#its between Caliban and Arche

[hearts401]

mmmmm i wish to share my oc thoughts. hm.

[jadegrey711]

Fuck You. As You Wish

Caliban x Fem!Reader

A/N: Hello everyone and yes i am jumping so hard on the hot ass clay boy train called Caliban. Because damn... like honestly i got this idea becasue everytime Caliban called Sabrina princess i just wanted them to hate fuck on the throne.... so i made it myself. But with no Sabrina. 

*NOT MY GIF* If you like my stories you can check out my sideblog @jadegreywriting​​ to see all of them and my masterlist without filtering through my main blog.

I own all rights to this story and do not give permission for my stories to be published, translated or reposted anywhere else. The only places I have published my stories is here on Tumblr and on my AO3 account (LadyAuthor711) 

This story is for 18+ ONLY. It contains sexual themes that are not suited for younger audiences so if you’re under 18 my blog and this story is not for you. Please make sure to read at your own discretion and remember that you are solely responsible for your content intake. 

You stared up at Caliban, sitting on the throne of hell with complete and total hatred.

You had accepted his proposal; a partnership in finding the unholy regalia. And the deal of that partnership was that when you both found the last piece of the regalia you would unite in marriage and rule hell together. Caliban promised that he would stay in hell and wouldn’t try and rule all of earth, in exchange for you staying as well; being his queen and ruling by his side.

But he only kept part of his promise, sure earth was safe and you were here with him, but you didn’t rule. No, that was a joke, you were queen sure. A queen who flounced around in sere silken dresses at the pleasure of the king, becoming his arm candy for the infernal courts. He wore the crown and sat on the throne and commanded legions, whilst you stayed obediently by his side, your presence a mere joke; and you hated him for it, for everything he did and especially every time he called you princess. But what you hated most of all; was the effect he had on your traitorous body when he called you princess, and when he commanded those infernal legions from his throne.

Caliban turned his head to meet your hateful gaze with a smirk. “Something amiss Princess?” He said his voice sending an unwanted shiver down your back.

You fought back the snarl that was forcing its way past your bared teeth. 

He titled his head at you. “Do you really hate me so much? I kept true to my word the Earth is safe.” He said as he got up from his throne and began to slowly step down from the dais until he was only a step above you. 

“And your here as my Queen, dressed in Hell’s finest.” He smirked as he cupped your cheek. “What more could a princess like you possibly desire?”

“Fuck you Caliban.” You whispered harshly.

“Is that what you want, princess?” He said taking his hand from your cheek and grabbing your chin, making you look at his face. “Do you want to make me pay for stealing your throne and crown, princess?” He asked with a sultry voice his eyes filled with lust as he bit his bottom lip, staring at your lips. “You can, you know. I’d eagerly take any punishment you wish to dole out my queen. I can take it.” 

You fought back the reaction your body had at him calling you ‘my queen’.

“I’d never do anything as foul as that with you.” You snarled, but still let him keep your chin in his embrace.

He smiled his bottom lip still between his teeth. “Such a fiery hell cat my queen is. What punishment would you inflict upon me?” He asked. “Would you take your revenge upon me on the very throne I took from you?” He said his lips getting closer to yours until you could feel his exhales became your inhales.

“Oh yes, I can see that is exactly what you desire.” He said, his lips already brushing against yours as he spoke again. “Take it my queen.” He said harshly. “Take your revenge on me. I can take it.” He said and almost as if something snapped within you; you kissed him.

He didn’t spare a second as he wrapped his arms around your waist and deepened the kiss, snaking his tongue into your mouth, your tongues wrapped in a sinful dance of pleasure and dominance. You felt your hatred subside for now as curled your fingers into his luscious blonde locks since the moment you first met him, almost as if you were trying to bring him closer to you than he already was.

Maybe it was the fact that you had been down here with him for God knows how long. Leaving you alone, with only him and the eternal darkness for company. But you longed to be touched, to be needed and caressed; maybe that was his dark plan all along; not becoming king of hell but keeping you here all for himself alone and isolated; waiting for the moment that you would jump into his arms seeking the comfort you so desire, even though you’d deny it to him at every turn. You had to applaud him on his will power, you shared the same bed in the royal chambers, he could’ve taken in you in the midst of the shadows and there were some nights that you were sure you would’ve let him.

He pulled away from your kiss, both of your breathing heavy, his green eyes were dark, he gave your lips one last peck before he grabbed your hand and led you up the dais.

“Caliban.” You breathed out as he sat on the throne, his hand still gripped in yours, as he guided you till you were straddling his lap. “What are you doing?”

He sighed softly and ran his large hand up your neck, and buried it in your hair, pulling softly but enough to elicit a moan from your lips.

He watched you intensely. “How long I’ve dreamed of this, having you here in my clutches and all mine.”  He purred. “And I know that you’ve dreamed of this too, Y/N.”

“No.” You lied, not wanting to boost his ego any more than it already was.

“Don’t lie to me, princess.” He said as his grip on your hair became tighter, earning another moan from you. He leaned forward and ran his lips down your neck, giving you sweet kisses and that sent your body into a raging fire that was hotter than anything in hell. You rocked your hips into his, already feeling how hard he was for you, but you knew he wasn’t going to do anything about it until you admitted to him that you felt the same.

“Caliban.” You whispered, still grinding your hips against him, trying to get any kind of friction. “I-I do.” You breathed out. “I have thought about you like this so many times, seeing you here and commanding legions, I-” Your own moan cut you off as Caliban reached under your dress and palmed your sex, making you through your head back and cry out.

“Hold nothing back, Y/N, take everything from me on this night. Rob me of my strength, my power, and my heart. But do this and then be my queen.” He breathed out, watching you writhe under his hand as he worked your clit with his large fingers. “Truly be my queen, stop fighting me, and give in, princess; rule with me at my side, forever.”

“Caliban.” You moaned out, feeling your first orgasm build at the ministrations of his fingers. You clutched him closer, your fingers curled into his shirt; and suddenly it crashed over you. Caliban held you close and kissed you, eating your moans as he finished working you through your orgasm. When he let you go you slumped your head against his shoulder.

“Do you want more, princess?” He breathed out, petting your hair and keeping you close.

“Yes.” You said breathily as your hands guided down his chest, before you ripped open his silken shirt exposing the smooth soft skin underneath. You sighed and ran your hands gently down and back up only to repeat the motion; only this time you scrapped your nails down his smooth chest earning a moan from Caliban.

“Do you know how much I hated you for making me some silly arm candy in front of the courts?” You said as your nails dug deeper into his chest, earning you a low hiss. “Making me wear these silly fucking dresses. Having me sit at the bottom of the dais.” You let out a breath, as you soothed your fingers over the deep red marks on his chest, before digging your nails in again. “But what I hate the most is when you call me princess.” You paused.  “And how fucking wet, I get every time you do.” You snarled, kissing him deeply and pulling on his bottom lip with your teeth.

Caliban let out a low growl and he grabbed the hem of your silken dress and ripped it clean down the middle, earning a gasp from you.

“There’s my queen.” He smirked, as he grabbed your hair again and pulled back, exposing your neck to him. His soft, plump lips assaulted your skin leaving marks down your neck, on your collarbone and on the tops of your breasts before he ran his tongue around each of your nipples; making you arch your back harshly.

“Caliban.” You moaned. “I need you, now.” You commanded and felt Caliban immediately; his dark green eyes meeting yours.

“Of course, princess.” He said and watched as you went for his pants, pulling the silken strings and parting the material and Caliban’s hard length sprung free, eager and waiting. You took your hand and ran your thumb over the tip of him, spreading his precum and coating him in it. You looked down at his hard length and licked your lips before you looked back up at his lust filled eyes.

“Maybe another night.” You smirked and the look Caliban gave you promised you that that other night would have you choking on him and having you bent over the nearest surface.

He grabbed your hips, harshly and guided you to him, the both of you letting out atrociously loud moans as you sank down onto him. You wrapped your arms around his neck, burying your fingers in his blonde locks keeping him as close to you as possible, feeling like you were about to explode from the pleasure of him filling you alone.

“Caliban.” You moaned out.

“Dole out your revenge my queen. I can take it. Use me.”

You could’ve come from his words alone, but you did as he instructed you took all of the hatred you felt for him and fucked it into him. As you picked your hips up and slammed him back into you, earning a delicious cry of pleasure from Caliban.

He kept his large hands on your hips, keeping you steady as you fucked his brains out on the throne of hell. You felt his fingers dig into your hips knowing that they’d leave yet another mark on you, claiming you as his, his queen only spurred you further,

Your hips started faltering as you grew tired, your legs burning as you continued to chase your high, suddenly though you felt Caliban’s hips thrust up into yours taking control of the situation. But as you were reaching closer to your climax you let him, clutching him closer to you as you finally fell over the edge screaming as your climax washed over you. Caliban was soon to follow you into that sweet oblivion, pulling you in for a kiss, his tongue plundering your senses. Both of you were panting as you came down from your highs, Caliban’s hands ran up and down your bare back soothingly, as you kissed his neck.

“You still hate me princess?” He smirked.

You pulled away from his neck and looked into his now jade green eyes. “Maybe a little less. But I think this might have to be a daily ritual of ours.” You smiled.

[the-neverletmegoxo]

The Fae and the Prince

Author’s Note: READERS! I am so so so sorry.. I didn’t think it would take this long to post.. I was just really in a pickle and shit came up.. I promise to post on regular basis. Side note.. this is not my best work.. I didn’t want the characters to go too far.. so sorry for the disappointing scene.. it will get better.

Summary: Reader has had a vv long day.. thank god the Prince of Hell is there to ease the pain.

Part 7:

Thank god, you knew where Sabrina kept her spare key. You had Caliban grab it and the two of you made your way into the house. You felt strong enough, with Caliban’s assistance of course, to venture up the stairs.

“I think I’m going to rinse off. I’ve got to wash this day off of me,” you said to Caliban as you walked through the guest bedroom.

“I’d be happy to join you.” Caliban looked at you with a devious smirk.

“I think I can handle this task on my own,” you said, rolling your eyes at him. “You’re more than welcome to show yourself out.”

“Fae. Accept it. I’m staying here. If something were to happen—.”

You looked up at him, both of each other’s eyes locked, you were taken aback by what he had just insinuated. ‘Does he care for me? I mean yes, we kissed and yes, he keeps saving me, but that’s because these goddamn monsters can’t pick on someone their own size. In addition, the kiss was just in the heat of the moment. We’d just survived an attack. Happy to be alive and all that crap. It meant nothing. Right?’

You gave the prince a small smile and grabbed a spare towel out of the dresser. You flipped on the bathroom lights and shut the door. You sat down on the ledge of the bathtub and put your head between your legs.

‘What a day.’ You took several deep breaths, taking into account what had happened… in ONE day. This is definitely not something you signed up for; sure, you enjoyed helping Sabrina and stopping true evil from taking over Greendale, but this was a lot for a 17 year old.

You flipped on the shower and hopped in. After washing out the conditioner, you turned the knob and grabbed your towels, throwing one around your hair and the other around your body.

You opened the door to the dimly lit bedroom and saw Caliban, eyes closed, lying on the bed. He looked so peaceful.

‘Princes of Hell probably got tired too, right?’ You dropped the towel to your waist and tightened it while you searched for t-shirt to throw on. ‘Surely, the aunties or Sabrina kept spare clothes in here.’

You were so focused on getting out of your house, you didn’t even think to bring an extra pair of clothes, and you didn’t even think you’d be staying at Sabrina’s again.

“You have a lovely back.” You turned so fast, your head spun a bit.

“Oh my god Caliban! Turn around!” you said half turned covering your chest.

“You know what, why don’t you head to Ambrose’s room and grab some spare clothes, since you plan on staying here.”

“Fine, fae.” As he walked past you, he stopped where you has pressed yourself against the dresser, in an effort to stop from exposing yourself any further. Caliban took his index finger and grazed it up your spine.

“CALIBAN! NOW!”

He chuckled and left you to be alone in the room. You let out a chill you’d been holding. Quickly, you threw on an oversized shirt, some shorts and climbed into bed. ‘He’s just a sex-crazed hellion.. It means absolutely nothing.’ Without even five minutes passing, Caliban came back in.

“You’ll be sleeping in the chair. Goodnight.” You hopped into the plush bed, plopped yourself down, rolled over and threw your head on the pillow.

“Fae? Aren’t you forgetting something?” You shot up looking over to the chair, only to realize he was standing right next to the bed. His hands were holding most of his weight up. Your faces were inches apart.

“Oh, thank you for all of your help today.”

Caliban gave you a nod and made his way back toward the chair in the corner of the room.

You switched off the lamp, but left one of the candles still lit. The day had shaken you up a bit too much; you needed a little light left to fall asleep easier.

You didn’t know how much time had passed but you shot up from your pillow gasping for air. Caliban was at your side in an instant.

“Y/N, Y/N! It’s ok, it was just a nightmare.”

You couldn’t seem to catch your breath. You looked at the green eyes that were staring at you. Caliban’s face had a worrisome look that made your heart ache. He held you by the shoulders to try to calm you down.

Finally, you were able to gasp in some oxygen.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what that was. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“You don’t have to apologize. You’ve been through a lot in the last 24 hours. I’m surprised you’ve been this tough, actually.”

“Tough? You call this ‘tough’”.

He laughed, “Well, yeah.. I mean considering…” The two of you laughed. That was the first time in what felt like forever that you had laughed.

Caliban went to stand up and head back to the chair.

“Wait.” He looked at you with confused eyes. “Can you lie with me for a while? At least until I fall asleep.”

Caliban climbed under the covers with such ease, and without missing a beat, slid his arm underneath your neck. As if the two of you had been in this position before, you automatically rolled towards his side and placed you hand on his chest. He put his hand on your head and gently stroked your hair in comfort.

“Thank you. I really meant what I said earlier. Thank you for saving my life and staying here with me tonight. I’m not trying to push you away; it’s just easier if I do.”

“I know.”

You looked up at him. His eyes were already on you. Without meaning to, you glanced down at his lips. Those soft, full lips. You thought back to when they were on yours so forcefully, and then gently, as if they did not want to part from yours.

You quickly glanced down.

“Y/N. I know what I said earlier and it’s true, but can I kiss you?”

Your brows scrunched together as you looked back up at him. You were so used to the unprovoked touches or the surprising glances. His question didn’t ruin the moment.

You grabbed his chin and pulled yourself closer to him. You softly pressed your lips to his and gently pulled away. Before you were more than an inch away, Caliban grabbed your waist with his other hand and pulled you back toward him.

The heat between the two of you quickly built up. In no time, you were beneath the prince. He released you from his grasp, retracted his lips from yours and pushed himself to the other side of you.

You were breathless, but wanting more. Caliban took his index finger and slowly pushed your shirt up towards your chest. Your breath hitched in your throat. While your shirt stayed in its place, his hand trickled down your stomach, causing your breath to be in short gasps.

Thinking he was going to do one thing, his head lowered to your stomach and gave you small kisses, slowly, up and down your torso. You arched your head back, breathing quickly, hoping for more.

You felt a shadow cast over your face. You looked up at Caliban.

“Fae?”

“Yes?” you gasped back at him.

“Nothing.” He leaned back down and placed a kiss on your lips.

You wrapped your hands around his neck and pushed your fingers through his hair. The kiss started to heat up again, but you thought this was going too fast.

You pulled back and looked at him. As if he knew exactly what you were thinking, he nodded as he pushed a piece of your out of your face. You gave him a kiss on the cheek and went back into the position you were in before the hot make out sesh began.

“Caliban?”

“Yes, fae?”

“I know ‘this’ can’t happen, but can we talk about it at least?”

“Of course. We will talk in the morning, right now you need to rest. I shouldn’t have pushed it as far as I did.”

“It was both of us. I didn’t stop you.” The prince kissed your forehead and pulled you closer to his chest.

The rhythm of his heartbeat caused your eyelids to get heavy. You fell asleep with a slaphappy smile on your face.

--

A few hours later, you got up to grab a glass of water from the bathroom. You didn’t realize how parched you were, remembering you hadn’t had anything to drink since the fortune-reading incident. You glanced back at Caliban. He was still asleep. You smiled to yourself. You were finally hopeful about something. The two of you would talk in the morning and Caliban would explain what last night meant.

‘You like him Y/N. Admit it.’ smiling to yourself again, you walked to the bathroom and shut the door behind you, so as not to wake the sleeping prince.

You flipped on the light switch and saw a huge man standing behind you. As you went to scream, everything went dark… again..

[modernagesomniari]

“When I Waked, I Cried to Dream Again”

Solavellan, 2149 words

R (sexual imagery, brief use of strong language)

An unexpected guest at an Evanuris salon catches the Dread Wolf off-guard. 

Title from William Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’, Caliban.

@pikapeppa you did say you were intrigued *hides*

**************************

Solas wondered how many people here wanted him dead.

Probably fewer than he’d like - the upper echelons of society still thought him a joke, an idle amusement that was fun as long as it was happening to someone else.  It was an old annoyance and he brushed it aside - when he returned Tarasyl’an and saw the hope and determination reflected in the faces of those who now lived there, he knew that what he did mattered.  What these flitting butterflies thought of him did not.

That said, the fact that the black and gold of his clothes marked him more of a scandal than a threat here?  Well, he would be lying to himself if he said it didn’t satisfy him.  A wry smile to one lady, a low-lidded sideways glance to a young ward and he could admit the warmth of their appreciative gazes on his back made him preen, just a little.

He took a crystalline goblet from the tray of one of the slaves around him, made sure to smile and voice his thanks.  As was frequent at such places, the woman pretended to take no notice.  It wasn’t worth her hide to show any kind of interest in him.

He took up his place leaning back against the cold stone of the wall, the moonlight pooling on the marble at his feet from outside the window beside him.  Beautiful and pure, he always found it melancholy to see it struggling to find its way into this glittering hall, where jewels sparkled with no light to set them, stars twinkled in the festooned darkness of the ceiling and everywhere was the glow of the wisps, bobbing gently around the perimeter.  What possible chance did the mundane moonlight have against such a throng?  Why could his people not see its beauty as it was meant?

The sweet wine burst ice cold against his tongue and he let his eyelids flutter closed at the pleasure of the sensation.  It wasn’t often he allowed himself these luxuries any more, not if those he served couldn’t have them as well.

As he drank, a starlight owl swooped low to clip the top of his thick hair as it passed.  He did not flinch from it, but conceded to glare at it as it glided around the top of the room, passing others in various colours and constellations.  Falon’Din had not yet deigned to show himself into this particular room and Solas was not about to weep over it.  The man was a boorish, unsubtle, cruel master to his slaves and he didn’t treat anyone else much better.  That he sent his owls out to boast of his power and bully any guest he disapproved of said much about his pettiness.  Solas could not abide pettiness.

“Well, look who decided to grace this hall with his presence?”

He inclined his head slightly at the arrival of his visitor, not feeling the need to speak particularly.  He couldn’t quite bring to mind the man’s name.  He knew he was a scholar of some kind, a powerful one, but couldn’t place his face.  In this light he could barely tell the colour of his eyes.  Strange, because from the distaste pooling like a bad smell in his mouth clearly he didn’t like him very much.  “Too proud to speak to me, eh Wolf?  Such a fucking self-righteous prick you are.”

Well, rare enough that anyone would be so open with him, rarer still that they’d shed their shallow mask this quickly.

“Ever eloquent, good sir.  To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“You could just tell me to fuck off in plain words, Mongrel.  Your tone says as much.”

Cruel hands tugged at the twisted hair hanging to Solas’ waist and he jerked his head away, letting his lip curl.  Fade but he hated a bully and this man was flouting protocol in a way that set warning bells off in every fingertip of Solas’ hands.  Why was no one pointing and whispering yet?  They generally enjoyed that.  However, regardless the strange apathy of the crowd, Solas was not about to make a spectacle of himself.

“I find it curious that you’ve sought me out, I’ll admit.”

The man laughed, harsh and drunk in his ear, letting his weight fall over Solas’ shoulders, hand catching at the back of his neck.

“Because I know you’ll let me put hands all over you and call it strength that you don’t strike me for it.  Save we both know it’s cowardice.  I’d spread your teeth over the damn marble.”

This, Solas knew, was highly unlikely given his own recent development of his talents.  It was only the fact that he himself knew this and whoever this jumped-up Lord was didn’t that kept him from proving it.  He clenched his jaw instead and knocked back the rest of the wine, setting the glass delicately down on the windowsill as he heard a low whistle and appreciative cuss from beside him.

Idly wondering what manner of attraction his acquaintance had just spotted Solas turned, nimbly stepping away from the man at the same time now he was apparently distracted.

But oh, what he had been distracted by.

She was small and wearing a black, figure-hugging gown that pooled at her feet like water.  The fashion this season was for whites, but her bare shoulders glowed in the Fade-light above the deep, heavy material like the sun out of a sky heavy with storm.  Bright green eyes the colour of spring leaves after rain were large in her face and looking directly at him.  

He looked back.  Let the moment hang, content to wait for her next move and trying to pretend his heart wasn’t hammering in his chest.  The man was speaking to him, he was vaguely aware of that, but given that it sounded like he was listening through water he couldn’t bring himself to care.  As he watched, the curve of her mouth twitched upwards and she began to glide towards him, utterly silent as the hem of her gown let only the tiniest glimpses of her bare feet peek from under it as she walked.

When she was in front of him, all he could smell was grass and sunshine.  He couldn’t even bring himself to sneer at how silly that sounded.

“Well, I’m glad he’s gone.”

Her voice was deeper than he thought it would be and she was suddenly closer, a small strong hand slipping into his own like it belonged there, that twitch of a smile on her face again.  “Come, dance with me.”

So he did.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

She was glorious, this Ellana.  Lithe and strong under his hands as they danced, she made his belly curl in culture-learned scandal as she pressed her body up against his in front of the whole hall, threw her head back and laughed as he spun her, her hair glittering in the lights so it mesmerised him despite himself.  When they were certain they had shocked the entire gathered assembly he took her hand again, glasses of cold sweet wine in the hands that weren’t tight together.  He led her outside the open windows to where the light grew colder and more solemn, watched in helpless wonder as her voice trailed off, face open and smiling as she took in the beauty of the moon.  Just as he had.

He watched that moonlight play off the contours of her cheeks, her nose, her lips.  Led her to the balustrade around the balcony and sat beside her, letting their fingers fall idle and tangled between them.  They spoke of the party and the people there, although he forgot completely to ask where she was from or who she had come with.  Then they were speaking of magical theory, of spirits and wisps and their mutual frustration with narrow-minded academia.  She was fearsome in her knowledge, her ideas embryonic but unfettered by the usual restraints of scholastic tradition.  He adored her.  Immediately and without reservation.  This should frighten him, terrify him.  Solas and romance had not been friends for a very, very long time.  And yet it didn’t scare him, couldn’t in the face of her presence.

He looked up to see her smiling at him gently, a hint of mischief in the corner of her mouth as she raised her glass, once again full, to chink against his own.  The sound seemed to echo, merging into her smooth giggle.

“You are staring into space, my Wolf.  I think perhaps you are a little drunk.”

He let himself smile back, unreserved and bafflingly happy.

“Perhaps, but it is you who has sweet wine upon your lips.”

He raised his hand to her mouth, the droplet of wine at the corner still shockingly cold against his skin.  She was looking at him differently now, quiet and waiting.  Not like some prey, helpless and passive, but as a wolf of her own, content to hold on to herself until he unleashed her.  And, Fade help him, but he had suddenly never wanted anything so badly in his life.

When he kissed her, the taste of the sweet wine mingled with the taste of her mouth.  He wanted so much and so quickly.  In his mind they were alone in his bed in Tarasyl’an, taking hours and days over giving and taking pleasure from each other until they were laughing and spent.  Or they were here, grasping at each other, ripping and pushing fabric aside to take each other on the marble in front of the faceless throng.  He took her to the woods and laid her down on the moss, tender and worshipful, or let her push his bare back into the rough bark of the trees to take him like she’d owned him his whole life.  His mouth was on her lips, her breasts, the skin on the inside of her wrists, her cunt, the arch of her foot and he was drowning in her.  Surely, he must be drowning.  Some low, dull ache of alarm was echoing uselessly in his stomach at how little he cared about this sudden obsession - somehow it all made sense.

When she laughed against his lips it went straight to his cock by way of his heart.  He was lost, somehow.  Utterly lost.

“Solas.”

When had he told her his name?  Had he told her his name?  He didn’t want to think, so he kissed her again.

“Solas.”

He grew desperate now, the sounds of the palace and his people deafening in his ears like they’d take her from him.  His fingers gripped at her waist, was he hurting her?  He must be hurting her!

“Solas!”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

His eyes flew open from being clenched shut and, for a moment, he was profoundly confused.  Her face was in front of him but she wasn’t laughing.  And it wasn’t night, he could see sunlight dappling through the trees of the forest they’d camped in.

His stomach dropped and he knew he’d made a sound by the distress he saw flashing across her face before he buried his own in his hands.  Fool.  What an utter fool he was.  He could still feel the wine on his tongue, only of course now it had the ashen, shadowy taste of a mouth kept closed through sleep.  He felt cool fingers touching his own and gripped his forehead to stop her from taking his hands away from his face.  He could not look at her now, not now.  He couldn’t hide the grief from his expression.  Fool, to forget how convincing dreams could be.

He should have known this wasn’t going to stop her.  The hands left his fingers only to slide down his arms and around his shoulders, her body pressed so close he could let his face fall into her chest.  Her arms were small and strong, he could smell the leather of the belt around her robe, the slight tang of sweat from silk worn for a day too long, sweet freshness of her hair.  The Fade was never good at mimicking smell, it was only ever like a shadow.  He could hear the mumblings of their companions somewhere else, but in the dark, warm place within her arms and his own grief-stricken hands he couldn’t bring himself to care.

“It’s all right, Solas.  Whatever it is, it’s all right.”

It wasn’t.  It wasn’t.  Her hand came to smooth along the back of his scalp, dragging one last breath of grief from him before he relaxed into her embrace, content that he could contain himself for just a little longer.  It wasn’t all right, but just for now he selfishly, selfishly decided to pretend it was enough.  She hummed low in a smile when he snuck his arms around her waist and he hated himself for it.

[frizz22]

I know this isn’t a lot to go off of so I totally understand if you don’t want to write it, but I’m just really interested to see what you would do with it if you did because I love your writing: In truly what no one saw coming, Zelda is crowned Queen of Hell.

Notes:Zelda found out about Sabrina’s bid for queen before the quest started. Also, no pagans or loss of power. Hope you enjoy, thanks for the prompt! Read on ao3

She’d warned Sabrina about chasing power. About when it stopped being healthy.

Zelda only wished she could follow her own advice. Because she knew, she knew taking this path wouldn’t be healthy for her.

But if it was between Sabrina chained to Hell, forced into a position she never wanted for all eternity or Zelda taking the mantle for her… well, then it wasn’t a question of what had to be done.

Especially when experience had proven she couldn’t trust Lilith. 

If the witch had even a modicum of competence, she’d have put down rebellions quickly and brutally and they’d never have been in this position in the first place.

Even if rebellion had been inevitable, Lilith could have easily avoided Sabrina offering to take the throne by kicking the girl out of Hell the moment she realized Sabrina was there to free Nicholas.

But no, she had to play games and now here they were, fighting to hold off the apocalypse.

Again.

Because if Caliban somehow won, he already proclaimed he’d make the mortal realm another circle of Hell; finish what Lucifer started.

Considering all of this, Zelda could hardly place the fate of the world at her niece’s shoulders… especially after she’d nearly doomed them all the last time she found herself unwittingly carrying the weight.

It wasn’t just that Zelda had trouble trusting a teenager with such a responsibility, she didn’t want Sabrina to experience such hardship again. Her girl had been through enough recently, and Zelda refused to let her endure more.  

As for how she intended to go about usurping everyone….

Well, the rules of the quest explicitly stated whoever recovered the three unholy regalia first would be the uncontested ruler of Hell, celestial blood be damned. They did not mention anything about how every contester to the throne needed the 666 signatures to participate; only that the signatures were needed for the quest to begin.

So, without anyone knowing she’d found a loophole, Zelda set about searching for the regalia herself.

Well, not entirely by herself.

Ambrose took only a little persuading. In the end, though, he didn’t want Sabrina as Queen any more than Zelda. So, while he was extremely reluctant to lose Zelda to Hell should she succeed, her nephew knew what was at stake and promised to come to her first. 

~~~

Zelda shouldn’t be surprised at this point. Shouldn’t be in awe of how smart, clever and resourceful her nephew was. He’d only needed a day to find Herod’s crown.

A day.

Grinning and kissing him excitedly on the head, Zelda took his tracking tool and teleported away; not wasting a moment.

The crown was relatively easy to collect, for something meant to be lost to the ages it hadn’t been particularly difficult to retrieve. Even resealing Herod in his tree didn’t present much of a challenge.

As Zelda turned to leave, a sense of unease swept through her. This was a moment of no return; did she really want….

No.

She couldn’t doubt, not for one second. Not when Sabrina’s life and wellbeing were on the line. Burying anything that would make it appear as though becoming Queen weren’t her sole desire, Zelda held her head high, adopted a smirk and spun the crown in her hands as she teleported to Hell to claim her victory and reveal herself as a contender for the throne. 

~~~

To say the demons were wroth was an understatement, and Lilith’s bafflement quickly morphed to rage, though she reined it in better than Hell’s other residents.

She merely lifted a brow in a mock question. “What? The quest was announced, no rule states other competitors cannot join in once it starts. I didn’t need the signatures to participate, check your scrolls if you don’t believe me.” As expected, the demons did just that. And, once again, as expected, they turned to her snarling. Smirking at them, Zelda swept across the room to where the regalia were to be stored. “It’s not my fault your rules have loopholes.” Zelda informed them, placing the crown on its shelf before propping a hand on her hip when she turned to face them again.

“There could be a three-way tie!” One demon growled, though he looked confused as to what would happen should that happen. “Or any being from any realm could decide to join now and Hell would fall further into discord.”

Zelda scoffed. “First off, I won’t be defeated by a half-trained sixteen-year-old child or a piece of animated dirt.” As expected, her statement created a burble of conversation and outcries. “Secondly, if by some unholy miracle I do not acquire the second regalia, the tie will be between myself and the winner of round two. The loser will no longer be in the running for the throne. Lastly,” she ticked off the third item on her fingers, “make a revision to the quest now, proclaiming no one who is not already participating in the quest, so no creature or being except Sabrina, Caliban and I, can contend.”

Murmurs of consent rumbled through the room and Zelda rolled her eyes only to catch Lilith doing the same. She almost shared an exasperated smile with the woman before she remembered she was part of the reason Zelda was doing this to begin with. Besides, it was unlikely Lilith felt any kinship with her at all, considering what she was doing, what she’d ultimately take from Lilith.

Refocusing her attention on the room, Zelda raised her voice, cutting across the din. “Seems I’m Queen material already, however did you function done here with such guidance? Why bother with the rest of the quest when I’m clearly the most qualified of the competitors?”

Before anyone could denounce her boldness, though, Sabrina and Caliban appeared, both breathless and confused.

“Auntie?” Sabrina murmured, confusion furrowing her brow.

Anger flickered on Caliban’s face before he schooled himself. “So, you cheated.” He turned to Sabrina, crossing his arms.  

Her laugh stopped any argument that may have started between the youths. “Cheated? I think not. I’m a challenger to the throne as well. And the first round is mine.” Zelda indicated to the crown and sauntered back to the middle of the room, commanding everyone’s attention. “I suggest you reassess your decision, Caliban, taking on a novice witch is one thing, taking on a High Priestess is another.”

The supposed Prince of Hell gaped at her, as well as his demon cronies.

Arching a brow, Zelda inclined her head at them, taking one last appraising look of the throne room where she’d be trapped should she succeed, before striding forward and taking Sabrina’s arm. “We’ll see you when the next quest begins.”  

An uproar sounded from countless voices as they teleported away.

When they reappeared at the house, Zelda sniffed and then sighed. “Brimstone.” She muttered, plucking at her clothes. “I suppose it’s a smell I should get accustomed to, seeing as how I’ll be living in Hell soon enough.” Shaking her head, Zelda made for the porch, fully intending to wash the smell from her, when Sabrina caught her arm.

“Aunt Zelda, what are you doing?” She beseeched, eyes wide and confused.

A small smile tugged the corner of Zelda’s mouth and she tucked a strand of Sabrina’s hair back. “Protecting you.” She murmured softly.

Mouth working uselessly for a moment, Sabrina shook her head vehemently. “You can’t. This is something I need to do. Edward and Lucifer both made sure of that. And if my fathers,” her lips twisted in distaste at the word, “put me on this path then I have—"

“They are not your parents.” Zelda interrupted harshly. “A parent’s job is to protect you, look out for you, guide you. Neither Edward nor Lucifer did any of those things for you.” Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm herself. “Regardless, this isn’t what you want, you said so yourself just a month ago. Fought against it tirelessly. It was the whole reason we confronted, and somehow, defeated Satan, put Lilith on the throne. Seeing as how she’s incapable of holding it, I will. I won’t have you on that throne, won’t have your life stolen from you. Ruling as Queen of Hell is something I never wanted for you.”

Sabrina pulled away from her. “But it’s something you wanted for yourself.” She bit out caustically.

Stunned, Zelda blinked at her niece. “What?”

Huffing in disbelief, Sabrina’s jaw worked side to side. “You must have felt pretty good on your high horse, telling me not to chase power when this was your plan all along. First you tried to get power through Blackwood, only that backfired. Then it was seizing a High Priestess-ship before the coven even recovered from being poisoned. Apparently, even that wasn’t enough, now you have to be Queen of Hell as well.”

Fury bubbled up inside Zelda and it erupted before she could stop it. “I married,” she swallowed, the topic still painful, “I married Faustus for a number of reasons. For some glory and power, yes. But also, to get Hilda’s excommunication lifted; witches without covens are easy pickings. And to protect you.” At Sabrina’s skeptical expression, Zelda gripped her niece’s shoulders forcing her to look her in the eye. “You truly have no idea how much danger you put yourself and our family in on a regular basis. You left us powerless and open to attacks during your trial, Hell knows how we came out of that completely unscathed. You openly challenged the Feast of Feasts, which could have resulted in charges of blasphemy and hangings. You conducted an exorcism, which if I hadn’t been Constance’s midwife would have proven disastrous. You performed a resurrection on a mortal boy at the expense of a witch; we’re lucky Faustus didn’t take that to the high council for deliberation and punishment.”

Her chest heaved, and Sabrina simply stared at her, speechless.

“I told you, warned you, your actions were putting us in a grave, and still you refused to listen. So yes, I had several reasons for marrying, one of which was power, but it was so, so much more than that. And, it did end poorly, your reminder that it did is unnecessary. As for being High Priestess, who else would have taken charge? I won’t lie, I wanted it, not like this, but I wanted it. And there was no one else; all other coven members old enough or powerful enough died, fled or in your Aunt Hilda’s case didn’t want it.”

Tears sprang into Sabrina’s eyes. “Auntie Zee, I, I never—"

Not entirely moved by Sabrina’s tears, Zelda pressed on. “Never truly learned everything has a price. Well, perhaps now you will. Though I expect I’ll be paying it, having to play Queen and unable to see my family again.” Zelda released Sabrina and pressed a finger into the corner of her eye to stem a tear of her own as she turned to go inside once more.

Eyes widening, Sabrina clutched at her once more. “What?! No! We, we would be able to see you. The Dark Lord left Hell to bug me all the time, you could do the same. And, and we could always come see you. And then there’s witching boards and mirrors for everyday stuff.”

Softening, Zelda shook her head. “Not at first. I’d need to cut all ties. Regardless of my victory in the quest, I’d need to establish dominance over the residents of Hell. And they’d see any connection I had to this realm as weakness. It’d likely be years, maybe even decades before it’d be safe to see or talk to any of you.” She cleared her throat and straightened her shoulders. “None of that matters right now, first, I have to win. We cannot let Caliban ascend.”

She turned and all but fled back into the house before Sabrina could stop her again. Unfortunately, Hilda barged into the bathroom where Zelda was bathing, trying to rid herself of the brimstone odor, not much later.

Though Zelda started horribly at her sister’s entry, sloshing water over the lip of the tub, she thankfully managed a dry tone. “Honestly, Hilda, one would think you were brought up with no manners.” She reached for her loofah, scrubbing her arms a little harshly. “What couldn’t possibly wait until—"

Suddenly the sponge was snatched from her hand and Zelda turned automatically to glare at Hilda only to be met with eyes brimming with tears of anger and fear.

“How could you?” Hilda demanded softly, though her voice was firm.  

Sighing, Zelda stood, stepping out of the tub and waving a hand to dry herself before pulling her robe on; clearly Sabrina wasted no time in telling the rest of the family—though Ambrose already knew. “Hildie…” she hedged, tying her robe and moving out into the bedroom to brush her hair.

Hilda came to a stop behind her, planting her hands in her hips as they made eye contact in the mirror. “Don’t. Don’t you ‘Hildie’ me. This, this is—"

She set her brush down and spun on her stool to face her sister. “It’s the only way, dear sister.” Zelda cut in gently, and from how Hilda’s features contorted with displeasure, her sister knew it was the truth.  

Almost tripping back onto the bed, Hilda sat abruptly. “You could have told me.” She whispered, tears trickling down her cheeks freely now.

Guilt swept through Zelda and she moved to sit next to Hilda on the bed. Threading her fingers with Hilda’s where they rested in her lap, Zelda rested her head on her sister’s shoulder. “I could have.” She admitted softly. “I should have.” She added, thinking of how far they’d come in the past year and yet here she was still clinging tightly to secrets under the guise of protecting her family. “It was for—"

Squeezing her hand tightly, Hilda shook her head. “I know why you’re doing this; I understand it. I hate it.” A watery chuckle escaped her, and Hilda used her free hand to wipe some tears away. “I hate it, but I support you. I just wish you’d have trusted me…. you trusted Ambrose.” She murmured in a small voice.

Heart twisting, Zelda shifted so she could look Hilda in the eye. “It wasn’t about trust, Hildie, you know that. I trust you more than anyone, you’re my sister. But this was such a covert plan, no one could know until it was too late to stop. And I needed Ambrose’s help, he is the best researcher I’ve ever come across and if I’m to win, I need to use all my resources.”

Hilda sniffled but nodded. “Well, now you’ve got another resource in your corner.” She attempted a smile and then lurched forward to hug Zelda hard.

Chin quivering, Zelda clung to her sister, knowing she wouldn’t have very many opportunities like this in the future. 

~~~

Only a few days later and they were summoned to Hell for the second part of the quest. They were to retrieve Pontius Pilate’s bowl.

Lovely, Zelda thought as she and Sabrina teleported away; purposely avoiding Lilith who looked ready to spit fire. But it was a race, after all, and though it was no mystery where the bowl was located, getting to it was another mystery she needed to solve… and fast.  

When they got back home, Zelda made for Ambrose’s room, Sabrina on her heels.

She stopped suddenly, and Sabrina ran into her with a small yelp. Turning, Zelda arched a brow. “What are you doing?”

Smiling sheepishly, Sabrina shrugged. “Working together?” Her voice went up a few octaves at the end.

“No.” Zelda replied flatly, heading up the stairs again, the odd time egg thing Faustus had been so desperate to acquire should do the trick.

Undeterred, Sabrina bounded up the steps behind her and pushed into Ambrose’s room as well. “Auntie! I know, I know you don’t want me to win… honestly, I don’t want to either. But we can’t let Caliban win. Two is better than one, as long as one of us wins this round we keep him from the throne.”

As much as she disliked the idea of bringing Sabrina into a time vortex with her, Zelda saw the logic in her niece’s argument; apparently there was a first time for everything. “Alright,” she acquiesced, already moving across the room to examine the tank Ambrose was storing the egg in. “But,” she straightened and pinned Sabrina with a glare, “you have to do what I say. Understood?”

Rolling her eyes, Sabrina nodded. “Understood.” She joined Zelda next to the tank. “Now, how to we use this?”   

~~~

Entering the vortex wasn’t nearly as large of a problem as Zelda anticipated, though the skulls lining their path gave her pause about allowing Sabrina to continue further.  

Too late to turn back now, however, so they pushed forward at a brisk pace. Sabrina wanted to run ahead, keep what appeared to be their lead on Caliban, but Zelda held her back. There was no telling what lived here, no telling how the time loop warped its inhabitants, made them dangerous.

When the sentinels appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, Zelda cursed but held back the defensive spells leaping to her fingers. They hadn’t so much as glimpsed the bowl yet, blasting off spells could bring an entire army down on them and they’d never get out; if they lived.

As they were pushed along by their captors, Zelda couldn’t help but feel a little vindicated by their presence. Had Sabrina come on her own… Hell knew what her niece would have heedlessly run into headfirst; at least this way—her thoughts ended abruptly.  

Cages.

Zelda shivered as the door swung shut behind her and Sabrina with a resounding noise of finality.

Squeezing her eyes closed, Zelda focused on her breathing. It was a physical cage, nothing like the mental one Faustus so cruelly trapped her in on their honeymoon. She was fine, she had her wits about her, was in control… well, relatively.

Sabrina’s voice recaptured her attention. Opening her eyes, Zelda was surprised to see Caliban in an adjoining cell. Her niece somehow needling how he got there out of him.

The stone.

Of course, Zelda peered into the distance, marking its location in her mind. Their time water had been confiscated, and while Zelda was sure she could get it back with some brute force, it never hurt to have a plan B.

Before the conversation—which had devolved into the trading of petty insults—could continue, Pontius strolled over, going on about punishments and making examples for other criminals. The good news, he sneered, was that only one of them would have to pay the price; one hundred lashes.

Quickly putting herself in front of Sabrina, Zelda tipped her chin up in defiance. “I’ll take the lashes.” To her astonishment, Caliban volunteered at the same time.

They looked at one another, clearly not having expected competition to receive a whipping.

Eyeing her with awe, Caliban spoke to Pontius. “Though the lady is noble in her offer, I shall take the lashes.” When Zelda narrowed her eyes in suspicion, Caliban smiled at her crookedly. “I’m made of clay, High Priestess, I will not bleed and scar as you will.” Bowing his head slightly, Caliban allowed himself to be led away.

Sabrina blinked. “Whaaat just happened?”

Lifting a brow, Zelda sat down. “I think I earned the claymation’s respect.” She remarked, pinching the bridge of her nose and exhaling in relief. While she once saw flogging as a means to pleasure, ever since she’d crossed the line of using it as self-punishment all those months ago, she hadn’t been able to look at a whip without feeling queasy.

She’d surely have taken the lashes if Caliban hadn’t, Zelda would have ripped their captors to shreds had they tried to hurt her girl… but she was suddenly immensely thankful for the boy’s existence; even if it’d been the cause of this entire quest to begin with.

“We need to come up with a plan while he’s gone.” Zelda murmured, changing the topic and pushing thoughts of whippings out of her mind.

Just then, another prisoner spoke up. Morosely talking about how there was no escape, how everyone died but him.

Sharing a look with her niece, Zelda smiled and leaned forward to learn more.

~~~ 

After quite a bit of hushed arguing, a few threats and a reminder that Sabrina had promised to do as Zelda said, her niece agreed to wear a glamor, steal the bowl and run.

While Zelda could end the quest if she was the one to return the bowl, she refused to leave Sabrina behind, especially after tricking their captors. She’d extricate herself somehow and follow as soon as she could.

As Sabrina ran for the stone, frequently looking back, eyes switching between the sentinel chasing her and Zelda, she couldn’t help but smile a little. Though Zelda had no clue how she’d escape, what mattered was Sabrina’s safety and Caliban being ousted from the competition.

Caliban gaped at Sabrina’s retreating form and then at Zelda. “You had to have known. She couldn’t have planned this with him,” he jerked his chin towards the remaining prisoner who was still laughing maniacally, “without your knowledge.”

Arching a brow, Zelda shrugged. “Sabrina was the one to come up with the idea, she made the deal with the man. I didn’t interfere.”

“And in the process doomed yourself.” Caliban murmured, brow furrowing. “First you offer to be whipped 100 times for her, now this…. I don’t understand, you could have won.”

The caustic comment died on her tongue and Zelda shifted to look at the boy next to her. “It’s because you’re made of clay,” she explained more gently than she expected. “You weren’t raised up, never had family, someone to look after, to look after you, to love. Someone scraped you together from the ground because they were bored and wanted to see if they could. How could you understand a mother’s love?”  

Her comment made Caliban cock his head and turn away, deep in thought.

With him sufficiently distracted and the sentinel not yet back to the stage, Zelda focused her energies on the manacles encircling her wrists. They were meant to suppress her abilities, but she’d already beaten the system once, helped Sabrina escape with the bowl; why couldn’t she be the exception again?

Drawing on her power, pulling from deeper and deeper recesses within herself, Zelda closed her eyes, and funneled the magic coursing hotly through her to the shackles. The metal shattered.

Stunned it’d worked so quickly, it took Zelda a moment to recover and shoot a blast of power at the sentinel who’d picked up speed at her escape and was closing in fast.

She turned to Pontius and lifted him up into the air by the throat with a spell. “My water,” she stated, holding out her free hand. She could make a run for the stone, just as Sabrina had, but Zelda preferred not to leave magical time water behind if she could help it.

Pontius snarled at her and called for more guards. Beings rose up from the hills, blades glinting in the sunlight as they descended.

“Hard way it is, then.” Zelda muttered, breaking Pontius’ neck before flicking her wrist and freeing Caliban. The boy made a small noise of surprise in response. “I trust you can handle yourself. I won’t babysit you.”

Grinning, Caliban nodded and started firing off spells at the oncoming horde. 

~~~

Interestingly enough, they both survived and traveled back to the mortal realm through the stone; Zelda still hadn’t wanted to use the water unless necessary—it was a finite resource. Which meant they were now limping and huffing along after fighting off Pontius’ sentinels and making their way to a teleportation point to head home.

They’d been walking for almost twenty minutes when Caliban broke the silence. “Why did you save me?” And before she could brush away the incident with a flippant comment about a Queen needing to know how to delegate, he continued. “You could have handled them yourself, you’re powerful enough. Not just anyone could have broken those chains… I couldn’t have.” He confessed quietly and half to himself.

She rubbed the back of her neck tiredly. “I could have handled them myself,” she acknowledged as they trekked the final hill to the jumping point. “If I had I wouldn’t have the energy to make the trip home for days, though.” When Caliban huffed in disbelief and looked as though he’d argue, Zelda allowed a little of the truth to come out. “And, well, you did so valiantly take those lashes for us. It seemed fair to repay the favor.”

Shaking his head, Caliban took several quick steps forward and stood in front of her. To Zelda’s continued surprise, he dropped to one knee. “I know I am no longer a contender for the throne, High Priestess Spellman, you’ve proven a much worthier opponent than I imagined. If you’d have me, I’d like to pledge my allegiance to you and serve in whatever way I can.”

Eyebrows flying up, Zelda assessed the young man in front of her, trying to determine if he was lying in anyway. “I may have you take that pledge under the effects of truth cake, but your popularity with the demons, should it still hold after your defeat, could be useful.” Smiling, Caliban stood and fell back into step with her. As they slowly reached the peak, Zelda turned to Caliban once more. “Why back me? Surely, your whole agenda about celestial blood should have you supporting my niece.”

Chuckling softly, Caliban groaned and rubbed his side where he’d received a particularly brutal hit. “Because you’re the logical choice. Sabrina may be the Dark Lord’s offspring, but she knows little of ruling, of the sacrifices one needs to make to rule. You, High Priestess, I can tell you know what it takes to lead.” He placed a hesitant hand on her shoulder, and they stopped to face one another. “You’ve shown me you have a keen mind for strategy, the raw strength to lead, the conniving to do what needs to be done, but also, also compassion.” He murmured as though confused by how he valued the trait. “You offer to take on the pain of others, sacrifice yourself when others could, spare your enemies…. Of the three of us, you are the best chance Hell has; not someone scraped together out of dirt and not someone who has no right to lead but by the blood in her veins.” He dropped his hand and took the last few steps to the teleportation site.

Impressed, if a bit taken aback, that she’d won Caliban over, Zelda painstakingly climbed the final steps and joined him to teleport back to Greendale. 

~~~

There was chaos in the throne room when they made it to Hell. The demons in a tizzy over Sabrina being the only one left.

Smirking, Zelda limped forward, hair disheveled, dress torn and dirty. She spoke up as though she hadn’t known this would be the outcome since they were captured in the time loop. “Seems we are in a tie, niece.”

Gasps sounded from many of the residents of Hell, Lilith ran her tongue over her teeth irritatedly, and Sabrina made an abortive movement as though she’d gone to hug Zelda and then thought better of it. “Auntie, so glad to see you survived. The final quest wouldn’t be the same without any competition.”

Before Zelda could reply, Caliban came up behind her, looking equally as disheveled. The demons growled at him, clearly dismayed by his performance. “As you can see, I’ve been disqualified. Outmaneuvered by High Priestess Spellman. I will now support her claim moving forward.” He bowed his head at her and moved into the crowd of demons, ghouls and other beasts filling the throne room.

With a flick of her wrist, Lilith dismissed everyone until the final regalia was as to be recovered, only to catch Zelda’s arm as she made to leave with Sabrina.

The irritation filling the woman’s eyes at Zelda’s survival had been replaced. “Zelda,” she breathed, eyes bright. “This is perfect. All you need to do is throw the final quest and Sabrina will be Queen and me her regent. Just as it should be.”

Eyeing the witch, Zelda slid her arm from Lilith’s grip. “I think not. If anything happened to you, she’d be forced to take up the Queenship. I’m not going to let Sabrina be associated with this place, even if there are degrees of separation. No,” she held up a finger to forestall interruptions from both Lilith and Sabrina. “Sabrina, you will throw the final challenge. I will become Queen, just as I planned, freeing you from this horrid duty forever.”

Expression darkening, Lilith scoffed. “I’m touched by your concern for me and I assure you I’m made of hardier stuff than Lucifer. The hordes of Hell would have a trouble killing me.” She noted dryly, smoothing her dress unnecessarily. “You should have seen how I handled them after you recovered the crown, it took me hours to dissuade them not to riot and kill you and your niece. Why do you think I did not come and confront you about your actions? Because I was cleaning up after you, like I’ve so often cleaned up after Sabrina.”

Arching a brow, Zelda snorted. “If you’re so competent at handling your royal subjects, why did you allow this farce of a competition to happen? You should have killed Caliban where he stood, slaughtered the demons who dared to bring him before you and been done with it. It’s despicable work, but I thought you up to the task when we made you Queen.”

Something dangerous glinted in Lilith’s eye and her lips pressed into a thin, bloodless line. “I was attempting to be different from my predecessor. Had I wanted to take his path, I’d have killed Sabrina after we trapped Lucifer. Regardless, if you find the idea of Queen so deplorable, why chase it?” Her eyes were much sharper than before, as if testing Zelda and her constitution.  

“Because I must. To protect my child.” Zelda bit out, shifting so she could use her minimal height advantage to look down on the woman. But fighting with Lilith wasn’t what she wanted, not really; especially when she now saw the witch’s logic in her approach to the throne. Exhaling slowly, Zelda took a step back. “Once I’m Queen I will need help.” She cocked her head, “you can’t be my regent, for obvious reasons, but the position for my Left Hand could use someone of your ability, experience and fortitude.”

Brows drawing, Lilith lifted her chin in defiance. “I’ve held the position of Left Hand for centuries, Zelda, with unfulfilled promises of more power. I’ll not put myself in the same position I fought so hard to get out of. If we do this, if I don’t decide just to kill you and save myself the trouble… I rule by your side.” She counter offered, face hard and expressing she’d take no other deal.

Zelda gave the demoness an assessing look. “Well, if murder is on the table…”

A sharp tug on her arm made her gasp in pain and Sabrina grimaced in apology. “Sorry, but Auntie Zee,” she stepped closer so she could whisper in her ear, “you actually need her. She knows everything about how things are run down here…”

She cocked her head at Sabrina and huffed for added effect. “Oh, darling, I know you’ve gotten to know her quite a bit and she still has your teacher’s face, but the death wouldn’t be too horribly gruesome.” When her niece gaped at her, Zelda winked discreetly and ignored Lilith’s offended noise. “But I suppose there’s been enough pain, death and manipulation. Fine,” she exhaled with slight exaggeration, “Lilith, you would rule with me in all but name. We can’t have the demons animating any more playdough people to contest my claim because they believe you’ve too prominent a role. Though the regalia should keep them at bay for several centuries at least. Also, you cannot kill me or have me killed in some coup.” The last part might have been unnecessary, but Zelda was taking no chances; not anymore.

Stretching out her hand, Lilith pursed her lips. “You’re competent and knowledgeable at least, will actually do the job. I suppose it’s better than ruling with the brat who ruined my life and then refused to shoulder the responsibility she seized.” Her eyes slid to Sabrina, eyebrow ticking up in disapproval.

Though she could hardly blame Lilith for her response to Sabrina’s actions—Zelda felt the same exasperation most of the time—she couldn’t allow anyone to disparage her girl. Taking Lilith’s hand, Zelda used it to draw the woman in, so their faces were only inches apart. “You may now be my confidant and advisor in the Heaven forsaken place, but don’t think you can speak ill of the royal family.”

A wicked smile spread on Lilith’s face as she took Zelda in. “Oh, oh I think we’ll make a fine team, Zelda. I truly,” she moved a bit closer and the proximity she’d used to intimidate now seemed intimate and Zelda swallowed. “I truly look forward to working with you.” Suddenly Lilith backed away and clapped her hands. “Until then. And Zelda,” she called after them as Sabrina subtly slipped an arm around her waist to assist her. “Do have Hilda see to those wounds, can’t have my Queen at anything but 100%.”

The way Lilith said what would soon be her title shouldn’t send shivers through her, Zelda should still be furious at the woman for, well, everything. But as she limped out of Hell and teleported back to the house to let Hilda fuss over her injuries, Zelda couldn’t help the excitement and touch of something else that flared up inside her at the chance to work more closely with the Mother of Demons. 

~~~

When they arrived for the third quest, Lilith gave Zelda a small smile and inclined her head subtly in greeting. She was still slightly baffled by the Lilith’s sudden change in demeanor towards her, begrudging acceptance was one thing, but this almost flirtatious manner was odd. Perhaps it was because Zelda had earned her respect, or perhaps Lilith was making the best of the situation and was messing with her in the only way the demoness could. Regardless, it was a matter to think on later.

They were in the end game now, with Caliban out of the way and Sabrina only pretending to chase the thirty pieces of silver, this final quest was more a formality than anything. That didn’t mean they could be sloppy, though.

It started off easy enough. Sabrina took off, as planned, acting as though she were rushing to Ambrose for help to find the coins, while Zelda slipped into the library a few halls down from the throne room. Pulling a scroll from the shelf, she pretended to peruse it until Lilith appeared.

The witch sidled up next to her, one arm resting on the back of Zelda’s chair while the palm of the other braced against the table. When Lilith leaned in closer, Zelda caught a whiff of her perfume, something deliciously sweet compared to the harsh brimstone smell filling the air. Lilith’s voice recaptured her attention. “This isn’t the scroll you want.” She observed, her breath ghosting against Zelda’s cheek as she pointed to a segment at the top of the parchment.

“No cheating, Lilith!” A demon snapped from behind them. “The two remaining contestants must complete this without help from any beings in Hell.” His eyes glistened dangerously, clearly hoping for a reason to move against Zelda. It appeared now that the demons’ chosen one was gone, they’d put their support behind Sabrina; preferring a younger, inexperienced witch, one they could more easily manipulate, as their ruler.

Lilith held up her hands and backed away. “Of course, Beelzebub, of course.”

Carefully palming the bit of paper Lilith slipped under the scroll while pretending to point to it, Zelda flicked a wrist and sent the parchment flying back to its shelf; ignoring how it wobbled because of her distraction at Lilith’s proximity. What was that witch doing to her?

Regaining herself, Zelda pushed out of her seat. “Is my niece being babysat?” When Beelzebub floundered, Zelda scoffed. “Then be gone. I will complete this quest and then there won’t be time for standing and dawdling.”

The demon jumped and scurried away at her tone and Lilith smirked in approval. “A perfect tone and demeanor for a Queen.” She observed with a wink before leaving the room.

Lips quirking up despite herself, Zelda read the paper containing the clue Lilith procured as to the location of the silver and teleported away. 

~~~

Bag of silver in hand, and two small puncture wounds on her neck, Zelda strutted back into the throne room. “Kneel before your Queen.”

To her immense surprise, her half-serious order was obeyed without hesitation; cries of “Hail Queen Zelda,” filling the air.

Huffing, Zelda crossed the room and placed the bag in the final shelf. The moment the bag touched the shelf, power Zelda only dreamed of surged through her.

An involuntary gasp escaped her.

She’d always been powerful; stronger than most. But this… this was something else. Stifling the wide smile on her face, Zelda turned to face her subjects, head held high as she made her way to the throne.

Lilith stepped aside graciously, though there was a glint in her eye that told Zelda the witch still thought the throne should be hers. She’d have to make sure they had a proper talk when this was over, ensure Lilith didn’t do anything drastic to seize power; while death was off the table, Zelda refused to be a puppet again.

Settling on the throne, Zelda arched a brow. “Aren’t there things you should be doing? You’ve left Hell unattended for far too long while this quest occurred. Go. Report back to me at the end of the day tomorrow.” Everyone in front of her burst into movement, pushing past each other in their haste to do as she bid.

When a soft hand landed on her shoulder, Zelda shifted to find Lilith standing next to her. “Shall I get my Queen acquainted with the most pressing matters?”

Lips curling up a little, Zelda inclined her head and stood; the room in front of them now empty. “I assume I have a study?” Lilith nodded in affirmation. “Good, let’s move our conversation there. First things first, proclaim to the witching realm that the Dark Lord is no more. All hail Queen Zelda Spellman. Next, we determine our strategies to reform Hell.”

Blinking, Lilith’s step faltered. “We?” She repeated, as though she hadn’t really expected Zelda to uphold her end of the bargain once she was on the throne.

Zelda inclined her head. “Of course, we’re a team now. Don’t think you’ll get to laze about simply because I won and not my unqualified niece or Gumby. Come, we’ve much to do, realms to change.”

A genuine smile, perhaps the first Zelda had seen, spread on Lilith’s lips. “Indeed, we do,” she breathed, leading the way once more. 

~~~

 Four Years Later

Lilith touched her shoulder, waking her from where she’d fallen asleep in her study. “You’re family’s here.” She murmured, smoothing a strand of Zelda’s hair back.

Eyes widening, Zelda shot out of her chair. “Already? I thought they weren’t coming until tonight?”

Smiling sympathetically, Lilith helped Zelda smooth her dress. “It is night, darling, you were asleep longer than you thought.”

“Why did you let me sleep so long!” She demanded, hurrying over to a mirror and checking her makeup and silently cursing the lack of windows to the mortal realm which would have helped her judge the time.

Lilith came up behind her and rested her chin on Zelda’s shoulder. “Because you haven’t slept in a week and even the Queen of Hell needs rest. Besides,” she gently gripped Zelda’s hips and spun her around. “I knew you’d only fret about their arrival. It’s the first time you’ve seen since taking the throne. Four years, while a long time, is still much sooner than you thought you’d see them, all things considered.”

She exhaled shakily. “I don’t know why I’m so nervous, it’s not as if we haven’t spoken. But what if,” she spun her rings anxiously. “What if I find out they’re so much better off without me and are so much happier with me gone?”

It was a fear that had been gnawing at Zelda for ages now, one she’d only just gotten the nerve to voice.

Tsking, Lilith placed a gentle finger under her chin and tilted it up until their eyes met. “That is complete nonsense. If they are better off it’s only because you’ve made their lives easier with your actions here as Queen. And I cannot imagine how they could possibly be happier without you.”

Her quick dismissal helped Zelda breathe a little easier and she nodded; even if a nasty voice still muttered in the back of her head, at least it was quieter now. “Thank you,” she murmured, leaning in for a short kiss. “I suppose I’m also nervous about announcing our engagement.”

Lilith beamed. “They’ll be happy you’re happy.” She reassured, moving her hand to cup Zelda’s cheek. “You are happy, aren’t you?” The question came out sounding smaller and more vulnerable than Zelda thought Lilith intended, but the reassurance soothed her churning mind, nonetheless.

It hadn’t been much of a surprise when, after two months of working closely together as Queen and advisor, they tumbled into bed together.

What had been surprising was how well they worked, how much they ultimately shared with each other, how what they thought were good relationships soured and left them confused, hurt, angry.

What had been surprising was how they’d helped one another to heal… to love. To the point Zelda proposed Lilith become her co-Queen in truth.

Hilda and Ambrose were at least partially aware of the situation, though Sabrina seemed blissfully ignorant no matter the hints Zelda tried to drop once she’d thought her dominance was established enough in Hell that communicating via witching boards and mirrors with her family wouldn’t be seen as a weakness.

Framing Lilith’s face, Zelda smiled at her warmly. “More than I imagined possible while being away from the rest of my family.” She stroked her thumbs along Lilith’s cheeks and kissed her softly once more. “Come, my Queen, let us say hello to everyone.”

She laced their fingers together and led the way out of the study. And if her family tackled her in their enthusiasm to see her, if no one was surprised by her engagement, if they were happy but not happier without her… well, Zelda never would have dreamed that usurping the throne would lead to practically everything she wanted.

[stardust-22]

WHAT IF THIS HAPPENED (AU) CH.5/?

A/N: Writing this took a couple of writing sessions but it’s finally done! Without further ado, here’s the next chapter! As always, feedback is always appreciated xx 

Tagging @totalfictionprincess @elizaglad @turtlesandalpacas @kanakalala458 @justconfusedperiod @aesthetically-feisty @apocalypticdetention @scriberated @bluecandy91 @calibansprincessx @perfect-ginger-maniac @xxspacequeennxx @calibanswhore

cause y’all are squad lol

CHAPTER 1 | CHAPTER 2 | CHAPTER 3| CHAPTER 4| CHAPTER 6 PART 1 |

CHAPTER 6 PART 2|

SUMMARY: Pagans swarmed into Greendale. Sabrina & Caliban compete in the final regalia.

CHAPTER 5: THE CHALLENGE

SABRINA POV

I can’t believe that was our first kiss and it felt electrifying. After our kiss, I had to calm my heart rate from speeding up too fast. You shouldn’t be overreacting like this Sabrina, it’s just a kiss with your husband who you’re in a political marriage with.

I looked up towards Caliban and Ambrose, “Okay since our wedding is done. We need to make a quick stop here on earth to take care of the pagans before we can move forward with the third challenge. Does that sound good to you?”

“Sounds good to me, cousin. I’m going to head back to the academy to check on Aunt Zee, Prudence and Aunt Hilda. I’ll leave you and your loverboy here to plan but meet back at the academy please.”

On that note, Ambrose bid me and Caliban adieu.

I was so deep in thought, Caliban started to shake my shoulder trying to snap me out of my revoir.

“Princess, are you okay?” Caliban looked at me concerned but I blocked him out. Why does this kiss have a deeper effect on me? Thinking back to my kisses with Harvey’s and Nick’s, my kiss with Caliban felt more significantly different than theirs. Hmm is it because he knows what I’m going through trying to live up to everyone’s expectations? That he understands me on a level that no one can perceive but us. We’re both “competing” against each other for the throne. But maybe this marriage thing could work out. And he’s been more considerate now since he helped me and the gang saved Roz. But we’ll see where this goes. I didn’t notice in my reverie while I was thinking about Caliban, that I was staring at his lips the entire time.

Caliban saw the direction of my stare has changed and started to give me that cheeky grin of his.

“Care for another my Queen?”

I gave Caliban a slight shove and my blush began to give away my true feelings.

“My dear husband, focus on the plan here. We need to figure out how to defeat the pagans and also plan for the third challenge.”

“Hold on, one situation at a time my Queen. Maybe if we regroup with your aunties and cousin, we’ll be able to figure out everything together.”

“Fine Caliban. We’ll focus on the pagans then we can continue on with planning for the challenge.”

“As you wish, my Queen.”

“Wait before I forget, maybe we should change our wedding attire back into our regular clothes. Since we don’t want to show everyone that we’ve gotten married, right?” I felt a blush reddening on my cheeks, looking down away from him.

“That would be a good idea my Queen. And we’ll have to glamour our rings as well until we reveal to everyone that we’re married.”

We were walking back to the dressing rooms that Ambrose made up for us. While I was changing, I kept staring at my ring. It was a rose gold band encrusted with diamond and a moonstone shaped like a teardrop. Even the matching wedding band itself was beautiful as well. A rose gold band with a diamond arch to match with the engagement ring.

While I was gazing at my ring, I almost forgot to use a glamour to hide it.

“Abscondere annulum meum.” I murmured to myself and my ring was hidden away. But not for long, it’ll reappear again. I’m probably overthinking this but Caliban chose beautiful rings for me even though we barely know each other that well. Maybe Ambrose had a hand in this since he’s my cousin after all. At least I’m back wearing my regular clothes even though I did love the gown that Deumos made for me.

I heard a knock at the door.

“Princess, you’re taking your sweet time in there. Might you need assistance on changing because I will be happily obliged to do that.”

“That is definitely not necessary for you to do that. I was about to get out anyways.”

After I opened the door, I was met by Caliban’s face staring at me. He was rather pleased with himself in trying to make me blush. Luckily my embarrassment went away before I opened the door. We both left the dressing rooms and headed outside to the clearing.

“Let’s head back to the academy and regroup with everyone.”

As I felt Caliban’s flames start to ignite, I felt his arm wrapped around my shoulder as we began to teleport back to the academy. Caliban’s flames began to dispitate and his grip on my shoulder loosen down. We appeared in front of the entrance of the academy and started to walk through the doors to head inside. I stood in front of Caliban as I led us to the academy’s office. Due to the chaos with the pagans, the halls were empty with no one in sight. I walked into the office and saw Aunt Zee, Aunt Hilda, Ambrose and Prudence gathered around.

“Hi everyone! What’s going on here?”

“There you are Sabrina. We were wondering where you had gone off to and I’m not surprised you’re not putting much commitment to the family or the coven.” Aunt Zee said while she was smoking her cigarette. Oh classic Aunt Zee with her comebacks.

“School ran late but I made it just in time! I also brought a friend with me who might be able to help us. Everyone this is Caliban, Prince of Hell.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you all.”

“Isn’t this the same Caliban that you’re going against the throne for?” Aunt Zee quipped up.

“Auntie Zee, defeating the pagans is our top priority and we need all the help we can get. Now what’s happened since I’ve been away?”

“Well cousin, since we captured Circe we need to figure how to defeat the pagans before they start to retaliate.” Ambrose interjected to dispel any tension simmering before it heated up.

“So how long do you think we have before they start to raid us?”

“About 2 to 3 days but not much any longer.”

“We’ve already killed 4 of their members and have Circe held captive. We need to reconvene and gather everyone together.” Prudence added into the conversation.

“Okay Aunt Zee and Aunt Hilda, you guys head back to the house to check if we have anything useful to bring to the fight. Ambrose and Prudence, you guys tell everyone to get themselves ready cause it’s all hands on deck from here. Me and Caliban will head back to hell’s library to see if there’s anything that could be of use to us. Then we can regroup back at the Spellman mortuary.”

“Sabrina don’t forget about dinner since I’ll be making my famous english supper. Maybe Caliban can tag along as well? If he doesn’t mind.” Aunt Hilda always likes to get the last word in.

“It would be a pleasure to join you all for dinner. I hope my presence doesn’t intrude on your plans.” Caliban said oozing out the charm there.

“Come on Caliban. We don’t want to keep everyone waiting on us. Bye aunties, Ambrose and Prudence. We’ll see all of you at the house!” As I motioned Caliban out of the office and made our way to the library. After we teleported to the library, I felt annoyed with Caliban for some reason.

“Princess, if you wanted to get me alone all you have to do is ask me.”

“Caliban you almost blew our cover. We can’t let the Aunties, Prudence or anyone else know that there’s something more between us.”

“My Queen, you’re overreacting. Your Aunt Hilda was just being nice and you did say that you needed all the help in order to defeat the pagans remember?”

Suddenly I felt him closing in the distance between us. His face was going in fairly close to mine and his arms were above me, holding me hostage that I couldn’t escape from.

He then whispered to my ear, “Besides my dear Queen, I can think of other ways to bide our time.”

I felt his left hand move down to my shoulder and had to close my eyes. I felt movement and as I opened my eyes, he was actually grabbing a book from behind me.

“This book might be of some use to us in defeating the pagans. I’m going to examine more of its contents and check back with you. Give me a yell if you find anything as well Princess.”

After that, Caliban cheekily smirked at me and walked back towards the table.

That cheeky jerk knew what he was doing. He just wanted to get a reaction out of me and my thoughts went straight to the gutter. Oh he is so gonna get some payback after this whole situation is done. Rustling away my plans that I have to get back at Caliban later, I need to focus on the task at hand.

Now, Robin said earlier that in order for the green man ritual to go through is that they need a virgin. But we can’t let them take any of my friends away so that’s not going to happen. Maybe if we had a decoy or something to use as bait then we’ll be able to foil their plans.

Caliban and I spent about an hour or so in the library, trying to absorb all the information that could be of help to them. Then suddenly, I was looking down at the time on my watch and told Caliban that we need to regroup back with everyone at the Spellman house. The flames were igniting around me and Caliban which then teleported us away back to my house. As Caliban and I were walking to the house, we saw Aunt Zelda burying something in the ground with a shovel.

I was walking up to Aunt Zee and asked her, “Aunt Zee what are you doing? Who is that?”

“Your Aunt Hilda here turned into a spider and ended up killing Dr. Cee and a random stranger who was visiting from out of town. She asked me to kill her but she’ll be able to resurrect back up again, don’t worry. Now let’s gather round back inside.”  

Both Caliban and I then followed Aunt Zee back inside the house after she was finishing burying up Aunt Hilda. After we got inside, Aunt Zee asked us if we had found anything useful to help with the fight. But before we could answer her, there was a knock at the door.

“Sabrina, see you were worrying for nothing. That must be your Aunt Hilda right now at the door. Let me get the door first then continue with your explanation afterwards.” After Aunt Zee said that, she rushed to the door and opened it. Suddenly a huge bang can be heard throughout the house.

Caliban murmured, “somno mulier recedemus.”

There at the door was Mary Wardwell, who then fell face flat on the floor. I was so busy looking to see who it was that I didn’t realize something happened to Aunt Zee. I ran over to where Aunt Zee was and placed her on my lap. I’m trying to stop the bleeding because there's too much going on.

“Ambrose! Come quickly! Aunt Zee just got shot by Mary Wardwell. Caliban, come over here to help me stop the bleeding.”

I felt Caliban right beside me and took over holding the cloth, trying to provide pressure in hopes of stopping the bleeding.

“Ambrose she barely has a pulse.”

“Stay with her! I’ll gather reinforcements.” After Ambrose left, I tried to gather my thoughts.

“Aunt Zee, I’m not done driving you crazy yet. Please stay with me, just hold on. Help is coming.” Trying to get her to stay awake still.

Ambrose came back hurrying down the stairs with Mambo Marie and Prudence in tow.

“Cousin! I’ve brought reinforcements.”

“The bleeding won’t stop even after I applied pressure to it. Caliban had to take over for me cause I couldn’t gather my wits together. And her heartbeat is so faint”

“It’s gonna be alright. Mambo Marie said she can help.” Prudence put her hand on my shoulder to reassure me.

“I can try cheries. Where in this house can I operate?” “The basement! We can bring her down there.” Ambrose stammered.

I tried to get up to help everyone bring Aunt Zee down to the basement but someone’s hand stopped me from moving. I looked up and saw Caliban there.

“Caliban what are you doing? We need to get down there to help Aunt Zee.”

“Princess, you need to calm down. I’m sure Mambo Marie knows what she’s doing but I need to get you to relax. You’ve just been dealt with some heavy trauma right now. We’ll reconvene with them later. Now where should I take us to gather up your thoughts?” Caliban grabbed my hand and I took us over by the dining room so we’ll be able to sit down properly.

“Wait what happened to Mrs. Wardwell, Caliban? Wasn’t she at the front door earlier?”

“I was able to cast a spell put her to sleep and managed to tie her up so she won’t be able to move. She’s actually sleeping on the couch in your living room right now.” He pointed to the direction of the woman in question sleeping on my couch.

“Wait how were you able to do that? I’m so confused since I thought you aren’t able to cast any spells.” I looked at him defiantly. But him doing this is helping me calm down just a bit and provide a good distraction.

“Being the Prince of Hell does have its perks. I was feigning about not being able to cast spells but my Queen, I do have to apologize. This was before our alignment when we were still fighting each other for the Holy Regalia. My powers are seeded from the pits of hell and you know how I am made of clay. I was born from the pits and was able to grow forth my powers even more.” Caliban explained.

“I might consider your apology but you’re threading very carefully. May, I ask how old are you though?” Suddenly curious about his age and makes me wonder if I want to learn more about him.

“I was in a deep slumber for a long time until you came about Princess. I may be a few months old chronologically, but biologically I am 20. Just don’t tease me about my age.”

“Whatever you say Caliban. I also wanted to thank you for comforting me about what happened with Aunt Zee. And also taking care of Mrs. Wardwell for me.” I was looking down at my hands while I said that since I didn’t want to see his reaction.

Suddenly, his hand was on my chin and made me look up back at him.

“Remember the vows, I’ve spoken to you earlier? I promise to be patient, and to remember that all things between us are rooted in each other. And to realize your interests, desires & needs are no less important than my own. I promised to uphold these vows to you and be there in your time of need. I’m here to reaffirm those affirmations that we said to each other.”

While Caliban said that, his grip on my chin loosen and his hand went towards mine and clasped together with his. My blush went exactly tenfold on my face. Woah there mister hot stuff, stop trying to distract me. But on the hand, this feels extremely calming and maybe different than what I was used to.

“I appreciate you for being here for me. And doing all of this, I’m not sure how I’ll be able to repay for everything that you’ve done for me. But I do know that I want to get to know you better. Maybe we should continue this conversation after defeating the pagans and the third challenge is finished?”

“Anything you asked for my Queen, it shall be done. I think you looked more level headed now so we should probably head down and check what happened.”

Both Caliban and I stood up from our seats and made our descent towards the basement. Walking side by side together, our hands neared each other. Fingers meeting but barely within touching distance. We arrived in front of the basement and walked right inside. Candles were lit, Aunt Zee was on the table while Ambrose, Prudence and Madam Mambo were surrounding her.

“Ambrose what did we missed?” I questioned him as me and Caliban were within hearing distance from everyone.

“Mambo Marie was able to get the bullet out of her wound. But Aunt Zee still hasn’t awakened.”

“Is there anything more that we could do Mambo Marie?” Prudence asked.

“Zelda will need the greatest strength to be woken up. You three are not able to do that, possibly Caliban can but I’m not sure if he could. There is life here but she is lost between the land of the dead and the living. Her espirit has wandered down deep into the “in-between”, the Nether Realm of the Gede Lwa.” Mambo Marie explained to the young witches, warlock and demon prince.

“Wait so she’s basically in Limbo then?” I asked her.

“Different words but same meaning for the same place. And now we wait. We burn the violet candles. For that is the best way for Zelda to be leading back to us, here in this life.” Ambrose looked crushed and Prudence was silently comforting him. I felt Caliban’s hand near mine secretly, giving me comfort.

There was a loud screeching noise making the room alert. Mambo Marie shooed us away to go check what’s going on outside as she tended to Aunt Zelda.

Ambrose, Prudence, Caliban and I made our way up the stairs and headed straight to the front porch. There outside was a woman in a black outfit and wearing a black hat with a veil.

“What is that?” I wondered aloud staring at the figure in the distance.

“That dear Spellman, is a banshee. It’s a bad omen, meaning that someone will die soon in the Spellman family. Maybe more than one.” Prudence gravely announced to us.

“No, Prudence. I don’t care what she is. No one is dying in this house.” I nodded my head to Caliban to follow me back inside as we left Prudence and Ambrose outside.

Eventually everyone gathered towards the drawing room to come up with a plan. There was a sudden knock at the door and in came, Dorcas with Elsepth in tow. Prudence concerned about what happened with Dorcas moved feverently to her.

“Dorcas what happened? Why were you and Elsepth outside and why are you covered in blood?”

“It’s Faustaus and Agatha. Apparently, the Dark Lord and Faustaus were able to split apart from each other. But Faustaus was given the Mark of Cain and is with Agatha, plus a couple of pagans in search of an egg. They’re actually on their way to this house right now on the hunt for it. We don’t have much time before they get here.” Dorcas explained everything in a rush.

“Okay, everyone don’t panic. First we need to get everyone here into safety. Let’s head back downstairs to inform Mambo Marie and then teleport ourselves back to the academy.” I ordered everyone in a calm fashion.

We all rushed downstairs to Mambo Marie and Aunt Zee to explain the situation that was brought upon us. I told everyone to gather around and hold each other’s hands. Caliban’s hand gripped mine fiercely but in a determined way.

I heard the front door burst open from upstairs and heard Faustaus shouting,” kill every spellman, that you can find.”

“Lunuae Magicae!” I shouted as we teleported back to the academy. We arrived in the main corridor and everyone was still intact.

“Mambo Marie stay by Aunt Zee and make sure she’ll be safe. Now we need to gather everyone in the academy and put up protection spells around the perimeter.”

“Voce mea nunc.” I murmured.

“Attention warlocks and witches, now I need everyone to put up protection spells surrounding the academy. This is not a drill but please come back inside quickly and I’ll tell everyone the rest of the plan.”

I saw the rest of the students rushed outside and began to put up protection spells around the academy. I saw Caliban gave me his usual smirk impressed with my leadership. He had his arms folded in and leaned against the stairway. I walked over to his direction and my hands were placed on my hips.

“Now wonderboy. I have a question I’d like to ask you, how good are you at protection spells?”

“Princess, I admire your leadership. You know if you’d like to give me orders, I’d gladly follow them for something else.”

“Not now Caliban, now please answer my question.”

“I’m pretty good at making protection sigils. Would that please you my Queen?”

“Thank you. Now please let’s hurry before anything else starts to cause havoc around here.”

Everyone was finishing up casting the protection spells and heard someone shouted I got it. I looked over and saw Aunt Zelda was awake!

“Aunt Zee you’re finally awake! What happened?” I exclaimed to her.

“Sabrina dear, I finally have the answer that we’ve been waiting for. We’ll be able to get our powers back. Now where’s your Aunt Hilda? I was just with her a moment ago in the Nether Realm and I don’t see her here.”

Ambrose came in bursting to the hallway with Prudence right behind him. “Aunt Zee, you’re finally awake. Thank Satan for that and to answer your question, unfortunately Aunt Hilda did not make it.” Ambrose told her while Prudence wrapped her arm around him.

“What do you mean she did not make it? I was just with her a second ago and now she’s not here?!”

I placed my hand on top of Aunt Zee’s, “She didn’t rise back up from the Cain Pit Aunt Zee. She’s dead.”

“Nonsense. I’m gonna go bring her back alive myself if I have to. I’ll use what I’ve learned from the next life and dragged her back here.���

She continued on, “Now who’s with me on going back to the Spellman household to bring back our Sister Hilda from the dead!”

“Wait, Aunt Zee. Maybe one of us should astral project to see if the coast is clear back at home. Remember Faustaus, Agatha & their gang were on the hunt for us and that egg.” I told Aunt Zee, who was fiercely determined to bring back Aunt Hilda back. But we need to be cautious of everything.

“Sabrina, I volunteer. It shouldn’t take me that long but I’ll let you all know when everything is in the clear.” Prudence volunteered herself before I was able to say anything.

She does have a vendetta against her father and I know she has a bone or two to pick with him. So I’m pretty much okay with her taking this instead. Seeing as we have other pressing matters later.

While Ambrose and Prudence were busy checking out if our house is cleared. Everyone else was separated into small groups. Now that I think about it, I realised the fright club isn’t here or Nick. And Faustaus is probably on the hunt for them too. Before I decided to make my way over to them, I felt my hand being grabbed back. Low and behold, it’s Cal.

“Where are you running off to Princess? Might I, be of assistance in this quest you’ve partaken?”

“You’re never letting me out of your sight, are you?” I gave him a little smirk.

“If I said yes, I would be lying to myself. And you might need help on this little adventure, so I decided to tag along as well.”

“Oh alright Cal. Well, I’m very worried about my friends and I suspect that Faustaus and his gang are probably after them. Let’s just call it my gut intuition.”

“Then what are we waiting for, we should go. We should let everyone know that we have something to take care of and I like the nickname Princess.”

“Don’t get used to it. I’ll inform Ambrose and Prudence. I’ll ask Ambrose to let me know if the house is cleared then we’ll meet them over there. Let’s leave now before anything else happens.”

So both Caliban and I walked over to Prudence and Ambrose. I informed them about needing to check on the gang before they get fried from Faustaus and company. And Ambrose to text me if the house is cleared. Then Caliban’s flames ignited around us and we promptly arrived at Harvey’s garage.

“Sabrina, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be competing for the final regalia?” Nick questioned me with hidden anger in his voice.

“Wait what is Caliban doing here?” Harvey said behind Nick.

Before I could utter a word, Caliban interrupted me.

“We’re not competing yet for the final regalia due to some unexpected circumstances that appeared. Also we came to save your sorry asses since in a few minutes, Faustaus and his gang are out to hunt you guys. So thank us for being here.”

“As I was about to say that before Caliban here interrupted me. We all need to go now before they get here. I just got a text from Ambrose that the house is clear. So, we should head over there now before it’s too late.”  

Since everyone has agreed to the plan, we all gathered around in a circle. Caliban’s flames engulfed around us as we slowly teleported off to the Spellman house. Right in time because eventually, Faustaus and his gang arrived at the scene.

“Those mangey brats aren’t here.” Faustaus exclaimed in frustration.

_______________________________________________________________

Caliban’s flames disappeared quickly and we finally arrived back at the house. Everyone was gathered by the Cain Pit. The guys decided to stand by and sit at the side as Aunt Zee wanted all the women to gather around by her. The hedge witches, Roz, Prudence, Dorcas, Elsepth, and the rest of the Academy girls and I were all holding hands. While Aunt Zelda was by Aunt Hilda’s grave and began to chant her spell.

“It is said that whenever you call on The Triple Goddess, she comes to you. As much as I ignored her, put my faith in lesser gods, signed my name in other books, she still came to me when I needed her most. When I wandered, lost in the Nether Realm, it was she who led me back to the material world. We call you, Hecate. We call you on now, Maiden, in your unbounded potential. We call on you, Divine Mother, in all your divine power. We call on you, Crone, in your arcane wisdom. We are descended from all maidens, mothers, and crones. And so, when we call on the three-in-one, we call on all witches stretching back from the beginning of time to the end of days. We call on… ourselves, the powers that have been denied to us. Imbue us with them, Hecate, and we shall pray to you morning, noon and night. And we shall live to honor the thy three faces, thy three forms.”

Aunt Zee continued as she kneeled on the ground, “Dark Mother, the keeper of the key to the door between worlds, we… summon thee. Return our Sister Hilda, to the realm of the living, and we will never forget you again!”

I opened my eyes and felt the wind all around me. Thunder came bursting through the clouds, and we waited with bated breath to see if Hecate would answer our calling. Then the wind subsided.

“Hilda?” Aunt Zelda asked, wondering where she was.

“Hildy are you there?” Then Aunt Zee went down on her knees stumped. Ambrose was trembling in tears and I felt droplets filling up in my eyes. This should have worked so why wasn’t this working at all?

Then all of a sudden, Aunt Hilda’s hand popped out from the ground. Aunt Zee grabbed her hand and pulled her out from the ground.

“So, what have I missed?” Aunt Hilda asked everyone.

“A lot, Aunt Hilda. The pagans still need to be stopped.” I answered her.

“Bloody pagans. What trouble are they causing now?”

We told her that in order for the pagans to be stopped, we need to get rid of the green man ritual. How they’re planning to use the green man’s seed and put them inside the caramel apples to everyone in town. Aunt Hilda suggested a lullaby to sing so everyone in town will go to sleep and not go to the carnival.  

Aunt Hilda, Prudence, Aunt Zelda and Ambrose were casting the lullaby back at the house. Caliban and I decided to put glamours on ourselves to trick the pagans. I glamoured as Robin, while Caliban glamoured as Mrs. Wardwell since they needed a virgin for the ritual.

As I brought fake “Mrs. Wardwell” to the carnival, Caliban had to say something to me.

“Princess, easy on the manhandling. You have precious cargo here.”

“Stick with the plan Cal. We just need to get through them and then we can finally attack.” I shushed him as I presented Mrs. Wardwell to the pagans. The pagans were convinced that “Robin” didn’t betray them.

Now the pagans were gathered by the Green Man and started to worship and pray for him.

“Mrs. Wardwell” was trapped inside in the middle of the big plant man structure. Mrs. Wardwell was yelling at them to stop. The branches & vines around the Green Man began to wrap around the arms of “Mrs. Warwell” and the branches/vines started to break. The pagans thinking they had victory rejoiced until suddenly the Green Man started to deteriorate. Flames started to spread all over the structure and began to burn. And low and behold, revealed to be Caliban with a smirk on his face. The pagans were shocked by these turn of events.

“Who did you bring us Robin?” Nagaina exclaimed.

“That’s Caliban, Prince of Hell. He’s born from the pits and has pretty good flames. So your structure didn’t last that long.” As I revealed myself from this Robin glamour to the pagans.

“You and your devilment. What have you done?” Carcosa yelled in frustration.

* Remember earlier, Caliban was able to subdue Mrs. Wardwell and I made her forget that the Spellmans were witches.*

“I destroyed your lame little plant god. Now I think it’s time for you and your carnival to leave Greendale.” Everyone was gathered behind me, prepared for battle. The pagans began to run for their lives.

“Coven, do not stop until every last pagan is driven from our home.” Aunt Zelda commanded everyone.

*Everyone was defeated. Fight was finished.*

Back at the Spellman household all was well.

“And so Greendale was saved once again.” Ambrose said with a toast in hand.

“And tomorrow morning, the town will wake up nice and rested.” Aunt Hilda added.

“And none the wiser sister.” Aunt Zelda agreed with her.

“Thank you Sabrina. When the coven and your family needed you most, you were there.” Aunt Zee said to me.

“It was nothing, Aunt Zee. It was never a question.” I told her truthfully.

“I suppose you’ll be running back to Hell to finish the third and final challenge, Cousin?” Ambrose asked me with curiosity.

“Yes, I still need to go back down there to handle some unfinished business. Before I go, I need to have a chat with you Ambrose. Aunties, I’ll see you guys soon. Don’t worry I’ll be back for dinner tomorrow.” I gave a wave to both Aunt Zee and Aunt Hilda as I motioned my head for Ambrose to follow me back to the other room.

When we were finally out of hearing distance from the Aunties, Ambrose looked at me with concerned eyes.

“Cousin, is there something you’re not telling me?”

“Please keep my secret about me and Caliban until we finally tell everyone. Also I want you to bring the Aunties, Dr. Cee, the Fright Club, Nick, Prudence, Dorcas and Dorian for my coronation. Since I need all the support I can get after the challenge is done.” “Don’t worry cousin, your secret is safe with me and I’ll make sure to bring everyone to your coronation.”

“Thanks Ambrose! I’ll send you a text after everything has been dealt with. Surprisingly, they have Wifi down in Hell. Who would have thought that it would be there? But I got to run!” I gave Ambrose a hug then teleported down to Hell.

I appeared in a somewhat familiar room and when I opened my eyes, I saw Caliban on his bed reading a book. He glanced up from his book and gave me his cheeky jerk of a smile.

“Welcome back Princess. Shall we discuss the plan on how we should work together for the final challenge?”

I walked over to him and sat on the right side of his bed.

“Well, we should still keep up with pretenses and make everyone think that we still hate each other.”

Caliban added, “I’ll give you a tell which is me messing with my ring. That means we should meet up after we have met up with our respective teams.”

“Okay, but where should we meet?”

“We can meet back at the library and then proceed with getting Judas’ pieces of silver afterwards.”

“Sounds like a good plan. I should probably leave your room before anyone spots me.” As I was about to get out of his bed, he pulled my arm back down towards him. And suddenly Caliban’s right on top of me.  

“Caliban stop distracting me. I need to go before anyone else wants to head to your room.” I said as I was trying to get out of his grip.

“Before you leave, I wanted to give a token of my appreciation towards you. Until we reunite, later on again.” After he said that, his face slowly met mine. I closed my eyes since I was so nervous and wasn’t sure what he was planning. I felt his lips traced mine but eventually his mouth moved towards my forehead.

‘I honestly thought we were gonna have a makeout session over here. Bad Sabrina, get your mind out of the gutter.’ Slightly frustrated at myself and I finally opened my eyes while Caliban was smirking at me, probably knew what I was thinking about.

“Don’t worry my Queen, be patient. Now let’s get you out of here undetected before someone barges in on us.” Caliban said while he got off from the bed and helped me get down. We walked together towards his door and he gave a kiss on my hand.

Checking the hallway to see if the coast is clear, I silently left Caliban’s room.

_____________________________________________________________________

*A few hours later*

Everyone was gathered in the infernal court as Daddy dearest here, was announcing his speech.

“My lords and ladies of Disrule, rejoice. For I am returned. Kneel before me, and let’s get back to business.” The Dark Lord proclaimed.

“Kneel before you? Weren’t you dethroned and imprisoned by your own witches?” Purson challenged him back.

The Dark Lord snapped his neck and killed him. Everyone gasped in shock at what happened.

“Any more questions?” The Dark Lord asked everyone in the crowd.

Suddenly, Caliban stepped forward and said, “Lord Morningstar?”

Lilith rolled her eyes, “Oh this should be good.” “Yes, and you are?” Lucifer questioned the man in front of him.

“Caliban, Prince of Hell.”

“How can you be Prince of Hell when I, who am Hell itself, know nothing of you?”

Beezlebub piped into their conversation, “Respectfully, my lord Lucifer, we are in the middle of a quest for the three objects of the Unholy Regalia.”

“Yes, I am quite aware, Beezlebub.”

“Infernal protocol must be followed. The contest must be seen to the end. Caliban and Sabrina have each found one item. Whoever finds the third, Judas Iscariot’s 30 pieces of silver, will sit upon the throne of Hell. And not even you can interfere with that quest.”

“Where, then, is my daughter?”

“She’ll turn up. She usually does.” Lilith mentioned this to Lucifer.

________________________________________________________

“I am ready to start the last challenge of the Unholy Regalia.” I announced loudly for all to hear.

“Sabrina, you must secure Judas Iscariot’s 30 pieces of silver and reclaim victory for the House of Morningstar.” Lucifer said to me.

I saw Caliban conferring with the three kings as me, Lilith and Lucifer were also in our own little corner.

“That Prince of Clay will never find Judas’ silver.” He whispered to both Lilith and I. I gave a backwards glance at Caliban and saw he was giving his tell, which is fiddling with his ring. I gave him a look to let him know we’ll meet soon. Not letting Lucifer or Lilith raise them of suspicion, I continued on listening.

“What makes you so sure?” I questioned Lucifer.

“Because Judas himself was the only person who knows where it is. And I am the one person who can take you to Judas.”

“Careful, Dark Lord. Sabrina must complete this task on her own. Any help from you in front of the Kings of Hell, and the challenge could be deemed a forfeit.” Lilith warned Lucifer on if he helped me with the challenge.

Beezlebub walked towards the middle of the room and announced, “Let the final challenge for the coins of the great betrayer, Judas Iscariot, begin!”

I saw Caliban walked out of the room and was heading towards the library. But before I could leave, Lucifer sent me a telepathic message.

‘Go to the Ninth Circle, the hottest in Hell. There, in a volcanic cave, embedded in the walls, you will find the three worst betrayals in history, Cassius, Brutus and Judas Iscariot.’ I gave Lucifer a nod and left the main room of Pandemonium.

I continued walking far away from everyone until the hallways looked cleared and sneaked over towards the library. There I saw Caliban sitting at our table where we were researching for the Pygmalion Spell. Caliban looked up from the book he was reading and gave me a smile. Man, every time this guy smiles it makes me melt. But I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves with my feelings here.

“Well, hello there Princess. What took you so long?” Caliban said to me right off the bat.

“I was checking to see if anyone was in the hallways and making sure no one spotted me coming down over here. Take a chill pill, Caliban.” I told him as I rolled my eyes at him.

“Woah, easy there Princess. Let’s not argue please. Now we don’t have much time but what can you tell me about the location of where Judas Iscariot might be located.” Caliban crossed his arms and looked at me in a serious way.

“According to the Dark Lord, we have to go to the Ninth Circle, the hottest in Hell. There’s a volcanic cave and there we’ll find the three worst betrayers. From there we’ll be able to find Judas Iscariot.”

“That sounds pretty vague from him Princess. But I’m sure we’ll be able to find him.”

“Let’s go now before we get caught by anyone.” I said to him as I waited for him to get up from his seat. We then quickly teleported ourselves to the Ninth Circle. The cave was spooky and pretty dark. I produced a light of blue fire to guide us the way to where Judas Iscariot might be hiding.While Caliban and I were walking, apparently I wasn’t watching where I was going and I almost fell. Then I felt 2 strong arms reach for my waist and helped me back up. Caliban had his hands on my shoulders and looked at me to see if I had any minor injuries at all.

“Cal, I’m okay. I’m fine, I just wasn’t watching where I was going. I’m not hurt at all.” I grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze , letting him know that I was alright.

“You gave me a fright and luckily I was right behind you or something terrible would have happened. But I’m glad that you’re alright, my Queen. I’m not letting you out of my sight so we’re going to be holding hands for awhile.” As he said this, he immediately grabbed my hand and gave me his devilish grin again.

“Fine, whatever you say. Let’s continue on with the challenge please.” I gave him a huff but my heart was palpitating so fast on what just occurred. Every time Caliban does something for me, I feel something stirring inside me. But I need to focus if I want to win this.

Eventually me and Caliban finally reached the location on where Judas was located. I told Caliban to stay behind me since I’m thinking something might happened. I walked to where the stoned face of Judas was at.

“Judas Iscariot.” I announced it to him.

“Who is that?” He whispered slowly to me.

“I am Sabrina Morningstar, daughter of Lucifer Morningstar.”

[Judas coughs]

“He himself put me here.” Judas explained to us.

“I’ve come to ask you, Judas, where are the 30 pieces of silver you were paid to betray the Nazarene?”

“What will you give me to tell you the secret of their location?” Of course there would be a catch with this guy. Not making my job any easier at all.

I turned the flame into a circle of fresh water.

“Water. The taste of cold water on your lips. What say you, Judas? Tell me how to get the pieces of silver, and it’s yours.” Hopefully this will convince him to tell me their location.

“There is an easy way, in which the silver simply appears to you. And a harder way, in which you must seek it out.”

“For once, let’s go with what’s easy.”

“All you need to do is betray someone you love with a kiss, as I did.” Yeah not sure, if that’s gonna happen buddy.

I gave him a huge sigh. “Just one kiss and the silver appears to me?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll be right back.” I told Judas.

I turned around and motioned for Caliban to follow me out of the cave section. Once we were out of hearing distance from Judas, I can finally take a breath of air. Caliban was in his usual stance and had his arms firmly crossed over his chest.

“I’m not sure if I want to go the easy way Cal. I think I should go the harder way, what do you think?”

“I think the harder way should work. And we’ll be in this together, it shouldn’t be that complicated right. The sooner we get the coins, the closer we are to the throne.”

“I like the way you think. Okay, we should go back before we lose any more time on this.” As we were walking back to the cave, I felt Caliban’s hand clasped into mine and he gave me a hand kiss. Ohhhhh Mr. Romantic over here. I stood back at my position in front of Judas’ headstone.

“Well, that didn’t work. So tell me, Judas.. What’s the hard way?” I questioned him.

“Are you familiar with the Field of Blood?”

“Just that it’s a burial ground.” I think.

“My silver is buried in a crypt with the first vampire, deep beneath the Field of Blood.” Judas explained.

“Okay, if you tell me I’m about to meet Dracula --” I heard Caliban snickering at me in the background.

Judas answered, “His name is Vlad the Impaler.”

“Vlad the Impaler? But he’s.. He’s dead right? ” I told him confused.

“Yes. The pieces are in a bag at his side. Count them to be sure that they’re all there.” “Copy. How do I get to his tomb?” Hopefully it won’t be that complicated to get there.

“You open a portal. I can tell you the words, but first.. Give me my water.”

I gave Judas’ his water and in turn he told me the directions on how to get to Vlad the Impaler’s crypt. After getting the directions, both me and Caliban went to the tomb to find Vlad. The tomb was abandoned and there were candles that were lit on top of it. Caliban told me, he was gonna check out the perimeter in case something happened. I told him we should meet back at the entrance after I got the bag of silver. I grabbed the bag of silver from the skeleton’s hands and put it away for safekeeping. I then walked away from the tomb and began to count the pieces of silver.

I was too busy counting the coins, that I did not realize that something was after me. Unbeknownst to me, Caliban was walking back to the main entrance and saw that Vlad the Impaler was about to attack me. Caliban set Vlad the Impaler on fire and gave a huge shout. I turned around and saw that Caliban took care of Vlad and was indisposed of.

“Next time, watch your surroundings here Princess.”

“At least I have you by my side. Thank you again for saving me and now we should head on back to the headstones.”

“As you wish, my Queen. Let’s hurry!”

Caliban and I both left the tomb and teleported our way back to where Judas & the betrayers headstones were at. Gave him the okay that we got the coins and immediately headed back to Pandemonium. Before we went through the doors, I told Caliban to put on a glamour so no one would recognize him. He went ahead first so he could blend into the crowd.

I opened the doors and walked to the main floor of Pandemonium.

“The challenge has been won. The final item of the Unholy Regalia is mine.” I announced loudly to everyone in the vicinity. The entire audience gasped in shock at what had occurred.

“And Prince Caliban is stone-cold dead.” Even though he’s hiding in a glamour, jk to everyone else.

“Congratulations, daughter. You bring honor to your house. It is time, once again, for your coronation. Are you at last ready?” The Dark Lord asked of me.

“I am ready, Father, to be married to Hell.” I gave him a fake smile.