Chapter Text
High heels stomped into dirt, leaving deep prints in their wake. Not the best shoes for running perhaps, but Eda hadn’t expected a basic trip to the market to end in being chased by a legion of Coven Scouts.
“Spicy toss!” she shouted, turning around and firing a cross of fire at the group behind her. It managed to hit a few of the front runners and stop them in their tracks, allowing her a few more feet of give, but it wasn’t enough. She swore under her breath and spun Owlbert in a circle before pointing him straight at the group.
Vines shot up from underground, grasping the ankles of the unsuspecting guards. There were a lot of them, but they seemed to fall easily.
“Edalyn, stop!” came a familiar voice as she was about to turn and take off again. She knew that voice. She loved that voice.
Lilith.
“Eda, let me just talk to you!”
“This sure is a lot of chasing just to have a ‘talk’,” Eda replied, standing still, but ready to bolt.
“Stand down,” Lilith commanded, though there weren’t many coven guards left standing to do so.
“You’ve had plenty of chances to talk to me in the past, Lily, and you’ve proven you don’t want to. So why now?” Eda asked, suspicious. None of this felt right.
“I talked to the emperor,” she said, pulling off her coven mask. Eda thought to herself how ridiculous it looked, like some kind of stupid bird. Not majestic like her owls, of course.
“And what’s your point?” she braced herself for action as her sister stepped closer.
“He said he can heal your curse!” she announced, excited. Eda just continued to stand there, ready to run.
“And?” she eventually asked.
“And all you’d have to do is join us! This is what we always wanted!” Lilith threw her arms around her sister’s neck in a hug, and Eda stiffened more. She wasn’t used to anyone but Raine touching her anymore.
“And what if I don’t want to join his gang of mindless witches?” Eda asked, causing Lilith to jump back.
“Why wouldn’t you? We always dreamed of being in the Emperor’s Coven together. We’d be living that dream.”
“Yeah, well, dreams change,” Eda admitted. “And that dream was never meant to come true. I’ve learned too much since then.”
And she had. Her and Raine had looked into suspicious activities going on with other wild witches, and found the results to be horrific. Some were just forcibly branded, but those were the lucky ones. The worst were petrified, after being made to watch as everything they loved was destroyed. Children would be forcibly taken and branded so that they didn’t wind up like their wild parents, far too young to decide what magic they want to focus their life on.
The covens themselves were suspicious, too. What meant that being a strong magic user made you a good political leader? But that’s exactly how it was on the Boiling Isles - the strongest user of each coven rose to power and became Coven Heads, just under the Emperor himself. Being strong didn’t make you a good leader - half the time, it just made you a jerk.
Eda would know. She was a strong jerk herself.
It wasn’t just that, though. They were willing to have two sisters fight for their place in a coven. She could get over that - she hadn’t cared much in the first place, she’d realized the night before. But what she couldn’t get over is the coven guards who stood there and raised Lilith’s hand in victory while she ran off, scared for her life, enduring the effects of her curse for the first time.
Now that just wasn’t okay.
They let Raine, a kid , run off after her, not worried about what would happen to them. Had they not transformed themself, the rumors may have been true - she might have killed them. And she’d never have been able to live with herself then.
“There’s something wrong with the covens, Lily,” Eda explained, not calming in the slightest. “It’s not normal to have most of your magic sealed away. Witches should be free to use whatever feels natural to them.”
“Well that’s why we’d be in the Emperor’s Coven, silly!” Lilith said, running her fingers through her hair. And since when had Lilith dyed her hair? Or straightened it, for that matter? The person before her looked nothing like her sister. After only a year, she looked like a dried up, exhausted version of her that she wouldn’t have recognized if she hadn’t heard her voice. “We’re the best of the best, able to use whatever magic we feel suits us!”
“And what about all the others? It’s okay, because we’d have that freedom? But what about them?” Eda narrowed her eyes at her sister. Her sister wasn’t selfish. She wasn’t so focused on her own needs that she’d ignore the needs of others. Or did she just not know her sister as well as she thought she did?
“I don’t understand what your problem is, Edalyn. You’re a wild witch - it’s my duty to arrest you. This-” she gestured to the fallen coven guards around them “-is just the start. But if you come with me, by choice, this can all go away.”
“Threatening me now? Come on now, Lily, you’re better than that.” Or maybe she wasn’t. Eda wasn’t sure anymore.
Lilith narrowed her eyes, “Eda, you’ve seen what your curse can do, do you really want to continue this way? After what you did to Dad? To Raine ?”
Eda winced at the comment about her dad, but… “I didn’t do anything to Raine!” Eda shouted, wondering what she was talking about.
“Come now Eda, we’ve all heard the rumors.” She gestured to the few still standing guards who nodded their heads. “They ran after you after your first transformation - you were traumatized, no one blames you. Or, they won’t, if you just come with me and get this solved .”
“No one blames me for what , Lily? Say it!” Eda demanded, slamming her staff into the ground. She didn’t use any magic, but everyone around could still feel a surge of power waiting to erupt.
“Well… you killed them Eda, didn’t you?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “I’m shocked you want to talk about this, I thought you’d be more traumatized.”
“Maybe I would be, if that had happened!” Eda shouted, raging at this point. “You’d really believe that about me? That I’d kill the person I cared about most in this world?”
“I thought I was that person,” Lily said with a frown before shaking her head. “That aside, you weren’t in your right mind, Edalyn. It’s not your fault.”
“It’s not my fault because it didn’t happen! ” Eda shouted. She didn’t know why it was so important for Lilith to understand this - wasn’t it what Raine wanted, for everyone to believe they were dead? But Eda hated the fact that people believed it was by her hands . She would never do that, not even as the Owl Beast. She had to believe she’d stop before she went too far, or else she wouldn’t be able to live with herself.
“Well if you didn’t kill them, where are they?” Lilith asked. “Because no one’s seen them since that day.”
Eda frowned for a moment before she lifted her staff again. Lilith threw her hands over her face as Eda shouted “sleep spell!” creating a huge spell circle. Lilith was still standing, but the few coven guards still around her dropped to the ground.
“I didn’t kill them, Lily,” she reiterated, taking a few steps closer. Lilith gulped at the rage in her sister’s eyes. “Even if I’d tried to, they would have been able to stop me. You know why? Because they’re just as fucked up as I am. So unless your magical, Titan-blessed Emperor has a solution for both of us? I’m not interested.”
“But… but how?” Lilith asked, eyes wide. “That… that makes no sense. I don’t…”
“Yeah, we don’t know either. It’s been so much fun trying to figure this all our ourselves,” Eda said sarcastically. “What joy we’ve had, living on our own and trying to make ends meat. All because someone had to fuck up our lives and we don’t even know why !” Lilith took a step back, fearful of the rage growing in her sister.
“Eda, you need to calm down…” she said, putting her hands up in a placating manner. “You’re growing feathers…”
“And isn’t that just the problem, Lilith? I can’t just be angry anymore. Now I have to be careful or else this happens!” she shouted, pulling feathers off of her neck. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a vial full of Elixir, downing it quickly.
“You… you found a cure?” Lilith asked, watching as the rest of the feathers fell off of her sister.
“A temporary treatment,” Eda corrected, trying to calm herself down. She may be angry, but she didn’t want to transform right now. She’d already hurt her father, she didn’t want to scar her sister as well. Her sister who would finally look at her after over a year, but just to tell her she could have her precious Emperor fix her. Fat chance. “If I don’t chug down this gross concoction near every day, I turn into a raging beast .”
Eda saw the fear in her sister’s eyes, mixed with other emotions she couldn’t recognize. Hatred, maybe? For what she’d done to their father? There wasn’t time to figure that out right now. She needed to get away before Lilith tried something stupid and got herself hurt.
“Edalyn, wait!” Lilith cried out, grabbing onto her arm before she could climb onto Owlbert. “Please, just let me help you! I’m sure I can talk him into helping Raine, too, but you have to come with me!” She was pleading now, desperation in her eyes, tears welling up.
“You can’t help me,” Eda said, yanking her arm from her sister’s hold. “No one can help us. And you better keep your mouth shut, okay? It’s better if everyone thinks they’re dead.”
“But, Eda, I-”.
“Save it.” She kicked off the ground and took to the air on Owlbert’s staff. She could hear her sister calling for her, but just closed her eyes tightly and looked away. This wasn’t how she’d pictured their first discussion in over a year going. Honestly, she wasn’t sure how she thought it would go, but definitely not like this. Ideal world? Some crying and hugs, and she’d come join her and Raine at the Owl House. Worst case? Crying still, but screaming at her for ruining their father’s life.
Not trying to recruit her to the worst cult in the realm.
Eda was sick of the Emperor’s Coven. She knew they were after her for a few weeks now - technically ever since her birthday, but they’d really cracked down lately. She’d just been walking the market for a few goods and hadn’t expected her sister of all people to be in the patrol sent to attack her.
Because that’s what they were trying to do. Fuck whatever Lilith said, they weren’t trying to recruit her. The Emperor couldn’t cure her. If there was a cure, her and Raine would find it themselves. They didn’t need some tyrant’s help.
And that’s what he was. The more she learned, the more she was sure of it. She couldn’t find anything to prove the man cared for his people - and she’d found access to a lot of forbidden books lately. Turns out wild witches keep good contact with each other, and they were happy to welcome two young witches into their fold.
Not realizing how long she’d been lost in thought, Eda almost stumbled when her feet touched down just outside the Owl House. She took a moment to dismount and just stared at the door. Today wasn’t real, right?
“Eda?” came Raine’s voice as they ran out of the house. “Eda are you okay? I saw you land, why aren’t you coming in… Eda?”
Eda just released Owlbert from his staff and slowly walked over to where Raine was panicking in front of the door. Then she collapsed against them, arms going around their neck, and started to sob.
“E-Eda?” Raine asked again, stroking her hair comfortingly. “What happened?”
But Eda couldn’t respond right away. She was too busy gasping for breaths between sobs. She didn’t even care that she was possibly ruining a really soft shirt of Raine’s with all her snot and tears. She didn’t ask for comfort a lot, so when she did, she needed it .
And holy fuck she needed it right now.
Raine just held her close while she continued to sob, eventually sliding down against the door to bring both themself and their girlfriend to the ground, so she could collapse into them even more. She practically crawled into their lap at that point. Hooty began to speak up and ask what was wrong but one sharp glare from Raine shut him up. Raine sent a prayer to the Titan in thanks for small miracles.
“I’m sorry,” Eda eventually mumbled into Raine’s chest, but didn’t move away from the bard. She just gripped their shirt tightly in her first, not caring about the wrinkles she was sure to leave behind. She’d probably already ruined the shirt, anyways.
“Hey, nothing to be sorry for,” Raine muttered from where they’d pressed their face into Eda’s hair. They turned their head to the side so she could hear them better. “I just want to know what’s wrong, so I can help. Let me help you, Eda.”
“You can’t help me,” she admitted, a few tears leaking from her eyes again.
“Try me,” they challenged.
“I ran into Lilith,” she admitted, but didn’t continue. Raine simply waited, and was rewarded with an answer in a few more moments. “And a whole army of coven scouts.” Raine’s grip on her tightened. “She wanted to arrest me… no she wanted to recruit me.”
“What?”
“That’s what I said. She said Belos could… fix me.”
“There’s nothing to fix,” Raine said, placing a kiss to the top of her head. Eda just laughed a wet sob at that.
“You’re the only one who thinks that then,” she admitted.
“Hey, do you think I’m broken?”
“Of course not!” Eda was outraged at the idea that anyone would.
“Then how could there be anything wrong with you? We have the same curse, you know. A little different, but overall the same. So if I’m not broken from it, neither are you.”
“Some would argue there’s plenty of other things that have me messed up,” she sniffled.
“Then I’ll… I’ll punch those people. In the face.” Eda laughed at the idea of her tiny bard punching anyone in the face for her. But also, she knew they’d do it. “I meant it!”
“I don’t doubt it, Rainestorm,” she muttered before finally pulling back and sniffling. Raine reached up and brushed some of her hair off of her face, it having stuck there from her tears.
“I can’t believe she actually tried to recruit you,” Raine said, surprised.
“I can’t believe she actually believed I killed you,” Eda countered, causing Raine’s eyebrows to practically jump off their face.
“Of all the people, I had expected Lilith to see through that,” Raine admitted.
“Me too. She knows how much you mean to me… I’d have been destroyed if I’d have done that.” Raine’s heart shattered at the admission, and they held her tightly once more. Eda didn’t complain about being crushed back against the bard’s chest.
“Well, that’ll never happen,” they said confidently. Eda didn’t even want to think about the fact that it was still a possibility, so she simply nodded her head.
“At least she’ll look at me now,” Eda shrugged, looking on the bright side.
“I’d rather she didn’t,” Raine admitted with a frown. “I know you still love her, but she’s in the Emperor’s Coven now. It’s not safe.”
“Oh, she well and truly showed that today,” Eda confirmed. “I’m pretty sure if I hadn’t knocked her crew down, she’d have had them drag me in. But in a one on one, she knows I’m stronger.”
“There’s my girl,” Raine smiled, glad to hear Eda being confident again. Eda smiled a bit too, breathing a sigh of relief onto Raine.
“I’m just glad that’s over with. It can only go up from here, right?” she practically begged.
“We can only hope.”
The two sat outside for a while before Raine coaxed Eda into the house and up to their nest. She brought the crystal ball up for her to watch - despite usually having it banned from the bedroom - and got her a hot mug of spiced apple blood. She moaned in appreciation at the taste.
“Hey, this is the good stuff,” she remarked, eyes wide. “We can’t afford this.”
“And we didn’t,” Raine smirked. “I nabbed some last time I went to the market. Hid it away from special circumstances… this seemed like a good one.”
“I’m such a good influence on you,” Eda sniffled with pride. “You’ve come so far, young witchlet.” The two laughed.
While the day had gone sideways, it wasn’t all bad. Eda just had to remember that she had a bard to stand by her, and she’d be okay. A bard waiting at home with some good ol’ apple blood and her owls, along with their feisty little fox. The two palismen curled up in the nest with their witches, despite usually sleeping on their own beds - Eda tended to flail in her sleep in a way that only Raine could tolerate. Once she finished her mug, she snuggled them close and gripped Raine’s arm like they’d vanish if she let go. That was fine by Raine, because they had no intention of going anywhere.