Actions

Work Header

Bleed out for you

Chapter 3: nothing to lose

Summary:

Bonus Chapter

Notes:

insta: lamarwy_ao3

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

Chapter Text

PART III - nothing to lose

Puncturing the corpse with an ice pick, Zelda winced at the nauseatingly sweet scent of decay. She’d shoved the tool into the second angel’s throat, the girl, and was gathering the thick liquid in an empty jar that she’d found in one of the cabinets. Her hands were getting soiled with the tacky substance, but she didn’t care, too busy begging for the blood to still be useful.

It was known that the blood of an angel had to be extracted from an alive subject, that it should’ve been consumed or put to use as soon as it was drawn, but that was the best option she had, and Zelda was already grateful for the shriveling cadaver - those bodies that the False God gifted to his warriors to walk the Earth were made to rot and disappear quickly in case of death - to have enough to fill the jar halfway.

She’d left Lilith sleeping. She’d tucked her in by the fire, cupped her face, and stared into her eyes, telling her to rest, that she would be back in no time.
Lilith had wrapped her fingers around her wrist so tightly that the witch knew it would bruise - and she was glad for it because it meant that she was getting her strength back, that she was keeping her promise, that she was feeling better.

The demoness smiled, nodded, and with a shallow exhale she laid her head on the pillow and closed her eyes, heavy with fatigue.

She didn’t want to leave. Zelda didn’t want to break her own promise, but she had no other choice: because Lilith was better indeed, but the healing process was taking too long, and she looked too weak.

Pandemonium and Hell aside, there were pressing matters that couldn’t be brushed off, starting from the lack of magic in the Coven, the appearance of those angelic witch hunters, and finishing with the fact that they had announced the arrival of a new enemy, that they called ‘the old ones’, to face.

They were doomed; without protection, without hope. They were in desperate need of a deity… no, not just a deity, they were in desperate need of Lilith as their one true Queen.

The trip to retrieve the angelic blood was necessary to speed up her recovery. Or, at least, it was worth a try. 

Satisfied with the amount of dark blue liquid she’d gathered, Zelda closed the lid and watched, mesmerized, as the mortal body of that girl dried out beneath her eyes, dissolving into dust and leaving nothing but a faint imprint on the ground - a humanoid shape with wings protruding from the shoulders. It lasted a few seconds, then it, too, faded into nothing.

She clutched the jar to her chest protectively and moistened her chapped lips with the tip of her tongue. Standing up, she drew a shaky breath and thought about the road, the cottage, but she felt it within her that her magic was too weak, and her desire not powerful enough to boost her energies.

Zelda contemplated the idea of starting to run into the woods and get to her destination by foot, but then her mind filled with thoughts of Lilith and her desire to be by her side, keeping the promise, made something sizzled within her, something that tasted familiar, like magic. Forcing herself not to dwell on it too much, she clung to that desire and mouthed the words:

Lanuae Magicae

Zelda had never felt the rush in her veins of beaming from one place to another. For her, it was just a practical way of moving, a traveling occurrence with no peculiarities.

Apparently, that was the night for novelty: as she moved through time and space, her body undergoing the omnipotent fingers of the magic remained, Zelda felt a tingle spreading from the depths of her to her limbs. She wondered what it was since it certainly wasn’t the first time she teleported from one place to another, following her desire to be there, but then she realized that, perhaps, it was a more unique than a rare occurrence, for her, desiring to be reunited with a living being rather than be transported into an inanimate location.

She gasped at the thought, and her brain was flooded with questions that were not meant to be answered. She got distracted like any schoolgirl learning how to move through magic, and also due to the lack of strong magic running through her blood, she found herself stumbling on herself, dead leaves and crunchy twigs swallowing her feet up to her ankle.

Instinctively, she clutched the jar, lips pressed into a thin line of disappointment for the failure as she mouthed profanities under her breath, though there was no one that could hear her.

Sighing, she made peace with her current inability and began to trudge toward the cottage which, luckily, was not far from where she landed.

She was happy to have made it - she was happy to be able to go back to the cottage and occupy the rightful spot she claimed by their Queen’s side and try out the solution she’d found while watching over a sleeping Lilith, who seemed so peaceful even in her agony.

Before she knew, Zelda found herself rushing toward the door, gaze locked to the faint orange hue coming from the window, the light coming from the mantle unstable against the opaque glass.

Without many ceremonies, she pushed the door open and let herself in, her eyes immediately searching the place - the log was not consumed, the air was nice and warm, the glass of water on the coffee table empty, which meant that Lilith drank from it, the blanket draped across the lump of the demoness’ body, still laying on the red-stained carpet in a fortress of pillows.

Zelda smiled, her heart easing at the sight, for some mysterious reason she did not want to investigate.

“Lilith, I’ve got it.” She announced, excitement leaking from her voice even though she was whispering, lest startling the brunette if she was soundly resting as she should have.

In haste, without even looking, Zelda toed off her shoes and strode toward the Queen, falling onto her knees and sitting on her haunches.

“I’ve got the blood,” She said, putting the jar on the coffee table and grabbing the wet towel to clean her hands off the goop from the angel’s cadaver, “I think it’s usable, it’s worth a try, and-”

Her voice trailed off when she noticed the sheen of perspiration on her forehead.
Some dark locks of hair were stuck to her face, her throat, her cheeks were flushed and shallow, erratic pants were escaping her parted lips. The muscles of her neck were twitching unevenly, and there were running droplets of sweat trailing down the exposed chest, her arms, soaking through the white bandages that poked out the blanket.

Lilith was writhing, her fingers grasping desperately at the coarse fabric, hooded eyes moving in rapid movements, incredibly alive for a woman who was startling unconscious.

Zelda stared at her, almost transfixed, wondering how was it possible for the situation to worsen in so little time, but then again, she’d just witnessed an angel’s mortal body disappear within moments, and Lilith - wedged inside a mortal body or not - was still one of the False God’s creation, afflicted by His wrath because of her chosen demoniac nature, cursed for her rebellious spirit, but still on of His creatures.

Perhaps she had been bound to have a relapse and her healing had only been an illusion, the quiet before the final and fatal storm.

Now more than ever, that little fortuitous trip into the woods to retrieve the dark blood could be their only hope to save her.

Blinking herself awake from her state of puzzlement, she leaned down on the demoness and cupped her face, gasping at the searing hotness that met the palms of her hands.

“No, no, no! Lilith-” She called, shaking her gently, “look at me.” She ordered, her voice losing all authority in its unsteadiness. She gulped down a dry throat when the Queen of Hell emitted a lament, struggling to open her bleary eyes, so dilated that the blue was almost completely gone.

“You’re burning up.” She said. It wasn’t a question, and even if it came out more like an accusation, Zelda was shaking with fear and anger toward herself: how could she let this happen? She tried her best but, as always, her best wasn’t enough.

“Lilith, please, I-” She swallowed a whimper, angrily wiping her eyes on her sleeve, and closed her hands into tight fists to lessen the quiver.

Forcing herself to breathe deeply, she reached out the jar and unscrewed the lid, dipping two fingers into the tacky liquid until her pads were coated with it - it was still warm, somehow, and it didn’t smell of iron, nor copper, like any other blood. 

Zelda fought the gag reflex when the mawkish smell entered her nostrils, deciding to hold her breath when she rested her soiled fingers on Lilith’s mouth, gently smearing the divine substance on her bottom lip.

She genuinely begged for it to taste better than it smelled, or for Lilith, at least, to have a different reaction, and she must've had contrasting feelings about the blood, because she moved, and Zelda watched carefully when the tip of her tongue poked from the narrow crack of her lips, licking the thick substance clean from her mouth.

She released a shuddering breath, feeling her heart return to pump in relief when she saw movement in her throat as she swallowed.

“Lilith, drink this.” The younger witch offered, but it came out more like a plea.

She slid her other hand under her neck, fingers entangling within the damp mane of hair, and gently helped Lilith lift her head off the pillows so she could swallow easily. She grabbed the jar, leaving black imprints of her fingers on the outer glass, and brought it to Lilith’s waiting lips, tilting the jar so that the blood would pour in her mouth, a small, controlled stream to leave her time to assimilate it properly.

“Please-” She swallowed, not really sure what she was begging for, nor who. Clenching her jaw hard, she tried her best not to let some frustrated tears escape her lashes.

Zelda watched the First Woman gulp the angelic blood until only a light glaze remained stubbornly tacked on the inside of the jar and discarded it without looking.

Unblinking, unbreathing, she counted, she waited, and only when she saw Lilith take a deep breath, her chest expanding slowly under the blanket, she allowed herself to sigh in relief, her whole body, suddenly spent, collapsing forward, her forehead resting atop of the demoness’ blanket clad chest.

Lilith didn’t seem to mind or notice, and the redhead just stayed there for a moment, breathing hard against the coarse fabric, feeling the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest, strong enough to lift her too and mimic her own breathing.

With that relaxing motion, however, she also felt the heat radiating from the body beneath hers.

The angelic blood - given that it would work in the first place - would’ve taken a while to kick in; three hours perhaps, or six, or thirteen, or perhaps even three days, Zelda couldn’t be sure. It was always a lottery, and in the meanwhile, in the absence of other magical remedies within arms’ reach, she would have to do with the mortal once that, she remembered, had been just as much efficacious when Sabrina was little; just like with the blood, it couldn’t hurt anyway - she had to try.

Slowly, she lifted herself from Lilith’s chest and peered down at her face: she was still sweaty, but her wheezing had reduced considerably, and, at last, she found herself smiling helplessly when the demoness, perhaps alarmed by the loss of the foreign weight on her chest, opened her eyes and the bleariness in them was gone.

Zelda let out a wet sob, and rested an ice-cold hand on her face, hiding behind her own palm. She rubbed her forehead, pinched her nose, and sniffled hard, her whole body shaking as she collected her thoughts: Lilith was conscious, at least, perhaps the blood was already working, perhaps that relapse was just the way her body was trying to fight the poison and the bleeding.

Zelda leaned down, thumb stroking the demoness’ cheekbone to draw her attention. She bit hard the inside of her cheek when she watched the faintest shadow of a smile blooming on Lilith’s parted lips, and slipped her other hand under her neck, carefully lifting her head up - she felt heavy in her palm, and Zelda tried her best not to give anything away, but most of all, tried her best not to cry.

“Lilith,” She wheezed, “Lilith, do you think you can walk?” It was a question, yes, but a negative answer was not contemplated. To be honest, rather than a question, it was another prayer, a plea for the demoness to gather enough strength to get up and walk, for as impossible and difficult and exhausting it might’ve sounded because it was vital for her to do it. “I need to bring your temperature down.”

Lilith took a small intake of air to talk, but no intelligible sound came from her mouth. After a few attempts that had Zelda’s heart shrink with dread, she saw her bobbing her head up and down.

Sighing in relief, the witch hastily pulled the blanket off her body, her eyes raking over her shivering form, clad only in perspiration, half-soiled bandages, and the underwear she’d decided to leave on when she discarder the ruined dress before leaving to venture in the wood, if only to preserve Lilith’s modesty, not that Zelda ever thought she needed such attention.

With no little difficulty, she managed to pull the limp body of Lilith into a sitting position, and quickly grabbed her arm to throw it over her shoulder, offering her own neck to support her dangling head.

Zelda didn’t exactly know how she managed to stand up, dragging Lilith with her, everything was hazy, her brain solely focused on the next step as they moved around under the redhead’s guidance in the unfamiliar environment, her only goal to reach the bathroom she’d already looted when she was in desperate need of something to stop the bleeding that threatened the Queen’s life.

Zelda wasn’t used to carrying weights, she wasn’t fond of manual labor, and yet, as she practically carried most of Lilith’s weight on herself, she wasn’t tired, nor annoyed. She grabbed hard on the slender wrist of the demoness to secure her hold, terrified of dropping her, while her other girded around her bare waist, the skin hot under hers, helping her walk, encouraging her to take just another step, just one more.

Once she got there, she let her eyes roam around the room and decided to ignore the mess she’d left behind only a couple of hours prior when she’d rummaged through poor Mary Wardwell’s house. Carefully, she made Lilith perch on the edge of the empty bathtub and cupped her face, helplessly smiling through her teary eyes when the demoness blinked at her confusion.

“We’re almost done, Lilith.” She murmured, and her heart leaped when the other one nodded, though slowly and tiredly, but at least showing some receptiveness.

Helping her lift her legs over the edge of the tub, Zelda did her best to guide Lilith to lower her body into it, a hiss coming from her mouth when her unnaturally heated skin came in contact with the chill surface of the china.

Swallowing, she put the plug and turned both the taps on, trying to regulate the temperature of the water to a mild warmth which however tended toward coldness.

Clear water started to pool at the demoness’ feet, and when it reached her waist, Lilith started to squirm in discomfort, both hands flaring up to grip at the edges.

“It’s alright.” Instinctively, Zelda covered her closest hand with her own, gently rubbing her tense wrist and arm, shushing at her like she would do to a baby while the water kept rising, engulfing her body in its cool grasp, the muscles in the demoness’ body spasming and contracting at the painful contrast. “It’ll pass soon.”

Soon enough, Lilith relaxed. Whether it was because her body was growing accustomed to the different temperature of the water or because it was too tired to fight it, it didn’t really matter.

Zelda shut the water and blindly tugged at another towel from its racks. She dipped it into the tub and started to rub it on Lilith’s arms and on her neck, minding not to touch the bandages just yet. Her eyes never tore off the demoness’ face, watching every twitch of her lips, every slight movement of her lashes as they fluttered close, listening to the shallow breathing coming from her mouth, feeble, but somewhat regular.

Relieved at her apparent calmness, Zelda made sure the bandages were soaked through before reaching for the pair of scissors to cut through them, gently peeling them off her body and freeing her skin. The redhead winced in sympathy when Lilith whimpered, and carefully wiped the clotted blood from around the stitches which, luckily, seemed to have completely worked in stopping the bleeding, as for the one on her chest, so for the twin one on her back.

As the clear water turned into a faint pink, Zelda imposed herself not to look at Lilith’s naked form, yet she failed. Not only that flesh suit she was wearing made her an exceptionally beautiful woman even then, but it made her even more human under the witch’s gaze: not the monster with green complexion and skulls in her eyes, but a woman, needing care, vulnerable and exposed and desperate and lonely… just like her.

The witch moved on the back of the tub and pulled out Lilith’s hair, lets getting completely wet, letting the tresses hang over the edge; the demoness was in desperate need of a complete bath, but the witch couldn’t have her stay with wet hair throughout the night, so Zelda simply grabbed the closest brush and started to untangle the curly locks, pieces of leaves and dirt shedding on the floor.

When she was satisfied, she wrung out the towel and ran it across Lilith’s face, making sure to barely moisten her lips and forehead before discarding the cloth. Eager to know if that cold bath was working, Zelda rested her much cooler hand on the demoness forehead, and then shifted lower, on the temple, her fingers wrapping naturally on the back of her neck - yes, she was hot, but it was definitely better.

Zelda smiled, letting out a wet sigh, but nothing could prepare her when Lilith squirmed gently and, in a twilight sleep, she leaned completely into her palm, as if to seek further contact.

Her heart skipped a beat at the thought that either of them might know a lot of tenderness in their lives, and it was surprising, at least, to realize that only a desperate circumstance had finally brought two souls together that were so similar already. Lilith has always been the one they had always needed, the one she had always needed, and it took an almost fatal event to open her eyes… Was it possible that it was also the other way around? That Zelda was the one Lilith had always needed? Was it really so absurd?

Sure, she had to make sure Lilith survived before wondering all that.

Pressing her lips together, she stroked her cheek, tracing the sharp bone with her thumb to pull Lilith out of her state of drowsiness. And forced herself to smile, hiding the turmoil in her chest once again when she was greeted by the piercing blue eyes, bright with fever.

“Come on, you’re getting all pruny.” Zelda murmured, reaching blindly between her feet to pull the plug off.

When the water had drained almost completely, she gently maneuvered the demoness's arm to rest over her shoulder once again. “I’ll take you to bed.”

 

“Lilith, I need you to stay up on your own for a moment.”

Squeezing her slacking shoulders in her firm grasp, Zelda helped her find some balance. They’d managed to reach the bed, and they were both sitting on it, the witch perched on the edge, the demoness swaying on the mattress, heavy-lidded eyes, and short breath for the effort of leaving the bathtub and walking to another room. She had a moment of rest while Zelda dried her skin with a large towel, her body completely sagging on top of the redhead while she tried her best to get rid of the excess of water without dropping her nor leaving her exposed to the coldness more than necessary.

“I feel dizzy.” Lilith slurred, and the other barely caught her wincing before her body trembled with a weak coughing fit that had her hiss in pain, the sudden, involuntary jerks of her shoulder causing her skin to pull at the wounds.

The demoness swayed even more, her muscles giving in as she surrendered to tiredness and hurt, surely eager to simply lay down, but Zelda held her firmly against her, hoping with all her might that the fever wouldn’t raise again.

“Just a minute,” she begged, pushing on her shoulders again, “Lilith, please, while a bind you up- please .” She swallowed, quickly grabbing the new bandages when the demoness exhaled slowly, detaching from Zelda.

She was struggling to stay upright, she moaned and whimpered whenever she tightened the wraps around her arms to protect the wounds and when she was done, Zelda barely managed to catch her before she could fall backward, gently guiding her limp body down until her head and shoulders touched the stack of pillows propped against the headboard.

Zelda took a few deep breaths, pressing the back of her hand to her nose and lips, her gaze stubbornly glued to the other’s face.

“Are you in pain?” She asked, waiting for an answer that she most likely knew already.

“No.” Lilith croaked out.

The witch knew she was lying, but chose not to argue with the statement, glad that the demoness had been able to utter something intelligible.

Releasing a sigh of relief, she leaned over to switch on the light on the nightstand and rearranged her legs, bending them beneath herself and leaning against the bedpost, across from Lilith.

She’d stripped her completely and draped the quilt over her legs - again, preserving the long gone modesty of the demoness - leaving her wrapped chest bare and uncovered to prevent the fever to rise up once more for the excessive warmth, but far too soon she noticed that Lilith was shivering.

Hooded eyes twitching under the dim light of the lamp, she had her face turned to it, as if to soak up that minimum source of heat available.

“Cold?” She whispered, but the demoness simply pressed her cheek into the pillow, without saying anything. “Lilith, are you cold?”

A small huff; Zelda watched her swallow, then cracked an eye open.

“Yes.” She admitted, her face an unreadable mask.

Without commenting on her stubbornness even under those circumstances - was it really that hard to ask for help, for her? But then again Zelda should’ve known, since she was the first doing the same - and carefully crawled on the bed, the soft mattress dipping under her knees and hands as she approached; lowering herself by Lilith’s side and throwing an arm around her waist, she scooted as closer as she could get, hoping to provide some comfort and warmth with her own body.

“Better?” She asked, cheeks growing hotter by the second.

The last time she held Lilith, the demoness had requested it, this time it had been her own initiative. Before leaving for the angel’s blood quest, they had both enjoyed that closeness, it wasn’t different right now: Lilith’s breath grew heavier, her body as well as she relaxed in the half embrace, and Zelda, from her party, found herself looking at her face as she dozed off, glad for her higher position that granted a complete visual, and rested her temple against the headboard.

She’d been through this already, thought that everything was going to be alright while she held Lilith, and she had had a relapse. What told her it wouldn’t happen again? Despite the blood, despite the bath, it was all uncertain and frightful.

Hardly suffocating a whimper, she felt hot tears streaming down her cheeks once again. She wasn’t really sure why she was crying, but she felt relieved that Lilith had drunk the blood without feeling worse; she was happy that after the bath, although a mortal method, had successfully brought her temperature down and made her feel better; she was feeling a fuzzy, different warm feeling at the thought of holding the Queen of Hell while she slept; and she was also terrified that all her effort were going to be vain.

What was the point of knowing that Lilith would have happily died for her if, in the end, she would have died for real? It would be just another wasted chance, faded into nothing because of pride and fear.

No, Lilith couldn’t die. She couldn’t leave her alone in that world that had only cruelty and harshness and sorrow ahead for her. Lilith was the only one who could truly understand it, even though she’d refused to acknowledge it for too long.

Perhaps both busy surviving, minding their business, quenching their more than legit thirst of power; too busy hating each other to realize how much they needed each other, one to claim the throne, the other a prestigious role in the Coven.

And yet, right now, there wasn’t a Queen, nor a High Priestess. Stripped of their titles, of their privileges, they were both walking the Earth and facing Death like any other creature.

Zelda knew she was not invincible, of course, that despite the gifts bestowed on her kind was bound to wither and disappear, but she’d never thought the same faith for a creature like Lillith: now, just like everyone else, she was facing the most challenging of trials and, the worst part, was that she wasn’t even sure if Lilith was willing to fight, merely holding on because Zelda was trying so much. Lilith has been ready to die for her, and now she was trying to survive simply because Zelda had asked her to, but she had also accepted her destiny... if dying was lined up for her.

That was the one thing Zelda wasn’t willing to accept herself.

Zelda looked down at her, her heart swelling and clenching at the same time for something totally unknown.

Painfully vulnerable, beautifully human. She might’ve been the First Woman, a monster, the Queen of Hell, but right now she was simply a person, a woman, fighting for her own life just like everyone else.

More tears gathered at the corner of her eyes, spilling down her chin without the witch bothering to wipe them away, and a few of them even seeped into Lilith’s hair, seemingly unnoticed. 

 

Zelda woke up to a featherlike touch to her cheek. She frowned, hating herself for having fallen asleep without even noticing, and drew a sharp intake of breath, eyes narrowed as she took the surrounding in. The lamp was still on, the small alarm on the nightstand read almost five in the morning, which meant that she’d fallen asleep for nearly three hours.

Three hours in which Lilith had slept within her hold, obviously doing her good and granting some strength back since Zelda found herself looking into the familiar blue eyes, the slender hand of the demoness touching her face, thumb stroking across the trails of dried out tears on her cheek.

Lilith looked calm, she was silent, and the tenderness of the gesture made Zelda’s heart leap inside her chest.

“Lilith?” She murmured, a shadow of a smile appearing on her lips. She quickly grabbed her hand, fingers wrapping around the slender wrist to keep her near her own cheek without getting her tired. Fingers intertwined with hers to check the naturally heated skin, thumb pressing carefully on the thin web of veins to feel her pulse - slightly labored, but strong and even. “How do you feel?”

“Better. Stronger.” Lilith nodded, shifting against the stack of pillows to find a more comfortable position. She huffed and locked her gaze with Zelda’s, smiling. “You should really stop crying, Zelda. You’ve been sobbing in your sleep for hours.”

She did that often, waking up to a soaked pillow almost every morning. It had gotten worse after Sabrina’s teenage rebellion that had made her feel unfit as a parent - or a tutor -, after the Blackwood affair, after the fall of a lifetime’s beliefs, after she was untrusted with the futures of dozens of people that had lost everything. Everyone always expected something from her, demanding guidance... the truth was that she often wondered who might’ve minded her, for once.

“Did I wake you?” She winced, apologetically.

Lilith weakly shook her head, easing her hand out of the witch’s gentle grasp. She turned her head over and kept gazing at Zelda.

“I need to ask you something,” the demoness wheezed, “and I need you to be honest with me.”

Zelda swallowed through a dry throat. Shifting slightly so she could better look at her, she nodded, her hand covering her own when Lilith rested in on her lap.

“You can ask me anything.”

“Why wouldn’t you accept it?” The demoness frowned, blinking rapidly. “My death, why wouldn’t you accept it? You’re strong, your niece is capable even though she’s still young, you would have found a solution.”

Zelda exhaled, a bittersweet smile tugging at her lips.

“Because it wasn’t right.” She simply replied. “It wasn’t right, and it wouldn’t have been the same. Not without you.”

There was a moment of perfect stillness between them. Lilith was staring at her, clear puzzlement written on her face, and Zelda was staring back at her, waiting for a reply that, perhaps, would’ve never come. Did she make the implication clear enough? Did Lilith know what she meant?

“You despised me.” The demoness stated, no room for question.

Zelda couldn’t help but smile at that: the First Woman, Dawn of Doom, Mother of Demons, now Queen of Hell, and other pretty titles that she didn’t really care to enlist, only resembled an innocent child at the moment, not really able to grasp the tangled mess of biases and sentiments.

“I did.” The witch confirmed. “But did anyone tell you that hatred is a sincere form of admiration?”

Lilith blinked at her, not completely convinced.

“That’s twisted.” She commented.

“You haven’t walked the Earth long enough, Lilith.” Zelda murmured, unconsciously drawing spirals on the back of her hand with her thumb. “We’re witch women, we’re entitled to be complicated and twisted.”

“You didn’t really answer my question, though.”

The redhead nodded. Taking a small breath, she closed her eyes for a moment, as if temporarily escaping Lilith’s demanding gaze was what she needed to gather the needed courage to just open her heart - it was time, after all, there was nothing more to be afraid of.

“Because we’re similar. I couldn’t accept that you’d die without knowing what it feels like to be part of something, to be important, to belong, to have others caring, to be loved.” She sighed. “If there wasn’t hope for you, how could it ever be hope for me? All those millennia and you’ve never known happiness.”

“So that was you being selfish?” Lilith inquired, but there was no bite in her voice. “I’m not judging. I’ve spent my whole life trying to survive, self-preservation is key.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” Zelda rebuked promptly, almost as if she was expecting such a response from a demoness who had never known anything else in her whole existence. Quite frankly, the witch couldn’t even blame her. “That was me realizing that I’ve finally found someone who shares my experiences.”

Lilith seemed to consider, white teeth pricking at her bottom lip.

“Although life has been cruel with you and you’re not to blame for your misfortune, I made my own fate the day I fled the Garden.” She paused. “You said I’ve never known happiness, that I’ve never had someone who cared for me, but you’re wrong, because I was loved, once.”

Zelda tensed at that, refusing to let her think that any of the things that happened to her was her fault - she had been right to refuse her first husband, she had been right to seek for another place for herself that gave her more opportunities; what had happened next was no less a misfortune than Zelda’s own life.

“What you and Lucifer had was not love.” She said dryly.

“I’m not talking about the Dark Lord.”

“Oh.” That was… unexpected. Fool of her to think that over the millennia she’d never had another, never sought someone better.

“Mary Wardwell had a man. A kind man.”

She took a moment to think, then. It was recent. It was a fresh wound. Zelda’s stomach turned just to think about the punishments she surely had to endure for her betrayal. But still, it didn’t change her point.

“Did he know who you were?” She wondered with a small voice. “Knew your story? Or your true face? Did he know your dreams and hopes?”

“No.”

“As I said, you’ve never known love.”

Lilith paused, her gaze wandering around the room for a moment, perhaps remembering the place that had been the stage for another charade that, for a while, she thought was what others called ‘true love’.

“But if I survive this, I might?”

“You will survive it.” Zelda replied, her voice low but firm, both of her hands reaching up to cup her face, green boring into blue as if to make sure the demoness understood and truly believed those words. “And you will know love, it’s a promise for you as much it is for me.”

Lilith swallowed a cough, her face scrunched up in a tired wince before her mouth curved into what resembled a smirk.

“Is that an attempt to courting, Ms. Spellman?”

Zelda was glad to see some of the old smugness back, so she couldn’t do anything else but return the comment with a broken smile.

“If you weren’t so insufferable, I would have done it sooner.”

“Why is it always my fault?” She quipped, reaching up with her own hand, fingers deftly wrapping around Zelda’s wrist, anchoring herself there. “I never thought this day would come: I have to be grateful for the creation of the False God because those Hunters of Him gave us the chance to drop our masks.”

Zelda nodded slowly, struggling to ward off new tears which, however, carried a completely different set of emotions. She got lost in the soothing circles Lilith’s thumb was drawing on her skin.

“I, for one, was already grateful,” She murmured, “He created you, after all.”

They peered in each other’s eyes for a long time, seemingly unable to move, or not willing to, afraid that they might ruin a sort of invisible and unsummoned spell that had been cast upon them.

Daring to draw a shaky breath, Lilith swallowed, biting the inside of her cheek.

“So, what now?” She wondered, barely above a whisper.

Zelda shrugged and imperceptibly scooted closer.

“Perhaps,” she said, “we could try that union between Hell and Earth you talked about early tonight.” It was her turn to breathe and her teeth went to prick her bottom lip. “But not just between realms, I suppose.”

Her heart skipped a beat when Lilith nodded, a faint smile blooming on her mouth. It was shy, uncertain, and yet her eyes were bright as ever, eager, even.

“We’ve got nothing to lose, right?”

“No.” Zelda confirmed, leaning into her, their faces so close that their breaths mingled, for a moment. “But everything to gain.”

Without tearing her eyes off of the demoness’s, she carefully brought her face even closer and, ready to catch any sign of rejection or reconsiderations, she touched her lips with her own.
It was merely a brush at first, a ghostly touch to taste the waters, and she let Lilith initiate the proper kiss, their mouths moving together in tandem, no more hesitant, but savoring the shared victory of overcoming Death.

They got lost in each other for a long moment, that was, until a sparkle of magic sizzled between their lips, an unforeseen jolt of electricity that forced them to part.

“What was that?” Zelda inquired, alarmed, pressing her fingertips to the seam of her mouth, where Lilith’s taste lingered, alongside with a tingling sensation that she did not recognize.

“Magic.” Lilith replied with a smile.

Zelda released a sigh. Was it the angelic blood granting the Queen of Hell her rightful powers? Was the witch being mistaken for a vessel for the stolen magic? Was the mysterious deity that had bestowed Lilith her magic at the beginning of days accepting their union and was blessing them with a new source of energy?

Zelda didn’t know, neither did she care.
Not now, at least. What mattered for the moment was that Lilith was safe, the rest would’ve been delayed for further discussions during more suitable times.

Pressing her forehead to Lilith’s she peered into those blue eyes and, for the first time perhaps, she felt right.

“It’ll be alright, then?”

The demoness nodded, slender fingers digging into copper hair as she kept her there.

“With you? I know it will.”

Notes:

Please leave a comment to brighten my day 💖