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At this point, Eda was convinced that the greatest risk this stupid curse posed to her well-being was boring her to death.
Usually, she wouldn’t have complained about getting to skip a few classes, but the circumstances really sucked the joy out of everything.
She wasn’t even allowed at school until her “situation” was under control, which would be Titan knows when at this rate.
Her mom had deemed it unsafe for her to leave the house without supervision, which painfully limited the amount of shenanigans she could get into.
Eda had attempted to sneak out, of course, but her mom had taken time off work to care for her, and she was taking that job annoyingly seriously, so Eda hadn’t had much luck. The panicked scolding sessions she’d received after each failed attempt didn’t exactly sweeten the deal, either.
The past six days Eda had spent being dragged to numerous different healer’s offices. There was a ridiculous amount of healers in Bonesborough and the surrounding area, like, wow.
Once they got home, her mom would chide her if she so much as tried to do anything other than rest. So, reluctantly, she rested.
Eda didn’t think it was possible to miss doing chores, but being trapped in bed all day was making her fidgety. She even missed taking their blood-sucker of a trash monster for walks. She’d honestly have paid snails to do it at this point. She missed that violent little beast and his tendency to go for people’s ankles.
She also missed her sister. Yes, Lily was annoying, and way too into rules and respecting authority and all that boring stuff, but she’d been one of Eda’s closest friends her whole life. She’d always been around, so it felt weird that she wasn’t anymore.
Lilith had never been a loud person, but the house was somehow too quiet without her. Eda missed finding cue cards crammed into every inch of free space. She missed the stupid arguments over orb shows and music. She even missed the awful alarms that had always woken her up screaming at four in the morning because Lily was so paranoid about oversleeping.
…okay, no, that last one was a lie. That habit had driven her crazy for years, and she was glad it was someone else’s problem now. If she got to go back to school sometime before she turned forty, at least she’d finally be able to sleep until right before the bus arrived.
And who needed Lilith, anyway! She’d grown a lot less fun to be around in the last few months. Never talked about anything other than coven tryouts and all the stupid dusty history books she’d be able to peek into once she got accepted. Especially lately, her sister had constantly ditched her in favor of coven study sessions, and gotten annoyed if Eda did anything better than her.
Speaking of people Eda could do without: her classmates were still talking about her in the group chat, apparently. She’d gotten several new pings since she’d last checked it. She refused to open it. It just wasn’t worth dealing with.
Eda usually enjoyed having everyone’s attention on her, but that was when people were speculating about her next big prank, not discussing whether she should be permanently banned from coming back to school.
After the third nasty direct message she’d gotten, she’d stopped opening them and started blocking people. After the fifth, she’d decided she needed to conjure her scroll away until this died down, at least a little.
Lilith hadn’t messaged her much, anyway, just checked up on her once or twice. She was probably busy moving into her cozy new coven life.
Yeah, that had to be it. Eda refused to believe that one little curse would change her sister’s view of her so drastically that she would refuse to contact her. And any important Lilith-related news she could get from her parents.
The real issue of Eda’s scroll-free vacation was her inability to contact Raine.
Raine had sent her over seventy messages. She didn’t bother opening them. They’d also called her several times, leaving half a dozen voice mauls she hadn’t listened to yet.
Once a day, she went to check whether the little messages-icon next to their name showed a higher number—it always did—and then she quickly closed the scroll again and banished it back out of existence.
As much as she wanted to, she couldn’t text them back. If she opened the chat with Raine, she’d start looking at other chats again and see more nasty messages. Besides, they’d want to know how she was, if she was doing okay, and all that lame stuff she didn’t want to talk about.
It had barely been a week and it felt like her whole life had already shifted to revolve around this dumb curse. She wished she could just feel normal for a bit. She wanted to message her best friend about homework that she wasn’t planning to do, to talk about her new favorite song and the upcoming Fall Festival without the curse looming in the background.
It was all these little things she’d taken for granted that she missed terribly now. The stupid jokes, the movie marathons, and the late night messaging when the two of them desperately needed to put down their scrolls and sleep but neither actually did.
Now, Eda just spent ages mindlessly scrolling through Hexflix until she found something that sounded vaguely bearable. Sometimes her mom would drop by to bring her snacks and ask how she was feeling for the millionth time, like she had ten minutes ago. (At this point, even Eda’s beloved shriekerdoodles were starting to taste bland.)
Then, rinse and repeat until Eda passed out from exhaustion or boredom or both.
She’d just switched off the lights for atmospheric reasons when she heard something hit the window. She didn’t think much of it—she had a beast keeper for a mom, after all—until a moment later, Raine hopped inside.
“Oh, good. You’re home. I wasn’t sure.”
“You can’t just show up in people’s rooms unannounced!” Eda protested, feeling profoundly embarrassed about her messy hair and messier surroundings. (In her defense, she’d been too busy with binging orb shows and pacing holes into her floorboards to clean her room.)
“Wasn’t unannounced.” They shrugged. “Not my fault you don’t read your messages.”
Eda summoned her scroll to check. Raine’s name was right at the top of her message bar. The newest message read clearly: “That’s it, I’m coming over.”
Yeah, okay, that one was on her.
“ Anyway ,” Eda quickly changed the topic, trying to seem casual as she combed her fingers through the nest that was her hair. Hopefully it didn’t look too bad. “Fancy seeing you here.”
“Sorry about the only semi-announced break-in,” Raine said, looking down. “But you didn’t reply to any of my messages, and I wanted to make sure you were, you know, alive.”
“Eh, you know me, I’m always down for a good break-in.” Eda shrugged.
She was trying to seem nonchalant despite her initial reaction to this specific break-in saying the exact opposite. Deeming her hair messy, but not catastrophically so, she stopped combing and pulled her hands back.
Raine screamed.
“What is it? Did you see another fire bee?” Eda teased them lightly. “I know you don’t like them, but I thought you’d be used to them by now, considering how freely my mom waves them around. She’s being super overprotective right now, so occasionally she’ll send some up to make sure I’m still in bed, which is just the worst.”
Eda rolled her eyes, but tensed when she realized Raine’s look of horror was aimed directly at her. She wasn’t transforming, was she?
Eda frantically checked herself over for feathers, but found none. Phew.
“Uh, Boiling Isles to Rainestorm, you there? Do I have something on my face? You’re being a bit weird right now.”
“ Your hand came off .”
Eda looked down at her right arm, which currently ended just below her elbow. “Oh.”
Her fingers must have gotten stuck in her hair without her realizing. She’d been so busy worrying about the feathers that she hadn’t even noticed her hand was missing.
“Yeah, it does that sometimes. Neat party trick, isn’t it?”
“Does it hurt?” Raine asked. They seemed more concerned than freaked out now.
“Nah. It’s definitely startled me a couple times though, especially in the dark. Like when I’m just casually motioning to the crystal ball and instead of the motion happening here, my arm will move wherever it fell off.”
“That definitely sounds weird.” Raine clearly didn’t know what to say. Not that Eda could blame them.
“So… this is a bit awkward for me to ask, but would you mind fetching my arm for me? I’d do it myself, but I’m a little shorthanded right now,” Eda joked in an attempt to lighten the mood.
Raine snorted as they grabbed and pulled the hand from her hair without complaint.
“Here. Hand-delivered, just for you,” they joked as they lowered it down towards her, following her lead on the tone for the conversation. “Do I just… put it back on?”
“Oh yeah. That part is actually pretty easy.”
They carefully reattached the lower part of her arm, leaving their hand to rest in hers for a moment longer as they made sure everything looked right. Eda felt her palms grow sweaty which she assumed she’d have more trouble sensing if one of her hands hadn’t been properly attached.
Despite how used she’d gotten to being close to Raine these past few months, certain amounts of closeness had started making her nervous recently.
Sure, she’d had a bit of a crush on them when they first met—and who could blame her, Raine was one of the coolest witches on the Boiling Isles, after all—but her feelings seemed to have grown into something more sincere over time. Yuck.
This felt more intimidating than her usual crushes and Eda hated it. When you had a crush on some classmate you barely knew, a rejection could only sting so much. When it was your best friend, though… things got complicated.
An owl beast curse was somehow infinitely less scary than emotional sincerity.
Eda laughed, trying not to sound strained. “As far as elaborate ploys to get you to hold my hand go, this one was admittedly out there, but it worked like a charm.”
Raine blushed and looked away, but didn’t move their hand. Oh .
“I’m glad you’re well enough to make jokes. Genuinely. I… probably wouldn’t be.”
“I don’t even care about the stupid curse that much! I just wish my mom would leave me alone. She’s being a total nightmare. And not the fun kind.” Eda rolled her eyes. Hopefully she sounded more confident than she felt. She really didn’t want Raine’s whole visit to revolve around her curse—despite knowing that totally was why they’d come over in the first place. “It’s so frustrating to be told the same three things over and over by different healers, just for mom to keep dragging me to new ones in hopes the next one will magically have come up with a solution to all of my problems. I’m just tired. With the way she’s acting, you’d think she was the one who got cursed.”
“I’m sure she’s just worried about you.”
“Yeah, well, I’m sick of it. I’m sick of talking about the curse, I’m sick of hearing about it, I’m sick of even thinking about it.” There. That should get the point across.
Raine deflated a little, giving her a concerned look, but they didn’t push the matter.
“So, what do we do now? Did you have any plans prior to my impromptu break-in?” They paused. “I mean, not that I’m just gonna assume I’m invited—it’s just, I haven’t seen you in a bit and I don’t want to leave yet and I thought—I—uh—” they stammered, nervous in a way she’d only seen them be right before (and during) live performances. It was kind of sweet. “I’ll leave if I’m bothering you!” they quickly added.
“Rainestorm, relax, for Titan’s sake.” Eda laughed. This she could handle much, much better than curse talk. “You’re not bothering me. I was about to put on Playground Illusions before you got here, but I didn’t start it yet, so perfect timing. I’ll even share my snacks with you. That’s how generous I’m feeling.” She patted the mattress next to her. “It’s a movie about a kid who’s too shy to make friends using illusion magic to bring their imaginary friends to life.”
“That sounds sweet, which, knowing you, should immediately make me suspicious,” Raine said, already visibly calmer.
They moved to the spot Eda had offered without hesitation. Their hand brushed her arm again. At this point, Eda wasn’t sure if they were intentionally messing with her or if they just liked being close to her. She also wasn’t sure which option scared her more.
That they’d only briefly been freaked out by the loose hand situation and didn’t seem bothered by it anymore immediately gave them extra coolness points, though.
“Yeah, it sounds sickeningly sweet. I’m hoping things will go awry.”
Raine snickered, adjusting Eda’s blanket so it covered them both. “Ah, there it is. That sounds more like you.”
It was nice to sit in silence with her best friend and pretend like everything was normal, even just for a bit.
Everything wasn’t normal. Eda couldn’t focus on the movie at all. The whole time she spent sitting next to Raine she was terribly tense. She frantically checked herself over for feathers whenever she felt like they weren’t looking.
Thankfully it hadn’t been a common occurrence, but her body had produced quite a few feathers since the day of the duel. They were especially likely to pop up in stressful situations.
Issue being, she was currently stressing herself out with thoughts of Raine possibly seeing her differently and stressing herself out more with the constant feather checks, which made it significantly more likely for them to pop up.
Raine at least tried to pretend everything was normal. They gave her a few extra glances and were clearly worried, but they didn’t bring up the curse. They just sat next to her, pushing snacks back and forth and sprinkling in the occasional comment about the movie like it was a regular afternoon and Eda wasn’t behaving like a crazy person. She couldn’t have appreciated them any more for it.
In the end, it only took a tiny flesh-eating fairy to break the nightsteed’s back.
Eda concluded her current round of checking for protruding feathers. She hadn’t found any, but her skin felt itchy, which had to be a bad sign, right?
When she looked back up, her eyes met Raine’s.
They’d seen what she was doing. Probably not fully understood it, but enough to know that something wasn’t right. Titan blast it.
“It’s okay, you know. If you’re not doing well,” they said gently. “I don’t think anyone in your situation would be. If you want to talk about it—”
“I’m fine!” Eda snapped back. She immediately felt awful for her tone, but her nerves were stretched too thin for her to just calm down. “Who wouldn’t be after transforming into a massive owl beast, not knowing whether it’ll happen again! Most people don’t even have enough enemies to get cursed until well into adulthood, so really, this is a compliment!”
“I’m sorry I upset you, I didn’t mean—I’m so sorry,” they said immediately.
Raine had barely done anything wrong, but an apology wasn’t going to calm the raging storm of Eda’s emotions.
Everything was just too much. The stress of the whole situation, her fear of transforming in front of Raine, her anger at their well-meant concern, and her anger at herself for snapping came together to make for one explosive mix of emotions. When it inevitably blew up, Eda felt silly for the frantic feather checks she’d done before—she couldn’t even see the row of feathers around her neck, but the second they appeared, she knew they were there.
Eda retreated into the corner of her bed as fast as she could.
“Rainestorm, you need to go. I don’t know if I’ll transform, or how fast, but you need to go. I can’t control it. I don’t—I might hurt you.”
The feathers had spread all the way down her arms now and Eda could feel her vision fading out. This was the worst it had been since the day of the duel.
Eda wanted to cry. How could she ever feel safe and comfortable again, knowing that her own body was working against her? Knowing that at any given moment she might lose control?
Raine would surely hate her now. Seeing her transform from the crowd must have been bad enough, but up close… they’d think she was a monster. They’d want nothing to do with her. They’d—
Eda was abruptly pulled from her spiraling thoughts by a pair of arms wrapping around her.
It was so sudden, so unexpected, that she didn’t even question it. She just melted into the touch, feeling a sense of safety. She clung to that feeling in the same way a child might to a beloved stuffed animal after a nightmare, more instinct than conscious decision. Her arms—not wings, still her own arms—hugged them back.
“I’ve got you,” Raine said gently, adjusting their hold on her a little. “Breathe in slowly through your nose, okay? 1–2–3–4–5. Yes, just like that. Now breathe out through your mouth. 1–2–3–4–5. Hold for a moment, then we’ll give it another go, okay?”
“ Okay ,” Eda sniffled quietly, face buried in the crook of their neck. “Okay.”
It took some time, but she could feel the feathers drawing back. She’d be alright.
“How did you know that would work?”
“I… didn’t,” Raine admitted sheepishly, and it took everything in Eda not to immediately get worked up again.
“You could’ve gotten hurt! I could have—”
“But I’m fine,” they interrupted her, gently but firmly. “And even if I hadn’t been, I know you’d never hurt me on purpose. I had to try. Especially after I upset you so much. I shouldn’t have pushed the issue when you said you didn’t want to talk about it. That I’m worried doesn’t mean it’s okay for me to overstep your boundaries. I’m really sorry. I won’t do it again.”
“I’m sorry, too,” Eda said, grateful that they continued to hold her. “I shouldn’t have ignored you all week. I didn’t mean to push you away. I was just so… so overwhelmed. This whole situation terrifies me and I hate feeling like this. I hate feeling like I have no control over my body.”
“Please don’t apologize. I can’t imagine I’d cope much better if I was in your shoes. I think feeling overwhelmed is a perfectly normal reaction. Sorry about the sheer number of messages I sent. Those probably didn’t help, did they?”
“I… dunno. I glanced at the counter going up a few times and just felt grateful you still cared enough to message me, even if I was too scared to open the chat. Not because I thought you’d react poorly or anything. You’re like, way too cool to be scared of a silly owl beast curse. It’s just that…” She looked away. “You’re my best friend, and the second-greatest person I know—after myself, of course. These last few months with you have been the most fun I had since… maybe ever. I don’t want to lose that.”
“I’m not going anywhere. Not now, not ever, okay?” Raine squeezed her shoulder. “My feelings for you haven’t changed one bit. You mean a lot to me, Whirlwind. Some stupid curse isn’t going to get between us,” they continued softly, which made Eda’s face feel absurdly hot.
She looked back towards them and suddenly noticed how closely the two of them were huddled together at the edge of her bed. Raine was blushing furiously, but didn’t let go of her. In fact, they were making an active effort to meet her eyes.
“I won’t always know what to say, but I will be there to listen if you need someone. No pressure, though. If you’re not ready to talk about things, or you’re just plain sick of talking about the curse constantly, we can talk about anything else. We can just get into trouble together like always. Is that… alright with you?”
“Sounds like my kind of relationship!” Eda said immediately, which came out a lot more ambiguous than she’d intended and made them both blush all over again. “In all seriousness though… I actually would like to vent for a bit. You know, if you’re up for it. I already put you through a bunch today, feathers and all.”
“That’s okay. Besides, nothing really happened.”
Raine shrugged, like they hadn’t just spent the past half an hour comforting her. Like it wasn’t even a big deal at all. Titan, Eda loved them. (Now that was a big scary chunk of emotional sincerity that she was never addressing again.)
“And I wouldn’t be offering it if I didn’t mean it. Vent away.”
“The uncertainty is what’s stressing me out the most,” Eda admitted quietly, snuggling back into Raine’s embrace. “I don’t know how bad the curse really is or how it will affect me long-term or if I could fully transform again and hurt people I care about. The thought terrifies me. We don’t know enough to track the curse back to its source, so I may be stuck like this permanently, which I don’t even want to think about. I have no idea who could have cursed me, or when it happened, or why. I feel like my entire life’s been turned upside down completely out of nowhere, and I just… I wish things would just go back to normal. I wish I could feel normal again.”
“I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have to deal with all that. It’s not fair that any of this is happening to you,” Raine said, hugging her tightly. “Since I’m not a healer, I can’t do much about the other stuff, but I could try to make this into the Isles’ most mundane evening, if that helps? You know, stick around to finish the movie and just… chat for a while afterwards?”
Eda smiled, rubbing at her face to wipe the stupid tears away. “I’d like that.”
“Absolutely no curse talk unless you’re the one bringing it up. Troublemakers’ honor,” they continued. “ And I could keep an eye out for any feathers popping up so you don’t have to worry about it.”
Eda would have been embarrassed knowing Raine figured out what she had been doing during the movie. Would have been , if it hadn’t been for the thoughtful offer.
Of course that wasn’t the part of what they’d said that she focused on.
“‘Troublemakers’ honor,’” Eda repeated, laughing—really, sincerely laughing for the first time in almost a week. “You sound silly, Rainestorm. The point of being a Troublemaker is not to have any stupid rules. There is no such thing as ‘Troublemakers’ honor.’ That’d defeat the whole purpose.”
“Then I apologize for disobeying the sacred lack of rules of Lord Calamity the Wise,” Raine joked as they bowed to her. “I meant no offense.”
“You are unroyally pardoned only due the fact that the rest of your offer is awesome. Seriously. I mean it. I’m taking you up on all of that.” She hugged them again. “You’re the best partner in crime I ever could have hoped for.”
Raine blushed again, which was a win in Eda’s eyes.
“Then I guess I better text my parents I’ll be home late.” They conjured up their scroll to do just that. “I was also thinking I could show you some of the new spells I learned in bard class later, if you want me to? There’s one I think you’ll especially like.”
“Heck yes!” Eda said, not even stopping to think about it. She missed school more than she’d ever care to admit out loud. “You really are the best.”
Raine didn’t say anything this time. They just moved a little, still red-faced, sitting terribly, wonderfully close to Eda in a way that allowed them to keep an eye on both her and the crystal ball.
This time, when their arm brushed hers, Eda worked up the courage to take their hand. They didn’t pull away.
Sitting there on the bed with her head resting on Raine’s shoulder and fingers intertwined with theirs as Playground Illusions drew to a close, Eda was forced to admit that maybe, just maybe, allowing herself to be vulnerable hadn’t been the worst thing in the world.