THE PAGANS
CHAPTER 9

As she entered the Academy of Unseen Arts, the loud chatter and the endless sound of footsteps sent jolts of joy through Dahlia's core. The mere vibrations of people's voices bouncing off the walls were enough to make her feel like she had more company than ever. She smiled at everyone as she progressed through the large academy, her mood instantly lifted when the teenagers smiled back despite only knowing her as "the djinn" or "Sabrina's friend". Even so, it was refreshing to be around everyone, regardless of whether she knew them closely or not.

"Hi, have you seen Sabrina?" Dahlia asked a girl with dark skin and buzzed, platinum blonde hair that was walking by. She didn't appear as friendly as most of the others, not returning the smile Dahlia was giving her.

"And who might you be?" she interrogated with an arched brow.

"Oh, um, I'm Dahlia."

"Ah, the Djinn," the girl finally allowed a smile to grow on her face. "I'm Prudence. Sabrina's with Ambrose down that hall," the girl pointed to her right.

"Thanks." Dahlia wasted no time and hurried toward the hall, eager to find her friend. When she heard the blonde's soft voice reverberating out in the hall from the room at the far left, a large grin spread across Dahlia's face, happy before even reaching the door. She slowed down her fast-paced walk when she noticed another voice sounding the room.

As Dahlia pushed the door open and looked inside, her smile faltered. With wide eyes, she stared at Nicholas Scratch who lay on the floor, a large sigil painted on the ground beneath him with several candles surrounding it. Sabrina with eyebrows knitted together in an anxious frown, stood with her cousin Ambrose. Ambrose didn't appear to be as shaken by the sight of Nick with blood all over his white shirt, almost as though events like these were known to him.

Dahlia was too fazed by Nick's distraught appearance and didn't want to interrupt Sabrina and Ambrose's serious discussion, so she didn't make a sound as she watched from the corner of the room. A ball of guilt formed at the pit of her stomach for eavesdropping on what was clearly a private conversation. Whatever was going on was between Nick, Sabrina and Ambrose, and Dahlia knew she shouldn't have been listening. Against her better judgement, however, her eyes remained plastered onto the three. Her brain kept telling her legs to move and to walk out of the room, but her muscles appeared to be in favor of her eyes which begged to stay latched onto Nick.

"This egg that I acquired in Loch Ness harbors properties that warp and affect time." Ambrose motioned toward a dirty aquarium, filled with mosses, corals and dirt that polluted the liquid. A large egg sat in the centre of it, drawing away the attention from every other part of the tank. A small, fetus-like creature was curled up within it, catching Dahlia's eyes and she stared at it awestruck. "Thirty days of detoxing will, in reality, be compressed into one long unrelenting day," Ambrose continued, slowing his speech down at the last four words as if to torment Nick who struggled on the floor.

Dahlia was taken by surprise at Nick's next words. "I hate you," Nick hissed, his voice low and dark as he squirmed. Dahlia's heart dropped and her eyes darted to Sabrina, taking in her furrowed brows and teary eyes. "I hate you, Sabrina! Do you hear me? I hate you. I hate you!" Nick propped himself up on his hands and glared at his girlfriend as tremors wracked through his entire body. Dahlia watched him through wide eyes, recognizing the same darkness she had sensed within him the other day. She looked to Sabrina, her heart aching for the girl who stared at her boyfriend in awe, biting back tears before she stormed away.

Sabrina walked toward the door Dahlia was standing at. The brunette made no effort to walk away and pretend she hadn't heard the entire conversation, and instead waited for Sabrina to notice she was there. She figured that Sabrina needed a friend more than she needed someone to pretend they hadn't heard a shameful, private conversation.

"Dahlia," Sabrina said surprised, quickly using the back of her hand to wipe tears from her cheeks. "How long were you standing here?"

"Long enough," Dahlia admitted, "are you okay?"

"Don't worry about me, I'll be okay. I'm more worried about him." Sabrina sighed, brushing her blonde hair out of her face.

"What's wrong with him?" She wanted to sympathize with Nick, but without knowing his reasoning as to why he treated Sabrina so poorly, she found it hard not to be appalled by him.

"There's something you don't know... you know how my father, the Dark Lord, has been missing for a while?" Sabrina started after briefly glancing back at her boyfriend who remained seated and writhing on the ground. "Nick sacrificed himself for me and served as a vessel of containment for my father."

"Yeah, and I get that's romantic and all, but that gives him no right to speak to you that way."

"I know, I know," Sabrina said softly, pressing the back of her hand against her forehead. "But it's not really Nick. Lucifer escaped today– which by the way, is another amazing problem I need to worry about among everything else going on!" Sabrina exaggerated happiness and clapped her hands to show the true state of her mind and that she felt like she was going to go crazy. She sighed and brushed her hair behind her ear. "But anyways... a part of Lucifer is still in Nick. He's just not really himself.

"Are you sure you're not making up excuses for him?" Dahlia felt a jab of guilt strike her chest as she spoke, but she knew that Sabrina needed to consider the possible truth. Maybe it was Nick's pain talking, or the pain could be revealing who Nick truly was. Sabrina's love for him was prominent; anyone could see it in her eyes with the way she looked at him or the softness of her voice when she spoke to him. Dahlia didn't want someone as powerful as Sabrina, the Queen of Hell, to make excuses for a boy who couldn't amount to half of her value.

Sabrina's words came out slowly. "I'm sure." But Dahlia thought differently. Before she could comment, Sabrina beamed with a wide smile. "Oh! By the way, my aunt Zelda mentioned that if you can find a way to get your bottle to the academy, we'd have a better chance of finding a way to free you."

"I think I can do that." Dahlia nodded, her eyes brightening at the idea of her freedom. "I just hate that Caliban has to carry it with him everywhere he goes."

"How's it going with him, by the way?" The blonde asked, beginning to lead Dahlia out of the room and to the main hall to sit.

"He's okay." Dahlia shrugged, not noticing Sabrina raising her eyebrows at her and scoff.

"Woah, hold on!" She stopped the brunette in her tracks, an amused smile plastered across her face. "A few days ago you were in tears because of him. Now he's "okay"?" Sabrina questioned, laughing lightly. She paused, her eyes widening. "Wait... have you?"

"What? No!" Dahlia gasped at Sabrina's crude suggestion. "How on earth did you get that from "he's okay"?"

Sabrina let out a laugh. "I mean, you never know."

"Trust me, Sabrina. The last thing I want to do is have any type of relationship with him. He's just been less terrible recently, is all."

"Okay, okay I believe you," Sabrina raised her hands in surrender and chuckled lightly. "Listen, I have to go meet my friends right now, there's a problem I have to sort out... do you want to come?"

𖤐𖤐𖤐

"Oh no..." Sabrina's mouth was wide as she stared down, eyes tearing at the sight of her best friend in the form of stone. "Poor Roz."

"Please, Sabrina, tell me she's not dead," Harvey, who Dahlia had just become acquainted with, pleaded, his voice cracking as he spoke. Despite the active conversation going on beside her, Dahlia couldn't find it in her to tear her eyes away from the girl lying helplessly on the couch. Something about Roz, or maybe about the stone, was calling to Dahlia; she felt urged to reach out and touch it. It was like a magnetic attraction, tugging at her with all its charge.

"I don't think she is. The same thing happened to Dorcas, one of the Weird Sisters," Sabrina explained, earning a sigh of relief from Theo. "Ambrose is doing his research thing to figure out what he can do to reverse the transformation."

"I should never have left her side at the carnival..." Harvey's mention of the carnival dinged in Dahlia's ears like chimes, drawing her attention away from the stone. "They're freaks."

"They're pagans, the carnival people." When the words came out of Sabrina's mouth, it was like a pang to Dahlia's chest. The entire world around her began to spin and the conversation going on around her dissolved entirely. It was like she was the only thing standing in place, while Sabrina and the others spun around her, making the word feel uneven. She reached her hand up to her chest and clutched her shirt, squeezing her eyes tightly to try and make all the movement around her and all the dizziness in her head come to a stop.

"Hey, are you okay?" Theo asked, nudging Dahlia's arm with his elbow.

"What?" Blinking several times, Dahlia glanced around her, noticing the two boys and girl staring at her in concern. She cleared her throat before nodding. "I'm fine, yeah."

"They're all dangerous," Sabrina continued what she was saying. "So I really need you guys to stay here and sit tight, okay? And then I'll be back and we can figure this out, and... and we'll get Roz cured. I promise, Harvey." Dahlia wondered whether Sabrina should have made such a big promise when it involved the Pagans. The blonde turned to Dahlia and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, Dahlia, we have to go." She led the brunette out of the wooden cabin and down the flight of three stairs in a hurry.

Dahlia followed after her, quickening the movement of her legs to match Sabrina's pace. "Where are we going?"

"Back to the academy. I need to check on Nick before I can figure out what to do with Roz," Sabrina explained through short breaths as she walked hurriedly. Before Dahlia could respond, the two girls were stopped in their tracks at the sound of a voice behind them.

"Your majesty," said a woman in a sing-song voice, and when Dahlia spun around, she recognized it to be the woman she first saw with Sabrina in Hell. "You're needed in Hell."

"Lilith, now is not a good time. We have to get back to the academy and check on Nick."

"I see you've become well acquainted with Caliban's help," Lilith mentioned, giving Dahlia a sly smile. "He won't be too happy when he sees you two together, will he?"

"What are you talking about?" Sabrina asked, confusion dripping from her voice.

"It's time for the second challenge of the Unholy Regalia. The horde awaits you in the Grand Hall," Lilith said to Sabrina before diverting her attention to Dahlia. "And Caliban awaits you, I'm sure."

Dahlia's eyes widened, all the fatigue she felt previously washing away as she stood more alert now. "I have to get back before he starts looking for me and finds me with you!" Dahlia exclaimed frantically.

"You teleport to Hell right now and meet Caliban. I'll show up in a few minutes so it's not obvious we were together. Hopefully, I can get the Infernal Court to postpone the quest so I can take care of my friends and Nick," Sabrina declared without even having to think twice. With that, the two girls stepped away from one another.

"I'll see you on the other side." Dahlia smiled wanly before waving at Sabrina. She took in a sharp breath and closed her eyes, wishing herself back to Hell, where she was certain a whole new world of chaos awaited her.

𖤐