Man Destroyer

Part 2

Chapter 3: The Twelfth Night

A warm hand on Lilith's shoulder silenced her. She felt like she'd been screaming for days, locked in a horror-loop that circulated from looking at Zelda's ruined flesh, to the blood on her arms, to closing her eyes to scream - over and over and over. Looking up with a tear-streaked face, Lilith lurched forward and away from Zelda's smiling face, looking down at her arms and seeing them clean of any blood, and the table empty of her lover's body.

"Zelda, what...I thought I....you were..." Lilith was trembling and Zelda reached down for her hand, pulling her to her feet.

"The fae wanted to punish you for your suspicions against them, Lily. It was just a mirage. I'm fine....see?" Zelda spun slowly in a circle, her gown whispering softly against the grass, sunlight glinting off her bejeweled hair.

Still shaking, Lilith gathered Zelda into her arms and held her tight, whispering through gritted teeth, "I still don't trust them. What do they want in return for helping us?"

"They want your devotion."

Both witches spun around at the familiar voice as Gryla sauntered into view. Zelda ran over to Gryla, reaching out to grab her by the arm, but her hand passed right through her. Shocked, Zelda turned to Lilith who moved to grab Gryla and came up with nothing but air. Gryla seemed to smile at them and then she burst into a thousand tiny particles, who buzzed around, pulling tendrils of hair from the carefully coiffed hairdos, and tickling at their eyelashes. Lilith stepped back and started swatting in frustration. This was the first time she had the opportunity to truly be a parent to Deianeira and the fae were interfering.

After her birth, Lilith had fallen into a coma, the trauma birthing a demon babe who had grown three times as quickly as a human and had torn her insides to shreds had led to massive medical and psychological trauma. Once she awoke from her coma, Lilith had suffered from post traumatic amnesia, completely forgetting everything that had occurred from the moment she'd come to Greendale - all she remembered was her life right before then. She had rejected the lamia, her child, and she'd nearly killed Zelda in the process. When she was physically well enough, she'd travelled back to free Lucifer from the Nine Circles of Hell her and Zelda had sent him to. Through all of this, Zelda had been caring for Deianeira, feeding the lamia so much of her own blood that the child's DNA had been modified to accommodate Zelda's and the babe had begun to show physical characteristics of her belonging to Zelda - most notably, a shock of bright red hair. Though the child was created from Satan's seed, she truly belonged to both of the witches equally and it was Zelda who'd kept her safe when Lilith had not.

"ENOUGH!" Lilith's voice was deep, shaking the forest and forcing the fae out of the air and onto the ground. Raising a threatening hand over the fairies, Lilith gazed down at them, "I tire of these games, fae. You will reveal Gryla to us or you will all die." The hand above them erupted into flames in preparation for revenge.

The puddle of scattered fae shook, moving and roving towards one another, coming together in the thousands and growing as the witches watched. The blackened swarm undulated and gave birth to itself, sculpting itself into a recognizable form. As the witches watched, the lithe form grew eight feet tall, towering over them. Lilith stepped back and in front of Zelda, who reached out and grabbed her hand, their combined powers allowing the High Priestess to conjure a ball of fire in her hand as well. As they watched, the particles shook and fell away like gnats feasting on aphids, creating more understandable features until finally the Fairy Queen stood before them.

"You are in my home, Mother of Demons. You have no jurisdiction over me or mine here. Frankly, I am offended that you would threaten us as we have been nothing but generous with you thus far." The sunlight streamed through her, creating a garment of sparkling gold that fell in sumptuous folds along her thin, lanky frame. Her golden mane tumbled wildly around her face and cascaded down her back to meet the forest floor, wildflowers tucked away in the wilderness of those shining tresses in the shape of a crown. Her fingers were unnaturally long and as she swept them through the air, the wind began to howl, extinguishing the witch's fire, and the clouds rolled over to block out the sun. When she turned her eyes on the witches, they both gasped and took a step back; beneath a dark flurry of eyelashes were two galaxies, shimmering an inky black-purple with a smattering of silvery stars and stellar remnants floating within their infinite depths and as the weather began to change all around them, her eyes reflected that change, purple streaks of lightning shooting across their depths.