Chapter Text
Eda rested her head on Raine’s shoulder, admiring the view of the Snapdragon’s below them. Raine had found this hill years ago, when they first moved from the Knee and started attending Hexside. They showed the place to Eda, and it became their secret hideout, as no one else would ever come to their hill. Now, they were fully graduated from school, and they were going to spend their entire life together.
Eda enjoyed this calm moment. Whenever she was with Raine, it felt as if all of her problems, her worries and fears, drifted away. She was at peace. At least, she will be at peace until the curse starts acting up again, and she would have to rush back home. These days, it happened nearly every time she was on the hill with Raine. She hated leaving them like that, but if it would keep them safe, then it was worth it.
But Eda couldn’t keep thinking about the downs for too long. She shut out those thoughts, and instead used this moment to reminisce on her and her partner’s love journey, starting with the day they met.
——-
Eda at first thought she would absolutely despise the whole IFWOT event. However, in an unexpected turn of events, she met the love of her life, and it became one of her favorite days ever. She and Raine immediately became best friends, and she couldn’t have been happier to have a friend by her side during this terrible event.
And admittedly, Eda was also surprised. She was used to everyone turning away from her, not appreciating her pranks and shenanigans. All she had was her sister, Lilith, and it was nice to have someone by her side, but she was always studying and preparing for the Emperor’s Coven Tryouts. Eda wanted more friends, more people she could rely on, but nobody would want her. It was most likely her fault, as everyone just viewed her as a trouble maker, but she just couldn’t resist causing a bit of chaos, no matter how hard she tried.
So when someone actually came towards her instead of away, and actually enjoyed her chaotic nature, Eda was ecstatic. Raine was just the friend that Eda needed, and they were also a super cool and awesome witch, and Eda was definitely not in love with them ever since they first met.
However, Eda’s enjoyment would soon come to an end. When the event was over, she had to say goodbye to her new best friend. They were attending a completely different school, at a place that was somewhere Eda would never want to go to. It was always freezing cold where Raine had lived, and Eda would never understand the people who were able to live there.
When she had to say her goodbye to Raine, Eda tried to hide how devastated she truly felt. The friend she needed was being taken away from her, as if fate just wanted her to be alone.
——-
And then Raine moved to Hexside. Eda laughed at how she was so worried about being alone, so worried about losing her best friend, but in the end, she had nothing to worry about at all.
Next to Raine on their hill in the present, she let out a small chuckle. They heard her giggle and looked at her, their expression so soft and gentle, their gorgeous face that Eda always loved seeing. “What are you thinking about, my magnificent Lord Calamity?” Raine asked, twirling Eda’s soft and gorgeous long hair.
Eda’s smile grew. Titan, she loved this musician so much. They always cared about how she was feeling, even though she was not always honest about her emotions. But she would open up, when she was ready. “I’m just thinking about the past. We’ve really come a long way, huh?” Eda’s arm was around Raine, pulling them closer. They somehow smiled even more, and they closed their eyes, simply resting on top of Eda.
Raine looked so peaceful and calm, and Eda was too, but she was worried about when this moment would be ruined. Her curse always ruined the best moments.
No. She had to enjoy this moment as much as she could, forget that it would go downhill again. Or with luck, everything won’t be destroyed this time. Eda went back to replaying her favorite memories with Raine in her mind.
——-
Not only did Raine enjoy Eda’s chaos and pranks, they also wanted to join in on them. When Raine asked if they could join in, Eda thought she was just hearing things. They were a much better student than Eda ever could be. They actually respected their teachers, did all of their school work, and never got in trouble.
“Are you sure you want to? You could get thrown in the detention pit.” Eda pointed out to Raine. At this point, Eda’s parents were used to her getting in trouble and thrown into detention. But as far as Eda knew, Raine was never in detention, and she wasn’t sure about how their mothers would react to it.
Raine shook their head. “I don’t care if I go to detention. It’s worth it if it means spending more time with you.” They said truthfully. Being in different tracks, Eda and Raine had few classes together, and they hated not having each other’s company.
And Raine could really understand the urge to cause some chaos, to rebel against these authority figures. They didn’t have to follow the rules all the time. Secretly, they always wanted to pull off some pranks, but they never had the courage to. Eda was actually the one who inspired them to engage in the chaos.
And the first prank that Raine was involved in also happened to be the one that was the most destructive, which they never even intended for it to destroy an entire classroom.
It was originally a harmless prank. Eda had recently learned how to make potions that would release all kinds of different colored fog, and it would hopefully save her from a boring history class. Eda typically did not mind history, but this one in particular was just about the emperor’s great accomplishments as a ruler. Eda knew she was not supposed to, but she secretly disliked Belos, even though she wanted to join the Emperor’s Coven with Lilith.
Actually, Eda was mostly wanting to join because it was Lilith’s dream, and she wanted to be with her sister. Eda could deal with Boolos if it meant she would make her sister happy.
If the prank went well, it would cause a distraction and a little mess, or actually a big enough mess to get everyone out of hearing about how great this emperor was. Eda believed she was doing her and her classmates a favor.
During lunch period, Eda and Raine snuck out of the cafeteria while Lilith was focusing more on her flashcards. Using the Secret Room of Shortcuts that Eda had build a little before Raine showed up, they snuck into the potions homeroom to steal the potion they needed. Eda then headed to class while Raine would drop the potion. They had a class that was mostly just for practice, so they thought it was fine to miss the beginning of it.
But when Raine released the potion, and it released a lot more color than was intended, and a rainbow exploded across the room. Thankfully, nobody got hurt and the classroom ended up being evacuated for the entire day.
Principal Bump naturally suspected that Eda was the one behind the whole mess, and she was called to his office. Even though Raine said they didn’t mind getting detention, Eda took the full blame, and got a week of detention.
Even though Raine’s first prank ended in disaster, they still insisted in doing more. Them and Eda tested out everything they needed for the prank first more, and if it seemed dangerous they would stop. Their intention was mostly to have fun, and see the teacher’s and student’s reactions, not get people hurt, so they became more careful with every scheme they wanted to pull off.
——-
Eda was giggling in present time again. “Rainestorm, you became just as chaotic as I was, and I don’t think you ever got in trouble.” Eda remembered always taking the full blame. Raine once told her that she didn’t have to do that, but Eda would do anything for Raine.
Eda was waiting for Raine to say something back to her, only to realize that they have fallen asleep. Eda gently stroked their hair, admiring how peaceful they looked. Eda probably would have fallen asleep as well if she was not thinking so much about past moments.
But she enjoyed thinking about those memories, so she continued. Ignoring the fact that the beast’s energy was bubbling to the surface.
——-
The day that Eda and Raine finally started dating was another one of Eda’s favorite days. They knew each other for two months by now, and they just started becoming more and more awkward to each other. It started out with just a few blushes around each other, but now they were stuttering, and they could not even see each other without their faces burning up.
Everyone knew that Eda and Raine had feelings for each other, but the two never wanted to admit it. Both afraid of destroying their friendship if they confessed, things becoming too awkward if the other didn’t feel the same way.
But that would soon change. The day where they finally started dating started out terrible for Raine. The whole day, they were worried about a huge performance that was happening an hour after school ended, and it was worth a huge portion of their grade. If they messed this performance up, they would mess their entire grade up.
These types of performances were in nearly every bard class they took, and they used to not be so worried about it. They were always the best student, so they could usually do the performances fine. However, they recently gained some stage fright when they and Eda starred in a short school play called RATS. In class, Raine recalled their lines perfectly, and sung all the musical numbers and danced the dances beautifully. However, when they went to perform the play itself, they got nervous and forgot their lines, messing up the whole production. Ever since then, they were insanely nervous about performing for anyone, constantly thinking about what could go wrong instead of focusing on just playing their music.
So when it was time for this major performance, Raine’s hands were trembling. Their stomach was filled with nothing but butterflies, and it only got worse when it came closer and closer to their performance time. Raine went on the stage, and saw Eda, their best friend, cheer them on. Typically, they were excited when Eda was there for them, but with how bad their stage fright was, they knew they would mess up, and she would think they were terrible.
When they finally started performing, they played beautifully, at first. The bright lights, the sudden amount of cheering, made them remember that they were on stage, and anything could go wrong. Their hands shook, and they missed a note, only causing them to panic even more and miss more notes. When they finished, they ran off the stage, out of the school, and sat on the hill that they had found a few days ago.
Eda left the theatre to look for Raine, and when she couldn’t find them at school, she went to the hill. Even though they found it very recently, it immediately became Raine’s number one hide out place. When Eda saw them there, she sat next to them, the sun starting to set over the field of Snapdragons.
“Rainestorm? Are you okay?” Eda asked, even though it was obvious that they were not okay. They were burying their head in their knees, and sobbing. It broke Eda’s heart to see them like this.
Raine looked up at her, wiping a few tears. “What are you doing here, Eda?” They asked, a little too bitterly than they wanted to.
Eda wrapped her arm around Raine, and pulled them close for a hug. “I just want to check on you. What kind of friend would I be if I just leave you like this?”
“Eda, you saw my performance. I’m not as awesome or cool as you think I am. I’m terrible.” They pulled out of Eda’s embrace, and went back to hugging themself.
“Raine. I would never leave you because of a bad performance. I like you for you, not how skilled you are.” Eda watched Raine slowly become calmer. They were mostly worried about losing Eda, but she always makes it obvious that she wouldn’t leave. They were inseparable.
“I like you too, Calamity.” Raine blurted out, then quickly regretted it. Eda said she liked them, but that was probably in a friend way and not in a romantic way like they would want it to be.
Eda saw Raine blush after they said they liked her too. Their tears were completely gone, and they looked totally embarrassed like they usually are. “Titan, Raine, you are adorable.” Eda said, snapping Raine out of their thoughts.
They wanted to kiss her so badly, hold her forever and ever. But Eda beat them to the kiss, and they felt a peck on their cheek. Raine forgot all about their big performance failure, and only focused on their wonderful best friend, or was she their girlfriend now?
“Does this mean we’re dating?” Raine asked nervously.
“Only if you want to.” Eda said, reaching out to hug Raine again. They obviously accepted the offer, and they cuddled each other on the hill, watching the sunset.
——-
Raine was still closing their eyes, resting on top of Eda. She could now feel the pain she always did whenever she was about to transform. Titan, she hated how the curse would always act up even when she was feeling peaceful. She wished there was a way to manage the curse.
Eda did not want to wake Raine up right now. She ignored the pain, and thought about one last memory. She could last a few more minutes before having to leave again.
——-
The new couple held hands in the hallways, and things were definitely not awkward between them any more. Eda would still tease Raine, and make them completely flush. It was adorable every single time they did that, and it never got old to Eda.
And now it was time for the main social event of the entire school year. Eda normally did not care that much about Grom, as she had nobody to ask out, and usually she just skipped it. But this year, she had a partner, and she was absolutely going to ask them out.
Eda met up with Raine at lunch, and she was planning to ask there. She could go all out, but she wasn’t sure if they would like all of that attention on them.
“What is Grom?” Raine asked Eda as soon as they met each other. Eda totally forgot that Grom was a Hexside only thing, and Raine has never been to one. Eda explained about Grometheus the Fear Bringer, how it lived under the school, and that a student would be chosen to fight it. Then afterwards, the entire school would dance and party all night long.
“With all of that explained would you be my date to Grom?” Eda asked, much more smoothly than she thought she would. She watched as Raine’s eyes lit up with excitement, and they smiled wide.
“Eda, of course I’ll go with you!” Raine shouted, and they gave her the biggest hug ever. They never went out to school dances, but like Eda, they also had no one who would go out with them.
The next day, it was time to announce who the Grom Royalty was. This day was always nerve-wracking for every student. Nobody wanted to fight Grom, and have their biggest fears revealed to the entire school. When the sound of the intercom came on, everyone held their breathe.
“Students of Hexside, it is my honor to bestow this years highest Grom privilege to…” Even though the pause was a second, it still sent shivers to every Hexside student. “…Raine Whispers, our Grom Royal!” Suddenly every single student looked at them, and they shyly hid tried to hide behind their girlfriend.
Why was it them? Raine thought to themself. Didn’t everyone know about their stage fright now? How nervous they get every time they perform in front of people? Principal Bump must be trying to get Grom to escape. There was no way they could do this. No way.
Raine felt someone’s arms around them, and they just now realized they were trembling and on the verge of tears, right in the middle of the hallway. They looked up to see Eda’s concerned expression. She stroked Raine’s hair, and their back, doing her best to calm them down. She knew how bad they must be feeling, and waited until they calmed down before speaking. “You’ll be alright Rainestorm, I can help you fight the monster.” She told them, which seemed to make them feel better.
“Are you sure you can do that?” Raine asked, though they would still be grateful for the offer, even if she couldn’t help them.
“Raine, even if I wasn’t allowed to, I would still do it. You know I break all the rules.” Eda said, and playfully bumped their shoulder, which made Raine giggle.
When it was time for Grom, they did fight the monster together, and won a record for the fastest time it was defeated. During their fight, Grom turned itself into Eda and Raine themselves, and showed the two of them leaving each other. It was the biggest fear that they both had. In the few months that they knew each other, they both had no idea what they would do without each other. They easily took Grom down, knowing that nothing will ever drive them apart.
After that, the two decided to leave the gym and go to their hill. They played their own music, did their own dances, and it was so much better than being in the crowded school gym.
——-
Things got harder after Eda was cursed, but they were still together, and they would go through this hard time together. They were, and always will be inseparable.
Until a sudden jolt of pain made Eda flinch, and it woke Raine up. Eda immediately felt bad for ruining their moment.
Raine could see how Eda’s eyes were filled with pain. “Are you okay?” They asked, but they already knew the answer that they would receive.
“I’m alright, nothing to worry about.” Eda lied. Again.