the garden | michael langdon

chapter nine; revelations (and the whore of babylon.)

"It won't be possible for her to leave me, because we are now bound to one another."

Cordelia visibly recoiled at his bombshell statement.

"Oh, you vulgarian! You brute!" Mytle raged.

"I'm sorry but I'm lost. What does he mean by bound?" Madison asked.

"It means their souls have been chained together by black magic." Cordelia fumed. "It is an irreversible spell of the darkest magic, an act not of love but diabolism, and it is outlawed in the magical proclamations of every civilized coven on the planet!"

Upon hearing her mother's words, Prim knew she should've felt shocked, betrayed even; and yet she didn't.

"Pardon my pedanticism," He smiled politely, his eyes sparkling, taking far too much pleasure in Cordelia's distress. "I think you'll find all laws, magical or otherwise, were made void by the nuclear bombs."

"So, they're like married?" Madison scratched the top of her platinum blonde head. "Why's that so evil?"

"Because it is typically non-consensual, and not only that, it is simply immoral to tie two life forces together, it robs a person of their independence and free will." Cordelia explained.

Madison shifted uncomfortably. "What happens if she leaves him?"

"They both die." Myrtle answered her question, gravely.

"It was an inevitable act," Michael said, rolling his eyes. "She is made from my rib; she cannot live without me, nor can I live without her."

"From your rib, my ass." Cordelia fumed. "I did not die pushing my baby out for you to just... defile her."

"Agree to disagree, shall we? Although one thing I'm afraid we will have to agree on is the redundancy of your little time turner witch." He laughed.

Cordelia stood in front of the newly resurrected Mallory defensively, a look of worry etched across her face.

"Oh, come on. I've made hell on earth and proclaimed myself its king, you think I can't smell a little insurrection a mile away?"

"Our bond is eternal and transcends all universes and timelines." He continued. "Should you travel to my past and murder me, you will be murdering your only daughter in the process."

"That's a sacrifice we're going to have to make." Madison said, firmly. She stepped forward ready to attack but Cordelia stopped her.

"No." The supreme witch shook her head. "No way in hell."

"Cordelia, you heard him. They're bound together for life. You even said yourself, it's irreversible dark magic."

"I'm the fucking supreme, nothing's irreversible." Cordelia stubbornly replied.

"I'm sorry." Prim croaked, her voice quiet and meek. She stood in place on the stairs, eyes firmly glued to her feet.

"Listen to me. You have nothing to be sorry for, it's Michael who has done this." Cordelia said.

Primrose finally looked up to meet her mother's eyes as she sighed deeply, and said; "Mother, I did not eat the fruit unwillingly."

"W-what?" Cordelia asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"You heard her!" Madison exclaimed. "She's made her bed, and I say we let her lie in it."

"You'll be careful to watch your tone, that's my daughter you're suggesting we throw to the slaughter." Cordelia warned the blonde haired witch.

Madison scoffed. "She's less Mommy's-little-angel, more whore of Babylon."

Unexpectedly, Madison was thrown across the room, only narrowing missing the center fireplace. Everyone turned to look at Michael, assuming it was his work, jumping to the defense of his lover, but they were met with a nonchalant shrug. It was then that everyone realized it had been Primrose who had attacked her, using her telekinesis to defend her own honor.

Cordelia compelled her daughter to stand before her, and took her head within her hands.

"Listen to me, Prim. Your head has become his garden where only poison grows!"

"I'm not some silly little girl," she refuted. "I think a part of me, unfamiliar to even myself but still a part of me nonetheless, knew the fruit was enchanted with dark magic. I think I wanted it, and... I think I liked it."

Cordelia stood her ground, her eyes ablaze with fury at what had become of her only child.

"Well I don't. You'd both do well to remember that you did not come from his rib, but from my womb."

"You are still my child, and for as long as I live, I will never accept whatever it is you think you have with him."

Michael chuckled darkly.

"Then live no more."