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When Luz, King, and Hooty left a few hours ago to answer King’s letter from his relatives, she expected just a quiet evening with her thoughts and Lilith. Maybe they could catch up or Eda could just enjoy her sister’s company like she did so many times during her childhood and teenage years.
The last thing she expected was to have 3 coven heads banging at her door in the middle of that said afternoon. And one of those said Coven heads is her ex.
It started as normal, a few knocks on the door, no warning from Hooty since he had left already.
Eda tried ignoring it, but whoever was on the other side was very insistent and definitely didn’t pick up on the clue that she didn’t want to be bothered.
“Edalyn, are you going to cease this, or should I?” Lilith asked, looking up from her Deadwardian history book with a skeptical but annoyed face.
“Ugh. Fine.”
The younger clawthorne got up from her couch and walked towards the door, preparing to expel whoever was ruining her calm afternoon.
“No,” she started as soon as she opened the door, not even looking at whoever was in front of her, “I don’t have a minute to listen to the word of-”
Then she looked.
Three people were in front of her, wearing white cloaks but she could tell who they were.
Darius, a former Hexside student that whom she shared many fights when they were both 14 and the current Head of the Abomination Coven. The furball, Head of the Beastkeeping Coven, and a bit of a feral being. And…
“Raine?”
They didn’t get to react properly as Lilith, who had apparently gotten away from her book appeared right behind Eda.
“What exactly is happening here? Eda, why do you have three coven heads on your doorstep?”
“That’s something I would like to know too.” She said, not taking her eyes away from Raine, who was trying their best to hide underneath their cloak.
“Are you all here to arrest Edalyn? Because I’m pretty sure Belos lifted her arrest warrants. Unless you’re here for me, in which case I will need a formal document and-”
“For Titan’s sake,” Darius said, rolling his eyes, “Lilith, we’re not here to arrest either of you.”
“Then why-”
“We have information on the Emperor’s plans.”
That grabbed Eda’s attention away from Raine.
“Information? And why should we trust you and this furball? You tried to kill me just a month ago!” She crossed her arms in front of her chest, “For all we know, you could just be trying to do it again.”
“Edalyn…” Lilith put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
“Please don’t ‘Edalyn’ me, Lily. I have a right to be suspicious of this whole thing.”
“Titan, you weren’t kidding when you said she was still stubborn as ever.” Darius said, directed to Raine, who was still avoiding any eye contact.
Finally, they took a deep breath and lowered their cloak, allowing Eda to finally take a good look at them.
They seemed more tired than usual with eyebags and short teal hair disheveled but still, they were stunning as always.
What seemed out of place was their expression. It contained hurt, that’s for sure, but somehow it looked warm. Very different from the last look they gave her when they fought in that alley.
Eda’s heart started to race as Raine only kept looking at her, not saying a word.
“Eda, I-” they struggled with the words for a couple of moments before taking another breath, “We don’t have much time before we need to head back to the castle. Please, will you hear us out? Will you hear me out?”
She couldn’t deny that to them.
“Fine. But I’ll be keeping my eye on both you” she pointed to Darius with a gaze that could pierce through the strongest material “and your little feral friend.”
She finally stepped away from the door, letting the Heads enter her house.
Eberwolf comfortably sat on top of a random piece of furniture, Darius sat on the couch while Raine stood awkwardly, looking around the room.
They haven’t been in this house for over 20 years, she thought.
“So, any explanation to what’s going on?” Eda asked bluntly.
“Pardon my sister’s stubbornness.” Lilith said, rolling her eyes, “We don’t have much time, but I could get you three something to drink? We have Apple blood and… maybe Ghoul Aid? Luz likes that one.”
Eda couldn’t help but notice Raine slightly shift at the mention of having Ghoul Aid again. She tried her hardest to not crack a smile.
“There’s no need for that. Like I’ve said, we can’t stay for too long.” Raine said, fiddling with the hem of their vest like they always did when nervous.
“First, I want to preface that I never wanted to get you or Lilith involved. You both deserve to get away from whatever Belos is planning."
“Not this again…” Darius rolled his eyes, a hand to his forehead, but Raine proceeded to ignore him.
“For that reason-”
“Wait, hold on a second.” Eda interrupted them, “Raine, what happened?”
“Eda, I’m trying to explain it.”
“No, I mean, what happened to you? The last time we spoke, you told me you didn’t want me to contact you, you blocked me on Penstagram and now you show up at my door like nothing?”
“Whispers, you did what?!” Darius shouted, “You told me that ever since the fight in the forest, you hadn’t seen Eda!”
“Wait, you remember the fight now?! Raine, please, what’s going on.”
Raine grimaced, their inside struggles clear on their face as they avoided looking at anyone in the room.
“Terra’s Tea.” They mumbled.
“Head Witch Snapdragon?” Lilith asked.
“That hag?” Eda asked and received an elbow to her stomach from her sister.
“Yes. When I was captured in the forest, I did wake up to people saying I had spent the last month sick in bed, but things didn’t make sense. Reports that I filled while supposedly in a month-long coma, my connections with a few of my bard students were cut, Terra who had no previous healing magic experience being the one to handle my care.”
“That’s when Eberwolf and I stepped in.” Darius said.
“Yes, letters were being delivered to my personal quarters without anyone noticing, all telling me not to trust Terra and her healing tea. I knew I couldn’t just not drink it. So I whistled into it.”
“You changed the chemistry of it.” Eda said, a smile on her face.
“Yes, I used the excuse that the tea is too hot for me.” They smiled directly at Eda.
“Which is bull, since you like spicy and hot stuff.”
“Yes, but Terra doesn’t know that, does she?” They cleared their throat, “Regardless, that’s when me, Darius, Eberwolf started hatching the plan of getting as much information as we could on the Day of Unity to try and make up a plan to stop it.”
“So you remember everything now?” Eda asked and took a few steps toward Raine, her voice a mix of hope and the fact she was not daring to have hope if they somehow lacked any memory of the BATts or their time in the rebellion.
“I’m 99% sure I do.”
“Do you remember the BAtTs? Derwin? Katya? Amber?” They nodded, a painful smile on their features.
“Yes, they’re still at the conformatorium. It would be suspicious if they got released all of a sudden.”
“Do… you remember us? The time of me with the BAtTs? The… song?”
“I do.” They smiled and with a bit of hesitation, Eda threw her arms around them.
For a second, she was afraid that they would push her away just like they did in the alley.
But then, they hugged her back.
Titan, just their warmth made Eda want to cry so hard.
The hug didn’t last long, just a few seconds of pure warmth, longing, and relief.
When she pulled away, she used the hell of her hand to wipe away a stray tear.
“Alright, dingus,” she said towards Raine, her voice raspier than usual, “what in the Titan’s name is the emperor planning?”
“He’ll use a draining spell.” Darius started and drew a spell circle. With it, a miniature of supposedly the structure Belos was going to use was born on the coffee table, “The Coven heads will be used as an anchor to drain the spells of those who are in their respective covens.”
“The magic will only be drained out of those who have a coven sigil.” Raine explained, their hand instinctively covering their own Bard Coven sigil.
“That’s… a lot of people.” Lilith remarked. “Most witches and biped demons in the isles have a sigil. And those who don’t are children or covenless witches.”
“Well, some children do. I saw a few receiving sigils in the Covention.” Eda said.
“Yes, that’s also something Belos has been wanting to introduce.” Darius commented, “Even the scouts are getting younger.”
“Certainly. The more witches with sigils, the more magic he will have on the day of Unity.” Lilith sighed, “I wish I could have done more to stop this when I was still in the Coven.”
“That’s also a reason we wanted to talk to you, Lilith.” Raine said, “Did Belos ever share with you anything about what the day of Unity will do? What does he need the drained magic for?”
“Belos was always…” she paused, trying to find the right word, “closed off about the Day of Unity. He’s a paranoid man, probably never trusted me despite the fact I had been in that damned Coven for 30 years.” She rolled her eyes, “That is to say, unfortunately, I don’t know anything about it.”
They were all silent for a few moments before Eda cleared her throat.
“I got the info out of Warden Wrath: Apparently, the Day of Unity will unite everyone with the Titan himself.”
“That doesn’t sound good.” Raine grimaced.
“It isn’t. I feel like the draining spell, the portal door and the uniting thing is all correlated, but how is something I can’t even begin to wonder.”
They were all in silence once again.
“So…” Eda picked the conversation up, “Did you three only need Lily, or do I get to help too?” She smiled and heard Raine sigh.
“Well, we have about 3 weeks before the Eclipse. That’s when the Day of Unity is going to happen.” They said.
“Until then, we need to recruit witches and demons who aren’t in covens yet. Whether it’s because they’re willingly wild or if they haven’t made the choice yet. We need someone who’s been the face of the revolution against the Covens ever since the beginning.” Darius continued.
“And that would be widdle ol’ me, right?” She smirked at him.
“Yes.” He grimaced and rolled his eyes in annoyance, “People came together on the day of your petrification to defend your right to be wild. That had never happened ever since Belos implemented the coven system.”
“I honestly never thought of myself as a face of a rebellion against Belos.” Eda admitted, “For so long, it was just me evading Coven scouts like crazy. Then that day happened and…” Eda didn’t know how to finish that sentence.
“It was that day that made me realize that there may be a hope for the isles to overthrow Belos.” Raine admitted, “If it wasn’t for that, I don’t think the BAtTs would even be a thing.”
“Do you really think people would listen to me?” Eda turned to them, unsure. Raine seemed torn and honestly, she couldn’t blame them.
“People will listen to you rather than 3 coven heads who fell from their grace.” Darius answered, “No Coven Head gets where they are without fighting and using others as a ladder.” Eda saw her sister’s face go somber for a moment, “That’s purposefully there so Belos isolates us if we try anything.”
“Alright.” Eda said, “I’m in. Anything to stop Belos and his crazy ideas.”
“Glad to hear it.” Darius and Eber smiled at her, but she couldn’t help but notice Raine’s distraught look on their face.
Hesitantly, she put a hand on their arm and squeezed it lightly. When they turned to look at her, she just smiled. They smiled too, putting their hand on top of hers, their thumb rubbing over her knuckles.
“Lilith, may I ask you a few questions?” Darius said, getting up from the couch, “You’ve worked in the castle for over 30 years, I need you to revise a few details with me.”
Lilith only nodded and motioned to follow her into the kitchen. Eberwolf followed them.
And so, Raine and Eda were alone.
Eda became increasingly aware of their touches on her hand. And so did they, because, in the next moment, they pulled away like they had just been burned, a red tint across their cheeks and nose. Eda had to stop herself from commenting on how adorable they looked. She thought that the first day they blushed around her when they were both 14 and still thought that, even after all these years.
Silence hung around them and for once, Eda didn’t know how to break it.
Raine was the one who did it.
“Listen, Eda, about the last time we talked…” They sat on the couch, fiddling with their hands. Eda didn’t dare to interrupt them, she let them talk, find the words they needed, “I lied to you then. I did remember everything and I lied to you. But I did so to protect you. You and your kids.”
That got Eda’s attention. Sometimes she would forget that Raine knew about the existence of Luz and King.
“After the fight, I could hear King, your son, declaring how much he loved and was grateful for you for raising him. Even though I couldn’t see, I could hear how emotional you got over the fact he thought of himself as your son so much that he went through the whole adoption process.” Raine’s voice was laced with emotion and Eda had to once again wipe a tear that was threatening to escape.
“Then there’s Luz. At the time you got arrested, I thought ‘what kind of weakness the Emperor had on you that made the most powerful witch of the Boiling Isles be captured?’. Then the rumors of a human girl that broke into the conformatorium to rescue you surfaced. After seeing the picture, I put two and two together.” They smiled weakly, “When I remembered that moment in the forest, I knew that no matter what, I couldn't let anything happen to you or them.”
Eda continued in silence, her thoughts swimming in her head.
Should she feel hurt? She felt like that a little, but she couldn’t blame them. She would be a hypocrite if she did. She lied to them for so many years about her curse worsening, pushed them away until the breaking point where they couldn’t take a relationship with her anymore.
Just like her in the past, they lied and pushed her away to protect her. It was almost poetic if it wasn’t so depressing.
Slowly, she approached the couch and sat beside them. She could clearly hear their breathing get a little more rapid, just like every time they got anxious about something really important.
She took one of their hands and squeezed them.
“I’m… hurt.” She admitted, “But I can’t fault you, Raine. I told you so many times over our relationship that I could never be mad at you and that still holds.”
She smiled and hesitantly brought her hand to cup their face, but she stopped, instinctively remembering the way they reacted when she tried to do the same the last time they were alone.
Her breath hitched when Raine grabbed her hand but unlike the last time when they lowered it, they brought it to their face, a smile on their lips and the adorable red blush on their cheeks again.
Titan, she wanted to kiss them.
They stayed in silence, just enjoying the tender touches of each other after so long. If Eda thought she was in love with Raine when they were dating 20 years ago, then she fell even harder for them 20 years after.
“I missed this.” They mumbled, leaning into her touch.
“Me too, Rainestorm.” She said, her tone lighthearted.
Their eyes widened and they blushed even stronger at that.
“What? Can’t take the nickname now?” She teased, pulling her hand away from their face to smirk at them.
“No, it’s just…” They moved their now free hand wildly, trying to find the words, “Terra’s nickname makes me feel like something she could crush at any moment if I step out of line.” Eda didn’t know where they were headed but she let them continue, “But yours… It makes me feel powerful. Like I’m something that should be feared.” They smiled at her, “I like feeling like that.”
It was Eda’s turn to blush.
“W-Well, I’m glad you feel like that.” She looked away, hoping they wouldn’t notice how such a remark from them made her feel, “Because you should. You are powerful, you’ve shown me that so many times over the decades. And, honestly, I’m really glad you’re still on our side. I don’t think I could take you on a fight. Again.” She snorted and Raine followed suit with a chuckle of their own. She squeezed the hand that was intertwined with hers.
“Sorry to interrupt such a lovely talk,” Darius said, finally done talking and running over the details with Lilith, “but we do need to go now if we want to be back at the castle before they start looking for us.”
“Right.” Raine said, and looked back at Eda, letting go of her hand. She already missed it.
“Let me walk you to the front door.” She got up from the couch in a flash towards the door, Darius and Eber already had their hoods up and they signaled for Raine to do the same as they left the house.
Eda looked at Raine and they looked back at her with a warm smile as they walked away into the dusky forest.
As Raine turned around, ready to put on the hood of their cloak up, Eda spoke up and ran in their direction.
“Hey, Rainestorm!”
They turned around, facing Eda. For a second she did nothing.
Then she threw her arms around them and crushed them into a hug, breathing in their scent, welcoming their warmth like it would be the last time.
She hoped to the Titan himself it wouldn’t be the last time.
“Come back for me, okay?” She whispered, “I don’t know what’s going on that pretty head of yours, but you deserve love. And I want Luz and King to meet you.”
They were stiff for a second, just listening to her words before they hugged her back.
“I want to meet them too, Calamity. I promise I’ll be back.” They buried their face on her shoulder, “And you deserve love too, I hope you know that.”
Can you be the one to love me, then?
Eda didn’t even realize she said it out loud until Raine chuckled against her shoulder and nodded.
“Yeah.” They answered and pulled back, looking at her with nothing but love. A look she hadn’t seen from them for so many years. A look reserved for her when she, once in a red moon, let her walls come down and they could see who she really was.
“Can I kiss you?” She asked.
“Yes.” They answered.
She smiled and took their face into her hands.
Eda could never forget how to kiss Raine Whispers. Just like the way she fell in love with them, it was as natural as knowing the words to her favorite song.
She could spend decades without kissing them (and she did) but once she did again, she would remember it as if it had just happened yesterday.
The kiss was slow. No fireworks, no sparks flying. They were too old for that now, all of those feelings and sensations were left behind in their teen years.
But one thing they couldn’t deny. It felt like coming home. A home you were away from for so long that when you did come back, you can’t help but relive all your moments there.
Eda was the one to pull away and she let a chuckle out when Raine tried to follow her.
“Eager much, Rainestorm?” she teased.
“You can’t blame me.” They teased her back, throwing her a lopsided smile and tucking a wild gray strand behind her ear.
“I suppose I can’t.” She stroked their face, delicately as if she was afraid if she held too much, they would escape from her again.
They wouldn’t. She knew that. They kissed again, slow as ever.
“As much as I am happy to see you’re both happy together,” Darius said, interrupting them again and clearly losing his patience, “I’m not the one telling Terra that her ‘sprout’ didn’t make it back to the castle because they were too busy making out with the Owl Lady.”
Eda pouted angrily at the Abomination Head. Seeing that, Raine chuckled and gave Eda a quick kiss.
“He’s right, though. We do need to go. But I promise not to be a stranger.” They took one of her hands in theirs before planting a quick kiss on her knuckles.
“We’ll sort this out once Boo-los is out of the way, right?” She asked.
“Of course.”
They let go of her hand before stepping away and she was already missing them.
As Raine turned around one last time, Eda spoke up.
“Hey, nerd!” She said, “I’m gonna call you. You better return them!” She smiled, her cheeks red.
They threw her a wink and a beautiful smile before shouting back.
“I will!”
And with a swish of their cloak, they were already deep into the woods.
“You okay, Edalyn?” Lilith asked, walking to stand right beside Eda, a concerned look on her face, “I know this might be a lot to you.”
She smiled, throwing an arm around Lilith’s shoulders, “I’m not perfectly fine, but I think okay is a good word. Yeah, I’m okay.”
Lilith smiled, squeezing the hand that was resting on her shoulder.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Eda took a deep breath, letting everything sink in.
She was okay. They were okay.
Both of them were going to be okay.