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Perry Porter didn’t have many regrets. But he had a few. Some small ones, like he regrets buying that new cooking machine because it broke within two weeks of buying it and was a huge waste of money, or how he tried to DIY his front door and in fact made it worse.
But he had more drastic ones, ones that were more pressing. He regrets telling his son the truth about his partner’s passing so soon, he regrets not staying in touch with his elder sister and he regrets not kissing Augustus goodbye before he left for school the morning of
the Day of Unity
the Draining Spell, the day of the Collector’s arrival.
And he had one particular regret, one that deserved an apology.
With the threat of the Collector, knowing that they could die any minute from the whim of a child, Perry figures it was only a matter of time before he went about to set things right. But he didn’t expect it when it happened.
It just so happened to be just before sunset, the survivors now camping on the thigh where they could see the Titans Isles stretched out around them, as far as they could see. By pure chance, both him and Eda had chosen the same spot to survey the Isles around them. The pair were silent, a history unsaid between them and thoughts swirling in their heads.
“I didn’t mean it, you know.” Perry says suddenly, so suddenly it even surprises him. Eda turns to him in confusion whilst he continues looking ahead towards the distant ruin of the Titan’s head.
“I didn’t want to.” Perry gulps slightly but he forces it down and continues “Report on your petrification, I mean.”
The next words are words he never told anyone and he hesitates for a beat, for a single moment before the words tumble past his lips
“But they threatened my boy, my Augustus.” His voice wavers, dangerously close to cracking, tears pooling in his eyes as he recalls that day, a day that challenged many people. And he doesn’t need to explain any further because he knows Eda understands, and if she were in the same position, she would do the same. They both know the lengths they would go to to save their children.
And suddenly the world is a little quieter, the background noises of the survivors fades and it’s just two parents, two old friends who have lost those dear to them. Eda’s attention is now solely on him.
“But I warned you. I warned you, didn't I?” Perry’s voice cracks as he finally turns to Eda, his eyes filling with unshed tears.
(He did.)
“Eda, is it true?” The day is deceptively bright as Perry tentatively approaches Eda at the walls of Hexside. Eda offers him a wave as he grows closer to her, catching the grudgby ball on the tip of her finger.
Eda grins brightly as she continues to kick the grudgby ball into the air, performing various tricks with it; rolling it along her arms, flicking it from one foot to the other. “What? That I’m the best grudgby player in school? Of course it's true, Peps!”
“No. N-no. I mean.” He takes a breath and steadies his shaking hands. “That you’re not joining a coven. That you’re going to be a- a wild witch ” He whispers this last part, his eyes flicking furtively around them, fearful as if the walls were listening. (They were. They always are)
Eda startles, and fails to catch the grudgby ball that she threw high. It falls down next to her, and rolls away sadly as she turns to Perry with surprise written clearly on her face. Something like hurt flickers across her face, too fast for Perry to tell but it’s too late to take it back.
“Yeah? And?”
“Eda, you…” He starts and then hesitates, restarting “Wild witches they- they don’t live all too long, you know that, right?”
Something hardens on her face. “Look, Perry-,”
And that hurts, it was always Peps, or some other nickname with Eda, never Perry. But he swallows it down and meets Eda’s challenging gaze.
“I know loads of folks don’t like wild witches, I’ve heard plenty complaints and insults from lots of people, my mum, Lily, Odalia, you name it, I’ve heard it. But it’s not gonna change what I want to do or who I am .”
Perry ordinally wouldn’t get himself involved with something like this but it’s Eda and she’s his friend and he won’t let her get hurt by this. He remembers how she screamed out in pain as she transformed into her cursed Owl Beast form for the first time on that grudgby pit. He remembers Lillith’s wide eyes and trembling figure as her sister walked away from the match only to collapse to the floor, writhing in pain and agony.
“But they’ll hurt you!” Perry can’t help how his voice rises, cracking on hurt. “They’ll hurt you and this will hurt others, your friends, your loved ones!”
And this seems to get through to Eda because her eyes widen and she steps back whilst he steps forward, throwing his arms out to the side as if showing the aforementioned people.
But then his eyes narrow, his stance losing some of its anger but still tense. His eyes are dark and his voice is low and dangerous as he speaks.
“Or worse, they’ll hurt them .”
And this really hits Eda because she stumbles back, almost tripping over her own feet, eyes wide in the face of Perry’s harsh, bitter truth. His words were true and she knew it and past her anger and shock she knew these vulnerable, raw words came from a place of caring and that she needed someone else to tell her this, rather than her brain whispering, bleeding into her mind as she lay awake at night.
“They’ll hurt them because they hate you and want to see you dead . They’ll hurt because you’re a wild witch and they hate you ” He jabs his finger towards her chest and though it doesn’t touch her, it feels as if she’s been punched, all the air taken from her lungs with his words alone.
“They will hurt people to get to you, Eda, because you are strong, you are smart and you are honestly one of the greatest witches. And because they can’t hurt you directly, they will hurt others to make you feel pain.” Eda’s legs give out from under her and she slumps to the floor, looking up at a friend she normally has to look down towards. Something like betrayal rises within her, that even Perry would argue against her for being a wild witch, that he would raise his voice against her.
Yet Perry’s voice softens, now pleading with her.
“Please, Eda. Don’t let them hurt you. Don’t let them hurt your friends, family or their friends and family”
A darkness returns, flickering in his eyes as he watches Eda below him, eyes wide and her hand closed over her heart. And so he warns her.
“Because they are ruthless and the Emperor is not a merciful man”
“Yeah, you did” Eda agrees, her voice small and broken and a tear slips down Perry’s cheek.
“Oh, Eda , I’m so so sorry ” Suddenly, Eda has her arm full with Perry hugging her and trembling with sobs and Perry feels like a little kid again, looking for appreciation, respect and love in a crooked smile and golden eyes.
And Eda hugs him back, crying again even though she thought she had no tears left to cry. She wraps her remaining arm around him, feeling like a kid again, the elder to the younger Oracle student. The two stay like that for a while, with so many apologies and things to say, words left hanging in the space between them but they don’t speak, knowing that the other knows them.
Lightly sniffling the two pull apart, their eyes red and puffy again as they desperately scrubbed at their faces, trying to make themselves more presentable.
“Never were a pretty crier, were ya, Peps?” Eda wipes her eye with her sleeve, a light broken chuckle escaping her lips and Perry feels like this must be forgiveness because it has truly been years since he heard that nickname.
“No” He laughs, sniffling “Never have been”
Eda laughs again and this sound fills Perry up and makes him feel like it might be okay. She pulls him in and wraps an arm around his shoulders in a side hug, leaning her head against his. They both look back at the destruction of the head, where the sun is beginning to set, a red glow now a halo around the skull, a warning of what was to come and a reminder of what they had lost.
“Your girl, she gave Augustus a nickname” Perry says suddenly, out of the blue, and he can tell Eda is paying attention because she jolts at the mention of her girl and her head twists to look at him. But he continues to watch the skyline where a griffin flies in the distance, a black speck on a red sky.
“Gus.” He says and tries not to cry at his son’s name, pushing past the lump in his throat.
“He really likes it, he’s proud of it.” He tries to say these words as if it's a report, a simple passing comment to another parent on sports day, making sure to use the present tense.
“Yeah, it’s a cool name” Eda’s voice is nothing but fond and soft. There’s something Perry hasn’t said, finding the words difficult to form but Eda seems to understand the unsaid and pulls him in tighter.
There’s something unsaid in this mention of a nickname, a parallel between their two children, two friends and a promise of hope and a warning to those who hurt their children.