame on you, if you did nothing wrong? It was not you, but my actions that caused that dimwit to see us, to see you, Mary. Truly, dear, you did nothing wrong that day... Neither did I, but that’s not how mortals see things, and I should’ve known better.”

Mary felt the way she shook her head, and the deep breath tickled her hair. And then the kiss that was left on her neck before the witch surprised Mary by hiding her face in the crook of her neck. The wet spot she felt on her blouse was utterly confusing and so much more damning than anything that had happened to her that afternoon.

“I thought you’d never want to see me again, Mary” She confessed softly. Before Mary could add anything, she continued.

“I’d never push you away. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it a millionth times if I need to until you understand that I’m truly here for you, Mary Wardwell. No matter how you think I’ll be mad at you, I will always be here. I’ll always do my best to listen to you, and your side of the story, and I’ll understand whenever you don’t want to see me nor deal with me, for I know I’m quite difficult. Enough about this. Tell me, what happened? Why did you need my help?”

Suddenly, not even knowing that Zelda shed some tears could be above the events of the afternoon anymore. The fear that had all but controlled her before, that came back from the crevices Mr. Moore broke on the armor that kept Faustus’ memories tucked deep inside, surfaced again. Breathless, she inhaled deeply.

She couldn’t take seeing the green eyes filled with worry, nor would she bear to see them devoid of any emotion. The latter, it would truly mean the witch didn’t care about her despite her words. Her glance met the floor, and she blushed as she thought that the little harassment she’d experienced most likely was nothing for the Directrix who had seen so much in her years.

“May I… May I have a drink first?”

The tip of Zelda’s icy fingers raised her head to face her. Emerald eyes squinted as she read her blue ones searching for something. A nod followed, before a pale hand entwined with her freckled one, warming her lovingly.

The witch led her to the parlor where Mary stood awkwardly a reminiscence of their first meetings. Yet, she wasn’t uncomfortable, just too filled with nervous energy to remain still. They both were.

A glass of whisky was placed in her hand, a pale one making sure she had gripped the tumbler firmly. Mary noticed Zelda’s one was twice as filled. It was no surprise that the redhead had downed it in one swift motion, heading to refill it again.

“Talk to me, Mary.”

The teacher took a sip and grimaced as the bitter amber liquid burned her throat. Then she revealed what happened to her. For a second, Zelda relaxed when she noticed it wasn’t a life or death situation as her mind had provided. However, as the story progressed, the redhead was almost carrying over her shoulders the nervousness of the brunette. Mary was so focused on retelling her day that she lost the tight ‘I’m going to kill him’ that left the redhead’s mouth several times.

As if telling Zelda all about the new teacher’s behavior was all the help she needed, Mary relaxed.

“Thank you.”

“What for? I’ve done nothing. Although I might need to have a chat with that pretentious little man, and if he dares to come near you again, I’ll crush him as the cockroach he is.”

“There’s no need for you to worry about him.”

In truth, Mary almost swooned at that. No one ever menaced someone for her before. A blush covered her cheeks and without stopping herself she embraced the witch with no other concern than to show her utter gratitude. She even dared to leave a kiss on her cheek that had not only surprised the redhead but renewed the lust that was always simmering in her for the brunette. And now added to the desire to make Mary hers, the want to show the man they did not need him as he so ostentatiously put.

One freckled hand found her cheek, cleaning the clear lipstick out of even paler skin. The brunette smiled; her blue orbs found darkening green ones. The mortal’s action telling the redhead she shouldn’t be bothered by proving that man or anyone absolutely anything. Mary was there… with her, even after their last failed afternoon.

“You know, now that I’ve told you all… I shall confess that the one thing that bothered me above it all was the fact that some students asked me if I was gay for rejecting him. How sad is it to know they believe you cannot reject someone? And that they don't understand there's nothing wrong when you do it?”

“Well, mortals carry around weird concepts and limitations if you ask me,” Zelda said.

Her voice came out raspy and thick with the lust she was trying hard to contain. Her hand found the teacher’s sharp cheek and caressed it softly. Goosebumps rolled down the brunette’s skin with such a simple touch.

“It’s a pity, really, that they don’t know what they are missing.”

She bit her lip to stop herself from saying more and make the moment awkward. Also to keep her word about not kissing Mary. Her hand lowering from the cheek to rub a soft spot of her neck. Then Zelda’s head followed, falling on the crook of her neck.

“I was so worried about you, Mary.”

Her confession was out on a breathy whisper. She planted a kiss just below the teacher’s ear. Denying herself with this, keeping herself from just throwing Mary against a wall and having her way was slowly killing her. Especially now when she knew the brunette had not run away scared of her after the Saturday, but of what she could’ve thought of Mary. A gasp came out of the mortal and send a fresh bout of shivers down Zelda’s spine.

“I’m sorry. I was so ashamed for having placed you in the spotlight when I wasn’t sure… when I thought… I’m… and... I’m not…”  

Mary struggled with her words, and with the way, her body was answering Zelda’s. Her heart was beating wildly, her body was warming and there was a need pooling down in a way she’d never felt before. She couldn’t form any coherent thought in her mind, for the only thing she could think about was on those soft hands barely touching her, those ghosted kisses left behind, and how she wanted more.

“Yes... Not a lesbian… you’ve stated that before.”

Zelda sighed. Not knowing of Mary’s partial acceptance of her queerness, she broke their too cozy stance and took a step away to gain some control over her body. Perchance even reign over her thoughts to make a case to sway her. To convince the mortal to at least allow her to show her how wondrous it could be. Perhaps even erase some of the damage Faustus might have done to her experience.

She shook her head. What difference there was between Mr. Moore and herself if she pushed the teacher towards something she didn’t want? The Directrix risked a glance towards Mary, finding all the signs that her actions were not unwanted.

“I’ve said this before, lesbian, gay, pan, queer... Those are just labels that some people adopt to understand something they don’t and force others to take, to identify themselves to be understood. How would you know for sure where do you fit if you haven’t attempted it at least once? How would they know what it’s like if they are so scared by what it could mean?”

“Believe me, I’m not judging you, nor am I not trying to harass you into accepting something you don’t want, Mary. I’m not some dimwit male who can’t control his impulses. If you want me to stop, you just need to say so. If you are uncomfortable, just tell me, okay?”

There were so many emotions filling the room that it was hard for both to breathe properly. There was such passion coming out of Zelda in waves, and Mary wanted to drown in it. Yet, there was fear… and the truths she kept hidden from the redhead. Her own shortcomings were too many while standing this near to this being that she thought was almost too perfect.

“I… You aren’t harassing me… It’s just… My experience… is not that great either… What if I’m not... hmm... good?” Fear was palpable in her words. Yet, when Zelda took a step in, Mary didn’t move. The redhead’s heart beat wildly, noticing this. Her hand reached up to her neck once more.

“Faustus could be nowhere near a decent lover if you ask me. He was too prone to hurt his partners and to blame the other for his lack. If you want to allow this to happen, I won’t hurt you, Mary. I could never willingly hurt you. You have nothing to fear, dear.”

Darkened green eyes searched for equally dilated blues and Zelda shivered at the idea of this mortal giving herself to her. About feeling something more than the nothingness she felt with everyone else while making this gorgeous being learn the truest extent of passion. Zelda’s cheek found Mary’s rubbing it slowly against the warmed skin.

“Will you allow me, Mary? To show you how it’s like to be unraveled without pain? To be cherished as you deserve? Will you let me teach you what’s like to experience just passion and lust… so, so, so much lust…”

Her voice came out hoarse as if she was fighting with herself to even utter them. Mary’s breath caught as Zelda’s lips ghosted over her skin, leaving a heated path on her neck.

 “Why?”

It was barely a whisper but still sounded too loud in the empty room. Zelda raised her head, searching her eyes while waiting for the question that would follow, or perhaps for the denial that she was sure she’d get.

“Why would you want me, Zelda? I’m not… I’m…”

Mary tried to find the words but was too afraid to confess herself to the witch, only to be mocked about her shortcomings as she saw them.

“You are what?” The redhead wondered before noticing Mary didn’t deny her advances altogether. Zelda noticed there was some other thing chewing her inside, something in her mind that was confounding her, and it wasn’t she, or her actions... It wasn’t them.

Perhaps if she continued her exploring, Mary would find the strength to leave out more confessions, or maybe she would decide how far she would allow Zelda to go. She lowered her head again, this time suckling the pulse point right under Mary’s right ear. A moan escaped the teacher’s throat.

“I’m… Stop. I can’t…”

With the decision out, the High Priestess took a step away. The brunette took a deep breath and her hand found the redhead’s cheek. A self-deprecating smile blossomed on the teacher’s lips before she turned away, unable to hold the weight of Zelda’s gaze. Mary looked up, trying to contain the tears that once again had filled her eyes.

“Zelda…” Her voice was distressed, not above a whisper yet clearly broken. A wave of pain and self-deprecation leaving her as she thought about everything she wasn’t. “You are drop-dead gorgeous and I’m… I’m not. I’m ugly, and clumsy… and old… naïve, and inexperienced. I’m withered and completely unworthy of you…”  

“Stop. Please, stop,” Zelda whispered, her voice equally broken. She turned the woman around and embraced her tightly. She ended their embrace by lacing their hands together. Not adding another word, she dragged the frazzled woman from the parlor to upstairs, to an old guest room. One that the Directrix used a long while ago for nights of debauchery, and that no one in the house dared to go in.

With a flick of her hand, she cleaned the space. It wasn’t a sex room per se, although it was a room where sex had occurred always, and with multiple partners at the same time. There were mirrors placed in angles perfected throughout the years, including some in the ceiling. Mary gulped.

“What…”

“I just want you to see yourself, in the way I see you. I want you to feel just how dazzling I believe you to be, and how you are so stunning that anyone who dares to touch you should’ve worshipped you,” Zelda whispered hoarsely.

“Mary, you haven’t run away from my touch, nor you seem worried about what might happen here, which leads me to believe you might want this as much as I do. Although I’m a woman of my word and I won’t kiss you unless you do it first. There’s one thing I need you to understand: you can always tell me to stop and I will. Okay?”

Unable to utter a word, Mary nodded, and after giving her time to stop her, Zelda re-assumed her work at her neck. She moved them in a way that the teacher couldn’t escape her reflection on the walls. She worked slowly on every button of the blouse she was wearing, and once done, she slid it out of the shoulders, kissing the newly available skin.

“Whatever you do… don’t close your eyes.”

Zelda found Mary’s hands, giving them a reassuring squeeze before placing them on the wall. The High Priestess kissed her way down her spine. And as she reached the waist of the skirt that the teacher was wearing, she quickly worked it open. With patience, she got rid of the shoes and then of the nylons that covered the mortal’s legs.

There in all her glory stood a blushing Mary Wardwell in grey cotton underwear that fit perfectly with the rest of her image. Zelda smiled, her eyes warm on the teacher’s skin.

“Perfect!” She said, standing up and leaving a kiss on her shoulder. “Are you comfortable? Is it too cold? Too warm?”

Mary shook her head, trying to look everywhere but at her and finding their reflection in every direction she looked. Not quite believing this was happening to her.

The High Priestess laced their hands and walked her to the bed. Mary sat in it, feeling self-conscious and more graceless than ever before in her life. A scarlet blush going from sharp cheeks and got lost down between the valley of her breast. Yet, the last thing she thought was running away or asking Zelda to stop. Instead, she pushed herself further into the bed.

The redhead smiled, softly caressing Mary’s bangs away from her face, freeing her hair and taking in the innocent beauty of the woman in front of her. As she looked at her in awe, Zelda divested herself from her own clothes.

Mary’s eyes widened, yet she couldn’t take them away off the work of pale hands against the golden buttons of Zelda’s plum blouse, that left alabaster shoulders falling to the floor uncovering equally plum lace. The teacher licked her lips when the witch’s arms reached behind herself to unclasps the tight pencil skirt arching her back.

A wink made Mary realize she was ogling her. She blushed even brighter when, as she lowered her eyes to avert the glorious body, they fell on the skirt that pooled next to the blouse. Shoes were easily lost, and she had to look up when she noticed the silky dark fabric that remained covering firm legs up to mid-thigh where they well clasped to the lacy garter belt that rested on the Directrix’s waist.

With careful moves, Zelda sat beside her, and leaning slightly in, she placed a kiss on her cheek and then another, following the line of her jaw, until she reached her ear. All thoughts about breathing left the teacher’s mind then.

“Relax, Mary… I will not hurt you.” 

Zelda’s deep, husky voice made Mary’s entire body ignite as if it was made of molten fire. Something that had never happened to her before while being half-naked.

“Breathe.”

Zelda instructed before slowly kissing her way down her neck. And lower, expertly moving herself to get more access. The tip of her tongue caressed the skin just above the fabric of her bra, a knowing smile plastered on her face when the brunette arched her back, pushing her chest closer to her warm mouth.

“May I?” The High Priestess asked, thumbing the strap of the bra and slowly sliding it away from sharp shoulders. A fresh wave of heat settled on Mary’s cheek, and a mix of shame and want making her look away from the woman who was looking at her as if she was the most beautiful piece of art.

She nodded. Mary didn’t know for sure if she agreed not to displease her or for her own desire to know what the woman thought about her once divested off that piece of fabric. As she felt the soft hand sliding behind her back, swiftly unclasping the bra with expert fingers, the brunette closed her eyes.

“Open your eyes, Mary,” Zelda cooed.

 It surprised her to see the hunger darkening the emerald orbs as her eyes inspected her. A moan escaped Mary’s mouth, as a ghost touch caressed reverently the newly exposed skin, and she couldn’t even find the words to describe the sounds that left the back of her throat when pink lips connected with the sensitive puckered skin in ways no one had paid such attention before.

She sucked and licked one side as her hand paid similar attention to the other one until she was happy with the results. Only then, Zelda continued traveling down. Her tongue delving for a second inside her belly button, causing giggles from the brunette. An impish smile had appeared in the redhead’s face, and a mischievous glint in her eyes, as if she had saved that tidbit of information from later before she kissed the sharp edges of her hipbones.

Mary’s breath was caught the moment she realized what would happen next. But instead of divesting her of the last piece of clothes, Zelda had sat on her haunches between Mary’s legs. Carefully she raised a thin, muscular leg, kissing it from the ankle and up, leaving one last kiss near the apex of her thigh. Then repeated her actions on the other side.

As if buying Mary more time to tell her to stop while invading all her senses at once, all movement ceased then. The brunette opened her eyes to find the redhead looking at her. She wasn’t sure if she was assessing her, or her own handy work.

What Mary knew was that Zelda Spellman looked ethereal, covered only in plum lace lingerie, a thin layer of sweat, moistened lips, her hair utterly out of place and her green eyes almost blackened with desire.

“Do you trust me?” Zelda asked then, her hand stilled on her own thighs, not touching the woman at all. Unable to find her words, Mary nodded.

“Then look up, Mary. See yourself in the way I see you. Just look how drop-dead gorgeous you are, not even putting an effort on it.”

Zelda’s eyes raked her body with desire and then looked up towards their reflection on top of their heads. Mary’s blue eyes followed those enthralling eyes and gasped when she noticed how different she looked with her brown hair sprawled on crimson bedsheets, her sharp cheeks colored in a feverish red, her own pupils dilated with… Desire? Passion? Lust? Love? She shook her head to stop thinking about the reasons she was in this situation, almost naked in bed with the redhead who was looking at her in such a passionate way.

“I know Faustus might never have shown you what it should feel to have someone worshipping your body. Will you let me erase any misconception he might have left behind, Mary? You can stop me any time you want, and if this is not what you like, or what you crave… I’ll understand and I’ll never ask you to try again.”

“Y-yes...”

Mary’s voice came so differently from her usual tone, it was hoarse with need and throaty in response to her own desire. Zelda’s fingers found the hem of her panties and pulled Mary’s last defense away from her core and down her legs. She threw them away without a care for where they landed because she fixated her eyes on the woman in front of her. As she searched for any sign of distress.

Once she found nothing, she made herself comfortable laying between her legs, spreading her open.

“Wh-what are you doing?”

Mary’s voice came alarmed, raising herself to her elbows when she realized she did not know what to expect then. Zelda raised her eyes to find blue ones and smiled.

“Worshiping you,” she said candidly, and her tongue connected with Mary’s core.

A gasp left the mortal’s throat as she sank back on the mattress, the experience too amazing to keep herself upwards for long. Moans and pants came out from the trembling body as the redhead continued tasting and experimenting until she unraveled the secrets that no one ever had taken a chance to learn before.

“Zelda… please…”

Mary let out, and the witch stilled, wondering if she had taken it too far if she had read the entire thing so wrong once again. She looked up to the panting woman and felt a desire pool deeper in her core. There was the tug on her heart as it skipped a beat as she observed the beauty she found in front of her.

The brunette was gasping, utterly out of air from her exertion. She had issues understanding why the marvelous sensations the woman was eliciting out of her had halted.

“Is that all?” she asked, feeling disappointed that the magic the redhead had brought to her hadn’t been as books had promised her.

Zelda laughed wholeheartedly and kissed her thigh, blushing before she left a timid confession. Timid was not something Mary would’ve never associated with the redhead.

“I thought you wanted me to stop.”

Mary’s eyes widened in surprise at the idea that it could be so different from her experience and even more than what Zelda had already given her.

“There’s more?”

“Of course. Shall I continue then?”

Zelda grinned wolfishly. Mary nodded eagerly as she raised on her elbows to see the redhead’s next assault. Now, she kinda knew what to expect, but the witch had still surprised her.

Instead of lowering herself again, to feast with hunger on the brunette’s secrets. Zelda bit her lower lip before sliding one finger inside her core. Without releasing her bite, she smiled as she pumped her hand in a slow rhythm, and Mary’s hips answered promptly. A second digit joined it, filling her in such a different way that it overruled whatever muscular memory that remained. The warm mouth followed, now exchanging movements between those Zelda had learned could make the woman squirm in pleasure the most.

The green eyes were raised, and Zelda’s free hand found Mary’s. She linked them, bringing the brunette’s eyes to look at her. A surge of care bathed the witch as the blue eyes rolled, and a gasped version of her name came out from between parted lips. The grasp on her hand had tightened as the teacher’s entire body contracted sharply before relaxing in utter bliss.

The witch continued working her, extending her climax as far as she could. She noticed then how the body previously writhing in passion now trembled. With utter horror, she realized Mary was not cold, but crying.

Zelda cleaned herself as best as she could, as she moved to cradle the woman. She caressed her back with the tip of her fingers, trying to restore the comfort that she had broken. Her nails racked the freckled skin, raising goosebumps as it moved in a tender caress. Tears left her eyes as she noticed what she’d done.

“You should’ve told me to stop, Mary. I would’ve…” Zelda said, feeling that she had taken more than she was allowed. Guilt washing over her now that the result was this. That instead of laying in utter bliss, the teacher was crying in her arms.

The dark mane moved against her chest. “No…” Mary’s voice rumbled against Zelda’s chest. “It was so much more than I ever… Thank you,” she whispered, even raising her head enough to leave a kiss on the witch’s neck. And feeling relaxed as she never had, Mary fell asleep curled in the warmth of Zelda’s arms. Tears continued falling from green orbs as the guilt slowly ebbed away, replaced with bliss of her own.

“Oh, Mary… If you only knew I’m not even half the woman you think I am….”

She covered the now cooling body with a conjured blanket. And even if she wasn’t tired before, the way every fear she’d had during the past days had abandoned her body, and the soft snoring coming from the teacher, lulled her to sleep.

Chapter 44

Notes:

You know, the worst part about having written a chapter that everyone loves... is writing the next one.
So, I hope you like it :)

Chapter Text

The room was dark when Mary opened her eyes. The only light filtering from behind dark curtains she hadn’t even noticed existed before. A few rays were barely enough to notice the gorgeous woman who was sleeping tangled around her. She squinted, trying to focus on the room as she found herself without her glasses.

She shifted, feeling grateful that her near sight was good as she hoped to get a better look without disturbing the peaceful angel that somehow was now laying in her arms. Her fingers twitched, wanting to touch the skin on display and figure out for once if it was as soft as she had imagined.

‘Maybe I’m not bi, but a full-out lesbian,’ she thought then, ‘or perhaps it’s just this woman, the one who can make feel things no other could. Maybe I’m just Zelda-sexual…’ she couldn’t help the smile that formed on her lips as that thought crossed her mind. ‘Or maybe, she’s right and who cares about what’s called as long as it feels this wonderful…’

Unable to stop her itching hand any longer, her fingers ghosted the alabaster’s skin of Zelda’s arm. Then upwards, until she reached her clavicle and up her neck. Tracing her jawline and then caressing a soft cheek with the back of her hand. Finally, with her middle finger, she traced a line from her forehead down her nose and lips, contouring the soft mouth that had worked wonders in her moments ago.

A pale hand raised to still her movements. Mary’s breath hitched, hoping she hadn’t annoyed the redhead, relaxing slightly when her palm had been kissed before Zelda had laced fingers with hers and brought them down to rest close on her chest.

Green eyes riddled with sleep barely showing from under heavy lids were fixed on her, and a lazy smile formed in the previously relaxed expression, and the teacher’s breath caught instantaneously inside her chest.

“Have you bewitched me?” she blurted then.

Mary couldn’t help but wonder if it truly was a hex. A witchy spell that made her feel this relaxed in someone else’s arms while still naked. Never in her life had she simply lied like this with another being. She always covered herself in thick pajamas when Adam requested to sleep -we’ll just sleep, Mary. – with her, and she would always feel the need to shower and dress once Faustus finished with her. But now… the teacher felt she could remain in there forever if allowed.

Zelda’s rich laugh filled the room and send a pleasant feeling down Mary’s body. Her hand then found soft hair and tenderly tugged it away to lose herself in those blue orbs that were even more magnificent when her glasses didn’t cover them. She leaned forward, and her dry lips touched the warm skin of a sharp cheek.

“I wonder the same about you,” the redhead confessed in the room’s stillness. “But, no. I’ve done no such thing. I simply feel compelled to show you that life, too, can be beautiful while being shared and the need to erase whatever that brute man showed you. For I know what one could expect from his sharp nails… and truly, if that’s not enough, then rest assured that’s been a long while since I wanted to cherish you like this.” 

“Did he… hurt you?” Mary asked then, noticing it wasn’t the first time the redhead words about her ex-husband seemed to bring some level of physical hurt beyond whatever scuffle they might have had that had left the redhead with such a hate for cooking. Yet, it made little sense to her. Zelda was so strong and smart, nothing like herself.

“Yes.” She said, letting out a sigh, unable to lie to her. Not when Mary had been vulnerable in her arms and still had trusted in her.

The brunette’s eyes widened at this and frowned, worrying her bruised lip. Zelda’s hand found her face, her thumb pulling down softly on the marred lip until Mary let it go. The teacher closed her eyes then, as the witch’s finger traced its contours and suddenly, something warmed the soft skin with a slight tingling sensation. She licked it then, finding the injury gone and raising her eyes to green ones, she saw the redhead’s eyes glint with something she didn’t quite identify.

“He might have harmed me, but you shouldn’t worry, darling. I’m far stronger than I look, and I’ve done more than just hurt him back. Perchance, I have more issues dealing with the aftermath of our marriage than with the blunt side of his physicality. He never cared about the chaos he left behind in his wake, I believe he rejoiced on it. The truth is that, sometimes, I cannot outrun my memories and I prefer to drown them in some obscure part of my mind that I won’t touch. But let’s not dwell on Faustus and his deplorable actions.”

Mary cuddled closer to the redhead, as she wondered how had her ex-husband hurt her. She’d mentioned several times how she knew Faustus loved. Could’ve he had abused Zelda as he had done with her? It didn’t quite fit the image of the strong, untouchable witch she had.

“I actually thought… No, never mind...”

The teacher shook her head, letting go of any weird ideas her mind conjured. Because powerful women, like Zelda, didn’t have silly battles with frivolous men. No, she didn’t need to fight them off as Mary did. Besides, the Directrix had mentioned she’d liked her encounters with Faustus, and she had partaken them of her own free will. It wasn’t so farfetched that it was something more witchy-related than any sort of physical harm she was aware of. Who knew what witches could be subjected to? Particularly when she had read -and experienced- how they could override free will if the caster was plain evil.

“You thought? Go on… You should know by now that I’m interested in any question you might have.” 

Despite prodding. Zelda’s mind was telling her she shouldn’t do it. That whatever thing was going inside the teacher’s mind could be damaging for her own mental health. As it may be, that usually comprised the effective compartmentalization of any issues that she might have until she had forgotten all about it or decades later when it made little sense to dwell on it anymore.

“How could he hurt someone like you? You are so… empowered, powerful, and smart. You know what you want, and you are not afraid to take it… You and I are so different, like two sides of a coin.”

Mary moved slightly away, setting her elbow on the mattress before she rested her head on her hand. Their legs were still tangled as Zelda copied her position. The Directrix huffed. She knew that eventually, she would’ve to answer some of the most personal questions that so far; she had deflected. Her other hand found the brunette mane and passed through it a few times as if to gather strength from her, before tangling once again with the teacher’s free hand.

“I’m not… unscathed, Mary. I’m not some fresh out of the oven porcelain that was protected for years. Contrary to popular beliefs, strength doesn’t come with being intact. Not at all, strength, it comes from being shattered into million pieces, while being able to grasp them all or even just a few, and still move on. Resilience, I think it’s a far better word. I do not see myself as strong, for I’ve broken so many times. I’ve been shattered and crushed. Punished and destroyed… yet, I’ve learned to stand every fucking time. Because simply there’s no other way… You stand up, gather your pieces, and move on with the little that’s left. You don an armor and people choose to believe what you sell. For some people, it’s far easier to think that you are unharmed than to realize they too can stand up. Then there are others like, you, sweet Mary, that are far braver than I am…”

“Me?” The teacher snorted.

“Haven’t you just defied every rule in your book allowing me this? Allowing yourself to do this? Haven’t you fought your faith, for it didn’t fit what you truly believe and feel? Possibly with your family’s teachings too? You are so young by comparison, and in your short years, you’ve done what took me centuries to achieve. Sure, I might look haughtier, stronger, and more powerful if you wish… but honestly, that’s only a facade… and armor I wear to fend the world that has forsaken me so many times. Yet, here you are… innocent, pure, and wearing your fears in your sleeve while still tackling them. You don’t even fear being lonely, while it terrifies me to know that those I love will forget me. As they already have, several times.”

A fresh batch of tears filled the green orbs, and a heartbreaking smile appeared on her lips. “You are so carefree in your own world, Mary. You battle it with your own rules, like Hilda, you are not afraid to care for anyone. Whereas I hang into the hope that I won’t lose the little I love. When I’m aware that the last thing they want is to spend more time than necessary with me for I pushed them away.”

Silence took over the room as the witch’s words left Mary speechless. How was it that this woman who looked so poised, self-confident, and strong was so broken inside? It was baffling. Zelda smiled quickly, guarding herself even when she realized once more, she had allowed herself to be extremely vulnerable around this mortal, confessing far more than she had intended.

“Enough about me. Tell me, dear… Did you enjoy it? And what’s more important, did you realize how beautiful you are?”

Mary blushed right to the tip of her ears, “yes,” she answered feeling self-conscious, but then Zelda smiled, a bright one that resembled nothing like the one she gave her seconds before.

“Good. Sadly, no matter how much I would love to remain like this or even enjoying the pleasures of carnality,” she winked at her knowing that her words would make her uncomfortable, “it’s late and the children should arrive soon. So, may I interest you in a bath? That way we can try to erase the look of debauchery that you are not the only one carrying.”

The teacher blinked and tried to pull an errant strand behind her ear, only to notice their hands were still tangled. Then her eyes widened as the words finally registered in her mind.

“The children! I forgot all about the children! How did I forget about them?!”

Half in panic, Mary untangled herself from bed and stood up, trying to find her clothes. With patience she didn’t know she had, Zelda walked to her and embraced her from behind, stilling her nervous search. The redhead left a kiss on a freckled shoulder while they both breathed deeply.

“I asked Sabrina to pick them up. Don’t worry about them. My offer about the bath remains. Now, about those clothes of yours…”

Mary’s skin prickled as she felt Zelda’s magic take over the room, her voice whispering unknown words in her ear. A hanger popped up on one of the five hooks that were behind the door, and her clothes followed, appearing neatly pressed as if they had never been crumpled on the floor. Zelda’s clothes appeared in the same manner on a second hanger. Two silk robes also were added to the next two hooks.

“Magic can very useful,” Zelda said, and unable to stop herself pressed her lips on Mary’s neck. Then, she walked to the door and grabbed a robe, throwing it over her shoulders before offering the second one to the teacher. She closed hers loosely and smiled when the teacher’s shyness appeared. After going around in circles gloriously naked, Mary wrapped herself in the offered robe, closing it right up to her neck. The High Priestess bit her lip at the endearing image the teacher painted with her mussed hair, crimson cheeks, highly closed robe, and barefooted.

“For Hecate’s sakes! How is it you are so enthralling, Mary Wardwell?”

The question left her lips as she shook her head, amused at the way the teacher’s cheeks tinted in a brighter red, while blue eyes were cast down. Zelda grabbed the two hangers in one hand, buying Mary some time to regroup herself before offering her free hand. The High Priestess opened the door and listened to the sounds of her house. A bright smile appeared on her face before pulling Mary out of the room and pad down the corridor to her bedroom.

Mary remembered the room from the one time she’d been in it. The smell of Zelda surrounding her like a cloud as they stepped in. They didn’t stop, though; they followed to the next door where the bathroom was, and the teacher’s eyes widened at the size of the bathtub.

“Sweet Jesus! How many people do you plan to fit in there?”

A laugh filled the room as Zelda worked on filling the tub, then moving around the room to find a bath bomb that would work for them.

“Just the two of us… If you don’t mind sharing, that is. Otherwise, I’ll leave you to it and I’ll take a shower elsewhere.”

“Why? I mean… sure…. Ack…” she groaned, shaking her head. “Sure, we can share, it’s big enough for both, right?”

Mary cringed at herself and her lack of words whenever the redhead flustered her. Something that happened too often and too easily. Then another thought settled on her mind, She still needed to get herself inside the bath and she was naked underneath the robe and…. God, would Zelda be naked too?

There was a second in which the Directrix turned around and then when facing Mary, she found her clasping tightly to her robe, a slight panic in her eyes. She wanted to chuckle since it was a couple of hours since she had all but worshipped her body, but deep down she understood her fears… the insecurities attached to a figure that had been scrutinized and most likely bullied. Perhaps not by many, but Zelda knew out of experience how deeply Faustus’s snide comments could run inside rooting inside her brain far faster than one could work them out.

“Hop in, Ms. Wardwell. Don’t worry, I won’t look.”

How on Earth this did witch know what was going on in her head? Mary wondered. As Zelda turned around, giving her time to divest herself from the loaned robe. The teacher had to control her impulse not to dive into the tub at once. Instead, she carefully lowered herself into the warm water. She relaxed slightly when the bubbles covered her body entirely. Still, she brought her knees to her chest and embraced them.

Zelda, though, took every second of her time to strip from her last garments. A show of sorts for the blushing teacher as she felt the curious eyes on her skin. She raised a leg on the rim of the tub, unclasped her thigh, and slid the silk down her legs. Mary gulped audibly.

A smirk settled on the redhead’s face, although her hair fell over her it as a curtain of sorts, to give the teacher the privacy to look without feeling embarrassed at being caught ogling at her, again. The witch stretched, pulling her arms high above her head and letting out a moan as her muscles tightened with the movement. Then, she lowered her hands to slide the garter belt off her. The clasp made a soft noise as it fell to the floor, all but forgotten, while a pale arm twisted behind her back and unclasped her bra.

Mary’s eyes grew even wider and her breath a lot shallower as a strap fell to alabaster arms and then down to the ground, freeing perky mounds. The panties came off then, and gracefully the Directrix stepped out of them and into the bathtub. She lowered herself elegantly, her arms falling to the sides as she spread herself, making herself comfortable in the space.

Another moan left her mouth as her body relaxed in the warm water, sending Mary’s brain into a short-circuit. Ethereal, that was the word she would associate with the witch from now on. Her eyes were closed, her mouth slightly parted, her red hair falling onto her shoulders, curling further as the water’s touch dampened it. Her skin reddening softly with the heat. Then, green eyes opened, and the mortal breath caught in her throat as she noticed the hunger in them.

“If you keep looking at me like that… I might not be able to keep myself ahold, Mary.” She warned. Before her head was crooked, “why are you so far away?”

“I thought… you’d want some space?” She said. It was a silly thought because even if the witch was fully stretched, there was so much space between them they weren’t even touching.

“What I desire, Mary, is for you to rest against me as we both enjoy a moment tangled in this peace. However, what I should do, shall you allow it, is wash your hair as it currently looks beyond mussed.”

Another blush, another awkward second as the teacher thought about it. Zelda shifted, spreading her legs open and tapping the water between them with childish glee in her eyes.

“Come near, Mary. I might bite you in the near future… but I’ll promise I’ll try to behave now. Come on, you said you trusted me?”

And damn this witch! Now Mary had discovered where her niece had gotten those awful convincing puppy eyes of hers. She shifted in the tub, her back to Zelda, and the redhead raised her knees so Mary could support herself for a bit. A hum left the witch as freckled hands touched her knees and she shook her head, thinking how everything around this mortal seemed too new.

The teacher sat with her back ramrod straight, but Zelda didn’t pressure her; instead, she sat straighter too and carefully washed her hair. It was only when pale hands were massaging her scalp that Mary let herself go, becoming mush into the witch’s touch.

Despite Zelda’s mention of not having much time, she still took her time caring for the woman in her arms, lathering her back and most of her body carefully with a relaxing lavender soap. Mary was so relaxed that she didn’t even realize the witch had washed her own hair at some point.

“I could live here,” the teacher whispered out of the blue, and warm lips found the soft skin of her cheek.

“So could I,” Zelda confessed, but sighed seconds later. Alas, they couldn’t remain in there forever. She finished her handy work before adding another kiss to Mary’s neck and a groan. “But we should leave, Sabrina and the twins have trespassed the magical barrier.”

She stood up, fetching a fluffy robe for herself that she simply threw over her shoulders before presenting the teacher with one. Mary covered herself with it and it was just then she realized with utter horror that they both had their hairs damp and the rosy cheeks of staying on warm water for too long and she wouldn’t even dwell on how they oozed something her mind didn’t dare to name sex-bliss.

“Oh, God…” she said, touching her hair with a hand and her warm cheeks with the other one. “They will know what I just did… what we just did….”

“What are you…. Oh, don’t worry. There’s a spell I use when I run out of time in the mornings. You are utterly lucky to be found in this situation with a witch,” Zelda said, winking at her before she closed her eyes for a second. When she opened them again, both their hairs were dry. “Now, I’m going to leave you to dress here, and I’ll get dressed out there for you are quite the temptation, Mary Wardwell. Use anything you might need from here.”

Zelda walked out, leaving Mary alone in her bath, and the mortal couldn’t help but look at her image in the mirror. She couldn’t find any difference in her looks except that her hair was still down. However, deep inside she felt completely different as if she had just grabbed a part of herself that had been lost for her entire life. With a bright smile, she got dressed before heading out of the bath.

“Oh, Jesus Christ! Do you always dress like that?” 

Mary’s eyes widened as she entered the room to find Zelda sliding a dark silk stocking up to her mid-tight before attaching it to the cream lace garter belt she was wearing. She turned around to find the teacher looking at her with darkened eyes. A mischievous smile appeared on her now cherry lips that told the teacher that the woman had been applying her makeup instead of worrying about her clothing.

“Indeed, I do,” she said, wondering if the knowledge would affect the brunette every time they were just the two of them in the room, or even when it wasn’t just them. Yet, instead of teasing the easily flustered woman, she covered herself with the blouse she had been wearing before and finally finished dressing in no time. None who saw her before would be the wiser as to what they had done.

She walked to a hidden side door that would take them to the library through a passage and turned around to face the teacher. “Unless you want Sabrina finding you here, follow me.”

Chapter 45

Notes:

In all honesty, in the little, I have planned and mapped for this fic... Mr. Moore was nowhere to be seen... he just happened and I hate him.
💖💖💖

Chapter Text

The door of the Spellman Library was opened slowly. In there, the mortal and the witch were pretending, the first one to read and the other to search for a book as further away from the teacher as she could. The white-haired head of the youngest of the Spellman’s peeked in, calling for the eldest one of them with a worried shout.

She spotted her Aunt perched on one of the bookshelf’s ladders, searching for a book. Nothing quite what she imagined she would find when she rushed inside their home searching for her Aunt in every other corner until the library was the only room left.

“Aunt Zee? Everything all right?” Sabrina asked since she couldn’t find anything that explained the anxious riddled image of her Auntie when she had contacted her. Zelda turned around to find Sabrina’s expectant eyes on her, and she could almost feel the plea of the teacher to cover what had truly happened as she lowered herself from her position.

“Oh, Sabrina! There you are, what took you so long?”

Her tone could be easily mistaken by one of reprimand. At her end of the room, Mary was grateful for the book that was covering her features and understood better why the redhead kept her books and newspapers at hand. The way Zelda questioned her niece as if they had been waiting on her forever, was quite amusing to the teacher when she knew they both had been a nervous wreck until well…. She blushed and shook her head.

“Excuse me? Auntie Zee, it was you who asked me to pick the twins up from school and that’s exactly what I did. We were going to head straight for the Academy, but there was someone following us. We tried to lose him with our knowledge of the woods, but I suppose three is a crowd when you are trying your hand to be stealthy with two witches who have never learned or needed that skill. Is that why you were so worried? What is it, Auntie? We can defeat whoever it is, I’m sure, and if we are not enough, I can beg Lilith to help us, while you ask Hecate.”

“You’ll do no such thing. Leave Hell alone, at least until we know for sure that realm is stable again. We both know Lilith has her work cut for her after the chaos you and your father left there. If you weren’t an adult witch, I would’ve kept you on house arrest for another hundred years. Alas, I can only plea for you to consider that one death should be more than enough until then. Where are the twins?”

The way Zelda changed subjects so quickly didn’t stop Mary from wondering about this piece of information exchanged between niece and aunt. Not about Sabrina’s death but for that part about Hell and why she thought the redhead’s voice had softened on that name. She knew who Lilith was, for she had read about her on the Satanic Bible that Zelda had so graciously lent her and heard part of the story from the Directrix’s mouth as she related it to the twins. Yet, she knew the story wasn’t finished, for she also appeared in Sabrina’s tome. She’d ask later or at some point when she was far more comfortable with the twist and turns her life was taking.

“I left them at the parlor… for the way you looked when you called… I thought it was best if they didn’t see you or Ms. Wardwell in case either of you was injured. But you look just fine. Where’s? Oh… Hi, Ms. Wardwell.”

Sabrina’s voice changed from the half-worried, half chastising tone she had been using with his Aunt to a soft cheery one when she spotted her teacher sitting on her Aunt’s usual spot. She squinted at them for a second, trying to figure out what the Heaven was going on in there.

“Hello, Sabrina,” Mary said, trying to sound as calm as she would always be but wondering if the teen would’ve noticed any difference.

“Will you tell me what happened, Ms. Wardwell? As you might have heard, my Aunt here refused to acknowledge that she has been utterly worried just a few hours ago.”

The teacher smiled, hoping that the scares and the joys of the day wouldn’t be betrayed on her expression. She waved her hand in the air. “Don’t worry, Sabrina, it was just a scare. Nothing that couldn’t be solved in due time. I think I just overreacted to it.”

The redhead knew her niece well enough to figure out that a barreling of questions was about to follow since the teacher was a far easier target than herself.

“Sabrina, you mentioned being followed. Did you see who it was?”

Zelda easily deflected any question the teen might throw out for them as she got her niece’s attention back to her. Mary mouthed a thank you as the teen turned around to face her Aunt.

“It was a man I have seen around town. I think it’s a teacher at Baxter High. Don’t you know him, Ms. Wardwell? He was pretty handsome by, you know, those standards you don’t have, Auntie. You know, besides tall, he looked cute and kind…” The teen added with a smirk on her face that showed her comment was a joke.

There was only one new teacher at Baxter High, who also fit part of the description. Mary let out a gasp and her eyes widened at the idea of Mr. Moore following the twins. What could mean if he was following them? She knew he hadn’t been at the Spellman state before, for their magical barrier would’ve given him away the moment he crossed over. Her fear became quite visible, but Zelda noticed her reaction before Sabrina turned around to face the teacher.

“Oh, I do have standards, niece.” Zelda’s eyes glinted with mischief, her eyes briefly falling on the brunette. “I won’t want to be the one breaking the illusion from those romantic ideas your Aunt Hilda brewed in you, and that your teen heart still believes in Now, whoever this mortal is, he followed you here. You know that, don’t you?”

The High Priestess knew this, for their magical barrier had been trespassed by a mortal, long enough that whoever it was should’ve reached their door at least ten minutes earlier, even if he was afoot. The teen rolled her eyes and huffed.

“For who you take me, Auntie? Of course, I know he followed us. We walked here for a reason, and we both know that hadn’t I figured it, the barrier would’ve alerted all of us about it. I was more worried about what happened to you both than about a noisy mortal.”

Zelda’s heart warmed up at this, and what for Sabrina was a rare smile appeared on her expression. Her hand found her niece’s cheek, her thumb leaving a quick caress behind as she uttered the shocking words, “Thank you, Sabrina.”

“Are you sure everything is all right, Aunt Zee? Ms. Wardwell? What happened here?”

The High Priestess groaned at the prodding ways of her niece regretting having thanked her for that could only bring more doubts to Sabrina for the rarity of that occurrence.

“As you can see, we are both all right, and if we haven’t disclosed a word that’s for it’s not of your business, Sabrina. Now, you better teleport those two to the academy and Prudence, before she joins us. I’ll take care of the mortal in our land.”

Even when they could both agree, the inquisitive eyes of the teen had them worried for a second as they went from Aunt to the teacher trying to pinpoint what had changed. The young witch had simply taken a deep breath before she nodded and turned around. They followed her to the parlor where the twins were waiting.

“There’s a man outside, Mother Spellman,” Judith said.

“He followed us from school, Miss Mary. I think he was searching for you.” Judas added, his head crooking as his deep eyes fell on Ms. Wardwell.

“Sabrina told us we couldn’t hex him.” They said at once, and Sabrina blushed to the tip of her ears.

“Sabrina is right, he is just a mortal and you shouldn’t hex him because he wants to approach me,” Mary said. The teacher’s words the opposite of the thoughts that were running rampant on Zelda’s mind. She couldn’t wait for him to screw up bigger so she could hex him out of town for daring to corner her Mary.  

‘My Mary? Where has that come from?’ Zelda thought as she remained standing quietly near the brunette. Four pairs of waiting eyes fell on her and for a second, she wondered what she had missed.

“Exactly, no hexing mortals, at least until you both are adults. Now, go to the Academy. I’ll see about this man.”

“What about Ms. Wardwell? Shouldn’t we take her too, just in case?” Sabrina asked. Zelda understood what she wasn’t saying. In case it was not a simple mortal but a witch hunter with knowledge of the months that Lilith wore that skinsuit on Earth.

“I’ll send her away if needed. For now, if it is a simple mortal… it won’t make sense that her car is here, but she isn’t.”

A nod was the answer as she couldn’t find a fault in her Aunt’s logic and then the teens disappeared from the room leaving only the two women. Zelda stretched to her full height, squaring her shoulders and stretching her neck before she took a step towards the front door. Her murderous streak shinning deeply in green orbs.

Mary would always be amazed as to how the redhead could explain to her anything at all while looking as relaxed as they always were only to raise a dozen of walls in a matter of seconds as she donned the ‘Directrix’ title and solved whatever issue that was dropped in her plate. Mr. Moore, it seemed, was going to be treated in the same unflinching way her most disaster-prone students were.

With certainty, the witch opened the front door and stood out on their porch. Her keen eyes scanning the front lawn of the property and quickly finding the man plastered on the driver’s window of Mary’s car.

Furtiveness was one trait that witches had to learn as they needed it to move through the forest without giving away their locations, and it was one of those things Zelda was really apt at with all the years she had of experience.

“Have you lost something, Mr….” she said loud enough that he had to stretch his frame and his eyes widened, for he had heard no one approach. Let alone a woman on high heels that should’ve clattered against the gravel. The woman was gorgeous, he thought, but to his utter distaste, she had lightened a cigarette.

 ‘Nothing that I cannot fix,’ he thought as he offered her his most charming smile. “Moore, Mr. Moore, but you might call me Nick.”

Zelda crooked her head and observed the man from head to toe. She could understand why some people would consider him cute, but the knowledge she had made her dislike him on the spot. “And what are you… Nick… doing out here? I can tell you aren’t interested in our funerals or rites since you wouldn’t be checking this car if such was your need.”

“Oh, yes. You’ll see… The principal told me my friend left school because she wasn’t feeling all right. I followed her twins here…”

“And you thought that checking this car was far more productive than getting to the front door and asking? Quite an interesting choice, if you ask me. Now, on the other hand, if this friend of yours wanted you to know where she was, wouldn’t she let you know?”

The witch covered her smirk by taking a drag of her cigarette, loving the dislike of this that he couldn’t hide in his expression. She wanted to crush him, and perhaps if she still was a Satanist, she would’ve with no regret, for his behavior called for it. However, she could feel the blue eyes of the teacher on her, even if she was still standing at the front door.

“Yes, of course. However, the school was in session and I was busy, and she… well, my Mary wouldn’t disturb another teacher only for being a bit sick. I would’ve been with her already if she went home but as she didn’t… I had to follow her twins.”

“My Mary?” Zelda asked, barely containing her killer instincts from acting up. Her rage growing with every second standing in front of this man.

“Yes. Mary Wardwell. This is her car, I know the plate, and I’m sure you know her too, otherwise, her car wouldn’t be here, and that blonde young woman wouldn’t have walked her twins here.”

The High Priestess threw her finished cigarette to the ground and crushed it with her heel before letting out the smoke and squinting at the man.

“Ah, yes. I know a Mary Wardwell. Sadly, I cannot tell you her whereabouts for she, nor her twins, have mentioned you, Nick. I’m pretty sure she would’ve mentioned her charming friend if she had one. Now, if I was you, I would get away from here before I call the police on you for trespassing. Or you know, cursing you if we go for what town gossip says. Good afternoon, Nick.”

Her hands twitched to add a slight compulsion spell to have the man turning around, thinking he had won Zelda over even if he didn’t know if Mary was with her or not. However, if he was a witch hunter, that would’ve done more damage than good. So, she had to trust that her stance was firm enough that didn’t leave space for him to try and pass over her towards the house.

Thankfully, it worked. The moment the smarmy man was out of the property, Zelda turned around and headed for the teacher. Not even waiting for the door to close, she clasped Mary’s hand. “Lanuae…”

“What happened? Where are we going?” Mary asked, stopping her before she could complete the transportation spell. Zelda’s eyes fell on the brunette’s, and tugged her close, embracing her tightly. Her rage leaving her body as she clung to the lithe frame of the teacher.

“We are going to your cottage. I need to settle some barriers out there, to alert us in case he trespasses again. Mary… he went to your home searching for you, and from what you’ve told me, it wasn’t the first time. It was just luck that Sabrina noticed him following otherwise…”

There was genuine concern in the deep emerald pools as she shook her head. Then her forehead rested on the teacher’s one. “I cannot lose you now, Mary.”

“You won’t lose me, Zelda. He’s just a man… and I know you are a call away.” She whispered, her free hand finding the alabaster skin of Zelda’s cheek.

“What if I’m not? What if I take too long to reach you? No. We need to set some wards on your property and then, I need to call for the coven’s council. I believe you are right and he’s nothing but a man, yet…”

Mary didn’t quite understand why Zelda was so rattled. She didn’t get that the High Priestess was considering all options and that Mr. Moore could be a witch hunter was weighing heavily on her. She didn’t question as they teleported to the cottage and the Directrix started spewing unrecognizable words as everything around them trembled with the force of her magic. Once she was finished, she teleported them both to the Academy and Zelda set a council meeting.

Hilda was the last one to arrive, having been tangled inside Cerberus and excusing herself for her tardiness. Yet, she arrived only twenty minutes after Zelda and Mary had touched the Academy grounds.

“What’s the mortal doing in here, Mother Spellman?” Pesta asked, her eyes trained on Mary’s frame.

“She is the reason for this meeting, Sister Pesta. This afternoon, a male mortal followed Sabrina to the Mortuary after she picked up the Blackwood children from school. He seems to be interested only in the mortal. However, we cannot be certain of his reasons. I faced him today, and I couldn’t ascertain if the mortal was his only mission.”

Zelda exchanged a look with Hilda, who understood quickly what was happening. But before the blonde sister could intervene, Mary raised her eyes and the Directrix could see the annoyance simmering in them. She knew the teacher was angry at her for calling her mortal during her brief speech.

“Excuse me, the mortal is here and has a name. As I’ve told Mother Spellman, he’s just a teacher. Not quite a gentleman, but well, there’s plenty of those in the mortal realm. I don’t seem to understand all the fuss. We can make sure to reach the Spellman Mortuary every time and be picked up from there avoiding having the twins walking to the Academy if the risk is a mortal seeing people disappear into the ether, so to speak. Besides, Mother Spellman has settled some wards and barriers around my property that should be enough to take care of little old me in case of need.”

“No, Mary… you don’t understand.” It was Hilda’s voice, soft and caring, as she sat next to the brunette and grasped her hand. “We are witches… and we can be haunted too. Sometimes, hunters find us through the mortals we’ve disclosed our nature to, and you… you’ve been reading some pretty witchy tales in town that might have put you in the eye of some hunters. Yet we won’t know until they attack.”

“Oh,” Mary said, her eyes falling to Zelda’s searching in them, for she wasn’t sure what. Perchance hoping that she wouldn’t find the redhead blaming her for endangering her kind.

“Well, as I’ve said, there’s also the chance it’s just a mortal, and we are overreacting to him and his eagerness to become Mary’s paramour.”

The voices of the members of the council were raised at once. “Silence!” Zelda stood up, her sheer presence making all of them remain quiet as requested. The weight of her voice and stance making Mary understand why she was the Directrix. She had seen her manage the kids and solve the issues before, but this… standing up to her peers was a novelty. It was hot too, she thought.

“Unless any of you have a suggestion about what we shall do until we have further ideas of his desires.”

Glances fell all around the room as witches thought and mumbled to themselves, but no one spoke until a soft, “I have one…” came from the blonde sitting beside Mary.

“Yes, Sister Spellman?”

There was a nervous chuckle coming from her sister that had the redhead knowing she wouldn’t quite like what would follow. But, seeing it was the only one who had come up with something, and they considered everyone in the council an equal, she had no other choice than to let her speak.

“I’ll say, for the safety of the mortal Mary Wardwell, and the Blackwood twins, that the better approach would be that instead of risking them by being alone in their corner of the woods…. That they could take a room at the Mortuary. Perhaps, it would be better if one of us can pick them up from school and bring them to the mortuary since I’m sure if he’s what we are afraid of, he won’t act in front of that many mortals, Mother Spellman… and since I’m not living there, the guest room is still empty, Zelds.”

Zelda closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose at the implication of Hilda’s words, especially the last ones. The council quickly agreed that it would be their course of action, and they were already discussing how they could rotate between the students to take them to school and then pick them up when she finally intervened.

“I’ll do it.”

A series of what, we cannot risk you, and why you came out from different mouths at once. The redhead raised her hand and shook her head. She offered an awkward smile to Mary, for she would be the one dealing with the consequences of this.

“Besides the twins and Sabrina, the only other witch he has seen is me. Unless you can tell me otherwise, Sister Spellman, he doesn’t know about your relationship with me, and that’s to our aid. We cannot risk sending our students to face a possible witch hunter when most of them don’t have the tools to fight one of them, and we all know I do.”

“Then it’s decided. Mother Spellman, you will take the mortal, Mary Wardwell, and the Blackwood twins to school, and retrieve them when it's time. And the three of them will move to the Spellman mortuary until further measures can be taken if needed. Or, until it’s proven the male is just a mortal.”

“So mote it be,” Zelda stated, and thirteen witches repeated it at once. And as the room emptied, Mary was afraid to ask what the hell had just happened.

Chapter 46

Notes:

A little bit of the past... while I fight with myself so the next chapter makes sense xD
Oh, this chapter triggered my anxiety for a second... so... good luck(?)

Chapter Text

For reasons that witches knew all so well, mortals learned to fear them. Even given all the help, they had provided to them for centuries. Witch hunters had spread all around the globe like a plague of sorts. Cells of hunters brewing from the mortals impotence to be like the witches. For their fear that they couldn’t wield the mystical forces that could overpower and control them.

It wasn’t only the female witches they had learned to fear. It extended quickly to the females of their own kind who had shown the same level -or even more- intelligence than their male counterparts. So, as Goddesses fell from their throne, they had made of women second-class citizens, keeping them from books and knowledge, for there were no more Goddesses protecting them and their knowledge.

The witches remained, though, keeping their wisdom, sharing it inside the protection of their covens. And then, to the utter surprise of her few remaining followers, the Queen of the Underworld fell. Trapped by Lucifer, forgetting her truest nature, she became nothing more than his handmaiden, his best warrior, and the most feared killer and tortured from Hell.

With her power in his hand, Luciferian covens became the most powerful ones. Lilith’s children had noticed her change and fought against the control of Satan. However, her sons fell prey to the ego Lilith so despised. They made a deal with the devil himself. He freed them to convert witches around and drive them crazy if they wouldn’t cooperate.

Incubus deployed to find and tortured the souls pointed to them. After weeks of sleep deprivation, it was easy to sway solitary witches into signing away their names. The number of devotees grew largely when mothers forced their children to take part in the covens that bloomed around, and soon, their Church had grown in ways only compared with the mortal’s one. The assault stopped when the few ‘pagan’ covens that remained were few and far away from each other that their numbers wouldn’t survive an assault from Lucifer’s hordes.

Powerful witches remained both outside and inside the church. Witches with strength beyond their male counterparts kept being born. One of the renowned ones was that of Edward and Zelda Spellman. Who as children from one of the most ancient names, had been brought forward as a case that pushed them to separate the arts women were taught from those males should learn.

The male leaders, like the mostly male Blackwood line, feared the day the women would raise to take control of the covens as they once had. Attached to Lucifer’s ego, patriarchy swept inside the lines and witches’ covens leaderships became purely a man’s job.

With witches' matriarchal line falling like a castle of cards around the world, the balance was twisted and it would take centuries to restore it. Part of it would befall over the shoulders of the unfeeling witch, and part of it on the one soul that would free her. For the one Goddess that had never fallen and never been subdued but mutated with the times had plans and even if they would take a while… the mortal term was not something that affected her, for Hecate knew her time would return.

And so, the world kept spinning and decades of mortal time passed since the last of the witch trials had taken place in their realm. Males had all but destroyed the confidence of overly smart women, finally obliterating any streak that would make them dangerous for their ways. Unknowing that they could smother the flames but thoughts, and feelings always remained inside, and like a Phoenix they would return to claim their place, when one day, females around the world would stand up and defend what was theirs, claiming their birthright as once was.

When the mortals had finally stopped their persecution and horrible killing of innocent women of their kind. Witch hunters remained, and so did witches. A group of them terribly fond of one small town in the middle of nowhere that held inside its grounds one of the entrances to Hell, and that was where the Spellman’s still dwelled.

Since months before her sixteen birthday, Zelda Spellman had lost all fear for the mortals along with her softer feelings. Lust, though, remained burning inside her, gripping at her like a tool she hadn’t had issues using. It was the prey and the energy inflaming the magical tests and creations she had done for years to try to regain her lost emotions. Without love, sex magic was the most powerful energy she could muster for herself.

It was that why she had been all around the world, luring men and women alike to use their energies for her will. Unknowingly awaking the female collective into grasping what was theirs while she tried to recover what her parents had stolen from her (even if she still didn’t know about her own curse).

She had been so careful with her ways, always keeping an extra eye on the crowd as she lured her prey. However, she too had grown a bit self-confident and Zelda always loved to add a bit of family drama if she could. It was amusing for her to see how brothers would turn against each other or their sisters for her attention. Since for her, there was no attachment nor intention to remain attached for far longer than she needed to convince them and have her way.

“Fuck,” she said when it dawned on her that the small family composed of brothers were in fact not searching for settling in the little town of Greendale, but were there to -at least try- eliminate once and for all the magical strings that would always live in their quaint little town.

It was late though, for she had used not one but four of their brothers on different occasions and the state they had returned could be proof enough for witch hunters that she was, in fact, not an easy whore but a witch.

Zelda had failed to see the trap she fell into until she was riding to oblivion, the brother she had lured that night, right in the middle of a clearing in the woods. A circle of pink and red candles surrounding their ‘sacrifice’ as she chanted her latest creation.

As she moved on top of the very cooperative male. The swearing left her mouth came right when she felt several beings entering the circle of protection she had cast further away from their position. She stilled, standing up swiftly, ready to bolt when the man she’d used grabbed her ankle to stop her.

The redhead tripped. Her altered state allowed her only to cast a small fireball using the candles’ flames. ‘It must be enough,’ she thought as she threw it to the hand that was keeping her entrapped.

Not caring about her state of undress, she rushed through the tight forest as fast as she could the moment the mortal had let out a swear of his own and grasped his burned hand, howling in pain. Dogs barked, following her trace, closing on her. Zelda’s heart was racing in her ears, her breath that had been already staggering was coming harshly now that the cold was hitting her naked body, prickling her skin harshly as she ran.

The orange glow of torches pointed to her they were too many -most likely the brothers and their parents following her trace- They were nearing. Fear was grasping her, dulled like any other feeling that was left inside her, but still present.

Zelda let out a frustrated cry. They were closing on her when she noticed then she had taken a bad turn somewhere in her way. She was trapped and too damn shaken to be able to transport herself far away. Not that it would’ve mattered. They had pinpointed her, and if they saw anyone she related with, -her coven members and her own family- they would mark them too as witches. If she found the energy to transport herself. She would have to find a way to get out of the town and it would be years before she could return to Greendale again.

A tear fell from her eye. Not once they had caught her before, yet she had literally screwed it up, and in the town where her coven lived. Jeopardizing not only herself but all of them. Edward and Hilda, the only two witches she loved, were now endangered by her selfish actions. Because she couldn’t wait for her sister’s return to try her newest spell on another town. How foolish she was.

The witch plastered her naked form against a rock and trembled as the frigid and rugged surface reached her quickly cooling body. Her sacrifice would keep the hunter’s hunger sated, and her coven safe. One witch would be enough if no one claimed her body, and as Edward was too busy and Hilda away visiting Sophia… no one would.

Perhaps she was a selfish being, for she hadn’t wanted to die. Not like this, not naked and alone, trapped in a forest she knew like her palm. Her mind provided her with the image of those she loved and a soft smile formed on her blue lips.

“Hail Lilith!” she whispered, bringing her blue-ing fingertips to her warm breath. “It’s been a while since I’ve praised you or spoke to you like this. You might have forgotten all about me by now, but I haven’t forsaken you, dear. I’m not sure if you can hear me or if you’d remember me. Yet, I’m on a tight spot here, and I don’t want to die. Less on the hands of witch hunters. So, if you can help me, in any way… I’ll be forever grateful. If you don’t, at least I hope it warms you to know you were always my only love, Lily.”

The light orange became a bright one as they found her. She raising her arm to cover her eyes from the shining warmth that surrounded her from every angle. Twelve hunters pointed several pieces of weaponry at her. She raised her other hand slowly and hoped against all hope that something would happen to them. Yet, the only thing that happened was that her mind was filled with words being whispered in a voice that wasn’t hers.

One by one, she let them out as they came. She trusted the voice in her head, for she knew belonged to the Lilith she met centuries ago. The carefree voice of the fallen Goddess was warming for the witch and damning for the hunters who suddenly stood rooted in place, unable to move.

Words flowed easily from her mouth as she realized what it was telling her to call forth. Energy she didn’t know she possessed sweeping through her as she remembered the tender ways of Lilith. Then, blue flames erupted from the ground and they burned to their deaths until there was nothing more than ashes. Poetic justice to the hundreds of women they had chased and killed in that way.

Zelda fell to the ground and cried. Words of gratitude leaving her mouth in a whispery cry towards Lilith, her love, and her savior. And was that way, curled into herself, trembling from the cold that Ernest Von Kunkle found her.

Naked, tear-stained, trembling violently, covered by the ashes of his fallen brothers. He had raised her head and cleared her tears. A soft smile appeared on his lips.

“They deserved it, don’t you think so?”

The redhead frowned in confusion. She knew him; he was the youngest of them, the one she thought too innocent to break. Yet, why would a hunter say something of the like about other hunters? Zelda reckoned it must be a ruse to get near her, gain her trust, and revenge the fallen.

“I’m Ernest… Von Kunkle. I… I suppose I can be the white sheep of a very dark family. Truly, I never quite understood their obsession with chasing those of your kind.” There was a smile filled with truth and nonchalance. “I always thought their obsession was ludicrous. I mean, I see what you can do, but you did nothing I wouldn’t do in your place, I guess. Well, if I could do that... When it’s your life or theirs, I suppose I would fight back too with every bit of energy at my disposal.”

He nervously babbled for hadn’t seen a naked female body before in his life. Ernest had placed his coat over the cool body of the witch that had just killed his entire family. Zelda stood up, closing the offered piece of clothes tightly against her frame.

“You are so beautiful. I’ve seen you around town and luring my brothers to the woods. I wondered why you never approached me, for sure I’m not the most handsome of them, but I always thought I was by far the most innocent. May I know your name?”

“Zelda.” She said after a sigh. It was known that witch hunters wanted to show off their killings, and she wouldn’t give this one who was pretending to be nice to her, the chance to be proud of having killed a Spellman.

“Well, Zelda. There’s an issue. You killed a complete cell of hunters, and we both know they will send more when that’s found. So, we need to make a deal… and arrangement of sorts.”

“I would rather die than make any deals with a witch hunter,” she sneered. Her murderous glare shining on the light of his torch. He sighed.

“I’m not really a witch hunter. Let’s say I was born into the wrong family. All I wanted was to draw and paint. But, I suppose the same happens among your kind, that you are born into certain traditions you cannot outrun? I suppose I was lucky I still have no witch’s blood in my hands.”

“If what you are saying it’s true, witch hunter. What are you proposing?”

“We figure a way to justify their deaths, like an accident or something of the like where I remain the sole survivor. I’m certain you will come up with something. When the council of hunters asks if I need reinforcements, I’ll tell them no. But, you must ensure that I and my descendants can roam the forest freely. I might need to pretend to be a hunter for a while, even if I hate it. Until this town is forgotten.”

“I don’t trust you.”

“Nor do I.”

“Then, we have a deal. It’s between you and me, I cannot promise other witches won’t try to harm you.”

“But you’ll try to sway them?”

A hopeful smile appeared on his face, and Zelda gingerly nodded. She offered her hand, and he took it. And their deal was done.

That night, the Von Kunkle farm caught fire so strong that not a piece could be recovered. The town mourned the loss of the brothers and their parents and joined Ernest during the rites celebrated to remember them.

Zelda had talked to Edward about what had happened to her. How she was caught by a cell of witch hunters and how she had burned them alive. The coven council asked for confirmation that the story his sister told him was true. And as if to shut them all down, Lucifer sent a minion to confirm with utter disgust that the Spellman witch had in fact called forth hellfire to keep herself alive.

The deal she struck, though, was presented to the Church as Edward’s doing, and seeing who it had come from and how it would benefit them all. They had agreed to keep it. Yet, the coven’s eyes remained in the Von Kunkle's even after decades when their name had changed until the Kinkles were born.

Chapter 47

Notes:

Huh... xD

Chapter Text

“I just don’t get it,” Mary huffed as she threw another cardigan inside of the only suitcase she owned. It was ridiculous. She was not even half an hour away from the Spellman Mortuary, yet she was packing as if she would leave for a two months’ vacation.

The noise in the next room and the rambunctious words giving away that the twins were having no issues with packing their lives again. It weighed heavily on her shoulders that she wasn’t capable of protecting them for more than a few months.

Zelda’s eyes softened. She had always been adventurous, and she knew what it was to pack and leave, then settle somewhere else only to have to pick everything up all over again and start somewhere else. Yet, the years where she didn’t have a place to call home to get back to were few. When they were changed from one coven to the next and the house didn’t quite feel like home yet.

Now, Mary… she knew the teacher had left Greendale for a while. Back in the day, it was the chat of town that the weird Wardwell teen had left everything behind at sixteen after her parents passed away. Then she returned not only to her hometown but to the same house she had grown up in. She had been the town’s little black sheep returning to them, and they had received her with open arms.

“It won’t be forever…” Zelda let out, fighting her mind that told her she wouldn’t mind if it was until the end of the teacher’s days. A weird, sad smile plastered on the witch’s expression, and Mary noticed it.

“What’s wrong, Zee?”

The teacher blushed as the redhead looked at her in surprise at the way she called her. Yet, she could not stop her body from gravitating towards the witch.

“Nothing… It was a stupid thought about mortality. Don’t worry about it.” The redhead said, caressing her cheek with her thumb softly. “Now, about this… We’ve been over it before, Mary. It’s not only me, but it’s also the council's decision. They all agreed this was the best way to deal with this. It’s not about you, nor about me overprotecting you, it’s about protecting the coven.”

“Yes, I understand, and I know I should easily agree but now that I’m here… I just don’t see how is it I can be of any worry, and I cannot see how one man can be of any danger for all of you. You could defeat him with your eyes closed and your hands tied behind your back.”

The image her mind created caused Mary’s cheeks to burn bright red and not out of fear. Zelda squinted her eyes, trying to assess if the blush came from her words or from some kinkier streak that had appeared out of the blue. Then she considered who she was thinking about, ‘No, my sweet Mary wouldn’t be imagining that, or would she?’

“It’s not about me having the power to defeat him, or not, Mary. It’s about what it could mean if I must.”

She grabbed the teacher’s hands in hers and stilled any movement before she walked them to Mary’s bed, currently crowded by the suitcase and a pile of her clothes. She sat and patted the spot at her side, waiting for the teacher to join her before she started explaining something all witches knew.

“As you already know, we had our coven menaced by angelic witch hunters before. You’ll see, witch hunters have been around us for millennia and they are mostly mortals. Just like we perfected our ability to blend among your kind, they perfected their ways to find us.”

“Have you ever faced one? I know you weren’t there when Sabrina and your coven faced them, for she only mentions her younger Aunt and cousin.”

The teacher’s blue eyes bore holes in hers, forcing Zelda to avoid her glance for a second. Her hair fell over her face, protecting her from the memories of a distant past that for the fear of endangering her loved ones that burned deeply on Zelda’s guilt, it remained as vivid as if it had occurred just decades earlier.

“I have.” She said, raising her gaze towards the ceiling and leaving out a heavy breath. “There’s no simple way to explain this one to you, without changing what you think of me. As you might know, I’m not afraid of my sexuality, and I was never afraid to dive into the usually most controversial of the magics. Sex magic was for years one of my greatest skills. Shall I continue?”

Mary looked at the Directrix. There was no shame in her posture or her words, just a worry that she wouldn’t understand her or perhaps fear she would judge her in the way mortals often did. Her hand found Zelda’s giving it a light squeeze.

“So far, my amazing teacher told me that rules among magical beings differ from those they forced me into. Freer, you might say, so I suppose that as long as it didn’t harm the being cooperating with you, and it was from their own free will… there was no harm done. Sure, you’ve used sex magic, but you still didn’t give me reasons to fear you. Zee… I cannot change your past as much as you cannot change mine, and I would regret the day that I find it in myself to ask you to change. I cannot ask that from you, just as you aren’t asking that from me. Even when I’m still on a journey to discover myself and you are facilitating it to the best of your knowledge. You aren’t pushing me to be different, you are just walking me to grab what I always was even when I was the only one who never knew it.”

Her words caused a crack in Zelda’s tightly woven armor of sorts. They also made her wonder if she would give her the reasons to fear her one day. Her heart constricted tightly at the idea of Mary’s eyes filling with fear towards her. Instead of digging into the what-ifs of a reality, she vowed she wouldn’t create, not while this sweet being existed at least. She took a deep breath and continued.

“Back then, something doesn’t even need mention at this point was my major focus. I was using sex magic to make it work, it didn’t. I made a terrible mistake; in my silly play, I didn’t notice how the brothers I had lured were hunters. They figured what I am, and they chased me… I killed them all, Mary.”

“Or they would’ve killed you. I see now why they were all so quick to agree that you could defend yourself from a hunter. I’m sorry you had to come to that situation…”

“So, this thing you don’t quite understand, it’s easy, Mary. He might be the first one of a Cell who came here in a reckon mission. It happens every few decades, for Greendale’s magical signature is strong for its nearness to Hell’s entrance. Thus, they monitor it, trying to find if there are witches around. It was only my encounter with them that kept them away for long. If he is one of them, and he sees or hears something that might require further help, more will appear. They will mingle with the town pretending to be part of its life, and while the townspeople remain unknowing, they will try to find us and end us. They have means to extract the truth that leave the witch tests as a child’s play, and I, don’t want you to experience them.”

Mary huffed. If the redhead’s tranquility was in her hands for something as simple as moving to their guests’ room, so be it. She wouldn’t be a rock in their shoes when there were certain aspects of this entire plan that allured her. The idea of sharing the same roof with Zelda Spellman for sure was a big pro on her list. A knock on her opened the door made the witch stand up.

“Auntie? We are ready, I’ll take the hearse with their things so they can start settling before it is too late. I suppose they are the ones taking the guests’ room?”

Sabrina added a hint of worry to her question as she looked above her Aunt’s shoulder and to her former teacher. She wasn’t sure if she liked the idea of what was about to happen, but her Aunt had been very clear that it wasn’t her idea and it was a council decision. Even if she disliked it, she would have to respect it.

“Yes. Thank you, Sabrina. Please tell Ambrose to start on dinner and we will be there shortly too.”

The cottage went silent as the twins, Sabrina, and Prudence walked away carrying a bunch of bags and the stuff the Blackwoods had collected in their months as regular teens.

“There’s no chance I can fit all I need in here,” Mary mumbled, pushing a wool sweater on top of the tartan skirt she had just shoved inside her suitcase.

“Let me help,” the redhead said, mumbling some other words. As usual, whenever she used magic, the teacher’s skin tingled. Suddenly, all the clothes that were previously piling inside her suitcase fell deeper inside and Zelda grinned. “I learned this one on my more adventurous days. It was quite handy to carry just a small bag that could fit anything I wanted.”

“Did you just make me a Mary Poppins’ carpet bag?” Mary asked, a childish glee shining in her eyes. “Aren’t you just full of surprises, Zelda Spellman?” The redhead’s rare blush picked Mary’s interest further.

“Actually, I might be the reason Mary Poppins carries a carpet bag. I met Pamela when she was just Helen… and she saw me taking stuff from my bag that wouldn’t be able to fit in it.”

“Really? So, what about the rest? Did you sing to her too? Or I don’t know. Took her to another realm? You took her to another realm!”

“Hold your horses, Mary. Hecate, if I knew you were such a fan, I wouldn’t have mentioned it. Yes, I showed her the witchy realm when I was there. But most of it is just her own wild imagination, and, sure I can sing but no, I didn’t sing for her. Perhaps she overheard me… as I’ve said she already had her own vivid imagination, and it was why I didn’t mind letting my truth out, no one would’ve believed her if she went on telling it. Now, should I help you throw every piece of cloths you own inside it?”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Mary grinned, quickly dropping all the clothes that were previously covering her bed inside the black hole of her suitcase and then throwing the little that was left. Before she cleared her throat.

“Huh, would you mind turning around?” she asked, blushing right up to the tip of her ears. Zelda frowned, then she realized there was just one drawer the teacher had yet to empty, and she hadn’t seen nylons nor undergarments so far.

It was a moment later when the brunette let her know she finished her work, that Zelda turned around with a nervous smile. And she took the suitcase to Mary’s car, waiting for the teacher to close her house.

“Does it bother you?” Mary asked as the redhead drove them to the mortuary.

“What does?”

“Me, intruding your daily lives? I mean, I’ll be taking your guests’ room and sharing almost every meal. Most likely being around your parlor when you are or sharing your library. Isn’t that too much? When I’m already most of the afternoon annoying you in your office.” 

Zelda looked at her from the corner of her eye, wishing for a way to deflect the question or for a smoke to calm the nerves she was having, for there was one thing no one had dared to tell the mortal yet. And that was that the mortuary might’ve looked enormous, but there was only one guests’ room. Her free hand found the teacher’s for a moment, squeezing it in reassurance even though she didn’t know who she was trying to calm.

“No. It’s not a nuisance to have you around, Mary. Not even if it’s imposed on all of us. I don’t mind spending time with you as you must have realized by now. I truly enjoy your company and your never-ending questions.”

The lights of the mortuary appeared on the top of the hill. At nights it looked more imposing and terrifying for people. To Mary looked cozier if possible. She chewed her lower lip as she considered the witch’s answer as she expertly parked her car near to the hearse.

“Then why are you so nervous about it?”

There was a smile plastered on Zelda’s expression, that more or less told her she would figure out sooner rather than later. The redhead ignored her question, opening her door and moving to grab the suitcase. “Follow me, please.” She said, not quite waiting for the teacher.

Mary sighed as she wondered what was going on inside that witch’s head but following her. Up the entrance stairs, then past the entrance doors, the smell of food assaulting them as they took their coats off. Then, without prompt, Zelda continued upstairs and down the hall.

The teacher noticed she had walked past the door of the room in which she had once woken up and past the one where they had shared their afternoon. The corridor becoming more and more recognizable as they stopped in front of a door she knew for she had been inside that room twice.

“This is not your guests’ room,” Mary stated as Zelda opened the door to her room.

“No, it is not. Come inside, please.” She bit her lower lip, hoping the teacher wouldn’t be scared. Not that she was taking their relationship beyond the current situation it was simply that… “there’s no other place, Mary. The house only has four bedrooms. There’s Ambrose’s, Sabrina’s, the guest room currently being occupied by the twins, and mine.”

“What about the one where… you know… where we…”

“That’s not a bedroom. Even if we could transform the décor to fit your needs, there’s no bathroom in there. That’s why I used it for… hmm… my nights? No one who used that room remained after the deed was done, so to speak. Witches and... other beings… returned to their own dwellings after. So, sure, I can accommodate you there, but you’d still have to cross to my room in order to use the bath and that sounds to me far more uncomfortable than sharing it.”

“But… Hilda said…”

“That you could take her spot inside the house? When we first moved in here, Hilda and I shared this room. I was rarely around back then, but since we already had decades of the three of us sharing a room in a far smaller house. So having Hilda taking half of this space didn’t become an issue as long as I kept my nights away from her sleep. Her spot in this house is this room.”

“I…”

“Why don’t we try it? For tonight. Tomorrow, you can decide what to do, and even complain to the council if that’s what you need to do.”

“There’s only one bed…” she whispered as she blushed. Sure! She had fantasized about waking up in Zelda’s arms, but this was completely different. Especially when it was all so new, raw, and different…. And...

“I’ll be honest with you, Mary, as I’ve been since the beginning. I won’t deny I have zero qualms about sharing a bed with you. As you know, I’m quite fond of you and I would appreciate waking up tangled around you once again. Also, be sure I won’t take any advantage of you, even in this impossible situation of sorts. Yet, truth is, I had to use a lot of my energy to mount the barriers and protections around your home, and I’m quite drained, for it wasn’t the only magic I had to perform through the day. So, I cannot currently get rid of this bed and create the two we need.”

There was a self-deprecative smile on her face, and then Mary noticed the weary eyes that she rarely allowed anyone else to see.

“Yet, if the thought of one night sharing that immense bed with me frightens you. I can call Sabrina and Prudence, and they will be able to help me with the spells we need. I’ll leave that decision in your hand.” She said rubbing the beginning of a headache from exhaustion away.

“You really won’t mind?”

Zelda was beside her even before she could lower her blue eyes to the floor. She placed a kiss below her earlobe as arms tightened around her, and that feeling of home flowed freely through her old bones. “Never in a million years, I would mind sharing with you anything you agree to, dear.”

“If you really don’t think I’m intruding into your personal space or being a nuisance for your daily life. I’m okay with it.”

The redhead took a step back and searched the blue eyes. Her lips itching to kiss her but instead of diving for tempting lips, her red ones left a soft caress on the brunette’s forehead.

“Mary… there might be more for you to consider… there might be rumors started as people in your school realize that you are not going home alone, nor are you arriving alone. I truly don’t want you to go through the last Saturday’s experience daily, only because I am there. Yet, there’s nothing I can do to mitigate them.”

It was the teacher’s turn to search emerald eyes; her freckled hand finding the porcelain skin of the witch. A bright smile on Mary’s face as she assessed her words.

“I know you are helping me to figure out things about myself no other ever tried to teach me. Everyone else simply categorized me as a weird one. Yet, you are presenting me your world, Zee. There’s one thing I need to know as a backbone of sorts for when those words begin to appear on my daily basis.”

“Go on.”

“Tell me, Zelda Spellman… Whatever this weird thing we are developing… is it real for you, or it’s only in my mind?” Mary asked, biting her lower lip. A second passed before Zelda’s hand mimicked her own, caressing her cheek softly.

“As real as you are standing in here with me, Mary, and I’m as terrified about it as you are.”

“I hope you know I wouldn’t do this with anyone else.” She said, kissing Zelda’s cheek before smiling brightly. “So, can we have dinner now? I’m kinda starving after today’s rollercoaster of activities.”

“Oh, Hecate... whatever am I going to do with you, Ms. Wardwell?”

“What you are already doing, works,” Mary smirked, feeling a lot bolder around her now, then rushing out of the room as the weight of her words fell on her. The teacher could hear Zelda’s laughter as she walked down the corridor and noticed she felt quite comfortable in her current shoes.

Chapter 48

Notes:

So, huh... yes, they still do whatever they want...

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Dinner was nice. The youngest Spellmans had found a couple of chairs to add to their usual three chairs and one bench set, allowing them all to fit in the kitchen table. “The dining room is too much,” Sabrina had explained as she plopped herself in one of the free chairs. Ambrose and Prudence taking over the bench.

Mary hadn’t needed to add much to the conversation that the twins were carrying, cheerfully chatting with the younger witches about anything. The truth was since they were at the academy they had blossomed, and she was happy for them, and the way they spoke to their sister was also endearing.

She also tried to avoid thinking too much about the knowing looks exchanged between cousins when Zelda and she had gotten downstairs. Nor she gave an extra thought on why the only empty chairs were Zelda’s usual spot and the odd one placed beside it. The brunette didn’t want to dwell on what it all could mean for her, since she could only think they knew their Aunt and that whatever was running in their minds might involve her. That caused her anxiety to appear.

They finished eating and remained seated around the table as the twins were telling them about their days, and Sabrina completed their story with a memory of her own about the one teacher they were speaking of.

Zelda had lighted a cigarette and was smoking in her place, strategically perched on her spot so that she could link her hand with Mary’s one under the table. Her thumb drawing odd figures on her skin, and if anyone else noticed this, they didn’t dare to comment on it. Then, as she took the last drag of her smoke, Ambrose's gaze fell on her.

“Okay, Auntie. I’ve done dinner and Sabrina didn’t mess up at the Academy today. Prudence is a guest, and you know what that means.” Ambrose grinned. Zelda rolled her eyes at them and dramatically sighed.

“You know, Mary… You get into positions of power only to be ordered by your nephew to do dishes.”

The redhead joked her complaint as she begrudgingly let go of the teacher’s hand and stood up, carrying the plates with her. The teacher thought back for a second to the exhausted expression Zelda had shown to her and smiled, bringing the rest of the plates with her.

“I suppose it’s only fair that I help,” she said, shrugging as she joined the Spellman Matriarch on her menial task. The youngest Spellmans exchanged a look, for the teacher seemed to know what to do and where things went as she helped their aunt. They were unaware of all the Fridays they had spent like this before.

“Whatever you five are planning, it’s a no,” Zelda said, not looking behind her back, knowing something must have been going on for the silence that had befallen upon the kitchen. Giggles came behind their backs and the Directrix turned around then, a menacing glare on her eyes made them all sit straighter on their sits. “I’m glad to know that I’ve been understood.”

“Yes, Mother Spellman.” They said at once for the woman who had glared at them was not simply Zelda Spellman, but their High Priestess.

 “Why don’t you go to the parlor and play that game you brought home a few days back, Sabrina? Until bedtime, and yes, I promise I won’t harm a hair on Mary’s head.” She added with a roll of her eyes, as the four of five pairs of eyes fell on the teacher. “Seriously, why would’ve I agreed to this craziness if I was going to harm her? You all know full well that I could’ve refused it.”

Zelda didn’t realize what she had just said or how it would bring doubts on the brunette that was standing beside her. The kids left, and the redhead turned around to find Mary deep in thought.

“What’s wrong?” She asked softly. The High Priestess had noticed the teacher had been mostly quiet during the dinner and she blamed it on the novelty of it all. It was the reason she had risked taking her hand. She had tried to comfort her somehow through the entire ordeal. She was certain it was overwhelming for someone as shy and lonely as Mary.

“You could’ve refused this?”

The mortal lowered the towel she had in her hand to push her glasses further up and worried her lower lip. Zelda sighed, chastising herself for stating that without a thought. There was free will in their coven, and for requests that might put a witch in peril, it was their duty to ask first if they agreed to take the risk. Now, as the High Priestess, she could’ve simply refused the entire plan, hoping some other thing could’ve been done.

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you?”

Why, indeed. She had not only not refused it; she had offered herself as a tribute of sorts. Zelda shook her head and reached for Mary’s cheek. Her confused blue orbs closing as her hand softly traced the high cheekbone. No words came from the witch until the mortal’s eyes opened again and her own gaze fell deep onto them. Hoping she would convey more than what she usually could, that Mary would understand that even if her feelings were dulled… There were still there.

“I told you, Mary. I cannot lose you now.”

The confession was a whisper, that was just so low that the teacher had almost strained her ears to hear those words over the loud beating of her heart. Her hand grabbed the one on her cheek and squeezed it, leaning into her touch while she tried to express what words were failing to say.

“It’s just a silly mortal.” She said, enjoying the nearness they were sharing, the warmth permeating onto her body coming from the usually cold Directrix. Zelda’s forehead rested on hers before she let out her next statement.

“And I could’ve killed him on the spot for the way he treated you, Mary. Alas, I didn’t and the only thing I can do now is making sure he knows you are protected.”

“Thank you,” Mary whispered, letting go of her hand and placing a kiss on Zelda’s cheek. “Now, we better finish the dishes before they wonder why is taking us so long?”

They went to the parlor after finishing the dishes. Zelda immediately going for her liquor cabinet. Out of custom, she poured two tumblers. Nearing the teacher who had grabbed her usual place at the loveseat, she offered her the tumbler and sat beside her as they had been doing for quite a while now.

They sat in comfortable silence, watching the ‘children’ play their game, relaxing in the living room’s coziness. Mary felt herself relax further enough that her lids started to feel too heavy to remain awake for much longer.

Zelda noticed it and stood up, grabbing the tumbler from freckled hands and setting it on a side table. The noise made Sabrina and Ambrose look up from their game, smiling at her.

“Well, we have an early morning tomorrow, and we had quite the excitement during the day. Good night. Don’t stay up too late, it’s a school day for you two.”

“Do you need any help to get there, Mary?” Ambrose offered, noticing the teacher was far more asleep than awake.

“No. I’m good. Good night all.” She said barely containing a yawn.

Still, bedtime was another deal altogether. As they strolled to their room, Zelda had announced to her, she’d left the pajamas she wore last time in the bathroom. So, she wouldn’t need to go through her things for a nightgown now, and even allowed her to get to the bathroom first.

The directrix had to fight with herself when an adorable-looking Mary came out of the bathroom, her hair low for once, her eyes crinkled slightly, barefooted, and with her glasses on her hand. The teacher stood awkwardly by the door, shuffling her weight from one leg to the other as she wondered what to do with herself next.

“If you have a side, you can take it,” Zelda said. As she grabbed a silky nightgown and a robe she had already picked from her closet before. She disappeared into the bathroom, giving the mortal space to make herself comfortable.

Mary eyed the imposing bed as if she was looking at a cave full of bats, or a box full of mysteries. But then she heard Zelda’s dulcet voice singing something on the other side of the door.

For a split second, she doubted if she would survive seeing Zelda in the silky fabric she saw the woman taking with her to the bathroom. A deep red flushed the entire skin of her chest when she remembered what the redhead wore that morning after she’d fallen asleep on the couch. No, definitively not surviving seeing Zelda in her nightgown and even less chance of falling asleep beside her.

She took the side that was far away from the bathroom door and slid between black satin sheets that were cold against the few places where it touched her warmed skin. Mary rolled to the side, with her back to the bathroom door, willing her body to shut down and sleep as it was about to just minutes earlier.

No such luck.

The moment Zelda opened the door, she turned around to lie on her stomach, her head turned so she could see the witch. Her face was covered by the thick curtain of her hair. Of course, the witch would’ve chosen something utterly sexy. The blue robe was open, and Mary had stolen a glance at the black silk that was now covering the red-haired temptress.

Well, covering was just a saying. It went as far as her mid-thigh and it was only a cream lace enclosing her breast. She had to cough to avoid choking on her own saliva.

Zelda had felt her eyes on her, and she was never one to reject putting on a good show. She lowered her robe and massaged her shoulders with lotion. Then, she raised her feet to the stool next to her vanity. The dark fabric rid up her tight not only slightly, but it had a slight slit that forced the flimsy fabric to fall, showing even more of her leg.

She doubled over then. Her pale hands rubbing each other together, warming the lotion before she spread it carefully from feet to even further below the hem of her nightgown.

Mary’s breath caught in her throat. If she had any lingering doubts about her attraction to the redhead, they were easily dissipated just then. Yet, once she finished, Zelda padded to the bed, and the teacher closed her eyes while pretended to be asleep.

The redhead smirked at this, knowing by the way her breath was still too elaborated that she wasn’t asleep at all. But she gave it to the woman. They were far too many things going on in this never-ending day. Yet, she knew she wouldn’t be able to fall asleep easily. Not with the warmth coming from her side, nor her own fingers itching to reach out and touch the mortal. Instead, she turned to the side table and grabbed one of the many books that littered her room.

The mortal tossed and turned as Zelda tried hard to concentrate on the words of the book she was trying to read, not only for the incessant movement but for the distracting brunette. With a sigh, she gave up.

“Mary… I know you aren’t asleep. Should I fetch a sleeping tea for you?”

The teacher groaned. So much for pretending, she thought. She raised her head, knowing she would look as tired as she felt no matter how much the nervous -and excited- energy was running freely through her body.

“No... It’s just a bit too cold in here.” She opted for a half-truth. Because yeah, sure, it was colder than any other room she’d been into the entire house, but it wasn’t unpleasant. It was quite inviting to dive further under the duvet as a cocoon to sleep.

“Ah, I lowered the temperature since it would be the two of us sharing a bed. All that thing about shared body heat. It should be better if I get under the covers. But I can crank it up.”

“It’s okay. I suppose you are right.”

Another turn and Zelda slid under the covers. Sure, the sheets were cold, but there was a warmth sweeping from the other side of the bed. The redhead struggled not to bring the teacher close and just sink her head into her neck.

“Come close, Mary. Let me help you sleep, as I used to with Sabrina. Purely innocent, you’ll see. Just slide over here and lay in your stomach.”

The brunette doubted, but chewing her lower lip, she raised her blue orbs to the damn puppy eyes of the Directrix. She slid closer, closing her eyes in embarrassment. The redhead lowered herself on the bed and rubbed her hands together, hoping they wouldn’t be too cold. Then, there was a squeal as she raised the back of the pajama tops slightly and a soft moan as her hand encountered her skin. Up and down, Zelda’s short nails grazed her back, and the witch hummed a soft lullaby that had the mortal visiting Morpheus realm in no time.

The sun was barely rising when Zelda woke up with a start. She felt the heavy limbs pressing one across her stomach and the other one across her hip, and the warm body pressed behind her back. Her eyes widened and her breath quickened, prey of a memory of the last time she had woke up like that. With Faustus tangled all over her uncooperating body. Marie… Baron Samedi had always slept on her, his… they? Stomach and away from her.

She moved then, one leg and one arm slowly, and the weight above her felt not as heavy as she remembered. Her mind finally woke up enough to remind her that there was a being on her bed the previous night and it wasn’t him. Although, her heart told her Mary Wardwell was far more dangerous than Faustus, for there were feelings involved. Feelings she hadn’t felt brewing with someone new for centuries. 

The redhead waited to see if she hadn’t woken up the mortal in her scare. When she noticed her breath was still evened out against her neck, she allowed herself to breathe. She took the hand that was splayed open over her stomach and tangled it with hers before she brought them to her heart. Not before checking the watch and noticing it was still far too early to start their day.

The next time she woke up was to the pull of the freckled hand as Mary tried to untangle herself without waking her.

“Good morning,” she let out throatily and the gasp coming from the teacher told her she had hoped not to wake her.

“G-good morning,” Mary said in an equally sleep-riddled tone.

Zelda avoided stretching, enjoying a tad too much being trapped in Mary’s embrace. “I hope you’ve slept comfortably?”

It was a stretch to ask the poor mortal that as her hand was still trapped in her grasp and her leg was still curled on top of her currently naked hip.

“Y-yes... I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable…” she let out, lowering her leg. Immediately, Zelda missed its warmth, for she had somehow ended up mostly uncovered throughout the night. Behind her, Mary gulped at the white expanse of skin now available to her eyes and she considered just how soft it would feel under her hand.

The redhead freed her hand then, and it was her time to bite her lip and hold her breath, for Mary’s hand completed the way from just above her heart, across her breast, and slowly over her waist. A soft moan escaped her even if she tried not to, afraid she would scare the woman behind her.

“I’m sorry.”

Mary apologized, not quite knowing why, but the tip of her fingers twitched after having grazed her so intimately like that. Zelda rolled to her stomach, before turning to the side, trying to keep her goods covered. Not wanting to flash the woman when she was already apologizing for taking her hand away and grazing her.

“Oh, there’s nothing to be sorry about, Mary. It’s just my body answering to your touch.”

Zelda smiled, noticing the color that tinted the mortal’s cheek. Yet, as her dilated orbs found the blue ones, she noticed the hunger shining in them. “I…”

“Yes?”

“May I touch you? It’s just… It’s silly… I’ve never touched a woman before…” she felt the need to explain herself as the green gaze never left her eyes. Zelda stretched, accommodating herself better on her side.

“Go on.”

A freckled hand was raised. It was shaking as it fell over the exposed hip. Tenderly, Mary slid it upwards frowning as it continued traveling upwards finding nothing. “Where’s?” Zelda chuckled, lowering her own hand to bring down the thin strap that kept her underwear in place, her eyes twinkling in merriment. “Oh.”

She remained still as the nervous fingers traced the way above the strap and pushed the dark fabric of Zelda’s nightgown, bunching it further. The redhead’s breath caught as she traced her rib.

“Allow me,” she said, unable to stay still any longer and quickly divested herself from the nightgown, before settling in the same position she was before.

Mary’s eyes were still on hers, and her hand had found the same rib before it slid upwards, following the bumpy path of her ribs. Her eyes diverted to the offered skin for a split second before she took a deep breath.

Zelda didn’t prod nor moved, letting her do whatever she wanted as she kept as still as she could, taking all self-control she had to keep herself from just pinning the woman to the bed and devour her.

White teeth appeared over thin lips as Mary considered the idea of touching the perky mounds she had seen before. She looked down, observing the controlled way the chest was raising and lowering with every breath Zelda took. Her curiosity won over her embarrassment, and her hand reached for a breast and softly weighted it on her hand. The redhead let out a moan, her entire body responding to that barely-there touch.

“I want to…” the teacher said before she moved. Prey of utter pleasure, Zelda groaned as the brunette’s mouth touched the sensitive skin of her breast.

“Ma- Mary…” she whimpered, trying to get the teacher’s attention. It worked, the woman blushed as she moved away from her body as if it had burned her. A ragged breath escaped Zelda’s torso. “Hecate! Mary… you do not know what you are doing to me.”

“I am?”

The innocence in her tone made Zelda sigh. “I could show you, but I’m afraid it might scare you, and Mary… I’m desperately wanting to eat you up.”

“Oh.”

“Yes, oh. Indeed.” Zelda almost purred. Unable to hold herself any longer, she threw her leg above Mary, her body halfway across the mortal. Her hand finding a path underneath Mary’s pajama blouse. “Would you let me?”

The tips of her fingers pressing slightly on the puckered flesh, and the mortal’s chest was pushed forth towards her hand. Zelda hid her face in the crook of her neck, relishing the way she reacted to her touch. There was a slight nod of agreement before the ‘yes’ the witch hoped for followed. Her hand left a trail of fire as it ghosted down to the hem of her pants and underneath them.

“Heavens, you are so ready for me,” Zelda whispered in her ear. Another blush, this time of embarrassment as Mary stilled the witch’s hand and pulled it away from her. The High Priestess chastised herself.

“Mary… look at me. Please? Darling, there’s no reason to be ashamed of being aroused. Do you think I am ashamed?”

The teacher shook her head. “No, but I’m… I can’t even say that stupid word… and I can’t believe you would be… By me? I’m …”

“But I am, Mary. I’m not lying and I could show you I am not.” Zelda offered as a last resource. She didn’t really want the teacher’s hand on her core when there wouldn’t be a release for her, nor time for her to learn how to take her beyond the lines of pleasure. The need of having Mary touching her also pooled down in her core.

“W-would you show me?”

The witch raised her head to watch the brunette and chuckled at the curiosity she found etched in the teacher’s eyes.

“You are going to be the death of me, Mary Wardwell,” she said, grabbing the hand that wasn’t trapped between their bodies. She kissed the palm, before driving it straight to her core. Mary’s eyes widened, and she blushed, slowly bringing her hand away from Zelda.

“Now, might I continue? I believe I asked for a meal, and the owner of it agreed with my plans.” She said placing a kiss on Mary’s cheek. The mortal placed a strand of fiery hair behind her ear, as she thought her next words.

“Are you sure, Zee? I mean… I… You don’t need to do it if you don’t want to.” She said, biting her lower lip. The witch’s heart warmed up at this. How could this woman be so endearing? And thoughtful? Especially when she was lying there being so damn vulnerable.

“Sure? Mary. Anything you give me, remember? And I won’t be mad if you don’t want to. It’s your body… It’s your choice…”

“No shame on being… a…” she took a deep breath as she fought with herself to let out that word. “Aroused, right?’

“None whatsoever.”

The redhead agreed, placing another soft kiss on her cheek. Her eyes still hungrily gazing at her. Mary took a deep breath, noticing how she was the one causing this. How she aroused the witch despite all her fears, and how Zelda wanted to worship her, if only she allowed it.

“Zee…” She let out in a trembling voice that betrayed her own need.

“Yes?”

“Please… Do it…”

In a swift motion, Zelda had her pinned to the bed before lowering herself, pushing down her pants enough that she could fit between her legs.

“Mary, just try to be quiet. There are people still sleeping around,” she warned, before diving into her core. Not stopping until trembling legs trapped her, and she heard a muffled cry of her name.

Notes:

God, anyone else has an issue with Miranda Otto saying I'll eat you back? Coz I just figured I do. xD

Chapter 49

Notes:

Not too fond of parts of this one.
You tell me if it works and I'll try to bring the next one quickly....
#itsnotablackmail

Chapter Text

A kiss on her hipbone, followed by Zelda’s hand tugging the pillow she had to throw on her face to keep herself quiet -which was by far one of the hardest things she had ever attempted- was the ending of the most wonderful way of starting her day. Mary bit her lip as she encountered the heated skin of the witch, enveloping her again as moist lips left a quick kiss on her cheek.

The redhead had trailed several kisses on her way upwards, cleaning herself a bit before she tugged the pillow away from her beloved’s face and snuggled the warm body close to hers.

“I was joking about keeping it quiet. Nothing that happens in this room it’s heard outside.”

“You could’ve let me know that before, you know?” 

Mary giggled, jokingly punching her. Zelda smiled tenderly at the way Mary’s eyes were fighting to keep open. She felt pride blossoming on her from being able to do that to her, and unable to stop herself, she kissed the sharp cheek.

“Sleep longer, darling. I’ll get a shower and start on breakfast. I’ll set the alarm with enough time for you to get ready.”

The brunette winced at the idea of moving or the witch leaving her side. She couldn’t fathom the idea of leaving the cocoon of Zelda’s arms. At this point she could barely move, it was a school day and she could only find a flaw in Zee’s logic.

“What about, hmm… retribution? What about you, Zee?” the teacher asked lazily, hiding her blushing face in her neck. She wanted to be able to give to the witch even a small fraction of what she had received, even if she wasn’t sure how.

Oh, Hecate! Zelda wanted to take up on her offer, but she knew herself (at least, her needs and desires which included her untamable lust) enough to know that if it happened, they most likely wouldn’t be leaving the bedroom in time for school or dinner even.

“Don’t dwell on it, dearest. It will happen with time.” She said, stroking brunette tresses lovingly until Mary’s breathing evened out again. The redhead placed a kiss on her forehead before getting to the bathroom to, well, deal with her own mess before starting her day.

Centuries of experience exploring oneself did wonder to one’s ability to walk oneself through the path to oblivion. It didn’t take her long to get her legs failing her and her core clenching, her head falling against the cold tiles of her shower as Mary’s name left her parted lips. No, it was quick and messy and would have to do… for now.

After showering, she left the bathroom, opting for magically drying her hair over the noise of the hair drier. Then covering herself with a bathrobe, padded to her closet, not without one lingering look to the sleeping form of the teacher. When entering the closet, she almost tripped with Mary’s suitcase and bit her lip, doubting for a second if she should just do it. If she should just fit the teacher’s clothes next to hers so Mary would have one less thing to stress over.

“Well, I did always hate unpacking,” Zelda huffed.

With a quick spell, the suitcase opened, and every piece inside it moved to hang neatly pressed on the space she’d made. As Mary things moved to their new home -for a while-, she chose her outfit and dressed. She left the room soon, not after re-setting the alarm to give the teacher some added minutes of sleep.

Coffee was the simple part, she thought when she reached the kitchen and started the machine. Then she rummaged to find something for breakfast. Zelda rolled her eyes, as she noted there wasn’t anything that didn’t require cooking. She found one of Hilda’s aprons and donning it; she poured a mug of coffee to sip as she worked on the task ahead.

When Mary woke up again, it was to the shrilling noise of Zelda’s alarm. It pierced her head and not even that could erase the stupid little grin that appeared on her face. Who could lose a smile when they had the delicious morning she had? She sat on the bed, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, and giggled as she noticed her clothes were still not only askew but halfway down her legs.

A frown followed then when she searched for her luggage but couldn’t place it as she scanned the room from her position. Her eyes fell on the door she knew led to Zelda’s closet and wondered if the redhead had taken it there. She knew the directrix was organized to a tee and it would make sense if she did.

As she walked to the closet, it hit her then that she would have to live for a while, rummaging through the void inside the suitcase, and grimaced at the thought. It was quite the surprise when she didn’t find her old suitcase there, and even more when she saw all her clothes neatly hanging in there, - and color-coded? - right next to Zelda’s. Where the redhead’s clothes started from transparent pale chartreuse, -she never saw the Directrix wearing- to the dark heavy fabrics. And hers started right there, next to the last of Zelda’s coats, from the few black pieces she owned going quickly down the scale with the meager variety of her clothes.

Would she one day find it in herself, the gall to wear some of the more daring outfits Zelda Spellman wore so casually? As if her life was a runway every day? She chuckled at her silliness and quickly picked up something that was part of her comfort zone -a deep brown and green tartan skirt, black tights, a white blouse, and a black sweater.- Before noticing, she had no clue where her undergarments had ended. She found a spot on the wall that was a line of drawers and gulped.

Of course, she opened one only to find not only that it was color-coded but the sheer amount of transparency, lace, and well… things she couldn’t paint herself wearing that Zelda had no issues parading in. She quickly checked the drawers, blushing deeply not only for what she was seeing -and picturing the redhead in.- But mostly because she thought she might be invading her intimacy. She shook her head. Wasn’t that what Zelda had done anyway when arranging her clothes in her closet?

“Aha!” she said, shaking that thought away as she opened the one drawer containing the only cotton and picking up a pair, she rushed to the bathroom. She smiled gratefully when she noticed everything she could need was inside the room and finally got ready for her day as quickly as she could.

Once she was ready, she walked down towards the kitchen, feeling both utterly happy and completely embarrassed. She thought everyone in the household would know what they had been up to earlier that morning just by the smile she carried.

The sweet smell of pancakes wafted from the kitchen onto the stairs, and her mouth watered. The sight of Zelda Spellman, in a cute frilly pink apron over her outfit, did things to her stomach that had her almost waltzing to the redhead. Unabashedly, she placed a kiss on her cheek, not even noticing the three pairs of eyes that looked at them startled.

“Good morning,” she added promptly when she turned around to find them, repeating her move on the other three witches present. Judas was the only one who had not only frowned but loudly complained about the ‘yucky kiss’.

“Someone is happy today,” Sabrina singsonged, hiding her smirk behind the rim of her mug.

“Someone is terribly late today,” Zelda added in a sterner tone, even if her cheeks were slightly pink. To cover her flush, she turned around, removing the apron from her form before placing a freshly cooked plate of pancakes in front of the teacher. “Eat.”

“What about you?” Mary asked as she noticed the witch’s spot was devoid of any food. Instead, the redhead had sat elegantly on her seat, crossing her legs and lowering her arm behind the teacher’s chair, before lighting up a cigarette.

“Aunt Zee has been up for ages now; she was eating when I came down after waking them,” Sabrina said as Zelda took a deep drag, waving her hand in the air so the smoke wouldn’t go towards the eating people.

“What are you doing up so early, Sabrina?” Mary asked then, trying to beat the next question coming from the inquisitive teen. Beside her, Zelda huffed.

“Diana was an early riser, and annoyingly, of all the lovely traits of her mother, Sabrina had to inherit the most obnoxious of them all,” the redhead said as a kind smile spread on her face.

After Sabrina’s rebirth, and the guilt that piled up on Zelda for everything she had done (She had cut her and allowed her to bleed to death for Hecate’s sake!) the redhead had finally sat with her and they talked. About rebelling from their adults, about the pain they caused each other and as they were, the eldest Aunt had explained the little she knew about Sabrina’s mother.

She had tried her best to explain to her niece that she didn’t dislike Diana per se, she simply couldn’t like her. The High Priestess had told Sabrina how one day she had woken up and everything she felt wasn’t there anymore, and how for years she thought it was part of her punishment for being more powerful than her dad. They had mended their fences nicely, and now they got along far better. Almost as good as they did when Sabrina was a child.

“Ambrose confessed that for him, baby me years were the worst part of his punishment. For I would cry early in the mornings or wake up and rush to wake them all up as I got older.”

“May I ask why you went to the mortal school?”

“We never thought about sending her. Yet, being only a half-witch no matter who her father was, she couldn’t enter the academy. The council didn’t approve, and they forced us to home-school her. Whenever we went to town with Sabrina in tow, she would get so excited to see other children. One day when I thought she was with Hilda and my sister thought she was with me. We found her at the park, speaking with little Susie Putnam. Her father came by the mortuary, and he convinced Hilda of taking Sabrina to school.”

“Aunt Zee opposed to it because there was nothing there for me to learn that I would need, as a witch at least. But I suppose it taught us all about far more than we forethought. Now, enough about me, you guys are going to be late.”

The Blackwood’s groaned, but still rushed to get their things. Mary, who had rushed from the High School the previous day, had also left behind everything she needed between her classroom and her office, remained behind to finish her breakfast.

“Auntie? Are you sure you don’t want me coming too? I can show you where everything is.”

Zelda stood up, fixing her blood-red tailcoat and stretching her neck. Her rose gold curls fell on top of the black embroidery of the shawl lapel. Mary couldn’t help but trail her eyes on the figure of the witch. Underneath the coat, the redhead wore a white tulle turtleneck and a black cravat, tailored black pants, and high heel booties complemented the outfit perfectly.

“No, Sabrina. One of us will bring enough attention to her. Besides, what people would think if they see timid Ms. Wardwell escorted by two ladies at the same time? Are you ready, Mary?”

“Huh?” Mary blinked and blushed, having found her all but eating her with her eyes once again. But who could’ve blamed her? The brunette pondered. The witch looked heavenly always. She licked her lips, and as if to prove her previous thoughts, her mind provided her with the image of Zelda Spellman barely covered by plum-colored lace.

“Are you sure you are okay, Ms. Wardwell?” Sabrina frowned, noticing the deep blush that had settled on her former teacher.

“Oh, yes. I was… thinking. I’m sorry, I zoned out.” She gave them a half-sorry smile that still couldn’t cover the happy one that lingered on her face.

The Blackwood twins’ timing was spotless, as they saved her from battling with herself further as she tried not to look stupid in front of Zelda and her niece, by rushing downstairs and out to the car in no time.

“Have a nice day!” Sabrina waved from the front door as they walked down the stairs and into the car.

The kids made themselves comfortable on the back seat, Zelda was driving what left Mary with nothing else to do. She felt nervous and fidgeted with her fingers. The redhead noticed it and not caring about the twins or what they might think; she grabbed the teacher’s hand on her own, caressing the back of it with her thumb. She kept herself from talking until they stopped in front of the twins’ school.

“I’m sure Sabrina and Prudence gave you instructions on what to do and what not if the mortal approaches.” Zelda’s voice cut through the silence. The twins shared a glance and nodded. “Let’s hear it.”

“We are not supposed to face the mortal alone. If we see him, we should remain in the crowd or head for Cerberus’s. We shouldn’t try to teleport anywhere, and no magic is allowed no matter how we think it will go unnoticed.” They said at once.

“Good, off you go then.” Zelda said, and Mary threw a “Have a nice day!” over her shoulder as they rushed outside. Then she turned to the redhead, a frown on her face.

“Why cannot I do the same?”

The High Priestess shook her head and brought Mary’s hand to her lips for a kiss. Before completing the several blocks separating them from Baxter High.

“I don’t mean this as an insult, but you are a mortal and an aged one at that. They are children even for your age standards, they are quick, and they can scurry away in a way none of us could anymore.”

Mary hummed, chewing her inner cheeks as she considered the redhead’s words. Zelda parked, turning on the seat to face her, and her hand found the warm neck caressing with her thumb the line of her jaw.

“Please tell me I didn’t offend you, Mary. That’s the last thing I wanted.”

“Why would I be offended, Zee? You just called me old.” She pouted, and Zelda whimpered, her brain telling her she was downright stupid not only for offending her Mary but for having promised not to kiss her. Then, the brunette leaned into her touch, reaching for the hand on her face and squeezing it. “Really, I’m not offended. It’s the truth, no matter how painful it can be. I’m not a young thing anymore.”

“That depends on who you ask,” the witch winked at her before moving away. “Shall we?”

“Shall we… what?”

“Go inside?”

“Wh-what? Why?” Mary’s eyes widened at the idea of Zelda walking beside her looking like that. She knew all the eyes would be on the Directrix and her movie star-like presence. The odd feeling of jealousy embraced her body tight. Zelda chuckled.

“Don’t worry, Mary. I won’t find myself another mortal in the short time we need to get to your office. I need to know where you spend your days, that'd be your classroom, teacher's room, and wherever else you spend some time into. Besides your office, to that, we both can agree I know the way. It's just so I can come up with a plan to appear here, or send someone to get you out of here in case there’s a need.”

As Mary sat back in her seat, utterly dumbfounded by this news, asking herself how she hadn’t thought that Zelda’s offer included this. The witch had gotten out of the car, walked around it, and opened the door for Mary.

“Lead the way,” she said, after helping her out of the car and then gingerly letting her hand go.

Zelda strolled inside Baxter High corridors as she walked everywhere as if she owned the place and it was a privilege for everyone else to be allowed to see her. And Mary… she felt all the staring happening around them, burning holes in her, forcing her eyes to the floor.

“What’s wrong?” Zelda asked, shaking her head, for that seemed to be the only question she kept asking the brunette, even when she knew the answer.

For a town like Greendale, they were wrong. It was obvious in the way the mortals were ogling at them, and Zelda couldn’t give a rat's ass about it. However, her sweet Mary was still caught in her denial of her own beauty. In the limbo between trying to pretend to be like everyone else while knowing she wasn’t and just don’t give a hoot about anyone else’s thoughts.

“Is like everyone is just turning around to look at you. I knew you would have that effect, but…” She raised her eyes enough to see the damned witch smirking. “Did you wear this on purpose?”

“Yes,” Zelda answered as they stopped in front of a door.

“What?! Why?!” Mary questioned as she opened the door to her office and allowed the witch to go inside first was this for manners or to hide her from the prying eyes, she wasn’t sure.

Zelda rapidly scanned the room, noticing that like her own office, Mary had hers filled with books to the brim. She remembered the desk where she had plastered her picture months ago, with the files still sitting in neat stacks on one side. Her eyes falling on those things she hadn't taken the time to notice the first time around, like the porcelain dolls -a bit too spooky,- sitting eerily on the windowsill as if they would come to life at any moment. For a second, her mind wandered to Lilith as she tried to picture her inside this same office, and smiled thinking that for sure the Ruler of the Underworld would have kept those freaky dolls in there, loved them there surely.

The redhead shook her head as Mary’s shoes tapped the floor nervously and sighed. She turned around to face her, easily noticing the uncomfortable stance of the brunette. She came close to her and tugged her into her arms. It was only when she felt the lithe body relax in her arms that she let go.

“Because Mary… I’ve learned a long while ago that mortals tend to gossip about new things until the novelty wears off. Unless it’s nothing but a rumor, and those can keep going for years until they finally confirm or deny it. So, show them the novelty, and then, in a few days, something else will appear that will make them forget all about this.”

Mary’s eyes widened. Fear falling on her like a ton of bricks. Fear of being judged, of students mocking her for having Zelda walking her to her office. Panic about what everyone would think if only they knew….

“This is your great idea?! Is this why you offered to be the one taking care of me?! To put me on display and hope mortals forget about it in no time?!”

She paced, unable to stand still as she considered everything that could happen. Not quite knowing that thanks to Lilith’s stay in her body, no student would dare to even joke about her. The confirmed rumors about how harsh she had been with them, too fresh on their young minds. And it would mortify her, had she known just how many of them had fantasized with her body thanks to Lilith's more daring nature.

“What? No, not at all, Mary... I’m here to learn where you work, so I can assess the best ways to come here and fetch you away if I must. And you know damn well petty gossiping is not why I offered.” She whispered, stopping the teacher and embracing her from behind. Mary turned around in her arms, her blue eyes searching for the emerald ones.

“But you said you didn’t want me experiencing last Saturday all over again.” A tear fell from her eye in time with her whisper. Zelda smiled tenderly.

“I also remember saying it was inevitable, Mary.”

Her hand raised to clean the tear with the pad of her thumb while she wished she could tangle it on her hair. But she was sure that Mary walking out of there with her hair looking disheveled would only raise more comments.

“Look, I’ll get it… I’m an old hag who has lived a lot and has no shame whatsoever left anymore, and you are… you. You are shy and are too used to hide yourself to avoid all the issues you can because that was the less scary way to face your life. We couldn’t be more different in our approaches. However, you can trust me and my life experience on this, Mary… I’m sure you noticed they were already gossiping, wondering what is going on? Who is she? Why is she here? Why is she with Ms. Wardwell? Didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“If I didn’t come dressed like this, they still would’ve noticed me. Not as many as today; then, they would’ve talked and tomorrow, some more would’ve kept an eye on you. They will find out that I walk you in every day and pick you up every afternoon. The next thing that would’ve happened is that they would’ve started commenting as you walk by, little mumbled words you know you heard but no one will take responsibility on. And it’s something that can drive anyone absolutely insane.”

“You don’t have to walk me to my office, you know?” She said, lowering her head on Zelda’s neck.

“Oh, but I do. Don’t fight it, Mary… I’m going to do what it takes to keep you safe. ” The teacher shook her head, but the witch simply tightened her embrace.

“You don’t understand, Zelda…”

“I do. For I’ve been there, Mary. I know how the unwelcomeness tightens your stomach every time you are about to enter any room or even stroll down the corridors. How the knowledge that this time, your mind is right, and they are speaking about you weighs you down, and I know what it feels like to be caged in places you thought safe for a man. The latter one is the one that truly fuels me to be here.”

“You cannot be stuck with me all day, Zee. I don't want you to have to place your responsibilities aside. I understand you are needed at the academy.”

“Yes, I'm aware of my limitations, darling. That’s why I’ll come with you every day, and I’ll pick you every day. Now, during school hours, please try to be in a crowd, or have Mrs. Meeks coming along so he cannot reach you alone.”

“I’ll try.” She whispered, as Zelda’s words moved her and her hand caressed her cheek tenderly.

“I’m sorry I cannot stop them from insulting you with silly names, but I can at least try to make them bold enough to question what’s going on at once, so they won’t slowly break you. Name-calls are just words, that are wrong only because they use them to make you feel less of a person, and you are far stronger than they realize.”

“I don’t think I am. Zee, I don’t know if I can do this.”

“You don’t have to do it alone, Mary. At least, not if you’ll still want me after creating all this chaos in your life. I’ll walk with you as much as I can. I’ll be there waiting for you when I cannot, and I’ll be there to hold you whenever you need me. It’s not much, Mary… but myself it’s all I can offer you.”

Mary’s eyes filled with tears and she leaned closer thinking that those words surely deserved a kiss, but then the bells rang signaling the start of the first period. She panicked, noticing she still hadn’t picked up her lessons and still had to rush through the corridors to her class.

“Stupid bells!” She groaned.

“Hurry, Ms. Wardwell. Or they will have more than a few ideas as to what took you so long.” Zelda chuckled, pressing her lips on her cheek and then cleaning the cherry mark from similar tinted skin before finally releasing her.

“Can’t you stop time or something?” Mary wondered, making the witch chuckle as she rushed through her office, rummaging thru her drawers until she found what she needed. It was Mary who linked their hands as she rushed them down the hallways to her class. Zelda’s heels clattering rhythmically on the floor.

They stopped in front of her classroom door, and the witch took notice of where she was. Mary opened the door to allow her a glance inside so she could learn the layout. “I’ll be with you in a minute,” she said to her class as she turned towards the redhead. “I guess I’ll see you after school, Zee?” she asked, biting her lip timidly. Her eyes shining with unbridled affection as green ones fell on her.

“Unless you need me earlier. Wait for me in your office, Mary. Then you can show me the rest of the school.”

Mary nodded, and her breath caught when Zelda left another kiss on her cheek and cleared her skin tenderly once more. She nodded towards the side, where students were all but piling on top of each other to see the exchange.

“Good luck, darling,” Zelda winked before she strutted down the hallways. The teacher took a deep breath as she willed some time to collect herself and see if there were at least a couple of neurons alive after that exchange.

She shook her head and entered her classroom. Her heart was still wildly beating on her chest and her mind was going a second per mile. All eyes fell on her and she waited for the names they would call her. Thanking her God and Zelda’s Goddess that this was her more quiet class, and they asked no further questions about her private life.

“Ms. Wardwell?” One girl called, getting her attention once the class was dismissed.

“Yes, Vanessa?” She winced, her hand going straight for her necklace.

“I don’t mean to intrude in your private life… But if what we saw is what I think we saw… then… I’m very happy about you, and I don’t mean to be rude, but it was about time that you... hm... came out, I guess? ‘Coz, I don’t know if you ever were in… I… hmm… Your partner is really beautiful, and she seems to care a lot about you. I’m assuming because I’ve seen her in your church every fortnight and then those days you went to Cerberus after. You look very cute together... and I... guess I’m thanking you... having some role models in town is more than I expected. Oh, God... if I’m wrong... please don’t tell anyone, Ms. Wardwell...”

Unable to form any words after that, Mary just watched the girl skid away from her to her next class.

Chapter 50

Notes:

I promise you guys, that I used to have the skill to write shorter pieces.... I don't know where that has gone, though.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Zelda was early. If it was from an apprehension of letting Mary wander alone through the corridors of Baxter High with that man trying to force himself on her brunette’s life; or if it was simply because she couldn’t concentrate longer just for this silly need of wanting to see her and make sure she was all right. She wasn’t sure.

The school was still in session; she knew as much. The High Priestess of Hecate strolled down the corridors and decided on waiting at the teacher’s office, not wanting to incommode her further while giving a class, for she knew how unforgiving some teenagers could be. Zelda sighed, the weight of being responsible for Mary’s feelings of inadequacy settling over her shoulders as she thought how the teacher wouldn’t experience at all having people calling her “offending” things had she not inserted herself in her life.

She reached Mary’s office and entered it. The redhead smiled as she perused through the bookshelves, finding the eclectic collection of books that could rival the one Mary kept at home. The major difference being the lack of occult books there. She considered for a second if Greendale would be more shocked about Mary’s ‘coming out’ or by learning the sweet teacher had always delighted on reading the more dangerous occult.

It wouldn’t be much longer until the end of classes, she figured as her eyes fell on the clock on the wall. She sighed as she sat on Mary’s high-backed chair and rolled on it gleefully, stopping as her eyes fixated on the eerie dolls. She would have to ask the teacher about them, she thought as the bells that signaled the end of school went off as a freeing song for the imprisoned students. Or that was how she had heard some teen describe it a long while ago.

The rambunctious sounds of lively teenagers rang loud even in the secluded space of the brunette’s office. Zelda could hear the distinct chattering of loud voices as they shouted to each other, and the thundering sounds of running young people eager to escape the monotony of their days.

Even if it was something unknown to many, the High Priestess could relate with those teens. She had hated parts of schooling too. Those days she spent trapped inside the botanical room while they awarded Edward with the most interesting subjects only, for he had a Y in his gene pool.

The corridor grew quieter, the eager ones already filling the view she had from the outside of school. Groups of teens mixing in a colorful mix of their jackets, hats, and backpacks against the autumn colors of Greendale. Her ears perked up, hoping to hear Mary’s heels approaching. But even when she hadn’t heard her approach, the door was opened.

She was about to turn to greet her to her own office when she noticed Mary’s perfume was lacking, and along with it also her entire tranquil energy. Instead, the room filled with a nervous energy that made the hairs on the nape stand.

“Here you are, Mary! I’ve been trying to talk to you the entire day! Sweetness, why are you hiding from me?” 

Nick Moore’s voice was sickly saccharine, and she fought back the bile that rose when this man brought Marie’s face to her mind. The way the Haitian voodooist was always extremely sweet and was always hovering around her trying to make Zelda feel better, to having her open to her, confiding in her fears and truths. When all she was doing was playing with her. The pain it brought settled in the pit of her stomach as she clenched her jaw.

A step from the man brought her back from that slight opening on the fortified box in which she kept Marie’s betrayal. The utterly devastating pain of not only being used but fooled by yet another male who thought she was lesser enough lead Baron Samedi to seduce her without having the guts to tell her who he was. Sure, she hadn’t loved Marie, but she had to explain to her entire family how the woman they had seen in their home being all-loving to her suddenly became a male deity from another pantheon of Gods. The shame of telling them he had fooled her for months was never fully erased.

“Mary, baby? I heard the rumors about you having a partner, but I know that cannot be true. For I’ve been watching you and you were never with a man.”

Zelda turned around then, facing the man with a crooked head and a raised eyebrow. Her nails almost carving to the hand rests of the chair. A mix of the desire to get rid of him for stalking her Mary and making her feel uncomfortable in the one place she had enjoyed in her entire life. And the strength she needed to keep herself at bay for not doing just that.

“I’m sorry to disappoint, Nick. But our dear Ms. Wardwell isn’t here yet, and I’m certain that despite the familiarity you dared to call her just now, she hasn’t allowed you to call her other than that.”

Her green eyes glinted with her murderous glare and the man had flinched at being under such a stern gaze. He wondered for a second what this hot-looking woman did for a living to be able to gather so much hate in one glance.

The door opened then, following by the chattering voice of Mrs. Meeks, who had looked inside Mary’s office and smiled. “Mr. Moore. Ms. Spellman.”

“Mrs. Meeks,” Zelda said with a slight nod of her head, acknowledging the blonde woman.

The Directrix knew by Mary’s own confession that the woman had been the closest thing the mortal had to a best friend. They used to meet at least once a week for tea, and Lilith had robbed her of that too, most likely unknowingly, when she took over Mary’s role. She knew the teacher had been trying to mend fences, but it was as if they’d cut the cords, forcing them to start all over again.

“Well, Mary, it seems you have not only enough company now, but a good one too. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Cheryl.”

Mary smiled at her, her eyes falling on Zelda and a bigger smile spreading on her lips. Zelda’s knowing glance told her she had noticed how she was finally back at a name-basis with her former friend. Then she realized Cheryl had also said…

“Mary… Babe, here you are! I was saying to …”

“Ms. Spellman.” Both women let out at once as he eyed Zelda.

“Your friend here that we know each other and that I’ve been trying to reach you the entire day. But you always seemed to be busy. You must know she didn’t even get to the teacher’s room today.”

He approached Mary, who took a step back. Zelda stood up then, ready to intervene or burn him to dust if he only dared to touch a single hair of her Mary. Witch hunters be damned over the safety of her woman. She could fight them all if needed, especially if they were coming for her darling Mary.

The step backward placed Mary near the door. She opened it wider and raised her eyebrow defiantly. “Mr. Moore, I’ll ask you to leave now. Ms. Spellman and I have things to do that are far more important than your worry about my wellbeing when you can see I’m perfectly all right.”

Truly, Mary didn’t know for sure where had she gotten the strength to stand up like that for herself. Perhaps it was the newly gained confidence that came from a teen and her astonishing confession that Mary being out and exposing her truest self to the community was not only not damning but a model for someone out there that was trying to cope with the same struggles she had faced -or was facing-.

“Oh, if you are in a hurry, babe. I’ll better let you go, sweetness. Have a nice day with your friend, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He walked to her, and for a petrifying second, she thought he might try to kiss her. But he only grabbed her free hand and gave it a squeeze that sent a wave of disgust all over her body. She closed the door the moment he was out and rushed to Zelda’s waiting arms.

“Are you all right?”

Were the first words that came whispered from the redhead’s cherry lips as Mary hid her face on the curve of her neck seconds after her trembling figure collapsed against the strong safety of her witch. The concern on the Directrix words erasing any emotion caused by the smarmy man, replacing it with a sweet feeling of mattering to her.

“I can’t believe I defied him.”

“I’m glad you did,” she said, placing a kiss on the crown of her head while caressing her back. “Otherwise, I might have killed him. Have you spoken with Mrs. Meeks about this situation, Mary? For I was early today, but what would’ve happened if I wasn’t here and she’d dismissed herself all the same when spotting him?”

“I did. She’s not sure about what I think of him. As the Principal, she sees him as a white lamb who won’t harm a fly. But she also says she knows me or knew me, and that even when I wasn’t quite myself, I hadn’t ever lied to her. So, she will keep me company and won’t leave me alone if he’s near.”

“She said you had good company.” Zelda pointed, raising her eyebrow as Mary finally felt strong enough to untangle herself from her witch.

“Well, I believe she was talking about you, Zee. She mentioned you were quite nice with her at church, and she was happy for me when she noticed we were getting closer because she knew just how lonely I was.”

Mary walked around her office, lowering down the papers she was carrying and organizing a bit for the next day. She felt Zelda’s eyes following her and couldn’t stop herself from blushing. Her blue eyes looked up and found assertive greens and couldn’t hold a smile.

“You know, we were both so focused on the awful experience we had on Saturday, that we never realized there could be some good on it.”

“You mean, besides someone seeing you and thinking you are utterly adorable when you blush. Or how clear your eyes become when they are glinting with happiness? Perhaps, that your warmth can thaw even the hardest of the barriers so you can slip through the cracks you are tenderly opening?”

A deep shade of crimson covered Mary’s cheeks, as she wondered how had she become so lucky to have a woman like Zelda Spellman telling her tender things like these, even when she claimed not to have deep feelings for anyone other than the Spellman’s themselves. (And that one paramour she wouldn’t speak about).

“Don’t be ashamed, Mary. You are gorgeous. Sweet, caring… perhaps life was a bit too rough on you, but you didn’t roughen up for that. The armor you carry is so different from everyone else’s. Alas, I’m digressing. Do tell, what’s this epiphany you had all about?”

“A… a student, from the first period… She came to me after class and told me she was glad I was out. That she never thought she could find a role model in Greendale.”

“Were you ever in, though? Or was it your cage just yours? Because I know there was no one holding a gun at you telling you not to be who you were. Not after your parents passed away at least.”

“I suppose it was just me. That still is just me… I’m… struggling with it and you know this. But, I guess… each day will come easier, and one day there won’t be any lingering doubts. It will be just me… and hopefully, you’ll be around too, Zee?” She blushed at her question, biting her lower lip as she waited for an answer.

But Zelda Phiona Spellman was rendered wordless. Her heart racing in her chest as if she had just run a marathon and not at all as if a woman had just asked to be there for her in whatever capacity that was offered.

“Yes. I’ll be there unless you decide you don’t want me around anymore.”

“Amazing! I must warn you, though, Zee. I’m not quite ready to flaunt this, nor to define what the hell is this. There might be days when I’m not entirely sure I’ll want to do this at all.”

“Oh, dearest. That’s any type of relationship, believe me. I’ve been dealing with those for centuries. Relationships aren’t like we read in books or see in movies, not at all. For humans and witches are raw beings. Most of them have emotions that can drive them from the peak of happiness to the void of despair, and sometimes, even when they are cared for and accompanied, they feel lonely. It’s life and there’s no one out there that doesn’t carry baggage that must be dealt with.”

“I suppose you are right, my very ancient hag.” Mary giggled adorably, as Zelda rolled her eyes as the comment about her being old came full circle. Then her expression changed to a solemn one, and Mary couldn’t help to walk around the desk and sit on the chair next to the one Zelda took.

“There’s one thing I need you to promise me, Mary.”

It was barely above a whisper, as a pale hand linked with her freckled one, and the greenest shade took ownership of her glance. The teacher could only nod, too afraid that if she spoke, whatever spell that had befallen upon them might collapse, leaving them both confused and perhaps even bereft.

“I need you to promise that you will trust in me, no matter what. Because I can do as many horrible things as I can do wondrous ones. However, breaking your trust, lying to you… that’s something I’m not able to do. Will you?”

“That’s all you ask? After everything that you’ve done? After all that you’ve given me?”

Mary’s surprise etched on her expression as she assessed the witch in front of her. It seemed so little when there had been so much truth sprouting from cherry lips during the months they’ve come to share. Even hidden ones she knew no one else was privy to. Perchance it was for that reason, the amount of knowledge she had about the witch that weighed on the Directrix, and made her wonder if one day all of that would be forgotten. And in her silly humanity, she would doubt of her despite all the knowledge she had of the inner workings of the redhead.

“Yes. That’s the only thing I can request from you. Anything else is your decision, and I leave it completely in your hands. Whatever you want to do with us, whatever you don’t… the speed at which you want to walk this path… it’s yours to choose from. If you can promise me, you’ll trust me no matter what.”

“How could you even believe I wouldn’t?” Mary asked then.

“Because… life has a way to chase me down of whatever piece of happiness I grasp; throwing me away of it not only with a slight push but with a shove that can break me. If it comes from you, I’m not sure I’d be able to fight my own self. It’s a heavy burden, the one I’m requesting, for I’m not always communicative or forthcoming. But you ought to trust that I do it with the best of intentions in mind. If not with a hand-tied behind my back.”

She was thinking especially about how she wasn’t lying to Mary, but she wasn’t disclosing the truth about those months “she lost.” Or how, sometimes, when she saw her, her memory still provided her with the image of a crazy-eyed Mary with a gun on her hands, and the way she had rushed away from her bleeding self the day she had died.

“I promise, Zelda Spellman. That no matter what happens, I’ll trust you. But I must request for you to tell me the truth whenever we reach that impasse.”

“Always. You must only ask, and I’ll tell you everything I can. Sometimes it might take me a while, as you know. And sometimes, I will not able to disclose everything, not only for protecting my coven but for the enormous amount of shit I hide inside me.”

“Like what happened in your marriage…” Mary stated.

“Exactly.” She said leaning closer and caressing the brunette’s cheek with a chilly hand. “I want to be able to tell you all about me. Yet, it not only terrifies me that you figure out just how much of a mess I am and then you'll run away as far as you can. But, that most of it, I haven’t properly dealt with.”

“All right. I suppose we are in this together. You, me, and the awkward baggage each of us carry.”

“Until you say this is it, at least. Now, shall we go? The children should’ve already reached Cerberus and should be waiting for us to pick them up.”

“I’m ready,” Mary said, grabbing her purse and the few papers she needed to take home. She looked above her shoulder to the standing witch and smiled.

 “I’m glad we can be an us.”

Zelda’s heart skipped a beat at that, and when Mary offered her hand, she took it, feeling proud of the woman who was still struggling with herself but wanted her to walk along her path.

Neither of them could’ve expected that the promise that just was given would be tested barely hours later.

Notes:

Fifty chapters and no kiss must be some sort of slow-burn record, right?

Chapter 51

Notes:

I don't know... you tell me how bad this is...

Chapter Text

Cerberus Books received them with the warm embrace of the mouthwatering smell of freshly baked goods. A fond smile spread with ease on Zelda Spellman’s face as she quickly assessed what brought it forth.

It wasn’t such an arduous task. The smell had transported her far away through time to less bitter years where the world was to be discovered and they were all so carefree. A time where feelings were felt underneath her skin when she could sing happily, as she completed her less pleasant chores to make them feel better. When she could laugh and love in ways long forgotten. It felt like the last hug she received from her mother before her emotions had dulled.

“Oh, dears. There you are! The twins have been waiting for you for a while now. Zelds, I’ve made your favorite!”

Excitedly, Hilda whispered the last part, remembering they were supposed to be strangers and not centuries-old sisters. A slight frown marred the blonde sister’s face and a gaze that might as well be saying ‘a mortal, Zelda?’ along with a mocking giggle appeared in her sister’s eyes after she noticed the linked hands.

“Yes, we had a minor issue. I hope they behaved.” Mary answered, blushing as she noticed the glance the blonde witch had thrown not only to their hands but to Zelda. It was filled with mirth and she shuffled uncomfortably at whatever exchange the sisters were giving to each other. She was about to let the pale hand go when it closed tightly around her own. 

“They were lovely, as always. Will you like a coffee? Perhaps a piece of cake?” Hilda asked them. Noticing the still joined hands, and how much redder the brunette was, a bright smile plastered on the blonde’s face.

“That will be great, Hilda,” Zelda said as they reached the booth at the end where brother and sister were sitting closely. Two tall glasses of what must have been milkshakes sat empty on a side as the teens remained buried behind their books, already doing homework. Mary requested that they complete their mortal tasks first before they could add any magic to their days, and they usually sped to finish.

“What about you, lamb? Coffee or a milkshake?” 

“Good God! I’d go for a milkshake, but a decent coffee might be as well what my body needs at this point.”

Mary smiled as she slid into the booth and thought that if someone would’ve told her a year earlier than she would sit this close to a woman while watching her in awe as she sat in the tiny booth and still looked ethereal. Comfortably half-plastered against her and utterly out of place on this bizarre shop at once. She would’ve laughed so hard. Now, she couldn’t imagine anyone else she would like to be sharing all her time with.

She shook her head, noticing just how badly she had it for the first time. It was also a first that there was no guilt over feeling this caring thing for this witch who had searched for her hand the moment they were close together, placing them on top of her crossed legs 

“What?” Zelda asked. The way her hand moved to place a strand of hair behind her ear, the only sign that she was a bit uncomfortable at being glanced at like that by her. A show of the vulnerability she only allowed Mary to see.

It was the teacher’s turn to raise their hands to her lips. She placed a kiss on Zelda’s knuckles that meant more than she could word. Afraid that if she did, things would irremediably fail. 

“Nothing,” she said, but the silly smile on her face was back full force. Zelda hadn’t flinched at the open sign of affection, and Mary hadn’t worried about what others might think if they noticed it. Instead, she leaned in for a second, only to whisper. “You make me happy, Zelda Spellman” to her ear. Rendering the witch, not only wordless but utterly breathless, a faint pink covering her cheeks.

Hilda couldn’t stop her smile as she noticed the way they leaned into each other. Sure, she had been worried sick about Zelda diving headfirst into another relationship that had all the potential to break her further. After she had heard all the rumors around the academy. When Sabrina and Ambrose had talked to her and she too had softened her rough edges, inserting herself a bit more into the daily activities. And she had shared tea with Mary at the Directrix’s office as Zelda took back her late classes and she had changed the glasses she used to see Mary Wardwell.

Now, seeing them like that, she remembered the time she had arrived at the mortuary to find the teacher crying and how Zelda couldn’t keep a silly grin from appearing on her face. Her lips twitching happily, even when she tried to keep a neutral expression. They were both so smitten that it was cute to see, for they couldn’t be more different if they tried.

As she lowered the coffee, she also placed a note for Zelda to read. “Is this quite alright?” Hilda asked, tapping the note that said, ‘Did you see our possible witch hunter?’

“Yes, indeed. We are all right for now.” Zelda answered before Hilda excused herself to tend another table, relaxing now that she knew that if they had seen him, there was no harm done... for now.

Mary smiled when she saw the scrawled note and rested her head on Zelda’s shoulders, after taking a sip of the coffee. “She worries about you, you know? Possibly as much as you worry about her.”

There was just a simple hum coming from the redhead, but the way the Directrix squeezed her hand told her she had appreciated the words. Mary straightened as a soft moan left the back of Zelda’s throat and brought goosebumps in her skin. The teacher blushed, wondering if she would ever be capable of eliciting that wondrous sound of the redhead.

“What?” Zelda asked again, once more feeling too self-conscious in front of the teacher. But a pink shade tinted the mortal right to the tip of her ears, and she found it so cute that forgot all about being observed. Instead, her own emerald pools fixated -slightly dilated- on the woman beside her.

“Nothing. I… I suppose even having seen you enjoying sweets before, I have never seen you this… pleased…”

“Ah. It’s an old family recipe, to be honest. It was my favorite, passed from mothers to daughters through the years. However, Hilda is the only one of us who can make it as my mother used to. I couldn’t for the life of me, make it taste right, so after decades, I simply stopped trying.”

Zelda shrugged in dismissal, It was eerie for her to confess she was bad at something. No matter how silly it could look to anyone else, it hurt her pride being unable to conquest something so simple as a cake should be. The redhead knew the thing missing was the love both her mother and Hilda so easily poured into baking it, while nothing was coming out from her, no emotion left to be poured into baking. It had frustrated her beyond words. So, Hilda had promised she would keep the recipe alive and would from time to time bake one for Zelda.

“I see. Well, I suppose one cannot be good at everything. Although, those pancakes this morning were delicious, just like everything else I’ve tried from your cooking.”

The redhead turned enough to look at her, squinting her eyes as she examined the brunette’s expression. She found no smirk or joking smile and had to grin at her. “Thank you, Mary. I still don’t know how is it you manage to find the right words.”

“Coming from you, Zee, that’s the most wonderful compliment. So, far you’ve been able to comfort me every time with your kind and wise words.”

They kept their voices barely whispers, that not even the twins in front of them could overhear their conversation. Until they had finished their cakes and finally were ready to leave.

Zelda drove them to the mortuary, and the twins rushed up winding stairs as they trailed behind them. They were already gone by the time they finally entered the foyer. It was quite surprising for the teacher that instead of simply transport them by linking their hands; the redhead had first pulled her in for a heartfelt embrace.

“We survived day one,” Zelda said, placing a kiss on her forehead before transporting both straight to her office.

It was right there where chaos found them hours later as the doors of her office burst open, almost breaking from their hinges as the fuming Blackwood twins barged inside.

“You lied to us, Mother Spellman,” Judas almost spat to the redhead as he entered the office with all the rage his little body would allow him, and being a Blackwood, that was a lot.

“My father is here, in this building!”

Zelda had raised her eyes from the documents she was perusing, her eyebrow-raising when the teen’s words hit her at full force.

“I’ve never lied to anyone in this room.”

Her voice was unwavering as her eyes traveled from Judas to Judith. Then to Sabrina and Prudence that joined them looking rattled. Finally, her green orbs landed on Mary. Who as usual sat on the couch of her office, and her legs were comfortably hidden underneath her body. Although, her book was loudly closed and left on the side table as Judas word settled in.

“But you said he might never return to Greendale… And he… he is in this building…” Judith said. Her lips trembling as if she was about to cry, but still standing tall next to her brother.

“Yes, ‘might’ being the most important part of that phrase. You’ll see, I’ve known your father for far longer than any other witch, and if there’s one thing I can assure is that Faustus Blackwood is a resourceful man. I have no doubts whatsoever that if he escapes his punishment, then he will not go away without trying his hand at whatever crazy plan that remains on that sadistic mind of his.”

Mary stood up then, sliding her feet into her loafers and approaching Zelda’s desk. Her face filled with hurt. All those days wondering where he might be, and he was there? All this time he was somewhere inside the same building she had been coming to willingly. The place that Zelda herself directed. Was this a ruse to make her close his church, for it was too dangerous for the witches?

“Punishment? All this time you knew where he was, and you never told me? Why? What right do you have to keep him? Or to punish anyone?”

“Why?” Zelda barked a laugh. “Because it’s not my right, Mary. It’s my duty! As the High Priestess of this coven, I couldn’t allow him to walk away. Not when he killed so many of us, and when he has done countless deeds that affected us all. He ordered the killing of the Anti-Pope of our former church while schemed to blame Ambrose for it. Faustus used his children, those twins you care for, to summon the Eldritch Terrors. Father Blackwood used his own daughter on his plans, forcing her to poison her peers. Then he killed Prudence's sister, sending Agatha against our coven, for he couldn’t fathom the idea of Sabrina being stronger than him, and be closer to the Dark Lord…. Sabrina’s death is as much on him for summoning the terrors as it is on me, for allowing her to die for us. For the coven… and let’s not forget what he did to you…” she whispered the last part, almost pleading with her eyes for the teacher to understand her.

“As the High Priestess, I did what I had to do. Even when I was grieving the death of my niece. You might have noticed Sabrina is the child I’ve never had. And yet, I was called forth to fulfill the duties of my position hours after I lost her. There was no council formed then, and I had to take full responsibility for the outcome. Yes, he is here, and with the Council's approval, he is to remain here for generations to come. He or what’s left of him is sealed in a magic room that for now will stop him from harming anyone, and I don’t regret it. Truthfully, I would’ve killed him myself, yet even if that was possible it would’ve been too light for all the wrongdoings he did.”

She raised her eyes, searching Mary’s clenching her jaw as she saw the pain and the confusion etched on her icy blues and the tears that were shimmering on them. Then she found the twins, who had heard part of what their father had done and they were now more confused than before. There was nothing Zelda could do to ease their pain or truly empathize with them.

“I haven’t lied to you. You’ll see, I told you I would kill him if I could, but that’s not possible. Even if I want him buried to the end of the times. He cannot leave, and he most likely won’t ever set another foot in Greendale. Not if I have a say on it.”

“Or I,” Prudence and Sabrina added at the same time. Zelda smiled softly at them, a thankful nod before her eyes found Faustus’s children.

“It won’t do you no good to see him, Judas, Judith. Not until you’ve learned the entire truth of who he is and what he’s done. I’m sorry, I know you wanted to see him as a good man, and perchance he was good with you. Prudence, can you see to that?”

“Yes, Mother Spellman.”

“Make sure they know your own experience, Prudence, and I, too, will tell you mine if it’s needed.”

Sabrina gasped at this. It was the first time since it had happened that her Aunt had even allowed the days of her marriage with Faustus to be mentioned inside their household. And out of the respect she commanded, no one dared to mention it inside the coven.

“Now, if after it all, you still want to see him for closure. Then I will bring the subject to the Council, and I will plead your case. For it is not only in my hands anymore and I believe it will do no good to have you both running around in circles trying to catch up with the fears and emotions your father’s name brings inside our coven. Now, off you go. I’m certain there are plenty of things you need to learn outside this office.”

It wasn’t until they forcefully slammed the doors shut when Zelda allowed herself to falter. She hid her face in trembling hands, not caring about how weak she could appear to the mortal that remained behind.

“What about me? Can I see him?”

It was soft, almost like an afterthought. Zelda sighed and raised her eyes, studying the woman in front of her.

“Do you truly want to face him again?”

Mary huffed. She knew she needed to put an end to his stay in her life. To get an answer to the questions that lingered. Perhaps even to have a chance to accept finally what her mind had a while ago. That she wasn’t attracted to him, not in the way Zelda did. That the days -and nights- spent at his side were nothing but a lie, a figment of her imagination forced by a witch that had no qualms about using her. And that truly, the things she felt around the redhead were real.

“For closure, I believe I must.”

Zelda hated those words, and at the same time, it awed her that her sweet Mary would find the strength to face him when she still hadn’t. She squared her shoulders.

“Then I’ll take you to him.”

“Shouldn’t we consult the council first?” She asked.

“Not quite. I can overrule their decisions. It’s among my 'benefits', so to speak. But when it comes to Faustus Blackwood, and his involvement with members of the coven, I’ll rather take it to the council. For my experience in his hands might bias me.” She raised her eyes, searching for the teacher. “Tell me you aren’t angry at me?”

“You are the High Priestess of this coven.”

It was not a question, just an open statement, but Zelda felt the need to agree with it.

“I am.”

The teacher crooked her head, her eyes never leaving the stormy green gaze. The redhead read the hurt she felt with ease. She shook her head, a self-deprecative smile replacing the silly one that had lingered on her face until then.

“And you never told me.”

“I didn’t.”

There was a moment of silence in which Zelda wondered if that was going to be it. That the thing that would harm their developing relationship was this. That one thing she had feared would’ve happened if Mary learned just how “important” she was for her coven. How extensive her responsibility truly was. Now about to happen, Mary was going to finally walk away from her.

“Why?”

“What difference does it make, Mary?”

She sighed, thinking that the explanation didn’t matter, for the teacher most likely had breached a conclusion and it wouldn’t favor her.

“A lot… Zee, I want to understand you. I want to… Don’t you trust me? Is that why you didn’t tell me? Am I not worthy of knowing something as important for you and your kind, like the fact that you are their Hight Priestess? That you are the closest being to their Goddess?”

Tears left her eyes unwillingly, and she rubbed them away with the back of her hand. Zelda rushed around her desk and fell on her knees in front of her Mary. Her chilly hands raising to clean away the tears, her heart racing in her chest over the fear of losing her, of knowing Mary was feeling unworthy because of her choices, and yet, she wasn’t running away from her.

“Trust you, Mary?”

Her voice sounded foreign to her ears, only for the number of emotions that were poured in those three words.

“You are the only one who has tried to know me, the real me, in such a long time. You are the only one who cared about me, not about who I am to this coven, or by my family name or the potential you see in me. And you are the one who has not tried to use me, to mold me to fit your plans. For Hecate’s sake! You know me better than Hilda does. So, why would you ever believe I don’t trust you?”

Mary raised her face, her eyes finding the ceiling as she willed her tears to stop falling and her chest to stop hurting. She had to look away because she didn’t trust herself to ask her doubts and voice her fears when green eyes looked so brokenly at her.

“Being a High Priestess must be a huge part of your life, Zelda… and now, I feel I don’t know you at all. Oh my God, is this why you asked me to trust you no matter what?”

Zelda lowered her eyes, ashamed. Sure, it was part of the things she kept inside or that the coven had decided wasn’t worth to risk Mary knowing. Doubts that had assaulted the Directrix the first time she had almost kissed the brunette. She had spoken of them with Hilda and then; they agreed it was better if the council gave their own opinion about it. They too agreed it was not wise to let the mortal know about Faustus's whereabouts or the little they knew about her death and rebirth.

“You said you’d always tell me the truth.”

“Yes. It’s part of it. When you face Faustus, some more of that request will hit you full force. As for being a High Priestess…. How could it be a greater part of my life if you know exactly where I am most of the time? And that’s if you aren’t there with me? The only part of it you are missing is the ceremonies, Mary… and you would’ve learned it during Samhain’s ceremony .”

“I am invited?”

“Didn’t I mention it? I’m sorry, I suppose I was too baffled with what transpired since Friday that I forgot to let you know. The council has agreed that you are ready to partake in our ceremonies. I wasn’t thinking of hiding my position from you forever, you know. Truly, I’m quite surprised you didn’t figure that one out. In the beginning, I kept it to myself, for I was afraid you might think I was trying to sway you so you’d close that church. Or push you from one belief to a new one without giving you a chance to decide for yourself. Yes, my Goddess pushed me to you, but it’s your choice if you want to follow Hecate’s path or want to keep with your own.”

She noticed the doubts lingering in the green eyes of Zelda Spellman, along with the guilt and the self-deprecation, and unable to hold herself any longer, she jumped out of her chair and into the redhead. They fell, Zelda’s back hitting the desk and keeping them half upright. Mary, now cradled on top of her lap, was embracing her tightly and crying for no other reason than the mix of emotions that had passed as a wild roller coaster through her.

“Are we okay, darling?” Zelda asked, patting her back softly, and finally freeing brunette tresses to lose her fingers on them. Mary nodded against her neck before sitting back. Pale fingers touched her face that she was sure was blotchy and painted awfully in angst, a warming feeling taking over her skin as Zelda cleared away any trace of her tears.

“Let me take you to Faustus then.”

Chapter 52

Notes:

Sometimes I wonder why I do this to myself xD ... this chapter was hard ...
and it seems our girls like to talk...
Anyhow... you tell me how it went...
Ah, yes... mentions of abuse come and go through all this chapter.

Chapter Text

As Zelda’s words had left her mouth, Mary found that facing Faustus Blackwood sounded like an ominous idea that tightened the knot she felt in the pit of her stomach. She knew she had to, but still… being cuddled on the High Priestess arms felt far better than the thought of facing him. Because she knew her fears and the unworthiness she carried like a friend, and both might rear their ugly head. What would Zelda think of her then?

Besides, what if she learned things she didn’t want to? What if he confirmed her that had searched her, only for she was weak and lonely… and so easy to sway? She had been lost and confused when Agatha knocked on her door, that she most likely would’ve fallen for the lies of anyone who dared to show her a way out. But what if whatever he said about those days changed how Zelda saw her? And whatever progress they’ve achieved in the last moments, finally would be then consumed by the truth that she, Mary Wardwell, wasn’t deserving of a being of the likes of Zelda Spellman.

She hid her face in the crook of her neck, breathing the redhead in as her mind ran a mile per second, hitting her with the growing questions she wasn’t sure wanted to be answered now. Not when the loss they might bring would be that of the witch that meant to her more than her own life used to mean.

Then it dawned on Mary that as far as she knew, Reverend Lovecraft had bewitched her the first time she saw her. Her eyes widened in fear for a second, her heart racing with the notion that it could happen again. And what if she was the one spewing things with no will to stop herself? And not only her own but truths confided by Zelda? It was that thought, the one that made Mary move away enough to search green eyes.

“Can he…”

Zelda read the trepidation in the brunette’s voice, and the nervous energy emanating from her as the beginning of a storm, even before she’d discovered the shocked eyes. Quickly, she concluded Mary was afraid of what he could do to her if they met. ‘Fear of Faustus Blackwood and his horrible deeds, what a thing to have in common!’ She thought in disgusts as her hand caressed the teacher’s cheek, shaking her head even before she uttered her answer.

“He cannot harm you if that’s what you are fearing. The room in which he is renders him powerless. While in there, Faustus cannot force you to think or act in any way you don’t want to, at least not magically. Yet, knowing him as I do, I cannot assure you his words won’t hurt you... Or me, for that matter.”

Mary wondered what else could there be with the power to make the Directrix warn her it would strain the promise she made earlier of trusting on her no matter what. It scared her, the fleeting glint of fear in the redhead’s eyes that had appeared for the briefest second. Then Zelda clenched her jaw tightly, and the brunette couldn’t help to raise her own hand to caress it, hoping that by such a small action whatever tension she was accumulating would be diluted by it.

“Shouldn’t we talk about whatever he did to you first?”

The teacher’s question brought a grimace to the redhead’s face. She wasn’t ready to speak about it; she wasn’t ready to face him in the same way. Perhaps she would never be ready.

The lingering doubts that remained from her time as his wife, (how she had failed to everything she stood for, how he had tricked her and made her fall headfirst into a horrible spell that had been forbidden for generations,) it was all too much and she had tortured herself with it every single day of her short marriage. Every second of her captive stay in her own body was spent dissecting the actions that led her to the situation she found herself in.

“Perhaps, we should. For I’m not quite certain I can face him. Alas, I cannot allow you to go in there alone.”

“You’ve said he hurt you, and you told the twins you will speak with them about what happened. I can see it in your eyes that there’s far more dwelling inside of you, Zee. Talk to me, who knows, maybe if you share your burden as I know I share it with you… Then perhaps what he did to you won’t be so painful to face.”

Zelda grasped the hand that was trailing the contour of her jaw and kissed her palm. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“What if…” The redhead said, stopping herself and letting out a groan. She couldn’t believe she was doubting herself for fear of what this mortal would think of her. Yet, here she was, trapped between a rock and a hard place quite literally. She shuffled in place, adjusting herself more comfortably against the harsh wood of her desk, and settling Mary snugly on her lap.

“I’m afraid that what I might tell you… will change what you think of me, Mary.”

The confession came out in a whisper and left the teacher aghast.

“That’s the same thing I was wondering, Zee. What if, I thought, he blurts something about what he did to me and she realizes I’m not who she thinks I am?. Now, I understand it’s silly to doubt that. For I know, no matter what he’d done to you, it won’t change what I think of you. Would you push me away as he tells you how weak I was and how easily I fell for his tricks?”

The High Priestess smiled. “Never. I suppose I see your point. Perhaps it will come as less of a shock if you hear it from me instead of from him. I told you I married him for power, and that it didn’t quite work the way I hoped for.”

“Yes, and according to Sabrina’s book, days after you left that the angelic witch hunters visited, and it brought her truest nature forth. That forced your earlier return to Greendale. Once here, you all worked on a way to stop him from killing Ambrose and entrapping Sabrina. There’s also a phrase that caught my attention when I read it. She said and I’m quoting it to the best of my memory, ‘the youngest of my aunts noticed the change on her sister, and we had to free her from the hands of our High Priest first before we could begin to protect ourselves.’”

Zelda’s eyes fell on Mary’s for the briefest of the seconds. Then, they fell to the fire on the hearth as she lost her gaze to the pains of time. A self-deprecative smile marred her expression, and the teacher braced herself for whatever might come.

“You know, days after Sabrina and Hilda freed me, they -Faustus and his Judas’ boys- trapped me inside the same room he’s in. I thought it was poetic justice. What happened to me, and what I did once freed, are not part of Sabrina’s book. I spared her from the truth; thus, she doesn’t quite know the extension of what he did, or of what I had to do after gaining freedom. They know they freed me and days later I was rushing home while everything went to Heaven.”

“I’ll be here for you, as you go through it. I don’t need to see him today, you know? Even if I know I must face him… if only to answer the questions I have about myself and the extent of his control over me. Go on, I won’t judge you, Zee. I care for you enough to be a shoulder you can lean on.”

Red lips collided softly against the sharp line of her cheek, the green gaze still lost. Now, pain and embarrassment filling it along with something Mary found too familiar… Self-hate simmered in the High Priestess green orbs.

“As you know, Faustus blamed Ambrose for the death of the Anti-Pope, and even if his body was the one that inflicted the deathly wounds, my nephew wasn’t in control of it. Instead of siding with my family to try to win an impossible battle, I decided I could outsmart him. We still went through with our black wedding the very next day. We left Greendale, and I thought that I would have a way to sway him as his wife. I stupidly believed I would make him more lenient with Ambrose’s punishment if they didn’t find any other explanation that could free him.”

“They found his familiar…” Mary added, remembering what she had read. “I know that part, and you know exactly what I’ve read.”

“That night, when we arrived at our hotel room…” Zelda stopped, gasping for air as memories hit her full force. Her shame blossoming like a crimson blush on her usually ivory skin. She couldn’t tell Mary how she had fallen for another night of penance. One to kill any ideas about the innocence of her nephew. A session that had left her back with crisscrossing bleeding wounds, he didn’t allow her to heal.

‘The scars will remind you I am your family now. The only devotion you must hold is towards me. Heal them and we’ll make them double,’ He had said as he pushed her to bed. Faustus had tied her hands and added a gag so she wouldn’t heal them.

It took a request to Lilith, to recover the unblemished state of her back, on the handful of nights they’d shared after they freed her. When she escaped to her seeking bodily release from the nightmare of her life. When Lilith too seemed to be going through a rough patch. And neither was willing to talk about.

“Well, let me simply sum this as the chance of him mentioning moments in which I self-harmed. As an atonement of sorts, while not quite realizing the only one gaining anything from it was his ego. The first night of our honeymoon was not an exception, and when I fell asleep… he… Faustus put a spell on me. Hilda noticed it when we returned and with Sabrina’s help, they freed me from it. To add to it, I had to pretend they did not free me for days, behaving as I did when under it.”

It was as much as she could give away without breaking. Without her own words breaking the seal that covered those catastrophic days trapped inside her own body. Unable to do her own will. She couldn’t let her memories bubble up and out of her in painful cries that wouldn’t be subsided with ease. But she knew Mary and her inquisitive mind, thus, she also knew questions would follow.

“A spell? Which kind?”

A conjured cigarette appeared on her hand, that was trembling so much that she had foregone the holder. The calming leaves not helping her this time around, for it was not only nervousness and anxiety. It was also fear and a crippling rage against herself. Of all her dulled emotions, the ones she felt for herself were the strongest ones and the more damaging.

“A Caligari spell. I believe you have read about it, for you questioned me who, on its right mind, would dare to use it. So, you see… he might have forced you to do his bidding by small compulsion spells. In your case, you felt you wanted to do things, and once dispelled, you were left confused. Your feelings, your entire being told you that you didn’t want to do it, and yet, your mind was confused too when it happened. In my case… I kept my consciousness. My mind was there every single minute. Every single action he forced me to do, my body would do no matter how much I fought it.”

“Oh, my…. Zee… that must’ve been…. I…”

Mary couldn’t find words to voice exactly how despicable she thought that was, and how sorry she was that Zelda had gone through that. She was sure that between them, the redhead’s situation was far more damning than her own.

“I know, it’s embarrassing. How shameful is that I was stupid enough to fall for something like that? I’m sure it will be quite disappointing for the twins to know their High Priestess fell from one of the oldest and most shameful spells in the book.”

“What? No, Zee… They will see how their High Priestess has survived it. How it’s important to confide in family and how you’d supported each other. It’s a story of braveness and love… Don’t you see it, honey? You are so strong, Zee. So resilient... that I can’t help but admire you.”

Zelda let out a barked laugh, shaking her head, for she couldn’t find anything in her worth of Mary’s admiration. Yet, it amazed her how the woman could see the good in everything, and that led her to wonder if it was that what made her fond of her.

Her eyes fell onto the blue ones, and her hand caressed the soft skin. The High Priestess lips aching to kiss the woman in front of her before any chance she could have to ever taste them again would fall away from her with Faustus’ words.

It was a risk, too, to let Mary inside his cell, knowing he knew Lilith had wandered the Earth clad in the teacher’s body.

Zelda didn’t know that the night Mary had killed her, she had seen Lilith not only covered in the glamor of her former fiancé, Adam but wearing her face. She didn’t know it was her beloved Lily, the one who had saved the mortal from Lucifer’s wrath. Even if she had a gut feeling that told her Faustus had something to do with the fact that the usually meek woman had appeared in the mortuary and shoot a gun at her…. It was only that, a thought. And well, the teacher herself was completely unaware of what happened that night, for Lilith had made sure she couldn’t remember it at all.

“You say that because you don’t know all there is to know about me, sweet Mary.”

“No, honey. You can put all the barriers you want, but the truth, Zee… is that you are here. Perhaps not in one piece, but you are still standing. You are the High Priestess, their Directrix, the one they look up to, and you keep shouldering everyone’s concerns, hiding yours inside not only so they don’t have to see you suffering, but because you don’t want to burden them. I see you, Zee, and the way you keep walking no matter what it is thrown at you. You keep rising yourself, perchance battered and bruised, but not an ounce of you willing to let go. If that’s not admirable, then… I don’t know what can be.”

Unable to find any words or fight the tears that were about to fall, Zelda simply brought Mary close and held her close to her. Her emotion was far more profound than she’d realized until then. She only let go when she felt strong enough to compose herself.

“I’m not sure if I’ll ever be ready to face him alone, Mary. But there’s no one else I’d do it for.”

The words were softly whispered in her ears, and the teacher’s heart raced. Mary understood that behind those words there were others that weren’t been said and that perhaps she would never get to hear, and even if she thought similar feelings lived inside of her, she didn’t know if one day she would be able to voice them.

“I’m not sure if I should ask you to do this, Zee.”

She moved backward, searching green eyes that were red-rimmed and still shiny with tears. Her hands found alabaster skin, and the pad of her thumbs cleared away the traces of the fallen tears, before leaving two tender kisses on her cheeks.

“I understand if you need to do it, and I won’t leave you alone in there, darling. If you are ready, we should go before I lose my nerve.”

Mary shuffled out of Zelda’s lap and helped her stand up. With a magical spell, they were both back to their previous statuses. Zelda’s outfit now not sporting the crinkles made from being crumpled on the floor, and both their faces were devoid of any trace of crying.

A pale hand was stretched then, and a tender smile appeared on the redhead’s expression. Her armor almost back in place for anyone else to see it. However, Mary could still see the trace of vulnerability the witch trusted her with. Without a doubt, her freckled hand took Zelda’s, and they left the office towards a place she had never seen before.

They strolled down several rooms, taking different exits, and by the time they reached the door the redhead was taking them to, Mary was sure whoever had tried to get there must have a great sense of direction.

“We added a labyrinth spell to the path to the basement to stop the youngsters from coming downstairs for their fun. We had to add some private places for the eldest ones for sharing a room with other witches can lead to having the shyest searching for a spot for themselves.”

As she opened the door with the incantation that kept it locked, Mary understood the explanation was Zelda’s way to distance herself further from what had transpired in her office.

Torches lighted by themselves as the weight of the wooden door made its hinges cry with the effort, opening to a drafty stair. Mary gulped, she loved her horror movies but seeing them knowing they weren’t real and living them were two very distinct things.

“Follow me and watch your step. This stair can be very tricky because of its antiquity.”

Slowly they made their way down through winding stairs and into the cells that could as well be part of a medieval castle. Roots from the trees above them carving their path down ancient walls that glowed with a flickery orange hue. Wooden doors followed one after another, and Mary wondered what they were for. She opened her mouth to ask when Zelda’s voice broke the silence that had been until then, only filled by their breaths.

“When the Academy was firstly created, there was a need of a place for witches to remain. These cells were home for many as they built the top. Afterward, they became rooms for the most lustful ones. Or containing spaces for the most daring conjuring’s as it was safer to compromise just one room than having the entire Academy taken over. It differed greatly from what you experienced.”

“Did you… live here?”

“No. We moved straight into the mortuary. We made some changes after we arrived, but they mostly did it as per our father’s request. But I spent an awful lot of time down here.”

There was a fond smile that joined the mischievous glint in Zelda’s eyes, and Mary wasn’t sure if she wanted to prod more. She should, and maybe that would make the redhead notice that no matter what she discovered, she was going to stick to her, for there was nothing in her wildest imagination that could make her hate Zelda.

“Should I wonder?”

“For once, it’s not what you might think. I told you before how certain types of magic were forbidden for females. So, I mostly escaped here to study and practice them. If anyone ever found me here, I was going to be expelled and possibly excommunicated. Therefore, I covered the reason I was here.”

An equally impish smile joined the mischievous glint she noticed before, and Zelda stopped. Mary followed her lead and turned to face her. The Directrix pointed to the door in front of which they had stopped.

“I used to bring companions to this very room, and knock them out to practice my magic whenever I was in town. That’s why I understood Sabrina’s needs to defy the laws, even if I didn’t agree with her. Perchance I was simply scared of the outcome and too worried about the harm she could do to herself. In the end, the one who held the knife that killed her was I. But, you’ll read about it soon. Now, Faustus is right over there.”

She pointed to the door at the end of the corridor and a chill ran down Mary’s spine. She took a deep, calming breath and Zelda’s hands found hers. The redhead brought each hand and kissed each palm, warming the cold that had settled in her.

“There’s one thing you must know before we enter.”

“More?” Her eyes widened in dismay as she eyed at the High Priestess, who only nodded once in agreement. “What is it?”

“I know you saw him with his head barely stick to his body. He cannot be killed, not because I don’t want to, or for the council opposition. It’s because of a mark he carries someone who had forgotten her power and felt trapped, engraved that on him. It’s also a gift, to me… so I could harm him as many times I wanted, although, the only one who has taken that task to ease her own pain, is Prudence. The punishment she proposed, was to dismember him. Different witches took the parts to different places, and no one knows truly where all of them are.”

“Then…”

“His head remains here, for we cannot risk someone finding him. Nor him finding someone else to affect as he did with you. Are you sure you want to do this?”

Mary considered her words. She didn’t quite understand what she was going to see inside or how a head could survive away from the body. How blood could circulate and keep him alive, but it seemed it was possible in their realm. She nodded then, and Zelda opened the door.

The teacher gasped as the door creaked opened and heat swept out of it. The room looked more like a cave by the structure of the walls, and it was barely lit with dozens of candles in several degrees of usage littering the place. Most of them melting almost together in an altar of sorts where Faustus Blackwood’s head laid. His cheeks hollowed, his beard long and his eyes far crazier than she remembered.

He looked nothing at all like the man she had met. Faustus laughed then. The same vibrato she had listened to as he kissed her, fixing the harm he had done to her skin. Bile rose inside her as she faced him.

“Sister Wardwell, is that you? Finally, someone smart who will see beyond their lies and free me from these monsters!”

Mary took a step in and then another when there was no attraction, no need to free him, no… nothing but rage against the man who had abused not only her body but her trust and her will. The one who had grabbed her naivete at home and tossed it to the side as if it was utterly unuseful, while still taking advantage of it when in public. He had used her timid demeanor and her easiness with people to create his church. To sway her town to his will.

“Reverend Lovecraft, or should I say, Faustus Blackwood?” She clenched her jaw as she all but spat his name, yet she found the strength to continue her tirade. “I want to know why you did it? How was it I responded to your every word? Why me?”

Faustus's eyes fell on the figure standing next to Mary, close enough to be protective, and he chuckled.

“Oh, I see, Sister Wardwell, that my wife has bewitched you, washed your brain from my freeing ideas and into her own unabashed ones of how women should oversee everything. Tell me, sister. Have you been frolicking with Lilith, too? That flirty demoness always had a penchant to take what is mine, and I know my wife has a proclivity towards darkness. She married me, after all.”

“Enough Faustus.”

Zelda’s voice came cold and stern, and he raised his eyes to meet green ones. He pouted, a devilish smile that the Directrix had found attractive once upon a time appeared on his face and the redhead readied herself for what might come next.

“Ah, our Little High Priestess, what an honor.” He mocked before laughing at her. “You were always a power-starved witch. Have you found your armor now, Zelda? Is that why you are down here facing me after all this time? You should’ve seen her, Sister Wardwell, she was nothing like this version she sells to the world. She has everyone misguided into believing she’s strong and a spitfire…. No… not with me… she was so compliant, almost like you… there was no rebellious streak on her bones…”

He grunted, licking his lips as he remembered the nights he enjoyed and how short his spell lasted. Zelda clenched her jaw tightly before she headed to a pile of needles that was left on a platter. In her rage, she took one and was about to stab him with it when a trembling hand stopped her.

“He is not worthy,” Mary said, deciding she didn’t need his answers if it came with the price of giving him the pleasure of affecting Zelda’s self-worth, or hers. Not when they could go through it all together and help each other see their worth, as the Directrix had done with her several times and how she hoped she had managed just moments earlier for the redhead.

“Not of your rage, not of mine. He is nothing but a pathetic man who can only get what he wants by forcing himself onto the others. I don’t need answers from him, nor you do. Get me out of here, please… I’ve heard and seen enough.”

Zelda opened her hand, and the needle fell clattering to the ground before they turned around. “No! Come back! Please!... You ought to free me, Sister Wardwell… or kill me…” he added as an afterthought, but it was late. They were both long gone. 

Chapter 53

Notes:

I'm sorry it took me so long! and double sorry if it sucks 😀😀😀

Hm.. help me out here.. I can't decide if I want them to kiss before or after Sabrina's birthday/ Halloween celebration...
So.. what you guys say? Would Mary find it in herself to kiss her on a week's time?
💖💖💖

Are we nearing the end? 😲😲😲

Chapter Text

They walked down the path they had come from, and not that much later that Zelda had Mary pressed against the wall. Her lips finding her lobe and sucking it before playfully biting it. The redhead thought it was far more complex to arouse her without straight-up kissing her senseless, but she didn’t quite care… It was one area in which her resourcefulness excelled.

One hand was already working the teacher’s pristine blouse from under her skirt. The other one was going upwards to get rid of the tight hairdo and free Mary’s gorgeous mane. It wasn’t until her hand found the warm skin of the teacher’s back when she noticed it. The soft “Zelda… stop…” that was being gasped out of parted -and so kissable- lips. She let go, taking a few steps back and pacing as she realized with horror what she had done.

“I’m sorry, Mary. I’m so sorry... I… No… there’s no excuse… I….”

Warm arms surrounded her, encasing her from behind against the lithe frame of the teacher. Mary’s head resting on the space between her shoulder blades.

“You’ve done nothing wrong, honey. I was just surprised… and I wasn’t sure if you were, if you are, in the right place of mind… I know facing him left me rattled, and I can’t imagine you being all that composed either no matter how great you are at compartmentalizing everything.”

Zelda turned in her arms, hiding her face on her neck, and this time, she left only a tiny kiss against the place where neck met shoulders as she brought the mortal as close as they could be. She didn’t know if she was more embarrassed by how she acted or because Mary had apologized for her assault.

“I’m not…. You are right. I suppose that physical comfort was always the easiest way to deal with things.”

Mary wanted to tell her she understood, but she didn’t. Her ways to deal with life too different. However, she had vast knowledge of hiding things inside of her to be dealt with later or not at all. Her capability to compartmentalize at par with those of the witch.

“Wait… Did you just called me honey for the third time?” Zelda asked then, searching for her face. The teacher blushed and bit her lower lip before she nodded. There was fear in her eyes that lead the Directrix to place a soft kiss on her cheek.

“I scared you… I’m sorry, darling. I’m so, so sorry.”

She closed her eyes and rested her forehead against Mary’s as she said that. Then she took several deep breaths to let go of the things their encounter with Faustus had raised. Zelda had carried a great deal of self-hate and rage since her failed attempts of getting her feelings back. Blackwood’s words bringing them forth and now, after almost forcing herself onto the mortal; she had added an extra layer above it all. There weren’t enough cages in her mind to keep her from always regretting that.

“No, you didn’t, Zee. I’m not scared of you… I could never be, you are the sweetest person I’ve ever met.”

The redhead snorted at this, but she noticed the honesty in the teacher’s eyes. The way she was looking at her enough to make her forget all about Faustus and the failure she thought she was.

Her hands tangled one Mary’s now loose hair, and the other on her back above the fabric of her sweater. There was a humorous glint in her eyes as a smile spread across her swollen lips.

“First you call me ‘honey’ and now you deem me the sweetest person you’ve met. Darling or we need to work on the people you know, or I need to work on keeping up with my reputation,” Zelda joked, but placed a kiss on the tip of Mary’s nose. “I can’t be sorry enough for pushing myself onto you in the way I just did Mary.”

It was barely a whisper, but it held so much sorrow that it almost broke the mortal’s heart. Especially when she hadn’t stopped her sooner because she was thoroughly enjoying the attention. The teacher blushed furiously and bit her lip before there was an awkward sound coming from her. Green eyes scanned her, searching for whatever it had caused it.

“What?”

“The truth is… I didn’t mind the attention, Zee…” she said, the pink on her cheeks quickly extending up to the tip of her ears. She took a shuddery breath as green eyes locked with hers. “I wouldn’t have stopped you if we didn’t just come out from there.”

Zelda frowned when the teacher shook her head and lowered her eyes, embarrassed. Then she lowered her head on the witch’s chest. The thumping of her heart comforting her, making her feel braver than she thought she was. Mary raised her head and bit her lower lip as she considered her next words.

“I… Zee, I wanted you to continue, if only so I could stop thinking that I had no consideration whatsoever about your feelings while stubbornly trying to get answers I didn’t need. It wouldn’t be fair, for you if I didn’t stop you...” she gave her a self-deprecative smile as the idea of almost using the witch was left out.

“I couldn’t use you like that... and that’s why I had to stop you. I’m sorry, Zee. It wasn’t until he spoke about you when I realized I was never important, just collateral damage. He never cared about me. I should’ve noticed the moment his eyes fell on you how he abhors you and how he would do anything at all to make you suffer. I should’ve pulled us out of there right then, or even better, I should’ve never asked you to bring me here after what you disclosed earlier. It wasn’t fair for you, Honey. I wasn’t fair... So… I’m the one who should be sorry because I knew what he did and still asked you to bring me to him, and then, almost took advantage of your way of dealing with things. I’m a horrible person.”

The High Priestess took a deep breath and kissed her forehead as she tucked the blouse she had so hastily pulled out underneath the skirt. Then, she mumbled the same spell she had used earlier to fix Mary’s appearance.

“Oh, darling, you did nothing I hadn’t agreed with previously. You cannot be a horrible person when you do nothing wrong, and I suppose you simply wanted the same thing I wanted, to stop the voice in your head that relentlessly tells you how awful you are. You are not. Faustus is an ass, and he knows what buttons to push, and you… took that away from him just now. You simply removed yourself from his bragging and removed me from his torture. I cannot be more thankful for the way you acted, for I… I was ready to throw his head into hellfire. Now, we better get out of here, and hopefully, we can leave anything related with him behind soon enough.”

“We should talk about what he did to us, not bury it again. I know it hurts, I understand the reasons for wanting to hide it from everyone else, but you don’t need to keep me at arm’s length, Zee. It won’t change how I see you, or…” she shook her head as the words ‘what I feel for you,’ got stuck in her throat. She placed a kiss on her cheek, hoping that it was enough, for now, to show her she cared, although she still was unsure of how to act less like a tween on her first crush.

“We’ll do… but not here, darling. If there’s something we all know is that the walls at the Academy have ears. That’s the true motive behind the spells that surround my office. I can’t have anyone eavesdropping there when every single decision is made there. Besides, this place stinks and it’s far too drafty.”

Mary nodded, noting that her Zee was back, and even if her pains were hidden, they would talk about them at some point. Zelda had withheld nothing if she asked before, and she knew the witch wouldn’t start just then.

As they returned to the Directrix office, the mortal couldn’t help the yawn that left her the moment her frame touched the couch she usually hogged. It was late, and she wasn’t that young anymore. With the emotions pulling and pushing her to mold her to the situations she faced that day, she felt tired. Drained, even.

The Directrix walked to her and pulled the books she was failing to read out of her hands. A tender smile tugged her lips as she met the teacher’s confused expression.

“What do you say if we call it a night?” Zelda asked then, sitting next to Mary but turning enough to face her. “We can have an early dinner, so you can rest. I’m sure you must be drained.”

“No… There’s no need. Honey, you are far too busy with Halloween approaching and Sabrina’s birthday and…”

A long ivory finger was placed softly over her lips, forcing her to stop her tirade of excuses as to why they should continue in there. The High Priestess removed the finger as she started talking.

“Darling, I’m exhausted too. I’m certain the twins will want to remain behind while there are getting their explanations. Or at least, far away from me enough.”

“Don’t worry about them, Zee. They will come around when they realize just how awful he is.”

Zelda shook her head. If it was in her hands, she would’ve loved to keep them unaware. She had given them enough of his background. How different Faustus was now, from the time where he was an interesting witch who had caught her eye yet not her feelings. It was impossible to keep the pretense of him being a white lamb. They were doomed to learn the truth about Faustus Blackwood and what he did to the coven they now belonged to until they were adults at least.

Worried blues searched her eyes as Zelda got lost in thought for a spare second. Mary’s brow marred by a deep frown as she wondered if the witch was delving further into her awful experiences with the man. Cold hands met her brow, massaging it slightly so she would stop creasing her forehead.

“I suppose I’m disappointed. I hoped they could reach adulthood before their minds being tainted by the truth of their lineage. We discussed it with Prudence, and later, with the Council. Despite the rumors about us witches, we are quite amenable, if I might say so myself. We didn’t want them to have to defend themselves from something they didn’t do, if only for they carry his last name. It was an order from the Council that all the surviving witches shouldn’t confront the twins with memories of a not so distant past.”

“Why? Aren’t they smart enough? People enough? That you need to place them on a bubble and protect them from a truth that in the end is theirs to deal with?”

A half-smile appeared on Zelda’s face, her hand caressing the mortal’s cheek, and Mary felt like she was saying ‘you poor mortal thing, you have no idea.’ But then her warm lips found her cheek, and she knew there was more to come.

“They are, and they will need to learn to deal with the prejudice their name will bring everywhere they go. But Mary, they are children, and no matter what Faustus did, what horrible crimes he committed. He is still their father, and they will still love him as they should. It’s not a matter of hiding things from them, it was about sparing them from dealing with broken emotions. We reckon, or I do, that I wouldn’t be less painful in thirty years from now, but they would’ve had better experiences, and the greatest control of themselves.”

“Hmm. I suppose I see the point. Although, if it was me, I would want to know no matter what. Especially by the way they didn’t know what happened with him. I suppose it is worse not knowing about the whereabouts and well-being of someone you love over having to doubt all your life if he simply vanished, for he wasn’t interested in me.”

“It’s a very valid point, darling. I suppose that humanity of yours is what got Sabrina in so much trouble.” She said, placing another kiss on her cheek if only to hide her eyes from Mary’s. The few secrets she kept about what had happened to her flashing through her mind as she considered what she had just learned. However, the Council had been final, and she had agreed then. Perhaps she should bring Mary’s case back to be re-examined. Maybe the teacher should know the truth.

“Now, are you ready to go? I could use some sustenance.”

“Sustenance? How old are you again?” Mary joked, making Zelda roll her eyes.

“Come on, smarty-pants. Make sure you have everything you need so we can go.” The directrix said, standing up and tugging the brunette to stand as she did. Mary pulled her close.

“I have everything I need right here,” she whispered, surprising herself, and blushing profusely. Zelda chuckled.

“Just so you know, Miss Mary Wardwell, I’m absolutely abhorring the promise I made to you, for there’s nothing more than I desire more right now than to kiss those tempting lips of yours.” She said, her voice was a growl that sent shivers down Mary’s spine. Yet, the teacher still thought she wasn’t ready and kissed her cheek.

“I wish I could… it’s just…”

Zelda’s thumb rubbed the sharp edge of her jaw, raising the lowered face so she could lock their eyes.

“I’m not pressuring you, Mary. For Hecate’s sake... take your time. It doesn’t mean that I don’t struggle with myself not to. Perhaps I’m struggling with not doing it as much as you struggle with doing it.”

She took a step away, her hand trailing down the brunette’s neck, shoulder, and arm until it stopped at her hand, squeezing it before letting her go. The Directrix walked to her desk and grabbed the few items she needed. As she did, Mary’s hand found her shoulder.

“Take me home, Zelda.”

“Home?” The witch gulped, thinking she had pushed the mortal too far and now she wanted space.

“I cannot take you to your cottage. You know this…” she whispered, defeated. Mary frowned at it. Then she blushed when she figured why the redhead must have concluded such a thing.

“I wasn’t talking about my cottage… I was… talking about yours. Zee, honey, in the past months, I’ve learned what a home should feel like, and mine… it only ever was near one when you were there.”

“Is that wrong? I shouldn’t have presumed…” Mary said moments later when there still no answer came from the redhead and trepidation was taking control of her features.

“No, darling… not at all. I suppose you rendered me speechless… Mary, I… no one ever had called my house home for no other reason than me being there.” Zelda explained, her eyes cast down in shame.

“Well, it’s their loss and my gain then.” The brunette smiled, bringing the witch’s hands to her lips to kiss her knuckles. “You know, I’d say the words if I knew they would work, but… You are right, I’m beat and I still need you to transport us home.”

“Lanuae magicae,” Zelda whispered, and the fizzing energy of teleportation filled Mary’s body as they appeared inside the foyer. The smell of food reached their noses and made the brunette’s stomach growl.

“Ah, you are back!” Ambrose said as he heard the approaching heels. He turned around to assess his aunt and was pleasantly surprised to find Mary. His eyes only stopping a millisecond on their linked hands.

“Sabrina warned me you both might be a little on edge. Prudence said the twins were staying, and she’s taking them to school tomorrow. They mentioned the issue that arose. So… since you both seem to be in one piece, what about I serve you dinner and then you can tell me what transpired inside the Academy walls or not at all.”

“What else did they tell you?” Zelda inquired as she knew Sabrina and Ambrose had quite an open relationship. Her niece always seeking advice or bullying her cousin to do her bidding. In exchange, he always was aware of most things the teen wouldn’t tell her guardians.

She took a seat on her usual chair, Mary sitting next to her on her new unofficial spot as Ambrose lowered two plates in those places. He brought his own as he made himself comfortably folding himself into his bench.

“Nothing…” he said quickly diverting his eyes from those of her Aunt. Mary’s eyes going from younger Spellman to the older one in quick succession as she waited to see where this conversation was going to go. Under the unwavering emerald eyes, Ambrose caved. “She said they overheard Melvin and Jade talking about how dangerous it was for us to keep Blackwood inside the academy walls, and they got mad at you. And she might have mentioned that you…. That you said you would…. talkaboutyourtimeashiswife.”

“So, she mentioned everything that happened…”

Zelda sighed. Her fork clattering against the plate as she lowered to pinch the bridge of her nose. Ambrose directed a reluctant glance toward the teacher, an awkward smile painted on his face.

“She didn’t know how things ended up between you two. Sabrina said… you looked quite pissed, Mary. I suppose this is where I shut up and let you two have a quiet dinner.”

“We went to see him,” Mary stated, after feeling the redhead’s eyes on her for a brief second. She searched for the witch’s hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze before she added, “there was nothing he could add to my knowledge. We weren’t there long. Don’t worry about it, and I’m sure there won’t be a need to disclose anything further to the twins once they learn what’s there to learn.”

“Zelds! Zelds! Are you here?” Hilda’s voice grated on the High Priestess nerves even before they heard the front door closing. The blonde witch stopped dead in her tracks as she saw the three of them seated around the table, looking quite comfortable.

“Let me guess, Sabrina talked to you.” The red-haired witch said, looking at her sister. “As you can see, we are perfectly okay. I didn’t kill Mary, nor she tried to kill me. Now, can we finally stop the ruckus?”

“Zee… I’m sure Hilda was quite worried about you. You shouldn’t dismiss her feelings so easily. They love you and worry about you,” Mary whispered to her ear, squeezing her hand once more and Zelda sighed.

“I know all of you might be worried that I’m willing to speak up about my days under his spell and what it could mean for me. For I’ve never quite allowed any of you to dwell on it. Yet, you don’t need to. We aren’t facing Faustus in the upcoming time, and if the twins want to visit him, I won’t be the one taking them and that’s definitive.”

“You won’t?” Hilda asked, knowing that for her sister not being there would most likely be a sign of weakness.

“When we were there earlier, he focused on Zelda instead of my questions. There’s no use to have them asking questions and not getting an answer other than the show of his utter hatred towards their High Priestess. It’s not worth it,” Mary said.

“I just need an honest answer from both of you. Have you two spoken about what he’s done to both?” Hilda crooked her head wondering when the two of them had shared more than they were telling them. They glanced at each other before they nodded. “I suppose that’s more than we could hope for, especially from you, Zee. So, are you both sure you are all right? Facing Faustus after… that mustn’t have been nice… or easy?”

“Oh, Hecate! Hilda. Stop prodding. We are perfectly fine, and you can return to that two-dimes wannabe vampire of yours.”

There was no bite in Zelda’s words, just a calmness that oozed from her in ways Hilda hadn’t felt in years. Even if she always mocked her Kenny, she knew her sister loved her, and -even if she claimed she couldn’t- she liked her husband too.

“Oh, well, if you are sure. I’ll get back home then.” Hilda said, placing a kiss on Ambrose’s cheek and then doing the same with Mary, before turning around to watch at her sister and the killer glare her green eyes sported daring her not to try. “Good night, Zelds, Mary, Ambrose.”

As quickly as she had appeared, Hilda Spellman left the mortuary, not without first feeling compelled to let a thankful prayer to her Goddess. Inside the home, the trio finished dinner quietly. Ambrose dismissed them from cleaning duties, telling them they surely were exhausted after such a long day and they couldn’t agree more.

Zelda half-dragged Mary to their room, both entering the closet in search of their nightgowns almost side by side.

“Oh, I forgot to mention I used a spell to accommodate your clothes. I hope you didn’t mind, for I’m not terribly fond of unpacking but even less so, of living from my bag. It escaped my mind to leave a note or something for you to find your stuff. But I suppose you managed all right?”

Mary blushed. The thought about Zelda perusing through her things had been the force that allowed her to continue digging through the drawers of sensual fabric until she found her own plain underwear. “I... I’m sorry if I invaded your privacy, I had to go through your drawers to find my… underwear.”

Instead of a sign of being angry, Mary found a mischievous smile plastered on the redhead. She walked close to the brunette, leaving barely an inch between them. “And? Did you find something you liked?”

The teacher gulped loudly, her cheeks bright red and her pupils slightly dilated. Even so, she couldn’t find it in herself to lie.

“Several things…”

Zelda’s breath hitched, her thumb pressing against soft lips, caressing in ways she wanted with her lips but could not. Mary closed her eyes in answer before a soft bite was left on her lobe and a purred. “Then you should pick one for me…” left the witch’s mouth. Blue eyes were widened in panic, and the redhead chuckled at Mary’s reaction. “Perhaps when you are ready to see how it looks on me? Now, off you go, start your night routine while I get rid of my make-up.”

She nodded several times, but still didn’t move until Zelda placed softly a kiss on her cheeks. “Go, you are dead on your feet, and no matter how lustful I am, I won’t take advantage of someone exhausted. Besides, we both know, we aren’t in the right place of mind to do more. Otherwise, Mary Wardell, every inch of your skin would have been lavished in attention inside this room with no qualms whatsoever until you exploded under my ministrations.”

After that declaration, Zelda had to push the teacher out of the closet and into the bathroom, throwing a robe for her to use. Once she was done, the brunette returned to the room and threw herself to the bed without prompting, leaving out a moan as her body touched the soft mattress.

The redhead smiled before she moved to the bathroom, knowing that for sure the mortal would be fast asleep once she finished her night routine. Instead, she was truly surprised to find Mary’s eyes still open following her every move once she entered the room again.

“I thought you were exhausted,” Zelda said as she rubbed her legs with lotion.

“I am… but…”

“You can’t stop your mind.”

“Yeah… But it’s not what you think… I was… Sweet Lord, this is embarrassing… Would you… hold me?”

If there was one thing she never thought she was going to be requested in her life was exactly that. Less coming from a mortal who looked all comfy and cuddly in her own bed. Her heart rate spiked, and she was left speechless once again.

“Jesus… I shouldn’t have asked… I mean… it’s okay if you don’t want to. Oh, God, you said you could conjure two beds here and… I should’ve realized…”

Her feet answered before her own brain was able to, dragging her to the bed, and then she flopped herself on the mattress. “Mary…”

“Yes?”

“I cannot hold you…” she let out and the brunette felt her world collapse around her. Mary turned her back to Zelda, not wanting her to see how much her words had affected her. But then, she felt the weight shifting on the bed, and cold hands grabbing her waist before she was pulled flush against the curves of the High Priestess body. “Not if you are all the way over there.”

A smile blossomed on her face, as a kiss was deposited on the column of her neck and Zelda’s warm breath tickled her. Her hand rose at its own volition, searching for that of the witch, linking them together and bringing it close to her heart after placing a kiss on her knuckles.

“I…”

‘I love you, I think…’ Mary wanted to say, but she felt it was too soon, too awkward… and she feared what those words could mean for someone like her who had felt nothing of the like in her life. Not as a teen, not as an adult, and not even for her former fiancé. “Thank you, Zee. Good night, honey.”

Another kiss was left on her neck, followed by a humming. “Good night, darling.”

In the comfort of Zelda’s arms, Mary fell asleep in no time and comforted by the ease with which the mortal trusted in her to hold her in her sleep, the eldest of the Spellman’s closed her eyes and her breath evened out. And finally, they ended a day that could’ve been so much worse hadn’t the brunette being with her.

Chapter 54

Notes:

I'm pretty sure this is just mild poorly written porn.
You can skip it if you want it truly doesn't add to the story...
but if I didn't write it down then.. I'll be forever looping in it...
(not that I mind though, but I'm sure you'll want an end at some point)

Chapter Text

It was the second morning in a row that Mary woke up tangled with the redhead beauty. She smiled softly as she stretched, almost mewling as she did. Beside her, Zelda snuggled closer to her and sighed.

“Oh, well, you ought to have an awfully indecent trait…” the redhead mumbled, rubbing her nose against the warm skin of the brunette’s chest.

“And pray tell what that might be?” Mary whispered, her hand finding copper tresses and tangling in it softly, gaining a moan from the witch.

“You are a morning person,” the High Priestess left out with all the disdain she could muster while being comfortably surrounded by her warm body. “I abhor morning persons…. There’s no doubt a special place in Hell for those who dare to be all chipper in the mornings.”

“Aren’t you exaggerating a bit there, honey?” Mary chuckled but noticed the Directrix’s eyes remained closed. She wasn’t sure if she felt disappointed for she could not see those beautiful emerald pools covered with sleep or if she was awed that she was allowed to see the drop-dead gorgeous -and terrifying for most- woman so cuddly and pliant in her arms.

“Not in the slightness. But I can speak to the Queen of Hell to keep you from getting there. Perhaps, dealing with me softens your punishment.”

There was an audible gulp, and Mary shifted in place.

“Oh, for Hecate's sake!”

Zelda scrambled in place, waking up as she realized what she just said and how. Her hands found the teacher’s cheek and her eyes searched blue eyes.

“I’m sorry, darling. I didn’t realize what I was saying… I know you fear for where your soul will end, and it was not okay that I joked about it.”

Mary gave her a tight-lipped smile, and then she surrendered herself to the warmth of Zelda Spellman and her caring ways. She closed her eyes and sighed.

“It’s okay. I must deal with the fact that my soul most likely will go to Hell. I’m not only doubting my God’s words, but I’m also going against most of the scriptures and, well… It’s safe to say I won’t be fulfilling that line where it says I should kill you for being a witch… For sure, I still will flinch at knowing where my soul will end for some time but… you shouldn’t walk on eggshells around me. You haven’t so far and that is working for us, isn’t it?”

“I suppose,” Zelda said. She closed her eyes as she dealt with the memories of the night Mary killed her. Sure, she wouldn’t kill her now, but she had.

“Zee…” A sigh followed. “Whatever it’s going on in that head of yours, we are going to work it out. I’m sure of it.”

“Perhaps, Mary. For now, we should start our day. I can’t believe it’s Friday already.”

Since the brunette didn’t let her go, Zelda shuffled in place. Only scuttling up a bit and turn around in the teacher’s embrace. Instead, Mary tightened her embrace before she let out a sigh of her own that tickled the redhead’s neck.

“I… it’s still early… isn’t it? I mean, the alarm didn’t go off yet, and…”

She was blushing in a crimson red. Sure, there was some acknowledgment on her part she lov... liked… Zelda far more deeply than she was willing to accept, but there was also this need brewing inside her of filling the witch’s needs.

Both of their breaths were stuck in their chest. Then Mary did what Zelda had done several times on her. Her thin lips caressed the alabaster skin gently. A small nibble at the lobe of the redhead had her moaning, her pale hands finding those surrounding her and squeezing them.

“I want to… Zee… I want to give you what you gave to me…”

It was breathlessly said in her ear. Zelda had to gulp at the way the words had sent a shiver down her spine. The lips continued their way down, kissing her neck and then shoulder lazily, and then moving clumsily to straddle her.

“Will you let me?”

The question was finished, with her lips caressing the skin right above her breasts. There was a growl coming from the witch as shuffled in place, pulling her nightgown off. That was as much as an answer that she could muster at that moment. Words could not be formed, warmth filling her every inch and need pooling down at her core just by seeing the normally shy mortal taking ownership of herself and straddling her while still keeping her innocent features shining in a bright red.

Mary wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do or how to act. Her experience not quite enough for this. Her braveness collapsing around her as the tip of her fingers traced patterns on the enthralling skin.

“If you keep this speed, darling. We won’t be getting to your school on time.” Zelda whispered, her voice faltering as the soft tips reached the underside of her breasts. Mary’s eyes fell on the redhead’s. Her blues almost matching the emerald pools as both were almost black with desire.

“Not that I don’t enjoy a pleasurable torture….”

“I’m not sure what to do…”

Zelda’s hand found one of Mary’s and brought it up for a kiss. A smile plastered itself on red lips.

“What did you want to do? You must have some ideas…”

A gasp left the witch’s mouth as the teacher lowered herself to lavish her perky mounds with so much needed attention. The High Priestess, not quite believing the woman could be so damn good at once, noticed how there was a pattern that she had done on her before.

Wet lips let her puckered flesh go with a pop as the teacher sat back and looked at her hungrily. For once, Mary knew exactly what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to scoot down to it. Still, her fingers were trembling when she hooked them with the fabric covering her Zelda.

The Directrix lifted herself slightly up to see the image of Mary Wardwell looking at her almost naked form with such hunger. She raised her hips to encourage the woman to get rid of the annoying fabric, and the mortal took the hint.

A glistening pink skin welcomed her and couldn’t help but lick her lips at the sight. The witch saw her taking a deep breath as if she was doubting herself or studying her at every angle to decide where to start.

“Make yourself comfortable first. If you want to try what I’m imagining you want to try, Mary.”

“Can I…” she stopped. While licking her lips again, unable to word what she wanted.

“Try whatever you want. I have no qualms voicing my needs.” Zelda winked and then she had to bite her lips to keep her moan from waking the entire house as Mary explored her without rest. Her hips moved to answer the mortal’s movements.

“Hecate! Mary… If I knew you’d be this gifted…” she panted out. “I need… more…”

The teacher frowned, confused by what that could mean, and then she remembered how Zelda had filled her that very first time. She slid one finger inside and then out. She thrust with an agonizingly slow tempo as she watched the witch squirm under her touch.

“More…”

A second digit followed, and Mary’s mouth tentatively joined the play. The High Priestess hips were thrusting in rhythm, urging her to speed up to no avail, and she was getting frustrated as her mind kept reminding her time was scurrying away and the last thing she wanted was another day spent hot and bothered. It would be even worst now, with the memory of the mortal’s hands and mouth on her skin.

“Mary…. I don’t mean to rush your exploring… but I know me and this will take longer than we have…”

“Oh…” the teacher blushed, feeling disappointed. Her fingers never stopped their motion as she looked up to a flushed Zelda. A pale hand stilled her hand, while the other one patted the side of the bed.

“You should get out of your pajamas first, or at least of the pants, so you can be more comfortable. Then scoot over here.”

Embarrassed by her lack of skills, Mary lowered her head, removing her hand from the witch. Icy fingers raised her face.

“You are doing an amazing job, darling. Any given day, I wouldn’t hurry you, but we don’t have time, so… if you want, I’ll show you what I need when time is not an option.”

Mary bit her lip, but stood up and got rid of her pants. She sat where Zelda had pointed at her and raised her eyebrow in question.

“Open up,” the witch said, patting her thighs as she moved her naked form out of the bed.

The teacher’s confusion was easily read, yet she had done what she asked only to find an armful of Zelda, who sat between her legs, opening her own as she rested on top of Mary. “Am I leaning too heavily on you? Are you comfortable?”

The brunette nodded as an answer. She felt Zelda’s hands searching for hers and awkwardness settled on her as it found her sticky hand. Her eyes widened like saucers as she brought it to her mouth first before the redhead trailed a path down, giving her time to decide if she was comfortable or not.

Fingers found the awaiting core three at once, and a gasp left the redhead’s mouth. Her head thrown backward, allowed the brunette to see she had her eyes closed, her mouth parted and the soft pink claiming her pale skin.

As the witch picked up the pace and grabbed her other hand too, Mary understood why she was so adamant that she would not finish at the pace she had set before. Yet, in a surprising second, Zelda halted all movement and turned around.

“I need to touch you,” she whispered. Her thighs now resting on top of Mary’s and her hands smoothing down the pajama blouse from shoulders to arms. The witch wasn’t sure where she had found the need to take her with her in the throes of passion. Yet, here she was, once again, asking for permission. “Will you let me?”

“What- what about you?”

Zelda smiled, taking Mary’s hand to her core once again, and whimpering as the teacher moved it again at the enthralling pace she had kept before. The witch’s head fell on her shoulder and bit into it, causing a pleasurable gasp.

“Please…” Mary let out then.

The redhead’s hand found the teacher’s core, touching it softly over the fabric of her panty before sliding it to the side.

“So, so, ready…” she whispered touching her imitating the speed the brunette was keeping.

Then Mary’s free hand all but shoved Zelda’s one where she needed her, and it became frenzied. Hips moving at their own speed as each tried to make the other climb their peak. Their free hands caressing available skin and eliciting sounds of pleasure from the other. Yet, their lips… lips found the skin of their necks and deposited kisses and bites on jaws and never touched, not even when their orgasms shook their very core and there was nothing more left than to fall over the other, panting as they tried to recover their breath.

“Hecate, Mary… if you knew you were this good… I wouldn’t have waited so long.”

Zelda joked, pressing a kiss on her crown. Her body still quivering when the alarm went off, bringing them back to the reality of their lives.

The directrix growled but untangled herself from the teacher. She stood up and pulled the brunette against her for a warm embrace before linking their hands.

“The shower will be faster.”

She took them both to the shower. The teacher blushed as she stood half-dressed in the bathroom while Zelda settled the water into a mild temperature. She entered the shower easily and shampooed her hair.

“You know, you need to enter under the stream to wash,” Zelda said as she rinsed her shampoo and lathered her body with a violet’s soap. “Technically, I could eat you up, but we already have used our time slot. So, why don’t you get over here? I’ll wash your back while you wash your hair.”

The witch continued her shower, adding some conditioner to her hair, and then she stood waiting for Mary to decide. As if she was a kid, Mary followed Zelda’s instructions. She stood under the stream, taking Zelda’s previous place, and as she shampooed her hair.

“May I?” Zelda asked, showing her a rose soap. A nod later and the witch had quickly lathered up the freckled body, as she fought with herself from kneeling and taking her again. She rinsed her conditioner as the teacher added some to her hair, and once done, she left a kiss on the freckled shoulder before stepping out to find some towels for them both.

“I look like a wet rat,” Mary said as she stepped out of the shower with her dark mane plastered.

“The cutest wet rat I’ve seen,” Zelda grinned before she once again used the spell to dry their hairs. “I could get used to using this spell every day if it’s for today’s reason. Although, I must admit you truly look lovely as a wet rat, darling. Now, we better hurry. One thing is taking you to school and let them talk. Another altogether is letting them talk when I’m taking you there late and looking as thoroughly fucked as you do now...” She turned towards the mirror and noticed her own image as she thought. “When we both do…”  She prayed it wouldn't be obvious for her niece exactly what had happened that morning between them. Yet, she couldn't help to think that she didn't care, for Mary looked glorious coming apart in her arms.

Chapter 55

Notes:

I'm sorry.. this one for sure isn't one of my best chapters.
But hopefully will get us to where I need them to be... :D
I just can't throw them where I want to and solve everything in the same week as any Mexican soap operas I've seen did before xD

Oh... for Zelda's clothes references check the image below... (clothing description ain't my forte, not even in my mother tongue xD)
https://www.hawtcelebs.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/miranda-otto-at-downhill-premiere-at-2020-sundance-film-festival-01-26-2020-8.jpg

Chapter Text

Zelda was already dressed when Mary finally stepped inside the walk-in closet. The redhead was padding barefooted, her hair perfectly curled in the ends, yet her face was still devoid of any makeup, and she couldn’t help the smile that blossomed at looking at her like this. It was so rare to see Zelda Spellman out of her perfect demeanor. Not even when annoyed she’d lost her poise, no matter how her face always betrayed exactly how angry she was.

That very morning, the teacher had seen her come apart in front of her -well, partially because she was busy with her own blissful state to enjoy completely the rapturous look of the woman.-

After that glorious wake-up, she had the view of a bare Zelda, with her hair damp, falling darkish against her pale skin, before it was all covered by a fluffy white towel. And now, she had the luck to watch her almost dressed yet still devoid of any armor -be that her makeup or her stern expression- and with a smile still wide on her face. Her elegant posture was part of her charm, and even looking like this, the woman exuded power in ways that made the teacher understand why she was the High Priestess.

“What?”

The redhead questioned, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear in with a shyness Mary had only witnessed once before in the privacy of their… mating? Lovemaking? Passionate afternoon? The brunette shook her head as she looked up and down at the witch’s clothes.

An eggplant A-line long-sleeved dress that fell a little over her knees and when she moved, the slits allowed her to see the black tights underneath it. Several layers of necklaces made of violet round stones completed her outfit. Well, as finished as one could be shoe-less at least.

Once more Mary wondered if she would ever dare to something more than her old boring clothes and the brown and green shades she felt so comfortable with as her eyes fell on a deep burgundy blazer.

“You should wear that one, it will work with your complexion nicely,” Zelda said, following her gaze. “Please, feel free to wear anything you like, darling. It’s obvious I own far more clothes than I can wear in a year.”

Knowing the teacher wouldn’t grab it herself, Zelda strolled to it and grabbed it from its place. She handed it to Mary, pressing a kiss on her cheek.

“I must finish my makeup. Don’t take too long or Sabrina might come to find us. Uh, that one will work great with the one dark blue skirt, and that grey blouse you own. A beige scarf and you’d look amazing, dear.”

She threw over her shoulder, not wanting Mary to find any excuses not to wear the jacket. Zelda had memorized the teacher’s entire wardrobe the day she helped her dress for closing the church.

A moment later, Mary came out of the closet dressed exactly as Zelda had suggested, and blushing deeply as she noticed the redhead was zipping up a thigh-high black boot.

The Directrix’s eyes twinkled. She gave the teacher a predatory smile as she stood up and walked towards her. The slits of her dress allowing the brunette to see how high the boots were. Definitively not a look that just anyone would wear without looking a fool, she thought.

“Dearest, you look radiant,” Zelda said, raising her hand and kissing her wrist leaving behind a dark lipstick mark on freckled skin.

Without further ado, the High Priestess strolled out of her room and towards the kitchen. They were running out of time. At least, without the twins to force them to stop at their school, there was a bit more leeway on their schedule.

Even when they had taken their time enjoying their morning, breakfast was slowly consumed under the squinting gaze of Sabrina Spellman.

“There’s something different with you, Auntie… I just can’t pinpoint it.” Sabrina said as she munched her cereal. “And you, Ms. Wardwell, I think I’ve never seen you wearing those colors. They suit you nicely. You should wear them more often… I bet at least in the clothing department Auntie Zee will be of great help. Not that you don’t look great, and you don’t know how to combine your clothes because that’s not what I mean….”

“Sabrina,” Zelda said, taking a sip of her coffee and looking at her niece. “Stop embarrassing yourself any further.”

“Right. I’ll zip it right now.”

“If you are ready, Zelda… I’m too. We don’t want to be late.”

Zelda nodded and stood up. She walked to the foyer, grabbing her purse and the car keys on the way out. Mary followed her, and soon they were on their way to Baxter High. Once a more pale hand grabbed the freckled one as they drove into town...

“Zee? May I ask you something?”

“Again? What can it possibly be now? For you to have to ask if you might?”

Zelda rolled her eyes playfully, shaking her head, amused. From the corner of her eye, she noticed Mary was uncomfortable.

“Anything, at any time… I said it before, you don’t need to ask if you may, you simply should.”

“Why… why are you so good to me?”

The question made the redhead pause. Where had that one come from? She wondered, but she stopped the car to the side of the road and turned around. Mary was fidgeting with her free hand and the buttons of the grey blouse she was wearing.

“What do you mean?”

“You know… you allow me to ask all these questions, then took me to your ex-husband, knowing how he could hurt you with his words. You’ve been teaching me all those things you can do or went through as a witch, and then… you… took the time to... care for me... in ways no one else had. And I’m just wondering why?”

A myriad of thoughts rushed through Zelda’s mind, and the flutter on her heart that told her she felt for this woman. Feelings that ran as deep as those she held for Lilith. Yet she also knew her limitations. Her hand raised to the bright red cheek, and with the pad of her thumb, she traced the fine line of her cheekbone.

“Because I…” just as she supposed, the next words got stuck in her throat. Unable to say what she had only felt once before, and that now burned her blood. But no, the next two words she wanted to say wouldn’t come out, just as they never had before in her long life.  

“I… li…” she tried the second-best combination with no success, knowing that’d be the case. Cookie points for trying, she supposed. While she tried to convey in her green emeralds exactly what she felt, knowing that no matter how much or deeply she could feel and fall for this mere mortal… There wouldn’t be any resemblance of those feelings in her eyes. She had tried and failed every single time.

“You are important to me,” she said, frustrated by her own shortcomings. Hating every second of this struggle with herself, for she knew Mary needed the reassurance, whereas Lilith hadn’t. She sighed at the flinch of pain that trespassed with speed on the blue orbs.

“I’m sorry, Mary. I wish I could tell you more, perchance even the words you might search for or those you need, but I cannot. What I can tell you is that my reasons are not quite those of my Goddess anymore. And they are far more extensive than I could word out… I wish…”

She shook her head. Another sigh left her as she looked upwards to the car ceiling and lowered her hand from Mary’s cheek. Zelda could feel the disappointment oozing from Mary. Yet there was nothing she could do about it anymore. She had tried everything. Everything but asking Lilith for a favor in fear that if the Queen of Hell figured out she hadn’t had a pure feeling since months after meeting her -not even during their first love-making night- would hurt her in ways no one dared to hurt her before. However, perhaps it was time… to pull the last card before imploring her own goddess to restore her feelings.

“I can’t feel things, Mary.” She whispered, not daring to look at the teacher. “A long while ago, I used to… I used to be… normal, I suppose. Yet… one day, I woke up and every feeling I felt was gone. The only remainders of any sentiment are those that come from my family. I love Hilda, and Ambrose and Sabrina…. The death of my brother almost killed me too…”

“Yet… I cannot feel things in the way others do. All I can have is a dulled version of emotions that I don’t quite know how to name anymore. Hatred, despise… all those so-called negative emotions are simply the same watered-down version. I cannot distinguish one from the other. And… the good ones… I suppose that outside those already mentioned, there’s only one other being in my entire life that got emotions out of me… and then… There’s you. I cannot tell you why I l... ca… why you are important to me… but believe me, I would if I could, for you deserve far better than a witch unable to feel.”

Mary’s hand found Zelda’s cheek and turned her face around. Blue eyes searching on the green ones. She couldn’t believe the High Priestess would confess to her something like this. Yet, here they were, halfway through town on a dirt road, and the powerful witch was telling her she cared for her (perhaps even more).

“Oh, Zee…” she whispered, hugging her tightly. “I’m sorry for pushing you to tell me this. I… I should stop messing in your business. Stop forcing you to tell me things you don’t want to share.”

Zelda sighed, breathing the teacher in, and calming herself from the nervous wreck she had become. She knew it wasn’t easy to understand what she was saying; it was almost preposterous to believe someone couldn’t have feelings. However, here they were, and Mary didn’t seem to hate her for that. She pulled away first, breaking the tight grasp the teacher had on her.

“Don’t ever dare to stop questioning, Mary. It’s one of my favorite traits of yours. Now, we'll definitively be late.” She said and kissed her cheek before starting their way once more.

“You should truly learn some time-altering spells, Mother Spellman,” Mary joked as the redhead pushed the gas as far as it would go. Now Zelda’s mischievous smile was not what she expected.

“I happen to master quite a few of time spells. However, they are not what you think, and they need far more than just words to work. Besides, even if there was an easy time-stopping spell, we wouldn’t be able to use it at your school when there’s still the doubt about your stalker.”

The witch maneuvered the car with the ease of a Formula 1 racer through the dirt path and out into the town. As she sped through traffic, she found a spot and parked the car. Before she dared to look at the teacher.

“Ah, I have a potion on my purse that will help with the carsickness. At least it’s not that late.”

Zelda apologized but moved quickly to open the door for the green-looking mortal. She offered her arm to the teacher and just for the way the world was still moving around her; the brunette took it. Mary could not care less about the looks she was getting as they walked together inside the school. The only thing she cared about was getting to her office and drink whatever potion Zelda possessed so the world would stop.

“Let’s get you to your office in no time.”

“No!” Mary’s eyes widened. “I mean, I’m already so late. As you can see, classes already started, and I know this class isn’t one of the best behaving ones.”

Zelda wanted to roll her eyes at this, but she knew what her own pupils would do if one of their teachers turned out late to class.

“All right, your classroom it is. But I’m staying until I deem you are fit for the class.”

“Yes, Directrix Spellman,” Mary mumbled. As they walked down the corridor, neither could stop the silly grins that pulled the corner of their mouths. Thankfully, the hallways were now devoid of any students.

By the time they reached the teacher’s classroom, her students were already creating havoc in the space, and Zelda wanted to flinch at the idea of entering that same room filled with mortal teenagers and their drama. She stopped Mary outside her room and perused inside her bag until she found a small vial.

“Drink up. It’s not instantaneous, but it should work quickly enough that I might leave before your next period.”

Mary looked at the pink liquid inside the tiny crystal container with an eyebrow raised. “It looks straight out of ‘Death becomes her.’”

The High Priestess laughed at this. “Well, wouldn’t you like to live eternally young?”

The teacher choked as the liquid went in. She wasn’t sure if she was more surprised about Zelda knowing that movie or the question she left out. Once she stopped coughing, she smiled.

“I used to think it wouldn’t be so nice, knowing that everyone you love will pass and you’ll remain. Now, I’m not sure about the young forever, but suppose living forever would have its perks, you know? Especially if you know people who can live long lives that you can share your future with.”

She didn’t wait for an answer to her answer. Mary simply placed the vial in Zelda’s hand and opened the door. Upon seeing the door opening and Ms. Wardwell entering the room dressed in a way that reminded them of the not-so-nice side of the teacher, the students quickly scurried back to their places. There was a smirk on Zelda’s lips as she noticed that this was one of those after-effects of the months she lost that Mary had told her about. The way Mary looked at her as if saying ‘yup, this is what I mentioned’ only confirmed this.

“Good morning, class. Today we’ll have the Directrix from the Academy of Arts, joining us to oversee how we do things in public school. So, I’ll hope you all behave.”

Zelda’s always haughty demeanor made the students straighten even further in their places, and she couldn’t help to raise her eyebrow. Not only at this answer, but at the way Mary had simply omitted the “unseen” part of the Academy name. The redhead scanned the room, trying to find a place to remain and not disturb them, deciding by leaning against the back wall, since she was used to spending most of the day on her feet.

The subjects she taught required a lot more walking. She needed to make sure they copied everything perfectly. For sure, one wouldn’t want to draw a sigil for banishing a possessive person and mix up the position of the moons, suddenly summoning the demon Decarabia.

Time dragged down for Zelda. However, she enjoyed observing Mary in her element. Despite her soft ways, she still commandeered the class’s attention with ease and stopped every so often to make sure everyone was following her. Not even giving them time to look at the back of the room where she stood and make comments about who she was and how this wasn’t the first time they spotted her at school.

“How are you feeling?” Zelda asked when the teacher walked up to her, after giving her students some work to do and joined her at the back of the room.

“A lot better. What you think they are thinking? You know... About this?”

“Well, with the introduction you did, I’m willing to bet they might be confused as to what kind of relationship we have. But, don’t dwell on it, Mary. Haven’t you mentioned how that girl brought your confidence up after she said the agreeable things none of us dared to think someone might tell you?”

“Yes, of course. I suppose everything has just as much as good as it has bad. How was that catchphrase? As above, so below… as within so without?”

Zelda laughed, bringing attention to them as she did so. “Why won’t we ask? Tell me, children… What are your feelings about the phrase, ‘as that which is below is that which is above and that which is above is that which is below, this makes the miracle of the one.’ Also paraphrased like as within so without, as above so below?”

“Isn’t that witchery?”

“It’s not witchery, per se, it’s a phrase that comes from ancient times. Traced back to the Emerald Tablet of Hermes. It has been paraphrased into a witch-related principle for mort… more current witches and followers of certain religions. However, the phrase by itself it’s not only appliable to witches. Now, I’m doing all the talk and I’m not hearing any thoughts.”

Timid hands raised to answer and one by one Zelda prodded their thoughts about that simple yet so profound expression. And Mary… who had been gifted with the vision of so many facets of Zelda Spellman, was once again in awe of the witch.

“How you do that?” She asked the moment her classroom was devoid of students, which took far longer than usual.

“Do what?” Zelda asked in confusion.

“That! Make them so enthralled by your words, making them answer what they really think. Is it witchery?” She whispered the last part as students were filling the classroom once again.

“No… It’s just life experience, I suppose. Teenagers, all of us really, want to feel accepted. At their age, the chance to voice their thoughts can be both daunting and freeing. However, they wouldn’t have if they weren’t feeling comfortable in your class, Mary. It’s you who gives them confidence. I was just prodding their thoughts. Didn’t you notice it? How every time they answered they were looking at you, not at me, for approval. How are you feeling now?” Zelda’s hand raised to her cheek and softly caressed before smiling and lowering her hand as fast as it had been raised.

“Normal, I think.”

“Well, then. I better leave, dearest. Even if the academy doesn’t start sessions until an hour from now and I’m sure my teachers could find someone to fulfill my duties. It’s quite obvious you don’t need me here.”

“Right.”

It was just then that Mr. Moore decided to check upon Mary, finding them standing at the back of the room. He frowned, once again the redhead woman standing so close to his Mary.

“Mr. Moore.” Zelda hissed when he joined them at the back. “I thought you would be in your own classroom at this point.”

“Yes, my students had some work to do, so I thought it would be nice if I checked upon my Mary. I see your students, Mary, are still running amok.”

“If you were on your way, Mr. Moore, I’d be able to start my class, and I’m quite certain I’ve asked you to call me Ms. Wardwell several times in a row,” Mary said, feeling braver with Zelda at her side and her students loudly chattering among themselves.

“What about her?”

“I’m overseeing her class. At the Academy of… Arts… we are very interested in Ms. Wardwell's talents. Who knows, perhaps we can steal her towards our program? Isn’t that right, Mary?”

“Academy of Arts?” Mr. Moore asked. “But what could she possibly teach in a school of Arts?”

Zelda’s grin widened. Having more knowledge of Mary than anyone else had, it was easy to lie through.

“Oh, she has a marvelous record for History of Art, anything historic really, it’s a good fit for my dear Mary.”

“Yes, well… If we don’t start the class, besides the lack of respect one could have for the schedule, you won’t be seeing much, Directrix. Mr. Moore, will you retire from my classroom please?”

They watched the man's eye from one woman to the other and then finally turn around, shaking his head. They noticed he was all but dragging himself out of the classroom.

“I cannot leave now,” Zelda said, and Mary nodded in agreement. She clapped her hands once, and every kid in the room sat in place. The teacher held her breath as she noticed Mr. Moore monitored them both and noticed how Zelda hadn’t once given him her name. She knew it was a precautionary thing since they knew her last name well in the magical world. If he was a witch hunter, voicing her name alone could bring troubles.

“Good morning, class! I’m sorry for the late start. The woman in the back it’s the Directrix of the Academy of Arts, she will join us for today. So, let’s show her how good we are on the public side of the spectrum.”

Zelda remained to the end of that class and pecked Mary’s cheek before she left. Now, the rumors about Ms. Wardwell and the redhead conflicting with those of the previous day. Yet, the kiss on the cheek, the lingering touch of their hands, and the way their teacher followed the mysterious redhead retreating form were duly noted by the students of her class.

Chapter 56

Notes:

Hey, y'all! thank you enormously for your continued support.
This chapter has some violence and mention of abuse.
As usual, the beginning and end of the violent paragraphs are marked by bold phrases so you can skip them if you think they might trigger you.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

It took a month… A month of waking up tangled -most of the time naked- on the redhead’s bed and enjoying far more than some simple innocent touches. Of the Directrix driving her down to school and appearing to rescue her after it ended.

A month where Mary had seen Sabrina turn eighteen and being both celebrated and mocked in front of her coven for having spent an entire year doing nothing silly and out of troubles.

“Does it bother you?” she had asked once Sabrina took her to the place she was supposed to fill for the ceremony of that night. A bright smile had blossomed on the teen’s face as she shook her head.

“Not in the slightest. They mock me for I worried them because they lost me in the same way I lost them. It’s a celebration of my life. Just as every moment we spend with my Aunts is, as they too were lost not far too long ago,” the teen had smartly answered, leaving Mary to wonder about the mortality of the witches until Zelda’s hand found hers and the doubts forgotten.

On that same night, and only moments later, the brunette had also been rewarded with knowing High Priestess Zelda, which was so different from the woman she shared room -and other things- with. It was almost as if a halo surrounded her, making Zelda look even more unreachable and yet, kinder.

Her role as the Crone sitting well on her, not for her age but her poise and knowledge. The redhead exuded comfort, power, and wisdom while an aura of mystery surrounded her… All the things that made Mary feel even more deeply for her (and apparently things only she could think about and see etched on the High Priestess demeanor)

It was the last day of school before winter break, and Mary was getting quite excited about spending Yule with Zelda. Not only her celebrations but her church, her traditions… everything would be shared with her. Perhaps she would finally not only dare, but they would have the proper timing for the kiss she was dying to share with her.

As she thought about how she was going to find a time when it was just the two of them, (and not in bed), perhaps with a few candles lit around them to make the proper ambiance, or perchance, as their family sat inside protected from the winter while Zelda walked out to smoke and she would follow her to the porch with a blanket, to lean in her arms and then, kiss her for the very first time under the bright light of the moonlight.

When it happened…

During the entire month, the High Priestess had tried to find a way to tell Lilith or call Hecate on the issue of her feelings, or lack thereof. Yet… she hadn’t found the words to explain to her dear Lily the situation, nor worthy of asking yet another favor from her Goddess when Hecate had granted her so much already.

Zelda clenched her jaw. By far, this wasn’t what she thought she would do at this time of the day. Sure, it wasn’t the first time when the Directrix was caught inside the Academy. Yet, never quite like this.

The enthusiasm of the young witches for Yule’s break had filled the day with untamed energy. Yet, thanks to the ones that would remain behind for special reasons, (mainly, they had no other family to go to) Zelda was going to be late to pick Mary up. The frustrated witches threw a combination of several locking spells, and they couldn’t even remember which ones they had done properly. It took the High Priestess and several of the elder members of the faculty a chunk of time to reach the last one…

Yet, not even in her most frightening nightmares, the redhead could foresee that she’ll arrive five minutes too late…

Funny how such a short time could utterly change things.

Mary was looking through the window when she saw her car being parked and the vision of the witch goddess that she loved too dearly. As usual, covered in her spotless taste, that had somewhat helped Mary to improve her own progressively. The brunette knew that under the dramatic black furry coat there was a mahogany pantsuit, a black blouse with a slight window above her chest, and the brooch she had gifted her adorned her lapel.

She smiled as she looked down at the clothes that Hilda had tailored to fit her frame. A white pencil skirt she would’ve never dared to wear before, less during winter. A bright red silk blouse, a warm black blazer, and a grey scarf that Zelda had lovingly tied around her thin neck. Most of those, part of the witch’s former wardrobe that now held fewer items, while beautiful fabrics and rich colors enriched her side of the closet, and to her utter surprise there was a lot more of black too.

Even her previous boring cotton underwear was revamped a week after Sabrina’s birthday. When Zelda had fulfilled her promise to her teen niece and took them both to the city. She under the pretense that she shouldn’t be unsupervised, and Zelda needed someone to go with her so she wouldn’t end up cursing some mortals. While the teenager found her friends, the Directrix took the teacher to a fancy store, and now… Mary owned now a wide variety of underwear she had never envisioned herself using until then.

The door of her office was opened brusquely. A mischievous smile formed on her lips as the action brought her back from her memories and into the reality that it was Zelda coming to fetch her. Mary almost hoped for the embrace that was coming and perhaps even a bit more now that she was far more in tune with her needs (She figured she had an everlasting need of Zelda’s touch).

Yet, the push against her window didn’t come from the pale hands, but from harsher ones. Darker, bigger, raspier. The growl on her ear wasn’t the needy one she loved from her witch, but a brutal one, and the pull of her blouse forcing the buttons to fall was not made in that playful way Zelda often used. Her red lace bra on display for the brute hands that had traveled to her right breast while keeping her in place with the sheer weight of his body.

“I’ve been far too patient, Mary. Waited for weeks until you would come for me… I’ve followed you, asked you. You’ve been a bad girl…” He bit her shoulder as she struggled to squirm away from his touch.

“No! Help!” she shouted, hoping that Zelda would be near enough to hear her cries.

“Come on, Mary… or should I say, Lilith? I know you want me. You are a needy one and that’s well known. Show yourself to me…”

His weight keeping her in place as one hand grabbed her breast harshly and the other one struggled to ride her skirt up. He stopped his brute caress to use both hands to break the skirt at the seams. Before his hands moved once more, one upward, and shockingly, the other one downward.

“Please, help me!” Mary shouted. Her eyes widened in horror as the realization of what was about to happen hit her. ‘Not again, not like this. Please God, don’t let it happen again,’ she thought as she struggled to get out from being pressed between him and the window. “Hecate, please,” she mumbled pleadingly.

The teacher noticed then among her porcelain dolls a ceremonial knife she was sure wasn’t hers. Nor Zelda’s. And that wasn’t there minutes ago. She reached out, her hand closing against the handle, and she pulled it.

She doubled her arm and struck him as harshly as she could not quite know where it hit, hoping that he would free her by the scare alone and let her run away from him.

The hands, previously clutching her body falling away from her and freeing her, while only a gurgle left the teacher’s mouth. The brunette turned around in horror as Mr. Moore grabbed the knife that she had hastefully stabbed his throat with.

After parking the car, Zelda had strolled to the building and down the corridors of the High School, knowing it was devoid of any students and most likely empty of anyone else save for Mary. It wasn’t until she heard the teacher’s voice calling for help that she panicked. Sure, Mr. Moore had approached Mary several times during that month, but he wasn’t giving signs of wanting anything more than having her attention. In a very unpleasant and stalker-ish way. Yet, every time either Mrs. Meeks or she were in the vicinity, stopping him from doing more.

The High Priestess chastised herself as she thought she had been far too lenient with the man, that she should’ve just scared him away from Mary and if he was a witch hunter… well, his brotherhood would face the wrath of Hecate.

Even when berating herself, Zelda ran as fast as she had when her life was in danger. The door was opened, and her eyes widened at the image of Mary embracing herself, blue eyes blown open, her body trembling out of shock, and her clothes far more than just askew.

“Why?” Mr. Moore gurgled on the floor, pressing his wound tightly, hoping to get her favor after all. “Lilith, I only wanted to serve you…”

“Oh, fuck!” Zelda left out.

She wanted to reach for Mary and embrace her, be sure that she was okay after whatever had happened, but if what Mr. Moore was telling them was coming from where she thought…. There was not much time left, and perchance, saving him would save them a lot of issues for Mary’s mental state.

“Are you all right, Mary? Are you injured, darling?” She asked the teacher who wasn’t moving. Yet, instead of going to her, and after a quick visual inspection of her frame to dismiss any physical wounds, with distaste, Zelda kneeled in front of the man.

“What do you know about the Queen of Hell? Why are you chasing Lilith’s favor?”

“I’m… a witch…” He said before taking his last breath.

“Oh, Hecate!”

Zelda huffed, distressed by this situation. She had thirteen minutes to revert the damage done to the witch. She dragged the body closer to Mary. Then she took her coat off and covered the brunette’s frame with it, hoping it would warm her a little. The Directrix fell to her knees again. She grasped Mary’s leg and touched the corpse before muttering a quick “Lanuae magicae.”

“Hilda!” she shouted as they appeared in the back room of Cerberus’ bookshop. “Hilda! Damn it, sister! Hurry!”

Her sister appeared in the room with a confused expression, the weird tone on her sister’s voice telling her that for whatever reason she had appeared there was some panic on her usually unmovable sister.

Hilda’s blue eyes opened as big as saucers and her hand found her agape mouth as she evaluated what she saw upon entering the backroom. Her sister looked quite distraught, kneeling between a bleeding man and the woman she knew Zelda loved (even if she didn’t say so). And Mary… the poor teacher was trembling and wasn’t even blinking. The younger sister didn’t want to imagine what had transpired, for the state of undressing the brunette was under Zelda’s coat.

“He attacked Mary, thinking she was Lilith. For he wanted her favors… She killed him. He’s a witch… We need to see if the Cain pit works, for Mary’s sake.”

“I’ll get Ambrose and we’ll try. Go, she needs you, the poor lamb.”

“Thank you, sister,” Zelda said before she transported Mary to their room that was warm enough to ditch her coat in there. She walked them to the bathroom, trying not to clench her jaw at the mess he left of the teacher’s clothes. Ones she had so proudly wore that morning for the first time and now were not only unusable but tainted with painful memories. Instead, she focused on filling the tub and helping Mary to stand.

“Mary, listen to me… you are in shock, dear. I’m not sure what happened but we’re going to get through it. I know your mind might be foggy, that you might not be thinking quite straight. You might want to run away from here and from everything, but you are safe. I’m here with you, darling. I’m going to undress you, okay? And we are going to lower you into the tub for your muscles to relax.”

“I… I think I’m going to be sick…”

Was what she left out in a whisper but didn’t move to the toilet. Patiently, Zelda walked her to it and kneeled beside her, holding her hair out of the way, and rubbing circles on her back as she muttered a spell for helping her with the symptoms of the shock. A spell she knew in her own flesh that worked well since it was the same one she used in herself once she was not only freed of the Caligari spell, but her memories fell into place, walking her to a shock of her own. A breakdown that she couldn’t quite have in front of her family.

Once there was nothing left in Mary’s stomach, she rested herself against Zelda. Her hands were trembling while her body was finally calming from the adrenaline created earlier.

“Can you stand?” Zelda asked.

“I think so…”

“Let’s get you out of those clothes.”

Carefully as not to add to Mary’s distress, Zelda stood up and pulled her up. Her hands finding her shoulders to slide the blazer out of the way. Then she found the red cuffs and opening them, she threw the remainders of the blouse away, deciding she was going to burn every piece they took out of the brunette’s body so there was no memory triggered by those clothes. A complete difference from what she’d done with the animal print blouse Mary killed her in and that still hung in the closet that was taken out every once in a while, to remind her of her own mortality.

The ruined skirt fell next, and it left Mary on a fiery red lace that Zelda loved on her. -A shame really to have to burn it.- She helped her out of her shoes and then freed the nylons from the garter belt and slid them down.

“Now, to the tub,” Zelda said.

“I need to…” Mary said, desperately trying to get rid of her bra but finding herself unable to unclasp it. Pale hands reached her back and masterfully got rid of the lacy bra. Once free, the teacher took away the last remaining pieces of her clothing. Then, Zelda helped her to lower down on the warm lavender-scented water.

Her freckled hands were raised from under the water, and she brought them close to her face for further examination. As if she couldn’t believe those hands were her own. Yet, Mary felt it wasn’t the first time she found herself in a similar situation, even if she couldn’t exactly think of anything worse than killing a man.

“I… I killed him….” she whispered. “I killed a man…”

“Not a man, a witch… Hopefully, it can be reversed. Although I don’t know if reversing it counts as fulfilling your God’s desire.” She inappropriately joked.

“A witch?” Mary’s sky-colored orbs looked up, utterly vexed by her dilemma. “God, Zelda… you coven… they will hate me…. They will kill me…. Blood for blood… Jesus! Just… I didn’t…”

“Shh, darling. It was self-defense that much I can infer from the status I found you in. Besides, as I’ve said, we’ll see if it is reversible. Just let me be clear, I’m in no way trying to diminish your feelings. We’ll deal with them as they come, and I’ll be here to listen to you when you want to talk.”

“How could I ever enter my office again without remembering what happened? What I’ve done?”

“Let’s not think about it right now, Mary. There are ways to face places that are tainted in our memories. If you feel you cannot, I can convince easily the Principal to give you a new office. I’m certain that if I enlist Ambrose, Hilda and Sabrina we’ll have your office moved in no time.”

“Zee…” Mary said after a few moments of silence went by.

“Yes?”

“Will you… join me? I mean, I’ll understand if I disgust you after the way his hands touched me, but…”

Zelda didn’t give her time, knowing exactly how dirty she could feel, even if she knew it wasn’t her fault. She quickly divested herself of her clothes and lowered herself on the opposite side of the tub.

“Come closer, Mary.”

The teacher turned around on the water, splashing some as she leaned against Zelda’s chest. The witch’s warmth surrounding her as usual, making her feel safe. Zelda left a kiss on the crook of her neck, as pale hands rubbed up and down freckled arms. Mary sighed as the feeling of home and safe invaded her every pore, almost making her forget what she had just done and what was almost done to her again.

“Will you… help me forget?”

“As much as I can…”

Zelda whispered in her ear, praying Hecate that this wouldn’t cause a breach that would be unhealable. A freckled hand found a fairer one and tangled their fingers before bringing it to her lips.

“I mean… now?” The lowering of their joined hands towards Mary’s core accompanied the question.

“Mary… this is no way of dealing with what happened…” Zelda warned. “This won’t make it go away.”

“I know… I just… Zee, I need you… I needed you before he… Honey, I saw you walking out of the car and I thought, can she be here now? Would I be daring enough to ask her to have me in my office, since there’s no one here? And then… It doesn’t matter if you don’t want to…”

Zelda didn’t dare to answer that. There was a mix of worry about her status and yet, there was so much desire throbbing in her, especially after that confession. So she moved her hand and allowed Mary to have what she had asked for.

“If you want me to stop…”

“I know…” Mary said, opening her legs further and throwing her head back against Zelda’s shoulders. “Please, don’t stop…”

Once the teacher had crossed the brink of ecstasy and relaxed against Zelda’s chest. The witch moved them to the room, sitting Mary on the bed before helping her dress in the first nightgown she found.

“Rest, dear. I’m going to check on Hilda and we’ll see from there.” She placed a lingering kiss on her forehead as Mary snuggled on the bed.

Her heavy eyelids closed quickly, hiding the blue eyes from the witch thanks to a spell added when she kissed her brow. A frown marred the soft skin of Zelda’s forehead as she marched to her closet in search of something to wear before getting out of the room.

“Zee!” Hilda called as she strode inside the kitchen, following the voices coming from there.

“Hilda. Ambrose. What happened?”

“Zee… the Cain pit….”

“Yes?”

“Well… It….”

“Come on, sister. I don’t have all day and I’m not in the mood for playing.”

“It worked, Auntie Zee. Faster than it had before… We took him to a cell at the academy. We were sure you’d want to interrogate him. Aunt Hilda was telling me he wanted Lilith’s favor?”

“That’s what he said before dying. I suppose I’ll know more after I question him.”

“Zee… are you sure you want to be the one doing it?” Hilda asked softly.

“I must, Hilda. No one messes with the Spellmans.”

She turned towards Ambrose then; her face a blank mask. If she was allowed the entire spectrum of emotions, her eyes would’ve been burning with rage. Hilda and Ambrose somehow kept in the smile that was threatening to form after hearing Zelda state Mary was one of them. Perchance not even noticing it.

“Hilda, make sure she’s not alone when she wakes up. I placed a sleeping spell on her but you know how fast they go away when distress takes over the mind.”

“Will do, sister.”

Ambrose walked to his Aunt and transported them to the corridor below the Academy where witch holding cells lined one beside the other one. The redhead took a deep breath, noticing they were just a door down from Faustus. She fisted her hands tightly and stretched her neck, the only things betraying the emotions she felt deep inside.

“Mr. Moore.” She hissed entering the room, her magic crackling against the binding spell before also being contained. The man raised his head from the hanging position in which it was. The metal cuffs kept him near the wall and far away from Zelda. Ambrose’s reassuring figure joining her in the cell in case she needed more physical protection.

“I need some clarifications as to why would you attack a mortal under my protection? Under Hecate’s protection.”

“There was a rumor that Lilith herself was seen afoot in Greendale. Also, it’s known among the free walker witches that the Church of Night has fallen. My magic is dwindling if not fully gone by now… and I thought, Lilith, she could grant me the magic I lack.”

“By forcing yourself on her? What kind of stupid misogynous witch are you? The mortal you attacked is not the Queen of Hell, and believe me, Lilith wouldn’t like or grant you any favors by attacking her.”

“How would you know? Besides, who are you to even think you know what the demoness would grant me or not, what would she like or not? I’ve heard the stories of how rough one must be to her for her to grant you what you wish. Hundreds of stories from powerful male witches that had succumbed to her pleasures. What would you know?”

If Zelda had access to her magic, the witch would’ve been burning in hellfire not only for trying to abuse her Mary but for speaking ill about her Lily. As he spoke, she turned one of her rings around before slapping him, a cut appearing on his cheek from where the ring had contacted his cheek.

“Do not you dare to speak of Lilith in such a way again," she hissed dangerously. "I’ve known the Queen of Hell for far longer than most realize. She’s not a demoness, as the patriarchal witches led you to believe. And as for who am I… I’m Zelda Spellman and it’s my coven's territory the one you came to alter.”.

“Zel… Zelda… Spellman? Oh, fuck… I didn’t know… I didn’t want to have the Spellman’s against me. All I wanted was my magic back and… perhaps even joining Greendale’s coven. The Spellmans I heard all about were followers of the Dark Lord, but you’ve mentioned Hecate?”

There was something in him that Zelda didn’t quite fall for. She had dated on and off Faustus Blackwood for long enough to figure some males could hide their craziness deep inside, and she had faced this man enough times to notice the misogynous way in which he behaved. Ways that weren’t explained just by ‘I wanted Lilith’s favor.’

“I won’t give you more. Come, Ambrose, this witch is not worthy of our time.” 

Notes:

Just let me add for the sake of avoiding issues that I'm no psych. Beyond what I've read about how one is supposed to deal with shock and after-almost rape, and my own experience dealing with a couple of offices "almost" assaults events (the worst being just someone showing me his dick thinking that I would, I don't know, fall in love with it and go for it?), I'm not a qualified go-to person.
So, if you need help, or you know someone who does, please seek appropriate counseling. Fics are in no way the proper way to get support even if they do help to keep your thoughts away from the event.
💖💖💖💖💖

Chapter 57

Notes:

I had a chapter almost ready to post yesterday. I quite liked it and I was going to post it when halfway through checking my grammar I had this lingering doubt if I should post it or finish what became this one.
So, I went to complete the words I was missing for this to be called "a chapter" ... and here we are now...
I suppose the bright side is that now I just need to finish checking the grammar of the other one before you get it. :D

Chapter Text

Hilda and her knitting basket entered the dark room she once shared with her sister. She blinked several times. Not only to adjust to the lack of light but for finding there was only one bed in there. Sure, she knew Zelda had changed to one bed once she moved out and Marie moved in.

She also knew her sister’s proclivity to burn things she disliked and having found her burning the entire bed the day Marie -Baron Samedi- left hadn’t been quite the surprise. Now, sure she had provided to the council the idea of bringing the twins and the teacher to the mortuary and she knew it meant that would force Zelda to share her room but… she was sure her usually hermetically closed sister would make enough arrangements to accommodate the mortal in question without a great display of magic, emotions or herself.

Besides, getting rid of one bed and getting two in was a minor spell Zelda could manage with her eyes closed, even when she was a less powerful child and sick. She was always the one conjuring all the beds when moving around because it was so easy for her.

So, it truly was quite the -pleasant- surprise to see the one bed, even when she had seen how much they cared for each other. Zelda taking Mary to her home with a considerable part of her closet in tow for her to fix it for the teacher was quite telling of just how deeply her sister was into the relationship (or lack thereof for the rest of the Spellmans). Her sister rarely parted with anything, least of all from her clothes.

She conjured a high-backed chair and a table in the room's corner that held ‘her window’ and closer to Mary’s side of the bed. Hilda settled her basket down and grabbed a black candle out of it. She often sat in the dark with only the light of the candle to knit, for it reminded her of her youth.

With a quick spell, the blond witch lighted the candle, eyeing towards the bed to be sure it wouldn’t wake up the sleeping beauty and when it didn’t, she grabbed her last creation and started knitting as she looked sporadically at the resting figure on Zelda’s bed.

“Their bed,” she corrected herself.

The room was dark when Mary stretched; the curtains were drawn tightly shut around the windows. A faint orange glow coming from what she suspected as a candle lit on a corner of the room had her turning her back to it and in search of Zelda’s warmth.

However, the High Priestess’s side of the bed was not only cold and empty but completely untouched and when she turned around towards the softly enlightened corner, she didn’t find her redhead paramour but her sister. Hilda was seemingly knitting a brightly colored scarf. She turned again disappointed of not finding the directrix in the room and curled as tightly as she could, bringing to her chest Zelda’s pillow as a source of comfort.

“She hates me, doesn’t she?” Mary whispered in the room’s silence. The subtle noise of the needles clashing against each other through the yarn stopped right then. A couple of steps muffled by the thick rug of the room followed until there was a dip on the bed, deeper than Zelda’s. 

Hilda’s heavier hand found her hair and caressed it tenderly away from her face as if willing her to look at her. She couldn’t, she’d killed a witch and what would Hilda and, well, any member of the coven think of her if she could kill a witch?

“You know, I hated you for a while…” Hilda disclosed and then she thought back, sure Zelda had a general dislike for the mortals but had she hated the teacher -and she had all the right to hate her after dying on her hands- the redhead would’ve crossed the lands in no time and killed the woman without a doubt. Especially when Sabrina too hated Mary Wardwell for killing her aunt.

‘I’m certain there must be an explanation for her behavior, sister. It makes little sense that having a house filled with witches, she simply killed one. Me… and let us not forget Faustus is on the run, and we both know how much he despises me,’ Zelda had said but every time they were near the teacher in any place in Greendale, the eldest Spellman would turn around and away, letting them seethe on her behalf for the woman who killed her walked free. No one knew Zelda also rushed away from the weird pull her heart always did around the woman.

“But not her. Not Zee… Not before, and not now that she got to know you. Trust me, I’ve seen my sister throughout the years… She cannot hate you even if she tries. Zelda is quite fond of you, lamb.”

Mary’s eyes turned to find Hilda’s honest blues.

“Why did you hate me?”

The blonde witch smiled, and her hand found Mary’s cheek caressing in a way like Zelda’s most tender touch, but it felt motherly coming from her.

“It doesn’t matter. It’s in the past, and I don’t hate you anymore. I’ll dare say I quite like you again. I think there’s only one thing it could make me hate you again.”

“What would that be?” Mary asked in a heartbeat. Her own heart racing in her ears as she waited for the words that were to come. She sat on the bed, bringing the sheets up to cover her further. Hilda smiled. She found karmic that the reason she had hated Mary in the first place and the reason she would hate her again were the same.

“You… hurting Zelda.”

“How could I possibly hurt her? I’m not …”

She frowned. There were so many things running through her mind. Yet, the moment Hilda mentioned the chance of hurting the redhead witch, all thoughts had stopped focusing on her own limitations.

“I know she cares for me… but I’m not… I’m not even half of what she deserves…. I’m…” she shook her head. Tears pooled in her eyes, and there was nothing she could do to stop them from falling. “I can only fail her, Hilda. I’m not even a witch, and I’ve been told how much she hates mortals… and I’m struggling to find myself. Truly, I don’t understand how she can think even fondly of me. Then I went and killed one of your kind and I’m sure dealing with the council will be hell to pay... and she’ll hate me more for causing such a fuss on her life.”

“Oh, love… You mean so much for her that even the thought of you leaving her might hurt her beyond repair. Zelda is by far one of the most private witches I’ve known, and yet, here you are, sharing her room, her bed… and a lot more than we realize or know about. She has allowed you in… I’m sure by now you got to know things I might not know about her… You shouldn’t worry about what Zelda or I or even the entire coven will think about you and your answer to that monster’s attack. No matter to which kind he or you belong to. Not when you have a set of troubles of your own caused by him. We witches might be bolder in our ways to protect our kind, but it doesn’t mean we don’t see injustice if there is.”

Mary took a deep breath as silence fell between them. Once more, the teacher raised her hands for further inspection. They were clean, her fingers thin, her skin freckled and her short nails were painted on a black enamel Zelda had given her, one magic-ed so it wouldn’t peel off her nails. She knew there was no actual blood on her hands, for the splatter hadn’t reached her hands. Yet she could see it and smell it as if it happened just a minute ago.

“I killed a witch…” she stated with trembling words as if uttering them once again would make them even more real than they already were. Hilda’s hands found hers, warming them.

“Well, actually… killing a witch is harder than you might think.”

The brunette’s widened eyes were raised, a confused frown marring her brow, deep lines forming on her forehead.

“But… he stopped breathing and there was blood…. So much blood.”

“Yes.” Hilda chuckled, remembering the several pools of her own blood she had to clean after Zelda killed her. “Quite a lot usually ends up spilled; however, Zelda had the mind to bring him to me and we threw him on the Cain Pit… has she mentioned you the Cain Pit?”

Mary nodded once and frowned. “She had also mentioned that it didn’t work when trying to bring you back to life?”

“Yes, indeed,” Hilda chuckled and shrugged. “I suppose it had to do with our coven being inter-Goddesses when it happened. It worked now. The pesky witch that attacked you is currently being held at the cells underneath the Academy.”

“Wait... Mr. Moore? He is alive?”

“Yes.”

It was Zelda’s voice as the witch joined them inside their room. Mary’s eyes raised to meet hers.

Unknowing to both, Hilda’s most gleeful smile was plastered on her face once she noticed again how the transparent icy blues shone with love when her sister was at reach. She knew Zelda cared for the way she behaved around the teacher and wondered if the lack of equally bright eyes had something to do with the change she experienced when she was a teen. The younger sister was certain she would never know, for Zelda kept that part of herself locked under the safest places of her mind -right next to whatever happened to her while under the Caligari spell- she thought.

“I’ve just interrogated him. He is without magic. As a lone witch, he heard the comments about Greendale, and of you… He wanted to seek a boon,” the redhead said as she walked around the bed and, kicking her shoes, she lowered herself on the other side of the bed. Then she slid closer to the teacher. Mary pulled one hand from Hilda’s grasp. The teacher searched for the pale hand of her love. Zelda smiled tenderly, lacing their fingers and keeping them on her lap.

“But what could I do for him, if I’m nothing but a mortal.”

“It’s a bit more complicated than that, Mary.”

Hilda intervened, knowing that Zelda might as well spill the beans about Lilith walking Greendale on the teacher’s suit. That would leave her sister on a tight spot with the Council since they already thought the mortal had too much of her ear. No matter how many times she had explained that Mary’s presence was Hecate’s will, and how long it took to allow the teacher into one of their ceremonies. Also, letting her know could get her on an even worse spot with the teacher who was finally taking enormous steps to understand herself. The blonde witch knew much of who Mary was allowing herself to become had to do with her sister’s nature of always pushing everyone to be who they were.

“Uh, there was one question I wanted to ask you, Mary. If you are okay enough to answer something about whatever happened that led you to kill him?”

“Yes… of course, Hilda… I’m not sure if I’ll be able to do so at once but…” Mary relaxed against the redhead’s shoulder waiting for the question that was to come, for the memories that surely would assault her.

“The dagger you used… where did you get it from?” Hilda asked. Both Mary and Zelda frowned. The teacher lowered her gaze to their joined hands and gave a slight smile as if she was drawing strength from it.

“I’m not sure. One second, he had me pressed against the wall and the next one. Something made me turn my gaze towards the porcelain dolls I have in my office. I noticed the handle between them and I…” she breathed raggedly.

“It’s okay, dear,” Zelda said, turning around enough to place a kiss on the crown of her hair before she glared at her sister. “Hilda…”

“Yes, love. It’s all right. I was just wondering if it was yours.”

“No. I don’t know how it got there.”

“Okay, don’t dwell on it.” Hilda smiled. It was tight, and it was all the redhead needed to know there was more to the dagger than she was letting on.

“There’s more, isn’t it there?” Mary frowned as if reading between lines whatever non-verbal communication happening between the sisters. She scuttled a little away from Zelda’s side and turning enough to watch green eyes. “Not only about the dagger, but about why he wanted me?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me.”

The teacher demanded, bringing her arms tightly around her middle. Zelda sighed, her hand found Mary’s cheek and her thumb rubbed her cheekbone raising goosebumps in the brunette’s skin as green eyes were looking at her so intensely.

“I cannot, dear.” She sighed. “I wish I could, however, not even as a High Priestess can I break a witch oath to the council after it was taken. All I can tell you is that it is both related and completely unrelated to you.”

“Those missing months… It must be it! Whatever change I went through, it’s related to this, isn’t it?” Mary asked, blue eyes glowing with the hope of finally knowing what the heck had happened to her.

“Mary… please… I cannot tell you.” Zelda whispered in defeat.

“It’s my life! How can’t you not? It’s months of my life I’m missing. Do you have any idea what is like to look back and have no memories whatsoever of what happened to you? To have people looking at you as if there’s was a chance that you suddenly grew another head or something? Do you?”

“I do… I lost several months in 1889? Or was it 1789?” She frowned in confusion, looking at Hilda for a brief second. Mary’s eyes also falling on Hilda as if not believing that could be true.

“For months we knew nothing of her. Edward and I tried summoning her. It didn’t work. We needed thirteen witches to bring her back from wherever she was. Until today we have no clue...”

“Well, it doesn’t matter if I know or I do not. The actual issue here is that I cannot tell you, no matter what you feel about it. No matter how I feel about it… Not until the council reconvenes and they unbind me from the oath.”

“But you’re the High Priestess! Doesn’t that count?”

“It would if I hadn’t submitted this decision to the council, for I thought I might be biased,” Zelda confessed, telling her the one truth she could and blushing at letting out that she had doubted of herself for Mary. The council restrained them from telling her even about the things that led them to be compromised for decision.

“You didn’t even know me! How could you be biased? Zee… I don’t understand.”

It was almost like watching a child pouting over candy, yet the three of them knew it was deeper than just that. It was part of her life (or rather her death) that she couldn’t recall. Mary’s eyes fell from green ones to blue ones shaking her head, disappointed but not at Zelda but at the place, she found herself into. “And you? Hilda? What about you?”

“As a member of the council, I’m also bound, love. She is not lying to you… There was a lot of thought about it, it wasn’t a decision lightly taken. There was so much done to protect your mind from it… and yet, it seems it must come out anyway as we both thought it would.”

“But if you thought it would come out… then why bringing it to the council?” Mary sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as she could feel a splintering headache forming.

“It affected the coven, dear. We couldn’t make that decision by ourselves.” Hilda smiled sadly. She never thought it would be so difficult to explain her without telling her anything at all.

“Please, dear. Don’t stress over it now, and no, I’m not dismissing your feelings I’m just saying that the council must reconvene for Yule festivities. It’s not that far away… In the meantime, perhaps it will be wiser to try to face your school office at some point?”

“Oh, after revival I called upon Sabrina and she took Ambrose for cleaning duties. It should be spotless if you feel you might want to face it.”

Mary nodded. Yet she wasn’t completely fond of the situation. The idea of waiting for a council of witches to reconvene for their celebration and hope they would agree to let Zelda and Hilda tell her what had happened to her was no better than facing her office and the new demons it held.

“Can you both leave me alone for a while?” she asked timidly.

The sisters exchanged a glance before they nodded. Hilda left the bed first and collected her basket from where she had left it and was about to wave the chair and table away when Mary stopped her. “Can you leave that there?”

Hilda nodded, smiling brightly at the teacher. “Yes, lamb. Zelds, I’ll make dinner if you don’t mind? It will be nice to have some family time. Won’t it? Mary, you think you’d feel comfortable joining us, love?”

“Of course. I just need some time alone if you don’t mind.” Another nod before Hilda removed herself from the room. On her side of the bed, Zelda hadn’t moved save for a nod to acquiesce dinner.

“I just need to know that we are all right, Mary. That you understand that’s not my desire to keep you from this information that should belong to you…”

Mary took a deep breath and turned around to watch concerned greens looking at her. Her hand raised and caressed the alabaster skin of Zelda’s cheek. Finally, she placed a kiss on the side she hadn’t touched.

“I understand, Zee. I wish I didn’t… but I cannot change what you are, who you are, nor I want to. If you are bound to the council, then you are bound to the council and there’s nothing I can do about it. Perchance I would like you to re-called them from wherever they dispersed to, but I’m also a teacher. I know how we need these breaks. We are going to be okay, honey. You promised this to me just hours ago… and if there’s something I found out about you, is that you keep them.”

Zelda nodded. A grateful sigh fell from her lips followed by a soft “Praise Hecate…” and Mary blushed.

“May I confess something, Mother Spellman?” She asked carefully.

“To the High Priestess, the directrix, or just to me?” Zelda wondered, making her notice there would be differences depending on who she was speaking with even if she was the same being. She bit her lip before her answer flew out from between her lips.

“To the one that cares for me?” Zelda’s expression softened; her shoulders relaxed as she waited for the brunette to word her confession. Mary’s eyes filled with tears as she noticed it wasn’t just a silly confession, it was an entire change to the paradigm of her faith. Perchance it was confirmation that her God didn’t approve of her actions, her new way of living… the woman she loved. That after all, she had done to keep her faith, her God had finally given up on her. She gulped.

“As he pressed against me, I called my God for help… and he... he didn’t answer.”

Zelda wanted to state that it wouldn’t be the first time a God didn’t answer. That sometimes what we think utterly important it’s nothing for them. Sometimes, they are simply assholes, as hers used to be. But she bit her tongue and let her continue, trying not to pass any judgment on whatever thing she was going to disclose.

“His hands were everywhere, and I thought… not again… and how you would despise me after being marred by him…. and I…. I called Hecate’s help.”

She lowered her eyes from the ceiling where her gaze had fixated as she started to speak and turned around enough to find Zelda. She played with her hands, picking the cuticle of her thumb, trying to find the way to word out of her the lingering doubt she had.

“You think… you think that the knife among my dolls might have been her way to help me?”

The High Priestess sighed.

“In a few days, you’ll understand so much more, darling. What I can tell you is this, when I first found out it was you who I should ‘convert’ to Hecate’s path. I wasn’t sure I could do it and she said to me she’ll never push me to do anything I wasn’t ready for. Nothing that I’ll command will be ever to harm you, she said. Perhaps, she was answering your plea, and that’s why the dagger appeared at hand’s reach. But if that’s the case, she knew you were ready to defend yourself and you would come out on the other side, perhaps not unscathed but standing.”

“I suppose I still have some fight left in me.” Mary smiled softly, blushing at the way she was being looked at.

“I hope not just some but decades of it, darling, and I’d be honored to share them with you.” She finished with a peck on her cheek and patted her thigh before moving away. She sat on the bed, found her shoes, and once ready, she walked away.

“You are going to be just fine, Mary. You are far too strong to do anything but thrive.”

With that, she walked out of the room to find her sister. She knew that Hilda’s offering for dinner was also a way to tell her they needed to speak. It was often their code for ‘you need to know something that no one else has noticed yet.

“Sister,” she said, coming near her. That Hilda hadn’t even jumped when she called her confirmed her she was right. Her sister was expecting her to join her. “What’s wrong?”

“The dagger….”

Zelda frowned. She had seen it; it seemed nothing out of the ordinary. Sure, the black handle with the golden decor looked familiar, but she had touched, owned, and seen so many daggers throughout the years that it could’ve been just another kitchen knife. Besides, she was far more concerned by Mary and the chance of saving her for having to learn how to deal with the weight of killing someone who remained dead.

“What’s with the dagger, and please try to be quick. We don’t know how soon any of the inhabitants of this place will decide to show up.”

“I took it away from Mr. Moore’s neck. It called my attention not only because it sent a discharge to me. But there was a Hecate’s wheel that must have been carved on the handle, and then covered with gold. The blade too was golden… and Zee… I went to the library when I figured where I had seen it before… and that dagger is gone. The cage is empty.”

“Aunties? Any idea why the cage containing the ‘dagger that proved the Dark Lord’s power over Hecate’s’ is gone?” Sabrina asked, a confused frown on her youthful face.

“A few… but none we are ready to discuss yet,” Zelda said.

“Oh, okay.”

“Oh, okay? No question? No complaints? Nor secret plans to find whatever happened and save the world from its doom again?” Zelda wondered, her frown deepening.

“Nah, Aunt Zee... Relax! I think I’ve saved the world enough times. I can wait a couple of hundreds before I try again.”

Their niece walked out of the kitchen, and the sisters exchanged a worried glance. “We better keep an eye on her.”

Chapter 58

Notes:

And history timeee... :P
(yes, I know some of you don't enjoy them but it is what it is xD)

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Lydia Endor was fifteen when she took her vows as Hecate’s priestess. Coming from a long, ancient line of priestess turned High Priestess, the Endor witch was seen as the next one in line to fulfill that role in their coven. Most likely the one to replace the current High Priestess (her mother) as her own mother had when the time came.

The night was glimmering with thousands of stars; the bonfire seemed to dance with the dark tones of the drums that sounded in the background. Its orange tongues risking out every once in a while in between the witches warming next to it in the clearing they used for the ceremony. Hundreds of candles and offerings of all kinds littered the sacred space. And Lydia was alight with a joy of having become one with her goddess.

Hecate would follow her anywhere, she knew. Hecate would provide for her even in the darkest of the times and Hecate would protect her from all evil.

She danced around the bonfire, naked and gloriously free. The center of attention of the entire celebration. The only missing thing now was the voice of her Goddess beckoning her for the most spiritual part of her journey.

Travel down the crossroads and into the realms Hecate held. Perchance, a glimpse of past and future would be allowed. Folklore said that her truest gift should be revealed at the end of the journey.

As she twisted and turned around the fire, sweat glistened against her skin, and without even realizing it, she fell to her knees and then further down the mossy ground.

“All is well. You are safe, child,” a voice said to her. One she had never heard before.

“Hecate,” she whispered, but she couldn’t feel her mouth moving.

Everything was dark now, save for the few light beings that came with her. It was eerily silent as if she was standing in some liminal space. The teen also noticed she wasn’t naked anymore. There was a black soft velvety cape cloak covering her from head to ankles, keeping her warm.

She blinked, and the space surrounding her changed. Instead of pure darkness, she noticed it was dusk. Insects and birds were chirping and she found herself in a musky, lush, and earthy meadow. The sound of a stream singing to her nature-loving being. She couldn’t help but bury her toes on the cool earth with the need to become one with the ethereal place she was taken to. She looked up and found no moon contrary to the bright full one she had been in before.

Lydia took a step further, drowning herself in this place she had never seen before until she saw it. From the corner of her eye, she saw an entrance.

“The underworld,” she thought.

Was it luck that Hecate granted her access to the door to the underworld? She opened the dark heavy wooden door that had nothing to do in the middle of the meadow and found a spiral stair made of black blocks.

Her heart was racing, as she had to decide if she was brave enough to walk the path down. Her pale hand touched the cold boulder of the wall, and it was almost as if something inside of her already decided. She took one step down, and then another feeling as the cold blocks became warmer under her feet with every step she took.

Almost as she had twisted and twirled before the bonfire, she seemed now to be doing the same down and down until there was a plain. By then, her breath was heavy, her chest rising and lowering with quick puffs.

Another set of steps appeared at the end of the plain, separating her from an iron gate guarded by three dark hounds that sat peacefully to each side.

“I love you, and will love you even when you’ll betray me… You will do it for a greater purpose.” The same voice said inside her head as she walked the last steps down. The hounds straightened into a defensive stance, eyeing her as if evaluating her worth. She knew there was a price to pay for entrance.

“I bring nothing other than myself, Dark Mother.”

“They’ll take your darkest memories as an offering. They feed on the fear and doubt of my followers.”

“Take them,” she said, kneeling in front of them. One by one the hounds walked to her, sniffed her whole before licking her forehead. A shiny black thread came out of her forehead as they licked it once and returned to their previous position, absorbing the darkest memories out of her as one would a never-ending spaghetti.

Once the dark threads disappearing into the deep recess of the hound’s mouths, the gates opened behind them. The black hounds opened the space they occupied before allowing her to step through. Blackness surrounded her once more, and then a wind blew the hood of her cloak away from her head. As if the wind was a breath that enlightened them. Torches shone welcoming, showing her a path, a black brick path. Equally black foliage and flowers taking every single space as far as the darkness allowed her to see.

An equally hooded figure appeared at the end of the way, her dark cloak covered with golden embroidery, with beautiful symbols stating her Divinity.

“Hecate,” she said, recognizing her goddess immediately and kneeling in front of her out of devotion and respect. A hand that had no real limits -it seemed to exist in an energetic field of its own, moving and unmoving at the same time- was extended towards her, and Lydia took it. The eyes of her goddess fell on her own.

“I see life and death, future, present, and past. I hold the keys and survive all things. Tell me, child, will you let go of some more of you to please me?”

Unable to find her voice, the teen nodded. Slowly, the Goddess leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her lips. She pulled another dark, thick thread from inside her, leaving her gasping for air. Whatever she had taken away from her, Lydia only knew she felt lighter than she’d ever had.

“Let me tell you a story, child,” she said, sitting on a rocking chair that appeared out of the blue, and patting her lap for Lydia to sit there. The witch gulped. She had heard about Hecate’s motherly ways, but never about someone sitting on her lap. Yet she didn’t want to disappoint the one she served.

“Once upon a time, everything was one. Until it wasn’t. We grew, we expanded, we divided, and soon, we fought. We became one and three, and in two and one... and cero and infinite. Then, we expanded some more. Celestials and Underground beings, Humans and witches were added to the spectrum of life, created at the image of the one, and thus there was no feasible way for fights to stop, for the one too was divided, yet balance wasn’t lost.”

“As several entities were needed since humans and witches needed different paths and different leaders. The one changed, adapted to provide what would make it perfect. Gods and Goddesses sprouted out in the realms, and everything was perfect.”

“Yet, the rebellion wasn’t only for the lowly humans. Oh, no… rebellion also happened amongst the sky's creations. Celestials wanted a wider stance in the line of power, and some fell.”

“We knew what would happen, and it happened. Slowly the fallen took over one of the many Underworlds, working silently to defeat them all, and together with the creatures on it, they spilled thousands of lies to appease both part of the one and the realms. Love, you’ll see, can change people if they allow themselves to. It can be also the protective barrier that brings you back to yourself. Goddesses fell as love shifted away from their care and into the lies and promises of others, and they will continue to fall. Even I… will be displaced in time.”

“The power of this Celestial will only grow until the last of the Queen’s of the Underworld submits wholly to him, to his lies. And then, there will only be one way out of this. A pure child owner of the Queen’s heart will need to help her free herself, to regain the ownership of her own realm, and by extension the other realms that have fallen and will continue to fall under the Celestial grasp, and when they are one and three ... it will all fall in place as it should have been.”

“But in trying to keep her pure, a curse will be cast that will delay our return for a couple of hundreds of years. Perhaps even sadly, you will not see when it happens, child. Yet, rest assured, you won’t be there when I fall. You won’t belong to me anymore.”

“I’ll never leave you, Dark Mother!” Lydia said vehemently, standing up in a rapid jump as if to prove her point by showing her bright eyes filled with adoration to her goddess. A hand was tenderly placed against her cheek, the borderless thumb rubbing her skin as something Lydia could only describe as a knowing smirk blossomed on Hecate.

“You will, child, and it will be all right. Every story needs someone whose path is doomed. Haven’t you heard of Judas? And how he betrayed his master?”

“Yes.”

“He did it because all along that was the only plan for him. It was a sacrifice to bring a soul that would carry such a heavyweight. To betray his own master… as you will, my dearest child. That is your path.”

She lowered her hand from Lydia’s face and offered stretched hands for the teen to pull her up from her seat. Distressed by what she had just heard, Lydia doubted. But her conviction that she would not betray her Goddess made her take the hands and help her up.

“No matter what you think, your deal is sealed. It was done the moment you stepped through that door.” As Hecate stood up, a warmth surge of power passed from Goddess to the witch, setting deep inside her.

“You might be called a betrayer; however, you will do nothing but my work.” She whispered.

Lydia couldn’t hear her voice anymore. Her emotions, her entire being, fell deep into her feelings. Every inch of her body was taken over by the power of her goddess. She was searching into her very last crevice for anything that could taint her vessel.

Her body shivered as Hecate’s magic filled her whole, making her feel safer than she had ever before, cleaner. Powerful as no other. All pains -physical and not- she had disappeared from her body.

“Breathe, child.” She said. “How are you feeling?”

The teen licked her lips that felt both moist and dry before trying her chance at wording her thoughts. Her voice breaking with the tears she hadn’t felt falling.

“Anew,” she said. “Thank you, Dark Mother.”

“Now, there’s a gift I have for someone related to someone in your future, child. Whatever you do from now on, no one should wield it.”

A velvety cloth appeared in her hands and above it golden dagger appeared on her hands, Hecate’s wheel adorning in a golden filling, the obsidian handle.

“How do I know?”

Hecate smiled. “You won’t. The owner won’t exist until centuries after your passing, child. But it will bring the one a step closer to unravel my plans. You must return now.”

Lydia frowned. She thought she should feel angry, or at least confused by what she’d heard, yet… all she felt was the purest calm she had ever experienced. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to steady herself and her thoughts and a wind caressed her cheek.

As she opened her eyes again, only the torches pointing her to the steps remained. She walked out of the dark garden, and through the iron gates, then up the never-ending stairs until she could almost breathe the fresh air of the meadow, almost touch the moist soil under her feet instead of the dark rock.

She could see the orange hue of the sun right ahead, and when she crossed the black wooden door into the meadow, she felt stiff hands touching her cheek.

Her mother’s hand comforting her, petting her hair as Lydia’s head rested in her lap. She had been following her child’s dance, the way she moved, making it a path towards a trance, and Hecate’s priestess had seen her child fall to the ground with a proud smile on her face. She rushed to her child and sitting near the bonfire to keep her naked body warm, and brought her head to her lap, and waited. Around them, witches kept dancing, and the booming sounds of the drums still played in the same rhythm.

Lydia’s eyes opened to a dark ceiling covered with stars and a bright full moon shining atop in between the green canopy of the ancient trees that protected Hecate’s coven from the outside world behind the veil. She turned her head to realize it was propped on top of her mother’s lap, her own body still naked, glistening with sweat, and sprawled on the clearing in the same position she must have fallen to the ground. She sat confused by what she had just experienced and opened her mouth to speak. But her mother’s pale fingers found on her lips.

“What you saw, what you experienced it was for you and only for you. What you brought… I suppose you know its purpose.”

As she added these last words, Lydia’s mother uncovered a dagger from under the same dark velvety cloth she had seen in her vision.

“No one dared to touch it.”

“As no one should,” Lydia said. A knowing glance passed between mother and daughter. The young witch looked at the dagger as it got encased in a glass box with golden trims. Tempting and beautiful… and yet unattainable… Quite fitting for the trio that was attached to it all.

While in the cave, Hecate opened her eyes again as a blue fire took over the torches once the Endor witch was gone. “Lilith.”

“Praise Hecate, Anassa Eneroi!*”  The figure that appeared behind her back, nearing her until she stopped beside her said.

“I could use the same epithet for you, can’t I not? It’s quite fitting of you too, child.”

A wide smile sat on the youthful face of the gorgeous winged woman Goddess that stood beside Hecate, a soft transparent and iridescent black linen barely covering her breast and nether areas kept in place by a golden belt. Bright red lips were licked and her hair was tucked to one side. Her eyes shone with the fire of her realm. Her own Hell. 

“Indeed, you could, mother. Now tell me… why have you summoned me?”  

“The dagger has been delivered to the carrier. Lilith, I know you will forget all about this. About who you are, and about her too… But you must trust me, our time will come.”

Lilith huffed, having heard about this magnificent plan of hers a couple of times and still trying to understand how it would work out in the end, if the key players had no clue that they were important. 

“And if I’m to forget… how am I supposed to know who would wield it?”

Hecate shook her head. " You’ll know, my child. It will be the most obvious option.”

“A witch?”

“Not quite. Now, off you go, you still have a realm to Govern. Until it falls and we rise.”

“Until we fall, and we rise, mother.”

It had been centuries since Lydia Endor’s betrayal of her Goddess became the downfall of the Endors. At the birth of Lydia Spellman, Hecate visited her priestess once more, taking away the pains and making her forget before returning the Goddess-less witch and turned her towards the Celestial behind it all.

When she married into the Church of the Night, Lydia tried her best to remember the story her Goddess told her on her first night as her Priestess, but to no avail. Any memories of her previous life related to her practice disappeared one second before her name was signed away. A terrible second when she realized it was the first time she was utterly alone. Until her bloody name was scrawled and a different type of warmth entered her soul.

The only remaining thought about her past as Hecate’s Priestess was her task of protecting the dagger at all costs, and so Hecate’s dagger had followed the Spellmans from one town to the next, its years spent inside the glass cage. Kept at display at every Spellman’s library. Showcased as the power of the Dark Lord to convert the most devout of the lines of witches… until who exactly that line was, it was also forgotten.

The Spellman children would often enquire about it getting nothing but warnings of not touching it. Yet, every so often, Lydia would have to drag her first daughter away from its tempting form. With the curse placed over her, Zelda also lost the attraction she felt towards the dagger.

And so… with a desperate plea coming from dry lips, it finally reached its last destination. “Hecate, please” were the words that finally pointed where to transport it from its glass cage to a crowded windowsill to save the true owner of it from a fate that wasn’t hers.  

Notes:

The Epiteth Anassa Eneroi means Queen of the Dead and it's one of Hecate's many names. In her case, she's the one who leads to the afterlife and the one that oversees the people how die leaving unfinished business. Also, Anassa Eneroi is given to the one who punishes evildoers in the afterlife, and casually, it's also said that the Anassa Eneroi can bring amnesia to the mortals making them forget their lives.... It seems fitting, doesn't it?
#nerdingoutoff

Chapter 59

Notes:

Oh, goodie.... we are reaching the final chapters, I know for how hard is to write them down (even when I do have part of it written since I started it)
I wasn't going to post this one, but then again, I already wrote it xD
So, here goes nothing. <3

Chapter Text

“Ms. Wardwell?” Sabrina called as she knocked on the door of her Aunt’s room. “Ms. Wardwell, dinner’s ready and Aunt Hilda was wondering if you were joining us?”

 She heard the approaching footsteps and shuffled her weight from her heels to the ball of her feet until her former teacher opened the door enough to let Sabrina see her form taking all the space.

“Yes, Sabrina. I’ll be right down. Thank you.”

Sabrina nodded but before she disappeared down the hall, she added an “Aunt Zee said she left something for you in the closet?”

The teacher sighed as she watched the young adult disappear down the hallway. She closed the door and rested against it. Mary wasn’t sure she was ready to face the Spellman family, knowing that they all knew something about her she didn’t. But her mind reminded her they already knew it before she even stepped inside their home.

“What difference does it make?”

She shook her head and looked down. Zelda had covered her with one of her own nightgowns. It was a midnight blue satin gown, dark lace-covered part of the deep enough vee on the decolletage. It was soft against her skin, but it was not something she would wear no matter how much more daring her clothing became in the past weeks.

Her shyness and deep self-deprecation didn’t stop her from staring at herself in the mirror. Her hair was a mess, and her eyes looked as tired as she felt. As if something had drawn all her energy away from her, even after the nap she took. Perchance it was the emotional weight of knowing there was some “paranormal” explanation to her life.

The brunette stopped dead on her track the moment she stepped inside the closet. In the space designed for dressing, there was an iron-grey long-sleeved dress. The design of the dress was one she had pointed at Zelda on their quick trip, but that Mary had refused to buy (or be gifted with), for they only had it on a sapphire red. Still, in awe, she donned it, and it fit her perfectly. No doubt Hilda’s doing.

For a second, she thought it might be a plea bargain dress or even an apology dress, but she didn’t dare to wonder about it more than she should, or she wouldn’t get to dinner. She took a deep breath, fixed her hair the best she could, and went down.

The kitchen’s sounds were those she expected, Sabrina and Ambrose laughing at whatever silliness they were sharing. The odd snort-laugh coming from Hilda as she moved around the kitchen. Zelda wasn’t there.

“Where’s?” She asked, stopping as she noticed the disappointment she felt at not seeing the redhead in her usual spot.

“Oh, lamb, there you are. Zelda was called back to the Academy just a breath after she came down. Gryla has gone into labor. I’m supposed to join her when we are done here. She didn’t want to disturb the moment you asked for, yet, she said to ask you if you wanted to come along when I leave, and also, she said that if you wanted to face Mr. Moore, it would be a good time to get it all behind”.

“I…”

“For now, I think the best it’s if we eat.” Hilda smiled, not giving her a chance to add more while lowering a plate in front of Mary’s usual place. It was just then that the teacher noticed exactly how famished she was. Not that long after, the youngsters offered to clean up the kitchen if they wanted to leave.

“Are you coming? And does it bother you if we walk?” Hilda asked. “I find delightful to walk on a night such as this one.”

“Yes…” Mary said, shaking her head. “I mean, no, it doesn’t bother me if we walk. But I might need better shoes, perhaps even get changed.”

Hilda smiled, her ears taking a pink tint before she looked at the teacher once more. “Ah, Zelds, she… hm, left boots and one of her warmer coats by the entrance. She knows I like the walk, and she thought you might enjoy it too.”

For a second, Mary thought she should’ve said no. That Zelda knew she would join Hilda and would want warmer clothes scared her. Was she so damn predictable?

“It’s not what you think,” the blonde Spellman said as she guided them to where the coats were hung. Mary followed her, not quite knowing why since she knew exactly where that was. “Zelda has an attention to detail that can be too much. Usually, no one could tell, except for her students as she grades their paperwork. Yet, for people she cares about… If she’s keeping tabs on you, doing minor stuff like this is, it’s her way to show she cares. It doesn’t make you predictable, it just makes her too conscious of the options that might exist for every situation she puts you in.”

As she spoke, Hilda passed her the boots and changed her own shoes, too. Once done, she presented her with Zelda’s coat and the scarf that was hanging from it then grabbed her own. They walked to the front door, Mary trying to tuck her hand deep in the pockets to protect her hands from the weather. But she found it almost impossible since inside them, she found a woolen beanie and leather gloves that -not surprisingly- matched perfectly the dress she was wearing.

“Ready to go?” Hilda asked, a knowing smile on her face as the teacher pulled the beanie over her head and donned the gloves. Mary nodded, and they headed out.

There was a soft patch of snow that made everything more beautiful. Be them any other being, it would also make it eerier. Yet, they strolled down the path that walked them out of the Spellman’s Mortuary, and the moment they crossed the barriers, Hilda muttered some words that Mary recognized, for Zelda had used them before.

“What’s that for?” she asked, as she had never thought of questioning Zelda about it. She had been more focused on getting answers about what she read on the day the few times they walked back home.

“To place us under the veil, allows us to walk both in your realm and in ours. Mortals won’t see us even if we might see them.” Hilda explained as they made their way through the woods.

“I see. I suppose everybody must do this to get to the academy by feet, and why it was easier to get us through the mortuary than to walk us there?”

“Exactly, and not quite. No mortal can see what the veil covers, so it’s easier to keep the door between realms and by extension the academy if we walk under it. You could reach the space near the academy without it and then simply trespass the door between realms, but it would be far riskier if a mortal was to spot us walking.” She smiled. The younger sister had heard all about the inquisitive mind of the mortal in council sessions, where members pointed out that perhaps too much information was given to her.

“No one can see past the veil? What about mediums? Or mortal witches? How do Sabrina’s friends get to it?” Mary wondered not only out of curiosity but remembering the time when, as a teen, she followed Zelda through the woods.

“Sabrina’s friends were granted the knowledge of how to get to the academy. They can see it if they follow a unique path, a doorway, so to speak. We never quite speak of it, but it’s something Sabrina brazenly did when she had all her Morningstar power, thinking that they could help her. As you might know by now, she did quite a lot of stuff without consulting us or the coven as she tried to prove herself to be better than the half-mortal she is. Or even that by being half-mortal she was better than full witches.”

Mary nodded as an answer. “If the council approves, we could show you where the door between realms is, and you could cross it easily. But the council is still reluctant, no matter how many times Zelda had tried to convince them otherwise.” Hilda patted her coat to find a flashlight. She left out a gleeful chuckle when she found it, and then fiddled with it until it turned on. The teacher frowned, confused by this.

“What? No fireball? Just a mortal flimsy flashlight?” Mary joked. Hilda frowned in confusion for a bit.

“A fireball? What has Zelda given you to read, lamb? Conjuring fireballs is not a task just for everyone. It’s easy to conjure, but it requires a great deal of reigning one’s emotions to control them. They can be quite a dange… Zelda… she did it, right?”

“Yes?” She blushed, frowning while trying to drown the questions that were brought up. Hilda sighed.

“Honestly, sometimes I think I don’t know Zelda at all. It’s sad, isn’t it? That we’ve both lived so long, both together and apart, and I feel I don’t know my sister at all. Once, when I all but condemned her for approaching you, she told me I’m too quick to judge her based on what she portrays. I’m not sorry I did, but… I suppose you’ll know my reasons after Yule festivities.”

Mary was stunned. What could she say to the blonde Spellman? She had no clue what it felt like to be on the other side of the self-protective barrier, as Hilda was. For she, too, grew with a fortress of her own surrounding her easily hurt self. She knew exactly how it felt not having a soul to confide in, or how even if she wanted to, she simply couldn’t let her words out, afraid of what would be of her had anyone known her. Sometimes it surprised her just how much she and Zelda were alike. As similar as they were different. Then something Hilda said struck her.

“Uh, Hilda? When are the Yule festivities? I think I might have been a bit too abrupt about my feelings and didn’t ask? And everyone is just going around yule festivities this and yule festivities that, at the academy.”

The blonde witch frowned, thinking certainly someone who was as deeply informed as the teacher was would for sure known they started Yuletide the day of the solstice and ended it the last Sunday inside the tide.

“Sunday, dear. It’s only three days, I’m certain otherwise Zelda would’ve recalled the entire Council in no time, no matter what they thought about it. Oh, let me warn you, Gryla’s baby birth might take quite some time, but don’t worry, I’m certain Zelda mentioned to you she has a room at the academy. I’m sure she won’t mind you crashing in there when you are beat.”

Mary frowned. Zelda told her a lot of things, but there was no mention of a room at the academy. “Wait, you mean to tell me I could be living at the academy instead of at the mortuary?”

“Oh, Hecate. Why did I open my huge mouth? I’m not sure what she let you know? About her recent past?”

“She mentioned she was married to Faustus and that it didn’t quite last.” She said, trying to summarize all she knew without betraying Zelda’s confidence.

“Did she mention she was seeing someone else after that?” Hilda asked.

The teacher bit her lip, trying to recall what she knew about Zelda’s past. There were hundreds of bits and pieces of her youth, and the deeper conversations about the damning time at Faustus Blackwood’s hands. Then her eyes lighted up for a second as she remembered one of their first encounters when she found out the redhead had married him.

“She mentioned someone, yes.”

Hilda sighed. “I swear to Hecate that if I could kill the bastard, I would’ve. You know my sister, Mary. She doesn’t let out a lot. Therefore, I’m not sure what transpired there. All I know is his betrayal pissed her off. One day they are looking quite happy and the next one, we find out it wasn’t a voodoo witch at all, it was one of their own deity who joined the chaos.”

“Baron Samedi?” Mary frowned, remembering having read something about him in Sabrina’s book. “A voodoo witch?”

“We concluded he presented himself as a witch so we, or rather Zelds, would trust on him. There was far more than just trust. Not that she felt anything for him, but they had a friendly relationship and then, he went with our dead and she burned everything he ever touched. Since then, I’m not sure she even has set a foot in her room at the academy. Most likely she has. She’s good to face places that break her, the mortuary, the academy, her office at the academy… I sometimes just wish she would open up to someone.”

“And you think that’s me…” Mary said, stopping. Hilda turned around and watched the mortal with curious eyes. “Hilda, I’m not… she won’t… and then…”

The blonde witch’s hands found the nervously waving ones and grabbed them. A knowing glint in her eye was easily seen by the mortal. And yet, there was a calm certainty that Hilda wasn’t wrong.

“Don’t lie to yourself, Mary. It’s not becoming. I understand there are a lot of struggles in that mind of yours, for I cannot help to see the ones you cannot contain. Pain, I can read in mortals with ease, for it’s always with them. And you, you have them wrapping you as a comfortable blanket should. It used to be so thick, Mary. Now it’s getting thinner every time I see you. So, I must consider that you know more than you let on and she knows far more about you than anyone you ever met. It is alright, for your trust is between you and her. But don’t fool yourself, lamb. Because you don’t fool me.”

The teacher sighed. “I cannot take the entire responsibility of being the one she confides in, Hilda. It’s… Zelda. She’s everything I’m not. I'm not even half as strong or resilient. Your sister carries the weight of the world on her shoulders and even then, she makes sure nothing lacks for your family. I’m nothing. What can I possibly give her she doesn’t already have?” Mary asked, her eyes filled with tears, and Hilda’s heart went out to the teacher. Her gloved hand found the rose cheeks bitten by the icy wind and sighed.

“You, Mary. I’m quite sure that’s all she needs for now. You that trust in her and in whom she trusts. Don’t sell yourself so short, love. You’ve survived plenty, you have crossed all the things that can make you her equal. Believe me, no matter how much you chastise yourself or how you downplay yourself, and it doesn’t even matter how you are deconstructing yourself to build yourself anew. You are worth it, and Zelda sees you like an equal.”

“How can you be so sure?” Mary asked, chewing her lower lip.

“You are sharing her bed, aren’t you? Zelda might have the libido of a teen boy, but she never allows intimacy to form with someone she doesn’t see as an equal.”

“Why are you so adamant on telling me this, Hilda? You could keep all this to yourself and when I run away, she will come to you.”

“Love, you’ve been living life where there was no one to catch you when you broke. You think of yourself as shattered and unworthy. Yet, here you are walking between realms facing more than mortals would allow themselves to believe. Don’t you know how hard is for someone who is used to mend their own pieces to find someone who they can trust will be there for them when it happens? You might think you are unworthy, but she sees you, and she believes you will be able to hold her, to piece her back together… and Mary… that’s all I ever wanted for her to have.”

Those words left Mary utterly speechless. What one could answer to them, anyway? Hilda smiled at the stunned teacher before pulling her from her arm.

“Let’s hurry. I’m certain she’s ready to chop my head off, just for how long it is taking us to reach the Academy, and now that we know the Cain Pit works, that might be literal.”

Chapter 60

Notes:

:D
It only took 60 chapters... that's good, isn't it?

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Be this any other year and she would be home alone; with the least sad tree, she could carry by herself and the few ornate decorations she possessed. Christmas eve at the Wardwell household had never been picture perfect or movie-like. At all. But this year differed from all the years she had spent alone and drifted further away from those she spent with her parents. Mainly because she wasn’t celebrating Christmas at all.

Even when the parlor at the Spellman Mortuary was decorated as one would for Christmas, with boots hanging from the hearth’s mantle. (It had warmed her heart that along with the ones of the Spellman’s there were one for each of the twins, and there was even one for herself.) There was a tree in which Sabrina had worked slowly during the night of the solstice -four days earlier- as they waited for the time to leave for the Solstice’s ceremony. There were gifts placed underneath the three they would exchange on the morning of the twenty-fifth, too. However, even if everything around her that night (including the date) screamed Christmas Eve to her, they weren’t celebrating the birth of baby Jesus.

Nope, at all. For the Order of Hecate, it was already the fifth day of Yuletide. As for the Spellmans, like every night since they ignited the Yule log (That to Mary’s surprise was still burning and was supposed to burn until the sun raised the morning after the Yuletide closing ceremony) there was some eggnog going around, and the entire family and their loved ones, sat around the parlor eagerly hanging into every one of Ambrose’s words as he read ‘A Christmas Carol’ to them.

Ambrose sat on a high-backed chair to the side of the tree, while Prudence, who had brought Agatha in tow, sat with her sister and the twins on the plush pillows that were scattered through the floor. Sabrina and her boyfriend took the chair beside Ambrose’s, cuddling close. And whenever Hilda wasn’t pacing around, bringing finger food and replenishing drinks, she sat cozily close to her husband in the loveseat Mary usually claimed. They left the remaining high-backed chairs to Mary and Zelda, who sat side by side but prudently far away.

For everyone, it was a rare sight to see Zelda so relaxed, especially around so many people. But there she was, nursing her tea with lemon, having changed beverages when Mary had and it made her feel warm and fuzzy on the inside, noticing Zelda did it if only so she wouldn’t be the only one drinking that.

The brunette also realized she was holding the tea in the hand she would usually have her cigarette ring. She realized if it wasn’t for her mortal brother-in-law, the redhead would be smoking. Mary also knew that Kenny, a.k. a Doctor Cee, was allergic to the smoke, and so Zelda simply abstained.

‘Attention to detail,’ Hilda had called it the previous night as they were getting ready to leave. ‘Her way to show she cares.’ Mary smiled. Perhaps the care wasn’t directly related to her brother-in-law, but it came from her love for Hilda that by extension covered him. The redhead wouldn’t do anything to harm him, for it would hurt her sister. Just like Prudence, Agatha, the twins, and even Sabrina’s new boyfriend's presence intruded into such an intimate tradition. They were allowed to join, not for who they were, but for those who were fond of them.

Mary understood why the High Priestess was so relaxed: her entire family was there. Enjoying a moment of peace for once, not fighting over anything. Sharing nothing but a nice relaxing moment that she didn’t know how long had been since they had instated it. She thought she should feel jealous of Zelda’s luck, but then she realized this same group of people had become more than just acquaintances to her. She cared about them as much as she had cared for her own family. A wave of peace -and a blush- rushed through her body as she realized she loved them all in their own way.

Her eyes fell to the yule log that was keeping the room unseasonably hot, almost making her regret the flannel pajamas she wore that night as she fell to the tradition of wearing nightgowns for the annual reading. Yet, it helped her as an excuse for her blush.

Quite the odd Friday it was, with all the people piling inside the parlor after all those Fridays spent almost utterly alone and those filled only with Zelda’s presence throughout the year.

The teacher risked a glance towards Zelda. In her long blue nightgown, her arms wrapped out on an embroidered silk robe. Her cheeks tinted in a warm pink and her lips looking utterly kissable. As if on cue, the witch licked her lips and extended her free hand towards her. Mary blushed like a schoolgirl but took it. The wink coming from Hilda did nothing to help her.

Instead of dwelling on the meaning of it all, or getting lost either on the warming feelings that spread from their joined hands towards her entire body, igniting the flame, she wouldn’t be able to kill until the reading was over and they all disappeared to wherever they had come from, finally leaving her and Zelda alone. Instead of losing herself to her imagination created by Ambrose’s voice, she left herself wander to the events leading to this moment.

The previous night had been the only one since the beginning of Yuletide that they hadn’t sat around the fire. No, their holidays' peace had been ruined not only by Mr. Moore attacking Mary but by Zelda being called back to the Academy.

After dinner, instead of moving to the parlor, Mary walked through the woods with Hilda. When they had finally arrived at the Academy, and just as Hilda had warned her, Zelda was ready to chop her sister’s head off. However, a glance to the mortal seemed to be enough to quench the High Priestess’ murderous side. A smile plastered on her face as she leaned back in her chair and took a deep drag of her cigarette.

“Oh, Zelds? Where’s Gryla, and why aren’t you attending to her?” Hilda asked as they entered the High Priestess office.

“She’s not dilating further. I’ve sent her for a walk.” Zelda said waving her hand and smiling as she noticed the mortal was wearing the dress she had asked Hilda to create. It was going to be a Yule gift. Yet she had seen Mary so distressed that she thought it would cheer her up slightly. Besides, there were plenty of gifts underneath the tree.

“Oh, how long ago was that?” Hilda asked, a concerned tone in her voice.

“Half an hour, give it or take it. You know how this works, Hilda,” the redhead huffed, taking a drag of her cigarette. Having been in the same room with the witch and her several choices of smokes, Mary frowned, noticing which mix it was. One that was meant to keep hunger away.

“Have you eaten?” She asked. Zelda raised her eyebrow as if daring her to go on. But Mary only kept her eyes on the green ones until another cloud of smoke was left out.

“I haven’t gotten the time.” She dismissed with ease, but Mary only crooked her head. “Sometimes walking makes the trick faster than we can control it, and I would rather not have any dinner cut short.”

Hilda crooked her head, wondering how the mortal had spotted that with such ease. “Now that I’m here, I can start if you aren’t done. You should go grab some dinner, Zelds. Mary, love, why don’t you take her?”

Zelda rolled her eyes. “What am I? A two years old that needs supervision for dinner?”

“No, but do you mind if I join you? I mean… I’m sure I can find a suitable set of questions to ask as you nourish yourself.” Mary offered with a smile, and Zelda sighed dramatically.

“Oh, Ms. Wardwell, I’m sure there will be plenty of questions to ask. Come on then,” she said, standing up. “Gryla should be pacing outside the residential wing, sister.”

“Residential wing?” Mary questioned as they walked towards the Academy’s kitchen. Her question made the Directrix flinch.

“Yes. Besides the shared rooms of the students. There are rooms inside the building for permanent staff, small apartments if you wish. And before you ask, yes, there would be room for you to remain in one of those; however, it would mean that I would have to be here earlier to transport you out to the Mortuary and then, drive you to school, or move here too.” Zelda explained, almost a bit too eagerly. The faint blush on her cheek also betrayed something else.

“Huh, one could conclude you wanted me in your home sharing your room, Directrix Spellman,” Mary let out playfully. But Zelda’s eyes widened, and she stopped dead in her tracks. Sure, she’d wanted the mortal in her room, between her sheets, and hopefully tangled with her; however, she hadn’t thought through what it would have meant for the teacher. An apology was already forming on her lips as she noticed the blush and the smile on Mary’s expression. That a second later, the tingly sensation of the teacher’s lips on her cheek had appeared had left her even more stunned.

“I’m glad you did, honey. Who knows where would I be if I wasn’t there with you,” Mary said, searching for the eternally cold hands and giving them a reassuring squeeze. Zelda frowned.

“You are not mad? I mean, you have all the right in the world to be angry for I hadn’t been completely honest with you. You could’ve been living here, and I could have been coming to get you every morning.”

Mary smiled, shaking her head. “There’s one question I do have. Were you really unable to conjure a second bed that first night?”

Zelda’s cheeks colored in a deeper shade of red. One that brought memories of more pleasurable ways of bringing that color out of her pale skin. Cherry lips opened and closed a couple of times before she shamefully lowered her green eyes to the floor.

“No. But, Mary, I didn’t lie to you, perhaps I only exaggerated the truth back then. I told you I couldn’t currently do it and it was true. However, I could’ve done it with my eyes closed if I rested for a moment, or even after dinner,” she confessed, avoiding the teacher’s face in fear of what she might find in there. She gulped, thinking that it would be better if she left the cat out of the bag as the teacher did not seem to be angry about it.

“After that afternoon we spent together, I couldn’t think of anything better than waking up with you at my side. Please don’t be mad, I’m not…” she sighed, and pinched the bridge of her nose, “Despite the large number of beings I’ve shared myself with. The number of those I’ve shared my bed to sleep with is so ridiculously low that you wouldn’t even believe it. Not even my husband had that chance until he, until the spell… and there you were… you made me feel comfortable enough to sleep with you that very first time. How could I possibly pass the chance of repeating it even if it was only one night? I truly would’ve created the second bed if you were unwilling to try. Also, I thought you would request it as soon as morning came, and I would’ve done it then.”

“Oh, Zee…” Mary whispered. Her hand reaching for the witch’s cheek and raised her head until she finally saw the green eyes she loved so much. She blushed. She truly was in love with this woman, no matter how wrong anyone else could think they were for each other. “I’m glad you didn’t. Now, as I look back, I can’t think of anything better happening to me. Waking up in your arms, being in your arms is the closest to heaven I’ll be.”

Zelda sighed, her hand caressing Mary’s cheek before she left a kiss on her sharp cheek, and tugging her close for a heartfelt embrace.

“I truly should get something to eat. Judging by how things are, it will be a long night.”

As if those words were an omen. The birth of Gryla’s child took hours. After grabbing a bite, Zelda led Mary to the residential wing. They found the woman still pacing, but now her contractions coming closer.

“This is the room we readied for her,” Zelda said, opening a door. Inside, Hilda was sitting on a loveseat, knitting as she whistled a cheerful tune. The room was quite spacious. It held a small space to read and a desk. A king bed took the back of it and there was a door that Mary assumed was the bathroom.

“Oh, hi.” Hilda greeted them. “There wasn’t much of an advance. Zelds, have you shown Mary to your room? In case she wants to take a nap or something?”

“Won’t you mind, Hildy?”

“Nope, everything is under control. I’ll say another four hours before she has to push. Why don’t you take a nap too? I’ll come and get you if it begins earlier and if it doesn’t, then I can get a nap and you can get some extra help. This shall be far easier than the last baby we delivered.”

Zelda nodded, wincing at the memory of baby Adam. Lilith had informed her of what she had done with her child. How she had killed him to protect him from the life Lucifer could give him, and how she felt both pained and relieved for her child wasn’t only Lucifer’s spawn, but also had Blackwood’s blood. She shook her head, bringing herself out of the memories of her Lily’s choices, and linked her hand to Mary’s.

“Come, darling. Hilda is right, I might need a power nap, and I’m certain you might need one too. After all, it wasn’t the easiest of the days for you.”

The Directrix took her down the corridor to another room, and Mary wondered if it was the same room that she had shared with Baron Samedi. If it still brought some more terrible memories to the witch.

“What else did Hilda say as you walked here?” Zelda asked, noticing the way Mary was eyeing their surroundings. The place was bigger than the one they were in before. They entered a small sitting area that lead to the room’s door. Inside it, an imposing bed took the far wall. To one side there was a vanity that looked quite similar to the one back at the mortuary, and the door to the bathroom. The wardrobe took the other wall.

“She mentioned you might have shared this with someone else?” Mary almost winced at her words. She wasn’t accusing her of anything. What could she possibly blame her off? When she had been quite explicit about her lovers and everything else, she knew about the witch so far.

“Yes.” It was clipped. Even though she hadn’t loved Marie, the betrayal still bothered her. It made her feel stupid. Especially when it had been so close to her failed marriage. “Marie… She betrayed me in the worst of the ways, I suppose. I burned the beds we shared.”

“Will you ever tell me about her?” Mary asked as she found their names too similar to her liking. Zelda was perusing the wardrobe in search of a nightgown. She took two and passed one to Mary.

“What would you like to know?” She asked, unbothered, unbuttoning her blouse. Mary gulped at the image, still holding the nightgown she was given and still frozen on the spot she had been. Zelda’s cream-colored nightgown fell down her shoulders and to her mid-tight, showing a great expanse of almost translucent skin. 

“Find your questions, and get changed as I finish here?”

Mary nodded, noticing she hadn’t said another word and hadn’t removed her dress. She quickly unbuttoned it and donned the black silk that she was given. It was far more modest than the blue one she had worn that afternoon; she noticed as she moved around to find a hanger for her dress. Zelda came out of the bathroom then and nodded to go in. The teacher couldn’t help the smile that blossomed on her face when she noticed the two toothbrushes that lay almost together in the same fashion as they were in their bathroom back home.

‘Back home,’ she thought as she brushed her teeth. She couldn’t believe how fast she had changed around the redhead, and how comfortable she grew every second spend with her. Sure, she had her doubts assaulting her, but Hilda’s words had been exactly what she had needed to hear.

She finished her time in the bathroom and got out. The redhead was laying right in the middle of the bed, still on top of the covers, and looked up to her. “What would you like to know?” she asked again, and Mary stopped from moving further.

Zelda smiled tenderly and bounced off the bed until she reached the teacher. She laced their hands and brought her to the end of the bed, where they sat. Her free hand found Mary’s cheek, and green orbs settled on doubtful blues.

“If I’m reading you correctly, Mary, what you ought to know is that I had no feelings for Marie. She was a powerful companion and a great lover, however, she couldn’t make me feel. She wasn’t you, and you aren’t her. You aren’t replacing anyone in my life, darling. I…” love you, she wanted to say, but her words got stuck.

“Marie betrayed me. What pains me, it’s not the feelings I didn’t have, but that I trusted her to help me save my coven. At the end of the day, she helped. I suppose, she fulfilled what she came here to fulfill.”

“But…”

“She lied to me, from the very beginning. Baron Samedi came under Marie’s guise to keep us from knowing who he was. He said he loved me; perhaps he did. However, I can’t help to think that not only was I one of his many affairs. I reckon that, as a goddess, his wife most likely doesn’t care about it. Yet, it offends me how he played me. It makes me so angry at him. That and the fact I was dumb enough to fall for his tricks. I wasn’t able to see him for who he was.”

“Zelda, I won’t betray you. I…” Love you, she thought. “I really care about you, more than I cared for anyone before. It scares me, but… What can I do? If I already took my leap of faith and it led me to you? What more can I hope for? Besides, surprisingly you seem to care for me, and that despite your vows to the council, you have tried to tell me all the truth.”

“Aren’t we quite the messed up pair?” Zelda smiled. Her lips tingled with the need to kiss the woman in front of her. Yet, as she abstained she thanked Hecate for setting Mary on her path. “No matter how much I want to ravish you, dearest, we should try that nap.”

She stood up and pulled Mary up with her before moving to lie on the bed. It took her minutes to fall asleep. It was barely a couple of hours later when the High Priestess felt a heavy hand on her shoulder. Her sleep-ridden eyes barely opened to find her sister.

“We are about to be ready, Zelds. We need you.” She smiled apologetically to her sister, as she noticed the possessive way she was kept in the mortal’s embrace. Zelda tried to untangle herself without waking her, but it was of no use. Blue eyes opened with a groan.

“I need to go, darling. The baby is coming,” Zelda whispered, and Mary sat on the bed freeing Zelda as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

“May I join you?”

“If you want to be a witness to the birth instead of sleeping…” the redhead offered. But instead of jumping at the offer of more sleep, Mary got up from the bed and was getting ready as fast as she could while yawning non-stop.

“We’ll be there in no time, sister.” Zelda said, noticing Hilda hadn’t left yet.

Mary hadn’t seen someone scream so much since the last game she had assisted. The sheer number of witches in the room also shocked her, especially when she noticed they were sharing the mother’s pain as Gryla pushed the baby into Hilda’s waiting arms. It was nothing quite as she had imagined it would be. Then a moment of utter silence took over the room before the baby was wailing.

They passed him from Hilda’s arms to Gryla’s chest, where he laid for a moment relaxing against his mother’s heartbeat, and Mary couldn’t help the emotions that took over her. She had wanted to be a mother, to know what it was like to hold her own child and feel that unlimited love for someone of her own blood. But even if she wasn’t attracted to Zelda, and found herself a man, she was too old. In her youth days, she had poured all her love on her students, and since the twins joined her at home, her own need had made Mary feel even guiltier whenever she found herself overwhelmed by having them at her home.

Her eyes fell on Zelda’s. A pained glance that mirrored her own was returned to her. One of the few things she knew the witch hadn’t managed to make for herself was becoming a mom. Sure, she had raised Sabrina, but Zelda too had learned to live knowing that she would never have children of her own. The redhead had tried to make her feel better about her shortcomings with the twins confessing that she too had spent some days feeling guilty for being alive and in charge of raising Sabrina. And even guiltier in those days when she wanted nothing more than to run away from the child that was trusted in her care.

It was around midday when they were ready to return home. Hilda had let them know they would join them that night for the annual reading and Prudence had asked if Agatha could come too. Zelda agreed with them both before they all disappeared to their own days.

Once at the mortuary, Zelda and Mary grabbed a quick bite and then head for bed. Sleep caught up with them faster than they thought it would. They woke up to Sabrina’s knock on their door. The Directrix stood up, barely opening the door to question her niece’s actions.

“Aunt Zee, we are all ready. We are only missing the two of you. Aunt Hilda made some finger food so we get to have dinner and the reading so we can catch up on the pages we lost yesterday.”

Sabrina’s excitement was contagious, and Zelda found herself smiling at her. “We’ll be right down.”

“And that’s everything for today,” Ambrose said, closing the book and bringing Mary back from her reminiscence. Zelda brought their joined hands to her lips and pressed a kiss on her knuckles as around them her family stood up and started saying their goodnights.

Prudence, Agatha and the twins were the first ones to disappear, along with Sabrina’s boyfriend. Nephew and niece stood awkwardly shuffling their weights on their feet as if trying to decide what they would do next.

“Go, but whatever you do, try to keep some resemblance of order inside the academy walls. For Hecate’s sake! And be here at first light, so we can go about the gifts exchange thing!” Zelda said waving towards the tree.

Sabrina clapped her hands excitedly before planting a kiss on her eldest Aunt’s cheek and then another one on Mary’s. She hugged her Aunt Hilda and Doctor Cee as they returned after taking everything to the kitchen. Ambrose did the same, but at a calmer pace, and soon they too disappeared.

“Well, I suppose we should take our leave too,” Hilda said then. “I cleaned the kitchen so you won’t have to worry about it, and we’ll be here at first light for breakfast and the gift exchange. We announced we would open the store later than usual.” After exchanging pleasantries, the couple finally left them alone. Zelda sighed.

“I’m not sure about you, but I’m far too awake to go back to bed. Will you want to remain here? I suppose we could get back to our usual Friday plans,” the High Priestess said. Mary smiled.

“Of course, but then we ought to change our beverages of choice,” she said nonchalantly as she stood up to find their books. Zelda grinned.

“I believe I’m spoiling you, Ms. Wardwell,” she said, a grin plastered on her face as she shook her head. The Directrix stood up and disappeared in search of Mary’s favorite wine.

Soon, like every Friday every fortnight before and every day for the past month, they were sitting close together in the love seat of the mortuary’s parlor. Their bodies touching from shoulders to knees. Feet resting on the coffee table and Mary’s head resting on Zelda’s shoulder. Each with a book in hand, and whereas on the other hand, the teacher held a glass of wine, the High Priestess kept a tumbler of whiskey.

After taking a sip, Mary lowered her glass on the side table, taking the chance to look at the witch, and smiled. It was so nice to be close to someone like this. Zelda had taken over her slowly and gaining every inch of her heart. She noticed then that all the misconceptions she had about loving a woman were nothing but that. Her fears about becoming more of a freak for that reason had long given away under Zelda’s caring presence. Mary realized not only that, she had no doubts anymore. She found herself willing and wanting to try. She wasn’t afraid of loving Zelda Spellman anymore.

As that thought hit her, a warmth spread in her body. She straightened, lowering her book to the side. The motion caught the redhead's attention, and she patiently marked her book as she did hundreds of times before to be submitted to the myriad of questions that the teacher usually had. 

“Zelda?” 

She raised her eyes then as nothing more came from the brunette. “Yes?”

“I…”

Mary blushed further when she noticed that the next words were about to be ‘love you’, but she wasn’t sure Zelda was ready or wanted to hear them. Instead of telling her, she leaned in. Green eyes quickly dilated in answer, and blood-red lips were licked as Mary eyed her close, waiting for words or a reaction. Something to tell her that what she thought was about to happen would finally happen. The High Priestess didn’t speak, afraid that if she did, whatever spell Mary was weaving between them would be broken, and once again, she wouldn’t know if those pink lips tasted as they did when she was a teen. It didn’t matter, she thought, because it was a long while since she accepted she was in love with the mortal, and that was the true reason she was so willing to let her set their pace.

“I’m not afraid anymore,” Mary whispered, her breath tickling the redhead's lips before soft lips melded to hers. 

As their lips collided in a long-overdue feverish kiss, a pained gasp left Zelda’s mouth as she broke the kiss as quickly as it had started.

“What have you done to me?”

Betrayal was written in her eyes as Zelda pressed her hands tightly against her chest. The emotions she hadn’t felt for years suddenly came crashing into her body. The force of them sending her to her knees out of the sheer pain. It was not only new ones, but every single feeling she must have felt in her long life but hadn’t had invaded her very soul.

“Nothing, I swear! Zelda please… How can I help you?!” Mary said quickly, not quite knowing what to do or what had happened. She stood up trying to help her, but she truly was at loss about what to do. Kisses shouldn’t hurt people like this! 

“Lilith. Lily, please, help me!” Zelda groaned in despair as Mary watched in shock as the redhead writhed in pain in front of her. 

A gushing circle of fire took the room that was already trembling, lights flickering, and objects shaking from the uncontrollable magic of the redhead.

“Zelda, love!” Mary heard. As the fire receded and a woman who looked exactly like her fell to her knees and brought Zelda close to her. Embracing her tightly and running comforting circles on her back. Zelda’s eyes looked up, smiling beautifully at the woman who was holding her. Before she collapsed, and along with her, the room finally settled.

Blue eyes identical to her own raised to find hers. They were both teary after bearing witness to the redhead’s suffering.

“Thank you, Mary. It could only be you,” Lilith said.

“What have you done to her? What have I done to her? Why do you look like me? Who the hell are you?” 

“I?” Lilith sighed, not quite knowing where to start or how to explain what had transpired since months before Zelda’s sixteen birthday and right until then.

“I placed her under a sleeping spell. That’s all I can do now. Yet, you… you freed her... At last.”

Notes:

They kissed! Now I have to figure out how to get them out of this mess and we'll be done... T-T

Chapter 61

Notes:

Tell me it doesn't suck and I'll be the happiest writer ever (?)
As usual, what it's in italics is the past. :)

Chapter Text

“Free her?” Mary asked. She embraced herself tightly. The teacher frowned, utterly shocked by everything that was happening.

“How can you call that freeing her? And you still haven’t answered who you are or why you look like me!”

Lilith stood up, bringing Zelda’s limp body up in her arms. Her red hair falling low, almost touching the Queen of Hell’s hip as her head fell back without anything to support it. Not wanting to cause her more pain, she accommodated the witch further against her chest. Zelda’s head positioning itself at the crook of her neck. Mary couldn’t help to think they looked lovely together.

Once she was sure Zelda was as comfortable as a limp body could be, Lilith raised her azure gaze to equally blue eyes. Mary felt something akin to the same pull she felt the first time she saw Zelda, months earlier, in the church.

She couldn’t believe how things had changed and now she was afraid of what this all could mean for her, for them. The mortal wasn’t certain she could live the rest of her days without Zelda and yet, she couldn’t stop thinking about the way the witch had watched her with unbridled horror as she clutched her chest. Nor how brightly had her eyes shone when this woman who looked like her had finally caught her, the recognition deep in her green eyes telling Mary more than she dared to accept.

Lilith felt it, too. It was part of the long list of reasons she had chosen the mortal teacher as her vessel on Earth. There was an instant attraction that had happened the moment she saw Mary Wardwell, but it wasn’t until she had killed her and absorbed her blood to recreate herself… that she noticed the woman wasn’t just a common mortal.

But it wasn’t until now, when Zelda’s curse was lifted, that Lilith retrieved her own memory from the depths of wherever Hecate had sent them. She too had some processing to do before she could try to answer the doubts she might not be able to quench. Yet years of torture under Lucifer’s hand had made her able to keep up with the pain of reinstating memories with ease.

“May I take her to your room? She will be asleep for a while, and I’ll rather have her comfortable on her bed than allow her to sleep like this. It’s not good for the neck, nor her legs. And I might be strong, but I cannot hold her forever like this.”

“I… I suppose… but it’s her room… not mine….”

Mary almost stuttered out, blushing herself when she noticed it was no use to deny something the other woman seemed to know was happening. A knowing smile that was similar and so different from her own was plastered in her double as Mary tried to explain herself further, but failing to find the words to do so.

“Oh, sweet Mary, don’t be shy. I know you share more than just her room. It’s quite all right, we all need love, and I cannot fault you for choosing her. As I cannot fault her for choosing you,” Lilith said cryptically as she walked away towards the foyer and up the several flies of stairs that would take her to Zelda’s room.

Mary followed, walking a few steps behind, feeling part of some weird soap opera that she just couldn’t figure out how it ended. Who in its right mind would think of something so preposterous, like a witch breaking to pieces over a kiss? And then some other being appearing on a blaze telling who appeared to be the only mortal in the room -that was she- had freed the witch? Nah, it sounded borderline crazy.

The door of their room opened by itself. Or perhaps it was her double who had opened it. That couldn’t surprise the teacher, after having seen Zelda’s magic at work so many times by then. The thing that shocked her was how easily the woman had lowered the witch on her own side of the bed, mumbling some words that changed Zelda to her favorite black nightgown. A kiss was softly deposited on the redhead’s forehead and a loving smile -Mary knew that one, for it was quite similar to her own- spread on who the teacher thought was a darker and more powerful version of herself.

“Come along, Sweet Mary. I’ll try to answer what I can. But I might hold on to what I need to tell her too, so I won’t have to repeat myself further. I’m certain her family who will be here in a couple of hours after dawn will have their own line of questioning, especially if they find me here.”

Lilith hadn’t stopped walking as she talked. They reached the parlor again, and she dived for Zelda’s favorite whisky.

“Do you drink?” She asked, and then she remembered the state she found Mary’s house in. “Of course you don’t, but you might as well.”

She poured a tumbler half-filled and then one filled to the brim, giving the first to the teacher who sat on her claimed loveseat, her legs tucked one underneath herself and the other brought close to her chest where her chin now rested. Her hands trembled as she grabbed the tumbler, and Lilith gave her the most reassuring smile she could form.

“You might have heard of me, in your time inside this house, or around her coven. Perchance even earlier… My name is Lilith. Goddess of the Underworld, Queen of Hell.”

“Lilith? The first woman created by God and Adam’s wife?”

Lilith laughed at this concept that she, too, had believed until not so long ago. Her truth hidden between years of patriarchal care to dissolve any power left attached to the female (be that Godly, witchy, demonic, or simply mortal kind) to keep the world on their hands. The eternal battle of wills between powers that were equally balanced and yet unharmoniously lost to the greed of one. However, it wasn’t until then that the one had finally decided they could reach neutrality.

“Yes…. And no,” she answered, lowering herself onto a high-backed chair after pulling it closer to where Mary sat. “I was created by the one, to become the one in three. As you and Zelda were. But that’s an explanation I’ll rather give when we are all in here. What you need to know is that you didn’t hurt her. At all… the pain we saw her suffer; the agony painted in her gorgeous face… it’s her own, and I’ll explain more when she’s awake.”

Mary prepared herself for further questioning, but she couldn’t find the words. She did not know what any of that could mean. Well, and she was utterly distracted by how her own body and face looked so different on this woman who wasn’t her, and yet… it was.

“Why do you look like me? Or rather, if you are Lilith, why do I look like you?”

“Because I was you, and no, Zelda doesn’t love you because I look like you. She loves you because you are you. I met her when she was a teen, and I didn’t look like this. When she met me, I looked like this,” she said, changing to the teen Zelda had met and fallen in love with. She returned to looking as Mary then.

“Allow me, it won’t be nice.”

“What won’t?” Mary asked, but Lilith’s hand was already on her own. She grabbed the tumbler and settling it to the side. Then she reached closer. She could feel the first woman breath on her own lips, which were still tingling after feeling Zelda’s. Yet, she couldn’t stop herself… she wanted it. Her eyes widened with realization, for she loved the redhead. Why would she desire to kiss someone else? As if sensing her distress, Lilith’s lips landed on her forehead, and instead of the tingling sensation left behind, she felt pain. As her memories flooded in.

Mary was driving down the dirt road back home after watching a horror movie. She was singing along when she spotted a young woman almost drag herself to the dirt road and stopped the car. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw the young woman.

She felt this thing that she had felt only twice before then. Once, if she considered the first, that was a dream. A dream so real that her legs had hurt from all the walking she had done as she followed a woman throughout the woods. Her lips had tingled all the way home after the redhead had kissed her. The second one, when she had seen the redhead at the Spellman mortuary before, she ran away. And now, it was a constant in her every day. Yet, it was different… She simply knew this young woman wasn’t Zelda, but the one sitting in front of her now.

Lilith.

The teacher remembered the conversation held with the woman. About witches, the woods, and Sabrina Spellman. She felt the stab on her neck and the way blood had warmly pooled out of her. Then… nothingness.

“You killed me?”

She looked at Lilith in disbelief. But the woman had simply grabbed her hands, keeping them reassuringly linked. A painful explosion seemed to happen inside her skull, and she had to close her eyes, the dimmed lights of the parlor too strong for her to keep them open.

The mortal remembered a time spent in a limbo that wasn’t either for mortals or witches. A nether realm of her own perchance. Where she could see the Spellman’s house lingering at the end of the forests, so close and yet so damn far away from her own collapsing form.

It was a grey day as she blinked her eyes open. The Spellman Mortuary was inviting her as usual to step closer. To enter it and find about the marvels that lied hidden inside it. She walked up the path, one step after another, and the distance only seemed to grow.

She shook her head, rubbing the back of her hand against what should’ve been her sweaty forehead, but Mary didn’t feel hot, or tired, or sweaty. She felt nothing… at all.

The teacher looked back. Why would she walk to the front door if she only had been there once and had run away from the inside as fast as her legs could take her? No, she turned around and walked towards her friend. The mortuary sign was standing proudly barely inside the property. She placed her hand on top of it, and unable to stop herself, she cried.

“Am I dead?”

Her voice sounded loud in the void. There was no answer. What other explanation could there be? Yet, she couldn’t believe hell -and less of all heaven- would look like this.

“Perhaps I’m stuck in limbo? Not quite pious to cross to Heaven, not quite the sinner to walk straight into Hell?”

Unsurprisingly, there was no answer. But even then, it became clear to her. She cried some more. For all the things she had wanted to do and hadn’t. For the life she had wanted to build for herself, a life filled with love and joy. Nothing quite the lonely life she had led. Would anyone find her body? She wondered.

“How long would it be before they find my rotting flesh?” she asked out loud, knowing there wouldn’t be an answer. Limbo, for her, seemed to be as lonely as life had been. And she definitively felt everything was gone… She, Mary Wardwell, had ceased to exist. Her plans, her life… everything gone after her last attempt at helping a lost soul like her own.

A heavy hand was placed over her shoulder, and she turned. She was certain she was alone in this realm, or limbo, or whatever name it had. But the man she saw looked at her with soft eyes, and she couldn’t help to think she knew him.

“I know you,” she said, clearing her tears with the back of her hands. A smile that she knew,(it was so much like Sabrina’s) formed on his expression, and he offered her a paper. She frowned but took it anyway. Three moons took over the entire page. But before she could question him further, his eyes found hers.

“You do. You came for Zelda, haven’t you? Though, you are early. She hasn’t arrived yet.”

Mary frowned. She remembered something similar happening in her youth. Was this just a silly mind game after death?

“What do you mean?” 

“You’ll know, and they both will. When it’s time.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

But she blinked, and he was gone. The never-ending grey day, with no feelings, ended. Replaced by cold, an aching body, and a pang of hunger she hadn’t experienced before.

“For your protection, and for that of the present, I gave you my memories of the first months after he corrupted me. So, you wouldn’t search for them. I should’ve known better. I should’ve known he wasn’t ready to stop the fight, and that Sabrina was still a greedy child.”

“What do you mean?” Mary asked.

“Once they realized it was doing more damage than good, and after the last memory you’ll retrieve tonight, they contacted me and asked me to free you from those. And so, I know you won’t like what comes next.” Lilith stated, and the teacher was about to ask more when her hands flew to her head, as another memory unpacked itself on its rightful spot.

She was praying as she had done every night since she had returned, famished to the crushing reality of her life. Mary had no clue what had happened to her. No idea of how she had lived her life for months and couldn’t remember a thing. So she fell back to the only comfort she had known.

Mary placed the cross over the mantle of her hearth in its rightful position that very first night after returning home, and since then, every night she fell to her knees in front of her bible, praying for answers that had never come.

There was a knock on her door, and she raised. Even before she opened her door, she felt the pull on her heart. Yet, it was Adam on the other side, asking her to protect him from evil with her goodness. Why do I feel so different now? She wondered, but it was her Adam. How could he be anything else but himself?

He had embraced her tightly, and her heart skipped a beat in ways it hadn’t before. Adam hid in her room, and she went back to her prayers.

A fortuitous night, it seemed that’d be. She opened the door to find a Father on the outside. He came with a warning about evil being afoot. Yet, Mary was filled with doubts, memories of Hell, and all those things people in town told her she’d done, and she couldn’t remember. It was so easy to fall for his lies. She knew they were lies, but it was easy to fall for them. He continued speaking, enthralling her with his nervous and certain words.

Mary raised her eyes for a brief second. The memories of that conversation bringing forth the same hum that took over her body every night she had shared with Faustus. She shook her head; she hadn’t known how compulsion spells felt back then, nor that they even existed. But now… she understood that whatever might come next weren’t her actions alone, but ones dictated by Faustus Blackwood himself.

She remembered the feeling of Adam’s darker energies as good as she could feel them ooze from the woman in front of her now. But it was a memory, and she hadn’t seen Lilith before in her life. How could she know it was her back then? That the man who had come to her that night wasn’t Adam, but this dark entity sitting in front of her now?

A Priest of her creed seemed far less dangerous than the dark energy emanating from her fiancé. She should’ve known when she opened the door that he was the evil one. She had never said her name to him, and how did he know how to call her? Yet, Mary was still too attached to her own God to doubt of a man hidden on a sheepskin.

She closed her eyes again as she heard the conversation they were having back then.

“Allies?”

Her mind provided her with the image of the girl who asked about witches before killing her. (Why wasn’t she dead? Mary wondered, remembering the way her blood had left her body, but her thoughts were confusing as ever.)

“Do you mean… witches?”

“Yes, witches. There are witches in Greendale. Some you may even know.” He answered. As if the bastard wasn’t one himself.

“Who? Who?” she asked, but Mary knew the answer even before he uttered the words that followed.

“Sabrina Spellman and her family. They are witches. They seek to destroy you, to make you unholy. Tell me, Mary, are you weak? Would you let Satan take a hold on you?”  

Faustus kept prodding, pushing her mind until she delivered Adam to him. Until she permitted him to act inside her home. He dragged Adam out from where he had been.

“Reveal yourself, deceiver!” Faustus said. A woman who could be her doppelganger looked at her.

A hint of betrayal and worry filled the azure gaze that wasn’t quite like her own. Mary felt the pull on her heart as if she was supposed to defend this creature (herself) from this man, and yet… the woman in front of her seemed to find strength, even in her weakness, to advise her to run.

“You were there… at my house… twice…” Mary frowned in confusion, “but the first time you didn’t look like this, like me.”

“No. I didn’t. That was the image Lucifer gave to me when I fell. The poor forever-young witch who kneeled before him. The image he sold to his followers and made me who I was. But it doesn’t matter, your memories aren’t all there yet…”

Mary ran out the door and thanked God that she had once again forgotten her keys in her car. She jumped inside and drove away. However, instead of driving to town and asking for help. (Who would believe her anyway?) She drove on the other way, further away towards the sign that was once the closest thing she had to a friend.

She skipped the dirt path and didn’t enter the property. Parking her car, a couple of miles away to the side of the road. Something inside her told her that what was going to happen wasn’t right. Yet, she found a gun that had belonged to her father inside the glove compartment, and unable to stop herself; she picked it up.

Shivering, she looked on the back seat where she had thrown a jacket a couple of days earlier and grabbed it, hiding the gun in the pocket. She walked to the property, following the sounds of a shovel against dirt.

As it had done before that night, her heart skipped a beat. Perchance it was its way to tell her she was in front of an evil being that wouldn’t hesitate in making her life a living hell. But there was something in the way she was working, on the sobs that she could hear, on the stillness of the night. Why did she want to comfort her?

Her hand closed against the gun as she noticed the woman. -No, the witch.- Had finished her job and was returning home. The redhead disappeared inside the foyer. Was she the same redhead she ran away from? Perchance the same witch who had kissed her? She wondered as she stepped out from her hiding spot and started her stroll towards the house, trying to keep herself from being detected.

If Mary could feel the pull on Zelda’s heart, she would know why the door was opened and why surprise and love were the last shimmering things she saw on the gorgeous woman’s face. But she wasn’t privy to Zelda’s emotions. No, she only felt her own, as her hands knocked at the door by themselves.

“Hilda!”

Zelda opened the door. A simple look at the redhead had her finding the gun.

“Witches. All of them… witches.”

“Lilith?”

It made sense it was her name, what the Directrix asked back then. Since she had seen the way the High Priestess’s eyes had shimmered when she spotted Lilith earlier. And why hadn’t Zelda been able to differentiate them then?

“This is for Adam,” she said. Although she wasn’t sure why she was pointing the gun at her. Or why her brain seemed muddled by external forces, or why her heart was skipping beats, telling her that this was wrong, that she had the wrong enemy. Perhaps it was the light shine of love she had seen sparkling on the green eyes when she called her by another name. She would never know… the only thing she knew was that her finger pressed the trigger, and a bullet went out. The awful sound of pierced skin joined the ruckus of the gunshot.

She watched with horror as the redhead turned around and after taking a drag of a cigarette (a relaxing one; she knew now) fell limp to the floor. Mary saw the pool of blood leaving Zelda’s body in the same manner she had seen her own before everything went black months earlier when Lilith killed her. Unable to look any longer, she ran away.

Horror covered the expression of the teacher as Lilith’s hand grabbed her own as tightly as she could. As if to keep her grounded to the present and bring her out of the past. And Mary… she thought on all those times when Zelda spoke about having been dead, and how she rubbed the spot on her side where she knew no scar remained. And now she knew it was her bullet that she felt going through that spot.

She killed her…. She had been the one who killed Zelda…

“Oh, Hecate… How could she open to me? How could she forgive me? I killed her! How could she love me?”

Her heart was racing in her ears. She stood up abruptly and paced the parlor, chewing her lower lip. Nervous tears falling from her eyes until Lilith stopped her.

“I killed the one person I ever love. How can she forgive me? And then I kiss her and she… what if she didn’t resist whatever happened to her? What if you didn’t arrive when you did? What am I to do without her?” 

Lilith sighed. She didn’t know the answers to those questions. The only one able to answer them was asleep upstairs. So, she did what she could, and caressing Mary’s cheek softly, she grabbed her tightly, as her body felt limp.

“I don’t have the answers, sweet Mary. But they will come… and so the sun will come out again.”

Chapter 62

Notes:

The bad thing about writing fics you like..is approaching the end and struggling to find the perfect one.
Anyhow, this isn't that ... yet.

Chapter Text

Her head pounded in ways she hadn’t felt since her youthful days filled with sex demons, absinthe, and opium. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she couldn’t quite remember it having ever beating like that. She wanted to cry, laugh, and scream with the contradictory feelings that were still settling inside her, battling to get a hold of herself and threatening to drown her in so much emotion that she wasn’t sure she could keep contained. But then she felt it, the body that she was pressed against and the soft, comforting caresses she knew all too well.

She opened her eyes and smiled at the blue-eyed woman, who was holding her tightly against her chest. Her breathing soft and calming, asking her to continue its motion and just relax in her arms. As if her sole presence could fix the mess of emotions that Zelda had never needed to deal with before. Except for one that was blossoming once again in her chest, powerful enough that was drowning all the other ones, and as she allowed herself to feel it fully, Zelda discovered she didn’t mind it. No, she allowed it to take over her wholly, for it had been a long battle and thousands of failed attempts to free herself and say the words she had wanted to say for over eight hundred years.

“I love you, Lily,” she let out before pulling the Queen of Hell for an earth-shattering kiss that was long overdue. It felt so good to be able to say the words she had so many times tried to utter but seemed to be stuck in her. No matter how she had felt this love blossoming inside her since she was nothing but a teen.

The kiss was wet and sloppy; the words taking Lilith by surprise. The saltiness was tasted on both ends and they took a panting break as if to reassure each other that they were real. “Oh, Lilith! You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to say those stupid words!”

Zelda, her Zelda let out with eyes filled with tears and unbridled emotions that Lilith hadn’t forgotten how beautifully made her eyes shine or how perfectly it tinted her cheeks in pale pink. The Queen of Hell giggled happily, tears blurring her gaze and falling freely down her cheeks as she allowed herself to be worthy of being on the other end of such emotions after so many wrongdoings done to her.

“Oh, Hecate… thank you,” the mother of demons said to the air. “I love you, Zelda… so much... you do not know how it tore me to know you were encased in this box your parents tucked you in. If it weren’t for Hecate… if she hadn’t pushed me to claim you and she didn’t push you towards Mary…. You wouldn’t ever be whole again.” 

Zelda’s eyes widened with the realization that she hadn’t been the only one in that room when her emotions returned. Instead of thinking of Lilith’s words about her parents, her claim, and how this entire ordeal had started, her mind brought the terrified image of Mary.

“Mary! Lilith, how is she? It must have scared her so much. You must have scared her even more!”

Tormented green eyes widened even further, for she realized she was asking the woman she loved about the woman she loved. She sat on the bed, rubbing her hands on her face as if that could help her settle the traitorous feelings swarming through her. Lilith smiled, noticing Zelda’s predicament, and sat beside her, bringing her close and pressing a small kiss on the crown of her head before answering her.

“She was utterly worried that you won’t find it in yourself to forgive her for almost killing you… again. So scared, thinking that you hate her. But she doesn’t know you as I do, darling. Our Mary doesn’t know that even cursed, you can’t hate someone you love.”

Her eyes softened, remembering how even cursed Zelda had sought her and got her back from the abyss she was living in. How, despite hating her for what she almost did to her niece, she saved her from herself. The redhead empowered her until she had found it in herself to banish Lucifer from her realm. Finally, her lips were pulled upon a smile as she remembered the worried conversation they had when Zelda was still doubting her ability to fulfill her Goddess request. How terrified the High Priestess had been of falling in love with the mortal teacher.

Zelda moved to see if what Lilith was saying was in fact the truth, and she found no trace of lies on the blue eyes. A smile was shared. They could not stop touching each other as if trying to compensate for the centuries they spent not quite together, even when they were together, with feelings covered by the veil of the curse.

“Let’s just say I was giving away sleeping spells, almost like Halloween candy. I placed her in the guests’ room for now. She’ll be asleep a couple of hours more, but your family should be here shortly, too. I wasn’t sure how you would feel once awake. How are you feeling, darling?”

“Lilith… Lily, there’s something I must confess…” She blushed deeply, all those centuries spent along with her and then those she hadn’t still had in common the fact that she had never truly confessed to Lilith how she was unable to feel as she should. Zelda risked a glance at her love before she lowered her eyes, ashamed. “All these years, I’ve loved you… I knew that, I’m certain my love for you has never wavered. However, I couldn’t quite feel it as I’m feeling it now. Not since after the first time you kissed me.”

The brunette’s hand found a soft cheek, then her jaw, before raising her face to search her eyes. “I know, Zelda. I knew it from the day you returned to me after that kiss. How you changed so much in just a weekend. It was you, and yet… it wasn’t you. It’s not that I’m unwilling to give you more information about this, darling. But, your family will arrive shortly, and Mary will wake up too… and soon, there will be a lot of explanations that I’m just learning I knew I will have to expose.”  

“How is it possible that you are learning the explanations?” Zelda frowned. Lilith sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose before she left one word out.

“Hecate.”

The High Priestess frowned. She couldn’t quite understand what her Goddess would have to do with Lilith’s memories, for she too was a Goddess in her own right. But truth was, even if she cared… there was so much more she wanted to do than sitting on her bed discussing serious matters that would’ve been revisited in an hour when she could’ve been doing much more.

She launched herself forward, claiming Lilith’s lips once more, and the brunette answered in kind, with a hunger that was held for months and drowned on emotions that had been held forever now. However, there was one thing nagging in the back of both minds, making them break the kiss at once. Hands raised to their cheeks, softly tracing its contours as they searched each other’s eyes.

“Mary,” they said in unison, and both nodded in agreement.

Lilith was the first to break the silence. “I understand your love for her, dear, as well as I know you love me and that I love you. However, I’m inclined to believe she doesn’t know about our pre-existent relationship, nor she knows for sure just how much you love her. Does she?” Zelda shook her head. Lilith took a deep breath. “It’s only fair that you let her know, Zelda. Even if she does love you back, it’s her choice to remain monogamous, or not. I can keep waiting for you, she cannot. As the only mortal… it must be her choice.”

“I know. Thank you, love.”

“There’s one thing, Zelda… You must know that I killed her to use her image because I felt attracted to her. You also should consider the odd thought about sharing her with me.”

“I don’t doubt about your love, darling. After all these years you remained, and not once complained about my promiscuity, so to speak. No, instead you encouraged it. You taught me how to harness power from it. Why would I come in your way when I’m nothing but a witch and you, the Goddess that I love? When she falls for you, I will too be there, and I’ll know that she might love us both, perchance differently but as we deserve. As for now…. I’ll suggest we both get out of this room and place some furniture between us, so I won’t end up ravaging you as I wish.”

“Oh, my naughty Zelda. I’ll check upon our Mary and I’ll bring her to your room. So, amid the myriad of questions I’ll have to answer, where’s Mary or why is she sleeping in the guests’ room? Won’t be part of those.”

Lilith stood up. But before they faced the outside world, she pulled Zelda for a tight embrace. “Peace,” she whispered. “Peace is what I feel when I’m in your arms.”

“Good. For that’s exactly what you bring to my chaos.” The redhead whispered, placing a kiss on Lilith’s forehead.

Her hand found the brunette’s one and brought her to her lips before they walked outside and down the corridor, hands still linked as Zelda opened the guests’ room door. Her heart filled with the same emotion she felt whenever she looked at Lilith.

“May I request something of you, dear?” Zelda asked as they both observed the peaceful rise and fall of the teacher’s chest. She risked a sideway glance when she hummed. “Can you show yourself as I met you?”

Lilith frowned for a second, and then she understood. It was the same doubt Mary had before. “You love her. How I look won’t change that. You know this, as well as you knew it was me who you woke up next to. How you knew she was there, standing to the side, and it was I the one who cradled you when she broke your curse.”

“My curse… you keep calling it like this. Will I know?”

“Of course,” as she said those words, she turned herself into the woman Zelda grew to know as her Lily. Her heart skipped a beat in the same way it did when she woke up. Just by knowing it was Lilith beside her. She smiled and pecked her cheek before turning to look at Mary. The High Priestess let out a sigh. A ‘thank goodness,’ as she looked at the sleeping form of the teacher. Her heart telling her what she already knew, what Lilith had also pointed before. “Convinced?”

“Yes, love. Thank you.”

It was Lilith’s turn to peck her cheek, then she shook her head. “Sometimes I wonder why is it you doubt yourself so much. When your intuition was always spot on. Then, I recall some things I was there to help you through and I’m left to wonder what did I miss.”

“I suppose not as much as I’m left wondering about you, love. For I was trapped in a toxic relationship just for a couple of months as I tried to keep my family name from being dragged through the mud, not quite realizing how the one about to be bent and broken would be me. Knowing and not wanting to hear the things you weren’t saying to me…. Because I truly couldn’t believe that a powerful being like yourself could be broken beyond repair.”

“And I wasn’t… or we wouldn’t be here today. Alas, there will be time to figure out what we are comfortable sharing and what we’ll better leave hiding in the darkest spaces of our minds,” she said, squeezing Zelda’s hand before stepping away from her touch and as she did, she became Mary’s twin.

With ease, she picked the teacher up from bed, and Zelda smiled. “It’s safe to say I’m the luckiest woman alive having both of you for myself.”

“We’ll see about that. Once she wakes up, your family leaves, and those deeply emotional conversations we need to have are all settled,” she said, walking past the redhead and then strolling down the corridor to the High Priestess bedroom.

Zelda walked behind them, and once inside, she opened Mary’s side of the bed for Lilith to lower her. Only then she realized Lilith had changed the teacher to silk pajamas. The Queen of Hell quickly tucked her under the bedcovers, and they both smiled when the mortal reached for Zelda’s pillow and hugged it to her chest.

Unable to stop herself, the High Priestess walked to the bed and moved Mary’s hair away from her forehead before placing a kiss there. Then, she donned a robe and found slippers not wanting to risk the colder floor of the kitchen, before they finally went downstairs.

The redhead set the coffee machine while Lilith found the ingredients she needed for some pancakes. Zelda raised her eyebrow. It had been a while since she had seen the Queen of Hell cooking something, but she knew that whereas Faustus had used everything, including cooking against her own psyche. Abusing of her inability to refuse him, to force her to do things she didn’t want to, as he laughed at her. For Lilith, cooking had become an escape.

It was like this, with Lilith expertly flipping pancakes in the air and Zelda quietly sipping coffee on her usual spot, that Hilda and Doctor Cee found them.

“Blessed Yule,” Hilda said, a cheerful smile on her face as she lowered a chocolate cake on the table. “I wanted to come early to start on breakfast, sister, but it seems it wasn’t necessary. If I knew you were so talented in the kitchen, I wouldn’t visit so often to check the state of my kitchen, Mary.”

“Guess again.” Lilith smiled mischievously. 

“What?” Hilda asked in confusion, looking from the smiling brunette to her smirking sister until she heard steps coming from behind her.

“Blessed yule, Mary,” Lilith said, and it was just then that Hilda understood what was happening. Sort of…

“Lilith?” Her gaze traveled from the awkward-looking mortal to the impish grin on the teacher’s doppelganger. Yet, what surprised her the most was the relaxed way her sister was sitting and how when her own green eyes fell on both women, they were shinning with emotions she hadn’t seen in her sister for so long.

“Zelds? What’s going on?”

As if to surprise her further, Zelda stood up and walked to her, enveloping her in a heartfelt embrace in the likes she hadn’t received since months before her sister’s dark baptism. She planted a kiss on her cheek then.

“Blessed yule, indeed,” the eldest sister said, breaking the embrace before going to Mary’s side.

She bit her lower lip and took a deep breath. For once in her life, Zelda wasn’t ready for any outcome (be that good or bad) of her next actions. But she needed to try. She opened her arms, not sure if the mortal would fall upon her arms or reject her. Not after the way she had looked at her the previous night.

Perhaps it lasted a second, perchance a bit longer. But the High Priestess had held her breath and waited, with her nerves tensing her back and her heart hammering inside her chest. And along with her newly found emotions, the contents of the kitchen vibrated in place. Then Mary fell into her arms and cried.

“You are all right, I can’t believe you are all right….” She whispered against Zelda’s neck, tears moistening the silk robe she was wearing as she patted the mortal’s back reassuringly. “I’m sorry, Zee. I’m so sorry.”

It surprised them all, and not one of them at the same time. How the redhead had simply eyed the brunette, searching blue eyes as her own shimmered with affection, and then raised her chin slightly before kissing her deeply. Or how the mortal had answered in kind, plastering herself as much as she could against the safety of the witch arms.

A peal of joyous laughter busted out of Lilith, bringing them back to the kitchen of the Spellman Mortuary, where Hilda Spellman was sitting fanning herself with her hand, and her husband was looking everywhere but where they were standing.  

“Blessed Yule, indeed,” she said.

Chapter 63

Notes:

A bit from the past and then I promise you guys I'll try to wrap it up nicely....
I'm still trying to figure out Yule gifts though...

Chapter Text

In the beginning, there was the All, and the All wanted to experience more and so it moved. The universe was created and then, slowly, life as we know it sprouted from it. However, even the All needs order and chaos to grow and expand.

High Gods were created, and the All granted some of the powers of creation. Creation expanded, and beings of all levels appeared on the worlds.

After hordes of celestials were created, and future became clearer to the one Creator who held the keys to what it had been, what it was, and what it might be. The keeper of the keys saw chaos overstepping the right order until one took control of it all…

Unless…

Things were made, and within chaos, her hand created the order. With that notion… On an already populated Gaia, it started a secluded experiment.

They brought two beings to a secluded spot, seemingly like equals, yet they belonged to different creators and had different origins, thus even without memories of their previous lives, they acted accordingly. So, the wind spirit was freer. The screeching owl, the Lilitu couldn’t be contained as it was expected, and she fled the Eden experiment.

They created a third being then, molded from the rib of the second, the man, Adam. So, he would always need her to protect his heart, and she would always contain him. However, Adam wanted more. As Lilitu wanted freedom, Adam wanted control… the third being, Eve, was easily kept under it. For a while, that was enough. Until Adam and Eve also walked away from their garden, and they mixed their blood with those who inhabited Earth.

When Lucifer fell, Adam’s desire to control deeply rooted in his descendants, and the promise of so much more than just controlling their wives, grew on the men who feared the wisdom of the females. For some, the world didn’t seem quite enough by then.

It was before she fled that Lilitu was sitting by the stream in her garden, watching the starless skies and wondering what else was there beside them. She noticed a tree. There was a fruit hanging from it, red and appealing. Once she hadn’t seen before.

She bit it… and she fell.

Her heart hammered in her chest and her head pounded as the knowledge of the Gods was downloaded into her again. Her skin burning red with the fire of knowledge, her white wings that allowed her to fly along with the few birds trapped with them became ash dark, and as she stretched painfully, she heard a voice calling for her.

“Wake up, Lilith.”

“Dark Mother,” she said, recognizing the voice of the creator she had volunteered for. She fell to her knees, wondering if that short extent of life inhabiting a mortal body was enough for the Goddess’ plans. “Did it work?”  

“Not yet, child. It will take millennia before we see it happen. Now, take our seat as a Goddess back and claim your children.”

“How will I know it’s him?” She asked, looking around her until she spotted the visible form of the voice later would’ve known as Hecate.

“You’ll know Lilith. You are brave, my child. No other being would volunteer for what you’ve seen will happen with you.” The dark cloaked figure opened her arms and Lilith fell into a motherly embrace.

“The love I saw, the love I felt… was greater than the pain I must endure. There was no doubt in my heart that it was for my best interest.” She said firmly.

“Lilith, sweet child, if you want to step out of this plan of mine. This is the time. I can still create another way, you can still choose to live your life as the Goddess you were created to be.”

“After knowing what will happen? No. This must be done, and I must be the one doing it.”

“Then wake up, child. The war on the celestial realm is quickly approaching, when he falls the beginning of his end starts.”

Lilith took a deep breath as she untangled herself from the warm embrace of the Goddess. “Will I remember this?”

Her hand found Lilith’s sharp cheek tenderly. “Not until it’s time.”

Lilith woke up then, memories of her conversation with Hecate gone, but the ones about who she was had popped in her mind as fresh as the water from the stream. She called the creator’s name, the safe word they were supposed to utter if they wanted an out.

A light blinded her, and she felt her head hit the ground. The desert sun kissing the few visible bits of her red skin, her dark wings keeping her protected from the damages of the sun. She looked up at the blue sky and raised her hand to bring water to her. A small lake formed to her side, and she smiled.

Everything pointed she was back to being a Goddess. As such, she found herself followers that allowed her for decades to live a life that wouldn’t be remembered. Obliterated by the words of the celestial that would make her fall.

One day, as she ambled around her domains, she tripped with a handsome man as he looked up; she knew he would be her downfall.

“Who are you, stranger in my domains?” She had asked, even when her gut was telling her not to.

“Lucifer, the morning star.” He said, a charming smile on his face.

“You don’t look like a light bearer to me, yet the name still fits you,” Lilith smirked, looking down at the naked, fallen celestial. His skin glowing as a thin layer of sweat covered it.

What she didn’t know was that her downfall would break her in ways she didn’t know she could be broken, how even her image would change through the times and how she would become just a pathetic demon, his mistress, his scapegoat, and right hand.

Centuries later, when she was still somewhat free, she heard a voice she hadn’t heard since they all worked to bring the veil up.

“It’s time, Lilith. I’ve claimed the child’s heart, now is your time to claim her purity.”

She didn’t quite know why she had claimed the Spellman girl. She only knew the sole idea of doing it made her feel things she hadn’t in centuries. As if there was some part of her that was still completely free. The way both the Spellman and the Endor witches had bowed to their knees made her feel powerful once again….

And then she fell in love.

Lilith most likely would never explain everything she went through to reach this day. Some things she would never admit had happened to her, not now, when she was all mighty and her realm was her own again. Perchance, she would fall to her knees and cry in her love’s lap on bad days and allow herself to be consoled for a past that was long gone yet would never be quite forgotten.

She would never confess how she had tried everything in her hands to free her from her curse, and how once she remembered who she was and claimed her realm, she kept trying between Hell’s battles. It was only when Zelda called her worried about breaking them for a mortal that Lilith found that the faith she was about to lose was just there… she had been the woman. She should’ve known!

All the signs were there at the display. If she only wasn’t so blind to see them. Alas, it was done... Zelda was finally free... now it was only a matter of hope that pieces would truly fall into their proper place.

Chapter 64

Notes:

Did I mention that I think we are near the end now?
Whew! This took a while...

Chapter Text

“Blessed yule!” Sabrina shouted as she appeared in the foyer. Her voice hitting the kissing couple and forcing them to break the short but passionate kiss they had just shared for the second time (breaking no curse, that was).

“Miss Wardwell?” The teen asked, looking at Lilith, who was smiling amused at the now flustered duo. Sabrina frowned, as she wondered if that was her former teacher by the fire, who in Heaven was her Aunt smooching with?

“Blessed Yule, Sabrina,” came Ms. Wardwell’s voice hidden from deep in her Aunt’s neck. The blonde frowned.

“Wait! If you are there… then… Lilith? Hecate… I think I had a drink too many… I’m seeing things now,” she mumbled, walking to the kitchen and dropping herself on Ambrose’s empty bench.

“Don’t worry, lamb. We are as lost as you are,” Hilda said, patting her niece’s shoulder.

“It all has an explanation, or so I’ve been told. But first, I believe we are all starving and Lilith’s pancakes are to die for.” Zelda said, linking her hand with Mary’s and walking them to the table. She knew that despite the kiss and her fierce answer to it, many things were troubling her, yet she seemed to be holding herself together for the time being.

“So, she knows you are the Lilith?” Sabrina asked, and the doppelgangers nodded at once. It wasn’t hard to know which one was which -Mary’s glasses were a huge giveaway- but still was utterly odd to see them both looking so alike, for they were too damn different. “And you haven’t run away?”

“Nope.” Mary smiled, but she gave her answer with her gaze fixated on Zelda’s as if reassuring the witch that, despite it all, she wasn’t leaving now.

Ambrose and the Blackwood twins joined them a few moments after. He was still trying to shake himself from finding Mary and Lilith sitting at their table one at each side of his eldest Aunt, while the twins’ eyes went from one to the other and a shrug later, they decided things were no worse than they had experienced before.

“Yup, Lilith, and Mary… and they know each other… and Aunt Zee is being weird as Heaven,” Sabrina summed up as Ambrose dropped himself beside his cousin.

“This family keeps getting odder and odder…” He mumbled, shaking his head and digging into the awaiting food. If his aunt was happy, who was he to judge whatever was happening between them.

They finished breakfast, and they moved to the parlor where the Yule tree and the gifts took the better part of the ground beneath it was set.

“Unless you don’t feel up to it, go ahead,” Zelda whispered to Mary as they were exiting the kitchen. She knew Lilith was doubting about what to do with herself, lingering as she pretended to tend to the mess that was left. “Lily,” she called and searched for her hands, stopping her. “It’s Yule, we’ll clean up later, love.”

The Queen of Hell closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, leaving out a deep sigh. A kiss warmed up her cheeks, almost forcing her to open her blues and get lost on the greens that were keenly looking at her. She saw so much love that she would’ve cried if they weren’t in her kitchen.

“I don’t want to intrude, darling.” She said, caressing the alabaster skin that trapped her hands. “I’m aware this is her first Yule.”

“You won’t intrude, love. Come,” Zelda said, tangling their hands and pulling Lilith with her to the parlor until they stopped near Mary who was standing in a corner of the room by herself. With her free hand, she brought the teacher close, in a sideways embrace, and pecked her lips.

The mortal had noticed the way Lilith and Zelda’s hands were still tangled and smiled softly at this. She had seen the feelings shining in their eyes and it surprised her she wasn’t jealous of it but intrigued by whatever story the witch had with the Goddess. And, also, a bit disconcerted by this attraction she felt to the woman who presented herself as a twin of her. However, what made her doubt about their current stance, or even the idea of following that attraction, was the rest of the family. What would they think of it? This? What would anyone think if they saw her well, lovey-dovey with herself? She shook her head as the young ones read the tags of the gifts underneath the Yule tree. The twins in awe at the several gifts that they were given.

Being in Zelda’s safe arms, Mary allowed herself to bury her fears about them, and felt giddy for the first time while celebrating a holiday (even if it wasn’t her own, perhaps because of it too). She had been so overexcited for sharing it with someone that she had found gifts for everyone. When her first gift was delivered to the owner, she felt a lump forming in her stomach and her hand around Zelda’s waist tightened.

“Relax, darling. They are going to love whatever you got them.”

“So, the three of you are going to linger in the back like the naughty squad you seem to be? Or will you join us? We don’t bite, you know?” Hilda asked, turning around to find them. A peaceful smile appearing on her face as she noticed the way her sister looked, so utterly happy and completely different from the previous day.

Zelda laughed, Sabrina and Ambrose raised their heads at the sound of it. “What’s going on?” Sabrina asked. “It’s not only that you seem to be happier, Auntie. It’s… you are different.”

“I’ve never been more myself than now, Sabrina. You know this, don’t you, Hildy? From a long time ago…” Hilda smiled and nodded, but that confused her niece even more.

“Can you… don’t know… explain?”

“I cannot. I’m not so sure myself of what’s going on... well, save for some parts of it,” Zelda dismissed easily, smiling lovingly first to Mary and then to Lilith.

“I can, and before you say another word, Sabrina. This is not my doing. I simply got caught in the middle after I volunteered to bring the Divine Feminine back to the place it should’ve upheld all this time,” Lilith said, raising a hand, knowing that the teen would more likely find her to blame. “We are part of the change. I volunteered. Your Aunt had a choice… and sweet Mary…. She had a lot of family ancestral karma to clean up, and by doing so, she fell right in alignment with you, Zelda, to lift the curse your parents placed upon you in an attempt to fulfill their promises over your brother’s birth.”

“My brother’s birth?”

“Yes. I suppose I could start in your thread and weave myself around it. Or I could start at the beginning… which will make a whole more sense… now that I remembered it thanks to Mary, at least. However, before I do that, we three should talk, or at least you two should. I believe there’s a Yule gift hidden inside your room?”

Mary blushed. She hadn’t forgotten about her gift, but she had been embarrassed because now it seemed silly. But nodded. Lilith nodded to them so they would go away. Zelda eyed her, getting an eye roll for it.

“We won’t kill her or dethrone her, Auntie Zee!” Sabrina said, chuckling, before diving for another gift. Lilith’s hand found hers again, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “I’ll be there in a moment, but I believe there’s a talk you both need to have. Especially when you have chosen her over answers... again. It tells a lot, won’t you agree, love?”

She nodded, walking out of the parlor, noticing that Mary was already way ahead of her. She rushed. If Lilith thought they needed to talk, whatever she was going to disclose would include that they were together for longer than anyone would’ve thought. And that was something she wanted to disclose to Mary by herself.

The door of their room was open, and she stepped in, not finding Mary inside, until the brunette walked out of the closet, holding a neatly wrapped gift in her hands. Her cheeks were flaming, her head cast down, and Zelda could see how tears pooled in her blue eyes before twin lines of tears cascaded down her sharp bones and to the floor, she was so intently looking at.

“I wasn’t sure if this was going to be enough… that’s why it never got below the tree, and now,” she huffed. The thinly kept control over her emotions now collapsing, memories falling heavily over her heart.

“Darling, what’s wrong?”

“I killed you, Zelda. I came to your house, pointed a gun at you and I killed you… and I was worried about killing that man, about this gift not being enough... When I…” she looked up towards the ceiling, her breath coming out ragged and her eyes filled with tears that broke Zelda’s heart in ways she hadn’t ever experienced.

“I’m alive, Mary. Is it not that what matters?” She stepped closer, but Mary extended her arm, keeping her away. Not wanting to be comforted, even when all she desperately wanted was to be held by the redhead.

“I killed the woman I love… What does that make me, Zee? I…” Her legs gave out, and she fell to her knees, the gift crashing to the ground with a thud. Zelda couldn’t move, her heart hammering in her chest, her eyes widening at the confession that was left out inadvertently. “How could you forgive me? How could you find it in yourself to even talk to me? Care about me? When I put a bullet on you? Your Goddess request or not, how could you even look at me and see something other than the way I…”

Zelda finally found it in herself to shake herself from the dumb spell she had fallen into after hearing Mary loved her. She lowered herself in front of her, her own set of tears falling freely as she cleared away the ones falling from the brunette.

“I killed you…”

The words came out, almost numbing Mary. Then flashes of their path to this moment emerged from her mind. The way Zelda had rushed away “the first time” she met her, and how the “second time” she hadn’t acted as differently. The pain she saw every time the witch looked at her and how she rubbed her middle when she spoke about being killed.

“Everything just makes sense now, how Sabrina talked to me, how Hilda hated me, even Ambrose reluctance and all those whispers that were left around the Academy. And Hilda did say you were quite good at facing places that broke you. Was it that? That you faced yourself by helping me? Did you convince yourself that since I didn’t know what I did, then bedding me was all right? That it wouldn’t come out and you would never have to see me for who I truly am? The one who killed you?”

“Mary…” she said, trying to bring her closer, but the teacher’s hands found her wrists, stopping any attempt at comfort. Yet, the green eyes she loved so much hadn’t wavered from her own, glowing with a mix of tears and love… ‘no, it cannot be…’ Mary thought.

“How can you look at me like that?! How could you kiss me so passionately this morning?! As if I wasn’t the one to blame… as if I hadn’t killed you a bit over a year now? As if I hadn’t almost killed you last night?”

Zelda smiled, resting her forehead against Mary’s, lowering her arms from where they had been, resting them on her lap. The teacher wrapped her arms around her middle. As an armor, to protect her from the answer that was yet to come.

“Of all the questions you’ve asked, Mary… these are by far the easiest to answer. Especially after last night. Perchance, the starting point was my Goddess request to convert you, one that somehow, I’ve fulfilled without breaking you. You called upon Hecate by your own will in moments of distress. Now, you also believe in her and her path and there is no longer a Goddess-bound promise that could taint my next words, darling. They are free, they come from deep within me, and they have been brewing for quite a long time now…”

She moved away slightly, her hands once again finding Mary’s cheek. Her thumbs ghosting over lips and then cheekbones. Before raising the face until the teacher couldn’t take it anymore and finally looked up at her.

“Perhaps, it all started before, when you saw me across the veil when somehow you crossed over and I kissed you. Maybe, what mortals always thought about souls that are linked is true. But the only truth that matters is that I can look at you like this. I still want to kiss you in the same way I wanted to kiss you before… All of that it’s possible because I love you, Mary Wardwell. I don’t know how you crawled into my heart and my very soul when I couldn’t feel. Yet, you did it. I’ve been in love with you for a while now, trapped inside my body. I was unable to tell you. So many times, I wanted to kiss you to show you what I couldn’t word out. I figured out that I loved you when given the chance to do it, I kept my promise to you.”

“You didn’t kill me, Mary. Don’t you see? You helped me find myself and the Goddess we both belong to, and then, you went even further. You didn’t almost kill me last night, love, you freed me with the most glorious second kiss one could have. Now, allow me to be clear, love. There’s nothing you can do, there’s no excuse you might come up with, that will make me love you any less. Do you understand this, Mary? Do you understand you are now stuck with me until your last breath because I can’t simply conceive the idea of not having you? You, leaving me… that’d be the one thing that can truly devastate me. Not the bullet in my body, but the tearing in my soul that your departure would leave on me.”

“But I’m a mortal… I’ll die…” Zelda couldn’t bear the thought of losing her, bringing her as close to her body as she could, caressing her hair. She left a kiss on the crown of her head.

“When the time comes, I’ll be at your side to deliver you to wherever you’ll be going,” she said, her voice breaking with emotion before she cleared her throat to gain control of her emotions. “You said, you weren’t afraid anymore... is it that still true?”

“You said love was for silly mortals, and lust was for witches.” Mary countered. Zelda blushed.

“I did. I too was afraid, Mary. Terrified of that feeling you made me feel, and that you wouldn’t find it in yourself to love me. You’ll see, I’m not as strong as people believe me to be. I, too, break and I, too, fall into dark times. I hoped you could be the one who could catch me, mend me, perhaps.”

“And Lilith?” Mary bit her lower lip because she simply knew that between a lousy mortal as herself and Lilith, Goddess of the Underworld, she wasn’t the best standing one.

“Lilith is the first being I loved, the only one before you. I met her when I was fifteen and had all the range of emotions. Just like you and I, there was a pull. An attraction. It took us months of friendship until I dared to ask her for a kiss, my very first one. I was going to tell her I was in love with her when something happened, and I lost it all. In over eight hundred years that I’ve loved Lily, it was just this morning, thanks to whatever you did to me, that I could finally tell her. As I can tell you now.”

She arranged them so she could see Mary’s hidden face, with one hand still keeping her close and the other one finding the bangs that covered her eyes. She needed to see those blues when she left those three words once more.

“I love you, Mary. If you aren’t afraid anymore, I would very much like you to have me, in whatever capacity you see me fit for, and under whatever tag you need me to label us.”

“You’ll accept to be labeled?” Mary asked, unable to hold the frown on her forehead.

“If that keeps you by my side, yes.” The love shining in her eyes, the honesty in her words, the feeling of utter bliss and peace in her arms, everything pointed to her that she had finally found her home.

“I’m not afraid anymore.” She said, pulling Zelda down for a kiss.

“I believe I said something about a gift, and not quite that much about you two frolicking while the rest of the family eagerly waits for answers.” Lilith's voice came loud, making them break the kiss. “And it seems the gift it’s still not given.”

Mary found the forgotten gift and pushing it to Zelda’s hands as she blushed right up to her ears.  Zelda’s curiosity could only be rivaled by Mary’s own, so she quickly took it and unwrapped it.

“What’s this?” Zelda asked, frowning in confusion at the small booklet at hand. Mary’s eyes found the floor.

“I didn’t know what to get you. Everything I could think about you already had it… So, I suppose I wanted to give you something you didn’t have. I… You are always sharing your things with me, and I’m always the one asking all the questions… So… I… I did some research and found there are questions you should ask someone to get to know them… I suppose, I kinda just gave some parts of myself to you that you didn’t know?”

Zelda smiled, flipping through the dozens of handwritten pages.  

“Oh, love. I truly appreciate the time you took to do this. However, I don’t understand why you think you weren’t telling me anything about you? I can tell much more of you from what you do and how you behave, love. You are transparent.”

“So, you can tell what’s my favorite color?” Mary snorted, raising her eyes to find the amused glance of Lilith, somehow not feeling ashamed of this display of vulnerability they were doing in front of her.

“Orange,” Zelda said easily, making the teacher frown. She had never told her that!

“How?”

“Our Zee has really keen eyes. Haven’t you notice how much attention to detail she has, sweet Mary?” Lilith smiled, and Mary frowned, remembering once more Hilda’s words. Zelda chuckled.

“Especially keen for those I love, when I couldn’t tell them. As for the how, your gaze always falls back either to my hair, or the embers and those you pointed as the most beautiful sunsets were always orangey looking. I can tell a lot of you, just by the way your eyes shine when you like it or how you purse your lips slightly when you don’t. Some people, love, need words… I… I simply need you.”

“And her…”

“What?” Zelda frowned and then followed the pointed finger.

“Lilith…” Mary said, biting the half of her lower lip. “You called her, and she came.”

“It’s a long story,” Lilith started.

“She knows, darling,” Zelda said, looking at her very first love. “What I haven’t told her, nor asked her, is that you too feel attracted to her as she does to you.”

“What?” Mary’s eyes widened in surprise. “What does that even mean?”

“It means that if you want to explore that feeling, you can, there won’t be any kind of judgments on either side. However, if you don’t feel comfortable either exploring yourself or sharing me with her. It’s your choice, Mary. You are mortal, and you are the one who has been finding herself just now.”

“Wait, you are telling me… that even if I have you, which I already can’t quite believe. I could possibly what? Date her?”

“Yes, darling. However surprising you might find it, you are free to do whatever you please, because, I love you and I want you to be free. I know you both will get along nicely if you are to explore it. Anyhow, it’s on your plate whenever you might want to consider it. I won’t complain if you find me enough or if you want her, too. I won’t be mad if you think I should be faithful only to you, in which case, you’ll still know I’ll love her even if we don’t see each other. But that’s not an answer we need right now. Perhaps it wasn’t something to be thrown at you when a lot is going on in that head of yours.” Zelda said.

“Exactly! Honesty is the best way to approach it. She needed to be the one disclosing that to you. Especially when they are about to learn I was the girl Zelda fell for as a teen. That being said, we should return downstairs and I should give you all the answers I have before we figure out what to do.”

Zelda extended her hand, and Lilith promptly took it, helping her up. She placed a kiss on the redhead’s cheek before she helped Mary up, kissing her right at the corner of her mouth. The teacher blushing furiously at this.

“Why I have this feeling that whatever you might say, it will bring nothing but trouble, love?”

“Oh, because you know me, love,” Lilith said, her eyes twinkling with mischievousness before she patted Zelda’s ass. “I’m nothing but trouble.”

Chapter 65

Notes:

It's the end.... hum...
As usual, cursives are the past, normal the present... and bold is the future.
And I truly hope it makes sense xD

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

“From the Creation, according to the Mother,” Mary said, looking up to the crowd and opening the book she read as she had been doing for centuries.

In the beginning, there was. Until there were. The All we called it, and when the All moved, the universe was created. For without movement, there’s no life.

From there, slowly, life as we know it sprouted from it. Order and chaos appeared at first, for it cannot be one without the other. One cannot expand without overcoming chaos and one cannot grow until there’s order. How would anyone know what it’s like to grow if there’s nothing to be measured with? And how could anyone expand if there aren’t there challenges to pass?

Gods, like myself, were created then. With us, the power of creation expanded, and beings of all levels appeared in the worlds. Fights among us appeared as we divided the realms we created and the beings we birthed fell into their place of creation.

One side of the All -that we learned to call Divine Feminine- had kept in her control the keys to what it had been, what it was, and what it might be. The one who later was called Hecate, the keeper of the keys, saw chaos overstepping the right order until even the Divine Masculine lost control of it all.

When the time came, one offer reached the Goddesses of the most distant realms, including myself. And I volunteered as the one who would help restore everything to its rightful place. In exchange, she offered me blinding pain… and love as no other. And knowing that, I bounded myself to Her cause.


The parlor was a sight when they walked inside. Hilda and Dr. Cee were talking in whispers, cuddling together. They had matching ugly sweaters and huge grins. Ambrose and Sabrina were picking up the wrapping paper. The twins were nowhere to be seen.

“Where?”

Hilda’s eyes raised to find the returning trio. Besides noticing the tangled hands of Zelda and Mary, she followed her gaze until she noticed they were searching for the twins. She shrugged.

“They were so excited, wanting to share what they got with their sisters that I thought it would be better if they returned to the academy so we could talk, instead of them bringing their sisters back. Isn’t it cute? How they also adopted Agatha?”

“Yes, very cute. Can we finally get those answers now?” Sabrina asked, embracing herself with the impatience only a teen could muster. “And yes, Lilith, I dislike you bound us in here when they left.”

“Privacy is something you should value, Sabrina. I think your aunts tried to instill that upon you. But as you asked so nicely, yes, we can,” Lilith said, conjuring up a chair to sit in the middle of the room where she could see them all.


My mission, an experiment first. To become the first woman and first wife, hoping that setting one of each in a perfect garden empty of external forces would achieve equality. It failed and my participation in it was all but erased from human books, leaving that title to Eve.

We knew it would fail, but it was what had to be done, and attempt as many others done throughout the millennia that passed since I’ve first come to exist. Century after century, the world as I knew it begun to collapse, mortals begun to raise. With power became the fear that they’d lose, afraid of the magical beings that shared their lands. In an agreement like no other, the first veil between realms was raised…. It was the beginning of the new cycle. We all knew that.

And over it all, I knew I was getting closer to fall to the deepest of the Hells, the first one I would have no control over.


“I’ll start by your curse, Zelda. The Endor trait was always this immense curiosity. Hecate loved that of your lineage.”

As soon as Lilith's words came out, Sabrina frowned.

“Endor?”

“Yes, Sabrina. The lasts of the Spellman’s come from a mix of two ancient family lines. The Spellmans, as you all know. Yet, the maternal side… It was Hecatean since its conception. Your mother line can be traced back to King Solomon’s time and even further if you have the memory to check. Or the proper goddess to ask.” Lilith smiled brightly, as Zelda knew she was speaking of herself.

“Hecatean? That’s impossible. It was as forbidden as marrying a mortal.” Hilda said, chuckling nervously while cuddling closer to her husband.

“Yet, you know it’s true. You all heard the rumors back then until it was forgotten. Tell me, Zelda Spellman, if you haven’t traveled to one of her realms when you awoke as her High Priestess? Have you not asked for magic only a High Priestess could’ve asked for? And got it freely as a gift for your new position? And hasn’t she fulfilled your deepest desires?”

“Her realm? The nether world where I found her? But I didn’t see her.”

“Are you sure, love?” Lilith asked. The brunette crooked her head, and Zelda frowned.

“I…”


She had seen herself take her last breath, her hair had become snowy white and her coven was there with her. Her family had been there, too. Zelda felt emotions as she hadn’t in a long while, her eyes tearing up as Hilda and Sabrina broke over her. She saw Lilith in her youthful form standing aside.

She walked away and Zelda followed, walking past one big dark tombstone that belonged to Sabrina Morningstar. Out of their cemetery, and deep into the forest until she reached one of her favorite spots in the world, the garden hidden a few miles behind Mary’s cottage.

Lilith stopped near a bench that was placed there, and as she walked to it, a deep sadness filled her as she read the tombstone of her Mary.

“They will bring your body to rest here, while you, your soul… will join us. She cannot be here but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t miss you, love.”

“Take me,” Zelda said, and Lilith’s hand found her cheek.

“I cannot. You must complete the journey that will bring us here first. It stars there,” she said, pointing to a door that wasn’t there before.

Just like many had done before her, Zelda opened the heavy doors and walked down the stairs deep into the darkness. She knew she wasn’t alone. She could feel Lilith’s protective energy around her.

She reached gates and dark hounds consumed her deepest fears as if they were nothing more than spaghetti to them. And the gates opened, leading her to a dark garden where she found Hecate.

“Zelda Phiona Spellman, how have you been awaited.” Hecate’s almost motherly voice resounded on the void. “It took some time, hasn’t it, child?”

“Indeed, it has,” Lilith said, appearing at Zelda’s side in her godly image. Her red skin, her dark wings, a soft transparent and iridescent black linen barely covering her breasts and nether areas somehow kept in place by a golden belt. Her ebony mane was tucked to the side and in her eyes shone the fires of Hell.

“Tell me, child. Is my creation what you hoped for? Was it worth it?” Hecate asked, and Zelda frowned in confusion. But Lilith walked closer to her, raising her head and pecking at her lips.

“More than just worthy, Mother. She’s the one we are all waiting for. She’ll make a great High Priestess for you.”

“As all the first-born girls of the Endor family. Are you ready, Zelda, my child, to step up to your full power and become my High Priestess?”

“I am.”

“Step up further, and I’ll make you who you ought to be.”

“Mother, there’s still that issue with… her curse? How can she step up to her full power, when her emotions are still under that stupid curse the Endor witch cast over her own child? Or after all this time, you could’ve broken it and you never told me?”

“Why would I break something that was made to crack by itself? Patience, Lilitu. The time is close.”

“What curse?” Zelda frowned, and she felt as if Hecate tugged her heart out of her body. Her vital organ was pumping on the blurry dark hand of Hecate. It looked as a heart should look like, however, a tangled line was tying it as a fishing net would a fish, keeping completely trapped although still working.

“The one around your heart. But, worry not, it will be broken. There are just a few more things that need to happen before it does. Now, it’s time to return, child. You both have plenty of work to do. Oh, and Zelda, whenever you ask, I will answer. But only once without a price.”


“I remember now,” Zelda said, rubbing her heart. “She said there was a curse that was about to be broken and that all Endor firstborn girls were High Priestesses of her. I don’t understand?”

“They bound you, Zelda. Lydia and Solomon Spellman cursed you. A curse that bound your soul and hers, one I couldn’t break myself. I cursed their souls until the very day your curse would be broken.”

“Why would anyone curse their child?” Mary asked, confused by this. Lilith waved her hand and a wide tome appeared opened in her legs.

“Out of love, of course,” Lilith said, smiling at them. “They couldn’t conceive. They went to their Dark Lord, but Lucifer found it a just punishment for his marriage to a heathen. So, Lydia called upon her Goddess, and Hecate offered her a deal. In exchange for a child, they needed to be certain that by the time Hecate called upon their first-born girl, she was still pure of heart.”

“That makes little sense? How could one remain pure of the heart being a witch?” Hilda asked. “The first thing we do is break our hearts when we sign away our souls, no matter why we did it. It breaks you a little.” Ambrose and Sabrina nodded in agreement.

“Except I couldn’t feel, until last night,” Zelda whispered. “How do you fall into this mess, Lily? For I remember you also claimed me.”

“Hecate said to me she had stricken a deal with one of Lucifer’s children, a heart for her to use whenever she saw fit. I was losing myself, I had just a handful of followers, and had no memories of the deal she and I had. I raged against her and your parents, claiming you to myself. Completely unaware of what might happen to us.”

“But you searched me before I lost my emotions…”

“Yes. I’ve done plenty of awful things in my long life but taking someone without their consent, that’s one I can pride myself on not having done. The moment I saw you, I knew I didn’t want you to feel you weren’t equal to me. So, I had to meet you… and it was impossible for me not to fall in love with you….”

“You were her? You were the girl she scurried away with every afternoon?” Hilda asked, her eyes widened. In front of their eyes, Lilith changed to the girl they knew. Before returning to Mary’s form.

“Your parents didn’t know who I was. They thought they needed to protect your heart from breaking because of me. That they needed to protect your virtue so you wouldn’t lose it willingly just with that girl… and they wanted to protect you from breaking if the townsmen ever dared to complete what they bravely drunkenly announced they would.”

She passed the book to Mary, who took it with widened eyes. Mary traced Zelda’s name as she read the curse upon it.


“I’m sorry, allow me to continue,” Mary said as she got distracted by her lovers who appeared in the front row then.

In her all-knowing wisdom, the Dark Mother had a plan that she knew would be achieved. It had many pieces that needed to fall into place. Four ancient lines of magical beings needed to be tangled in ways that weren’t allowed. Of these four lines:

A being needed to sacrifice her lineage for love and fall from grace with their goddess approval.

Two beings needed to act out of love, one taking, one losing.

And the last one needed to break from her lineage falling from grace facing the wrath of her own confused people under the pretense it was their Goddess wrath.

Their names were Lydia Endor, Solomon Spellman, Edward Kelley, and Willow Briar, the last one of the Monvoisin.


“And you say I broke this?” Mary asked, pushing her glasses farther up her nose. Lilith nodded. “This is quite specific… I mean, for what I know from Zelda’s life, I couldn’t possibly do similar things.”

“Yes, you did. You isolated yourself and learned so you could teach. Haven’t you also protect yourself by growing a barrier between you and the world? The same man has even abused you both. I killed you, you killed her. Ergo, you both died. Yet, it was the Endor dagger that defined it all.”

“The Endor dagger?” Hilda asked nervously.

“Yes, the one you had on display in your library. An object that belonged to your mother and was given to her by Hecate herself. I should know, I was there when that happened.” A gasp left Hilda, as her eyes widened, falling from Zelda to Mary, finally stopping on Lilith, who nodded knowingly to the blonde Spellman.

“Yes. It was given to Lydia Endor, so it would get to Mary’s hand.”

“To Mary’s hand? I mean, to Ms. Wardwell’s hand?” Sabrina asked.

“It was the last piece that would complete their similarities, for your aunt had killed in self-defense before, with my help,” Lilith said, her eyes falling to Zelda.

“The witch hunters. You told me the words to summon your Hellfire…” Zelda mumbled. Her family turned around to look at her, confused by this. Lilith smiled, agreeing with her. “But how that could be compared with Mary’s self-defense killing?”

“Because she, too, got my help. Back in the day when I wandered around your house as Lucifer’s handmaiden, I entered your library. I saw the dagger, and I knew I was to find the wielder. It did not surprise me when I heard Mary calling my name.”

“I didn’t call your name…” Mary frowned in confusion, and Lilith crooked her head.

“But you did, not intentionally. ‘Lilith, Lilith, Lilith? Zelda’s Lilith? Why is he calling me Lilith?’ You thought. By then, I knew the wielder was you, for the way Zelda worried about you since the beginning. So, when I heard your call, I transported the dagger from its cage to your office. Since the curse, is lifted, then I’ll assume you killed him with my help.”

“It was a witch, he’s now alive. He wanted to seek a boon from you.”

Lilith raised her eyebrow at Zelda’s words. “By hurting her? What kind of piece of shit hurts someone to ask for a boon? I’ll make sure he pays for it, love.” She said, her eyes settling on green eyes as the redhead nodded in agreement.

“Now, the night in which Lydia took the dagger. The night she was dedicated to Hecate, she agreed she would betray her faith when the time came. Your grandfather had no such choice. He was from one of the eldest bloodlines, one of the first ones to fall under Lucifer’s control. It only made sense it was him.”


Mortals, too, needed to be sacrificed to this plan. One completely unaware of the magical beings in the world, and one who wanted nothing else but to become one. The names of these souls were Abigail Wardwell nee Compton and Jonas Walsh.

One soul needed to be brought to life as one of the most powerful magical beings in the world. Her powers just slightly below that of the Gods. This soul was to be claimed by the Divine feminine and myself, kept unbroken until the time came. Her feelings were to be bound inside herself to protect not her heart, but her life, binding the extent of her magic with the feelings she couldn’t quite feel. Leaving her with enough of those that she could still learn to control -both her feelings and magic.

One soul needed to be brought to life as one of the most innocent mortals in the world. Her magical lineage watered down until it seemed there was nothing left. She had to fall in love with the trapped soul, and free her when the time came.

Despite the gap between their births, they both needed to find each other. They needed to die. And somehow, I and a small little town were to be tangled in the middle of it all.

Amid it all, I had to lose it all, even myself and my memories of who I was, for it to work.

The enlightenment of our true purpose would only be achieved on the eve of the rebirth of the world.

The time was not any time either; it was that happening after a slight awakening. The same magical lineage as the first soul also needed to break the law. Mortal and witch should marry so they could fulfill a prophecy. So the Unholy Trinity could create the Herald of Hell that would be born to announce the new beginning, which wasn’t the one the broken masculine forethought.

For when I fell, I was named the Dawn before the Doom. Only he didn’t know the doomed one was Lucifer himself.


“But here it says the curse can only be broken by someone coming from two ancient lines of witches. I’m only mortal. How could I be the one?” Mary asked then, her eyes still on the book, avoiding everyone’s eyes.

“That’s why you could bring her back… because her soul was still in a witchy realm?” Zelda asked.

“You know that answer, love, and Mary, it doesn’t say you need to be the witch. But, darling, you come from a very long line of witches. You believe you know all there is to know about your last name, yet the Wardwell’s only existed for your ancestor saved his wife by placing her in a ship filled with witches. Your paternal side comes from Sir Edward Kelley, you witches might now him as…”

“Edward Talbot,” Ambrose’s eyes widened. “I thought his line died with him! If you are his descendant…”

“Hold your horses, Ambrose. Two lines, that’s only one.” Zelda said.

“Yes, Mary’s maternal line it’s even more well known. A fallen Hecataean line, that can be traced almost as far as the Endors and Spellmans… Mary’s last witch on her mother’s side was Willow Briar… Monvoisin. Your parents’ death was no accident at all, Mary. The Monvoisin line had betrayed Hecate, and Willow ended up wrongly accused. Her own parents cursed her and her line, so the parents would die when the next in line reached witch's adulthood. One you broke by not having a next in line.”

“That’s why she could see through the veil when she was younger,” Zelda mumbled.

“Through the veil?” Everyone turned to watch a blushing Zelda, and she nodded at them. Things around them trembled out of Zelda's uncontrolled emotions, but Mary’s hand found the redhead’s hand and she relaxed, controlling herself with ease once more.

“When Mary was a teen, she saw me walking to the Academy. She followed me right to the door. She even trespassed the academy doors. Hadn’t I placed another spell to transport her to a mirage, she would’ve seen it all. It had always baffled me how she could do so… but now…”

“Why didn’t work back then?” Mary asked, shaking her head, confused, a deep frown marring her brow. “Why did it work now, but not back then?”

“Read that curse once more, and you’ll understand,” Lilith said. The teacher lowered her eyes to the book once more. A scarlet red covered her cheeks then. “There’s no way I can say this without embarrassing you, darling. It didn’t work back then, because the curse called for a love’s kiss, and perhaps you felt our bond pulling you both, but neither of you loved the other. So, I truly hope in that chat of yours, you both left that cat out of the bag.”

“Ok, I’ll bite. Why me? Or her? Why couldn’t you?” Zelda asked after a deep silence had befallen around the room. Everyone was too astounded to say anything else.

“I wanted to be me the one to break it,” she smiled self-deprecatively, and the redhead knew this was true. “Yet, the same line that makes Mary your match easily erases me out of the equation. I come straight from the All, from Hecate, and I fell under Lucifer. While you two, you even match in the mix of blood. Motherly lines tracing back to Hecate, paternal lines traced to Lucifer’s path of destruction…”


From the Gospel of the Crone, Mary said, changing books as the crowd waited for her patiently. Not a fly flew out on the open auditorium they had set for this gathering.

Surprise shook me to the core when the truth was revealed. How could I be something more than just a feelingless witch? How could I, who was often misjudged, set to the side, abused and forgotten, be the Crone of the three in one? I wanted to laugh, for I was far younger than our Mother.

But turns out, being a Crone is not about age, but about how one shares their wisdom. An innate one that comes from deep within oneself. One I always had and never realized. I couldn’t be a mother, for I had never birthed a being.

And being my path, one filled with carnality as I searched for a way to free myself of that I couldn’t be free of. I was far from being the Maiden. However, as I walked my path, I learned more about self-control and magic than anyone around me. Once free, it wasn’t hard to keep me from struggling with emotions.

Not when I had the love not only of Hecate, but I was part of the three in one. The Mother had found me before I lost my feelings and the Maiden freed me to feel them once more. What else one could ask for?


“Lilith, how are we all tangled in this mess?” Zelda asked worriedly, her eyes falling over to Sabrina. Could she be involved? The grin on Lilith’s face only made her anxiety skyrocket.

“As you all know, there are many gods and goddesses throughout the story… some soft, loving and warm, and some other darker, like me. Once upon a time, there was a worry raised among the Goddesses as the first seeds of what you now know as patriarchy appeared, but even those of my kind had limitations. Only those who were the first division of the All could see what it was, what it is, and what it might be… the one you now call… Hecate.”

“Wait? You are a goddess? Then why couldn’t you grant the coven with magic when we needed it?” Sabrina frowned. A soft smile formed on Lilith’s face when her eyes fell over Zelda. “You know why, don’t you, love?” The redhead frowned in confusion, and then Lilith’s gaze fell on Mary first and on Zelda later. The eldest of the Spellman’s gasped when she understood what she wasn’t saying.

“You truly couldn’t, for your magic was bound. I’ll take we’ll know more than a part of these explanations you are giving us. I’m willing to agree that I needed to find Hecate, and for that to happen, I needed to die.”

“How can you say that, Aunt Zee? Why are you so sure that you wouldn’t find Hecate any other way?” Ambrose asked. Zelda chuckled mirthlessly as she connected dots on her mind. She shook her head.

“I needed to die, in the same way, you needed to die, Sabrina. You died so there would be leverage that could force me to face Mary… and I needed to die because Mary did. She’s the only mortal with a witch lineage that could remain reachable. Any other mortal would end up in Hell or Heaven according to their doings, and well, I’ve been around centuries to find another witch that would fulfill that and never happened before. Now, tell me, love, do you remember where you ended up when you died?”

Mary gulped, then blushed before she dared to nod. “Here. I ended here… but it wasn’t here at all. A man, one that I meet once when I was a teen, came up to me, and he said I was early because you weren’t the yet.”

“Here? And you met a man?” Hilda asked, searching for Zelda’s gaze, for she too remembered their version of the nether realm and how Edward told them he was waiting for them.

“The nether realm,” Zelda whispered. “That’s not your realm, Lilith, for she wasn’t dead nor alive. Thus, you could only bring her back if there was a corpse, but you didn’t, did you?”

“No. I pleaded with the All, and Hecate agreed, for she knew who she was. Who she was born to be. And just like with yourself, Hecate brought her back.”


“From the Gospel of the Maiden,” Sabrina said after walking up to Mary and nodding her away.

I used to believe my life was meaningless. What was I but a mortal with no other future than remaining rotting inside my little town? Confused beyond words about myself, about the world, and about what it truly meant to be free.

I thought I was free… until freedom came to me as a woman. One I fell irremediably in love with. She taught me what it truly was to be myself, giving me the courage to grab my own life and do with it what I wanted of it.


“Who she was born to be?” Zelda frowned in confusion. “Lilith, what aren’t you saying? How were you bound?”

“I tried to imbue your coven with my magic. I couldn’t, because you were bound, Zelda. Hecate bound my magic because if helped in your coven, you wouldn’t die. You wouldn’t have betrayed me, kicking me out of your coven, and Mary wouldn’t need to let the trapped Lucifer inside her house, unknowingly betraying me too. If she didn’t, the spell Lucifer placed on her to kill you wouldn’t exist, you wouldn’t have died, and things would’ve never fallen in place. Now, what I’m not saying, your mother taught you about me? Has she not? About my true self?” Lilith asked, turning towards Hilda, who had nodded in agreement.

“Lilith, Goddess of the Underworld. Mother of Abominations, Dark Mother, Witch mother, the black sun, the morning star, the Dragon Goddess, and the scarlet Queen. The devourer of nations, the shadowed lady, and the howler in the desert. Lilith, the wind. There was a time, where she wasn’t only Lucifer’s handmaiden, she was a Goddess of her own. She was as beautiful as she was powerful. If you ever feel you can’t deal with anything, Hilda, if you find yourself on your knees before a man who doesn’t respect you, call upon her and she will come helping. My mum was right. You came whenever I called you… Back in the days of my harrowing. Why didn’t you stop her? If you knew who my sister was? If you already loved her?”

“I couldn’t change who she was to become, Hilda. I could only help you as I did, for I am the Mother. Hecate, the side of the All responsible for my creation, needed a creature. A Goddess who would resist the fall. The lies spilled so I would fall and forget were painful, and they broke me. Throughout the centuries, Lucifer shattered any resemblance to who I was. I wasn’t joking, love when I told you it was you who saved me. It was you who reminded me who I was.”

“I am the Mother, but you, my love, are the Crone… It’s about your wisdom, that goes far beyond magic. An inner knowledge you carry, that’s capable of enthralling any soul and yet, the only one capable of saving both Mary and me when we were both wandering lost. Now, our lovely Mary, died a maiden… She’s capable of seeing everyone’s true nature, and she’s so innocent herself. Even if a late bloomer, she is still growing and showing the potential of change anyone has inside, who better to complete this than one who’s still finding herself anew?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sabrina asked, utterly confused.

“While you, Sabrina, are the result of an unholy trinity. We are one Trinity… Mortal Maiden, Goddess Mother, and Witch Crone. We are the incarnated three in one. Our job, since things have finally fallen into place, is to bring the feminine back to its old splendor. To free the people and one day… raise the veil so the old ways can be out again.”


What I wanted was not even close to what it became. My path was far different from those of the Crone and the Mother, whereas they went to different Hells and faced different demons. I… had to face mortals and myself. I thought I wasn’t worthy of being the one who was chosen. But they have shown me that there’s no demon small enough and that the worst one lives inside oneself.

A lesson they both learned before I was even born… and that was reminded to them by the spawn of the Unholy Trinity.

There’s no one else you can be if not yourself, and sometimes being yourself means waking up to new truths, taking them by the hand, standing up against everything you know to be true, only to end up on the other side ready to keep battling. No matter if the ultimate sacrifice is your own life.

That’s your true power, the ability to grasp your own truth, and then love everything so much than giving yourself in the name of love, it’s all you can do.

What I learned is that you can be surprised as to how the strongest people you know only need a heart filled with love and someone they can break themselves with, and how breaking in their arms is the most precious moment you can have.

You’d be surprised to know that you are far more worthy than you think of, and how even those you see as unreachable sometimes feel unworthy of you.


“You are for real?” Sabrina asked, not quite happy about not being part of it at all. “What are you three supposed to do? Create a church of the three in one?”

“No, we simply need to get some more people following Hecate. Everything will grow in time by itself.”

“When do we start?” Mary asked, a silly smile on her face as her head fell over Zelda’s shoulder and her eyes fell on blue ones like her own. Lilith stood up and walked towards her.

“It starts with a gift…” she said, placing a kiss on her forehead. A tingle ran down Mary’s entire body, and her pupils dilated. “Your life span now will be as long as Zelda’s.”

“And when the time of your death comes, Dear Child, you will choose if you want to finally reach that heaven you always prayed to go to or descent to Hell where Lilith dwells. Where Zelda’s soul will roam once the last of her days finally come for her,” Hecate’s voice was heard in the room. “You are my three in one, each a part of myself. Make mamma proud.”


Sabrina closed the book and looked at the crew. Thousands of mortals standing in silence, waiting for something. Tears falling freely from those she could see. In a blink of an eye, Zelda took the stage. Beside her, Lilith and Mary stood. Their images were distorted so no one could quite remember how they looked and yet, they couldn’t quite forget them. There was a collective gasp at the honor of seeing the Three in One in flesh.

“Let’s us pray,” she said. Her fingertips touching, pointing to the ground, placed in front of her womb. Mary, Lilith, and Sabrina did the same, closing their eyes as they waited for the words that were about to come.

“Dark Mother. Light your torches, and show us the way. Command us on thy will for we know, nothing you’ll ask will ever harm us. Grant us the courage to be who we were born to be, as the ones before us have done so. Don’t let their sacrifice be in vain and allow our souls to return to the All once the day comes.”

As Zelda opened her eyes, she saw a dragon flying in the darkening skies. She gasped, taking Lilith and Mary’s hand, squeezing them. As they looked up, they smiled. It took them centuries, thousands of minor battles, both alone and together. A deep journey for each until they finally found themself and then, each other... and now, finally, the veil was falling and the new cycle was ready to begin.

 

THE END! (At last!)

 

Notes:

Thank you so much for joining me on this weird story. I hope this end has fulfilled your expectations.
(I suppose I just like it enough to post it.) If you like this one and haven't found out the other ones, feel free to check them up and comment, and I'll see you around there I guess.
💖💖💖
(Also... Keep in mind this mythology of sorts was totally created by my brain based on the limits we got from CAoS and the little I know of Hecate and Lilith. So, if you truly want to learn more about them I'll recommend the book Embracing Lilith and Liber Khthonia as per recommendations I've received)

Notes:

Comments are life... or something like that :)