Moon Phases (Agatha Harkness X Fem!Reader)

Chapter XI.

Jen grabbed the boy and brought him to her side, instructing him on how to swirl. You were not sure why, but you speculated she was too anxious to focus on it, and you did not blame it.

For a first trial, this was intense, and you did not wish to think of what would come next.

"Everyone, pull a strand of hair outta your head now." Jen suddenly instructed, and you all obeyed, with Alice even taking a strand from Sharon's head. "A single hair only. Everybody, hurry up."

You all threw a single piece of hair into the swirling boiling water, except for Agatha. As she was ready to do that, she froze and stared at something that you could not see.

It was her time to face her nightmare.

You were not sure what it was, but the fear crawling on her face was not something that you liked. Her illusion was small, but it was enough to send her to the floor with a loud gasp, eyes wide, staring at nothing as tears were fighting to escape.

You glanced at the clock, seeing the time being way less than before, and you acted on impulse. You stood behind Agatha, and after you muttered an apology, you pulled a piece of her hair.

"Ouch!" She exclaimed and looked at you with a hurt expression, but you figured it was mostly shock from your actions.

"Sorry," you said and tossed the hair into the water.

The other witches tried to ask Agatha what she saw, but she refused to answer, turning the focus back on the potion.

Yet you could not help but steal glances at her, seeing how hard she was fighting to keep her composure in front of the others.

Whatever she had faced had shaken her to the core, and you knew only one thing could truly do that...

Her son.

You never learnt what happened to him, and she always refused to tell you, even raising her tone when you tried to push the topic.

So, you let it go and waited for the day she would open up to you. You met that boy when he was very young, and while you never had the chance to bond with him properly, you always wondered what happened to him.

For the day it all went downhill, that boy took the bigger part of Agatha's heart and light with him.

"We need to clasp hands," Jen instructed you to focus on her again. "...and clear your minds. Once our intentions are aligned, it will glow bright cerulean."

Alice glanced around her. "Yeah. What're our intentions again?"

"To not die."

And so you did that, pouring all your intentions of surviving the first trial.

You dared to open one eye and once again were disappointed that your effort did not work for the first time.

Why? Because the colour of the potion should be blue, and this was clearly a shade of green.

"I must have forgotten something," Jen exclaimed as panic rose within her.

Teen dared to glance at the clock. "One minute left."

You felt your heart beating faster, and you looked at the worried potions witch. "What did you forget?" You asked, hands placed firmly against the marble surface.

Jen, feeling the weight of the situation, took a step back. "I don't know! I've never made this potion before! I make retinol serums, for Christ's sake!"

"Fifty seconds."

You glanced at the boy. "Shouting the time is not really helping here!" You snapped back, realizing that you were all dead if Jen suddenly got cold feet.

Surprisingly, it was Agatha who took the initiative. She grabbed the witch from her upper arms and stared dead into her dark eyes.

"I have always hated you... but I left you alone because what you were doing was important. Not this Kale Kare crap, the real work. You can be that witch again. They can take your power, Jen, but they can't take your knowledge."

Silence enveloped the room, everyone looking at Jen for the missing ingredient, feeling about to pass out from the worry and the stress they were all experiencing.

"Blood. We need the blood of the unpoisoned."

It was Alice who gathered the courage and checked the clock. "Thirty seconds."

Agatha did not hesitate to grab a huge kitchen knife. With her free hand, she grabbed the boy's wrist and, with the other, cut a deep enough slash. "Thanks for being underage."

The move shocked everyone, but Agatha paid no mind as she guided the boy's hand over the boiling water, letting the droplets of blood fall in.

A sigh of relief left your lips when it turned blue, and you wasted no time dunking your glasses into the water before hastily drinking the antidote, just as you were in the last ten seconds of the countdown.

However, the timer did not stop after you drank the antidote, and it took you all a few precious seconds to be reminded that Sharon had not taken it since she lay unconscious on the couch.

By the last second, you managed to empty the cup into her lips, and by the faint movement of her limps, it was evident that she was also alive.

A clicking sound startled you all before it was noticed that the oven door had opened on its own.

You were the first to walk toward it, perhaps the bravest, and you were surprised to see some never-ending slide leading Gods knew where.

"I think this is our exit," you said as the others gathered around you.

"I am not climbing in an oven," Lilia argued. "That happened to a friend of mine. She had a lovely house, and she ended up...

Her storytelling was cut short as the windows broke and saltwater started to fill the house at a terrifying pace.

You stared at it with wide eyes as the dark blue waters were coming your way. You were a good swimmer, and you always found something nice in the salty smell of a sea breeze, but even this was out of your league.

Lilia moved first, now no longer hesitating to enter the oven and slide down, followed by Jen.

You waited for Agatha to join you, but before she could, Teen and Alice reminded you that Sharon was still left behind.

"We don't know what happens if we leave her behind," Alice argued.

You knew she was right, and honestly, Sharon should not die like that, not when it was never her fault for ending up on the road.

You turned to Agatha. "Go, I will go help them,"

Surprisingly, your lover did not agree as she once again grabbed your wrist. "No, you go down that oven,"

Yet you stubbornly stared her in the eye, not moving an inch. "No, you are, or you are helping me with Mrs Davis."

Agatha wanted to argue, to grab you by the back of your neck and shove you down that slide. She wished to scold you for suddenly being selfless and annoyingly stubborn.

In the end, she gave up.

"Fine!" She spat, and you both joined to help carry the unconscious human towards the oven.

By now, the floors had flooded, and the water was rising fast, causing you to fear it would block your way to the oven and your only exit if you were late.

Thankfully, you all managed to push her down the slide and followed suit. This time, it was Alice who stayed behind.

She watched you go after Agatha, and as she sat by the edge, she grabbed the oven door and closed it behind her before letting gravity and water pull her down the unknown slide.