epilogue | part 1
i love you.

WHILE THE SPELLMAN'S brainstorm ways to kill the Dark Lord, Selene heads down to the basement to astral project to the Academy of Unseen Arts to check on Prudence. But instead of astral projecting to where Prudence is, she finds herself outside of her father's office.

Not seeing Prudence in sight, she gingerly opens the doors to her father's office to find her father. Judas and Leticia are sitting in their cradles a few feet away as he packs various objects into a suitcase. She gives him a skeptical look, wondering what he's doing. She has no idea what he's done to the rest of the coven. "Where are you going?"

"The Dark Lord's here in Greendale," he states, only for her to give him a look that says that's not exactly old news. "He threatened this family, so we must go."

"So you're running like a coward?" She raises an eyebrow, remembering all of the times he'd drilled into her head that cowardice wasn't an honorable way to live. And that Blackwoods aren't cowards.

"This isn't about being a coward. This is about the fact that that Dark Lord would raise that brat above us all!" Faustus snaps angrily, but Selene doesn't flinch since she's not afraid of her father anymore. "You would have me bow down to a Spellman whore?"

She rolls her eyes at them, having grown used to his sexist terms. He then smiles at his babes, looking at them like they're the only things that matter to him. "The four of us in this room and Prudence are the only ones who matter now. There is but one path for us, and we are following it out of Greendale, tonight."

Selene bites down on her tongue to keep from yelling at him. She's sick of people telling her what path she must take.

"I'm not going," Selene decides, taking a few steps towards her father so that she's close to his face. She looks him dead in the eye, and he realizes that after all this time, she's made her decision between the Blackwood's and the Spellman's. "A long time ago, you told me I'd have to make a decision. This family or the Spellman's. But I'm not choosing between these families. I'm choosing Sabrina over you, because you're not my father. You haven't been for a long time. You're a monster."

"I am your father-"

"You were my father," she corrects him, feeling tears pool in her eyes. Him being a monster doesn't make this any easier. He's still the only parent that's been there for her since she was a small child. "But you're not the same man you once were."

"Leaving me means leaving them," Faustus clarifies, glancing at his two babies, her half-siblings. Two innocent children, who never wanted any of this.

Faustus then notices a psychopomp land on his windowsill and his eyes widen in realization. "You're astral projecting."

"Yes," she nods, glaring at him in hatred. "And if I wasn't, I'd kill you right now. You can run all you want, but that doesn't mean I won't find you. And when I do, I'm gonna make sure you pay for your sins."

With that, she ends her astral projection and wakes up in the Spellman basement, only to find Nick standing in front of her, astral projecting himself. She's been so distracted these last couple of hours that she'd completely forgotten about Nick until now. And now, every heartbreaking memory from when she'd last seen him comes rushing back into her mind.

"I can't deal with you right now," she decides, standing up and moving to walk out of the room. "I have to help Sabrina find a way to trap the Dark Lord."

"Selene, please forgive me. Look, I know it's not an excuse, but you know how it goes when the Dark Lord asks you for a devotion," Nick reminds her of her devotion, of what she'd almost done with her aunt. And what Caroline had done to her. But this... this feels different. She stops in her tracks, but can't quite bring herself to face him. "Look, he asked me to show a girl a wicked time, that's all."

The word wicked manages to find its way into her mind, and she can't help but think that maybe if she didn't care so much about people she wouldn't be hurt so much. Her mother, her father, Caroline, and now Nick have all hurt her in terrible ways. Unforgivable ways.

"Was any of it even real?" She asks, her voice cracking as she turns around to face him. He has an apologetic look on his face, it begging her to forgive him. "Did you even wanna be my friend when we met? Did you really like me when you first asked me out? And what about Ambrose?"

"I did wanna be your friend when I first met you. And by the time I asked you out, I was already in love with you," he insists, but she's not sure what to believe. Her heart wants so badly to believe him, but her head is telling her not to. "And Ambrose, he caught me by surprise. But I fell hard for both of you. All of it was real."

"I don't know what to believe," she admits honestly, not knowing if she'll be able to move past this. "But I know that I can't trust you. I don't know if I'll ever be able to."

"I pray that's not true."

"I have to help Sabrina right now," she states, wiping a single tear from her cheek and attempting to gather her bearings. "You should go."

"Let me help you," he sighs, only for her to give him a look that says are you serious? "Trust me or not, but I don't want the Apocalypse to happen any more than you do."

"Follow me."

She leaves the room, knowing he's right behind her as they walk to Sabrina's room. Once they get there, Sabrina pulls out the Acheron Configuration, looking at them curiously. "This held Batibat. Do you guys think it could trap the Dark Lord?"

"Possibly," Selene nods, taking a seat next to her best friend. "But we'd have to have a room full of powerful witches and warlocks perform the spell to bind the Dark Lord to the Configuration."

The door to the room then swings open, and Harvey, Roz, and Theo burst into the room. Harvey is the first to speak up. "Guys, can we help?"

"You were right, girls," Lilith intervenes, coming into the room only moments after they do. "The game, it seems, is not yet over. Somehow, against all odds, there remains a hope in Hell."

"Awesome. I know exactly what we need to do," Selene chirps, plastering on a brave face as she starts to form a plan in her head. She then turns to Nick. "Fix the Configuration as quickly as you can, and maybe I'll think about forgiving you. And the rest of us are gonna have to pull off the best glamour in history."

An hour later, the entire group has gathered at the Academy, and Lucifer and Lilith are sitting on two thrones made of skulls. There's a third skull, one made especially for Sabrina. The entire coven, Harvey, Roz, and Theo are glamoured to appear to be singing, but in reality, they're chanting a spell that will bind Lucifer to the Configuration.

Sabrina is in the center of the room, singing and dancing in a glamorous gold dress. Once she's done, Sabrina sits down on her throne, and Selene takes her spot next to Sabrina's throne, feeling comfort knowing that her family sword is strapped to her back. Not knowing this, Lucifer puts a gold crown made of fingers on Sabrina's head, and He offers His daughter His hand.

She takes it, and they move to stand in front of everybody. The music ends, and everybody claps as Lucifer begins His speech. "My fiends and friends! Tonight, I present to thee My firstborn. Sabrina Morningstar. Proud Lady of Pandemonium, Maiden of Shadows, and Queen of Hell! Hail Sabrina!"

"Hail Sabrina!" The coven shouts in unison. "Hail Satan!"

"And now, My queen, we shall dance as father and daughter, to the Mephisto Waltz," Lucifer announces as He and Sabrina begin dancing, looking as though they'd both been practicing the dance for years. Selene finds it odd that Sabrina knows every step, considering she's never been that good at dancing.

But she ignores this, focusing on chanting with the other witches and warlocks in the room. "Tene hoc chaos. Sanguinem terrae. Elementa mundi. Sanguinem terrae te dique perdant. Tene hoc chaos. Sanguinem terrae te dique perdant. Elementa mundi."

Lilith raises her hands, lifting the glamour to reveal what they're actually doing as Lucifer realizes it. He then turns to His daughter in disbelief. "I told you what would happen if you defied Me again."

"Remember my name," Sabrina yell, her voice loud and proud. "Remember it was me, Sabrina Spellman, who beat You, Lucifer Morningstar."

Selene then pulls the Configuration from her pocket and throws it so that it's a few inches from Lucifer's feet. There's a large explosion as it touches Him, and everybody stumbles back as the Configuration traps Him.

Everybody watches nervously Sabrina picks up the Configuration. Selene heaves a relived breath, only for the Configuration to start shaking in Sabrina's hands. She screams in pain as the Configuration burns her hands, and she drops it, breaking it into a hundred pieces.

As it shatters, the binding spell breaks, and the Dark Lord comes out, looking as though He might kill His daughter. "You try and try to defeat Me. I am the Great Satan that no prison may contain!"

He then goes to attack Sabrina, but before he can, Selene instinctively shoots forward, using her powers to hold Him with her hellfire. "I don't know how long this will hold Him."

"We need a better prison," Lilith pipes up, only knowing 1 prison that's stronger than an Acheron Configuration. She glances at Selene, who also knows what kind of prison that is. "A stronger one."

"A human body can hold Him," Selene whispers, unable to believe that its come to this. She then takes a step forward, volunteering herself. "I'll do it."

"No!" Sabrina, Ambrose, Hilda, Zelda, Prudence, Roz, Theo, Harvey, Quinn, Louna, Josie, and Nick yell in unison, not wanting to even think about losing her.

"No!" Nick repeats, his voice loud to make himself clear. "I'm not letting you do this. It has to be me."

"Do it, Mr.Scratch," Lilith breathes, watching as Selene's restraints on the Dark Lord weaken by the second.

"I need you to help me, Selene," Nick exclaims, making Selene feel her heart stop once again today. She gapes at him as he explains himself. "You and me—we're strong enough to bind him to me together. I can't do this alone."

"What?" She mumbles, feeling her bottom lip tremble as Nick walks over to her and takes her hand. "I can't. I'm not gonna hurt you-"

"Yes, you can. You're not hurting me," Nick shakes his head, reassuring her. "Let me save you and Ambrose this time."

"I can't, Nick-"

"Selene," Ambrose intervenes from a few feet away, staring between them, tears going down his face. "Nick."

"I love you both. You two taught me how to love. Selene, you can do it," Nick smiles, withdrawing the sword from Selene's sheath and forcing it to her hands. He then takes her free hand, and not knowing any other way out of this, Selene chants the spell with him. Because she can't leave Sabrina. "Carne teneantur tenere tenebrasque. Palatium, carcere-"

Both cut off as the Dark Lord gets bound to Nick's body. As the result of a spell this huge, there's an explosion, sending everyone flying off of their feet. Selene lands on her back, and as she does, she gets sucked into the place between life and death.

When she opens her eyes again, she's standing in a white abyss. All of the memories from a few moments ago run through her mind as she turns around and finds Nick, wearing his coronation clothes.

He looks relived as Selene runs to him, throwing her arms around him. For the first time in a long time, she's sobbing. Really sobbing, and she lets all of the pent up sadness out onto Nick's shoulder. The shoulder that she's cried on so many times.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Nick," she whispers, pulling away from him to look at his face. He looks almost angelic as he smiles at her. "I know I was mad at you, but this- I can't do this without you."

"You can," he assures her, gently caressing her face. "You're strong, Selene. You'll get through this."

"I can't leave you here. You can't leave me," she shakes her head, holding onto him like he's her life support. Because she knows that when she lets go, it might be the last time she ever gets to see him.

And in this moment, she doesn't care how much he hurt her. The thought of Nick betraying her isn't anything compared to this. The thought of losing Nick is unbearable. "I love you, Nick. I love you, and I'm sorry I never said it before. I just- I thought we'd have forever-"

"We do have forever," he replies, his voice soft. "We'll see each other again. This isn't goodbye."

He then leans forward and kisses her gently, and when he pulls away, Selene wakes up.

She shoots awake with a gasp as the Dark Lord wakes up in Nick's body, his eyes glowing red like a demon's. And Selene instantly knows it isn't Nick, because He lunges for Selene, attempting to kill her.

Before He can, Selene brings her sword up, stabbing the Dark Lord in the gut with her sword. She hears the others scream in shock as she twists the sword for good measure, knowing that when she gets Nick back into his own body, she'll have to heal it herself. The Dark Lord gasps in pain before falling to the ground next to her, unconscious.

Selene lets her sword clatter to the ground next to her as she lets out an inhuman sob. Nick's blood covers her body as Ambrose drops down next to her, trying to comfort her as best he can. However, he's also crying.

Nick's sister, Josie Scratch falls to the ground, staring at her brother's body in shock. She crawls to his side, sobbing over him as Quinn comforts Sabrina and Louna helps Prudence. The others stand off to the side, not knowing Nick well enough to grieve.

But one thing is for certain, Selene will never be the same. Losing Nick was like losing a part of herself. She doesn't know who she is without him. So will she be a better person or a worse person without him?

UNEDITED