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Raine collapsed on the ground next to Eda and her kids. Their ears still rang with the sounds of fighting. It was over.
It was over and they were still alive. And both of Eda’s kids were titans or something, which-
Which they were not thinking about right now.
They sat up, their body protesting the movement, and brushed some smile off the bottom of their trousers.
Belos’ slime. Under their boots, clinging to their skin as they fought alone in a cave, crowding their mind while they were helpless to resist-
Breathe.
They did not have time to freak out night now. The fight had been won, but there was still so much to be done. And King and Luz were here, and they were children. Children who deserved to have competent adults to help them deal with everything. “Is everyone ok?” They said.
“I think so.” King muttered.
Luz sat bolt upright with a gasp. “We have to go find the collector, we have to save them!”
The collector. The cold feeling of wood creeping up their limbs, Fiddlesticks shattered alone in a cave, the BATTs still trapped, the destroyed buildings they’d flown over, so much to do so little time, their head aching from the effort of-
You’re fine. Breathe.
“Puppets don’t have a proper sense of time passing, Luz. It’s all very dream like. And we’re all exhausted. Let’s get back to the Owl House and rest, then we can get started sorting everything else out. Ok?”
“Fine.” She grumbled. “But I’m waking you up stupidly early to get it done.”
“Sounds good.” Raine smiled, fighting a yawn.
“Excited to fly on your very own palisman, Luz?” Eda asked.
“Yes! I’ll take King and you take Raine?” Luz suggested, smirking a little at Eda. Raine wondered how much she had told the kids about their relationship. Or, indeed, what she thought about their relationship. They hadn’t exactly had much time to talk.
“That ok with you Raine?”
They nodded. They were just grateful they didn't have to walk anywhere else.
It was a mistake.
‘Eda’ had always been synonymous with ‘safe'. Granted, it was the chaotic kind of safe – skipping performances, hiding from teachers. But that didn’t stop the tension draining out of them the second she picked them up. There was nowhere they were calmer than in the eye of her storm. It was so, so tempting to fall apart in her arms. But they couldn’t, not yet. There was still so much to be done. They fought to focus on the cold wind swirling around them. Every bruise and cut they'd got stung.
Finally, far too soon, they arrived. Raine stumbled when Eda set them down, the loss of adrenaline leaving them sick and shaky. Their arm caught on the edge of the wall, right where-
Don’t
-right where Belos’ teeth had sunk in, his teeth in their arm and claws in their mind and they were falling, screaming but no sound came out because how can you scream when you can’t breathe-
For fucks sake get a hold of yourself
-slime choking them, vines choking them, choking down the sickly sweet tea, choking down a scream. Forever someone’s prisoner. What was wrong with them, that made them so easy to trap? Maybe they deserved it, maybe they-
“Raine. Breath.”
Eda was crouched in front of them, a few careful inches away. Her gaze was sharp, concerned. They blinked. “. . . mn sorry.”
“Nope, none of that.” She said. Slowly, information filtered in through their mind. They were sat on the ground, back pressed against the wall, hands grabbing at their hair. Eda knelt in front of them. She carefully reached out her hand. They grabbed it with both of theirs. It was too much and not enough, and they held on for dear life. “Can you tell me what’s wrong?” She asked softly. She was always so soft with them. Even when they didn’t deserve it.
Raine didn’t deserve it, but that didn’t stop them from wanting it. They leaned in, resting their head on her shoulder. She took the hint and pulled them close, rubbing soothing circles on their back. “I-“ They choked out. “I didn’t want to freak out in front of the kids.”
“They’ve gone inside. I think I heard Luz whisper something about ‘letting us kiss in private’. So I’m not sure they know what’s going on, and I’m pretty sure we won’t be disturbed.”
They half sobbed; half laughed. “They’re so much like you.”
“Right?” She shifted to sit next to them, still rubbing their back. She’d left her harpy form at some point, leaving her only slightly taller than them. The golden light of the setting sun danced through her grey hair. They closed their eyes, allowing themselves a moment to get their thoughts in order.
“We’ve been doing this for so long, and I just- It hurts. And I’m so tired. And I hate that, the rest of you are fine, I just need to-”
“No, Raine. Don’t.” She moved her hand away from their back to push the hair out of their face. “Look at me.” They looked. Her golden fang caught the light. She had smile lines at the sides of her mouth, and her face were so full of concern it made a lump rise in their throat. She cupped the side of their face. “You’ve done so much. You’ve done so well. None of us have found this easy, but while we had time to process it you were a puppet. You deserve to rest.”
Deserve. Not need. They knew well enough that they needed to rest.
Deserve.
That one little word shattered something inside them.
And then they were crying, thick heavy tears raining down their cheeks, staining their top. And Eda was holding them, and she didn’t try to wipe their tears away because once when they were both 16 they’d told her they hated when people did that, that it felt too much like people trying to shut them up. And then she’s crying too, and they reach up because once when they were both 16 she told them she wanted her tears wiped away, that it felt like having someone care for her.
And they are alive. And they are together. And there is so much to do, but that means there is a world left to do things in.
A loud crash echoed from inside the house and Eda winced. They laughed. “We should probably head inside.”
“Those little shits had better not have broken anything.”
“Language!” They pushed themselves up, only for their legs to give out and send them right back down. “Damnit.”
“Language.” Eda teased, scooping them up with an ease that shouldn’t have surprised them.
Inside, Luz and King were scampering around moving things. King was holding a stack of Hex Mix almost as big as him. Luz turned to them nervously. “Eda! We bought the nest downstairs so we can all sleep in the living room tonight! I hope that’s ok, we didn’t want to be alone and I thought we’d fit better down here, also it’s close to the kitchen and we all love snacks, also-” She talked impressively quickly, and Raine was fairly certain that it was only their experience from being a teacher that let them keep up.
“Kid! That sounds great, thank you.” Eda interrupted.
Raine blinked as a certain detail in Luz’s rant finally registered. “Wait, did you say a nest?”
Eda flushed. “Owl beast thing. It’s actually pretty comfortable.” She gestured to a spot on the floor, where there was indeed an honest-to-titan nest on the ground.
“I’d like to try it out,” they said casually. Eda somehow got even redder. There was something about how easily she blushed, even when she was actively carrying them. She put them down. It was surprisingly comfortable especially considering the number of twigs sticking out of it. She flopped down beside them, resting her hand on their chest. King jumped in beside them, and Luz settled down next to it. They let out a long, slow sigh.
“Good?”
“Mmmm. Warm.” Raine sounded ridiculous, but they couldn’t bring themselves to care. It had been far too many years of being sensible. She ran a hand through their hair. They leaned into the touch. They were still exhausted but there was no urgency to it any more. Just softness and blurred edges. They would gladly have stayed here forever.
And then the door swung open because of course it did.
Raine tensed, getting ready to whistle. The Collector stood shyly in the door. They looked so small now. Hard to believe they’d caused so much chaos. Lilith poked her head in behind them. She had short hair now. (Had they known that already? There’s a kind of familiarity to it somehow. An echo of their time spent as a puppet, perhaps?) Eda jumped up to greet her.
A wave of children followed, along with an adult human with a striking resemblance to Luz. They drooped back down. They had no clue how everyone had got there, and quite frankly they didn’t care. They were just glad everyone looked ok. Tired, obviously. But they were smiling. They let their eyes drift closed, savouring the sound of happy conversation.
A weight thudded down onto them. Before they had time to panic, they heard King’s little squeak. Eda was laughing. “Sorry Raine! Hooty got us.”
Hooty was back. Naturally. They burst out laughing. “s’ok.” They wrapped their arms around her waist. Eda had finished greeting people. It was their turn to get a hug with her. She could escape their grasp easily even when they weren’t half asleep, but luckily, they were very persuasive. King stayed on her side for all of half a minute before jumping up to talk to someone. He was so much Eda’s son. They snuggle their head into her shoulder and hum a small tune to themselves. Something new. They had no need for a requiem.
They were still alive.