Work Text:
Lilith wouldn't stop running through the trees, trying not to hit one. It was difficult to say the least. She felt herself running so fast, that her reflexes almost couldn't catch up, and not only that but she almost felt like someone was moving her legs for her, like she had no control over her body. Besides it was dark out, and the tears that filled her eyes and blurred her vision didn't help either. They stung more than they should have. Maybe it was just how fast she was running? Yeah, that was it.
"LILITH!" a voice called.
A voice that belonged to her sister.
"LIIILIIIIITH!" Eda continued to shout and run through the trees, trying desperately to catch up. But Lilith wouldn't stop. She didn't even know if she wanted to or not. She couldn't even feel her legs even as they were rapidly beating against the cold hard dirt at an almost tiring pace. How long had she been running? It felt like hours but it couldn't have been any more than 10 minutes. She felt like she could just run forever until she started to feel her knees give in. She fell, tumbling into the cold solid ground and rolling until she hit a tree.
Eda finally managed to catch up to her injured sister and see her in her broken state. Lilith had let loud sobs escape her lungs and mascara-polluted tears flow freely down her face. Everything hurt. Her legs felt like she'd never walk again, her lower back and left hip was in excruciating pain from where she hit the tree, her face was hot enough for it to feel like it was about to burst into flames, and her tears burned her eyes from how hard she had been crying.
Eda stepped closer to her broken sister.
"Oh Lily, what have I done?" She asked herself gently, reaching out to embrace her.
Lilith shuffled away from the grey haired woman and hissed, "don't touch me…" almost trailing off at the end like she was hesitant. Eda could see the despair in her sister's teary, seafoam green eyes. She knelt down to look Lilith in the eye, but she just turned away from her. She was never good at eye contact, but the way she reacted to this was something else.
"Lily, I'm so sorry, I promise you I didn't mean-"
"That doesn't matter," Lilith muttered between sobs. "Nothing matters anymore." She tried to pick herself up but she felt as if she had just broken every bone in her body, even if she probably only pulled her leg muscles and fractured her hip at the very most.
Eda offered her hand, which Lilith refused.
"Don't act like you care."
Eda pulled her hand back slowly.
"Ok then just sit here and try to recover and once you're feeling better we can head back, ok?" Lilith glared daggers at her sister. It had only just occurred to her that she had never told ANYONE what the Emperor did to her, so that would mean that Eda would had to have figured it out herself somehow. Her whole life she wanted Eda to join the Emperor's Coven so her curse would be cured and so Lilith would no longer have to be lonely. She spent decades in that coven being tortured and abused by the Emperor in every horrible way possible, all just so she could save her sister and get to be with her and have a shoulder to cry on when he hurt her again, and not once would Eda comply. Not once would she take a good long look at her own sister and see that there was something wrong. Eda spent her whole youth trying to protect Lily from their parents or bullies at school, and yet she couldn't even try to be there when she needed her most. It infuriated Lilith. She had been through so much pain while in the coven and Eda KNEW about it, not doing a thing to make her feel better or even save her from her misery.
"No, YOU can head back. I'm not going anywhere."
Eda gave her a look. "What do you mean?"
Lilith put her hands on her hips. "I can't go home with you Edalyn."
"Of course you can," Eda responded gently. "Why do you feel like you ne-"
"WHY DON'T YOU GET IT!?" Lilith shouted. Eda stepped back in shock.
"YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT ALL THIS TIME YOU KNOW WHAT BELOS WAS DOING TO ME AND YOU NEVER DID A THING!?"
"I didn't know the details, just that there was definitely a problem."
"BUT COULDN'T YOU HAVE AT LEAST TRIED!?" Her tears came down in waterfalls as she desperately tried to hold back the violent sobs and continuously failed.
"Why couldn't you have at least done something?! ANYTHING ?!" She sobbed.
"I'm sorry Lils, I was just selfish and just really wanted to stay as a wild witch, I didn't think-" she stopped herself.
"Can't you just leave and go home?! You were clearly doing better without me for the past 30 years…"
Eda got on her feet as she started to feel her blood boil. "Hold on, you're telling me you thought I was HAPPY without you?!" She shouted. "Lilith I spent almost every moment in that house wishing I could help you in some way so we could be sisters again, I WANT to be your friend again-"
"THEN WHY DO YOU KEEP RUNNING?!"
Eda's expression softened upon hearing her sister's words. She took a step back and let it sink in. Lilith just continued softly sobbing, having already cried too much to wail any harder. Eda felt her eyes fill with tears but wiped them before anything could fall.
"Lilith…"
"Shut up" Eda did as told. She thought about all the days they spent together, how much fun they had, how many adventures they went on, and how much life Lilith had in her. Her time in the coven drained all that and left her an empty shell. Eda knew about all this, and yet she wouldn't stop running.
Lilith wiped her eyes and looked back up at her sister.
"Why can't you just leave me here to suffer?" She slumped against the tree.
"That's what you do best anyways."
Eda stood there for a moment staring at her sister. She hesitated but after some thought she turned and walked in the other direction, through the trees until when she turned around she couldn't see her sister anymore.
Eda realized what she was doing and immediately sprinted back to Lilith, still too broken to move. She knelt down and slid over to Lilith, immediately throwing her arms around her and sobbing.
"Edalyn, I told yo-"
"NO!" Eda choked. Lilith didn't say a word
"I'M NOT LEAVING YOU THIS TIME!"
Lilith sat there in her sister's embrace, trying to find the words, but they left her. She didn't hug back. She just sat there, melting into Eda's arms and sinking her head into her sister's shoulder.
After Eda managed to calm down she pulled away before gently pressing her lips to her sister's cheek, giving it a long tender kiss. She pressed their foreheads together and looked into Lilith's eyes, even if Lilith wouldn't look into hers.
"I love you… and I want you to know that," Eda quietly reassured. Lilith closed her eyes and said nothing.
"We can talk about this more at home," Eda continued.
Eda picked up Lilith bridal style, since she still couldn't walk and carried her back through the woods and into the owl house. She was wanting to talk to her sister more about what happened but the moment they got there, she realized her older sister had fallen into a deep slumber. The owl lady effortlessly carried the sleeping woman up the stairs, to her (Eda's) room and gently laid her down in her nest. Lilith had been sleeping on the couch the whole time she was living there, (her own choice, she believed she deserved it) but that's not what she needed right now. Eda lay next to her and pulled the covers over the two of them before getting one last good look at her sister and falling into unconsciousness.