ROOTS | MICHAEL LANGDON | AHS: APOCALYPSE

WARNING: CONTAINS GORE

MICHAEL LAUNCHED INTO HIS EXPLANATION of a story for Miss Mead's behavior.  "I can't imagine a new world without you by my side; one of the only women who ever really understood me."

"Who ever really loved you." Miriam realized in awe.

"She made me feel happy and protected," he continued, "So you can see why I gave you her for and her thoughts. I needed someone – another someone – to help me with the monumental task of remaking this world. And who better than the only other one who I never stop trusting or loving?"

Mead was still teary eyed by his speech. Eve could tell she needed a momentary distraction. "Michael, love, there's blood on your jacket." she said, playing with his lapel. "Miss Mead, would you help us? He has another jacket in the closet."

The woman nodded, honored to do the small favor for her savior. She smiled softly, helping him put it on.

"What do you think?"

"Hail Satan." she grinned

"Not quite, but I appreciate the sentiment."

"We have a problem." Asmodeus interrupted the group as he entered the room, Fiona just behind him. "The witches are back."

Eve turned to Michael. "We need to cast a concealing spell on Fiona so Cordelia doesn't know she's here."

"Already done." Asmodeus said, "Us two will stay hidden. You three confront them and we'll come out of hiding when the moment is right."

-

Downstairs, Cordelia had ordered Madison to find their sisters, only to realize she couldn't feel them there. When Madison returned with a worried expression with only Dinah by her side, the Supreme knew all hope was lost.

"They're gone." She swallowed thickly. "I found ashes scattered across the floor."

"Show me." she pleaded, eyes wide as saucers.

Madison led the way and the three women followed behind. Upon seeing the remains of her sisters, the Supreme fell to her knees in front of the ashes. A shaky hand reached out and collected the dusty material on its fingertips.

Cordelia choked on a sob. "I can't feel their souls. They're gone."

"Well, my dear," Myrtle spoke, "we are truly fucked."

The sound of approaching footsteps made the group tense in fear. The head witch collected herself off the ground and turned around in time to see Michael Langdon in between two women; an unfamiliar blonde and Miss Mead.

"How is your plan working, Cordelia?" Eve spoke, patronizing the woman.

The witch felt a numbness spreading throughout her body. "You destroyed them," she said weakly, staring at Michael.

He smirked. "No," Eve said, "I did."

Madison stepped back in fear, wheels turning in her head, trying to figure out what this meant.

Cordelia held her ground. "What are you?"

"Don't tell them, darling," Michael grinned, "show them." The blonde next to him smiled sickly sweet and revealed her red eyes.

"I was always going to win." Michael mused. "I let you live for a reason. You could join me and serve as my loyal servants."

"We will never bow to you." Cordelia spoke defiantly. "You should know we don't go down without a fight."

Behind her, Myrtle and Madison shared a look. They shared whispers, seemingly conniving. Eve tilted her head, attempting to catch what they were saying.

But their whispers were masked by Dinah's retort to the Supreme. "You're on your own with that shit." She stepped forward. "You raised me from the dead so that you would have the power of voodoo, but if you know anything about who I am, you know the only choice I'd pick would be the winner."

"You're half right, Dinah." Marie Laveau made her way to the congregation. "She needed the help of a powerful voodoo queen, and that ain't you, sis."

"You never could do anything on your own." Fiona mused, coming up behind the trio with Asmodeus by her side, cigarette in hand. Cordelia stared at her mother in horror. "I've always said the only thing you have to fear in this whole wide, wicked world is me." She turned to Marie and tossed her cigarette at the woman and used her abilities to set her on fire.

Dinah jumped, startled by the screams of the voodoo queen, her close proximity amplifying the sound. Cordelia surged forward, desperately trying to figure out how to stop the flames.

Madison took this moment to start chanting in Latin, causing the robotic Mead to malfunction. The subsequent explosion sent the two demons in the group flying.

"Sorry about your little toy, bitch!" She and Myrtle then quickly fled the room, and in her last moments of consciousness, Fiona's clairvoyancy alerted her to what they planned on doing. "Stop them! They're going to do the time travel spell!"

Asmodeus then disappeared, following the path of the blonde and carrot-topped women.

Realizing there was no hope in saving Marie, Cordelia decided what she would do. She had to at least try.

In the nearest bathroom, a tub was filled with water. Myrtle assisted the young witch but the sudden sound of Asmodeus entering the room by teleporting made her pause for a single second.

And it was that single second that cost her her life for Asmodeus made her neck break without even touching her.

"Oh fuck," Madison swore.

"No one hurts my daughter." he growled, surging forward with inhuman speed and gripped her throat. He pushed her down into the tub, forcing her under water.

She could only hold her breath for so long before she was left gasping for air and inevitably swallowed water, lungs filling up with water. When she stilled, Asmodeus let go and have her a final glare before leaving the room.

Back in the foyer, the two demons had regained consciousness. With a grin, Cordelia went to plunge a dagger into her chest, only for her actions to be stopped by an invisible force.

"I wouldn't do that." Michael said.

The dagger then flew out of her grip and hovered in midair.

The couple stalked forward, backing the Supreme into a wall, the dagger following. Once she was stuck there, the dagger shot forward and went straight into her chest, causing her to crumple to the floor. The weapon removed itself, coming down with a sharp shink! and slit her throat.

"You want to know what's funny, Cordelia?" Eve asked rhetorically, bending down to the injured woman's height. "You can't actually kill us. We would've just come back. We would've been reborn." The Supreme began taking her last breaths, the last thing she heard being the halfling's mocking tone. "We were always going to win."