Chapter Text
"I think we should see other people. I'm sorry, Eda...It's over."
Eda feels as though her heart just stopped.
There was no way Raine was serious...right? They had dated for a couple years now, and were friends long before that. The idea of them being over...it almost didn't feel like a possibility to Eda.
But Raine would never joke around with something like this.
Her mind feels like it's being separated from her body, and her surroundings feel foreign. She does her best to quell her shaking hands, but no matter how many deep breaths she takes, she can't control her nerves.
She needs to get her nerves under control before the bird brain shows up, but none of her coping mechanisms are working.
"Eda?"
She's suddenly hit with an all familiar pain. It starts in her fingertips, slowly sharpening her nails. It then starts snaking up her arms, as feathers slowly start sprouting.
She doubles over, clutching her arms against her chest.
"Eda!"
Raine hesitantly steps towards her, "is this the curse?"
"It's...augh!: Eda can hardly speak as the growing pains increase. She can feel feathers start to sprout on her legs now.
"I can't...I don't want to hurt you!" she groans out, stumbling away from them. A hand appears on their shoulder trying to steady her, but she instinctively flinches away.
"This is hurting me, Eda!" says Raine, voice strained, "you continuously shutting me out. I want to help you, but I can't if you keep pushing me away." Eda feels tears at the edge of her eyes.
She wants so badly to let them in, to let them help. She sees a shadow in front of her as they crouch before her. Their arms open in an inviting gesture, and she gives into her urges. She throws herself into their chest, and strong arms wrap around her. She lets out another cry of pain, and Raine tenses up.
"What do you need?" they ask urgently.
"Home...elixir...quickly...: she groans. Raine quickly gathers up their items and calls for Owlbert. The little palisman was flying above them, and quickly dives down to join them. They hoot in concern for Eda.
"Can you take us to the Owl House, buddy?" they ask, and Owlbert hoots, turning into their staff form. Raine gets on, making sure Eda is secured in their arms, and they quickly set off.
The ride feels like forever, although with Owlbert's speed it couldn't have been more than a few minutes. They trusted the little palisman to lead them to "The Owl House" as Eda had started calling it. Eda never mentioned how she acquired it, whether it was already there or she created it herself, but Raine knew it came with its very own house demon. They had never been there, although she had been living there the past three years. When they went on dates, they always went out- thus, Raine had never visited.
The trees part and there stands a nice house in a clearing. Upon pulling up to the house, what they assumed to be Hooty came up to greet them. Raine wasn't exactly sure what it was- a bird? A worm? A tube? But it protected Eda from the coven, to which they were grateful.
"Hoot hoot! Hi new friend! What's wrong with Eda?" it asks, shrill voice concerned. Eda was in their arms, trying her best to stay awake. She was breathing heavily and the gem on her chest was slowly turning dark. Raine felt her trembling, and their already fast heart rate increased. Titan, this was stressful.
"It's her curse," explains Raine, "can I get her inside? She mentioned something about an elixir."
"Set her on the couch, I'll grab it, hoot!" says Hooty, opening the door. Raine hears the sound of a window breaking, but doesn't focus on it as they walk in and lay Eda on the couch in the living room. As they go to pull away, her hands grasp at their shirt. Her long nails, even longer and sharper now, slightly tear into their blouse.
"Please..." she croaked, "don't go..."
Raine's gaze softened, and they lowered themselves back down next to her, putting a hand on her forehead. It was blazing hot.
"I'm not going anywhere, Calamity," they say in a soft voice.
Hooty appears next to them, a round vial full of golden liquid in its mouth. Raine gratefully takes it and pops open the cork. They put the bottle up to Eda's mouth, and making sure she doesn't choke, slowly pours it into her mouth.
As soon as the elixir is drained, Eda lets out a cough, and then relaxes into the couch with a sigh escaping her lips. The feathers disappear from her body, and the darkness on her gem retreats. Raine lets out a sigh of relief, all tension leaving their shoulders.
After a few moments, Eda finally stirs, eyes slowly opening.
"Wha...?" she asks, and as soon as she sees Raine, she bolts up.
"Oh Titan," she says, "how did I get home? Did I turn? Oh god Raine, your shirt..."
They look down to see the small rips caused by her nails.
"I'm so sorry," she says, curling up into herself, "I hurt you and now I've ruined everything..."
"You didn't turn," said Raine quickly, to stop her from spiraling.
"Our new friend got you home in time!" says Hooty. Eda and Raine both jump, the latter having forgotten the demon was there, and Hooty starts circling around Eda.
"Thank goodness too! The last time you turned, you beat down my doo-"
"Okay thank you, Hooty!" yelps Eda, shoving the demon away. Her face is burning in embarrassment as Hooty slinks back to its original state and closes the door.
She makes eye contact with Raine, before quickly looking away.
"I'm stable now, if you still want to leave I understand," she says, pulling her knees against her chest.
"I don't want to leave," says Raine quickly. Eda looks at them clearly confused, eyebrows furrowed.
"But, you said it was over between us. I'm safe, so there's no reason for you to stick around."
"I don't want it to be over," they say, getting a little exacerbated. Eda's eyebrows furrow further.
"You keep pushing me away, Eda. Something is making you keep me at arms length, and that's not healthy for either of us..." Eda's ears flatten, the tips turning red in shame. Raine puts a hand on her shoulder, and she doesn't flinch away, which they take as progress.
"I still love you, Eda. That hasn't changed. But being constantly met with a brick wall...it hurts me. It makes me feel like you can't trust me."
The two were silent for a few moments, Eda looking down.
"I'm sorry," sighs Eda, "It's just...I've hurt people in the past, Raine. After what happened with my dad...I'm scared to let anyone else get too close to me." Raine takes a sharp breath.
Everyone knew about her fathers accident. The story was that Dell Clawthorne was attacked by a wild beast, and because of that he can never carve palismans again. Raine also remembered that soon after that, Eda had run away from home. They had never put two and two together, but if Eda was the one who hurt him...
"What if I hurt you, and you'll never be able to play again?" she asks, voice choked up. Her gaze snaps towards them, and they see tears beginning to form, "I can't let that happen, Raine. The best option is for you to just stay away from me."
"I'm not scared of you," says Raine, sitting next to her and putting their hand against her back, "not of Eda, nor of the Owl beast. We can figure something out, but you have to let me in. I want to help," they start rubbing circles into her back, and she melts into their touch.
"What if I become too much for you to handle?" Eda mumbles, fiddling with her hands, "this curse is a heavy burden."
"A burden you don't have to face on your own," insists Raine. This is the closest they have ever come to her opening up about her curse, and they weren't about to let the opportunity slip.
"There's no cure for it," she says, avoiding eye contact, "mom is out there trying to find one, insistent it exists, but I know the truth. The healers, the beast keepers, everyone says its the first of it's kind. It's something that's going to be stuck with me forever, and the only thing keeping it at bay is the elixirs."
"How often do you take them?" asks Raine.
"As of right now, usually every other day. I used to take it only when there was a flare up, but as the years have gone by it's slowly gotten worse," she says. There's a beat of silence, and she seems to curl up into herself again.
"Sometimes I can't control it," she says quietly, "sometimes I'm not able to get an elixir in time, and I turn into...well, you were there the day of the duel."
Unfortunately, they remember that day all too well. They remembered Eda, falling onto her knees, crying out in pain. They remember her turning into the beast, with terrifying claws and teeth.
But they also remembered the fear and shame in her expression as she ran away.
"Like it or not, the owl beast is a part of you now," they say, "I know you like to run, Calamity, but there's no running from this. And it doesn't make me love you any less."
That makes the dam break, and tears start openly pouring down Eda's face. She quickly tries wiping them away, but Raine reaches out and touches her cheek, slowly wiping away the falling tears.
"You'll always have a way out," she says, voice shaking, "if I ever become too much and you want to leave, I...I won't hold it against you. I'll understand."
"Eda, you will never be too much for me," says Raine, kissing her forehead and pulling her into a hug.
"As long as you're open with me, and there's a direct line of communication, I would put up with anything to keep you in my arms."
Eda wraps her arms around them and buries her head into their shoulder. They stay like that for a while, Eda's sniffles slowly dying down.
"M'sleepy," she says, snuggling into their neck. They chuckle.
"Let's get you to bed, shall we?"