Chapter Text
The roar of the thunder outside mingles with the growls of the beast inside the house as it picks through the ruins of its rampage.
Downstairs in the living room, where Hooty still lays felled on the floor with claw marks in his door, down for the count. The creature sniffs at broken glass, paws at the scuff marks on the walls. Dark spots dance in its vision and it snarls, frustratedly swiping at its eyes with weary claws. Bristles at the lightning that comes streaking through the windows. Hisses low and threateningly at the drumroll of rain beating down on the shield around the house.
It knows the little beasts responsible for its pain are around here somewhere. Can sense their presence in this
(my?)
house. If only its eyes would adjust, then it could really hunt. Tooth and claw and blood and bone and the shrieking of mice yes, yes―
“Oh, what lovely thing do we have here?”
The beast snaps up, startled. There, in the doorway―though half-blind and bleary it can still make out the fuzzy shape of a figure in the hall, the whole of its small frame rimmed in moonlight turned golden from the glow of the force field.
It’s still talking: “Oh, I don’t know, could it be a….”―Hoisting something into the air― “....delicious illegal snaggleback truffle?”
That scent―the beast sniffs at the air, smells food, food and something else, a distantly familiar scent that knocks at the very back of the beast’s mind, stirs up the thought of
(you got a deal kid)
No―wait, forget that, this creature has food. The beast growls. When was the last time it ate? It’s starving. The feathers on its back bristle as it arches back, claws tearing at the wood of the floor, ready to pounce, ready to run, ready to hunt….
King takes a single step back. His pulse is loud and fast in his ears but for the first time all night it’s steady. Steady, steady, steady.
He whispers, “Come and get me, Eda.”
And he tears off down the hall.
Behind him the roar of the monster rattles the windowpanes. He doesn’t want to look back―doesn’t even have to, really, to know that he’s once again being chased. He forces himself to concentrate on what’s ahead, and what’s ahead right now is a bend in the hall.
He charges the turn full speed ahead, rounding the corner with a skid that makes him feel, for a second, like an action hero.
The hallway is a dead end, nowhere left to run but straight at the wall a few meters down. But never mind that―King can see Luz at the end of the hall, standing atop a ladder, carefully but quickly drawing a massive glyph onto the wall in red crayon. She strains to reach up to finish the last lines of the circle.
“Is it ready?!” He shouts it over the scrape and snarl of the monster now quickly gaining on him.
“Al….most….” With one swift shaky motion Luz closes the circle, and right as she does the ladder she’s precariously balanced on top of starts to wobble. She yelps, grips the wall to steady herself. They can’t afford any more disasters tonight, especially not right this second. Over her shoulder she shouts, “Now! It’s ready now!”
King hurries to the end of the hall, straining on the last stretch, consciously reminding himself to breathe and breathe steady. He skids to a halt right before he can slam smack-dab into the wall; on instinct he wants to press his hands to the wall to catch himself but if he does that now they’re all well and truly toast, so instead he awkwardly windmills his arms to slow his momentum, teetering wildly on his heels.
The monster rounds the corner. It roars its intent, out for food or blood or both or worse.
King backs up against the wall as far as he can without touching it. Come on, come on, just a little bit closer, come ON….
The beast charges.
King raises his hands.
“I’m sorry, Eda, but it’s for your own good!”
King turns away from the oncoming monstrosity and slams both hands into the wall as hard as he can, with all the strength he has left in him.
The giant glyph on the wall sparks to life, the waxy red lines gleaming orange, then gold, then white, the glow spreading and brightening to light up the hall like the sun’s come up early.
Brighter, brighter….
King and Luz duck, shielding their eyes from the glare.
Brighter―
And the monster screams as the light explodes to envelope everything in its path, as magic sizzles and sparks and the world turns all to white, white, white….
She’s roused awake by a pounding headache.
Eda groans as she drifts back into consciousness, head swimming. She fumbles her arms sluggishly under her covers, groping for the sides of her nest. Her whole body feels sore, spent. She groans again. “Ugh, my mouth tastes like roadkill….”
It takes her eyes a moment to focus when she finally opens them, but even bleary-eyed she can make out the two small faces peering over her from the side of the nest/bed, one bony and snouted, the other much more fleshy and flushed, wide-eyed. Both of them are worried, she can tell.
“Eda?” That’s Luz, voice cautious. “Aaaaare you okay?”
Eda groans for a third time in response. “Hrmgh, what happened?”
Luz and King share a glance. “You, um….” King starts, winces. “You kinda turned into a giant bird monster last night?” He looks down. Quieter, he adds, “Luz and me turned you back.”
It’s then that Eda spots the bottle in Luz’s hands. It’s empty, but she’d recognize the make of it anywhere.
“I was looking for that….”
“Actually, we found an extra elixir in your closet,” Luz explains. She smiles small, the cheer of it not quite reaching her eyes.
Eda scratches at her head, pulling down a fistful of brittle grey feathers. She grimaces. “Wait, extra?” She squints up at Luz. “What happened to the other one I saved?”
“Hah, funny story, actually….” Luz peers up at King pointedly, and he gulps and skittishly points towards himself as if asking her if it’s actually him she’s referring to. A pained little expression on his face.
Luz doesn’t nod her assertion, simply tilts her chin down to emphasize her stare, stoic. King groans. Turns to Eda.
Reluctantly, he confesses, “I might’ve….taken. It. Your, uhm. Your elixir.” He bunches his hands into his pockets, eyes to the floor to keep from having to meet Eda’s.
Luz clears her throat slightly and King turns to frown down at her, clearly wishing she would keep quiet but unwilling to be so curt with her. With an exasperated if exaggerated exhale he tacks on, “I took it because I thought I could do magic with it and I’m sorry, okay?” He throws his hands down. “I’m sorry.” It’s softer the second time, not quite as angry. Just the tiniest bit more sincere.
Eda stares down at King expressionlessly. Wordless. Slowly she shutters her eyes closed and takes a deep breath. Her chest rattles worryingly, though she doesn’t seem to notice.
“....I ought to break every bone in your scrawny body,” she says softly through gritted teeth, and upon hearing that King takes a nervous step back from Eda’s nest, moving to hide behind Luz. Luz only stares up at Eda, expectant.
Eda takes another deep breath, lets it out slow. She opens her eyes partway, gazing down into her lap. “But it’s not entirely your fault.” She shifts in her nest, wincing at the creak of her joints. “I….haven’t been completely honest with you.”
Luz brings a hand to her mouth, silent, but her eyes are brimming. She looks back and forth between Eda and King.
Carefully, Eda begins, “When I was younger….I was cursed.” She clasps her hands in her lap. For a moment a look of something close to sorrow crosses her face. “I don’t know exactly how it happened, but I do know that if I don’t take my elixir….”
Her eyes cast onto King, gone flat. “Well, that’s why they call me the Owl Lady.”
There’s a chill creeping up King’s spine that he’s ashamed by. He hopes Eda can’t notice it. “Are….are you okay?” he asks sheepishly. If I’d known I never would’ve―
“Eh, there’s nothing for you to worry about.” The middle of the sentence turns to a grunt as Eda heaves herself onto the edge of the nest with only minor difficulties. She pauses to catch her breath. “It’s all under control, so long as no one steals my elixir.” She narrows her eyes at King. He bows his head timidly, hands still hidden away so they can’t betray what he’s really feeling.
“....Sorry.”
Luz suddenly pops up between King and Eda, a bright smile pasted to her face. “But, hey!” she says quickly. “Things weren’t all bad!” She nudges King’s arm. “Show her!”
King squints down at her in bewilderment for a moment, before recognition sets in over discomfort. “Oh!” He roots around in his pocket. “Lemme just….”
He pulls out a slightly crumpled scrap of parchment paper from his pocket and brandishes it before Eda triumphantly. Drawn on it is a pencil-sketchy glyph. “Ta-da!”
Eda eyes the paper warily. “Wait, is that….?”
King waves the paper before her befuddled eyes. “Watch this!” Brings up his free hand and: “Bap!”
Eda stares thunderstruck at the little sphere of light as it bobs in the air between them. “Whoah….” She reaches out, cups the light in one hand and takes it in from all angles, disbelief and wonder both etched upon her features. “Wow, it―it didn’t explode!”
King’s proud smile wilts only slightly. “That’s the same thing Luz said.”
“Luz, did you teach him this?” Eda smiles bemusedly down at her roommate, who flaps her hand in a gesture of aw, shucks!
“Oh, it isn’t anything you haven’t seen before!” Humble.
Eda offers a small chuckle in amusement. “Still….a human doing magic, huh?” She turns her smile to King next, whose own smile dims now in sudden shyness.
And that bit definitely doesn’t go unnoticed. Clearly now, so there’s no way he can possibly doubt it, she says, “Hey, good on you, kid.”
King can feel himself blushing but is utterly hopeless to stop it. Oh well. What he can stop is the accompanying smile, pausing it before it can cross into irreversibly dorky territory. That fluttery feeling he felt with Willow’s thanks is back again.
And once again, he decides to bury it for another day.
“W-well.” He crosses his arms behind his back. “I had help.”
Surprising even himself, he shoots a small smile Luz’s way. She smiles back. Sincerely this time.
The moment they’ve all made together doesn’t last long.
“Hey! Hey! Is anyone there? Hello?!” Hooty’s voice wobbles up from downstairs, scratchier than usual after hours of unconsciousness. “Hoot, I’m on the floor! It’s coooooooold!”
King grimaces. “Ugh, that voice!” Shakes his head. “I’ll go see what he wants.” Eh, what the heck, there’s still enough of that good feeling in the air to motivate him. He heads for the door, trots on merrier than usual down the hall to Hooty’s aid.
Eda and Luz watch him go, both smiling proudly and, at least in Luz’s case, affectionately.
“Whelp, I guess that means I still have yet to teach him something, don’t it?” She turns to Luz. “Maybe we should switch to calling him your apprentice, uh?”
Luz’s smile has faded, now she stares out the doorway wordlessly, her expression unreadable. “Yeah….yeah, maybe.” Distant.
Unconsciously she’s kneading at her own shoulder. Claws catching on the dark brown fur.
“....The first elixir didn’t work.” She says it small. The tone of bad news no one wants to hear or deliver.
Eda’s face goes stony. Her hands clench in her lap.
“....I know.” She doesn’t need to say more.
Outside, the stormclouds finally start to part.