Author's note: Alright, shit hits the fan, and it's not fun. You've been warned. The next few chapters will probably be heavier stuff, but don't worry, there's still going to be a lot of cute stuff.
"Oh, I thought you would be asleep by now." Elliott heard Cordelia say, glancing up from her book as the older woman stood in the doorway of the master bedroom.
Elliott glanced at the clock on the nightstand beside her and saw it was almost 2am, three hours past the time she had meant to be asleep by. "Oh, yea. I guess I lost track of time." Elliott said shyly.
It had been three days since the incident, and Elliott found as the days dragged on that she was getting less and less sleep, her own nerves getting the best of her. The nerves were her own doing. It's not like she actually knew what was going to happen, no one on the council was saying anything about the plan to get Elenor back, but Elliott could take a wild guess. She knew enough about Papa Legba from Grace to know he wasn't a particularly generous man, he wouldn't settle for less than a fair trade, and knowing Cordelia's character, that scared the young witch.
Elliott kept mostly quiet about her fears, she knew it was selfish of her and it would just complicate things even further. But, avoiding talking to Cordelia only went so far. The woman could literally feel her every emotion, something she was reminded of when Cordelia quirked her eyebrow and offered the girl a small smirk as she walked into the room. "You're a really bad liar." She said, pulling out a pair of pajamas and walking over to the edge of the bed, "Can you unzip me?"
Elliott nodded and crawled across the bed, reaching for the zipper of the supreme's floor length dress. "I am an excellent liar, by the way. I wasn't lying." She joked, making Cordelia crack a small smile.
"You're worried. I can see it on your face." Cordelia replied.
"I'm always worried." Elliott said softly, unzipping the dress and sitting back on her knees.
Cordelia turned around to face her daughter, gently cupping her face and staring into her icy blue eyes before moving to change, "You're worried about the meeting tomorrow."
"I'm not, not worried about it." Elliott joked half-heartedly as the supreme turned her back to her. "Should I be worried?" Elliott asked softly, making Cordelia sigh as she walked over and sat on the bed.
"You should let me worry about it." Cordelia finally said, pulling Elliott towards her as she laid on the bed, the young witch's head on her chest as she wrapped her arms around the girl.
"That's not how it works and you know it." Elliott replied teasingly, Cordelia dropping a kiss on her head as the supreme let out a sad laugh.
"I know. But you shouldn't worry, I won't let anything happen that would harm you or any of the girls, I won't put any of you at risk." Cordelia finally said. She knew the answer wouldn't suffice, but it was complicated, and she didn't want to make promises to Elliott that she couldn't keep. It was better to get in there and figure out what was necessary, then explain it after the fact.
"I wasn't worried you would." Elliott said quietly, looking up at the older witch.
"How in the world did I manage to get a child with blue eyes?" Cordelia asked, trying to change the subject. She saw pain flicker across Elliott's eyes, but the girl quickly recovered after realizing she wasn't going to get the answer she wanted.
"Who knows, maybe I'm not yours." Elliott teased, causing Cordelia to hold her tighter.
"You definitely are mine, but the eyes are all your father. My family has had brown eyes for over six generations." Cordelia said.
"Do I need to teach you how genetics works?" Elliott asked sarcastically, Cordelia rolling her eyes in return.
"I know how genetics work." Cordelia said.
"Obviously not." Elliott responded, Cordelia eyeing her.
"Maybe you aren't my child. You're too sassy to have come from me." Cordelia teased, Elliott throwing her a smirk.
"I learned it from Fiona." She replied, making Cordelia laugh.
"You turn out like Fiona and I'll kill you myself." Cordelia said jokingly.
Elliott let out a scoff, "Aren't you supposed to love me unconditionally?"
Cordelia smirked, "I'll still love you, but I'll be damned if I let history repeat itself. Not on my watch."
Elliott laughed, then was quiet for a moment, "Just… don't do anything reckless, ok?"
Cordelia looked down, seeing the worry in her daughter's eyes, "I won't. I would never put the coven at risk, not for one girl."
"I'm not worried about the coven. I'm worried about you." Elliott responded, which made Cordelia sigh.
"I won't do anything crazy, but I do have to put the coven first, even if I don't want to. It's my job babe, it's not always fun." Cordelia said, knowing the answer wouldn't suffice for the young girl.
"It's never fun." Elliott said, making Cordelia chuckle. "I just don't get why she would do it. I mean, who wants to go to their personal hell just for fun? I get that she wanted someone to pay attention, but there's a lot of other ways she could have done it that wouldn't be as traumatizing for everyone."
"People can do some really strange things when they want power. Fiona was willing to kill everyone to keep it, and Madison was willing to let Zoe and Misty die just so she could have it. It changes people." Cordelia said seriously, thinking back.
"Yea, neither of those surprise me." Elliott joked.
"Yet you are so fond of Madison." Cordelia joked back, making Elliott scoff.
"Maddie is at least upfront about the fact that she would willingly sacrifice me for a pair of shoes. I'm not worried about her, I'm more worried about the ones that seem nice then slit your throat in your sleep." Elliott said seriously.
"So you're perfectly ok with her killing you for shoes?" Cordelia asked, laughing.
"As long as they're cute." Elliott said with a shrug, Cordelia snickering as she kissed the top of Elliott's head. "Is your personal hell really that bad?" She asked, looking up.
"It depends on who it is. It's a sort of relative thing, what's bad for you isn't necessarily bad for someone else. Madison's was getting a subpar part in the sound of music, Zoe's was her and Kyle breaking up, and Queenie's was a never ending rush at a restaurant." Cordelia explained, Elliott snickering at Madison's hell.
"So it depends on how shallow you are?" Elliott joked, Cordelia laughing and nodding in return.
"I guess so." She said.
"What was yours?" Elliott asked, curious.
Cordelia hesitated before speaking "Me trying to gain Fiona's approval and getting bitch slapped for it." She finally said with a chuckle as Elliott looked up at her wide eyed.
"Why did I even ask? I should've known." She said with a chuckle, shaking her head. "I don't even want to know what mine is, although I'm sure it will change over time."
"You think it changes?" Cordelia asked.
"I mean, it has to. The more life you live the more you evolve. I can't imagine Fiona slapping you would still be your biggest fear." Elliott explained, "Madison's, however, would probably be the exact same. I don't think she'll ever have a bigger fear than not being the center of attention."
"No, I think it's changed. You didn't know her before; she's grown a lot. She's not as heartless as she used to be, believe it or not." Cordelia said, shocked that the words were actually coming out of her mouth.
"I'm sorry, did you just say something kinda nice about Madison?" Elliott joked, causing Cordelia to tickle at her sides, "Knock it off!"
The two talked for a while until Cordelia glanced down mid conversation and found the young witch to be fast asleep. The supreme briefly considered just going to sleep herself, but in truth she was nervous about the following day as well. Partly it was because she didn't think she could possibly get Elenor back, and partly it was that she felt like her mother, selling her soul, although it was for a drastically different reason. The council was all reluctant to let her do it, even offering their souls as substitutes, but Cordelia couldn't condemn another one of the girls for the sake of her own sanity. It was her neglectfulness that got Elenor into this situation, it was her responsibility to bring her back.
She stared down at her sleeping child and her heart hurt. She should have known Elliott would be more aware of what was going on, of what was going to happen, she grew up learning the voodoo side of things. She wished she could quell her fears, tell her there was nothing to worry about, but she really had no idea what would happen. The council had set out some firm guidelines for what Cordelia could and couldn't agree to, but they weren't going to be in the meeting and words could only go so far. Cordelia felt like she was walking a tightrope, trying to figure out what was best for the coven and what was best for Elliott. They never seemed to line up, as much as Cordelia wished they would, and no matter how much Cordelia prepared for every possible scenario, there was no way of knowing just how far she would go in that meeting.
For a moment, she considered just leaving Elenor. It was horrible to think about, but truthfully it was the best way to make sure something like this never happened again, making an example of her. It's what Fiona would have done, but truthfully Cordelia couldn't live with herself without knowing she did everything she could to get her back, even if her attempts were futile.
Eventually, the sun rose and Cordelia had to disentangle herself from her sleeping daughter, even though she really didn't want to. It wasn't an easy task, every time Cordelia even tried to pull away Elliott's grip on her tightened, and once she had gotten herself away from the girl and laid her on the bed she heard the young witch whimper in her sleep, which was almost enough to convince Cordelia to climb back into bed with her. When the whimper didn't turn into anything more the supreme finally headed off to her study, pouring over her many books for any other ways of getting the lost witch back, but coming up with nothing once again.
Around 10am, Misty happened to pass by the supreme's room, glancing in and seeing Elliott sitting straight up in bed, her face sweaty and ghostly pale. It was obvious she had just woken up from a nightmare, so the older witch entered the room, forcing her to make eye contact. "Ya alright?" Misty asked gently, Elliott slowly nodding in return, "Ya sure?"
"Yea. I'm fine. It's nothing." Elliott answered.
"Ya didn't tell me your nightmares came back." Misty said, eyeing the girl suspiciously.
Elliott shook her head, "They didn't."
"They obviously did, unless ya snuck out ta a sauna while we weren't lookin'." Misty countered.
Elliott shook her head again, "No, this wasn't one of those. It was different. Just a bad dream I guess."
"About what?" Misty asked, curious, "Cordelia?" Elliott stared at her a moment, not wanting to answer, which gave Misty her answer. "Ya aren't good at hidin' ya feelings darlin'. Everyone knows ya are upset."
"I'm fine. Nothing is probably going to happen anyways." Elliott said quietly, "I need to get up and moving, it's late."
"It's barely 10." Misty said.
"I know." Elliott responded, throwing Misty a look before getting up and heading for the shower, leaving the swamp witch on her own.
Elliott spent a few hours hanging out in the kitchen with everyone until she saw Grace appear in the doorway, her stomach dropping. The two chatted for a few moments until Cordelia appeared at the top of the stairs, at which time Grace headed to her office and Elliott took off for the greenhouse, feeling her anxiety starting to peak. She hated feeling out of control, and she really didn't want there to be a crowd in case she couldn't keep herself in check. That solitude, however, was quickly interrupted when Madison came strolling in. "Hey loser, you good?"
Elliott rolled her eyes and turned to face the girl, "I'm fine. You stuck babysitting me?"
"I'm not "stuck" doing anything, but I know you're losing your shit. Figured I could help you calm down." Madison snarked.
"No offense Maddie, but you are the last person that would calm me down." Elliott said sarcastically, Madison smirking at her in return.
"You're right, but if all else fails, I have the booze." Madison said, making Elliott laugh a bit.
Meanwhile, Grace and Cordelia were getting everything ready in her office. "You sure you want to do this? Papa isn't exactly known for being a very forgiving man." Grace said.
Cordelia thought for a moment, but nodded anyways, "It's the only option I have. I have to at least try."
Grace nodded and the two sat down, Grace starting the chant. The blinds were all drawn so the room was in total darkness, apart from the candles that were lit. Finally, after a few moments of chanting, A shadow appeared, materializing into a man with bright red eyes and a face that resembled a skull. "Ah, the witch queen. I was waiting for you." He said, "You want your girl back."
Cordelia felt like she was shaking, but she tried to appear strong, "I want to make a deal."
Papa laughed, "I figured you would. But I've learned very quickly that you witches aren't exactly good for your end of the bargin, so you'll have to be very convincing. I don't release a soul without a price."
Fiona flashed through Cordelia's mind, of course she wouldn't keep her end of the deal. Still, the supreme pressed on, "I think you'll find I'm a woman of my word."
Papa smirked, "Ah, you think because I released your other lost witch that you can sell me. I'm not so easily bought. I should have taken her back when your witch broke her deal, but what can I say, even a demon has a soft spot." For a second, Cordelia let a look of confusion cross her features, Misty hadn't said anything about making a deal, but she quickly recovered, so Papa continued, "What will you give me for her?"
"Me." Cordelia said simply.
Papa laughed, "You? Why would I want another witch queen to deal with?"
"I'm the most powerful witch on earth." Cordelia responded, slightly stunned.
Papa smirked, then let out a menacing laugh, "We both know that's not the case. At least, not for much longer. You are only powerful as long as you are alive. After, you are no use to me."
"Another supreme won't rise for years." Cordelia said, confused.
"You are right, but I wasn't talking about the supreme. I have no use for light magic, all you queens are the same. You were willing to sell your soul for one girl. That tells me you won't do well for me in the underworld. I made that mistake with the voodoo queen, now she is another problem I have to deal with. I won't make that mistake again." Papa said.
"So what do you want?" Cordelia asked, confused.
Papa thought for a moment, just staring coldly at the witch in front of him. "Your girl." He finally said.
Cordelia's jaw dropped, "I won't give you one of my girls. You want a soul, take mine."
"Not one of your girls, your girl." Papa said, Cordelia's eyes going wide in horror as Grace just stared.
"No." Cordelia said firmly.
Papa laughed, "I thought you would say that. But it is my offer. She has already proven herself useful to me."
"She would be of no use to you. She doesn't have the heart for it." Cordelia spat, angry.
"She already has shown she has the heart for torture, just not to you." Papa said knowingly, "Tell me, do you know how you got your lost witch back? Or has she kept it from you?" Cordelia didn't say anything, just sat there in shock, "She hasn't, has she?"
"What are you talking about?" Cordelia asked, crossing her arms in front of her.
Papa didn't respond right away, just lit a cigar, inhaling then blowing the smoke into the air, "I found your girl wandering the underworld, and we made a deal. She wasn't to come back, and you got your lost witch. She broke her deal, many times over. She is lucky I'm fond of her. Her visiting your mother has helped me tremendously. It's difficult work, torturing someone without a soul, but I've found your old witch queen does possess some humanity."
"Elliott can't go to the underworld. She doesn't have the power." Cordelia said in disbelief.
"That's what she made you think. For a witch queen, I thought you would be smarter, or at least more aware. You wanted a deal? I gave one to you. Give me her, and you will get your lost witch." Papa said, "I do need another helper."
"No. I won't condemn my child. She's 15." Cordelia said, anger bubbling in her veins.
Papa let out a tsk, "You are still in denial. You know what she is, and you know she's mine either way. I'm being generous with this offer. We both know she isn't long for this world; you can't save her. it has already been decided. Give her to me, this is your last chance."
"No." Cordelia spat, not even thinking the answer through before it left her lips.
Papa just stared at her, a smirk permanently etched on his face, "Then this is done."
In an instant, he was gone, the candles blown out, bathing the room in darkness. Cordelia was quick to flick on the lights, standing up before flicking her wrist and sending everything on her desk flying. "Cordelia, what did he mean?" Grace asked, shocked by the whole encounter.
"I don't know." Cordelia spat, pacing back and forth. None of this made any sense to her.
"He said you did know." Grace responded.
"He's a demon." Cordelia said sharply.
"But he isn't a liar." Grace said honestly, causing Cordelia to look at her. "He's not. He wouldn't even know about Elliott unless he had seen her for himself."
Cordelia rested her arms on the back of her chair, putting her weight onto it, "Elliott wouldn't send herself down there, she doesn't even know how. She told me she doesn't even want to know what her personal hell is."
"He said she was in other's hell. He never said she was in hers." Grace responded, "She's a resourceful kid."
"I know that." Cordelia said sharply, dropping her head and staring at the floor.
"Did you let her read the books?" Grace asked, taking Cordelia's lack of response as a yes, "She could have figured it out from there."
"I know my kid." Cordelia said softly.
"So do I." Grace responded, "Elliott plays by her own rules, she always has. She can play the part but she doesn't stick to it. It's not your fault, she's only loyal to herself. She doesn't see the damage she does."
Cordelia didn't know what to do, she couldn't even think, the edges of her vision turning white with the anger that pumped through her veins. Had Elliott been lying to her this whole time? She had seemed so nervous about the meeting, and Cordelia thought it was because of her, but maybe that wasn't the case. Maybe that to was a lie, a cover up. Maybe Elliott was nervous that she would be found out. "Cordelia," Grace said, drawing her out of her thoughts, "What did he mean by it already being decided? About knowing what she was?"
"I don't know. We thought Elliott might be the next supreme, but it's still too early to tell." Cordelia answered, shrugging her shoulders, "It doesn't make sense, what he said. If she was the supreme then she wouldn't be of use to him for years."
"He said he has no use for light magic." Grace said, "But he has use for her, so she can't be."
Cordelia just shook her head, she didn't want to talk anymore, she felt like she was one wrong move away from snapping. She just needed to think. Grace took the hint, muttering something about needing to get back to the shop, then disappeared down the stairs.
Cordelia willed herself to calm down, before she spiraled out of control. She tried to make excuses, that Elliott was just a kid, she didn't know, that it was all just a mistake, but it couldn't be a mistake. You couldn't enter the underworld without saying the incantation, it just wasn't possible. The supreme partially blamed herself, she had been the one to let Elliott read the books, coincidentally right before Misty wandered back into their lives. She thought Elliott could handle it, that she was responsible enough. She told her, very clearly, that it wasn't something she was to mess around with, that it was dangerous. She had specidically outlined everything that could go wrong, everything that had gone wrong. She thought Elliott understood. Oh, how wrong she was.
There's a reason why every time I dream of her she's in hell, because I know that's exactly where she belongs.
The young witch had been telling her this whole time, she had just been blind to it. She was blind to everything the girl did. It was right there in front of her face, and she still missed it. Elliott had been going to hell. She had been the reason Misty was released. She had been visiting Fiona. She watched Cordelia break down. She knew what Misty's disappearance did to the supreme, and she didn't care. There was no way it was an accident. Once maybe, the accidental muttering of the incantation, but not multiple. Elliott planned it, there was no doubt about that.
The part that hurt the most was Cordelia did know, she just didn't want to believe it. She knew in her gut, that morning in the hotel room, that something was wrong, that Elliott did something, and she let it go. She let it go because she didn't think the girl could ever do that to her, but she was doing it right in front of her. Right under the supreme's nose. Everything was right under her nose, and Cordelia was blind to it, because she thought better of her child.
The supreme was angry, but she was also hurt. She felt played, manipulated by her own kid, and it killed her. It made her so angry she wanted to scream. She could feel her blood boiling, the edges of her vision turning a redish black. She had never understood the term "seeing red" until then. Elliott wasn't stupid, it wasn't just a childish mishap or a cry for attention like it had been with Elenor. She hid it, for months. She lied, for months, and that was enough to make the supreme snap, storming out of her office and down the stairs.
She ran into Mallory and Misty in the kitchen, and they could practically see the smoke coming out of her ears. "Dee?" Misty asked cautiously.
"Where's Elliott?" Cordelia seethed, staring hardly at the swamp witch, who didn't respond. Misty had only ever seen Cordelia that angry a few times, one of which being when Elliott had left the house. She didn't get angry often, but when she did she was terrifying.
Cordelia didn't even wait for a response; she didn't need one to know where Elliott was. She quickly took off for the back door as Misty trailed behind, begging for the supreme to talk to her. She quickly spotted the girl working at a table through the open door of the greenhouse, and she beelined for her. Elliott looked up and spotted her, a wave of emotions crossing her features, rapidly changing from relief to concern to confusion as the witch stomped toward her. She briefly flicked her gaze to Madison, who was just out of sight, thinking it was her who had done something, but that all quickly changed when the supreme went straight for her, screaming, "What the hell did you do?"
Elliott snapped her gaze up as the supreme continued to charge at her, quickly stepping back every time Cordelia moved toward her, but the older witch didn't let up. She quickly glanced over at Misty, the panic and confusion evident on her features. "Cordelia, what the fuck?" Madison said, starting to move to stand between the two, but Cordelia shoved her out of the way, which just scared Elliott more.
"Did you really think I wouldn't find out? I told you not to mess with it, I made myself perfectly clear. But you just didn't care, did you?" Cordelia screamed, backing Elliott into a corner.
"What are you talking about?" Elliott asked loudly, her voice wavering as her panic rose.
"You know exactly what I am talking about." Cordelia said, her voice getting deathly low before it rose again, "Don't play dumb, Elliott."
Elliott flicked her gaze to Misty once again, begging her to step in. "Dee…" Misty began, only to be cut off.
"No, I'm not going to calm down. She knew exactly what she was doing, it wasn't an accident. She lied, for months." Cordelia began, her voice still loud and seething. "You want to tell everyone how we got Misty back? How you went to the underworld after I explicitly told you not to? How you made a deal with Papa Legba and broke it? How you went back, over and over again to see my mother?"
Elliott's face dropped, the realization slapping her in the face. It wasn't a dream, everyone told her it wasn't a dream, she just didn't want to believe it. She scrambled, trying to muster up an explanation, although she knew it wouldn't matter. Cordelia was furious, and Elliott's brain was too frazzled to say anything, stuttering out, "I…I…"
"Don't even bother lying. It was just a dream, huh? You can't cast yourself down to hell on accident, you have to say it, and I know you knew that. So what's your next lie?" Cordelia barked, stepping deathly close to Elliott's face. "God fucking damnit Elliott! You knew! You knew and you did it anyways because you only care about yourself and what you want." Cordelia screamed, backing away from the girl and turning her back, quickly lashing out and sending a series of pots flying to the floor, shattering on impact.
That was it, that was Elliott's undoing. She felt the blood rush to her ears, her chest tighten, her breath get faster. Do not have a panic attack, not right now. Cordelia kept screaming, but Elliott couldn't even focus on what she was saying, she was just trying to keep herself from falling apart. She couldn't do it, not right there, and not right in front of Cordelia.
"They told me, everyone told me what you were! But I didn't listen! You played me, for months, all to get what you want! I trusted you." Cordelia screamed, not paying attention.
"Cordelia. Stop." Misty said firmly, causing the supreme to glance over at her and then at the girl, letting out an angry huff.
"She's faking. She's caught and she doesn't want to deal with it. Don't let her fool you." Cordelia spat.
"You've gone too far. Maddie, take her outta here." Misty said, Madison quickly grabbing Elliott and doing her best to lead her from the greenhouse, taking her to her room.
"I'm taking her out of school and binding her powers. She obviously can't handle them and I'm not about to have a Fiona reincarnate wandering around." Cordelia seethed, pacing back and forth, oblivious to the swamp witches anger.
"You really think you can bind her powers? Our magic doesn't work on her." Misty said shortly.
"I'll figure it out." Cordelia spat back.
"Cordelia, what the fuck is the matter with ya?" Misty yelled, catching the older witch by surprise.
"What is the matter with me? What is the matter with her!" She fumed.
"I don't know. Ya didn't even give her a chance ta talk before ya were screamin' ya bloody head off. That's not ok." Misty said, her words sharp and biting.
"She lied to me, Misty. She's been lying this whole time. She doesn't care about anyone else, she never has. It's all a game to her." Cordelia said, her voice lowering from a scream but her words still filled with venom.
"Stop sayin' that. You can't talk about her like that, you know it isn't true." Misty said.
"It is true! They told me it was true!" Cordelia said, her voice cracking.
"Who? Papa Legba and the voodoo queen? If ya really are listenin' to a demon then ya aren't who I thought ya were, at all. You know better." Misty spat.
"Why would they lie to me?" Cordelia asked, "They have nothing to gain from it."
"They have everythin' ta gain, Dee. He's a demon, and I wouldn't trust Grace farther than I could throw her." Misty said.
"What are you saying? That I'm wrong here?" Cordelia asked, offended.
"I'm sayin' ya made friends with the enemy and ya let them get inside ya head. They know Elliott's the strongest we have, and a good way ta get rid of her is ta do exactly what ya just did." Misty spat, "They played ya like a fiddle and ya fell right into it. What did they do? Give you some vague bullshit to scare ya, then ask ya questions until ya got worked up? Ya attacked her, Dee, without a second thought. Ya even thought she was fakin' her panic attack when it was right in front of ya face. Ya told me ya self ya saw it happen before when somethin' broke, was she tryin ta get out of somethin' then?"
Cordelia stopped, the guilt creeping up in the back of her throat. Misty was right, she played right into it. "It wasn't an accident, Mist." She finally said quietly, her voice wavering as she tried to hold back tears.
"Maybe it wasn't, it certainly doesn't look like it, and if it's true ya got every right to be mad at her, but not like that. She doesn't deserve that, no one does." Misty said, her voice still firm, but less angry.
"It's not just anger." Cordelia began, "I could deal with just being mad at her. It's more than that. I'm scared, and I'm angry that I'm so scared, because she knew what she was doing, she did, but I'm still terrified to lose her." Misty's hard stare softened as she watched the supreme break, the real reason behind her seething anger being revealed. It didn't make it ok, but it at least allowed Misty to understand why she completely lost it. "She knew how much losing you affected me, how terrified I was of everything happening again, and she didn't care about me, but I still care about her. You saw what happened with Elenor, I couldn't do anything, I just froze."
Misty stood quiet for a moment, she knew her death hurt the supreme, but she didn't realize how much until then, "It really messed ya up that bad?"
Cordelia let out a sad, strangled laugh, "Yea. I didn't know it, at least I pretended not to know it. It was easier to avoid when it wasn't right in front of my face, dealing with it again. I was just keeping the girls safe, that's why I got so worried, or at least that's what I told myself. But I knew, and Elliott knew, and yet she still did it."
"This doesn't make sense, none of it. She wouldn't do that ta ya, not on purpose." Misty said, confused.
"But she did. There isn't another way, she had to know. There's a reason we can't just do it, why we have to say the words. Our magic is rooted in light, and the underworld is dark magic. It's not in our normal scope of powers. She did it, and now he wants her." Cordelia said, shaking her head as tears rolled down her face.
"What? He wants Elliott?" Misty asked, shocked.
Cordelia nodded, "I offered him my soul, for Elenor. He said he didn't want it, that he wanted her, and I don't know why, or I didn't. She seemed too good, but now everything seems like a lie. I told him no, he couldn't have her, and he told me she was going to be his anyways, that she wasn't long for this world. And I can't help but think that he's right. You aren't guaranteed to come back every time, not from that, and I can't save her." Cordelia stopped, willing herself to not break down, but it was futile, and soon she was sobbing. "She's going to die, he's going to get her." She cried, Misty walking over to her and pulling her into a hug. It was obvious she cared about Elliott, more than anything, and she was terrified.
Eventually, Cordelia got all her tears out, all her fears, and she instantly felt all her guilt coming back, rethinking all the terrible things she said. "I have to go talk to her." She finally said, pulling away from Misty.
"No." Misty said, cutting Cordelia off as she went to argue, "You are stayin' as far away from her as possible right now. Ya can't just lose ya shit on her then come back and try ta make ya self feel better about it. It's not fair. Ya got upset and ya made her upset, ya both need time and space ta think about it before ya even consider talkin'. I'll go check on her."
Back at the house, Elliott was on the floor in her room in the fetal position, having a full blown panic attack that Madison couldn't stop for anything. "Elle, you have to calm down. It's going to be ok." Madison tried again.
"I…. can't…" Elliott said, her voice horse and strangled as she sobbed. She had been on the floor for close to a half hour, just sobbing. She couldn't control it, as hard as she tried, and she wished her body would just give up and let her pass out so it would be over, but it didn't. She had told Madison to close and lock the door, she didn't want Cordelia to follow her and keep yelling, or worse for her to try and comfort her, she wanted to be as far away from her as possible.
Madison heard a knock on the door and stood to answer it, disregarding Elliott's cries for her not to. She opened the door a crack and saw it was Misty, opening it wider once she didn't see the supreme anywhere in sight. "I can't get her to calm down, neither could David when I called him. I don't know what to do." Madison said as Misty walked into the room, immediately dropping to eye level with the girl.
"Close the door." Elliott said, her voice high pitched and pleading.
"She won't bother us, don't ya worry." Misty offered.
"I don't want her to see it." Elliott said, breaking out into new sobs, which only made Misty's heart break.
"She won't. Now, let's worry about ya. What's goin' on?" Misty asked.
"I don't know I don't know I don't know." Elliott sobbed, pulling away when Misty tried to reach for her.
"Ok, ok. Let's get ya settled down first then we'll talk about it, alright? But ya gotta let me help ya darlin'." Misty said, reaching for Elliott once again, but she resisted, shaking her head. "Babe, I know ya aren't fakin'. Let me help ya. I hate seein' ya like this."
Finally, Elliott let Misty hold her and try to calm her down, which didn't happen for quite some time. What the witches didn't know was Cordelia was at the base of the stairs the entire time, watching the whole encounter as her heart broke. She hated seeing her daughter like this and it just made it worse that she was the one to cause it. Elliott's words about not wanting her to see it ripped right through her, and it stung, but she deserved it and she knew it, she just couldn't get past Elliott obviously lying to her. She was still furious, but she also was guilty, and it was tearing her in two completely different directions. She had lost Elliott's trust, but Elliott had also lost hers, and she wasn't sure what to do. She knew she needed to apologize, but she couldn't just push this under the rug, not when it was so dangerous. Once it looked like Elliott had started to calm down, Cordelia finally stopped her torture and headed back out to the greenhouse, trying to think of what to do while Misty handled Elliott.
"Ok, so what's goin' on?" Misty asked again, after Elliott was decently calmed down and more aware, handing her a glass of water she got from the kitchen.
"I don't know." Elliott said, her eyes still glassy as she shook her head.
"You have to know somethin', Elle." Misty said.
"Does it even matter? No one's going to believe me, not after that." Elliott said, her voice wavering.
"Well it's worth a shot, yea? Just tell me what happened." Misty said, her voice soft to try and quell the girl's fears, "Did ya do it? What she said ya did?"
"I guess so? I didn't mean to, I didn't say the words or anything, I knew she would be so upset. I thought it was a dream. They told me it wasn't, that I was in hell, but I didn't believe it." Elliott finally said, shaking her head as she looked down.
"You have to say the words ta do it, Elle." Misty said a little sternly.
"I know, but I didn't, at least I don't think I did. I don't know, I can't give you an explanation. I kept having the same dream, over and over again, and when I woke up it felt like I hadn't slept. She thought I was keeping myself up, but I wasn't, not that time. The night you came back, I had the dream, and I walked in and found you, then some guy showed up. I tried to help you and he stopped me, so I told him to do it. He said he wouldn't release anyone without a price, and he told me if I didn't come back he would let you go. I didn't think any of it was real, so I agreed, then I woke up and I got sick. I thought it was just a weird coincidence, you coming back, so I let it go and didn't say anything. I should've said something and I know that, but I didn't. Then I kept having dreams of Fiona, usually just when I was upset. She told me I was in hell, but I thought it was just a joke, something I made up in my head. You think if I knew I was doing it I would have told Cordelia? I told her I had a dream about Fiona, I wasn't hiding it." Elliott said, getting frustrated with herself. She knew the story sounded made up, but it was all she had.
"I have ta go talk ta Dee about this. If ya are lyin', now would be the time ta tell me. If ya tell the truth now we can figure it out, but if ya don't and she finds out its just gonna be a whole lot worse." Misty said, still not fully believing the girls story.
"I'm not lying. Believe me, if I was, I would have come up with a much better story than that one." Elliott said quietly, feeling defeated.
Misty nodded then got up, heading out to find the supreme in the greenhouse. She relayed what she was told to the older witch, who just sat with her head in her hands. "It's not possible, Mist. She has to be lying."
"I know, but that's the story she's stickin' to. I know it's never happened before, but there's a lot of stuff with her that's never happened before. She's a special case and ya know it, so we can't rule it out." Misty said quietly, resting her elbows on the table.
"I know she is, but this doesn't make any sense. It would be easier if she just came clean, then we at least knew how to deal with it." Cordelia said, conflicted. She wanted to believe her, but everything she knew told her it was a lie.
"So how do we figure it out then?" Misty asked, looking towards Cordelia, who shrugged.
"I don't know. I guess I'll have to watch her, all the time." Cordelia finally said.
"Ya can't always watch her, ya gotta sleep, and right now I don't think she's gonna be too keen on bein' anywhere near ya." Misty said.
"She's going to have to deal with it. I can't believe her unless I see it for myself. She supposedly does it when she's sleeping, so I'll just have her sleep with me and I'll have to check on her throughout the night." Cordelia offered, shaking her head. It wasn't the best option, but it was the only one that would do. "I'll apologize to her for what I said, I know I was wrong and I feel awful, but I have to keep her with me."
"What about ya work trip? Aren't ya supposed ta go see the boys?" Misty asked.
"I'll have to take her with me, I guess." Cordelia responded.
"You'll have ta talk ta her about that one." Misty said.
"I'll do it." They both heard Elliott say, turning to see her standing in the doorway.
"Elle…" Cordelia said, starting the words to an apology, but Elliott held out her hand.
"Save it. I'll stay with you, go with you, if it will prove it to you. I'm not lying." Elliott said, her words having a slight edge, but also sounding worn down.
"But we need to talk." Cordelia said, trying to get Elliott to listen to her, to hear her out.
"I don't want your apology, I'm over it. Honestly, I don't really care anymore. I'm tired, and I'm going to bed. Goodnight." Elliott said, quickly turning on her heels and leaving the two witches alone once again.