#but agatha was powerful enough to keep parts of herself

[damieclipse]

Agatha is addicted to power, she loves how of a high it gives her to absorb other witches' powers. In Rio, she found someone who is enchanted by her special power, someone who is fascinated by her entirely, who does not judge her, no, Rio is completely intoxicated by all of Agatha, and vice versa, Agatha pulled Death, and Death pulled Agatha, they were unstoppable together. It gives both of them a high when Agatha uses her powers now, it makes it ever more fun, more addicting, because after, there's Rio. Neither of them can help their feelings when both of them have been wandering around with no one else but loneliness until they found each other, they're the perfect couple, they LOVE each other, so much so that Nicholas happens. And they know, they KNOW, both of them, that he can't live, but Agatha can't seem to grasp the idea, no arguments from Rio will make her accept what they both know will happen, all Agatha thinks is she needs to raise this child better than she was raised, she might be a serial witch killer, but she will NOT be a bad mother.

(Except she can't help it).

She runs from Rio, she begs Death not to follow her, and Rio does as she's told, Agatha needs time, and she will always listen and try to bend the rules for Agatha. The spirit witch spends her whole pregnancy running, from something that is imminent. She spends her pregnancy not doing what she's used to do, because maybe, if Death isn't close to collect her bodies, Death isn't close to them either.

(Rio is always close).

Agatha feels so weak by the time Nicky is born, and she goes to her old habits, and it's like giving an addict their addiction back. And she finds that it's so much easier with a child. She can't help it, it feels good, and maybe... just maybe, she could help Nicholas if she had power enough.

(She knows she can't, she keeps doing it anyway, conving herself it's for Nicholas. It's not.)

Agatha loves her child, with all her heart, every day with Nicholas, she feels like she's doing okay as a mother, even if they live in the woods, even if she uses him to lure witches to her. It's not every day, she tells herself, it's not even every week. They are happy.

(Except Nicholas grows up, and it's not that happy anymore).

Because Nicholas hates it, he doesn't understand, and how can Agatha explain to him if there's nothing really to be explained other than the fact that even with him, she's still addicted to power? Nicholas doesn't get it, Nicholas doesn't like it, Nicholas is not like Rio. He doesn't praise her, he isn't enchanted, he doesn't think she's special because of it, he just wants her mother. And Agatha is a good mother, she is, and her son loves her, he simply doesn't love what she does. But Agatha can't not do it.

When Rio finally takes him, Agatha hates her, and a part of Rio hates Agatha, too. She gave them time, she left them alone, and Agatha used him, their child, and for some reason, she is to blame in Agatha's view. Rio bent the rules. Agatha didn't use the time the way she thought she would.

(Rio forgives her, she knows Agatha too much, she loves her too much).

Agatha doesn't, she doesn't forgive Rio, and she doesn't forgive herself. But not forgiving herself is still not enough to make her stop. She makes it worse, she keeps on using her child, using their song to lure more and more witches, and it still feels good, so good.

Sometimes she waits for Rio to show up, only for them to have their fun together and then she runs off again, she can't have another child with Death, she also can't face her for too long.

(They look so much alike, both her loves).

But she also can't help how she misses the praising, the sparkle in Rio's eyes looking at her. Agatha finds her and Rio are still the best relationship she always had, even after a child. Rio is mesmerized, Nicholas wasn't. Rio doesn't ask for explanations, Nicholas did. They always fight, their relationship isn't the same, because Agatha can't handle the truth, and Rio just goes with it.

(They still love each other but Nicholas changed everything).

"The truth is too awful"

"I can't face him"

It's true.

[iccarian]

okay bc i figure it’s safe enough now to post about it…here are my tentative canon divergences from the finale until i flesh them out fully <3

agatha does not die, period. she stated explicitly clearly herself that she will die a long long long x2 time from now, because she’s a witch, and because these are the years she can take back after centuries thrown away to grief, to the darkhold. ( she doesn’t see it that way, at least not yet. but she is adaptable and she doesn’t entirely mind not having the darkhold anymore — even if it was the one thing numbing her grief. ) it wouldn’t take a single day of knowing a boy that reminds her of her son for her to become self sacrificial when she has been self preserving to a cruel & selfish extent her entire life. do i think she’d bargain with rio? absolutely. i don’t think agatha has never particularly cared about what’s supposed to be right in the cosmos because she, herself, has always defied all odds and rules. ( that’s what makes you a witch. ) i frankly do not care about comic book easter eggs etc, she didn’t have to die to become billy’s mentor, which i think is a role she secretly would have loved! she’s at her best when she’s teaching, we even saw this with wanda to an extent. give me agatha living her life and popping in to help billy at certain times and also drive him up the walls.

onto the topic of rio: i think agatha’s anger makes sense in that it is her desperate way of not acknowledging the love and heartache she’s been burying for centuries. it’s easier for her to act like she hates rio, to ask never to see her again ( or as in the original script, for rio to retire her form because it’s the rio she fell in love with ohuuhuuhuuu that fucking wrecked me ) because agatha doesn’t do vulnerable, she doesn’t do emotions, not when she has a task at hand. and it’s a hell of a lot easier to pretend rio is simply death, that her grief never had a stake in this. but. the very end, taking one last kiss from her love as she siphons her power to die — that wasn’t it. there was no reconciliation. no true conversation. no resolution for the end of agatha’s path as the three of swords, where she is supposed to face and accept her grief. and i genuinely don’t think it was her time yet lmfao like come on!! neways, i think the fight could have ended in a hundred different ways, one that i like in particular in which agatha acknowledges rio’s hurt, and they like idk. talk. like ex lovers. in their own very messy and begrudgingly communicative fashion.

slightly on topic, i was incredibly unsatisfied with the lack of actual agathario backstory in episode 9. it’s all but confirmed that nicky was their child by some stroke of a cosmic occurrence. i’m willing to explore rio leaving them in peace to give them time, time they never should have had, but i personally like the idea of rio still being there with agatha because hello? they’re wives???

and onto the darkhold! i think agatha acquired it for a multitude of reasons. after nicky, the only thing that made sense to her was power. it was a sound place to bury her rage and heartbreak and also, we know she’s a knowledge seeker. that she’s probably tousled with the sorcerer supreme. she goes places she shouldn’t because she wants to know, because what could possibly be of consequence now? she probably acquired it sometime in the early 1900s, and made a deal to keep it satiated: power and knowledge ( and hiding her from her only love ) in exchange for it siphoning off her own memories of love, of sorrow, etc: it didn’t take them necessarily, but it numbed them. she enjoyed that at the time. she also didn’t let it take her over completely: her soul is most definitely tainted and she dabbled in forbidden magics, relentlessly searched for ways to bring back another soul that didn’t shred it, but she was still largely herself. so, wanda! the scarlet witch! a being of spontaneous creation of chaos magic. how could agatha not crave her power? how could a part of her still not rage against the fabric of the universe, demanding magic that could stitch souls together, fix the dead? and then she was gone, and so was agatha’s magic, and the darkhold, and suddenly for the first time in hundreds of years her grief was palpable and overwhelming. it’s no wonder she projected it onto a young boy with his heart on his sleeve the moment she woke from wanda’s spell.

as for the witches' road con, she definitely knew there was a real one but even that wasn't something agatha dared to dabble in. she let the word spread, though. the song written by her and her son sung by hundreds of witches throughout the centuries. it was a nice little sham to get juice.

anyways all in all! the finale left more questions and i hate it. WHAT’S THE SIGNIFICANCE OF JUNE 2ND? WHEN DID AGATHARIO MEET? HOW LONG DID THEY LOVE EACH OTHER??

[littlenahsstuff]

Way I request a Rio x reader x Agatha where while they hate each other, Rio and Agatha both adore reader? And reader trues their best to make them be at least somewhat nice to each other while they're around

Down the Right Path

Warnings: not proofread. You are Sharon’s replacement. I had only watched the first to episodes when I started writing this. Ignore the plot holes.

Word count: ~2.9k

The witches road was a dark place. The leaves beneath your feet may have been soft but the cold and misty air bit into them. Overall you were scared, but part of you couldn’t wait for the reward. You may have been a young witch, but you knew of the roads powers. Not long after you entered a witch named Rio joined you. You could not deny both her and Agatha were totally smoking but they seemed to have a weird tension. You could only notice it briefly before you were consumed with worries of the path ahead.

“Hello replacement,” Rio purrs into your ear. You startle. “Relax, I don’t bite too much.” You give her an awkward smile.

“It’s okay, um… my names Y/n, by the way. I’m a newer witch if you couldn’t tell. It’s Rio, right?” You question, falling behind the group slightly. Rio gives you a grin.

“Lovely name, baby witch. Yes, I’m Rio. Did you know Agatha before this, you seemed to be sticking to her like glue before I arrived?” Her grin sticks but the question is said with underlying bite. You glance up ahead to where Agatha grumpily walks fast.

“Yes,” you sigh ,”Back when Wanda was hexing everyone I happened to get swept up in it. Funnily enough I was her wife. Even though it wasn’t real it stings that she knew the whole time it was a spell and didn’t help. After she forgot everyone and became a mean detective she didn’t remember me so I didn’t see her much.” You admit.

“Wow such a sad backstory. I guess that makes you another one of her ex-wives. Even if it was fake,” Rio says with an airy laugh.

Your brows furrow, “She was actually married at one point, who got the real deal?” Rio bites her lip and wiggles her eyebrow.

“Looking at her. Welcome to the ex-wives club hot stuff-“ Rio is interrupted by Agatha’s angry beckon for her.

“See you later babe,” Rio finishes with a wink and teleports up to Agatha. You stay wide eyed in the back.

“You called?” She questions with a huff.

“I don’t know what you think you’re doing with Y/n but leave your no good mitts off of her. She’s too good for you and you know that.” Agatha scolds, keeping her voice low and eyes ahead. Rio laughs.

“Oh come on, you of all people appreciate a little corruption now and then. Besides she already told me you weren’t interested in her herself. As far as I’m concerned she’s free game and a delicious way to get at you Aggie” she responds. Agatha fumes.

“Oh so you’re playing dirty now, got it,” Agatha glances back at you and you smile, making her heart beat a little uncomfortably fast. Rio’s eyes light up.

“No way, you really do care. This is going to be so fun!” She gasps. Agatha groans.

“Whatever, I’ve got places to be.”

***

The coven decided to set up camp, much to Agatha’s dismay. Agatha lit a fire for light and everyone sat around it. You sat on a log immediately followed by Rio to your left and Agatha to your right.

“So baby witch, you’re an earth witch too, what a coincidence. Seems like Wanda knew Agatha had a type,” Rio whispers in your ear, but loud enough Agatha could hear it. You feel your face heat up.

“I guess, yeah,” you laugh awkwardly, staring a little too intently at the ground. Agatha looks behind you at Rio with a death glare. Rio responds with a smile and slowly puts an arm around you.

“We have so much in common already. Tell me baby witch, you seeing anyone? It’s been three years after all.” Rio’s question takes you off guard and you look at her.

“Um, no.”

“Well what a shame.” She pauses and her eyes light up, “A pretty girl like you ought to have someone. Something… real.” Her voice sent shivers down your spine. You couldn’t for the life of you figure out if she was genuinely flirting with you or planning something else. You stand up quickly.

“I- I’m gonna go get more kindling for the fire,” you rush out before speeding away.

Still at the campfire, Rio cackles and Agatha clears her throat. Grabbing Rio by the collar and pulling her up to stand.

“You’re coming with me,” she grits out, tugging Rio harshly to the opposite direction you went.

Once alone she lets her temper burn much like the fire at the site.

“You miserable bitch, why are you going after her like that?!” Agatha hurls, her arms flailing.

“Well… hmmm. Maybe because it’s so delicious. And at first it was just to get back at you… but, and I can’t deny this, she’s a pretty thing. You never did like sharing your toys, but you mistreated this one and now she needs a new home,” Rio’s eyes light up as she watches every angry twitch on Agatha’s face. Agatha puts her foot down.

“I know I did, but that doesn’t mean you can too-“

Rios eyes widen, “Now now, who said I would mistreat her? No no no. I want her terribly. I want someone a little more malleable. Someone I don’t have to worry will trade me for silly magic tricks.” She takes turns her back to Agatha.

“Don’t you turn your back on me! You’re such a child Rio. Don’t act like you weren’t gallivanting naked with young witches in the woods while we were still together!” Agatha groans in frustration as Rio walks away, “Hey, come back here!” Rio gives yet another cackle.

“You’re still invited to the wedding!” She calls back.

Agatha, disposed of her magic still, is forced to run to catch up. Just as she’s about to jump and tackle Rio, the other witch teleports back. Agatha is left huffing on the forest floor, spitting a stray leaf out.

***

Once enough time has passed, it never really was morning on the road, everyone continues the trek. Once again you find yourself at the back of the group, trailing behind everyone else. Everyone else but Rio and Agatha of course. The both of them cling to you like urchins. They aren’t actually touching you, but they’re a breath away each.

“So…” Agatha clears her throat, “haven’t been able to talk to you much since… you know. How have you been?” She hates that Rio had to be here too while this happens but it’s better to her to clear the awkward tension between you and her asap.

You sigh slightly, “not bad, um… how’s Señor Scratchy? I miss him.” Agatha gives you a soft smile despite the pang in her chest.

“Alive and well, still my little trouble bunny. I think he got it from you,” she says, tilting her head back and forth. You giggle and roll your eyes.

“Nope, all you. He’s your familiar after all. I’m glad he’s well. I’ll have to give him a treat if I see him again.” You offer it, an underlying sadness to your tone. Agatha picks it up immediately. You missed her too but would never admit it, after all you were the entranced one while you two were together.

“When. You’ll see him again…” she corrects, making you smile softly. The sight brings hope and warmth to Agatha’s chest. She looks at you, but she’s distracted by Rios maniacal face behind your head. Sensing it’s her turn to speak Rio seizes it.

“So… Y/n, you like animals? I happen to be able to turn into many, that’s my earth witch specialty right there,” Rio says cheerily. Her grin displays her pearly whites. You turn to her, making Agatha’s heart clench.

Your eyes light up, “really, wow. I personally work with herbs and plants more but that’s incredible. I do love animals, what kinds?” Agatha internally groans at having lost your attention so marvelously.

Rio beams with pride, “All kinds, but crows and wolves I’m particularly fond of.”

You ooh, “I love birds a lot.” You add, “maybe you could show me sometime?” Rio grabs your hand, making Agatha bristle, her hair practically standing up in outrage.

“Of course beautiful, it’s a date.” Your stomach does flips at the thought but you try not to read too far in it.

“Sure,” you chirp.

***

After another day of exhausting walking camp is set up again. Agatha cannot truly remember how long the trip was originally, but it seems about right. Much to Agatha’s surprise, you ask her to talk alone with you. Rio wants to join but she knows it would affect her chances with you.

You take a deep breath. This area of the road seems darker, but the magic lull does not cease.

“Agatha, may I ask you a question?” You start. She’s suspicious but nods. “If Rio was the one on your list, why did you bring me?” She shuffles, exhaling.

She knew she would have to tell you eventually… “well, I know there’s no excuse for allowing you to be in so much pain in Westview, but I felt awful. And Rio can be more manipulative than me. Don’t trust her too much. I know I couldn’t. But… I know you can’t trust me either. You’re a bright witch Y/n. As much as it kills me to admit it I truly am sorry. For what it’s worth I was having so much fun with you that I forgot you weren’t completely there.”

Her admittance was spur of the moment, but it made her feel better nonetheless. That may have been the first time she apologized in a very very long time. To her surprise you smile at her.

“That means a lot actually. And I kinda left you there for three years, so… I guess it’s safe to say you paid the price. Even?” You say, Agatha can’t honestly believe her luck tonight. She’s starting to think that genuine apologies are some sort of witch craft too.

“Thanks. Even.” She states, but she notices the frown on your face. You glance in the directions of the camp.

“Hey,” your brows furrow, “what do you mean I can’t trust Rio?” Agatha internally squeals at her luck.

“Well, Rio has been known to flaunt around the pilgrimage if you know what I mean. It’s half of the reason we broke it off,” she switches to a mumble, “the other half was me.” Your eyes widen.

“Oh…”

“Besides she’s using you to get back at me.” Agatha says too nonchalantly. Your eyes widen even more.

“What?” Your tone is angry. You kick yourself for getting too hopeful. Of course, they love each other still. How could you not realize. You’re just a stupid pawn. Again! “Oh…” you say dejected. Agatha was expecting to enjoy watching your relationship with Rio burn, but her stomach develops a pit.

“Well, hey now… I mean she was, b-but-“ Agatha would rather die than admit to you that it could be real.

“Let’s just go, we have a big day tomorrow. Just try not to fight each other too much.” It’s safe to say Agatha was in deeper shit now.

***

The journey continues and both Rio and Agatha have noticed you avoiding them the best you could.

“What did you tell her,” Rio grits and Agatha sighs.

She responds with, “the truth,” reluctantly. “That you were talking to her to get back at me.”

“Well did you tell her just that or the whole truth. Did you tell her of our feelings cause right now she’s all emo like the teenager,” Rio objects, her hands grabbing Agatha’s shoulders.

“I may have omitted that part yes,” she says unashamed (she was very shamed).

“Oh my god you don’t change do you! You always were so cryptic. It’s one of the reasons I love you but-“

“Love present tense?” Agatha interrupts. She’s internally freaking out a bit but she plays it off with a smirk and a teasing tone. “Oh that’s so sweet hun. Couldn’t get enough, could you.” Rio groans and rolls her eyes.

“Oh baby- one can hate and love,” Rio smirks.

Agatha’s about to give another witty reply when a scream breaks out in the distance. They know it’s you. They break into a run… well Agatha does. Rio teleports.

You’re on your elbows trying to get away from some sort of invisible force they can’t see. What they can see is an ugly gash on your arm.

Rio immediately calls upon some vines and they thrash around. Blindly hitting something

Agatha grabs a big stick and tosses it at the creature. She holds her breath, internally freaking out. She feels so helpless, the full effects of her being without magic getting to her. Thankfully the creature lets out a yelp.

You back up more, the invisible beast swipes at you again. Alice sends a protective shield over you, giving you enough time to get away. Right as the beast is (presumably) stunned, Rio stabs a sharp root right through it.

Everything stills. Agatha kicks it carefully and there isn’t a reaction.

Now that the coast is clear both Agatha and Rio focus back on you. Lilia is holding you. The gash doesn’t look too deep but you don’t look good. You feel the cold of the road run deep through your bones.

“Oh shit,” Agatha murmurs, kneeling down.

“Jen, tell me you can find something to help her. There’s mushrooms and roots up the wazoo!” Rio stresses, her arms flailing. Jen’s eyes search the ground for any herbs or mushrooms. As if the road felt like it’s done enough, Jen spots a cure.

“Agatha, Rio, I need two rocks, preferably one pretty big and one small without dirt on it,” she says, frantically de rooting the herbs. Rio looks around and spots a rock. She frantically tosses it to Agatha who barely catches it.

“Did you just throw a rock at me!” Agatha yells. She brings the rock to Jenn. Lilia had already given her the small one.

Rio runs her fingers through her hair. “Relax bitch, you just need to work on your hand-eye coordination!” She sneers. The volume makes you wince.

“Guys- if I die please don’t let your loud-ass bickering be the last thing I hear,” you speak weakly. Jen grinds the roots and herb into a paste, using the dew of a leaf to bind it. Agatha and Rio shut up, both a little embarrassed.

“I mean seriously you both still love each other.,” you add, hissing. Jen is applying the paste to the gash. It’s chilly, but healing. It’s magic of course so the healing process quickens. Jen smiles at her work. Both let out huffs and give one another a begrudgingly hopeful look.

“No,” Rio speaks, “We just both have our eye on the same thing.” You scoff, able to sit up.

You argue, “Are you kidding, I see the way you sneak glances at one another when the other doesn’t know they’re looking. The same thing is each other.” They mull over your response but Agatha sighs and looks down.

“Perhaps that is true…” she starts, “But Rio is right too, we both want you.” Your eyes widen.

“No, you’re using me. I just want you two to get along.” You rebut. You feel as if it would be too good to be true, but you did see that you were being used. You stand and wince. “The witches road is dangerous, it’s best to get these feelings out now when we may never be able to later.”

Rio crosses her arms defensively. “No, we really do like you, each other is debatable but you my dear are the poisoned apple of our eye.” You actually give a giggle.

“I’m flattered I suppose… but Rio, that’s the cheesiest thing you’ve said to me in the time I’ve known you.” Your laugh makes Rio want to escape, but she can’t resist the fact that it completed her in a sense.

“It was,” Agatha adds, “and yes you’re part of this.” She gives you a pointed look. You smile.

“So you both mean it? No witches tricks?” You double check. if you’re about to achieve your life long dream you better make sure you’re not getting punked.

“Yes,” they sigh, exasperated and in unison. You embrace them both, putting them eye to eye between your arms.

“Well thankfully I’m still here…” you turn to Jen, “thanks to you Jen. Glad I was able to grow those herbs in time.” There’s a certain pride in your voice.

“That was you?” Agatha says surprised. You nod.

“What can I say I’m an earth witch.” You curtesy goofily.

“All I can say is that I’m glad they’ll stop the bickering now,” Lilia adds. “You lovebirds have fun with all that messed up shit.”

“You mean Agatha?” Rio chuckles.

Agatha’s eyes widen, “Why you-“

“LADIES!” you but in. “Stop that. You like each other, remember that before I force you to hold hands the rest of the way.”

“Fine” they both huff. You smile. They’re a handful, but they’re now your handful.

[wandamaximoffsbadgirl]

Dream a Little Dream

Dark Witch!Agatha Harkness x fem!reader

Word count: 2K

Warnings: 18+ MDNI, Somnophila, dubcon, cnc, possesiveness, magic used like a drug

Authors notes: Mmmmmm somno

Agatha stepped through the door of the dimly lit house, her coat trailing behind her like a shadow, the soft sound of her boots against the floor the only noise breaking the stillness. The air was heavy with the scent of burning candles, herbs, and faint remnants of her last spell, lingering from her earlier work. It had been a long night of ritual casting, ancient incantations still tingling at her fingertips, but none of it compared to the pull she felt when she thought of you.

Her sharp eyes scanned the room, looking for you. The usual stirrings of life and warmth you brought to the home were missing. It only took her a moment to notice the faint glow of candlelight spilling out from the slightly ajar door of the bedroom. A small smile tugged at the corners of her lips. She could feel you before she even opened the door—a soft, sweet energy that always welcomed her, even in your dreams.

Quietly, Agatha pushed the door open, her smile deepening when she found you curled up in bed, already fast asleep. You looked so peaceful, your chest rising and falling in a gentle rhythm. You had fallen asleep without her, completely oblivious to the darkness she carried with her from her rituals.

"Couldn't wait for me, could you, darling?" she whispered, more to herself than to you, her voice laced with affection and a hint of possessiveness.

She leaned against the doorframe for a moment, just watching you. Her fingers itched with the desire to reach out, to touch you, but she held back—for now. 

There was something about seeing you like this, so unguarded, so trusting in her presence. It stirred something deep within her, a dark satisfaction knowing that you were hers, even when you were unaware.

With a flick of her wrist, the lights in the room dimmed further, the shadows deepening around the bed. She slowly unfastened her coat, letting it drap over the chair in the corner, her footsteps almost soundless as she approached. Her eyes never left you, drinking in every inch of your resting form, how your body moved ever so slightly beneath the covers, your lips slightly parted in sleep.

"Such a good little thing," she purred softly, her fingers grazing the bedpost as she moved to sit on the edge of the bed. Her magic rippled through the air, wrapping around you like a second skin, keeping you tethered in your dreamscape, ensuring that you wouldn’t wake just yet.

Agatha leaned down, her lips hovering over your temple as she whispered, “Did you miss me, darling? I know you did.”

Her touch lingered there for a moment, just enough to make her presence known even in your dreams. She could feel the pull, the way your body unconsciously reacted to her proximity, even in sleep. It made her heart race, her desire for you stirring beneath the surface, dark and all-consuming.

Agatha lingered by your side, the edges of her dark power curling around the room like smoke, thickening the air with something almost tangible. She brushed a strand of hair away from your face, her fingers featherlight as they ghosted along your skin. You stirred faintly, shifting in your sleep, but her magic kept you locked in your dream world. A soft, pleased smile spread across her lips as she felt you relax again beneath her touch.

“Always so sweet for me, even in sleep,” she murmured, her voice velvet-smooth and dripping with affection. Her hand moved to your shoulder, tracing a lazy path down the length of your arm, as if savoring every inch of you. She paused when her fingers reached the hem of the blanket, her eyes flickering with a darker intent.

Gently, carefully, Agatha peeled the blanket back, revealing your body to the cool air of the room. Her breath caught as she took in the sight of you, still peaceful, still vulnerable, your chest rising and falling in time with your steady breaths. She could feel her desire for you deepening with every second that passed.

Her fingers danced along the edge of your sleepwear, tracing the fabric where it clung to your body. She leaned in close, her lips brushing against the soft skin of your neck, her breath warm as she whispered against you. "Do you know how much I crave you, even when you're like this? Especially when you're like this? You're mine—always mine."

She could feel the magic within her thrumming with anticipation, pulsing with the temptation to lose herself in you completely. But for now, she kept herself tethered, her control a thin thread that could snap at any moment. There was something so intoxicating about having you like this, in this state, where she could take her time—where every touch, every whisper was hers to control.

Slowly, her hand slid beneath the fabric of your nightclothes, her fingers gliding over your skin, warm and soft beneath her touch. You shifted again, a quiet sound escaping your lips as your body instinctively reacted to her, even in sleep. Agatha's smile widened, her heart pounding with dark satisfaction.

“Don’t worry, darling,” she purred, her lips brushing against your ear. “I’ll take care of you… even when you can’t ask for it.”

Her other hand followed, tracing over your body in slow, deliberate strokes, her touch growing more possessive with every passing moment. She watched the way your breathing hitched, your body reacting to her without thought, without reason, and it made her pulse quicken with a heady rush of power. You were so completely at her mercy, and the thrill of that realization sent a shiver down her spine.

She lowered herself beside you, her body pressing gently against yours as she settled into the bed, her lips grazing your collarbone now, leaving a trail of warm, fleeting kisses. “So perfect,” she whispered, her voice dark and honeyed. "So mine."

Agatha’s hand slipped further, her fingers ghosting over your abdomen, drawing soft, lazy circles as she continued to explore your skin. The tension in the room thickened as her touch grew bolder, more possessive. Every time you stirred in your sleep, she felt the rush of control tighten around her, and it made her desire burn hotter, deeper.

“You have no idea what you do to me, even like this,” she murmured, her lips pressing softly against your shoulder, her fingers teasing at the edge of your sleepwear.

Her magic pulsed again, wrapping itself around you, keeping you in your slumber, ensuring you were hers—body, mind, and soul. Agatha’s hunger for you deepened, the dark witch relishing every moment of your vulnerability, every breath you took in her presence. And she wasn’t done yet.

Not even close.

Agatha’s fingers slipped lower, tracing the curve of your waist as her lips pressed warm, open-mouthed kisses along your collarbone, savoring the taste of your skin. You shifted again beneath her, the soft sound of your breath catching in your throat making her smirk in delight. The magic she’d woven around you pulsed softly, binding you to sleep, keeping you in that perfect, blissful unawareness as she toyed with your body.

Her lips hovered just above your ear as she whispered, her voice a low, sultry murmur. “You’re so beautiful like this, darling. Completely helpless… completely mine.”

Her hands wandered slowly, deliberately, taking their time to explore the dips and curves of your body, reveling in the way your muscles twitched beneath her touch. She loved knowing that even in your slumber, your body responded to her, as if it instinctively knew who it belonged to.

Agatha’s eyes darkened with hunger as her hand ghosted over your stomach, teasing the edge of your underwear, her thumb brushing lightly against the fabric. She could feel the heat radiating from you, and it only made her desire burn hotter. She leaned down, her lips brushing the shell of your ear as she whispered, “I wonder… if you’ll wake up when I touch you here…”

Her hand dipped lower, sliding beneath the thin fabric. The second her fingers made contact with your clit, a soft gasp escaped your lips, and Agatha couldn’t help the wicked smile that spread across her face. She moved slowly, her touch gentle but firm, teasing you in slow, deliberate strokes, her magic keeping you right on the edge of consciousness.

“Do you like that?” she murmured, her voice dripping with possessiveness. “Even in your dreams, you’re aching for me, aren’t you?”

Your body responded to her touch, your hips shifting slightly, a quiet moan slipping from your lips. Agatha’s breath hitched, her eyes dark with desire as she watched you writhe beneath her. Every sound you made, every movement you gave her, only fueled the fire inside her. She wanted to devour you, to claim every part of you, body and soul.

But she wasn’t in any rush. Not tonight.

Agatha’s lips pressed against your throat, her teeth grazing your skin as she quickened the pace of her hand, her touch growing more insistent. She could feel the way your body tensed beneath her, the quiet whimpers that escaped your lips only making her pulse race faster. “That’s it, darling,” she purred, her voice low and commanding. “Just let go for me…”

Her fingers worked you expertly, drawing out every ounce of pleasure from you, watching with wicked delight as your body arched beneath her, your breath coming in soft, shallow gasps. You were so close—she could feel it, the way your muscles tensed, your thighs pressing together as you teetered on the edge.

But Agatha wasn’t done with you yet.

Just as you were about to tip over, she pulled her hand away, leaving you gasping, desperate for more. She grinned down at you, her eyes glinting with dark satisfaction as she watched your body tremble, your chest heaving as you hovered on the brink of release. “Not yet, darling,” she whispered, her voice dripping with control. “I decide when you get to fall.”

She leaned down, her lips capturing yours in a soft, lingering kiss, her fingers brushing gently over your cheek. “You’ll get what you need… when I’m ready to give it to you.”

Agatha shifted beside you, her body pressing against yours as she slid her hand back down, her touch even slower now, more teasing, as if savoring every moment of your desperation. She loved the way your body reacted to her, the way your hips unconsciously sought more of her touch, more of the pleasure she was so expertly denying you.

“You belong to me,” she whispered, her voice low and commanding, her magic wrapping tighter around you, binding you to her will. “And I’ll take care of you… when I’m ready.”

Her hand resumed its slow, torturous rhythm, teasing you right back to the edge, keeping you on the brink, your body aching for release. She could feel the tension building again, your muscles quivering beneath her touch, and it only made her want you more.

With a wicked grin, she leaned down, her lips brushing against your ear as she whispered, “Now… let go for me.”

Her fingers moved faster, pressing harder, and within moments, your body arched beneath her, a soft cry escaping your lips as pleasure crashed over you, waves of ecstasy pulsing through every inch of you. Agatha watched with dark satisfaction as you came undone beneath her, completely at her mercy, completely hers.

As you lay there, your body still trembling from the intensity of your release, Agatha leaned down, her lips pressing softly against your forehead. “Good girl,” she whispered, her voice soft but commanding. “Now rest… you’ve pleased me tonight.”

With one last lingering touch, Agatha pulled away, settling beside you, her fingers running gently through your hair as you slipped back into a deeper, dreamless sleep, completely unaware of how thoroughly she had claimed you.

And as she lay there, her magic still wrapped around you like a protective shroud, Agatha smiled, her heart racing with dark satisfaction.

You were hers—always.

[sapphossparenoterbook]

I think Rio Vidal (Death) x an god of chaos reader (not chaos magic just a god entity of chaos) would be funny. Maybe something like probability/luck manipulation and so when people enviably die/get killed death has to come clean it up. But death cant touch the reader because of said probability manipulation.

Basically giving death a show and a run for her money. Maybe this takes place in Salem when Agatha kills her entire damn coven and reader is just sitting back and watching the BS unfold

First Day Jitters

Death!Rio x Goddess of Chaos!Reader

You’d been following this one particular chaos witch for a while now, she learnt the ways to channel chaos energy particularly quickly for someone of such a young age, and it was clear that she was fueled by something that eludes you. Anyway, as the god of chaos, you decide to keep an eye on this witch, Agatha Harnkess, to see where she would end up, and how quickly she’d be able to master your branch of magic. 

As you observe the girl more and more, through shapeshifting as mice in her bedroom, or, on your lazier days, getting one of your familiars to follow her around and report back to you, it becomes abundantly clear that she is fueled by her mother’s genuine hatred towards her. It’s terrible, and it makes you want to reach out, to comfort the girl that is oh so much like you, or maybe to direct her through darker paths of magic so that she can contact you herself. But, alas, you never get the chance to. 

The girl’s mother, Evanora Harkness, a witch that liked to act as though she was much kinder than she really was, had always been searching for a way to get rid of her own daughter, and now here it is; the chaos magic. 

That’s why you’re now here, in Salem, in your true form and lurking beyond the tree line near the clearing where the witches plan to execute the girl. The girl from their own coven. Of course, all of these women have daughters who have done much worse things, broken much more important rules-but Agatha’s mother? She didn’t care, she just wanted her daughter gone. And she was willing to be incredibly hypocritical towards her own coven to do this. 

You’re wearing one of your nicer outfits, a long dark purple cloak to keep you warm, an old dress you’d fixed a few times over the years, and a few trinkets you’d been gifted throughout the ages as offerings by your more religious following. After the rise of Norse myths, sweeping what thoseidiotic Asgardians would call “Midgard”, a lot of your trusted disciples jumped ship to follow Loki, instead, but you still adorn yourself with the trinkets of your most loyal subjects. Anyway, back to the subject at hand. 

Your phasing out had meant that you missed quite a big part of this execution and all, but you caught yourself at the best time. Just as the witches say their last piece, they all blast their magic towards Agatha at once. 

Now, of course, you are known by the other gods to enjoy a dabble in manipulating probability to aid the more interesting types of people before you were satisfied with one’s particular ‘end’, and Agatha’s story is definitely not over,not for you at least. No witch, especially not a witch at such a young age, would have enough power to not instantaneously die at this many blasts of magic hitting them at once, but as Agatha Harkness screamed and yelled out in pain, wailing for her mother to stop, you felt yourself using your powers to change the odds. 

You’d not tapped into this specific power much in the last few years, but changing the odds of a situation was never a very hard thing to do, and it’s always been so amazingly entertaining when seeing the shock on people’s faces. You give Agatha a much more increased chance of surviving the blast, and to be fair to the girl, she does the rest. 

You can tell that she knows she should be dead, but the decision is made quickly as you watch the blue magic turn purple, and the life energy of this coven gets completely drained and sucked out of them by one of their own. The one that they betrayed first. 

There are screams, cries, pleas for mercy, and a few “Help me!”s before Miss Harkness is the last witch standing. You get the urge to stride up to her,congratulate her on her quick thinking and great magical ability, but she runs off pretty quickly after taking her mother’s brooch. You huff, come out from the treeline anyway, and then a wide smirk comes over your face as you remember who is going to have to clean all of this mess and chaos up now that all of these people are dead. 

You start rushing around a bit, your purple magic flying everywhere as you mess with the murder scene. You’ve heard that this girl is totally hardcore, and you always like one upping other gods and spiritual entities. It doesn’t occur to you that anyone else who finds this once Death is done will think that it was Agatha Harkness that did all of these terrible thighs to these women, as you use your magic to slash at their throats, telling their blood splatter and spill. 

You start cackling just as a surge of green magic conjures up Rio Vidal herself, the new and improved Death, since the last guy retired after getting bored of the screams whenever he appeared. He’s an angel now, rescuing puppies. Quite a drastic career change. 

You hear the new girl groan under her breath. “This has Y/N written all over it…” She mumbles out exasperated, not noticing you just yet. 

Yep, you needed to give this new girl, Rio, a show somehow. Didn’t you?

“Well of course it was” You say, “That perfectly innocent girl was in trouble-all because she wanted to try out my magic!” 

“You know that it was so much more than that! She’d been trying to find the Darkhold, she’s dangerous. And now by the look of things, she’s much more dangerous.” The green witch practically whined out at you, clearly trying to get you to see reason, but you’d just kept laughing and giggling at her. 

“Ohhh, c’mon! Just live a little, Death girl! Also, I have a whole fucking chapter in the Darkhold written about me. AAANNDD, it was written by one of my followers ABOUT chaos magic. God, new girl… get with the program.” You said to her, all while still giggling as she slowly starts to walk around the circle of dead witches, moving away from you and away from the pyre that these witches had strapped Agatha to.

“Besides, I know you knew what I was gonna do, Rio, or you would’ve been here way earlier in time to just grab the girl’s body before anything would’ve gone down. You gave me like… 10 extra minutes to operate in–I was bored.” You say, walking the different way around the circle of witches so that you eventually meet in the middle, facing each other. You have to keep the smug smile off of your face so that the girl doesn’t realise that you’re just playing with her like this so that she stays longer. 

You definitely notice the way that she blushes a little at the continued eye contact, and the way she brushes past you, purposefully making her fingers brush against you as she walks past, inspecting more of the dead witches. Now she’s the one killing time and finding excuses to stay. 

“Did you really have to do all of this?!” She says, suddenly getting angry, spinning right back around, and getting all up in your face. 

“Of course I did, how else am I supposed to greet the new girl? Do you just love it..?” You ask teasingly, and she genuinely growls at you in anger. It’s going to take her a long time to wrangle all of these souls in, and a few of them might be in purgatory and try to stay behind. 

“I hate it– I hate you! I could just–igh!” Rio impulsively reaches out to try and choke you, grabbing you by the throat, but long ago you had put a spell on you so that the probability was always in your favour in attacks like this, and so Rio could not lay a finger on you unless she found a loophole to said spell.  The incantation had been difficult, a worrisome thing to develop, but it still saved your skin in times like this to this day. So, there Rio stands, with two hands around your neck but being unable to squeeze down, which only frustrates her further. 

“Ugh! C’mon! You’re such a pussy, of course you don’t go around without a protection spell. Gods like you always fucking do! Doing my goddamn head in!” She angrily spits the words out at you like venom, hoping to at least rile you up if she can’t hurt you. 

“Awww, that’s cute, Rio. So so cute, not strong enough to squeeze down on my neck and choke me out? Are you sure that you’re the right choice for Death..?”

“I hate you, with a burning passion. I can’t wait for the day I get to drag you down to hell and watch you burn in my new lava pits’”

“Mmm, that’s not what you said last night… y’know, when I was actually at hell, and that was a perfectly viable option…” You say in a teasing tone, pinching at the wrist of the hand that she’s left lingering around your neck as you wrap your whole hand around hers. “I actually remember you not wanting me to get out of bed this morning… no mentions of the lava pits and pools then, huh?”

Rio’s face ultimately goes bright red with blush, she wasn’t very good at mixing home with work, and so being reminded of the time they spent together that morning, as a witty remark, was easily making her flustered. “Baby…” She whines at you, embarrassed at how you’d brought that up, “I don’t wanna talk about that… You’ve made this place so messy, and it’s so many people compared to the one I was expecting…”

“You’re going to be late home tonight, aren’t you..?” You ask, hinting at what she was alluding to pretty well. 

“Yeah…” she says with a pout, “And it’s all your fault, too… on date night, as well!” Rio says, and slaps your ass as a tease. There it is, that loophole for your protective probability spell… 

You smile and tug at her hand that’s still resting on your neck, it’s much more relaxed now and her already weakened hold has loosened to a soft touch on your collarbone rather than your neck. “I’ll bite you if you aren’t careful, hon”

“That’s a bit out there, a slight tad crazy!” She says with a teasing smile, smug as she rubs her thumb along your slightly protruding collarbone. 

“The whole point of like… me, is to be chaotic. Idiot” You say to her, and flick her shoulder. 

“Oh yeah… sorry, I forget, with how relaxed you are at home, desperate to just lay down in one spot with me and cuddle.” 

Your smug smile devolves into a much softer one, that’s usually reserved for home, and after leaving a kiss on her cheek, you say: 

“I’m sorry for creating such a mess, honey. I just wanted to put on a big show for you on your first day and all. Wanted to do something special…” 

You say, and if anyone had seen you there, surrounded by blood and dead bodies from Agatha Harkness’ wrath, then they’d think you were both completely crazy, talking to each other so sweetly, and also so proudly about the state of the bodies around you. But hey, that is after all, the only way to show off for Death.

[vampiresbloodx]

she's an lilac (good pet, part 3.)

pairings: Agatha harkness x witch! Familiar!reader (Agatha x Rio x reader eventually)

synopsis; you'd go through hell just to find a witch, the witch you've always wanted, was Agatha Harkness.

series synopsis; while on the witches road, everything seems to come up to the surface, the truths and lies, including secrets and feelings, nothing can be hidden forever.

word count: 998

warnings: some character lore, more specifically Agatha x reader past, fluff, first meeting, these bitches (witches) are gay!, mind control, slight angst if you squint, dom/sub dynamics, so much yearning.

Enjoy!

Read part one | read part two

You think back to the first time you laid eyes on her. 

It was the day of your arrival into westview, you wanted to see what was up, doing your own very legal investigation work, you got an anonymous tip from someone who definitely knew a lot more information than they came off. But you didn’t beg for more answers, you just waited, got what you needed and you were on the road again. 

More specifically you needed to find her. A certain woman who’d change everything for you, you knew her from her name that is well known in the witch world, a name feared upon, a name that people want dead. 

And yet for some reason, you headed straight for her. 

Knowing it could end very badly for you. 

Or it could go better than you expected. 

You had little hope. It still helped motivate you to keep going. 

You wanted to see her, you wanted to meet the famous Agatha Harkness, the witch that everyone you knew warned you off, you were always a bit naive to the world around you and its cruelness, but you weren’t stupid. 

You knew the type of woman she was, at least you thought so of what you envisioned in your head, it didn’t help that others perspectives of the witch clouded your judgement. You did your own research, of what you can anyways, you found more than you thought you would, some of it might be true, some a lie told by people who just want to kill her, for a reason you were unsure of. 

Yes, a powerful witch like her would have a lot of enemies, but it didn’t make sense to you. Why everyone warned you of her, you’ve met far more worse people than her, all you knew was that she killed her own coven, but that might have a good reason behind it, okay, it’s not good to kill your fellow witches, but why would she randomly do that? And to her own mother? It just didn't add up. 

She was an enigma, and much harder to figure out to your liking. 

After what she did in the Salem times, history for the witch world literally changed it’s future because of that moment, when Agatha Harkness strikes back, she was supposed to be dead, but she survived her own trial. 

And for some stupid reason you're looked down upon if you are shown any kind of mercy or redemption if you don’t complete your trial. It’s pathetic. Even humans have trials, the whole innocent before guilty type thing, you knew it wasn’t always like that, it seems that the system was fucked both ways including for witch folk. 

No witch liked it when another witch was powerful enough to over power her own coven, you couldn’t have that, it wasn’t allowed, there was a hierarchy, leadership, the woman who was the head of the coven was the one with the most power and control, once some other witch easily takes that away by herself, a war can break out. 

But witches' battles are slightly different and complicated. 

There are some similarities though. 

Westview was the last place you’d expect to find a powerful witch like Agatha, but you soon discovered why she was there, it was because of another certain witch, and she wanted her. 

An ex avenger, turned a whole town upside down in her own control, you soon found out she was even more powerful than Agatha herself. 

Which would make sense to why Agatha was here and was after her. 

When you got sucked up in it all, you ended up meeting the one you’ve been chasing after and hoping to run into, in this role that Wanda put you in, you were her kids babysitter, and it seems you were really close with Agnes (the name Agatha had for some reason) and she was her neighbor. 

The night you walked to Agatha’s house, you were more anxious than you’d thought you would be, your heart beating fast in your chest, your hands were shaky, this was the first time you were actually meeting her, by yourself, not with anyone else around, you were hoping to meet Agatha harkness and not Agnes. 

Finally after a bit of contemplation, you knocked on the witches door. 

And there she was. 

She must have sensed why you were here, who you were, as before you even spoke, she grabbed you, pulling you inside and locking her door behind her. 

“Explain yourself” she demanded with fury in her eyes. 

“I…. I want you to teach me, help me learn the ways of the craft, I’ll be loyal to you, your familiar, please, please, give me a chance to prove myself to you” you begged, she smiled, she liked that. 

“What manners you have, little one” she chuckled, circling you like a predator cornering its prey, you bend down, on your knees, as you hoped, god you hoped she’d pick you. 

She placed her hand under your chin, forcing you to look up and into her eyes, for a while she was like that, just staring, reading into you, looking for something, it seems you were honest, genuine, you really wanted to work for her. 

“You really want to work for me? Hm? A witch who could easily destroy you right before your own eyes, you want to walk down my path, have me guide you?” she said, softly as she grinned, taking you in. “you’re cute. I think I like you, I might keep you myself” she decided, standing up, expecting you to follow. 

You did. 

And that did something to her heart that she hasn’t felt in a long time. 

“Good pet, for your first lesson, I’m going to test you, starting with that sweet loyalty you claimed you have for me.” 

You felt fulfilled, you felt like you truly belonged with her, this was where you were meant to be all along.

[mr-ys-phantasma]

🌙 Moon Phases 🌙

Agatha Harkness X Fem!Reader

Chapter 1. - Chapter 2. - Chapter 3

Chapter 4. - Chapter 5. - Chapter 6

Chapter 7. - Chapter 8. - Chapter 9

Chapter 10. - Chapter 11. - Chapter 12

Chapter 13. - Chapter 14 - Chapter 15

Word Count: 1410

Chapter 15:

After your little talk with Rio, you wandered around the room; keeping an eye on everyone as you went.

You could see that Alice was uncomfortable being around, trying not to touch anything while nostalgia was hidden behind her round red tinted glasses.

Your attention went mostly to Lilia, who had returned to the main room shaken, and you swore she could be on the verge of tears. Glancing behind her, you faintly noticed certain arts on the wall; depicting witches burning at the stake.

Lilia was the oldest amongst you all. You knew that much. You suspected she had bad memories from the time of the trials and felt sympathetic once you .theorised she must have lost friends that way.

Considering her prophetic abilities, you could not comprehend how outcast she must have felt back then.

As you all gathered in the main room, you realized two people were missing... Agatha and Rio.

Narrowing your eyes faintly, you were about to go find them when the speakes got activated. You heard clearly what was supposed to be the conversation between the two witches; coming from the outer part of the recording booth.

"I get the pleasure of watching you do what you do best." Rio voice was heard over the PA.

Agatha's followed next. "Which is?"

"Killl all the witches around you. One by one."

"Then what?"

"You get your power, and I get my bodies."

Agatha gasped loudly. "Hey! That's my coven you're talking about. I'm m not that kind of witch anymore."

Immediately, the three witches rushed towards the booth; clearly furious with what they had just heard.

You trailed back, hesitant to follow your rushing emotions and thoughts.

Something was not right, and you knew it.

Agatha had tried to frame Rio, perhaps to make the coven mistrust her? Or to make herself sound better and regain some of their confidence to her?

You were not sure.

What you were sure about was Agatha's gasp and last words. That spesific gasp and tone was fake, an overdramatic reaction; a mere acting moment to make others buy it.

You remained further back from the group but close enough, to ensure no one would be throwing hands anytime soon.

Their arguments were loud in your ears but then a different sound reached you. Like nails against a blackboard, like a pin draged against glass...

The background demonic and loud noise seemed to strike deep into your magical core and even in your mind, causing you inscrutiating pain.

Before you knew it, you were on your knees; hands pressed tightly against your ears in a futile attempt to block the noise. You made no sound but by the way you bit your bottom lip, it was evident you were in pain.

The rest of the coven had similar reactions, some like Alice and Jen reacting strongly; yet not to the level you did.

Rio was the one least bothered, and Teen tried his best not to react to it. While being busy to explain, he played a record backwards; causing all this.

While everyone was fighting against it, it was Agatha who dared to act.

She was the first to see you on your knees, trying hard to block the sound from driving you mad and he knew that face of yours... the face when you were in pain.

Her own ears hurt and she swore this sound would haunt her nightmares for the years to come but she had to act.

The others were too weak, and she would not be standing there while you were in pain.

She had no idea what was happening, but if it affected you that way, it was bad. She did not stay to think about it and merely grabbed the record player before smashing it to the ground.

To ensure the job was done, she stepped on it and the cursed record; ensuring the sound would stop, and it did.

Now, free of whatever was that, you all took a moment to gather yourself.

You slowly stood up, taking silent deep breaths before you felt a metallic taste in your mouth. Bringing your hand towards your face, your fingers touched something wet against your lips. Upon inspecting it, you realized it was blood... your blood.

To try and fight the pain, you had bit your lip so hard you had actually bled it.

You tried to hide your shock and quickly wiped the evidence with the back of your sleeve, all while avoiding Agatha's intended gaze; not wishing to decipher it at the moment.

Yet Agatha kept watching, eyes darker at the sight of your bleeding lip. She could not help but remember the times she had bitten your lip enough to draw blood, only to lick it and then kiss you with hunger; letting you also taste what your blood felt like.

She managed to focus on the present, not letting her thoughts and fantasies get the best of her.

There were still things she had to focus on.

"We've been cursed." Lilia suddenly said as she recognised what had taken place.

At least that made some sense to you, though you had never truly been cursed; not that way. Physical curses had been your biggest enemy but you could fight, purify them even when the moon was full.

Now verbal... it seemed to be a loophole into everything. You were not how to feel about that.

You didn't have the time to do so, either, for a metronome on the piano nearby started to tick.

"I think this means the trial started." Teen pointed out.

Jen took notice that Rio was not exactly shocked or even scared, like the rest. "Why are you smiling?"

Agatha rolled her eyes. "She's a tourist." Was her argument.

Once again, Jen did not agree. "She's a psycho."

"And nothing's happening." Teen pointed out. "Maybe this curse isn't so bad."

You immediately locked your sharp gaze at him, making him feel uncomfortable. One finger was pointed in his direction.

"Do not, under any circumstance, say those words again." Your voice was serious, and it made every single hair on his body stand on end. "Last thing we need is the Road proving us wrong"

As if your words had once again predicted the future, something unexpected happened.

Lilia started to fan herself with her hands, feeling hotter when suddenly she started to scream. You swore you could see some sort of faint smoke coming from beneath her clothing, and the smell of burning flesh quickly reached your nose.

"It burns!" She shouted, grabbing an invisible wound by her shoulder.

Everyone stood close in panic, not sure how to help when Jen remembered something.

"Alice, protect her." She instructed her fellow witches.

Just like her assigned role, Alice did what she had to do. Using Rio's knife, she carved a circle around a screaming Lilia while changing a protection spell in Latin.

By the time the circle was complete, Lilia was laying on the floor but she was no longer burning by some invisible power.

Jen looked terrified. "I need you to draw one of those circles around me, right now"

You paid her no mind as you helped Lilia stand. You did not ask her anything but you could see in her eyes that she was thankful for your help .

"So, breaking a curse," Teen started as he tried to think what he knew. "Smudge sticks? A salt bath... What if we locate and reason with the witch who cast the curse?"

"Once vengeance is loosed, you can't reel it back in." You so wisely commneted as you stopped holding and supporting Lliliam

"So what do we do?"

Once again, the older witch had an answer. "The only way to end a curse is to face it."

New screams drew your attention and everyone turned to Jen, who was suffering the same effects of the curse.

Alice rushed to repeat the protective circle, doing her best to be fast and save Jen from suffering this burning sensation for long.

Surprisingly, when she was done; something became noticable. Jen's skin seemed to bear a mark, a burnt brand on her skin.

Lilia confirmed she had the same, making you all exchange looks of worry with one another.

This was new, way more physical than the other trial, and you were not sure you liked it that much.

Chapter 16

[fixated-on-fictional-characters]

I just wanted to say, to those people who are saying Agatha did not grow at all. You are wrong.

She’s centuries old and her mother, the person who was supposed to love her no matter what not only turned against her and tried to kill her but also turned her entire community against her.

She has been alone for so so long, always having to look out for herself and only herself because no one else was. So the type of character growth everybody wanted could not in anyway ever happen in a 9 episode series. It is impossible and would have just been so untrue and wrong to the character.

The only reason she cared about Billy in the first place is because she projected her son onto him. Even when all the clues were right in front of her eyes about his true identity, she wanted to cling on to the hope that Nicky was back. So it’s kind of hard to figure out who she actually cares about. Billy? Or just the parts of him that remind her of her own son? Especially when she seems to care about him quite a bit before betraying him.

But, I think betrayal is so ingrained in Agatha. She always has had to put herself first, in her mind it’s either betray or be betrayed, so she chooses her own survival over his. Keep in mind that right before, she had heard him say ‘ Agatha Harkness will never be more than a covenless witch’. (She remembers this since she mentions it after betraying him) That was when he thought he was all alone with Jennifer. So obviously, when Billy later on says ‘you’re not so bad’ Agatha Harkness who has been betrayed so much by her own community, by her own witchkin, who just heard him say what he did behind her back, won’t trust him. Won’t trust that he really cares about her or sees the good in her. At least not enough to sacrifice her own life. Not when she’s spent literal centuries protecting it. So she does what she has always done to survive. And she betrays him.

But, Agatha has grown. She’s learnt that not all witches will turn against her. That some witches, will even sacrifice themselves to protect her (Lilia and Alice) She helped Billy find his brother’s soul and find a body for it, she wouldn’t have done that in ep1, she would’ve made him power her up first at least. She actually listened to Lilia’s advice, smth I’m not sure she would’ve done either had it been the same witch in ep1. And I think her kissing Rio was a way for her to show a tiny bit of forgiveness. Of understanding. She could’ve stolen her powers in any other way but she chose to do it by full on making out. I like to think she kissed her because she didn’t know if she could touch Rio when she became a ghost and wanted to have one last kiss with her. That perhaps is the biggest growth for Agatha. Forgiveness and letting down her guard again. Forgiving her community and forgiving Rio. The two biggest heartbreaks of her life.

This doesn’t mean she doesn’t have more to grow, but we have not been watching the same show if you think she didn’t progress at all.

[pruesgaultier]

lets talk: agatha all along finale

ahead: spoilers obvi, and my VERY annoyed thoughts read at your own risk. and remember something VERY important: these are MY thoughts, MY opinions on MY page.

before i get into the bad, which there was a lot of imo, lets talk about what i loved

☆ i loved that jen got away and got her powers back. i really love her character and i hope we see her again. still crazy how agatha is the one who bound her like omg ???? good for her love that diva

☆ i love the agatha and nicky scenes. and then creating the ballad together, soooo sweet. she was such a good mom im so sad

☆ i love the alice part as heartbreaking as it was

☆ the part where billy created the makeshift grave for alice, lilia, and sharon

☆ "MY LOVE" "YOU LOVE ME" "WHY DON'T YOU WANT ME" im sickkkk they're absolutely insane and i love them so so much

☆ rio planting the flowers over agatha's grave, im sickkkk

☆ AGATHARIO KISS !!! was so so beautiful and passionate i love them.

☆ ghost agatha is sexy, don't know how i feel about her hair tho. some angles i like it, some angles i dont

now what did i hate, just about everything else.

☆ i hate how the first time we get a lesbian kiss in marvel, one of them dies. the bury your gays trope is so fucking tired. wrap it up. i don't care about male gay rep because they already had it in the mcu with eternals, it's not fair that when lesbians finally get rep, we don't get to keep it.

☆ not only do i just not fucking like billy, i hate how so much of this show centered around him, like if this was supposed to get me excited and into billy, it failed drastically. FUCK BILLY ??? WHO CARES ??? the show is called agatha all along and i feel like it was billy all along in too many parts. we didnt even get to see too much of her because of HIM. ALSO her sacrificing herself just to end up basically being his ghost side kick is also stupid. because while i get agatha not being able to face her son again, then why kill her ? why not let her live, what because he's a maximoff that we're supposed to see in later projects ??? like who gives a shit.

✧ they put entirely too much of this show on wiccan / joe's popularity and it didnt work nor make sense.

☆ also, on the topic of billy, i don't get why agatha just didnt drain his power and kill him. i know she made the deal with rio and stuff but he could've reincarnated into another body and they could continue wiccan's journey like that but in a different body. it honestly just seems like marvel sacrificed agatha to keep joe locke and its like who fucking cares.

☆ i hate how im left with more questions than answers.

✧ how and why did rio and agatha get married? agatha has been killing witches for so long, and im assuming rio appeared everytime, when did they get together?

✧ rio referes to nicholas as nicky, why? from what we saw in those 6 years agatha and nicky were together, she wasn't there.

✧ why did they make it seem like we would see them raising nicky together?

✧ they described agathario's history as "long and complicated", yet we never saw that or the aftermath of their relationship after rio took nicky? did rio and nicky meet before? because he seemed to know her or at least not be scared enough to feel "stranger danger" like what happened.

✧ in episode 4, we get agathario almost kiss and hat seemed like a healing moment for them and in the end we get agatha never wanting to see rio again ? why ? what happened that we didn't see for this seemingly drastic change.

✧ in ep 5, rio very clearly hates agatha's mother and refuses to let agatha go with her, and obviously we as an audience can infer the reason why, agatha told her what happened but still.

✧ how did the agatha trading nicky for the darkhold rumor even start ? agatha gave birth alone in the woods and gave him a completely different name, who knew about her son ? how did they find out ? im sooo confused by all of this

i love this show, or at least the concept, but i don't love the execution. it was supposed to be about us learning and getting to know agatha and i honestly feel like i don't know her at all. i loved eps 1-4 and ep 7, everything else, eh.

thanks for coming to my ted talk !

[anasui-at-disneyland]

Chelsea Van Der Zee - Villain Re-Write

Chelsea is probably the one thing that makes me feel conflicted the most about this movie:

I love her chemistry with Ruby and the scenes where is just them hanging out is by far the most entertaining parts of the movie

I hate her as a villain because she´s on the level of "I´m evil because the plot needs a villain" (and her twist being Nerissa downright sucked).

With that in mind, this is a bit of my "re-write" of her as a villain to give her a bit more depth:

*Most of the events of the movie remains the same, just modifying the bits with Chelsea

Make her Nerissa´s actual daughter (because that twist was dumb, came out of nowhere and I´m dying on that hill).

2. After her mother´s death on her battle against Agatha, she´s raised by the Mermaid kingdom´s courtiers basically her entire childhood.

3. She´s indoctrinated into believing Krakens aren´t these so called protectors of the sea, but rather they heavily police the rest of the kingdoms so they can´t expand their reach and keep that territory all for themselves (That way, just like Ruby, she´s being told the other side is in the wrong).

4. Through her life she develops a passion for all kinds sea creatures, and isn´t to fond of the idea she was taugth about Krakens controlling how much other sea kingdoms can expand.

5. The courtiers tell her there´s a way to bring her mother back AND to lower Kraken´s power so the sea territories can be balanced, and it´s by spell/ritual that involves the trident and Kraken´s blood.

6. She meets Ruby, and upon realising she´s a Kraken, at first sticks with her to manipulate her so she can retrieve the trident and take her blood to bring back her mother.

7. Over time, she actually starts bonding with Ruby over their shared interest over sea creatures and get to know each other backgrounds, so propose to her to get the trident as a peace sign between both kingdoms to reach balance (By this point, it plays a lot like in the actual movie, only that Chelsea still omitts the Kraken´s blood part because she believes Ruby would not accept if she knew that detail).

8. Ruby brings back the trident, and when Chelsea is preparing the spell, she stabs Ruby´s arm-tentacle, a weakened Ruby is baffled by this and Chelsea tells her it was necessary for the plan and she has to understand.

9. The trident reacts to Kraken´s blood and manifests Nerissa´s soul, to which Chelsea greets her mother as is the first time she sees her since she was a child.

10. Chelsea explains she learnt eveything about her and the courtier´s plan to balance the sea territories, and she even convinced Ruby, the heir of the Kraken´s throne to the plan.

11. When Chelsea asks how the trident could do all of that, Nerissa says that the trident never was intended as a peace sign, but rather a weapon with enough power to kill a Kraken, and when the Krakens are gone, all sea creatures would unite and obey the Mermaid kingdom as the supreme sea kingdom, and the ones to no comply would run into the same fate as Krakens.

12. By this point both Ruby and Chelsea see both of them got played, Ruby by accepting to the spell and Chelsea by trusting the courtier´s plan, now not only Ruby´s family is at risk, but pretty much every other creature on the sea.

13. Chelsea tells Nerissa that the plan is complete madness, and as heir of the throne of her kingdom, she wouldn´t let it happen, to which Nerissa says that she no longer has a voice on it since she was back as queen, and the role she plays on her plan is being her avatar to wield the trident, and that for starters, she was going to get rid of Ruby.

14. Chelsea refuses, Nerissa tells her how dissappointed she is that her daughter is so weak, but she got a contingency plan for that, if Chelsea doesn´t do it herself, then she would.

15. Nerissa´s souls enters Chelsea´s body to control her, but while Chelsea still has some control she struggles against the possesion, tells Ruby to escape and pushes her to give her a headstart, letting Ruby to get into a sea current, pushing her away while she sees Chelsea falling to her mother´s control and starting to grow.

16. Ruby gets to the Kraken´s palace and tells her mom and grandma everything that happened (the big kaiju fight takes place as normal).

17. Once the trident is shattered, Nerissa´s soul vanishes and Chelsea shrinks back to her normal size several meters mid air, to which Ruby rushes to catch her, saving her from the fall.

18. Upon waking up and staring at Ruby´s giant eyes, Chelsea breaks down after realising how she almost doomed the entire sea AND hurting Ruby (This way we can see Chelsea on a phase we never saw her before, instead of being bossy and self-confident, she´s now doubtful of herself and the things she did).

19. Ruby´s grandma tell Ruby to bring Chelsea to her so she can fry her, to which Ruby refuses (Just like in the actual movie, despite everything that went down, Ruby still advocates for Chelsea´s life).

20. There´s a talk between the 3 royal Krakens (Grandmamah, Agatha and Ruby) about what they should do with the trident´s shards, since it´s too dangerous if it´s assembled back.

21. Ruby has an idea and says they could scatter all parts across the sea, so there´s no way someone could find all of them, to which Grandmamah and Agatha recognise it might be a good idea, with the issue that they being as big as they are, that would draw to much attention and would risk to spot the shards.

22. Chelsea still shocked by everything that just went down, overhears their talk and says that she could scatter all the shard, since being smaller she would pass on as a regular fish.

23. Grandmamah and Agatha immediatly turns down her initiative after all that happened and how she backstabed Ruby, to which, Ruby stands up for Chelsea and tells her mom and grandma that she would be dead and couldn´t be able to alert them about Nerissa´s return not being that Chelsea fought back against her mother.

24. After some time pondering about it, they accept the initiative, under 2 conditions, those being that Chelsea must hide the shard where they tell her too being escorted by a guard, even if that includes land as well, AND, once she´s done with it, she must stay at the palace, since they don´t want to risk another betrayal (by doing this, Chelsea is given the chance to redeem herself, without immediatly being forgiven so she can work on her character for a possible sequel).

25. Chelsea accepts her new duty, and after they give her the map and her designated guard to start her journey, she goes to Ruby to say her farewells, hoping that Ruby will forgive her, to which Ruby says it may take some time, but she is grateful that she once gave her the determination to embrace her Kraken self and becoming better, so she will be waiting for her to comeback.

I know that this re-write may come as a long, dramatic and a bit corny (because it´s all of that, I recognize that), but that´s because I wanted to write both Ruby and Chelsea as 2 sides of the same coin:

Both of them were taught about the dangers of another sea creatures.

Both of them had good intentions at heart wanting to make the sea a better place.

Both of them got their trust played with and in consecuence got hurt by it.

I just really like Chelsea´s character and design that much that I don´t want her to go to waste to not be seen again.

___

But sadly, things are set in stone now, and unless they decide to do some crazy retconing for a sequel/series, we will be stuck with Nerissa "NO Chelsea" Van Der Zee.

But hey, not everything is doomed, in the words of Luz Noceda:

...

Hey, if you´re still reading this actual wall of text, you deserve a pat on the back, I knew this was LOOOOONG.

[ennn]

Finale predictions for Agatha All Along

Time to lock in your bets! Here's what I guess/expect will happen based on shots from trailers/promos. 'Tis in good fun and some of these I'm definitely more confident about than others -- under a cut because this post is a long one:

The Earth trial in episode 8 is focused on Billy because he is part of the coven. I expect it to tackle the question raised of "Am I Billy or am I William?" I mean, we know he's both but I'm sure they'll execute a dramatic answer. I'm guessing Agatha's grabbing his head for a spell to unlock his suppressed memories and power.

The trial should still have a heavy death theme (the characters emerge from body bags when entering the area). Someone (apologies i forgot who) mentioned that it makes sense because Billy should be dead and in the earth. The danger of the trial is being buried alive.

At some point during the trial I guess Agatha tells Billy and Jen something about Nicky as there's a promo shot with her holding the locket open and saying "death". I assume both Billy and Jen hear this as there seems to be only one big cell of a room. Yay coven bonding time!

I guess we'll get a split of Agatha backstory flashbacks across Episode 8 and 9. I do expect an Agatha and Rio flashback kiss happening in 8 and flashbacks would make sense if Agatha's telling her story to the two of them during 8.

So, we know from ep 7 that there are ways to leave the Road without completing it.

Given we get a shot of Jen crawling out of the ground at what looks like the outskirts of Westview near the town sign, I'm guessing Agatha's going to get Jen and Billy off the Road before the End by tricking or outmanoeuvring them somehow (credit to @trickofthelights for this idea by the way).

Agatha's actually trying to keep them safe from Death but they'll think she's a manipulative asshole (just when they were bonding!). I call it the Bad Wolf / The Parting of the Ways plot thing.

Before they split Billy gets a clue of what Agatha's up to when his mind-reading power unexpectedly kicks in – the setup I talked about here. Either Agatha is too distracted in the moment to shield her mind or she deliberately does so to give him a hint.

There's also a promo shot of Billy doing his blue magic over what looks like the entrance to the Road. He's wearing different clean clothes so I guess he and Jen have been out of the Road long enough to clean up and probably work out what Agatha's really up to. I'm guessing Billy's doing something to help Agatha or influence the Road. He's emotional enough that his magic kicks in. Probably where he suits up as Wiccan.

Agatha and Rio face off in the final "battle" and Agatha gets absolutely wrecked because throwing hands with Death with zero powers ain't gonna work any better the second time.

I doubt the fight will be a straightforward one, even after Agatha gets her powers back. Schaeffer doesn't like simple, black-and-white conflicts. See: the Black Widow movie and Wandavision where even Agatha who was really being self-serving made valid points.

And I don't think Death herself can be defeated in a conventional sense. As a genre-savvy rule, even if you are able to, binding or trapping or hindering a personification of Death is usually a bad thing (can you believe I looked up the recent Puss in Boots movie for further validation on this). You shouldn't mess with Death because it messes with the natural order and witches are supposed to be rooted in nature.

My guess is with Rio some kind of balance needs to be restored, Agatha owes some kind of debt that needs to be paid – before the Road can give her what she needs. This goes back to the initial concept Schaeffer had before Rio of a "debt collector".

I'm also still hanging onto my theory that something is up with that crystal gem thing Death looks to be holding now but was previously wearing. What is that in her left hand?

[roots-symphony]

what's so interesting is that agatha and nicky clearly had their cons well-oiled, and at the end it seems they even started turning their song into a part of it as well, like i don't think that was the first time nicky sang that song for an audience and they used it to lure witches (i do think it's the first time that it /technically/ didn't work), and how after nicky died it continued to gain popularity and be so well-known it became a legend, and along with that agatha being known as the only survivor of the road and people (like billy) seeking her out to walk it or just for knowledge of it. and i think that had been the idea when they first started using it as a con. making it so they no longer had to travel and scavenge, using it as a lure to bring the witches to them in order to keep nicky alive, but only one small misstep and rio got him anyway

and then thinking about how lorna, who had a generational curse placed upon her family that is going to kill both her and her daughter and who desperately wants to see her daughter survive, heard this song and created her own version to use as a protection spell for her daughter and, like agatha did before her, she made her version so well-known and so popular that years and years after death it's still protecting her daughter, until ultimately her daughter was finally able to use it to break the curse and save herself

idk just.. they're like two sides of the same coin, or distorted mirrors of each other

agathas love was so powerful and so strong that death gave nicky time

lornas love was so powerful and so strong that the ballad gave alice time and even freed her

if nicky hadnt been taken that night, could it have eventually freed him as well? rio said agatha used the dark magic of the darkhold to hide herself from rio, so was that the end goal? they'd continue to lure witches to both keep nicky alive and to have agatha become powerful enough to forever keep them hidden?

[rita-repulsa-ke]

Death and the Scarlet Witch

"She tried to wreck my life, destroy my family, literally murder me after she thought she'd stolen my power," Wanda says, using her fingers to count off all of Agatha's crimes. "She also tormented me with my past and lied to me. A lot."

That does, Rio has to admit, sound like the woman she loves. Especially the lying part. She can't keep a smile off her face.

This probably makes slightly more sense if you've read Scarlet. Rio goes to visit the Scarlet Witch, during the time Wanda is hanging out in that cabin at the end of Wandavision studying the Darkhold.

This one has warnings for lots of mentions of death, small-d, and also Rio is not always very nice. She is, however, very romantic over Agatha.

Death is everywhere. She is on a Road that doesn’t exist and, in that same second, she is next to the hospital bed of a young man, both of them ignoring the flurry of activity around them as nurses and doctors try valiantly to save a life that has already passed into her hands.

“I wasn’t ready,” he says.

“Most people aren’t,” Death replies. “How was what you had?”

He thinks about it, then gives her a tentative smile. “It was pretty good?"

She offers him her hand. “Sometimes, that’s the best you get.”

In the same blink of an eye, she sits on wet pavement next to woman staring at a mess of twisted metal.

“I wasn’t ready,” the stranger says.

Rio keeps her sigh internal. “Most people—“

An elderly woman in a nursing home. A child swimming where they shouldn’t have been. A man killed in a fight gone wrong.

Death is everywhere she needs to be.

And simultaneously, she is at a cabin in a beautiful, remote wilderness, a cabin that radiates an achingly familiar dark power.

She pushes open the door, startles a woman making herself a cup of tea, and has to hastily deflect the bolt of red energy flung toward her.

It isn't a very good deflection and in her head, she can hear Agatha murmuring, you’re so sloppy. You have so much power, but your technique—

Yes, Ags, I know. Shush now.

“Hi,” Death says. “I’m Rio.”

The woman stares at her, then gives a short, mirthless laugh. “I know who you are,” she says. “You have followed me all my life.”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Rio says.

She can’t help but notice that Wanda is beautiful.

Not like that. No one is beautiful like Agatha, frustrating, gorgeous monster that she is. No, Wanda Maximoff is beautiful like an apocalypse. She is the end of any number of worlds, the potential for a sea of corpses the likes of which even Rio has never seen.

It does amuse Rio to imagine how jealous Agatha would be, though, were she here. She always hates when Rio is looking at anyone but her.

Rio never is, of course. Not really.

“What do you want?” Wanda asks, snapping her back to this moment alongside a million others. “Is it—is it my time?”

She sounds so hopeful.

"No," Rio admits. "I wanted to talk."

She isn't sure what she wants, not really. Revenge, maybe, but why should she? Agatha doesn't deserve her fury, would scorn her protection.

Rio wants to protect her anyway.

Still, there are rules. She can't simply take Wanda. And she's made enough exceptions for Agatha already.

Wanda's laugh turns softer and simultaneously more hollow. "To talk. Death wants to talk to me. Why not? I feel at this point we should be good friends, you and I." She sits in a chair that wasn't there a moment ago, and Rio is coming to the interesting realization that Wanda is not entirely well.

Agatha had told her once that the Darkhold broke weak minds. She'd told her that while throwing bolts of dark magic at Rio and crowing over her success in having mastered the Book of the Damned, of course, but the point still stands.

"Lots of people die," Rio says. "You aren't special."

"Aren't I? Aren't I special? The Scarlet Witch," she says the words with too much emphasis, drags her voice over the sounds. "There's a whole chapter on me in the Darkhold, did you know? If that is not special, I don't know what is." She laughs again and there has never been a more humorless sound.

"Riiiight," Rio says. She's starting to think she doesn't need to enact revenge, she can sit back and let the universe take its course.

Feels a little passive, though.

"What more can you take from me?" Wanda asks. "What more can I lose?"

Yeah, I'm trying to figure that out too, she thinks. "I'm not here to take," she lies. If Agatha can do it, so can she.

"…Do you understand grief? Can you?" Wanda asks without prelude, and now Rio isn't sure this broken woman, sitting in a chair that doesn't exist, is talking to her at all.

She's also starting to notice a very interesting similarity between that chair and a certain Road she's currently walking, a Road she always knew wasn't real.

"I do understand grief,” she says, no lies this time. There is something she grieves more deeply than she'd ever thought possible.

Wanda is still talking, still mostly to herself. "I had a husband. I had children. I had everything I ever wanted."

"The ones you made with magic?" It had taken her some time to find Agatha—she isn't sure how long, she's never been good with time—to find the strange little town and the stranger situation her beloved had gotten herself into this time. But find and save her she did, unsticking her from that miserable curse.

Not that Agatha had appreciated Rio sweeping in to save her. She never does.

Still, she remembers Agatha screaming herself awake, sobbing in Rio’s arms, and she does hope there is something more she can take from the Scarlet Witch.

Wanda nods in listless agreement, that family, the fake magic ones.

How fake is suddenly a very interesting question.

"Hey, I want to ask you something," Rio says.

Wanda only nods again, staring vacantly into the past with the expression of a woman who has not fully lived in the present for some time.

"When you broke the spell, you also broke a woman's mind and left her in that place, imagining she was someone else. Someone even more annoying. Why'd you do it, Wanda?"

Now Wanda's attention snaps to her, rivulets of scarlet magic racing up her neck and down her arms, and oh, she is dangerous, all that power with so little control. Rio can picture Agatha's sneer.

"Agatha," Wanda hisses the name. "Is that who you're here to ask me about? Death has come all this way to ask me about Agatha Harkness?"

"That's the one," Rio agrees.

"She tried to wreck my life, destroy my family, literally murder me after she thought she'd stolen my power," Wanda says, using her fingers to count off all of Agatha's crimes. "She also tormented me with my past and lied to me. A lot."

That does, Rio has to admit, sound like the woman she loves. Especially the lying part. She can't keep a smile off her face. "Still. Aren't you supposed to be the good guy?"

"Not that good, I guess," Wanda says, and now even more of her attention is focused on this conversation. Though much like Rio, some part of her always lives elsewhere.

Motorcycle accident. Liver failure. A bad heart. Death deals with all of them without taking her eyes off the Scarlet Witch.

"Agatha did also break you out of your weird sitcom project," Rio points out. "Made you realize that what you were doing was hurting people. Did you know, I wonder? What you were doing to them? Did you know and try to ignore it, in order to keep everything you wanted?"

Wanda comes to her feet, surges like a wave, staggers like a corpse. Her teeth bare with fury, her eyes leak pain. "Of course I didn't! Are you just here to torment me?! Do you think that I don't have nightmares about what I did to those people? Do you know what I lost to make it right?"

Wow, she's dramatic.

"She only did it because she wanted my power. I was in her head. That woman has never done a single kind thing for anyone in her life, not without getting something in return," Wanda continues and Rio can't hold back her laughter, high-pitched, shrill giggles that contain a note of unfettered delight.

"You've got that right," she agrees, and ugh, she wants Agatha, Agatha smiling, Agatha laughing, Agatha complaining about things not happening fast enough, Agatha kissing her—

Agatha whirling her around with a crown of flowers in her hair, her expression that of someone being tortured on the rack. Agatha, laughing too loudly, cheeks flushed with cheap beer, toasting to them both. Agatha, explaining some ritual in intricate detail while she inscribes runes, talking to Rio mostly to keep herself on track.

Agatha, in their bed, lit by the fireplace behind her, head on her hand, looking at Rio like she hasn't in centuries. "I've missed you," she admits, with a sly smile. "I've been thinking. You and I always made a great team. What do you say we get the band back together?"

This isn't right. This isn't how it happened.

"Can you forgive me?" Rio asks anyway, hating how desperate she sounds.

Somewhere a man falls from the top of a building, several stories too high for survival to be a possibility and lives anyway.

"Of course I can," Agatha says. "I love you."

Hah, as if. Even during their best times, Agatha never would have said it so easily. But her hand is on Rio's cheek, and she's so warm, she feels so real. It would be so easy to lean forward and kiss her.

There’s something important she's forgetting.

An ICU has a quiet night, no deaths even among their most critical patients.

"Rio, kiss me," Agatha prompts, and the smile on her lips is so close to being right, a taunting, teasing, tormenting expression. "My love, come to bed."

This is what she wants, isn't it? This is what she's always wanted, Agatha, gentled a little, sweeter, softer, but still the woman she loves.

No, she thinks, this isn’t what I want. I want the real thing. I want the jagged edges, I want the cruelty and the manipulation and the way she screws up her face before she says anything even slightly romantic. I want the way she makes big, sweeping gestures to prove her own power, the way she kisses me like she owns me, the way she sings silly, made up songs to herself when she thinks no one is listening and how she can never sit still, not even for a minute—

I want my Agatha.

A girl falls from her bike, in front of a car and—

Death roars back into the world.

Now it’s Rio’s turn to stagger, as reality reasserts itself. "...You got into my head," she says, and she's still so shocked that she's not even angry about it, only impressed. "Congratulations, no one has ever done that before, not even Ags."

No wonder Agatha went after Wanda. Enough power to, however briefly, divert Death. And suddenly, she's very glad that Agatha, who at least claims to hate her, did not succeed in gaining that power, no matter how much Rio loves her.

"You love her," Wanda murmurs. "You really—kind of creepily—love her."

Rio throws her head back and laughs, a shrill, sharp sound, the squeal of tires on the road, the scream of witnesses. "I do," she admits. "I really, really do."

"I could see you, for a moment. The whole of you," Wanda continues. "All the places you are. All those people. So many, all the time. I don’t know how you stand it." She sags suddenly, leans her weight against the much more real counter. "…Can I ask you something?"

"Go for it."

"When I die, will I see them again? My boys and Vis?"

"Yes," Death says, with absolute certainty. "You'll see them again."

Wanda sinks to the floor, pulls her knees to her chest and shakes with relief, tears rolling silently down her cheeks. "That's all. That's all I needed to know."

"Not yet, though. It isn't your time. You still have things to do," Rio says. "Because you know what, Wanda?"

Wanda only stares up at her, face slick with tears.

"You're right. Death will follow you all your life. In fact, I think we'll be seeing each other again very soon," Rio says, letting her mask drop, and she can see her own skinless reflection in Wanda's widening eyes. "You and me? We are going to have so much fun."

Then, as Wanda starts to form a question, Death is gone. After all, how could she take Wanda now? There is still so much the Scarlet Witch can give her, so many bodies.

Besides, it would be breaking the rules.

But it turns out that there is something of Wanda's she can take. Something waiting for her on a Road that doesn't exist, something she's overlooked, something Agatha, manipulative as always, has been hiding in plain sight.

Rio will make certain that Wanda sees her boys again.

She leaves the cabin, but remains everywhere else.

Somewhere a girl sobs on her shoulder and Death pats her back with practiced movements, perfected over millennia. In that same blink of an eye, she holds an old woman's hand, kisses an old man's cheek, listens patiently to a priest perform his own last rites and guides a protection witch beyond the veil.

Then she steps back onto the Road, hands behind her head, whistling to herself. She's going to go find Agatha. She's already annoyed by all that has been kept from her, and she has no doubt it will be a fight, one where her beloved will probably say something manipulative, cruel or both.

Still, even knowing all of that, she can’t wait to see the real thing.

Want to read something sad? Try Nicky

Want to read something fluffy? Try Flirting

Want to read more Rio thinking about Agatha? Try the thief

[beauttifullife]

Good Girl. 🔥🔥🔥

“I want to kiss you,” Agatha whispered, barely more than a breath, her voice carrying every ounce of the need she’d tried to hide.

The words felt like a surrender and a release, leaving her feeling weightless, as though in that one, vulnerable confession, she’d given in entirely.

Agatha leaned in, her resolve crumbling as the need to feel Rio’s lips against hers became overwhelming, a quiet ache turning sharp. Her hand moved up to rest on Rio’s arm, fingers curling into her sleeve as she closed the distance, breaths mingling, the warmth between them almost too much to bear.

Just as her lips were about to meet Rio’s, she felt the pressure of Rio’s hand tighten around her neck, a firm but gentle restraint that stopped her in place. Rio pulled back just enough to catch Agatha’s gaze, her eyes filled with that same dark, commanding intensity that sent a shiver down Agatha’s spine.

Agatha froze, her heart racing beneath Rio’s thumb, her lips parted with the expectation lingering in the air.

And then Rio's voice dropped to a soft, relentless challenge.

“Ask.”

A surge of frustration coursed through Agatha, hot and insistent, blending with a thrill she couldn’t deny.

She hated the way it stripped her bare, the way it made her feel as if she had no defenses left.

It was as if Rio could see right through her, unraveling her layer by layer, drawing out her desires without permission, pulling her wants and needs straight from the core of her with an infuriating ease.

The words slipped out before she could stop them, a soft, urgent confession she could no longer hold back.

“Can I kiss you?” she asked, her voice low, edged with desperation.

She was too far gone, too caught up to feel the sting of embarrassment now, though she knew it would come later, would haunt her when she thought of this moment—how she had caved, how she had let herself surrender without a fight.

But right now, she didn’t care.

She was breathless, open, every inch of her drawn toward Rio, as if nothing else in the world mattered but this—the thrill, the ache, the need burning between them.

Rio's eyes flashed, her gaze sparking with satisfaction, a wicked gleam that sent a tremor down Agatha’s spine.

That pleased look alone made Agatha's knees weak, and she felt Rio’s grip soften, fingers gliding along the side of her neck before slipping into her hair.

Agatha’s breath hitched as Rio’s fingers threaded through the strands, pressing and scraping against her scalp, grounding her in a sensation that was both intense and achingly tender.

A low groan escaped Agatha as Rio’s hand tightened, fingers curling at the root, pulling her head back just enough to remind her who held control.

The tension thrummed, a tantalizing ache that wasn’t pain, but something far more consuming—a release.

Rio guided her forward with a control that radiated dominance, each movement precise and deliberate, until Agatha felt the soft, warm press of Rio’s lips against her own, a touch that stole her breath entirely.

Agatha’s instinct was to surge forward, to close the gap and lose herself in the kiss, but Rio’s fingers held her in place, firm and unyielding, keeping her right where she wanted her.

Every second felt like a slow burn, the tension building, stretching, leaving Agatha helpless to do anything but yield, to feel every inch of Rio’s control.

And then, instead of the kiss she craved, she felt Rio’s words, whispered against her lips, each one a soft, taunting caress.

“Good girl,” Rio purred, her voice a low, reverent murmur that seemed to sink into Agatha’s very bones, igniting something that had been buried, waiting.

And then, Rio closed the distance, claiming her in a searing kiss that left no question, no hesitation, branding those words into Agatha’s soul in a way she knew she’d never forget.

[mrs-barnes-rogers-writes]

A Second Chance Is A Better Chance - Part 12

Marvel AU

Pairing: Alpha Steve Rogers x Omega Witch Reader, eventual ? x Omega Witch Reader and Alpha Steve Rogers X Omega Witch Reader

Summary: Rejected by your true mate at 21, you’ve given up on the Fates and the Moon Goddesses giving you a second chance. Being a Roamer for the last 9 years, you’re an Omega hardened by the world. You’re safe on your own because of your witchcraft, but it doesn’t stop Alphas and plenty of others sniffing around, especially when you’re an unmated Omega witch, who’s wolf also happens to be white, the rarest kind. You don’t need anyone, but why do you keep coming back to Brookville and why do you keep walking into trouble and helping people that you don’t know but for some strange reason feel like family. And where is that smell of apple pie coming from?

Series Warnings: A/B/O, eventual smut, violence in parts, witchcraft, shapeshifters

Chapter Summary: The fight between you and Agatha comes to a head.

Chapter Warnings: Witchcraft, gun violence. death. Also the C word is used.

“Billy Russo, always the second choice aren’t you?”

“Shut your damn mouth Harkness.” Elektra called, now back in her position.

“It’s sad really, every single one of you is damaged goods. You’ve all had the chance for better things and yet you stay here in this sad little town. Tell me Billy boy how is it to always be second to the great Frank Castle.”

Billy moved from his spot to stand beside you.

“Bill, get back into position.” Called Frank.

“Got your attention, did I? You know Russo we always have room for more on our side.”

You glanced at Billy and watched as he tried to contain his temper, nostrils flaring and teeth gritted.

“Second to Castle in the military, second pick for S.H.I.E.L.D task force. Second pick to his mate and wife.”

A deep growl ripped through Frank’s chest.

“Watch your damn mouth Agatha.”

“Ooooo did I hit a little nerve? How are the wife and kids?”

Frank raised his gun at Agatha.

“Frankie, don’t.”

“So what’s this, you two and the witch? Second choice again Russo?”

Billy raised his gun at her.

“Billy, remember what I said.”

“Awww let me guess, shot in the dark, you thought she was your second chance, and she wanders in stinking of rejection, damaged, just like the rest of you and you thought she’d just bend over and present that omega cunt to you both.”

There’s a rumble of growls from all of the pack.

“But you couldn’t save your wife Castle and you won’t safe her.”

The moment the words leave Agatha’s mouth, you smell Frank’s scent change to one of despair  and pure rage, he moves towards Agatha as she smirks and you know you have to act now. If you don’t and Frank goes beyond the shield she’ll kill him. You’re in the air and throwing yourself at Agatha before anyone blinks, she collides heavily with a shipping container with you on top of her, landing with such force you make a dent and shove it back.

You hear yelling in the background and know that Billy and Elektra are close by, gun fire starts and a bullet skims passed your leg. It’s quickly followed by another shot and the sound of a body dropping to the floor. You make the mistake of turning to check it’s a Hydra goon. Taking your eyes off Agatha for a second is enough and her hand is under your cloak and on your ribs as she shocks you with her powers. The shock causes you to release her and your both on the floor in a heap. She quickly tries to get on top of you and you shock her backwards, this time into some crates. She struggles to right herself and with her own cloak stuck on part of the wood, you seize the chance to throw fire at her as you get back on your feet.

Then there’s a body around you and you’re on the floor again, this time Billy is on top of you as bullets ring out. Your between two containers and the fight continues, most of the pack the fighting side of the shield. Bullets fly around, one gets Billy in the shoulder of the bullet proof vest he’s wearing and you reach out in the direction of where you think the bullets came from and throw an electric shock towards it. Although you can’t see, Billy still on top of you, you hear a sound that lets you know that you’ve met the target.

Billy glances behind him and you see a glimpse of Elektra, he nods at her and pulls you to your feet. He pulls you into him, close than he knows he should and smirks.

“Not the time Bill, take a girl to dinner first.” and you brush passed him.

“Oh I’ll feed….” he stops mid sentence as a force throws him backwards. Your instinct tells you to look upwards and Agatha is there on top of one of the containers, her cloak still smouldering. You growl and throw her off the container with such force that she hits the shield and is stunned momentarily.

You turn back and run towards Billy.

His eyes are wide and turning black.

“Billy look at me, fight it, she’s hit you with something dark, fight it, think of the light, think of something good. Beta, I need you to listen.”

Elekta appears at your side.

“Shit, can you save him.”

You nod as you tried to keep control of your emotions.

“Keep talking to him and hold him down.”

Elektra straddles him and pins him down. You bring a smaller shield over the three of you to keep you safe whilst you work on Billy.

“Bill, Billy, I’m sorry but this is going to hurt.”

You pull peppermint oil from your bag and pour it straight into Bill’s mouth, as he fights against Elektra’s hold. Quickly, black liquid pools in his mouth and he starts to choke. You move your left hand in a stirring motion and it changes to a tar like substance. You pull it from his body as you talk in light language and throw it upwards and out of the shield you shock it with electricity and it disintegrates. You look backdown at Billy to see him looking back at you wide eyed.

Elektra climbs off him and pulls him to his feet. You push a recovery potion into his hand and turn to find Agatha, ridding yourselves of the smaller shield. It doesn’t take long as she’s practically in the spot that you left her, only Rumlows helping her up. This time you get a good look at his scarred face. Reminiscence of where a witch had tried to fight him. He caught sight of you and turned to towards you gun aimed. You made the gun hot so it burnt his finger tips, the rest of his hands covered by gloves. He let go of it and as it dropped to the floor you scatter the pieces with magic. You swiped your arm and Rumlow’s body went in that direction, knocking him out as he hit a container and dropped into some crates. When he came around he was met with the barrel of Billy and Elektra’s guns.

Seeing Rumlow tossed aside like a rag, caused a rush of anger to rush through Agatha and she threw herself at you. You stopped her midway with your powers and she pushed back with her own. Agatha pushed herself up into the air to try and push you down into the ground, growling as she pushed more powers at you.

You took a fighting stance as you pushed back harder, your powers glowing a mix of white, silver and gold, dancing around and clashing with Agatha's purple in the air. Managing to push Agatha’s partly back into her, she let out a scream in pain and broke away. Her eyes went wide and she screamed this time in anger and flew at you, manic and powers crackling, she started a spell causing the ground to shake.

You strengthen your stance, trying to stay balanced and gave a push back, causing Agatha to zig zag through the sky. Throwing her against the shield again to buy yourself sometime. You went in your bag and pulled a weed out of. Placing it on the ground close to the shield.

“Custodire terram matrem a malo suo”

(Protect mother earth from her evil)

The weed spread, moving and taking root in the gaps where Agatha had damaged the ground, shifting and moving it until it was level again. Another stem went off and connected itself around the shield, securing it and the town even more.

Agatha pulled herself from the shield and landed clumsily on the floor.

“You! You don’t know what or who you’re dealing with.” She growled.

“Nor do you!”

“You will never beat me OMEGA!!!” She responded throwing random shots of flame and electricity at you. You blocked everyone one and threw some back at her. Yours in a more rapid form that she couldn’t block them all. Her anger and frustration grew and she raised her arms and threw all her energy and power at you. You blocked her and pushed back with your own. Agatha started to speak in light language and pushed back harder.

You pushed again harder this time. Your eyes locked with Agatha’s and you knew this was the final push. Her powers pushing back into her had weakened her. Agatha’s eyes went wide as a single word fell from your lips.

“Reditus”

(Return)

She screamed as you turned her powers against her fully, pushing them back into her chest, along with your own. She rose from the ground electricity flickering through her hands.

“Frank! Get everyone back! Get everyone back Alpha now!”

The slip of Frank’s presentation gave a thought to Agatha and she managed to throw a bolt of electricity at him. You moved one of your hands to block it, partially releasing Agatha at the same time. She shot powers at your chest and although your cloak partially protected you, you were knocked backwards on to your ass. Breaking your hold on her, Agatha charged at you again. Frank moved to help but you held up your hand to stop him.

Agatha hovered over you and used her magic to pull you upwards, both of you now hovering up in the sky.

“You really are pathetic Omega. You think that alpha wants you, if Castle wanted you he’d have you. You’re a disappointment to your kind. A six. A white wolf and you still call a man like that Alpha. You still have that sickening need to be wanted but no one ever wants you Omega and nobody ever will. We could do great things little one.”

You kept your eyes locked on her Agatha as a stray tear ran down your cheek.

“See, you’re weak and you know Omega, you know that I’m right. They’ll never want you, not truly. Their pack will never accept you. Your second chance isn’t coming. Come with me.”

You let out a shuddered breath, the emotions overwhelming. You heard voices call your name.

You allowed yourself to go limp as Agatha still held you both in the air. You broke eye contact with her and looked up at the sky, arms outstretched as you pushed sadness out through your scent.

Agatha used one hand to keep you in the air and the other to send her magic towards you, with your cloak still around you the purple spell drifted up over your body and towards your open mouth. A smug smile fell across Agatha’s face as you gave yourself over to her, the cutting words she’d spouted forcing you to give in. There were shouts from below as the spell began to enter your mouth.

And then it stopped. Your mouth snapped shut and you were the one smirking. Agatha’s eyes went wide.

“No!”

You flew forward pushing back the hand that had pushed the spell at you and grabbed Agatha by the throat.

“The problem with alphas like you Agatha, is you always underestimate us. You always look for the weakness. You never see what makes us strong. What we’ve seen! What we’ve been through. You Agatha, you seek weakness, you see darkness, you see evil. But after everything, after every scar, every bit of darkness, after every bit of darkness to touch me, I see light, I see hope, I see love.”

“You’re weak! Love is weak!” Agatha yelled as she struggled in your grip.

“Love always wins, Agatha, always. Oh and FYI I’m not a six. I’m a fucking seven.”

You pulled on the wound and felt the strength of your sister witches pushing back. Your hair, eyes and skin began to shimmer again and Agatha screamed.

“Noooooo!!!!”

“Agatha Harkness, may the goddesses cleanse you of all evil and be kind to your soul.”

You placed your hand against Agatha’s chest and pushed all of your power into her.

“Dimittere ea quae capta sunt”

(Let go of those things which have been taken)

She gasped and her body gradually went limp in your hands. Powers began to pour from her and you knew they weren’t hers. You could smell and feel the pain of the witches she had taken them from as they released upwards into the sky, a multitude of colours scattered into the clouds. You felt Agatha stiffen and she began to fight against you again, her weakened powers flickering from her hands as she tried to flick them at you.

“May your fellow witches forgive you.” you whispered and you gave her another push of your powers. She yelled out and try to push her own remaining powers back at you. You kept your grip on her and pushed back growling as you did. The force of your powers mixed together. The shield around the town crackled with static energy, as the wind picked up around you and Agatha. A reflection of both of your strength. The wind grew stronger as it formed and twisted around you. There was an almighty crack of thunder above as the wind whipped around you more. Your powers continued to clash and out of the corner of your eye you could see the weed spreading rapidly to protect the shield and the ground around you as it shook. The sky let out another crack of thunder and lightning shot across the sky.

“Vale soror”

(Goodbye sister)

Almighty crack of thunder shook the sky and lightning forked down hitting you both. A blast of purple light burst from Agatha and you were both thrown backwards. Your decent from the sky to the ground was slow to begin with, quickening as you fell. You kept your eyes on Agatha as you slipped downwards, no care or inclination to stop your fall. Watching Agatha disintegrate and scatter into the air was the last thing you saw. You let out a sigh of relieve as darkness enveloped you.

Enjoy this fic? Fancy a cuppa? My Ko-Fi.

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@animegirlgeeky

[avxlyse]

Awash In Crimson Wine - Chapter 3

A/N chapter three PLEASE don’t comment about how quick i’m updating I am gay and unemployed.

Agatha’s eyes fluttered open to the same unsettling warmth from the night before. She was drifting again, suspended between sleep and wakefulness, but this time she knew what was coming. She could feel her body melting into the sheets, her muscles relaxed, her mind slipping into a haze. The softness around her beckoned her to stay, to linger in the comfort of the dream.

But this time, she recognized the presence. The heat wasn’t her own—it belonged to Rio.

The succubus appeared at the edge of her consciousness, moving through the dark like a flame against shadow. Agatha’s pulse quickened as Rio’s touch ghosted across her skin, the sensation of fingers tracing a path from her collarbone down to her wrist. Agatha clenched her hands into fists, trying to resist the pull, but the dream wouldn’t let her go.

"Fighting me again, darling?" Rio’s voice dripped with amusement, smooth as honey. She leaned over Agatha, her lips brushing close to Agatha’s ear. "You know you can’t win here."

Agatha struggled to speak, to force her mind to reject the overwhelming sensation of Rio’s presence, but the words tangled in her throat. Her body betrayed her—an electric pulse of desire shot through her limbs, making her back arch involuntarily.

"Shh," Rio whispered, sliding her hand down to Agatha’s hip. "Let go, Agatha. It’s easier that way."

For a fleeting moment, Agatha wanted to surrender. The temptation to give in, to feel that raw power coursing through her again, was overwhelming. It stirred a hunger she had long kept buried, a need that only Rio seemed to ignite. But then, through the fog of the dream, Agatha’s rational mind clawed its way back to the surface.

"No," she growled, finally finding her voice. With a force of will, she wrenched herself free from the haze, breaking the spell of the dream.

Agatha bolted upright in bed, gasping for air. The sheets clung to her sweat-dampened skin, and her heart pounded in her chest as though it was trying to escape. She cursed under her breath, her head spinning as the remnants of the dream clung to her consciousness like cobwebs.

She wasn’t going to let Rio win.

Shaking off the lingering sensation of Rio’s touch, Agatha dragged herself out of bed and into the cold, harsh light of the morning. She washed her face, ignoring her reflection in the mirror, and dressed with purposeful haste. She couldn’t afford to be distracted by Rio’s games. Not now.

Agatha spent the better part of the morning in her study, poring over ancient grimoires and scrolls, searching for a solution. The room smelled of old parchment and candles, the air thick with the energy of half-forgotten spells. She was looking for something—anything—that might help her reclaim the power that had been stripped away by Wanda. Every page she turned was a reminder of what she had lost.

But no matter how hard she tried to focus, Rio lingered at the edge of her thoughts. The succubus’s presence was like a shadow, always just out of reach, teasing her with memories of the dream and the heat that still clung to her skin.

Hours passed, and Agatha buried herself deeper into her research. She found a few promising leads—ancient rituals and spells that hinted at ways to restore lost magic—but nothing concrete. Nothing powerful enough to counter the succubus's influence, or to truly bring her back to her full strength.

As the sun began to dip below the horizon, casting long shadows across the room, Agatha sat back in her chair, rubbing her temples in frustration. She could feel the weight of the day pressing down on her, the fatigue settling into her bones. But at least Rio hadn’t shown herself again. Not in person, at least.

Maybe she’d managed to keep the succubus at bay.

Just as that thought crossed her mind, the air in the room shifted. The temperature rose, ever so slightly, and Agatha’s breath hitched in her throat.

"Miss me?" Rio’s voice was a velvet whisper, impossibly close.

Agatha’s head snapped up, eyes narrowing as the succubus materialized in the corner of the room, draped in that same loose silk robe, her dark hair falling in effortless waves over her shoulders. Her gaze was playful, mischievous, but there was something else there—a glint of intent that Agatha couldn’t quite place.

"I was wondering when you’d show up again," Agatha muttered, pushing herself up from her chair. She moved to the center of the room, keeping her distance from Rio, though she knew it wouldn’t matter. The succubus could close the gap in an instant if she wanted to.

"I was giving you some space," Rio said, a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. "Letting you think. You seemed… tense." At that, Rio placed her hands on Agatha's shoulders and began to knead her sore muscles. The warmth of her touch seemed to momentarily melt all of Agatha's tension away, and she sighed and closed her eyes as she leaned in to the touch.

Agatha’s eyes snapped open as she pulled away and crossed her arms, her posture defensive. "You’re wasting your time. I’m not interested in your games."

Rio chuckled softly, the sound low and rich. "Oh, but you are, Agatha. You just don’t want to admit it." She took another step closer, her bare feet making no sound on the floor. "Tell me—did you enjoy your dream last night?"

Agatha’s jaw tightened. "Stay out of my head."

"I can’t help it," Rio said, her tone playful as she twirled a strand of her hair around one finger. "You’re practically inviting me in. All that frustration, all that desire… It's intoxicating."

Agatha glared at her, but Rio only smiled wider, knowing exactly how to push her buttons.

"I know what you want," Rio said, her voice softening, turning almost coaxing. She moved closer, her gaze locking with Agatha’s. "I can give it to you. All of it. Your power. Your strength. You want it back, don’t you?"

Agatha’s heart skipped a beat, but she kept her expression neutral. "What’s your angle, Vidal? You’ve been dangling this offer in front of me like a carrot. What do you really want?"

Rio’s eyes gleamed. "I want you to see reason. You can’t fight this alone. You need me."

"And what do you get out of it?" Agatha pressed, her suspicion growing.

"Let’s just say, we have a… mutually beneficial arrangement," Rio said, her lips curving into a knowing smile. "I help you regain what was stolen from you. And in return…" She trailed off, as though savoring the moment. "You let me stick around. Keep things interesting."

Agatha felt a chill run down her spine. There was something in Rio’s tone, something beneath the surface, that hinted at a deeper, more dangerous game.

"And if I refuse?"

Rio’s smile faded slightly, her eyes narrowing. "You won’t. Because you can feel it, can’t you? That hunger inside you. The need for control. Power. You can deny it all you want, but it’s there. And it’s growing."

Agatha’s heart was still racing as she stared at Rio, the temptation woven into every word the succubus had whispered.

But this time, Agatha didn’t let Rio close the gap between them. Her jaw clenched, her fingers twitching as if ready to cast a spell, despite knowing she didn’t have enough power to fully deal with the succubus. Her mind was clearer now than it had been during the dream. She wasn’t going to let Rio have the upper hand.

"I don’t need you," Agatha said sharply, her voice cracking through the stillness of the room. "Whatever you're selling, I’m not buying."

Rio raised an eyebrow, her smirk fading as her playful demeanor began to slip. There was an edge in her eyes now, a flash of irritation. "You’re lying to yourself," she said, her voice colder, sharper. "But it doesn’t matter. You’ll see soon enough."

Agatha opened her mouth to respond, but before she could, Rio’s figure began to shimmer, fading into the air. "This isn’t over, Agatha. You’re not as strong as you think."

In the blink of an eye, she was gone.

The room was silent again, but Agatha’s thoughts were anything but calm. Rio was pushing harder now, escalating her presence and influence. It wasn’t just a game of seduction anymore—there was an urgency beneath the surface that Agatha couldn’t ignore.

With a frustrated exhale, she turned back to her desk, her hands shaking slightly as she shoved aside the texts she had been reading. The truth was, Rio wasn’t wrong. The hunger for power was eating away at her. Every day without her full strength felt like a slow, inevitable unraveling. She needed to fix this, fast, before Rio found another way to worm her way in.

Agatha paced the room, her mind spinning. She needed more than just ancient spells—she needed a way to block Rio’s influence completely. But nothing she had tried so far had worked. The binding spell hadn’t held, and her defenses were weakening. She could feel Rio slipping into her thoughts, like a whisper she couldn’t ignore.

And Rio had hinted at something more—something she wasn’t saying. Agatha could feel it, like an itch beneath her skin. There was a bigger plan at play, and it wasn’t just about regaining power. The succubus had a goal, a deeper intention, but she was keeping it close to the chest.

Agatha leaned against the wall, her fingers drumming against her arms as she mulled over the possibilities. There had to be a way to trap Rio, to get her to reveal her true purpose. But how? How could she bait the succubus into showing her hand without letting her get too close?

Then it hit her.

Maybe the answer wasn’t in fighting Rio head-on. Maybe the way to beat her was to give her what she wanted—at least, for a moment. Agatha wasn’t powerless, not entirely. She still had her cunning, her centuries of experience. And she had something Rio craved: the promise of untapped, raw magic.

A plan began to form in Agatha’s mind, one that would require careful execution. If Rio thought Agatha was finally ready to surrender, ready to seek her help, she might drop her guard. And in that moment, Agatha could strike.

It was a dangerous game, but Agatha had played dangerous games before.

She pulled a nearby grimoire from the desk, flipping through the pages quickly until she found what she was looking for. A summoning spell—not to call on Rio, but to invoke a barrier between them. It wasn’t strong enough to sever the connection completely, but it might give her the upper hand in the short term, enough to protect her mind while she set the trap.

She spent the next hour preparing the ritual, her hands moving with purpose as she gathered ingredients and whispered incantations. The candles burned brighter than before, casting the room in an intense, golden glow. The air around her felt thick with magic, charged and volatile, as she worked through the final steps of the spell.

When the ritual was complete, Agatha felt the barrier settle into place—a thin, fragile layer of protection between her and Rio’s influence. It wasn’t perfect, but it would have to do.

She stood in the center of the room, her chest rising and falling with steady breaths as she contemplated her next move. If this was going to work, she’d have to make Rio believe she was giving in, that she was desperate enough to accept the succubus’s offer. And then, when the time was right, she’d find out exactly what Rio wanted—and take control of the situation.

There was one problem. Agatha knew that if she played this game, if she let Rio in just enough to get what she needed, there was a very real chance that she wouldn’t be able to shut her out again. The line between control and surrender was razor-thin, and once Rio had a foothold in her life, it would be nearly impossible to uproot her completely.

Still, it was a risk she had to take. She couldn’t afford to keep losing ground—not to Rio, and not to her own growing need for power.

"Fine," Agatha muttered to herself, her resolve hardening. "Let’s see how she handles this."

The next night, Agatha sat in the same room, the candles burning low as she waited for Rio to make her move. The ritual had left her drained, and she could feel the pull of sleep tugging at her eyelids. But she knew better than to let her guard down.

And right on cue, the air in the room shifted again.

Rio appeared, materializing like smoke in the shadows, her form languid and predatory. Her eyes gleamed as she stepped forward, a slow smile spreading across her lips.

"You’ve been thinking about my offer," she said softly, her voice curling through the air like silk.

Agatha straightened, meeting Rio’s gaze with a cool, calculated expression. "Maybe I have."

Rio’s smile widened, but there was a flicker of suspicion in her eyes. "And what have you decided, darling?"

Agatha took a slow breath, letting her voice drop to a low murmur. "I’ll accept your help. But on my terms."

Rio’s eyes flashed with interest. "Go on."

Agatha didn’t flinch. "You want to help me reclaim my power? Fine. But I want to know the real cost. No games. No tricks. You tell me everything."

The succubus’s smile faltered for just a second, but she recovered quickly, her eyes narrowing with amusement. "You’re smarter than most, I’ll give you that. But I’m not the one playing games, Agatha."

Agatha crossed her arms, her gaze sharp. "Then prove it. Tell me what you’re really after."

Rio’s smile didn’t quite reach her eyes as she took a step closer. "All in good time, darling. But first… you’ll need to trust me."

Agatha didn’t blink. "Trust is earned, not given."

Rio’s laugh was soft, almost too quiet. "We’ll see about that."