Hellbound With You (WN)

"Tell me, Queen Alicia. What should I do to help you? To give back this power to you? This power…" Lilith cried, "this power belongs to you." The young witch was genuinely distressed. When she first saw the changes in her appearance, Lilith still remembered clearly how she looked that very moment. Others would probably scream in surprise and excitement for becoming the chosen one. But she felt none of those. Instead, she was horrified, knowing that something happened to their queen.

Every young female witch's dream was chosen as the next queen, but Lilith had never once dreamed of inheriting the crown. It was because she just thought that no one could replace Alicia. She just believed that Alicia would be queen for a very long time.

Lilith thought that once she sees the queen, things will go back to how it was before. During her journey, Lilith was able to withstand the loneliness and confusion because she thought that Alicia needed her. Once she met the queen, she could return this power to the true owner, who was no other than Alicia.

"This power doesn't belong to me," Lilith said in a weak voice, shaking her head.

It was obvious to Alicia that Lilith didn't let anyone saw her changing appearance even before she went on a journey by herself. Alicia could just read this young lady like an open book, and the thought that Lilith went through that confusing and overwhelming transformation all by herself pained Alicia.

Lilith wasn't a crybaby, so seeing her broke down in tears that moment made Alicia realized how overwhelmed Lilith was. She must've never allowed herself even to shed a tear and even steeled herself quite too hard all this time.

Hugging her, Alicia c.a.r.e.s.sed Lilith's hair. This young lady wasn't weak. She had a strong will and spirit fitting for a queen. She was young, but she had it in her. All she needed now was the proper guidance as she grew more m.a.t.u.r.e and, most of all, an excellent teacher to help her hone her physical strength and abilities.

"You can never return the power to me, Lilith," Alicia replied with a kind and gentle voice. "My time is over." She added, causing Lilith to weep even harder.

It didn't surprise Alicia how those words 'my time is over' crushed her heart. She wanted to keep her crown more than she'd ever admitted to herself. Since she was young, she had always wanted to be the queen of the witches. She had wanted to be that formidable and good queen that her subjects will never forget and needed. She had wanted to be that queen every future queen will find incomparable. But it seems she could no longer fulfill those ambitions of hers now. Her time was over.

Letting out a deep, shaky sigh, Alicia looked at Lilith and smiled at her. She lifted her hand and c.a.r.e.s.sed the young lady's cheek.

"I don't know what is going to happen, but all I want you to do right now is to be strong, understand?" Alicia whispered to her as she stared straight into Lilith's eyes. This was all she could do for her now.

Lilith stared at her for a long while, wiping her tears until, eventually, she took a deep breath and finally nodded. She understood that this wasn't the time for her to keep weeping. Perhaps, she could still do something for Alicia. This wasn't over yet. That was right. This was the time for her to be strong!

Seeing that Lilith's expression finally changed, Alicia smiled, and her gaze shifted to the dark sky. The rain had stopped, but series of lightning were still booming endlessly as if someone had angered the god of thunder. Most of the lightning were gathered in one direction, in the area where Zeres' hideout was located.

Watching the series of lightning, Alicia's thoughts returned to Zeres.

Since she was no longer the queen, Alicia thought that it was even more absurd for Zeres to die for her now. Alicia knew that if Zeres dies tonight, even if she lives, she'd never be queen again.

Zeres was the immortal witch that the witches had been longing for since the existence of Alexander, the immortal vampire. His existence means a lot to every witch, whether they accepted it or not, and this was why Zeres easily managed to rule the rogue witches. He had gathered the rogue witches effortlessly, and they were more than willing to serve him.

Back in the Black Forest, Alicia had long realized how her subjects already considered Zeres one of their rulers. Someone who could easily rule both the good and evil witches just by simply existing was unheard of. No witch queen ever managed to do that in history.

The first time Alicia saw Zeres, she knew he'd bring some kind of change.

And now that she thought about it, perhaps, this was fated to happen. Maybe, none of the queens were able to unite the witches because Zeres was the one who was destined to do it?

The thought made Alicia felt somehow enlightened. She had been thinking and looking for answers for a long while now about the real purpose why Zeres awakened in this era again. She just couldn't believe that it was all nothing but coincidence. Even Dinah, the evil half-dragon, turned out to have an important purpose in the end. Her purpose was to give Abigail the immortality that belongs to her. Zeres should also have such an important purpose. There was no way he was revived just to die again!

'What if the purpose of his existence was… what if he was fated to end the rule of witch queens?'

Alicia didn't know why but all these thoughts in her head right now felt like the missing piece of the puzzle she had been trying to solve. Maybe because the thought that having Zeres rule the witches and end the rule of queens truly made a lot of sense to her.