Memories (Lilith x Reader) *DISCONTINUED*

A Preparation Surprise (Young Adult Y/N)

In your bed in the Emperor's Castle, you wake up still tasting that sweet kiss. It's weird for you to be dreaming about that after so long, especially since you and Lilith have had numerous kisses since then, but the memory makes you smile nonetheless. You roll over to check the time, and the clock tells you 4:59. Exactly one minute before your hideous, screechy alarm goes off and you're forced into being a productive member of society for another day.
For the past ten years, you and Lilith have been steadily rising the ranks of the Emperor's Coven. It was tedious, exhausting work, but as you turn off your alarm the second it's about to ring, you tell yourself that it's all been worth it because of what today will bring. Today, finally, you and Lilith will be promoted to co-heads of the Emperor's Coven. It's customary for a coven to only have one head witch, but you and Lilith have both proven yourselves a hundred times over, and even Emperor Belos can't decide which one of you deserves the promotion more. It works out well for you and Lilith, since it gives the two of you an excuse to spend all day together. Not a single person in the coven knows that you're dating, and now you'll be holding the topmost spot other than Belos himself despite his little unspoken rule about LGBTQIA people holding positions of power in covens. You consider this a very big win, especially because you'll now be able to use your influence to help those in similar situations to yourself.
With your alarm off and your head cleared, you head into the small attached bathroom to get ready. You have to look your best, as befitting a soon-to-be coven head. First things first, you grab your ash wood hairbrush engraved with your initials. It was a two-year anniversary gift from Lilith, magically reinforced to withstand your constantly tangled hair. You cringe as you run it through your hair, tugging through tangles until your hair is silky smooth. Taking three pieces, you begin to deftly braid until you've reached the bottom. You then repeat on the other side before tying them both in the back of your hair so that your head is framed like a crown. You consider lightly curling the ends, but decide against it.
You quickly brush your teeth to keep them shiny and clean before starting on your makeup. This look is important, you can't have people thinking that the new coven head doesn't have style. You put on primer, foundation that magically adjusts to perfectly match your skin tone, concealer to cover the eye bags that come from waking at five in the morning daily, a little bit of blush and contour, gold eyeshadow to match the Emperor's Coven, pointy black eyeliner wings, thick mascara, and black lipstick with a touch of gold glitter in the center. This style of look has been your go-to for a while, just changing out the eyeshadow and lipstick for a color that best fits the occasion. A little bit of setting spray goes on top to make sure nothing gets messed up throughout the day, and you make a cute face in the mirror before leaving the bathroom and heading to the closet.
Sliding open the heavy door takes a little bit of effort, but you know the outfit you want as soon as you see it. Or rather, as soon as you see the fancy dress bag covering it. You grab the hanger off the rack and carefully lay it down on your bed before unzipping the bag to reveal a stunning but also simple dress of, of course, black and gold. Lilith had taken you out shopping a week ago to prepare, and as soon as you'd laid eyes on this dress you knew it had to be yours. It was sleeveless and plain black, save for a band of gold that ran just under your chest. In the center of that band sat the logo of the Emperor's Coven. It was to be worn with a necklace containing the coven logo, once again, surrounded by small gold lines, gold cuff bracelets with intricate designs, and gold sandals that go up to your calves.
Putting it on is a whole ordeal, but you finish by 6:15 and think you look quite good. Deciding to go have some breakfast before meeting up with Lilith to prepare speeches and presentations. You get a few stares from guards and other coven officials as you walk down the halls, but you ignore them. You have to continuously remind yourself that they will soon be beneath you and that their whispers and looks don't matter. Rounding the corner to the meal hall, you nearly trip over that little gremlin girl that Belos has been training as his assistant. What he sees in her, other than her bossiness and semi-obsessive need for control, you could never know.
"Apologies, Kikimora," you say, and she either smiles at you or sneers. With her mouth constantly hidden by her outfit, you can't really tell.
"No need, L/N, or should I say Co-Head Coven Leader?" Kikimora responds, using your soon-to-be full title sarcastically. You roll your eyes internally but don't let her see that she rattles you. It'll only make her happier. Deciding not to dignify her with a response, you push past and enter the meal hall. As you're walking through the buffet-style setup to grab some food, Kikimora pops up again in front of you. Clearly she wants to annoy you, but you just step around her and continue forwards. Once you've gotten your food and sat down, she pops up again, and this time there's nowhere to go.
"What do you want, Kiki?" you ask, a little exasperated about her following you around. She jumps right on the opportunity to talk.
"Well, as you know, I too have been rising in the ranks of the Emperor's Coven, and while I'm not magically adept enough to be Coven Head, Belos has taken me on as an assistant of sorts." You nod, having known all of this already, and motion for her to get to the point since you can see this conversation taking much longer than you'd like if you let her ramble on. "Unfortunately, he has recently been distant from me and I'm worried I may lose this opportunity. As the soon-to-be Co-Head Coven Leader, will you put in a good word for me?" she asks, going in a completely different direction than you thought she was going to take that conversation. Startled by the change, you nod, not really processing what you agreed to do. Kikimora smiles mischievously before walking away, and you almost swear she starts laughing a little bit maniacally. Concerned, but finished eating, you drop your plate in the magic cleaner and leave the breakfast hall to seek out Lilith.
When you arrive at her door, just down the hall from yours, it's already 7:30. The two of you only have an hour and a half to work on your speeches before assuming normal coven duties, so when Lilith opens the door the two of you get right to work. Well, maybe you share a few kisses first, but no one needs to know about that. As the two of you talk over your thank you's and your promises for the future of the coven, you can't help but stare at how beautiful Lilith has gotten for this occasion. You thought you went all out, but Lilith looks a million times fancier and a million times more regal than you. Her midnight blue hair has been retouched so no roots are showing through, then styled into a fancy braided bun and stabbed through by Emperor's Coven pin. She has contacts in, as glasses are not befitting of a powerful coven member, and her face is made up similarly to yours except for her lipstick, which sits only on her top lip, and her eyeshadow, which is a deep blue to match her hair.
Her dress, now that's a whole other story. You've never seen anything - or anyone - more beautiful than your girlfriend in her new dress. Bought the same day as yours, this dress was also made to fit the color scheme of the Emperor's Coven, but Lilith has added a few personal touches. The dress, previously just a plain black floor-length off-the-shoulder, had been transformed. Now, the sleeves and bottom of the skirt are covered in gold lace detailing, Lilith's blue gem sits nestled in the top of the bodice, and she is adorned with all manner of gold jewelry. She wears a necklace similar to yours, with the Emperor's Coven logo in the center, but on each of her wrists rests a golden bracelet studded with sapphire stones, and her fingers are covered in rings. Her coven ring is on her right middle finger, with an opalescent crescent moon on the index finger of the same hand, and on the ring finger of her left hand is the small gold band you have her for your anniversary, overshadowed by a large sapphire ring on her middle finger. Her two favorites, your sort of wedding band, and the one she's bound by duty to wear. Lilith catches you staring and laughs lightly.
"Enjoying the display?" she asks jokingly, and you nod, laughing as well. It's a sweet moment, but unfortunately doesn't last very long before Lilith goes back into business mode. Looking over a long checklist, she rattles stuff off to you and you repeatedly tell her that you have everything needed for the day's presentation. "But you don't understand, Y/N," she says finally, "Everything about today has to be absolutely perfect!" You look at her with confusion.
"I understand wanting to impress the Emperor, but absolute perfection isn't possible, Lilith," you respond, "All we can do is strive to do the best we can. But, that doesn't mean overworking and nearly driving yourself to insanity." She looks at you and smiles, admitting to have gotten caught up in the stress of the situation, and promises to take it easy during work and not overstress. You seal the promise with a kiss and set aside the preparations for a bit, instead talking about coven life and how much you both deserve today. After all, you've worked so hard for it.
You regret those words as soon as they're out of your mouth, because you know the memories they bring back for Lilith. Sure enough, you see the flash of sadness and remorse behind her eyes as you look. You feel it too. Sacrificing Eda to what is essentially considered a life of crime is never something either of you wanted to do, and you both have to constantly remind each other that it was her choice not to duel Lilith and not to join a coven. Neither of you have seen her in years, you had to cut contact since the initiation into the coven, but you still remember the tearful goodbyes like they were yesterday. Lilith's sadness hidden behind steely determination, Edalyn waving goodbye as you left Hexside for the final time, you gripping Lilith's hand so tightly it began to lose circulation. Not looking back, never looking back, because you both knew that if you looked back you'd never move forwards again. Now, the time has come to take what feels like the final step in your journey other than becoming the Emperor yourself.
Your alarm blares 9:00 as if reading your mind, and you and Lilith rise from where you had been planning. Time for the first patrol. Your schedule says to patrol Bonesborough, a busy market town, for an hour and a half before returning to the castle to judge new coven applicants until the beginning of the ceremony at noon. Head Coven Leader appointments, or 'crownings' as the general public has nicknamed them, are big deals because unless you're an idiot or you commit treason, this position is held for life. Essentially, they're insanely rare, and the average person will witness one in their lifetime if they're lucky. Emperor's Coven crownings are, of course, the most prestigious and exciting to witness. Yours and Lilith's is expected to run for nearly three hours, with an afterparty planned to start later in the evening and run most likely past midnight if the Emperor doesn't get pissed off by your hijinks.
You give Lilith a quick goodbye kiss before stepping out onto her balcony and flying to Bonesborough. Expecting patrol to be boring, you hover above the rooftops and glance across the many crowded streets and alleys, scanning for any potential criminal activity or general disrespect of the Emperor and his coven system. Most people are good, law abiding citizens, so you don't really have anything to worry about, but it wouldn't be good if you got caught slacking on patrol on a day like this. You're just starting to accidentally zone out, when something catches your eye. A little market stand made up of a green tent and a little folding table laden with junk. The woman running the stand appears to be in her 20's with short orange hair underneath a bandana. It looks like a normal, everyday stand, but something about it draws you in, and next thing you know you're flying down from your perch and landing in front of the stand.
"Welcome to my stand," the woman says, back turned to you while digging through some boxes, "Sorry I'm a little busy at the moment, you can look through any human collectibles you're interested in and let me know when you've found something you like." The woman's voice sounds vaguely familiar, but you're more hung up on her words than her voice. Human collectibles, huh? That must mean that this witch can somehow move between the Human Realm and the Boiling Isles. Intrigued, you decide to engage her in conversation to see if you can learn more.
"Human collectibles," you mutter, "very interesting. How did you come about these items in the first place?" At your inquiry the woman stops digging and slowly turns around. Unlike you, she knew your voice as soon as you spoke. It takes you until she turns around to realize why she seems so familiar. All of a sudden, you're transported back to that moment, that final goodbye between you. You were never supposed to see her again, especially not in a circumstance like this. Edalyn sighs but gives you a half smile to let you know there are no hard feelings about your random appearance. You, on the other hand, are so shocked that you stumble backwards and awkwardly but hurriedly excuse yourself from the situation.
Flying high over the streets of Bonesborogh once again, your breath finally returns to normal and your heartbeat slows. Seeing Edalyn after all this time gave you quite a shock, but what's worse is that now this will make Emperor Belos aware and attuned to her existence. You believe that he was aware before, but never cared, but now he will, because Eda has a way to get to the Human Realm. That means she has something Belos wants, and you know that when Belos wants something, he will do anything within his power to get it.

Omg wow a consistent update! But actually thanks to the new ep I have had a crap ton of motivation, so I may start updating this a lot more consistently. I do have a two and a half hour flight soon that I'll have nothing better to do on :). Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter! See you next time for the big promotion!

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