Whatever the Price

Chapter 6: War of Hearts

War of Hearts – Ruelle (Acoustic)

Zelda stumbled into their bedroom and caught Lilith sitting on the bed with her back turned towards her. Vinegar Tom was nuzzling into her side; seemingly unaware she had returned. She wanted to reach out, but... Was she... crying?

The scattered tissues caught her attention, and she almost broke into a sob herself, seeing how upset Lilith was because of her absence. How long had she been gone? No, this would end now. Zelda touched her shoulder gently, startling the demoness, nonetheless.

Her familiar's tail wagged enthusiastically at the sight of his mistress and barked happily. Expressing his relief of her being back, he jumped off the bed at Lilith's unexpected movement.

The demoness' wide eyes gave way to a new sob, but with a pressed smile this time, as she jumped up to her feet. She wrapped her arms around Zelda, ready to hold her and press her against herself and never let her go when... There was nothing again. She was hugging the air.

Then something hit her back hard, making her fall to the floor, landing face down on her stomach. Cushioning the fall with her hands as best as she could, she looked over her shoulder and found Maman Brigitte there. The woman appeared stirred and out of breath.

"What happened?!" Lilith blurted, pushing herself back up on her forearms.

The beagle ran out of the room with as much speed as he could, down the hall towards the large staircase, the noise and appearance of the Voodoo Madam having startled him.

The Loa looked Lilith up and down, in contempt for being back in this house again.

"Do get up, witch. We don't have much time. It seems my mari isn't quite ready to let go of your beloved just yet," the woman blurted, getting annoyed at the dumbstruck way Lilith was staring at her.

"I'm not a witch, I'm a Queen," Lilith snarled but bit back her pride, "Doesn't matter, just- do something!"

"Then I suggest, Queen, that you get off of your rump and show them how you run things in your domain, non?" she said simply, as if speaking to a child.

"But how do I do that when I don't even know where they are! Hell! I hardly even know the guy! You need to help me," Lilith stated, leaving no room for discussion.

"If you calm yourself, cher, I will tell you where I think my husband may have taken your sòsyè," she enforced, meeting Lilith's eye and offering her own hand to help the Queen of Hell up.

"Let us get our lovers, yes?" she purred once Lilith had righted herself, responding with a single conspiratorial nod.

~

"Okay, okay, nice and slow." Hilda stopped the words spilling from Lilith's mouth. "So, Zelda was back and now she's gone again and you want to summon an army to pull her from the underworld?" Hilda repeated Lilith's plan in disbelief.

"Essentially yes. And Maman will find them in the meantime," Lilith finished.

Maman Brigitte stood silently but tipped her top hat to Hilda in response.

"And I, we... we're supposed to do what again?" Hilda questioned, feeling flustered by the information.

"Seal the house for our return. There's no way I'm letting him take her again," Lilith said vehemently, eyes growing dark at the thought.

Hilda took some deep breaths, the cogs in her head turning as she tried to grasp the whole scheme. She wondered if the two hot-tempered women had thought this through. Yet she knew there was little her objections would achieve, given the state Lilith had been in ever since Zelda had disappeared for the first time.