Sabrina (edited)

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IT'S FUNNY TO THINK THAT MIGHT'VE BEEN ME. If it weren't for Sera, I mean. That could have been me. Queen of Hell. At times like this I often find myself wondering that perhaps if somehow things would have been different, if I would've been queen, there would never have been a 10th circle of Hell.

I can't blame Sera, I know that. I know that it isn't her fault, truly, I do. But in situations like these we look for someone to blame, often simply so that we don't blame ourselves. And a little part of me, a part that I'm not at all proud of, blames her. Not necessarily for what happened, but more for forgiving Caliban. I know they have a... history, but to brush aside something so sickeningly terrible and cruel- sometimes I think it makes her just as bad as him.

It feels like the world is collapsing around me. Everywhere, everywhere is an abyss of fire and pain and destruction. Everywhere but here. Greendale is like some minuscule island, only struggling to stay afloat in the vast sea of flame. We have nothing but what we can make and grow here. No imports, no exports, no companies to dole out food and clothes and electricity. We rely solely on what we make with the little we have left. It feels like some sort of post-apocalyptic world. Or at least it did.
Until the angels came.

I had a feeling they'd come, sooner or later, I had a feeling that Caliban's recklessness in tipping the balance would result in war of some kind. But what I didn't expect was to wake up to those angels in my house.

For all her guilt and shame and sin, Sera truly is one of them, crafted of pure stars and wishes and dreams. A creature so exquisitely captivating I found it difficult to look away. The spread of their wings was mighty in such a way that I couldn't help but feel intimidated, standing before them in my feeble nightgown.

My first thought was to be scared. Angels and witches. Go together about as well as mortals and demons. But when the first Angel, a girl with striking red hair approached me, I saw the softness in her gaze, the kindness.

"Sabrina Spellman." Her voice was quiet, soft, yet something not entirely human. She spoke with the voice of the stars and the sun and all great things bright and bold.

She reached out a hand to me, soft, gentle, kind. All the things I hadn't expected her to be. Where were the brutal, wicked creatures who stole wings and souls and dreams in the name of a loving god? Where were the beasts of feather and claw that Sera had warned me of? All I saw was a girl.

"Tell me what happened here, Sabrina." She said softly, although it was evident that she already knew. Perhaps she was testing me, my loyalties, how I'd play her strange little game. But her kindness seemed so genuine, her charm so true. "Your sister did this, didn't she?"

She spoke to me as though I were a child, though perhaps in her eyes I was. So young yes to ancient. Eternal and beautiful.

"No," I tell her, surprised by the quiver of my own voice. "No. It was Caliban."

"The clay prince who calls himself a king." The boy behind her sneered, and the girl shot him a look as if I were some startled animal who might flee if only they moved too fast.

"You won't hurt her, will you?" I asked. "Sera, I mean. You're done with her now."

The Angel smiled, white and gleaming, and only then did I realise that she had far too many teeth. Her smile seemed more frightening than kind now. "My dear girl," she hummed, reaching to stroke my cheek. I recoiled from her touch, startled as whatever kind of bewitchment she had me under broke away. My perfect illusion seemed to fray at the edges, and I saw her as she truly was. A monster of teeth and claws. The red of her hair was suddenly too much like blood. Her skin to pale, her nails to long, too claw-like. The feathers of her wings somehow seemed more sharp than soft.

"Did your sister ever tell you that she burnt our city to the ground?" The beautiful, horrifying heaven-sent monster leered. "Did she ever tell you that in her rage, she took thousands of innocent lives. Her own mother's too. Who's to say she's not responsible for this."

"Sera wouldn't-"

The boy stepped forward, "Oh you have no idea," He purred, "No idea what she's done. What she will do."

The redhead cast me a final glance, her eyes too beady, too pale to be human. They seemed to glow almost silver.
"Do you know who your sister is, Sabrina? Do you know what she is fated to do?"

She didn't wait for me to answer.

"It was said from the very beginning. A monster borne of the devil and an Angel will bring about the end of all realms, beginning with the mortals. Do you not understand dear? We are not the monsters, we are trying to save you. She knows not what she does, how she will destroy all that she loves once Prince Caliban has her fulfil the prophecy. We must stop her. And you will help us."

"I will do no such thing." I say, my voice just above a whisper. I was not blessed with Sera's power. I know I can't do much against them, but I will not help them willingly. I can't, I won't.

"Don't you understand, Sabrina? You were meant to be queen. That was the way it should have been. There should have been balance. Sera is not meant to be here. It was supposed to be you. I will make you queen of Hell, I vow it to you now, and you can rule in harmony with heaven, rather than as it's enemy. You can have peace in all realms."

I would not hurt her. I could not. Not my sister, not Sera-

"This would be enough to save everyone you love, don't you understand?" The readhead cast me a feline smile, eyes glinting, "your little community will not survive much longer. Your sister cannot help you, Sabrina. Once she kills Satan, she is cursed to become the monster who destroys the realm. The girl you knew is already lost."

The boy stepped forward, his smile too kind, too gentle to be genuine. "We can do this the easy way, and you'll get a crown out of it, or we can do this the hard way Sabrina, it's up to you."

This is how I can save Earth. Sera is the price of peace. I never thought that'd be a price I was willing to pay.

"What do you need me to do?"

A HEART AS DARK AS MINE caos caliban x ocWhere stories live. Discover now