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“Oh, witchlet!”
Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck . That’s really the only word that could race through Eda’s mind right now. The voice outside the Owl House was sending her back in time, to every day of her childhood. Every day up until this past year, really. And oh how nice it’s been not to hear that voice for the past year.
“I know you’re in there! Come out and say hello to your dear old mother!”
Part of her just wanted to throw a potion out the window and hope it hit her, but she knew that wouldn’t solve anything. She turned to her partner who looked just as shocked as she did to hear that voice. Raine knew all about her mother, what she tried to do. While not as controlling as Raine’s own mothers, they still hated how manipulative she was to Eda.
“I’ve found something that might interest you!”
Eda sighed and got off of the couch, where she’d been snuggled up with Raine watching the crystal ball. It was supposed to be a potions day, but they’d run out of ingredients and were waiting for the night market to go and restock. In all honesty, Eda hadn’t really minded having a lazy day in. But now it was ruined.
“I’m coming, I’m coming,” she called, slowly making her way to the door. She rubbed her bleary eyes and didn’t bother to make sure she was presentable for her mother, leading to her opening the door in a too large sweater and sweats from the human realm (what could she say, they were comfortable).
“Witchlet! Oh, it’s so good to see you!” Gwendolyn said before wrapping her arms around her daughter.
“Uh, yeah, it’s good to see you too, mom,” Eda lied, awkwardly patting her mom on the back. “But, uh, how’d you even figure out where I was?”
“Why, your sister told me, of course,” she explained with a smile. Fuck, Lilith knew where she lived, too? Well the day was just getting better and better, wasn’t it.
“Oh, Lilith? Yeah she came by looking for you last week! We had a marvelous tea party before she ran off screaming to her friends about how wonderful it was! I wonder why she hasn’t been back yet,” Hooty chimed in from the back of the door. Eda moved the door so she could face the owl demon and glared at him.
“You’re supposed to tell me when any trespassers come, not have a tea party with them. Although, I suppose whatever you did seems effective… so keep it up.”
“Aye-aye, captain!” Hooty said. Eda got the feeling he’d be saluting her if he could. She shuddered at the thought of Hooty with hands.
“Why that’s an… interesting decor choice, witchlet,” Gwendolyn said, not wanting to be forgotten in the conversation just as Hooty usually didn’t. Eda sighed and ran her hand over her face. Maybe this was why she found the house demon so much more manageable than Raine did - they were used to the needy behavior.
“Mother, this is Hooty. Hooty, this is my mother, Gwendolyn.”
“Gasp! Does that make you my grandmother? Grandmother Gwendolyn? Oh beautiful, beautiful alliteration,” Hooty said, twisting himself upside down.
“Eda is this… thing… calling you mother?” Gwendolyn asked, awkwardly. Eda would have felt bad for her mother, but it was her mother, so she didn’t.
“No.” That was all she had to say, both to her mother and to Hooty.
There were a few moments of awkward silence.
“Come now witchlet, I came all this way to bring you a surprise, don’t you want to see it?” Gwendolyn asked, reaching into the purse at her side. Eda crossed her arms and tapped her foot.
“Bonesborough isn't that big, you didn’t travel that far. And no, not really.” Eda wasn’t willing to be welcoming to the woman who had scared her out of her own home by threatening to cut her open . Okay, maybe it didn’t happen exactly like that, but it was close enough.
“Well, I have it for you, so here it is. One bonafide cure to your owl curse!” Gwendolyn held up a murky green potion in victory, and Eda eyed it with suspicion.
“How’d you find it?” she asked suspiciously.
“Well, after you ran away, I knew you were still out there somewhere. So I kept looking for a cure. The healer’s coven was useless, of course, but I found some… alternative medicinal groups.”
“This sounds safe…” Eda muttered, but her mother ignored her.
“After a few months of traveling the wilderness with them, helping them with a few beast problems, they finally trusted me enough with this. It was brewed with your curse in mind and should eradicate you of that beast!”
“Mother, I’m not sure this is a good idea…” Eda said, turning towards the house. Part of her wanted Raine to sweep in and save her from this traumatizing interaction, but the other part wanted them to stay hidden.
“Nonsense! Now, open wide!” Taking advantage of Eda opening her mouth to protest more, Gwendolyn shoved the potion vial into her mouth and poured it shut. She then grabbed Eda’s nose, restricting her breathing and forcing her to swallow.
“What the hell?” Eda shouted, sputtering after it was swallowed. She’d tried to spit it out but her mother had spelled her mouth shut. A handy trick for parents of unruly children, but not so helpful when you’re an adult trying to avoid swallowing possible poison .
“There we go, pretty soon the demon that was possessing you should leave your body,” Gwendolyn explained.
“Did you not listen to the healers that talked to you at all?! That’s not what this is! There’s no demon!” Eda shouted before covering her mouth with her hands. Oh Titan, she was going to puke.
Raine came running outside just as she let the acidic vomit out of her mouth, grabbing her hair just in time to prevent it from becoming a mess she’d likely need to cut off. She mentally thanked them but couldn’t get the words out, as she was vomiting again. And again.
“Look, see, it’s working!” Gwendolyn said with an excited clap.
“What is wrong with you?” Raine shouted, rubbing Eda’s back to try and soothe her. She felt tears coming to her eyes as she vomited again - not just from the disgusting act, but from the pain her mother was putting her through over this curse again . The curse was bad enough without someone nearly killing you to get rid of it.
“I’m just helping my daughter. And where have you been? Everyone’s blaming my daughter for your death!” Gwendolyn accused.
“I’ve been here, taking care of your daughter, unlike someone .”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Gwendolyn challenged, taking a step closer to the bard.
“Enough!” Eda got out before another wave of nausea could flow over her. “Both of you, let me die in peace.”
“Oh witchlet, calm down, you’re not dying, the demon is!” Gwendolyn explained.
“There is no demon!” Raine repeated angrily.
“And how would you know?”
“Because I have the same problem!” Raine admitted, wanting this argument to end.
“Wh-what?” Gwendolyn asked, stunned. ‘ Good ’ Eda thought, ‘ maybe she’ll be stunned into silence.’
“Whoever cursed your daughter, cursed me too,” Raine said more calmly now, taking a deep breath. “I think that allows me to be a bit more in the know than you are.”
“How do I know this isn’t all your fault, and my poor witchlet didn’t just get in the way?” Gwendolyn accused.
“Because we were at our house,” Eda admitted, believing the vomiting spell to be over. She felt terrible. Standing back up, she leaned against Raine, unable to support her own weight. Raine wrapped an arm around her shoulder, sensing the weakness in her and wanting to show a united front.
“What are you talking about?”
“The night we got cursed. We were at our house. Not Raine’s. Whoever snuck in and cursed me probably didn’t even know they were there.” Eda hated that she was admitting this to her mother but she was just too tired to argue now. She just wanted to go back up to her nest and sleep the nausea away.
“No, no, you’re a good witchlet, you’d never sneak your partner into your bed,” Gwendolyn protested in disbelief.
“Oh my Titan, nothing happened ,” Raine explained, covering their face with the hand that wasn’t wrapped around Eda. “I was there comforting your daughter. Something you should have been able to do, but you didn’t even know anything was wrong .”
“Raine,” Eda admonished, not wanting to get into why she didn’t talk to her mother about her problems.
“No, no, let them speak. Let them tell me what a horrible mother I’ve been to you,” Gwendolyn said, anger in her eyes. Eda sighed and nudged Raine’s arm off, able to shakily stand now. She took a step to her mother.
“Raine doesn’t need to tell you that. I can. I want you to leave. Now.”
“But, witchlet, I’m only trying to he-”.
“Now,” Eda demanded. Hooty came out from behind her and had a menacing look on his face, shocking Gwendolyn.
“Alright, alright, I’ll leave. For now. But I’ll be back. If that potion doesn't work, we’ll just find one that will.”
“Goodbye, mother,” Eda said, turning back towards the house. Raine wrapped their arm around her again to help her, and she allowed it. But first she stopped. “Oh, and one more thing. I am asking you nicely - please don’t tell Raine’s parents that we’re here. Or that you’ve seen them at all.”
“Well, normally I wouldn’t agree to that - a parent deserves to know where their child is, after all - but I have no way to tell them anyways,” Gwendolyn remarked.
“What do you mean you have no way to tell them? We live like, five minutes away,” Eda said in exasperation.
“You didn’t know? They moved back to the knee. Most people think it was the shock of losing their only child. They wanted to be back with family,” Gwendolyn said in a tone that was clearly trying to make Raine feel guilty. However, it just made Raine angrier. They released Eda and turned around to face her.
“They know I’m not dead,” Raine said in a firm tone, trying to keep the anger from seeping into their voice. Trying being the key word. “They just don’t know where I am. They’re half the reason everyone thinks your daughter killed me - they kept me trapped in that house because they were too embarrassed to have a cursed child. So don’t lecture me about how upset they are that I’m gone.”
Gwendolyn had nothing to say, not having expected that response. Raine sighed as they and Eda turned back towards the house and went back in to try and salvage the remainder of their day. They didn’t stay to watch her go, though she did eventually after Hooty threatened to hug her.
As the couple settled back down on the couch, Eda turned to Raine.
“Are you… okay?” she asked, concerned at the emotionless look on their face.
“I’m just… confused, I guess,” Raine admitted. “I don’t understand why they’d let people think they’re grieving to the point where they’d move back home. It’s like they’ve completely given up on me which - part of me is relieved if that’s the case, but part of me feels abandoned, too. Does that make sense?”
“A little,” Eda said, snuggling into Raine’s shoulder. “It’s fair to feel conflicted about your family, Titan knows I am. They really fucked you over though, and they don’t deserve to have you. There’s no point in wasting your energy thinking about them anymore.”
“Easier said than done,” Raine said with a defeated laugh. “I wish I could just completely forget about them sometimes, as terrible as that sounds. But they’re always in my ear, telling me how I’m not doing well enough or I should have done better. Anything from playing an instrument to where I am in life, I can feel them judging me.” Raine let out a snort. “They’d be horrified if they saw me now.”
“Good,” Eda said, knocking their shoulder slightly. “Let’s keep horrifying ‘em. Live your life for you, okay? You don’t have to impress anyone.”
“I have to impress you, don’t I?” Raine teased, turning their head to face her.
“I’ve been impressed since you changed the flavor of my juice,” Eda admitted in a teasing tone.
“I’d really have won you over if I’d made it taste like apple blood.”
“I never would’ve let you go back to your hoity-toity school,” Eda joked. Raine laughed and wrapped their arm around her.
“I’m sorry about your mom, too,” Raine said, rubbing her shoulder. “I never thought she’d go this far…”
“That’s why I had to leave,” Eda admitted with a shrug. “She was just so… focused on a cure, it’s like she forgot about the witch she was trying to cure in the first place. It didn’t matter what happened to me so long as the curse was gone.”
Raine frowned and just held her close. There was nothing either of them could say in the moment to fix either of their situations. They could be there for each other though, and support one another. And that’s just what they both intended to do.
For as long as they needed to.