Devil's Spawn

Phoenix Rising

Reappearing in the Mortuary's salon, ash smudges on her face, her cloak singed, her lip bleeding where Lilith had backhanded her, Zelda collapsed to the floor and let out an anguished scream. Haunted by the image of the flames swallowing Lilith and Gryla running off with Daeianeria, Zelda pressed her cheek to the persian rug and felt her heart explode. She was sobbing violently when Hilda, Ambrose, and Dr. Penelope Black rushed into the room. Hilda knelt beside her sister, patting her back and offering her Kleenex which she pushed away, gasping for breath through her choked sobs. Ambrose looked uncomfortable as Zelda's body shook and she moved to her knees, struggling to breathe, then leaned forward with her palms on the ground and her head between her arms. Hilda grimaced and looked to Penelope for help.

"Breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth." Penelope knelt down and tried to get Zelda to look at her but she was in full blown panic.

Desperate for some relief, feeling like she was choking or drowning or dying, the High Priestess shed her cloak, kneeling naked in the salon too focused on trying to breathe properly to care about improprieties. Then she stood and started to pace, gasping, tears streaming down her face. Hilda and Ambrose stood helpless as Penelope continued to coach Zelda through, "You're having a panic attack, Zelda. It will pass. You're not dying."

Zelda finally looked at her in that moment, took a deep breath, then rushed out of the room. Yanking open the powder room door, she dove to the ground and retched into the toilet. Penelope Black stood in front of the door and waved at Hilda, "Perhaps some tea would do us all some good?" Hilda hurried to the kitchen with Ambrose following; they weren't used to seeing Zelda in such a state.

Holding Zelda's hair back, the doctor crouched behind her and lightly rubbed her back; "That's it, let it all out. You've been through Hell, Zelda, you're feeling your feelings."

Flushing the toilet, Zelda stood shakily and scooped a handful of water from the sink into her mouth, spitting it out and swiping a towel across her face. Looking at Penelope's reflection over her shoulder, tears continuing to fall, her voice quivered, "What if they're both dead?" Then she hung her head and her shoulders shook as she cried in earnest, with more control but with just as much heartbreak.

"We don't have any answers right now." Dr. Black spoke quietly, her hand a reassuring presence on Zelda's shoulder. "Let's take this one step at a time. I believe the first step would be a shower and then maybe a cup of tea?" Zelda nodded and allowed Penelope to guide her upstairs.

Zelda went through the motions of showering, washing the remnants of the fire's flames from her body, feeling every ache in her heart as if it were a broken bone. She let the water mix with her tears so that she no longer knew which was which, until she literally had no more tears to cry. Getting out of the shower, she stared at herself in the mirror and felt like a shadow of who she was; sucking the bruised and split lip into her mouth, she closed her eyes and relished the feeling of pain caused by her love. In some way, she was comforted by the dull ache and taste of iron in her mouth.

The redheaded witch dressed in a golden nightgown and Japanese silk robe, moving stiffly and feeling disassociated from the experience of existing. The heartache faded away to nothingness as she walked down to oblige in sharing tea with her family and Dr. Black, the taste of chamomile not even registering as she refused to process the conversation around finding Gryla and the baby. She knew how possible it was that both Lilith and her baby were dead - she watched the flames surround Lilith and trusting Gryla had been a last resort but there was no guarantee the ancient Islandic witch would return the child.

"I'm going to bed." Her voice sounded hollow as if it didn't belong to her and without meeting anyone's gaze, Zelda Spellman floated out of the kitchen and up to her bedroom.