Chapter Text
Her mind, body, and soul had been shattered. It was pure agony. Zelda let out a raw and tortured scream that echoed around her.
The last thing she remebered was watching her family be brutalized and murdered in front of her, Satan what they did to Sabrina, while she was helpless until her own relief came in the form of a blade across her throat.
That memory caused her pause. Although still feeling wrung out and excruciating pain, she rolled onto all fours and tried to take stock of her surroundings. She should be dead. Was this Hell? It was....less exciting than what she originally assumed. It was just darkness. She couldn't see anything, alone with nothing but her thoughts would be the worst form of punishment for her failures.
Before she could begin wailing once more a voice broke through the emptiness.
"I was wondering when you would awaken."
Zelda knew that voice.
"What in Satan's name are you doing here?"
Mary Wardwell's heels clicked closer to her from the left. Suddenly Hellfire came to life in a pit across the room.
"Things have taken quite the unexpected turn and I have been given the ok to tell you who I really am."
Zelda looked at the woman, her tear stricken face shining in the light, Mary merely smiled before peeling off her face. After what Zelda saw last, it didn't even phase her.
"I'm Lilith."
Zelda let out a choked sob that had a touch of disbelieving laughter to it before pulling her knees to her chest.
"Why didn't you help us? At least my family, I would've died a thousand times for them."
Her voice was hoarse and weak but for once she didn't care. Her family was dead and it was her fault, there was nothing she could do. Although she couldn't help but ask.
"Where are they?"
Lilith had never seen the strong matriarch like this before and it certainly wouldn't do now. She needed her strong and angry, not broken and helpless. Replacing Mary's face she approached the other woman and placed a hand on her shoulder before teleporting them into her private chambers.
The mother of demons spoke as she led the defeated woman to her bed and helped her climb in.
"Your family has gone where they should have. Do not worry for them."
It wasn't the complete truth but they were safe, as safe as you could be in Hell, which is what Zelda would really want. The Spellmans were too powerful and influential, the Dark Lord wouldn't let them slip away so easily and these were the last of them.
Lilith got her under the covers, despite being a witch, Zelda was still human and needed to let these emotions out before they could be replaced with others. She started to shake from her sobs once more, Lilith said nothing but climbed in with her and let the woman cling as she screamed and cried until she fell asleep.
Lilith stroked her hair, she was a beautiful woman, full of power and fiercely loyal. After this little hiccup was taken care of Lilith was tempted to keep her. Surely the Dark Lord wouldn't mind if one of his most loyal were her companion.
The demoness sighed before letting her own eyes rest closed. There would be time for that later, right now she needed to focus on riling the woman up. Her grief was going to drive her to vengeance. Lilith would see to that.
When Zelda woke for the second time she felt a little lighter but her soul was still aching from her loss. She also noticed that she was still in bed and not alone, even more, she was only in her slip. Before panic could set in a voice she was surprisingly relieved to hear broke the silence; an arm wrapped around her waist.
"I hope you don't mind that I brought you here. It seemed like you needed it."
She was silent for a moment, trying to figure out how to respond, she's sure Lilith didn't comfort very often. She was grateful and a little suspicious.
"I...thank you."
"The pleasure was mine."
Zelda could hear the seductiveness in her voice but the woman made no move to do anything, for which the Spellman witch was thankful for. It did remind her of her state of dress.
"Where are my clothes?"
Lilith tightened the arm around her waist, to help steady her for her next words.
"You are wearing what you were murdered in."
"Oh."
It made sense, the attack came in the middle of the night. She wanted to cry again but refused to do so. Lilith must know who was behind it and she was going to get the woman to tell her by any means necessary.
"Who was it? Who dare..." she swallowed a sob and took a steadying breath, "Who do I need to go haunt and make miserable."
Lilith smiled to herself, this was easier than she thought.
"It would seem Blackwood betrayed you and really the Dark Lord himself by giving aid to witch hunters."
Zelda began to shake and Lilith thought she was going to cry again, a pity really, Blackwood wasn't worth her tears. She was surprised when the woman jerked out of her grasp and slipped out of the bed. She began to pace, her jaw clamped shut and her breathing heavy, fists clenched at her sides. Even in spirit Lilith could feel the anger and power swirling around her, it was intoxicating.
"Let me go haunt him. I'll find a way to kill him, I promise."
Lilith wasn't sure if she was talking to her or herself but she figured now was as good as time as any to make her offer.
"He would simply banish or entrap you as a spirit. I can do you one better. If you'd like."
Zelda stopped pacing and looked at the demoness head on.
"What can you do?"
Lilith smiled and sat up, scooting to the edge of the bed.
"There is a temporary gift I can bestow upon you. The gift of the Crow. It will allow you to return to the world of the living to avenge your family and yourself. You will be virtually indestructible but you will not have your magic and you will only able to go out at night, during the day you must return here."
That was a bit of a lie, while she could not travel in the day, she could just lay low if she wanted. Lilith wanted her to come back, wanted to hear the glorious tales of how she killed them and possibly get a little closer to her. She may want her on her side for the battles in the future. A lot of things were up in the air at this point.
Zelda stood tall, her eyes were dark and nostrils flared, she nodded and quickly closed the distance between them. She stood directly in front of her.
"I'll do anything, send me back, please."
She was fierce but gracious and Lilith had no doubt she would do anything to get Lilith to gift her. Lilith was not like her own...master...she didn't want the woman on her knees and begging. She would hopefully receive the willing gift of trust and loyalty later. She ignored the promise, at least for now.
"I'll keep watch of you from time to time, you'll notice my familiar. There are some gifts for you in your trunk at home. Be safe and merciless."
Lilith waved her hand and the woman was gone.
Zelda's eyes flew open. She was surrounded by wet dirt. She struggled to see but began to claw her way up. It felt like she had crawled from the pits of Hell itself by the time she reached the surface. She groaned in pain, her body hurt, as if rigor mortis had been set in for a while, the rain felt good on her aching and bare body. Pulling herself to her feet she noticed where she had been buried, and the three other freshly dug graves beside her.
The remnants of the Tree of the Thirteen had been long gone thanks to Sabrina. The town however, would never forget it or where it once stood. Zelda couldn't believe they were confident enough to not burn their bodies, surely even someone as arrogant as Blackwood wouldn't take the chance, he had underestimated the Spellmans for the last time.
Zelda knelt at her family's graves, swallowing her tears and spoke with confidence.
"I will avenge you. I promise."
Getting to her feet and walking back to the Mortuary through the woods she began to plan. Blackwood would be the most difficult target. As for the witch hunters who were involved, getting to them would take a little time but she knew where to start looking for information about them.
The mortuary came into view and Zelda could feel the magic radiating from the property. The Spellman magic would have been undone after they died, with a growl she realized it must be Faustus. No one would notice anything amiss and he got to peruse their home and hoarded treasures at his leisure. Although she was thankful that her home hadn't been lit aflame.
She was slightly nervous about crossing the magical barrier but nothing seemed to happen, she supposed detection and glamour magic didn't work on a corpse. She also wasn't completely aware of what all the gift of the crow would do for her. It didn't matter, she would take anything they threw at her and come back as many times as she had to.
The moon was just starting to cross the sky when Zelda stepped into the foyer. There was still blood all over the place, it made her queasy but she noted that it looked and smelled old, she wondered how long they had been gone. Too long for the Cain Pit, that she was sure of. The clock struck 1 and she hastily made her way upstairs to her trunk, wanting to waste no more time.
Lilith had certainly made up for her lack of magic. There was a sash of throwing knives, a beautiful thin onyx sword, and a whip like she had never seen. It had an almost invisible razor sharp blade that ran it's length but it didn't sacrifice the flexibility of it.
She gave a silent thought of thanks to Lilith before setting the items on her bed. She looked down at her wet skin and realized she would need something to work in. Thinking of her family, she wanted something of theirs to be a reminder and feel their strength. She ducked under her bed to grab a long black box that held black riding boots with a few sturdy buckles that she had worn over a century ago, before making her way to her closet for leather pants she had let Hilda talk her into during the 80s.
Thinking of her sister she grabbed one of her favorite rings off her vanity and slipped it on her middle finger as she sat down in front of the mirror. She startled when she first caught sight of her reflection, she looked as dead as she was. Ghostly white complexion and flat red hair, her curls gone and lips pale, a long thin scar ran across her neck. She grabbed charcoal and coated her eyes and lips, extending sharp lines off the corners. She hardly recognized herself.
With a renewed hard look of determination she stood and made her way to Sabrina's room and grabbed a tight long sleeve black shirt before she found Ambrose's black trench coat. It was long on her, almost down to her ankles but it was a tight fit for Ambrose and only hung a little loose. She took her gathered items and returned to her room where she finished getting dressed. She strapped the sword to her back and the knives across her chest, and one hidden in the boots her pants were tucked into. The whip at her hip felt solid.
It was barely 1:30 in the morning. Plenty of time left for her to start her war path. She walked down the stairs and took in the sight and smell of her family's blood one last time, and with a rage that felt like Hellfire coursing through her veins she slammed open the front door and made her way into the cold rainy night. She heard a crow on the porch give a squawk before seeing it disappear into the sky.