Cult of Two

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A/N TRIGGER WARNING: ASSAULT

***

After some aimless wandering that could also be classified as procrastination, she ended up outside a set of doors just as grand as hers. She lifted her hand to knock but paused midway. This was her domain, and she didn't need anyone's permission.

"Caliban?" she called as she pushed open the doors.

Sabrina found the room empty and surprisingly neat, except for all of the books strewn across a desk against the wall. It reminded her vaguely of Ambrose. She sat down at it and found that the majority of the books were on holy relics.

The two of them had been searching for the Longinus Lance for a while, but they hadn't come up with anything concrete. There were several relics suspected to be the lance. One was in Rome beneath the dome of St. Peter's Basilica, another was in Vienna, a third was in Antioch, and a fourth was in Armenia.

The one in St. Peter's Basilica seemed the most promising, but the church had never claimed it was authentic.

One book, in particular, caught her attention. It was entitled The Metamorphoses, and Sabrina had a hard time picturing a book with a title like that having anything to do with holy relics. It sounded more like magick.

She opened it to a marked page and ran her eyes over the words and realized that it was telling a familiar story. It was about Pygmalion.

Could this be flesh, or was it ivory only? No, it could not be ivory. His kisses, He fancies, she returns; he speaks to her, Holds her, believes his fingers almost leave an imprint on her limbs, and fears to bruise her.

It was strange, but it had its romantic moments.

Throughout the whole story, it talked of the statue girls' beauty, but it never mentioned her name. Surely, she had one.

"My lady?"

She turned her head to see the surprise she heard in Caliban's voice was also written all over his face.

"Did you find anything new on the lance?"

"I did, indeed," he said, brushing off his confusion, "The lance in Vienna is false. It dates to the ninth century."

"What about the one in Antioch? We didn't find much on that one."

"False as well. A roman cardinal dismissed it in the eighteenth century."

"Then there were two..." she murmured.

"Why are you really here, my lady?"

She looked up at him, and she thought about what Dorcas had asked.

Handsome wasn't the right way to describe him.

He was beautiful. It was part of his charm. No one ever believed beautiful things could be evil. They thought the Devil came in horns and hooves. He came that way to witches, but not to mortals. To them, he came as everything they ever dreamed.

Caliban was no exception to this.

"We forgot something," she answered.

"What did we neglect to do, my lady?" he questioned.

She took in a deep breath. It wasn't like she wanted to do this, but she also didn't want it to be obvious that they had never kissed before at the altar tomorrow.

"Just... let me take care of it. Okay?"

"If you do not need my assistance-"

Tentatively, she reached up and gently placed a hand on the side of his face. The remainder of his sentence died on his lips.

She knew that if she told him to kiss her he would, but she felt like her control was slipping, and she needed to grasp onto something. This she could control. With her mind made up, she closed her eyes and crushed her lips to his.

It was slightly off-center to the awkward angle, but she could tell that his lips were soft. Soft and warm. She was expecting it, due to the numerous times his kiss had burned the back of her hand like a branding iron, but this was different.

Warmer, but also gentler.

It didn't make sense, but it was probably because her lips were more sensitive than the skin of her hands.

His hands came up to cup her face, and she felt her control melt away.

Oh, well, she thought as she allowed her free hand to curl around his bicep, it was a shaky grip on control at best.

Then Caliban's chamber doors were thrown open so violently Sabrina thought they were going to fly off their hinges. They both pulled back from each other immediately, startled and breathing unevenly.

It was Lucifer, and he was dragging Dorcas by a fistful of her fiery red hair. She was scratching his hand, squirming and kicking at the floor, desperately trying to stand but to no avail.

"How dare you?" Lucifer demanded, throwing Dorcas to the floor, "How dare you try to deny me my right!"

Sabrina immediately rushed over to her. Her eyes were wide in fear, and she was shaking.

"What the heaven do you think you're doing?" Sabrina demanded.

"Taking what is mine, daughter." One of his hands curled around her upper arm and roughly yanked her to her feet. His nails bit into her skin, and she whimpered.

"Unhand the queen this instance!" Caliban demanded, trying to pry Lucifer's fingers from her arm. She didn't know when he arrived at her side, but she was grateful. Her father's fingers were starting to dig into her flesh. It took everything she had to suppress her screams.

"This is none of your concern, golem! She belongs to me tonight!"

He had some nerve.

She was Sabrina Spellman, and she belonged to no one. Not to the Darkness, and not to him. She shoved her hands against his chest, imbuing as much magick as she possibly could into the motion, and he was thrown to the floor.

"I belong to no one!" she declared, "Least of all you! Pre-wedding visitation is the right of the one who sits on the throne, and last I checked that's me! Not you, which means I have every right to be here!"

"Daughter..." Lucifer growled.

"I'm not finished speaking, father! Not only do you have no right to me, but you also don't have the right to anyone else! Consider this archaic tradition officially outlawed. Now get the Heaven out!"

The room was suddenly filled with a bright, blue light, and she realized it was hellfire. All of the candles in the room were burning blue, along with the, now-lit, fireplace. For a moment she thought it was the result of his anger at her refusal, but that wasn't the case.

It fluctuated with every breath she took in and released. It was her anger fueling the fire.

Much to her surprise, Lucifer didn't say another word. He just pushed himself off the floor and left, the doors closing behind him.

She didn't know what to do. She was completely stunned. Her mind hadn't even begun to process what happened when a shaking voice caught her attention.

"I want my sisters. I want to go home."

She turned around, bumping into Caliban as she did so, and found Dorcas, still on the floor, a few feet away from them with eyes full of tears and her arms raised in a defensive position.

Sabrina walked over to her and wiped the tears from her skin.

"This is our home now."