"When shall we three meet again?" Prudence raised her veil and stepped in the light of the great hall. "In thunder, lightening, or rain?"
Agatha stood next to Prudence and placed a hand on her shoulder, "When the hurly-burly's done. When the battle's lost and won."
"That will be ere the set of sun." Dorcas mirrored Agatha on Prudence's left side.
"Where the place?" Prudence raised an eyebrow and turned to look at Agatha.
"Upon the heath." Her gaze shifted to Dorcas.
"There to meet with Lilith."
"I come, Graymalkin." All eyes fixed forward, fire dancing and growing before them.
"Paddock calls." Agatha sung sweetly.
"Anon!" Dorcas looked toward her sisters strangely but followed along.
"Fair is foul, and foul is fair. Hover through the god and filthy air." The weird sisters chanted in tandem before vanishing in a grey puff of smoke.
—
Lilith walked the forest along the train tracks. Adam following a short distance behind her. They paused in front of the Academy of Unseen Art as the sun was setting just behind the school. The sky reflected the tint of Lilith's eyes, a hazy blue fading into grey.
"Today has been awful, but tonight will be absolutely wonderful." Lilith took a deep breath and closed her eyes, tilting her head upwards.
On the steps of the academy stood the weird sister. Their veils were back in place, hands clasped in front of themselves, and a glint in their eyes. Slowly they shifted to stare directly at Lilith, who was unaware of their presence.
"All hail Lilith, Mother of Demons."
"All hail Lilith, the first and most powerful of witches."
"All hail Lilith, the one who shall be Queen."
Lilith was frozen where she stood, barely breath as she heard her fate spoken aloud. She knew they were praising her, yet she felt nothing but dread. A shiver raced through her body, shocking her out of her thoughts. The weird sisters stood patiently on the steps, waiting for Lilith to speak. Adam was growing impatient, approached the weird sisters himself. None of them paid attention to him, keeping their focus on Lilith instead.
"And what about my future?" Adam tried to break the overwhelming silence, "Do I await greatness?"
"A less, yet happier person you will be Adam. And both will produce heirs to a throne. All hail Lilith and Adam." The three chanted before again disappearing, leaving a trail of questions in their wake.
Lilith opened her eyes and moved away from Adam, needing space to contemplate the prophecy. It was a lot to take in for her and something she knew Adam would never be able to understand. If what they addressed me was to be true, how was I suppose to ascend? The thought of her killed the Dark Lord made her sick, she couldn't imagine going against him. She also knew that there was no other way to fulfill her destiny.
"Lilith?"
I was always promised the right hand seat. Queen of hell is only a more fitting title. If it is to happen by his death, I hope only that I am not the one holding the sword that strikes the final blow.
"Lilith, are you ready to head back?"
"Yes, sorry. I was thinking of what the sisters said, we should discuss that together at some point. Not tonight though. Right now I want to relax after all of this." The two made their way back down the tracks and into the night.
As they entered Mary Wardwell's cabin, they were met face to face with the Dark Lord. His face stone cold as he stared into the fire, for a moment Lilith wondered if he had heard the prophecy as well. Once he noticed that Lilith and Adam had entered the home, his signature coy smile slipped into place.
"Ah Lilith, how sweet of you to finally come home. I've been waiting, you know how much I hate waiting." He stepped closer towards Lilith, causing Adam to retreat towards still open door. "I have been made aware that I haven't ever thanked you for upholding my name as you do. Your loyalty will be rewarded in due time."
"The pleasure is all mine," Lilith spoke through gritted teeth even though she feared the man standing in front of her, her hands bunched the material of her dress tight out of the need to grip something. "It is my duty to fulfill your every wish and command my Lord." He looked directly at her but held his quip even though Lilith knew how much he wanted to bite back. Instead he placed a finger underneath Lilith's chin and lifted her head up to look directly at him.
"Now why don't you call on that little witch of yours-what is her name again, Zelda? And tell her we will be over for dinner here shortly."
Lilith made haste out of the cabin and back into the woods, leaving Adam and Lucifer alone in the cabin. Her mind raced as she made the trek out to the Spellman household. She wasn't in a position to transfer herself yet, even though she knew Zelda and Hilda both needed to know of the new dinner plans. Lilith pulled out a small compact mirror from her coat and called Zelda, afraid of sparing even a moment.
"Oh Zelda, my dear sweet Zelda."
"What do you want Lilith?" Zelda looked displeased at the call but did not hang up on the brunette.
"Why must you always do this?" She could see Zelda smirk at the question before taking a long drag off of her cigarette. "Either way, I have news! The weird sisters approached me earlier tonight in front of the academy with a prophecy. They called me the one who shall be queen and that I will have an heir to a throne. And if I am to be queen, well I would need only the best as my high priestess." Zelda's cigarette burned widely as she listened, a small smile on her lips.
"Then Queen you shall be, with me as your high priestess. There is nothing you won't be able to accomplish with me at your side. Now we have to play dirty in order to get anywhere of course. Come over so that we can discuss how that golden crown is going to end up on your pretty little head."
"I am actually on my way. The Dark Lord has requested dinner with everyone tonight. We can talk as soon as I get there, but he will be arriving soon after." Lilith glanced behind her to make sure he wasn't eavesdropping in on their conversation, "I don't doubt that he isn't too far behind."
"I do hope he doesn't plan on leaving this house," Zelda's eyes swam with mischief. "Let me handle tonight, dear. For tomorrow, tomorrow is your crowning."
"Zelda I don't think-"
"Please act yourself tonight, we can't raise any suspicion against ourselves. I'll let Hilda know that we will be having a special guest tonight. Hurry home, you don't want to miss the fun." Zelda ended the call with a wink, her mind already coming up with a dozen ways to kill the devil.
Within an hour of Lilith arriving at the Spellman's, Adam and the Dark Lord were waiting on the porch. Zelda was the only one composed enough to answer the door, so she soothed down her dress and smiled wide as she greeted their guests.
"The famed Zelda Spellman, how nice to meet you. You have such a lovely home, especially now that I've graced it." Zelda rolled her eyes behind his back, but followed him farther into the foyer.
"Mmm yes of course. Why don't you come in, everyone is waiting. I'm sure it will be a night none of us will soon forget." Adam casted a worried glance towards Zelda but followed the paid into the dining room.
It was a pleasant dinner, Hilda went all out in order to please the Dark Lord. The bubbly blonde tried to make pleasant small talk, but for the most part got shut down every time. Lilith picked at her food before leaving. Zelda's eyes followed her with concern but did not move to follow her lover.
"Sister Zelda, why don't you check on our dear Lilith. We are here to celebrate her past accomplishments after all." Zelda nodded and followed after Lilith.
"He is almost done eating. Hilda has plenty of deserts and questions to keep him busy for a little bit. No one can tolerate it for too long, I don't think the Dark Lord is an exception." Zelda laid her head dead center of Lilith's back, snaking her arms to settle around the brunette's waist.
"I can't do it. He promised me that I would be his right hand. That should be enough. So why, why can't we enjoy that instead?" Lilith sighed, hands lacing with Zelda's on her waist.
"Are you insane?" Zelda whispered harshly into Lilith's hair. "This is what you have been wanting for centuries. Don't tell me you are willing to stand in his shadow for the rest of your life?"
"Zelda!"
"You are the first witch, the mother of demons, and you won't commit this murder? Since when did you let a man turn you submissive? Not long ago we would lay in bed talking of how you would ascend to the throne. Now being second best is okay? Don't you dare back out of the now Lilith. We have worked too hard to fail when we are this close." Lilith turned to look Zelda in they eyes, watched as the fire in them grew. She reached a hand out to play with a loose red curl. Lilith rested her head against Zelda's and let out a sigh.
"And if we fail?"
"My love," Zelda laced her fingers with the hand that was still playing with her hair, "we will not fail. Once we convince him to stay here for the night, the fun will begin. He has no guards with him. Do you know how much easier this makes everything?" She gave Lilith's hand a squeeze as she tried to force the brunette to look at her and not the floor.
"Many of my demons want him dead, they haven't been afraid to voice it either. Blame could be placed on any one of them. Who would be around to say otherwise?" Lilith pulled Zelda flush against her.
"We will grieve the most upon the news. The Dark Lord slain in our own home, simply terrible, terrible news." They sealed the promise with a chaste kiss and matching devilish smiles.