Whispers at Witching Hour

Chapter 53

This is a very, very special chapter, and it means the world to me. It was one of the first I've written for this fic. I cried so much in the process, and I really hope you'll love it as much as I do. <3

Zelda paced on the porch, her gaze tied to the dark wooden ground under her feet, cigarette in hand. She was the only one in this dark night at the house, moon hiding shyly behind heavy clouds. She could feel her powers leave her bit by bit with every heartbeat. Not long until she would be nothing more than a mortal. What she could also feel with every hurting heartbeat was the absence of Lilith in the earthly realm, by her side.

She turned around and looked at the sky, searching for Polaris behind the clouds, the guiding star. Oh, what should she do? Zelda needed guidance, something to show her the way. Lilith had given her up, left her to reign hell and she felt betrayed by her, humiliated even.

Zelda leaned against the grey banister and pulled on her cigarette one last time before putting it out on the wooden surface. For a moment, she sank into herself, into the aching trail the demoness had left within her. Then she lifted her head again and examined the sky thoroughly, needing to find a sign, a message from Polaris. Help me navigate through the abyss.

And then she understood. Neither past nor future mattered. She wanted to be with Lilith in the present, in this exact moment. Even if there would not be a future for them, even if their past sought to tear them apart, in this moment, she wanted her here. Only that counted. One precious moment of oblivion.

But how? She was too weak to summon or visit her, although she totally would go to hell for the demoness. There had to be a way, she just needed to think – And feel. She started to sway lightly, eyes closed, trying to think of a solution in the calmness of the chilling breeze. She hummed to herself soothingly. Most of the time, she would not allow herself to sing or lose herself in music, because it felt like she was revealing too much of herself to the world. It made her vulnerable. However, in the privacy of her own company, she found peace in it, connection.

Her eyes shot open. Yes, that might work. Praise Sa- Lilith! If she could find a place where the realms of hell and earth were so close to each other they were almost touching, it could do the trick. There was one place that came to her mind, but she was not sure if her remaining powers were enough to bring her there and conjure the other things needed. It did not matter, she had to try it.

Zelda spread her arms down on her sides, closed her eyes and whispered determinedly: "Lunae magicae!"

At first, she did not dare open her eyes, afraid she would not have ended up where she had intended to. When she could feel hot air wrapping around her body, she did, and a smile of relief spread across her face. Here we go, Mount Etna.

What earthly place could be closer to hellfire than a volcano? They were almost like portals to the infernal fires, though hard to reach. Now she only had to get prepared and conjure a few things. She prayed it would work since she had already used so much power to teleport here and shield herself from the heat as she had to be as close to the lava as possible.

Zelda closed her eyes one more time and centred all her remaining power in her solar plexus. Her face contorted in concentration when she moved her hand from left to right in front of her, trying to manifest the image in her head. She could feel the magic stream to her hand and leave her body. Her knees gave in at the sheer amount of drained energy making her sink to the ground. When she opened her eyes, she found herself only inches away from the hot lava bubbling precariously. As she turned around to find out if she had been successful, she was almost overwhelmed with emotion. Everything was perfect, just how she had wanted it to be.