Moon Phases (Agatha Harkness X Fem!Reader)

Chapter XXVIII.

Evanora's ghost might have left Agatha's body and been defeated, but it was not over yet. Alice's power kept being absorbed by Agatha.

At first, Agatha did try to pull more; a subconscious need to get some magic into her system like someone that had been thirsty for too long and was finally given water.

However, hearing the shouts of the coven and seeing Aice's weakening face, Agatha realized she was killing her. She tried to stop, but her body absorbed the magic, draining Alice with each passing second.

"Y/N! Do something!" Alice shouted, turning to the frozen you.

"I can't! My magic will kill her!" You confessed amongst the ongoing panic.

The nature of your magic was special, pure, one might say. You could blast Agatha, but she would subconsciously draw your power, too. The only issue is that she would die if she dared to absorb much of your power.

"Do something!" Jen insisted, and yet you remained where you were.

You knew she could not be stopped, for you had never seen her do that. Once, she got tackled, and body slammed, yet she kept absorbing, ending only when knocked unconscious or all the magic had been absorbed.

And you could not harm Agatha to that degree to make her stop. All you could do was watch helplessly as Alice's skin started to wrinkle and dry, literally being sucked alive.

During the chaos, Teen noticed that the Ouija board thrown to the side was alive, or at least the pendulum was moving. He wasted no time rushing towards it, hoping it would offer some help—any kind of help—before it was too late.

"Who are you?" He asked, and immediately, the pendulum started to spell letters. "N, I, C, H, O, L, A, S, S, C, R, A, T, C, H. Nicholas Scratch." The time on the watches beeped as if accepting the answer. "Nicholas Scratch!" Teen shouted.

Suddenly, the familiar voice of a young boy echoed across the room. "Mama! Stop."

Your eyes widened, and the shock was big enough to make you lose concentration on your magic and let it die. "Little Nicky?" You questioned, desperately looking around for any signs of his ghost self.

You were not the only one affected by it, though.

The boy's voice and his nickname that you dared to say out loud bypassed all the defences of Agatha and shocked her to the core, resulting in her stopping absorbing Alice magic and life force

Wounded and emotionally hurt, Agatha looked around with the hope of seeing her son, who had left her one night, and she had got to say goodbye truly.

Yet she saw nothing, for the timers on the wrist watches reached their end. The beeping sound unlocking the exit signalled the end of the trial.

"...no..." Agatha whispered faintly.

"Alice. Alice. Wake up." Teen shouted as he rushed to the fallen witch. "Alice, please wake up. Alice!"

His voice was filled with fear, and everyone focused on him, seeing Alice dead on the floor. She had been sucked dry, her skin parched and white, eyes wide open.

Agatha had not been interrupted fast enough, and now, one more coven member was dead.

The magicless witch tried to approach, to check if Alice was weakened but not dead.

Teen did not let her. His grief slowly turned into anger. "Don't touch her!" He shouted at Agatha. "She was protecting you. But you don't deserve it."

Agatha looked hurt, and she cast her eyes on the ground faintly. "I didn't,"

Yet her words fell on deaf ears as the boy was too focused on the dead coven member even to spare her a glance.

Seeing the looks of the other coven members and considering all the emotions running through her heart and mind... Agatha chose to leave first, needing a moment alone to control herself.

She had shown too many emotions with her mother's ghost, and she needed to mask them, to mask her weakness, and not let the sudden change in Teen's attitude towards her affect her at all.

While she was out, Teen desperately looked at the other witches until his eyes fell on you.

"Please, Y/N!" He begged, eyes glowing misty. Alice had been from the few good witches to him, and she did not deserve to die, not like this. "You saved me. Save her, too!"

Your heart ached at his desperation, but even you knew there was a limit to the miracles you could pull.

"I am sorry... this is beyond my magic, " you explained softly, glancing at Rio, who nodded her head in approval, a silent signal that Alice was beyond saving.

You looked back at Teen, who eventually let defeat, grief, and anger settle in. Furious, he marched towards the exit, and it did not take long for Jen and Lilia to follow.

They left you behind with Rio, and you knew you also had to leave. But first, you had to pay your respects to the witch, who should not have died.

You knelt by her body and gently closed her eyes, whispering a faint prayer as a sign of respect. There was no need to pray for her soul, for she would be collected any moment now.

Yet even then, after you finished everything, you did not move. Somehow, you did not wish to let Alice's soul be taken; leave her all alone to realize she had died... just after she had broken that damn generational curse.

Rio remained standing close by, patiently waiting for you to get up. "It is done. She is beyond saving, " she reminded you, sensing your hesitation.

"I know," you replied dryly, no need for any reminders.

You knew damn well she was beyond saving. That did not make it any easier for you just to leave her behind.

Rio let out a small silent sigh, her face softening. "Timor Mortis Morte Pejor," she spoke in Latin.

Those four words were familiar to you, not only cause you had mastered the language centuries ago and spoke it fluently... but because they had been told to you before.

"Fear of death is worse than death," you translated, and as you leaned back on the balls of your feet, you could not help but remember.

Remember the first time you heard those words, the first time you felt the blood of someone on your hands, and the first time you met Rio?

The beginning of your complicated relationship.