Wicked | Ambrose Spellman and Nicholas Scratch [2]

28 | miracles

twenty-eight
miracles.

"THE COUNCIL AND I were recalled from the Necropolis, our conclave cut short, to deal with this gravest of emergencies," Faustus announces the next day as him, Selene, Sabrina, Nick, Ambrose, Hilda, Zelda, Prudence, and the Council gather in Faustus's office. "Witch-hunters, in the very heart of our coven. I have spent the morning interviewing the students of this Academy. It appears you all had a hand in saving the Academy, but that my daughter and Sabrina displayed certain... miraculous abilities."

"If we did, it was only to keep witches from dying, Father Blackwood," Sabrina shrugs as Selene glares at her father. She's never hated him more than she does right now. Her cousin had looked into Eliott's death, and it was Faustus's second in command, Luke who killed him. That means Faustus must've given the order.

"I am your Anti-Pope now, Ms.Spellman," Faustus corrects her, making his daughter her roll her eyes in annoyance. "You will address me as 'Your Unholy Eminence'."

"You're just standing in until a new Anti-Pope is appointed," the redhead points out, giving her father an innocent look. She doesn't want him to know she's onto him until she knows she can take him down. So right now, she still needs him to believe she still loves him, she's just mad at him.

"Quite right," he nods at her, tilting his head at his daughter and her friend suspiciously. "We've heard reports of levitation, flaming swords, the slaughter of angels, and the resurrection of dead witches. How do two students manage that? Especially when one is a first-year, half-mortal?"

"You know the story of Pandora, don't you, Father Blackwood?" Sabrina smirks, not knowing how to explain what her and Selene had done. "It's almost a parable. A cautionary tale. The gods give Pandora a jar containing all the sorrows of the world. Toil, famine, pestilence, death. They armed her for vengeance, Father Blackwood. For destruction. So when you ask me and your daughter to explain these 'miracles,' as you call them, I feel I must warn you. Do you really want to open that lid?"

Faustus then rises to his feet, narrowing his eyes at her angrily. "How dare you caution me? I am your Anti-Pope."

"Personally, I don't see why me and Sabrina have to explain ourselves," Selene admits, sitting back in her chair and crossing her arms. "Me and Sabrina did what we had to do to protect the coven."

"Yeah, you should be thanking us," Sabrina adds, matching how Selene's sitting.

Freya jumps out of her chair before Faustus can say anything else. "Of course. Thank you, girls, for your service to the Church of Night. The Council will now deliberate and determine what we're going to do. As we do, you should all stay within the walls of the Academy."

"Sorry," Hilda apologizes politely for her interruption. "I wonder if I might have a little visit with my sister? In private?"

Selene looks at Zelda curiously, wondering if her father has been slipping her happy pills. She's wearing a poofy floral dress that looks like it's from the 70's, and she has a lost look in her eyes. Faustus glances back at his wife before shrugging. "Fine."

"Ms.Blackwood, Ms.Spellman, and Mr.Scratch can walk around the school as they please," Freya declares before glancing at Ambrose, making her disliking for him clear. "But Ambrose Spellman must return to the Witching Cell."

Ambrose is escorted to the Witching Cell, and an hour later, the rest of them are pulled back into Faustus's office. Freya stands in the middle of the room, clearly taking the lead on this situation. "We've made a decision. Since they saved so many lives, Ms.Blackwood, Ms.Spellman, and Mr.Scratch may continue their studies at the Academy of Unseen Arts with full privileges. Ambrose Spellman will be executed, as witch law and custom demand."

"He didn't do anything," Selene defends, as her, Sabrina, and Nick all protest. "Ambrose isn't a murderer."

"He was being controlled by his familiar," Sabrina quips, knowing the exact same thing Selene does. "The one Father Blackwood gave him."

"And where is this alleged familiar now?" Faustus demands, not phased by what Sabrina's implying and what he knows his daughter believes. It's not like they can prove it, yet. "And why has he not been presented as evidence?"

"Leviathan was inside Ambrose when it all happened," Selene explains, making sure not to make it clear she knows her father's behind this. "He didn't know what he was doing, somebody was controlling him."

"We cannot deny the role Ambrose played when the witch-hunters attacked," Hilda states, her voice soft but firm. "He stayed to warn the children."

"Okay, then," Freya purses her lips. "I'll give you 24 hours to find this familiar or Ambrose Spellman will lose his head. You're all excused."

Selene grits her teeth before her, Nick, and Sabrina file out of the room. They walk to Dorian's before Sabrina gives Selene an odd look. "Is it just me or does it seem like Freya is on your dad's side?"

"She's definitely against us," Selene answers as her and Sabrina take a seat at the bar. They fill Dorian in on what they're doing as Nick goes to the trashcan behind the building and begins looking for Leviathan's body.

"He's never going to find Leviathan, but care for a drink while we're waiting?" Dorian raises an eyebrow at them.

"Yes, please," Selene sighs without a second thought. "My regular."

"I'm good," Sabrina shakes her head, not in the mood for a drink. "Thanks, Dorian."

"Of course," he grins before beginning to fix Selene's favorite drink, the same one she'd ordered the first night she came to this place. "It's a lucky thing my rubbish is only picked up once a week."

Once he's done fixing it, he hands the drink to Selene. She throws her head back and downs it in one go, and Sabrina gapes at her. She, however, shrugs. "Cut me some slack, Brina."

Nick then walks over to them, putting Leviathan's little body on the bar. "Found Leviathan's corpse, at the very bottom of the dumpster."

"What good is a dead familiar?" Dorian deadpans, pointing at the corpse.

Sabrina smiles at him before she takes Selene's hand, combining their powers to do this spell. She then puts her free hand over Leviathan's body, and after a moment, he begins moving again. He starts squeaking and Selene winks at Dorian. "Oh, come on, Gray. Did you really think we'd let Leviathan stay dead?"

He stares at her in shock, before he tilts his head, gently admiring her. Selene averts her gaze from him, and focuses on Sabrina, who begins talking to Leviathan. "Now, Leviathan, you know the truth about my cousin and Father Blackwood, don't you? He says he does. And that he'll tell the Council that Father Blackwood used him to control Ambrose."

"Okay, then. Lets get him away from the prying eyes of anyone who would wanna hurt this little guy to help my father."

But it's too late. That night, Faustus sends Zelda to kill Leviathan, and she does just that. But this time, she puts him in a meat grinder, and no amount of magic can fix that.

The trio then discover that Faustus has been using a Caligari spell on Zelda, one that warlocks used to use to control their wives. They manage to fix her, and return Zelda to her usual self.

She then informs them that Faustus is expecting Sabrina and Selene to make a move to save Ambrose from his execution tomorrow, and if anybody sees them do anything out of the ordinary, they'll be executed.

So they decide Hilda will have to try to save Ambrose, and that Zelda will go back to the Academy and pretend to be Faustus's perfect wife.

UNEDITED