Sabrina Spellman: World�s Greatest Sorceress by Archie Fan - betty_cooper72@yahoo.ca The Origins of Sabrina and her magic. A prequel to her appearance in Riverdale's Supergirl ***************************************** The following story is available in .PDF version including illustrations on my DeviantArt page at archie-fan.deviantart.com ***************************************** Chapter 1 17 years ago... Four and a half year old Sabrina Spellman was asleep in her room when she was woken up by the sound of her mother screaming. Sabrina sat up in bed thinking at first that it had just been a nightmare, but then she heard it a second time, followed by the sound of her father shouting something. Sabrina got out of bed and slid her feet into her pink bunny slippers. Slowly she crept towards her bedroom door. She could still hear the sound of her father shouting, but she couldn't understand what he was saying; it didn't sound like he was speaking English. As she reached the door Sabrina nervously reached out and grabbed the magic wand her father had given her for her birthday that was sitting on her dresser. Holding onto it tightly Sabrina cautiously opened her door and peered out into the hallway. She noticed immediately that the carpet runner that ran the length of the hallway was wrinkled and pushed up against the far wall. The picture on the wall of Sabrina and her parents had fallen to the ground and the glass frame had several large cracks. Sabrina peered down the hall towards her parents' room where the noise had come from. The door was only slightly ajar but there was a bright reddish-purple glow emanating from the room. Sabrina made her way closer to the bedroom cautiously holding her wand out in front of her. As she got closer she heard the sound of a deep voice that wasn't her fathers, but she couldn't understand what it was saying. She reached her parents' room and pushed the door open and let out a scream at what she saw. Her mother was floating in the air above the bed, the reddish-purple glow that Sabrina had noticed was emanating from her mother. Her father was standing at the foot of the bed in his pyjamas his own wand in his hand, however he wasn't facing Sabrina's mother, instead he was looking at something Sabrina was quite frightened by. It was a huge creature probably taller than the bedroom since it was stooped over. It was mostly white and vaguely humanoid in shape. It had three horns emerging from its head one each side and another from the top, all three horns curving forward. It had a blue patch right in the middle of its face but no nose. It had two glowing red slit like eyes and a large mouth filled with sharp teeth. Sabrina let out a terrified scream at the sight of the creature causing it to turn and look at her. "Well, well what do we have here?" it asked in its deep voice. Sabrina's father, John fired a spell of green energy from his wand that struck the creature sending it across the room and into the dresser smashing the dresser to pieces. However the creature got to its feet letting out a throaty chuckle seemingly un-phased by the spell it had been hit by. "You cannot stop me John Zatara," the creature said. "I will take what I have come here for... and perhaps I will take your daughter for myself." "No!" John yelled as he leapt at the creature grabbing onto its leg. "Release me you insolent creature," the huge creature ordered. John ignored it and looked over at his frightened daughter as the creature shook its leg trying to get John off. "Sabrina, you need to send us back to the demon's plane," John said to his daughter. "You need to send us both to hell to save you and your mother." Sabrina said nothing but just stared at her father her eyes wide with fright and confusion. "You know the magic language," John said. "Just say the words and point your wand." "But daddy, I'm scared," Sabrina said. "I know but you must be brave," John said. "Do that and I will kill your whole family little girl," the demon said. Sabrina whimpered in fright. "Don't listen to him," John said. "If you banish him he can never return!" Sabrina looked at her father who was struggling to hold on. She wasn't sure what to believe. "Hsinab meht ot lleh!" Sabrina shouted as she pointed her wand at the demon and her father. A blue wave of light shot from her wand and washed over both the demon and her father. "I love you Sabr..." her father started to say before he and the demon both vanished. Suddenly the glow emanating from Sabrina's mother abruptly faded and she fell out of the air onto the bed. Sabrina ran over and hugged her mother who was breathing heavily. "Sabrina, that was very brave of you," her mother said. "Is daddy coming back?" Sabrina asked. "I don't know," her mother said as she hugged her daughter. "I just don't know." ***************************************** 15 years ago... Sabrina followed her mother up to the large Victorian style house. The six year old nervously held onto her mother's hand as she held her stuffed cat Salem in the other. As they walked up the stairs to the porch the door opened and two women exited. One a woman in with long orange hair wearing a tie- dyed shirt under a brown vest with a black mini skirt and brown knee high boots. The other woman had short green hair and wore dark round rimmed sunglasses and was dressed in a black shirt and black jeans. Sabrina had only met them a few times previously but she immediately recognized her aunts Hilda and Zelda. "Hello sisters," Sabrina's mother greeted the women. "Diana," Zelda, the green haired one responded. "And Sabrina," Hilda said with a smile as she knelt down in front of Sabrina. "My you've gotten bigger since I last saw you." "That was at my fifth birthday," Sabrina said matter-of-factly. "And I'm six and a half now." "Hmm, I guess it was," Hilda agreed. "When you get to be my age time starts to get away from you." "You're only sixty-eight sister," Diana said. "And I don't look a day over twenty-three," Hilda responded. "What brings you here Diana?" Zelda asked. "Perhaps we could talk inside?" Diana asked. "Very well," Zelda agreed. She opened the front door and stepped inside as Hilda, Diana and Sabrina all followed. "Sabrina why don't you go upstairs and check out my old bedroom," Diana suggested. "It's the first room on the right at the top of the stairs." Sabrina knew that meant her mother wanted to talked about something that she didn't want Sabrina to hear. However Sabrina agreed and ran up the stairs to the bedroom. There were dolls and stuffed animals everywhere in the room and Sabrina was momentarily excited to play with them, however her curiosity over what her mother wanted to talk with her aunts about soon over rid that and she crept to the edge of the stairs to try and listen. "Is this about that mortal that you went out and married?" Zelda asked. "Even after he tricked you." "His name is John and he is Sabrina's father," Diana said. "He still lied about who he was," Zelda said. "Love cares not for who people are," Hilda commented. "Why are you here?" Zelda asked. "I need you to look after Sabrina for me," Diana replied. "Why?" Zelda asked. "She's going to find John," Hilda answered. "John is in hell," Zelda said. "Because of your daughter; although he's also most likely dead." "If he was dead I would know," Diana said. "I need to find him." "It's his own fault he's trapped there," Zelda stated. "That may be so, but I have to try and rescue him," Diana said. "We'll watch Sabrina for you," Hilda said. "And if something should happen to me..." Diana started to say. "Don't worry we'll take care of her," Hilda assured her. "Thank you," Diana said. There was whooshing noise and Sabrina saw a slight flash. "Well we should probably go tell Sabrina," Zelda said. "Tell me what?" Sabrina asked as she made her way down the stairs. Zelda and Hilda both looked at each other, both of them hesitant to speak. "You're going to be staying with us for a while Sabrina," Hilda said. "Why?" Sabrina asked. "Your mother left to find your father," Hilda replied. "He's in hell, I sent him there, he told me to, that it was to save me and my mom," Sabrina said. Hilda knelt down tears in her eyes and she hugged Sabrina. "Hell is a big place," Zelda said. "Much bigger than Earth. It could take her years to your father, or even longer." Sabrina looked around the house. She hoped that her mother would find her father quickly so they could all be a family again. ***************************************** 5 years ago... Sabrina sat beside her bedroom window looking out as she watched the other kids in the neighbourhood make their way to school. Sabrina longed to join them, but her Aunt Zelda wouldn't allow it, and her Aunt Hilda didn't seem to care one way or the other. Sabrina had been living with her aunts for ten years now. She had never been registered to go to school. Her aunts said it was because they didn't want to attract attention to the fact that her mother was missing, but Sabrina suspected that at least Zelda had an ulterior motive. Instead Sabrina was homeschooled. Admittedly Sabrina was taught things that she would never learn in public school, particularly her ability to wield magic. Sabrina was pretty sure she could cast spells better than either of her aunts. "Sabrina it's time for your lessons," her Aunt Zelda called up the stairs. Sabrina took one last look out the window at the other kids her age before reluctantly making her way downstairs. Her Aunt Zelda was in the den which also served sort of as a classroom. "Today we're going to be working on transmutation spells," Zelda said as she patted a large leather bound spellbook. "Specifically turning elements into other elements." "Like turning lead into gold?" Sabrina asked. "Yes, just like that," Zelda said. "Now the first part of doing that is creating a focus for the spell using a stone; the mortals colloquially refer to this focus as the Philosopher's Stone, although where the philosophy part comes from is beyond me." Sabrina just nodded as she listened. Her Aunt Zelda was quite strict with Sabrina's lessons. Zelda also had a dislike for normal humans. Zelda referred to normal humans as mortals even though she herself wasn't immortal. Granted Zelda was 108 years old and yet looked as though she were only in her late 30's or early 40's. But her magical abilities just slowed her aging it didn't stop it entirely. Sabrina's grandmother had passed away at the age 460 when Sabrina had been 3. Sabrina's Aunt Hilda was younger at only 76, and Sabrina's own mother would actually be almost 50 by now. "And none of that backwards spell talk blasphemy," Zelda said. "You're going to learn proper spell casting." Sabrina wrinkled her nose in frustration but then opened up the spellbook. Neither of her aunts could cast spells by speaking backwards like Sabrina could. Zelda said it was something that Sabrina had inherited from her father that marked her as an abomination; Hilda was a little bit nicer about it. "I'll leave you to it then," Zelda said. Sabrina watched her aunt leave the den and then began reading over the spell. She soon let out a groan of frustration. The process of making the stone alone would take her almost all day; and turning the lead to gold would take another day. Sabrina looked at the chunk of lead that Zelda had left on the desk and picked it up. "Nrut si dael otni dlog," Sabrina said. Instantly the lead in her hand turned into gold. Something that would take two days had taken her two seconds. "Nrut si dlog kcab otni dael," Sabrina said. The gold immediately turned back into lead and Sabrina set it down on the desk. Sabrina was frustrated. This whole lesson was a waste of her time, especially when there was plenty of other things she could be learning. Sabrina closed up the transmutation spellbook and went over to the bookshelf and began looking for something else to read. Her eyes were drawn almost immediately to a large black book. Sabrina pulled it off the shelf and looked at the cover. The book was called Codex of the Underworld. Sabrina opened it up and saw that the book was about Hell. She was immediately interested, that was where her parents were both trapped. For years Sabrina had wondered about what had happened to them. She'd pretty much given up on the hope of being a family again at this point. But she wanted to know what had become of her parents. Sabrina read through the book taking everything she could in. Hell was a place that seemed to be in constant flux. The most constant thing seemed to be the Lords of Hell, extremely powerful demons who ruled the dimension. Sabrina read through familiarizing herself with them, she figured that one of them was likely responsible for whatever had befallen her parents, but which one she didn't know. As she read the book an idea, a plan, formed in Sabrina's mind. She was going to travel to Hell and learn what had happened to her parents, and if she could save them. But it wasn't going to be easy, the book said that the souls of humans act like beacons in Hell attracting huge swarms of demons to them. She was going to need to find a way to disguise herself. Sabrina was nearing the end of the book and was beginning to lose hope in her plan when she finally came across her answer. The book mentioned something called Hellspawn, they were humans who had made a bargain with a one of the Lords of Hell. The details were scarce but supposedly they retained some of their humanity, however their body were clad in some kind of symbiotic armour made from something called necroplasm. Sabrina smiled to herself, if she could create her own symbiotic necroplasm armour then perhaps she could disguise herself as a Hellspawn to search Hell for her parents. However she had no idea how to go about doing such a thing. Her own backwards speak spell casting was quite powerful but there were limits on what it could do. Many were the times she'd cast "gnirb kcab ym stnerap" or something else to that effect and nothing had happened. Sabrina guessed that interdimensional spells required the "proper touch" as her Aunt Zelda liked to call it. Sabrina knew that her Aunt Zelda however wouldn't help her. Zelda seemed to dislike Sabrina's father and felt that Sabrina's mother deserved whatever had happened to her. But perhaps her Aunt Hilda would be willing to help. Sabrina quietly opened the door to the den and peered out looking for her Aunt Zelda, not wanting to be caught. She could hear Zelda upstairs and Sabrina quietly snuck out of the den. Sabrina knew that her Aunt Hilda was out in the backyard attending to her garden. Sabrina made her way out the back door in the kitchen and found her Aunt Hilda tending to some small blue flowers. "Aunt Hilda," Sabrina said. "I was wondering if you could help me with something." "Zelda is your teacher Sabrina," Hilda replied not looking up from her gardening. "I know but this doesn't have to do with my lesson," Sabrina said. "It has to do with my parents." Hilda stopped what she was doing and looked up at Sabrina but said nothing. "I've figured out a way on how I can travel to Hell and disguise myself from demons but I need your help," Sabrina said. "What do you need?" Hilda asked after a long pause. "I need to obtain some necroplasm," Sabrina said. Hilda's eyes went wide with realization. "You're going to turn yourself into a Hellspawn," she said. "That's the plan," Sabrina stated. "Necroplasm is very rare," Hilda said. "It doesn't occur here on Earth." Sabrina was worried. "Fortunately I know where we can find some," Hilda said with a smile. "Really? Where?" Sabrina asked excitedly. "Your Aunt Zelda has some," Hilda said. "It's called Shadow Thread, but if we're going to get it without her finding out we're going to have to be careful." Sabrina nodded in agreement as she struggled to contain her excitement. She now had a chance to learn what had happened to her parents. ***************************************** Chapter 2 Five years ago... "Zelda keeps the Shadow Thread locked up in the den," Hilda said. "But you can't let her see you take it." "How do I get it?" Sabrina asked. "With your magic you'll be able to open the lock no problem," Hilda said. "I'll distract her and then meet me up in my room and I'll help you perform the spell so you can become a Hellspawn. Now hurry back." "Tropelet em ot eht ned," Sabrina said. Instantly Sabrina was teleported back to the den. She immediately started looking around to try and find where her Aunt Zelda kept the Shadow Thread. Her first instinct was to check the desk and she began opening all drawers until she came to one that was locked. Hilda had said that it was locked up so Sabrina figured this had to be it. "Nepo eht kcol," Sabrina said. There was a click as the lock opened and she was able to easily pull the draw open. Inside was a multitude of clay jars, small wooden boxes and glass vials. Sabrina muttered a curse; this wasn't going to be as easy as she thought. She began pulling the various containers out and examining what was in each of them. She quickly discovered that all of the small wooden boxes were also locked. Sabrina was starting to get more frustrated at this point. She began opening the boxes with her magic and checking the contents. Finally she managed to find a box contain what looked to be some kind of threat. Sabrina took the thread out and closed the box up and put the box and all the other containers back in the drawer and relocked it. She was about to leave the den when she heard her Aunt Zelda returning. "Tropelet eht daerth ot ym moor no ym deb," Sabrina quietly cast. The thread vanished out of her hand just as Zelda came back into the den. "So Sabrina how are you doing?" Zelda asked. "This is tedious and pointless," Sabrina complained as she picked up the lead once again. "I can turn this lead into gold easily, watch; nrut siht dael otni dlog." The lead once again turned into gold in Sabrina's hand. "What did I tell you about doing that," Zelda snapped as she slapped the large chunk of gold out of Sabrina's hand. "Ow!" Sabrina exclaimed. "I don't understand why I have to do something that will take two days when I can do it in two seconds." "If you want to be a true witch..." Zelda began to say. "I don't want to be a witch," Sabrina cut her off. "Your mother..." Zelda started. "Would be disappointed with you," Sabrina said angrily. "If there is one thing I've learned living with you, it's that my mother loved my father despite the fact he wasn't one of you. And she would have been more than happy to let me be whatever I wanted to be. She wouldn't force me to not use my talents because of some tradition." Zelda glared at her niece angrily. "You go to your room now!" Zelda said angrily. "Gladly," Sabrina said; then just to rub it in. "Tropelet em ot ym moor." Sabrina was instantly teleported up to her room. Downstairs she heard her Aunt Zelda angrily let out a frustrated scream. A moment later Sabrina heard a knock on her door, she opened it to see her Aunt Hilda chuckling. "I don't know what you did to get Zelda so upset but it reminds me of how both your mother and I could push her buttons when we were younger," Hilda said. "Was she always like this?" Sabrina asked. "Like what?" Hilda asked. "So angry, so set in her ways," Sabrina replied. "Ah, well she is the oldest child," Hilda said. "Older children are always a stickler for the rules. Zelda's problem is that the rules have changed but she's having trouble accepting that." "What rules?" Sabrina asked confused. "It's a metaphor dear," Hilda said. "The rules are life, society, the way things are, these things change over time and you can't do anything about it. But when you're as long lived as we are you need to learn to adapt or else you become a curmudgeon like my sister." "Ha, curmudgeon, that's a good word for her," Sabrina said with a chuckle. "Come on hurry to my room I've got everything we need for the spell ready," Hilda said. "Bring the threat." Sabrina picked up the Shadow Thread and the two of them quietly made their way to Hilda's room. Once they were inside Hilda quietly closed the door. Sabrina saw that Hilda had drawn a large circle with a Pentagram inside with chalk on the floor. The curtain were closed and the room was dark. Sabrina saw that there were thirteen candles placed equidistant around the circle. "Incendo," Hilda said as she waved her hands around the circle. All of the candles ignited simultaneously brightening the room. "Sit in the center of the circle and I'll guide you," Hilda said. Sabrina sat down in the middle of the circle cross legged and looked up at Hilda who was sitting on the end of her bed with a spell book on her lap. "Now what?" Sabrina asked. "For this spell to work you're going to need to make a sacrifice," Hilda said. "And it's not going to be easy." "What do I have to sacrifice?" Sabrina asked. "Blood," Hilda replied. "This is a blood magic spell?" Sabrina gasped. "Isn't that forbidden?" "Technically yes," Hilda said. "But it's the only way. When you're dealing with Hell only dark magic will work, and all forms of dark magic have a price. This one is just the least costly. Would you prefer to sacrifice a piece of your soul?" "Um... no not really," Sabrina replied. Hilda tossed a dagger to her niece and Sabrina deftly caught it by the hilt. "Then blood magic it is," Hilda said rather solemnly. Sabrina looked at the dagger and took a deep breath. "It won't take much but make a single cut across your palm," Hilda instructed her niece. Sabrina slowly drew the blade across her palm. She winced from the pain but made no noise. A few drops of blood dripped down onto the floor. "Place the Shadow Thread on the wound," Hilda directed. Sabrina did as told. As soon at the Shadow Thread touched her open wound she felt a strange sensation as though the chill was travelling through her entire body. She did her best to suppress a shudder. "Press your palms together and slowly pull them apart," Hilda said. Sabrina did so and as she pulled her palms apart she saw the thread sticking to her hands creating a sort of web. "Keep doing that," Hilda instructed. "Going quicker each time." Sabrina followed Hilda's instructions; each time she pulled her hands apart the web of thread grew bigger. "Spread your hands further," Hilda said. Sabrina pulled her hands further apart and the web of thread was so thick now it was almost like a large black piece of fabric. The next time Sabrina pulled her hands apart the thread seemed to be wrapping itself around her hands and with each time it wrapped itself more and more around her hands until it was as though she was wearing gloves. "Stand up!" Hilda ordered. Sabrina rose to her feet and suddenly the thread began spreading over her entire body. "What the hell?" Sabrina exclaimed frightenedly. "Hellspawn to be exact," Hilda stated calmly. The thread quickly spread all over Sabrina's body enveloping her in darkness. Sabrina could feel herself changing as it did she could feel parts of her mind go dimmer while other parts rose to the fore. Finally the changes stopped; Sabrina looked over at the mirror on the dresser and was somewhat frightened by the reflection that stared back at her. She was wearing something skin tight that was all black and covered with spikes red spiked gauntlets and matching boots. There was a black mask over her face that shrouded out her features save for a pair of glowing green eyes and the only markings a sort of white H shape that met around her eyes. In her right hand she was holding a massive sickle, the giant curved blade long enough to go from her hip and curve all the way down to the floor. Her hair seemed to glow almost like fire and it waved about from an invisible wind. "What in the..." Sabrina muttered and then raised her left hand towards her mouth realizing her voice had grown deeper. "Well that is certainly a perfect disguise for travelling in hell if I do say so myself," Hilda said. "Now let's get you there before your Aunt Zelda figures out what we're up to." Suddenly a portal opened up on the floor directly in front of Sabrina. She didn't even have time to react as portal quickly sucked her and she vanished from view. "Good luck my niece," Hilda said as she closed the portal. ***************************************** Sabrina fell for what felt like an eternity before she finally came crashing to a stop. As she picked herself up she saw that she was standing on top of a massive hill made entirely out of skulls. "Disgusting," Sabrina muttered. Then Sabrina got a closer look at the skulls. Some of them were human, but others were decidedly not. They reminded her off all sorts of animals, horses, pigs, dogs, cats; one skull looked like an elephant skull but with four massive horns. "What the heck?" Sabrina asked quietly out loud to nobody. She then became aware of noise off in the distance. There was a buzzing noise as well as the sound of roars and shouts, none of it in English. Sabrina looked towards the source of the noise and she saw a group of red scaled demons that looked to be twenty feet tall fighting what looked like massive wasps that were probably the size of a horse, but looked tiny compared to the bigger demons. The bigger demons had large flaming swords and any of the wasps struck by one were killed instantly. However some of the bigger demons got swarmed and were quickly stung to death. But in the end it was the big red scaled demons that won the battle. A few of them picked up the corpses of their foes and carried them with them. As Sabrina watched the big demons made their way towards some vast bronze structure off in the distance. With no idea where she was or where to go Sabrina decided that perhaps she should follow. Sabrina carefully made her way down the hill of skulls until she was walking through the battlefield where the demons had battled the giant wasps. As Sabrina walked through the battlefield she was glad that she had the oversized sickle, although she hoped that she wasn't forced to use it. As she was picking her way through the battle field she heard sound coming from one of the big red demons, which just happened to be right in front of her. Sabrina worried that perhaps it wasn't actually dead, just wounded. Sabrina tightened her grip on the sickle preparing herself to use it if necessary. Slowly she crept forward, as she got closer she saw that a much smaller demon was attempting to pry the sword of the dead demon from its death grip without much luck. The smaller demon looked a bit like a medieval gargoyle but it's entire body was covered with spines. Even the wings emerging from its back had a spiny shape to them. Sabrina stopped and just watched the little demon. The demon suddenly seemed to sense that it was being watched and it turned and spotted Sabrina and let out a terrified shriek. "Ah! Hellspawn... I... I'm sorry mistress," the little thing apologized. "Sorry? Sorry for what?" Sabrina asked confused. "I... wait a minute, who are you?" the spiny demon asked. Sabrina knew Hellspawn were like officers down in hell and that she needed to act the part. "I'm the one asking the questions here," Sabrina growled, a little perturbed at how easy it was to act so intimidating. "Sorry, a thousand apologies," the demon said. "I... I heard that if you take a pit fiend's sword you can become one." Sabrina let out a laugh that sounded deep and sinister even if it wasn't intended to sound as such. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard," she said. "I... I'm sorry mistress," the demon apologized again. "Enough with the apologies," Sabrina snapped. "Perhaps you can help me with something?" "Yes, yes mistress anything for you," the little demon said. "I'm looking for someone," Sabrina said. "John Zatara." The spiny demon stared at her. Sabrina couldn't tell if it was confusion, disbelief or fright. "Why are you looking for him?" the demon asked. "That's not your concern," Sabrina replied. "Now tell me do you know where he is?" "Of course, he is being held by Lord Belial," the demon replied. "Lord Belial..." Sabrina repeated more to herself than anything. Sabrina recalled seeing the name when she had been reading the Codex of the Underworld. Belial had been involved in a major Hell event called The Uprising. Eight arch-demons and arch-demonesses had risen up against perhaps one of the most powerful demons in all of Hell, Trigon, in an attempt to overthrow him. It looked as though Trigon was going to win when his lieutenant Belial had stepped in and stabbed Trigon in the back, siding with the other demons of The Uprising. Belial and the other eight had divided Trigon's section of hell amongst themselves. Belial had named is section Phlegethos. "Yes Lord Belial," the little spiny demon said. "Known as the betrayer." Suddenly Sabrina was snapped back to the night her father had disappeared. After she had first woken up and was heading into the hallway she had heard her father yell, "I'm not giving her to the betrayer." Sabrina hadn't understood what that had meant at the time, but now she had a pretty good idea. Her father had been trying to protect her mother from Belial. The question now was why? That was something Sabrina could learn once she found him, assuming he was still alive. "Where can I find Belial?" Sabrina asked. The little spiny demon looked at her like she was crazy. "You can find him in his palace in Abriymoch, the volcano city in Phlegethos," the spiny demon said. "Everyone knows..." Sabrina suddenly lashed out with the sickle, hacking off the little demon's head. The decapitated demon fell to the ground, green blood leaking out of both its neck and head. Sabrina gave a slight sigh of relief, the demon could have blown her cover. Sabrina had a name and a location now; that was more than when she had first come here. With a renewed sense of purpose Sabrina began heading once more towards the bronze structure she'd seen off in the distance. ***************************************** Chapter 3 Sabrina arrived at the huge bronze structure, which turned out to be a massive fortress. She could see all sorts of demons on the walls manning defenses or constructing more. Sabrina made her way towards a massive gate, but found it guarded by a massive fifteen foot tall demon with red skin, huge horns and wings that seemed to be made of fire; it was also armed with a sword that seemed to be made of fire. "Halt," the demon ordered as it pointed its sword at Sabrina. Sabrina stopped just inches from the demon's flaming blade. She stared up at the demon, glad that the necroplasm of her Hellspawn armour hid the fear that would have otherwise been quite evident on her face. "State your business at the Bronze Citadel Hellspawn," the demon demanded. "I'm just passing through on my way to Abriymoch," Sabrina replied. The demon continued to consider her for a long moment, its sword inches from her neck. Sabrina could feel the heat of the sword's flames it was so close. "Very well," the demon said. "But I will have two of my soldiers accompany you to the portal. I don't want any Hellspawn hanging around here longer than necessary." Sabrina was almost overjoyed at the lucky break that she wouldn't have to search around the citadel for a way to Abriymoch herself. However she remained calm not showing any emotion as she imagined a real Hellspawn would. "Very well," Sabrina agreed. The big demon turned and motioned and the gates opened. Standing just inside the two other demons, much smaller, but still about a half a foot taller than Sabrina was. They were both green and had large pig shaped heads, except they had mouths filled with razor sharp fangs and a pair of stubby wings emerged from their backs. They each carried a two handed axe that looked as though they were made entirely from some kind of stone. "These two will accompany you to the portal," the demon said. Sabrina gave a slight nod before making her way into the citadel. The two pig-headed demons stepped in front of her blocking her path. "By all means lead the way," Sabrina said. "I'm sure you know the way better than I do." The two demons glanced at each other and then turned and lead the way into the citadel. They weaved their way through a maze of different buildings. All around were various demons looking like they were preparing for some kind of war. Sabrina did her best to keep a mental note of where they were going. She had suddenly realized that she didn't know how she was going to leave hell once she found what she came for. Soon they came to a large red portal. It was at least thirty feet high more than big enough for the largest demons that Sabrina had seen to pass through. It flickered and waved as it glowed with an unholy energy. Sabrina glanced suspiciously at the two demons that had accompanied her. She was wary of whether they were trying to lead her into a trap or not. However as it was she had no idea where to go, so whether they were lying or not she might as well go through the portal. Sabrina took a deep breath, and noticed the strong smell of sulphur that seemed to be emanating from the portal. The little spiny demon from earlier had said Abriymoch was a volcano city so a sulphur smell would make sense. Feeling a little more confident Sabrina stepped through the portal. She emerged almost immediately into a city of towering structures made from black stone. The air was extremely hot and if it were not for her necroplasm disguise Sabrina thought she would probably be burning alive, however the Hellspawn armour protected her. Sabrina looked around, there were far fewer demons present here, unlike back at the Bronze Citadel where the place was crowded with hundreds, if not thousands of them. But that didn't mean that this place was any less dangerous. Sabrina once again fidgeted with her grip on her sickle, feeling rather comfortable and thankful for the weapon at this point. Cautiously Sabrina began making her way through the city. After a few minutes she saw that city was indeed located right on the lip of a massive volcano. She looked down into the cauldron of the volcano which bubbled with molten hot lava, clouds of black smoke billowing up into the air. "So it's true a Hellspawn has come to our city," Sabrina heard somebody say behind her. She spun around to see who it was bringing her sickle up ready to use it. Standing in front of Sabrina was a woman with pinkish-red skin, however small pair of horn emerging from her head and the long barbed tail that she had marked her as the demon she actually was. The female demon wore very little, just a very skimpy thong and a top that was little more than some pieces of lace put nearly her entire unnaturally beautiful body on display. Sabrina wondered if perhaps this was some sort of succubus. "So what brings a Hellspawn to Abriymoch?" the demoness asked. "My business is my own," Sabrina replied. "Oh, but perhaps I can help you," the demoness said. "I do you a favour and you do one for me." Sabrina considered for a long moment. She wasn't sure if she wanted to be indebted to a demon. "What would you want me to do for you?" Sabrina asked. "Well that would depend on what you need me to help you with," the demoness responded with a smirk. Sabrina realized that she was either going to have to accept the demoness' offer or continue on by herself. "I'm looking for somebody," Sabrina finally replied. "John Zatara; I was told that Belial has him." The smirk suddenly vanished from the demoness' face as she looked at Sabrina with a curious expression. "You heard correctly," the demoness said. "But why do you need to find the human prisoner of a Lord of Hell? Who do you work for?" "Can you help me find him or not?" Sabrina asked refusing to answer the question. "Of course I can help you find him," the demoness said. "Belial is my father after all." Sabrina didn't responded, but the demoness' revelation didn't actually surprise her as much as she thought it would. "So that makes you what? A princess?" Sabrina asked. "No, I doubt anyone would consider me a princess," the demoness replied with a sly smirk. "I'm simply a lady. But you can call me Fierna." "Okay Fierna," Sabrina said. "If you help me, what do you want in return?" Fierna considered for a moment. "Nothing," she finally said surprising Sabrina. "I have a feeling that helping you will work to both our benefit." Sabrina remained quite suspicious of demoness; she clearly had some sort of ulterior motive. "Lead the way," Sabrina said as she gestured with her sickle. Fierna gave Sabrina a smirk and then turned and began walking and Sabrina followed. As they walked Sabrina noticed that Fierna was swaying her hips with each step in an almost exaggerated manner; her walk could easily be described as tempting. Even though Sabrina wasn't really interested in women she had to admit there was definitely something alluring about Fierna. They made their way through the city till they reached a palace that towered above the other buildings. The stone it was made of was black like everything else, but polished in a manner that made it seem to shimmer. Two massive red demons like the ones that Sabrina had seen battle the wasps when she first arrived in hell stood guard at the entrance to the palace. They allowed Fierna to pass but one of them immediately stepped in Sabrina's path blocking her from entering. "It's alright Gazra," Fierna said. "She's with me. Let her pass." The huge demon looked Sabrina over with its glowing yellow eyes for a long moment before it finally stepped aside. Sabrina gave a slight nod of her head before she followed Fierna into the palace. "My father keeps his prisoners down in the dungeon, obviously," Fierna said. "But he has a special cell for the man you're looking for." "Why?" Sabrina asked. Fierna just glanced back over her shoulder and gave a smile but said nothing. Sabrina wondered what Fierna wasn't telling her and also if she was perhaps walking into a trap. But if it helped her find her father then she had to try. Fierna led the way down into the dungeons. They passed through a long corridor filled with cells with both demons and humans in them. Sabrina just looked ahead and ignored the pleas from the prisoners to release them. She was surprised at how she was able to harden herself against their cries for help, especially the humans. She wondered if perhaps the necroplasm armour was affecting her mind. She didn't have long to consider however before Fierna came to a stop in front of large solid iron door. "He's through this door," Fierna said. "However its spelled shut by my father and only he can open it. But you seem resourceful perhaps you will figure out how to open it." Sabrina wondered if this was some sort of test. Up until this point she had refrained from using her magic here in hell, but it seemed like she wouldn't have any other choice if she wanted to open the door. "Kcolnu dna nepo eht rood," Sabrina cast as she pointed her hand at the door. There was a loud clicking noise and then the door slowly slid open part way. Fierna gave a slight look of surprise. "Well your prize is on the other side," Fierna said. "I'll give you a moment." Sabrina remained wary of the demoness but pulled the door open and stepped inside. She let out a gasp at what she saw. Her father was chained to the wall inside dangling loosely. Her wore nothing but a simply loin cloth and his body was covered in scars. Sabrina quickly ran over to him. "Don't worry I'm here to get you out of here," Sabrina said as she examined the shackles that bound her father to the wall. "Who are you? How did you get in here?" John asked utterly confused. "You don't recognize your own daughter John?" Fierna asked almost tauntingly as she entered the cell. Sabrina turned around to face the demoness her sickle at the ready. "How do you know who I am?" Sabrina demanded. "Oh I'd recognize that magic you just used anywhere," Fierna replied. "Sabrina." Sabrina's eyes narrowed as she stared at Fierna. There was something oddly familiar about her but Sabrina couldn't quite place it. It felt like there was something Fierna wasn't telling her. "Who are you, really?" Sabrina demanded. "She's your mother Sabrina," John replied weakly. Sabrina looked down at her father and then back at Fierna. Slowly Fierna's features changed and Sabrina suddenly found herself looking at a demonic version of her own mother Diana. "Hello dear," Fierna/Diana said. "What? Mom? How...?" Sabrina stammered completely confused. "It is an interesting story," Fierna/Diana said. "Perhaps your father should tell it, since he is the one responsible." Sabrina turned and looked down at her father. She was getting more and more confused by all of this with each passing second. "Sabrina I wasn't born with magic," John explained. "But when I first saw your mother I was instantly in love. The problem was that as a witch she wouldn't have anything to do with a normal man like myself. So I made deal with the devil, or rather Belial." Sabrina glanced over at the demoness who was apparently also her mother. Fierna/Diana was just looking on mildly interested. "Belial granted me the ability to cast spells simply by speaking backwards," John continued. "In exchange after ten years I was to help him resurrect his daughter Fierna." Sabrina looked over at Fierna confused. "See now this is the interesting part," Fierna said. "You see I, or at least the Fierna part of me, died quite a long time ago during The Uprising that saw Trigon deposed. My death was what made my father side against Trigon since Trigon was the one who killed me." That explained some of it but Sabrina still didn't understand. "Part of the deal I made with Belial was for Diana to be the host for Fierna's resurrection," John said. "That night when the demon attacked us; that was Belial send his minion to come and collect." "Why didn't he come himself?" Sabrina asked. "As a Lord of Hell, Belial can't cross into our plane," John replied. "Of course I didn't know what your father had done until I went looking for him," Fierna/Diana said. "I don't understand are you Fierna or are you my mother?" Sabrina asked. "Both," Fierna/Diana replied. "When I found your father he was being tortured relentlessly day and night. I couldn't defeat Belial so I did the only thing I could, I resurrected Fierna into myself in return for him sparing your father." "But then why is he still here?" Sabrina asked. "Remember that night," John replied. "You banished both the demon and me. Because of that I can never return." Sabrina fell to her knees at the realization of what she had done. She then looked up at the demon that was also her mother. "How come you never returned?" Sabrina asked. "I'm a Lord of Hell," Fierna/Diana replied. "Even if I don't rule a realm here, yet." Sabrina wanted to ask what that meant when suddenly Fierna vanished in a gout of flames. "Belial," John whispered behind Sabrina. Sabrina quickly scampered to her feet as a seven foot tall demon suddenly appeared in front of her. He looked like a powerful muscular man, with a pair of five inch curved horns protruding from his forehead. He had a long beard that was tied into multiple braids. He wore no shirt but had on a pair of black leather pants that looked as if they were made from a demon's hide. He carried a large spear-like weapon that Sabrina recognized as a ranseur. There was no doubt that this was Belial. "You!" Belial bellowed angrily. "What are you doing with my prisoner and how did you get in here?" Sabrina was utterly terrified. She'd not contemplated being confronted by a Lord of Hell. "Edolpxe laileb!" Sabrina screamed pointed her free hand at Belial. Belial looked at her in surprising and went to swing his ranseur when suddenly he exploded as if a bomb had gone off inside of him. Sabrina brought her hand up to protect her face from bits of bone. When she lowered her arm there wasn't a piece of Belial left that was larger than her thumb. The only thing left identifiable was his ranseur. Suddenly Fierna reappeared and with a smirk she picked up Belial's ranseur. "I knew helping you would work to my benefit," she said. "Why would you want me to kill him?" Sabrina asked. "Because now she takes his place as the Lord of Phlegethos," John replied. Fierna smirked and waved her hand and suddenly the chains holding John vanished. He dropped to the ground and rubbed at his wrists. "What happens now?" Sabrina asked. "That depends," Fierna replied. "I could use a powerful ally like yourself. I could make that Hellspawn disguise of yours permanent." "No," Sabrina refused. Fierna shrugged, "You know I simply offering. I can simply force you to..." "Stop," John interrupted her as he struggled to his feet. "She is your daughter." "She is Diana's daughter," Fierna said. "Diana is but a small part of me." "You're not going to corrupt our daughter," John said and then he turned towards Sabrina. "Dnes anirbas kcab ot htrae." Sabrina didn't know what happened next but suddenly she found herself standing in Hilda's bedroom once more. Hilda was still sitting on the bed with the spellbook. "You're back already?" Hilda exclaimed in surprise. The necroplasm armour quickly faded off of Sabrina and soon she was back to normal. "How long was I gone?" Sabrina asked. "Maybe five minute," Hilda replied. "Really? It felt like nearly a day," Sabrina said. "Did you find what you were looking for?" Hilda asked. "Did you learn what happened to your parents?" "They're both alive," Sabrina answered. "But unfortunately neither of them could come back." Hilda looked at her niece confused. "It's a long and complicated story," Sabrina said. "But I think I should tell both you and Aunt Zelda."