Archive of Our Own

Only the dim, cool light of the full moon is there to guide her forward as she escapes into the unfamiliar wilderness.

A voice in the distance barks out. The words are unintelligible, but she recognizes the voice as one of her pursuers. She glances over her shoulder and surveys the distance for one of those white cloaks. She sighs with a moment of relief upon finding nothing, but reminds herself that she cannot let her guard down yet.

She doesn't know how long she's been seperated from the other basilisks, and she doesn't know what could have happened to them since, but she cannot concern herself with that. She has to keep running.

A downward slope appears in the land ahead of her. Just as she reaches the descent, she once more hears the voice of a scout and reflexively looks back.

The loose dirt slips under her tail, dragging her down with it. She crashes into the ground with a dull thud. All she can do is hope for gravity to have mercy on her as she begins to tumble down the slope.

The ground batters and bruises her. A rock jabs into her gut. A stray root strikes her hip. Dry twigs stab at her arms. Bits of debris get into her mouth and nose.

She rolls to a halt at the base of the hill, but the world seems to keep spinning around her. Her heartbeat throbs in her head. Her ears ring. Everything hurts.

She lies there on the ground for a moment, groaning, then rubs the dirt from her eyes and takes a look at herself. Thin, growing streaks of red cover her arms. Looking at the rest of her body, she finds more of the same. Nothing worse than a scratch.

She grazes her hand against her sore hip, then presses into it hard. She winces, sucking in through her teeth. Painful, but not enough to be anything major.

She pulls herself up through the pain. She has to keep going. She has to keep moving farther and farther ahead, no matter how hard it may be. It's what they wanted her to do.

Her tail stings as she plants her weight into it. She breathes as deliberately as she can, trying to give herself something to focus on other than the pain, and yet, with each push forward, the pain only becomes harder and harder to ignore.

Eventually, she cannot bring herself to go any farther. She looks around, then drags herself along into an alcove under a short ridge. If she can't keep running from the Coven, she might as well try her best to hide from them.

For the first time since she was imprisoned, she is left alone with her thoughts. Tears begin forming in her eyes. She hides her face in her arms to muffle herself as best she can, but she cannot help but to start sobbing.

She doesn't know what else she can do.

She awakes to the pale, pink glow of the sky filtering through the treetops.

She lays there, still for a moment, until she finally processes that she is awake.

Every muscle in her body tenses all at once. She jolts up. Her still-tired eyes struggle to focus as they dart around, scanning treeline surrounding her.

Right-to-left. Left-to-right. Right-to-left.

She looks in every gap in the trees for the faintest movement and listens for the faintest noise.

Her movements slow, then stop.

No one is there.

Her worry and her held breath leave her.

All she can will herself to do is slump forward. Every once-tensed muscle in her body now goes limp.

No one is there. I'm okay. No one is there.

She breathes deeply.

All at once, she suddenly becomes aware of the stinging of the chill morning air against her skin. The ends of her arms and tail are numb.

She seems to have fully waken up.

She peers down to her cloak, now fallen halfway off of her. She managed to find it within her first few days out here, and since then, it has been her only possession, her only comfort.

Grabbing onto the hem, she lays herself back down against the slight cushion of grass and soil and pulls the cloak back over herself.

Curling herself up tightly into a coil, the feeling of tightness in her chest and stomach now also brings itself to her attention. The sensation of hunger—of real, throbbing, searing hunger—has long been gone, replaced with this faint but omnipresent emptiness, as though someone could reach through her abdomen and find nothing but a hollow cavity.

She stares down at her hands. Her wrists have narrowed.

How long has it been since I've eaten anything?

It's been a couple of days now… Hasn't it? Titan, I can't remember now. These last few days have all started to blur together. How long have I even been out here?

Then, her mind drifts to yesterday evening, a few hours or so before she laid to rest. Stood atop a high vantage point, staring out across the miles and miles of forest, she saw a city just below the setting sun. A city right in the direction she had been heading.

That city…

So many people, all conspiring against me with those Coven officers. Hundreds of them—thousands of them, all surrounding me, looking for me, hunting for me! They're going to bring me back to him!

It's been so long since we all escaped, they've probably already set up traps for me in the forest around the city, too! And probably at the base of the Arm! What if they've already figured out where I am? What if they're already closing in on me? I can't—

She stops herself. She slows her panicked breathing. In, then out. In, then out.

No, I'm fine. Everything is fine.

All I need to do is go around the city. Just need stay in the forests, and I'll be past all this by the end of the day. I will finally be safe. Far away from any cities. Far away from any people. Far away from him.

A morning breeze passes low to the ground, stinging as it glides along her skin. Each gust carries along a dozen tiny needles to stick into her as they drift along. She groans with pain.

I'm going to die out here.

She shifts her weight, folding the edge of her cloak under her, blocking out the wind as much as she can. The wind still continues to sting against her exposed face.

That city…

It probably has a marketplace. That'd have everything I'd need to survive, all there for the taking. Just one brief visit to the city, and I'd be set. I could have a real chance of making a life for myself out here.

But I'd have to go through the Coven to do that. There'll be guards looking for me. I don't have the energy to shape-shift, they'll be able to tell who I am easily.

I can't go back to that cage.

I can't go into the city.

…

I have to go into the city.

She pulls herself up, slips on her cloak, and focuses on her breathing to try to distract herself.

Okay, it's no big deal. I just need to go in, get supplies, and get out.

She takes in her surroundings one last time. Row upon row of trees stand in front of her, extending into the distance until they are only thin, dark streaks. Further yet, a pale golden glow clings closely to the horizon.

She points herself westward, her back towards the rising sun, and begins her trek into the forest before her.

Go in, get supplies, and get out…

She trudges on and on through the wilderness for what must be hours.

Eventually, she stops in her tracks.

Something is ahead of her. She can smell it.

It demands her immediate attention, and she is happy to oblige. It has the characteristic sharpness of copper—bold, tangy, just a little bloody—complimented with subtle herbaceous notes like mossy pines in the morning. It is a smell all so familiar to her, unmistakably so.

Magic.

Her mouth begins to water. Her stomach groans.

After a moment of delight, she realizes that she should be wary of the source of the odor.

As quietly as she can, she ducks behind a nearby bush. Through the leaves, she is just barely able to see ahead.

The scent gets closer and closer, until a rat scurries out from the grasses. It wanders around until it is right in front of her, and looks up to make eye contact with her.

The moment it begins to move away, she springs from hiding and leaps towards it, hands held open in front of her.

She strikes the ground hard, hands snatching at nothing as the rat just barely manages to scramble out of the way.

An arm reaches behind her, thrusting her forward as the other arm stretches towards the rat.

Her hand slaps against the dirt as the rat pivots out of the way. It runs towards the grass.

Her tail plants itself firmly into the ground behind her. She pushes off hard, throwing herself through the air and towards one last chance at satiation.

She crashes into the ground with a thud. Her belly scrapes against the coarse soil as she skids to a halt.

She lays there, limp against the ground and trying to get used to the soreness for a moment before she finally looks ahead of her.

… I caught it?

She stares at the rat between her hands.

I caught it!

She sits herself up, pulling her tail into a coil below her. Her eyes remain so laser-focused on the rat that she could forget to blink if it weren't automatic.

Saliva pools in her mouth.

It smells so good.

I need to eat.

Her stomach roars. The familiar pain of hunger begins to return.

The rat's exposed upper body writhes and flails around wildly.

Her eyes unfocus. Memories of the Conformatorium flood her mind.

Her grip tightens, constricting the soft flesh between her fingers.

In the Conformatorium, she was forced to drain the life out of things like this. Warden Wrath and his underlings watched it all like it was nothing.

This is different, isn't it?

Tiny legs kick at her wrists, claws scraping pointlessly against her scales.

Does this make me like them?

How can I try to justify this like they did?

A sigh frees itself from her mouth. Her head bows low.

Taking the rat in one hand, she lowers it to the ground. It dashes from her palm at the first opportunity, escaping to the freedom of the underbrush. Her hands fall limp to either side.

Hunger gnashes and claws at the walls of her stomach.

She sits there still for a moment.

Well, I can't stop now…

She picks herself back up and brushes herself off. After reorienting herself, she continues on her long trek through the wilderness.

The sun hangs high above her, and the hue of the sky has shifted to the typical pale indigo of the midday.

The exhaustion of hunger and the exhaustion of hours of walking compound each other. With each push farther, it becomes harder to will herself farther yet, but she knows she must anyway. Every minute out here is a minute she grows weaker, and she needs all the strength of body and mind she can hold onto.

Her unchanging surroundings, however, make that determination hard to keep. The forest seems to stretch on forever in every direction; every tree put behind her just brings another tree ahead to replace it.

It seems that way, until new trees cease to appear ahead. In their place, slivers of bright blue sky begin to peek out, growing ever more prominent with each tree put behind her.

The promise of an end to the woods fills her with a newfound resolve. She was a top spinning on end—always moving and never getting anywhere—and now, she may finally be able to stop. Her soreness now seems entirely inconsequential. She pushes herself forward faster and faster yet. If she had the energy to grow legs, she would be sprinting for it.

She breaks free from the treeline and into the clearing. She smiles to herself as she stares across the wide open field, at the city now nearly within reach.

She plops down onto the ground behind her with a sigh. Now all but at her destination, she can afford to rest for a least a moment.

As she continues staring ahead, however, the novelty of escaping the woods begins to disappear. The rose tint in her eyes fades until she sees the city for what it really is: The heart of evil.

If she is caught, they will never give her another chance to be free.

Out of the woods, into the crucible.

After a few idle minutes, she picks herself back up.

I shouldn't wait any longer.

She surveys the open area in front of her one last time. Across the clearing to her left, she sees a path leading into the city.

I'll probably look a bit less suspicious if I come in from the road.

Tracing along the edge of the treeline, she makes her way to the dirt road. She looks out for any people further back on the road and, finding it empty as far as the eye can see, gets onto the road and starts towards the city.

As the city comes into focus in front of her, two figures standing in front of the entryway come into focus with it. Their stark-white cloaks make them unmistakable.

I can't even get in without going by Coven scouts.

I thought the scouts worked outside the cities. Why would there be Coven scouts sitting around in front of the city? Wouldn't the guards be doing that?

Are they putting up extra security… because of me? Are those scouts there to watch out for me?

She stops right where she is, and nervously strokes the back of her neck.

If they are there for me, they'll recognize me before I even get in!

She stares off to her left, into the dense blanket of trees and shrubs just off the road.

Maybe it's not too late to back out. They obviously don't know who I am yet. I can just go back in the woods. Just go around the city like I'd planned in the first place.

The shroud of the forest, untainted by the Coven, beckons her forth.

She looks back to the city gates, then sighs.

No. I need to go in. I need supplies.

She breathes deeply, flips her hood over her head, and resumes forward.

I'll just… be really inconspicuous. Maybe they won't recognize me.

As she approaches closer and closer, more and more detail in appears in their uniforms. She has always hated those silver masks. Through those blank eyes, the void itself stares back at her.

The Coven's scouts were among those who guarded her and the other basilisks in the Conformatorium. She wouldn't know how many of them passed through over the years. It was difficult to see them all as different people. With those masks, all they are to her is one face, one will, one hatred, shared across a thousand bodies.

Those shared faces now stare at her once again.

She bows her head low.

The bare dirt below eventually gives way to cobblestone and mortar.

Through the beating of her heart echoing in her head, she tries to listen for any sound from the scouts—for any reason to give up and flee for dear life—but both scouts remain eerily silent.

It's fine, they won't notice me. It's fine.

She feels her eyes just barely begin to water, but forces herself to not give any sign that she doesn't belong. Her drumming heartbeat grows deafening. She holds her breath.

They won't notice me. They won't notice me. They won't notice—

She crosses the threshold into the city.

I made it.

The Coven scouts are left behind her. She sighs and lightly chuckles to herself.

Oh, Titan, I made it!

However, her moment of relief is cut short when she notices somebody begin walking towards her.

Oh, no, no no! Do they know?

She stands there, frozen in place as they approach.

"Hello, there!" the witch greets her warmly. "I saw you just come in. Are you new to Bonesborough?"

"Mm-hmm," is all she can muster up.

"Do you need help finding anything?"

She swallows down the lump in her throat. "Um… the market?"

"The market?" They peer back and point down the road." Just follow this big, main road for a while. It's right in the middle of town."

"Uh… thanks."

"You're welcome," they say as they walk away. "Have a good day, now!"

She remains there in the middle of the street for a moment.

Huh.

I… guess maybe I'm not as easy to recognize as I thought.

Still, I can't be too careful.

She steadies her breathing and starts down the road, descending deeper yet into the heart of evil.

"So, now, we should probably get going to—"

"—and I assure you, they are definitely not cursed! But they—"

"—okay, but do you have this one in a different—"

"—garbage, garbage, now, this… this will make me rich!"

Pandemonium surrounds her in the marketplace. She struggles to even hear herself think.

I need to get out of here for a minute.

Constant noise follows her everywhere she goes. The scent of magic is strong enough to be almost disgusting. People bump into her.

Just as the chaos around her becomes too much, she notices a possible respite. Between a couple of the few brick-and-mortar establishments in the market, a dark little alleyway seems to call out to her.

She slips into the alley and away from the view of the outside world. Leaning against the wall, she steadies her breathing.

Titan, I knew cities were supposed to have a lot of people, but… I didn't expect it to be this hectic.

The sights and sounds of the city all fade into the background. After a moment, however, she notices that the smell has not. The distinct must of metal and earth is just as close as ever. There is magic near her.

Peeking just barely out behind the buildings, she sees no witches or demons that she could be smelling, so she comes out further to investigate.

The odor gets stronger and stronger as she approaches a metal garbage can. Popping open the lid and ripping open the paper bag at the top, she finds a feast nestled among the refuse.

Woah.

She picks up a smushed pastry at the top. Inspecting it closely, she struggles to hold back a chuckle at the sight of it.

Pie? I've always wondered what this is like!

It doesn't seem to be the source of the magic odor she sensed, but she scarfs it down all the same. The filling is fruity and rich and like nothing she has ever tasted before.

Ooh, wow! Pie is good!

She scrounges around further in the can, finding baked goods and bits of fruits and vegetables and anything that seems halfway-edible and promptly throwing it into her mouth.

Oh, that's good.

Titan, I haven't eaten in so long…

The delight of food almost makes her forget what attracted her back here in the first place, but the still-present scent of magic reminds her.

She looks through the top bag once more, then tosses it out of the can and rips open the bag below. In there, she finds a few sprigs of dull-red herbs. The appearance is not familiar to her, but the smell is just what she is looking for.

The moment she eats them, she feels a pulse of energy rush through her. The scent of magic around her dissipates.

Realizing she has made a mess behind this building, she returns the strewn-about garbage back to the metal can. The can has still obviously been foraged through, but she will just have to hope that doesn't attract too much attention.

She leans back against the wall, stomach full to the point of soreness, and sighs contently.

I hope the others have been able to feed themselves out here, too.

I hope they're doing okay.

She doesn't let herself dwell on the thought for too long.

I should probably get back to looking for supplies.

She starts toward the alley, but pauses for a moment, looking down at herself.

The image of a witch comes into focus in her mind, every feature imagined in great detail. Her extremities begin to tingle and change hue, but she stops herself.

No… if anybody sees me come in the alley and a witch leave, they'll know what I am. I shouldn't risk it.

She thinks for a moment longer, then concentrates again. A tingling sensation grows inside her chest, then spreads across her body. Her blood begins running hot.

Oh, Titan, I've missed being warm.

She relishes her newfound comfort for a moment, then continues on out of the alley and back into the chaos outside.

Doing her best to stay calm in the busy crowd, she follows the road back to the market stalls.

Okay, just need to find some supplies to steal and I can finally get out of here.

She traces along the side of the road through the market, taking a brief look at the merchandise of each stall. For a while, none of the stalls strike her as having anything particularly helpful to her.

Her pace through the market slows as a question begins gnawing at her mind.

Am I really cut out for it out there?

She stops in front of a random stall, staring off at nothing in particular.

I can't even bring myself to drain a rat, and I'm gonna survive out in the woods forever because I have a tent?

Maybe when the hunger gets bad enough, I'll actually be willing to do it… Titan—No, that's a stupid plan…

Ugh! What else am I going to do?

The stall's owner is staring at her, confused. She nervously smiles at them, then sees herself off further down the road.

How will I ever be able find the others if I'm out there in the wilderness by myself?

She meanders forward aimlessly, no longer even bothering to glance at each stall as she passes by.

Am I never going to see them again?

Is being alone for the rest of my life the only way I can ever be safe?

She sighs.

I don't know what else I can—

She stops in her tracks. Her eyes lock onto one point in the distance.

They stand far ahead, shifting in and out of view through the movement of the crowd, but she recognizes the figure in an instant all the same.

A coven guard.

No force in this world could turn her attention to anything else. Her heart begins to race, her breathing grows shallow and erratic, and she staggers back a pace, but through it all, she keeps staring forward.

They're coming this way!

A nearby voice asks her something in a sympathetic tone, but she does not concern herself with them.

She flips around, not even taking a moment to assess her surroundings before rushing forward.

The crowd around her now seems suffocating, as if the density of the air has suddenly risen to match the density of the people. Still, she forces herself to keep moving forward, all but shoving her way through some people along the way.

They must know I'm here! They're coming for me!

Rushing onward, the crowd seems to thin somewhat, until she no longer has to force her way through. Some in the crowd still glare at her as she scrambles past them, but she pays no mind to whose attention she attracts anymore. The fear of being conspicuous has been now entirely replaced by another, much more urgent fear.

Further onward, the crowd eventually ends, spitting her out into a mostly-empty stretch of the marketplace. Taking the open space as an opportunity, she looks around for some way off this main road through the market, but no obvious means of escape come to notice.

Just as she is about to continue onward in hopes of finding egress further along, a thought interrupts her. Her eyes lock onto a point along the side of the road.

A stall.

Behind it, a tent closed off from the outside world; in front, a seemingly-distracted owner who might not notice her.

She begins to approach, but stops herself halfway there.

I can't… She might see me…

She glances over her shoulder. The Coven guard is no longer within view, but she knows he must be on his way.

It's better than him seeing me.

She takes one more moment to look around and, finding no one looking in her direction, she slips behind the stall, through the entrance flap, and into a corner of the tent.

Okay, okay. I'm okay know. They shouldn't be able to find me in here.

She focuses on her breathing to calm herself.

I shouldn't have to do this. I shouldn't have to live like this. Why do I have to always be on the run from them?

She looks down at her hands—the hands of a basilisk.

Why did I have to be born like this?

Those witches out there get to be normal. Why couldn't we have been like them? Why do we have to be different from them?

Her eyes begin to water. She hides her face behind her hands as she lets out a whine.

I'll never be anything more than the monster they all see me as.

I'll never be anything but Number Five.

Maybe I should just let myself be captured… At least then, I'd be able to eat every day… Maybe the others are already back there. I could be with them again.

She huffs with frustration.

Agh! What am I supposed to do!?

Amidst the muffled hubbub of the crowd outside, a new sound distinguishes itself: The clacking of heels against stone, right on the other side of the tent.

She's coming in!

Her eyes dart around around, despite her knowing the only entrance is the one right between her and the stall's owner. She slinks back. The walls all seem to pull in close, suffocating her.

I have to shape-shift!

Looking down at herself, something beside her catches her eye; an image of a person printed on a small, flat box.

A tingling sensation spreads around her body as every feature shifts and rearranges itself. Her tail splits off into two legs, her scales turn into bare skin and fabric, and her reptile face becomes primate.

A brief flash of daylight pours into the tent, and the owner of the stall follows closely behind. Number Five holds her breath, but the woman just continues into the room, through the makeshift corridor of precariously-stacked boxes and bags and assorted piles of junk.

She hasn't seen me! Maybe I can still get out of here!

The gentle glow of daylight behind the tent's entrance calls out to her. She can't stop herself from trembling, but she continues anyway. Carrying her newly-formed legs as carefully as she can, she takes a step forwards.

She glances over to the middle of the room, but is relieved to see the owner still looking away. Taking another step forward, then another, the entrance gets tantalizingly close. She reaches out to the flap of the tent.

"Don't think I didn't notice you there," a voice announces behind her.

Number Five freezes in place, then slowly turns around to see the woman staring straight at her.

"What do you think you're doing in here?"

"Hello… fellow witch! Um… well, it looks like I've gotten lost! I'll just go and get out of your way. Bye!" She turns towards the exit, eager to bolt out.

"Nuh-uh! You're not going anywhere."

With a magic glow, the flaps of the tent's entrance dramatically pull themselves tight, as if to say the very idea of her leaving is an absurd impossibility. Number Five turns her head back to the owner of the stall as she approaches.

The stern look on the woman's face fades into one of excitement. "Not until you take a look around the place, maybe buy a thing or two!"

Number Five pauses for a moment. "Oh, uh… I don't…"

"Oh, c'mon! Just a quick look!" Planting a hand on Number Five's shoulder, the woman leads her forward.

As they walk out of the tent together, they see a figure standing in front of the stall waiting for them: The coven guard.

"There you are," the voice behind the mask taunts. "Eda the Owl Lady, you are hereby under arrest for misuse of magic and demonic misdemeanors."

"Would you guys quit following me around?" Eda says as if this is some common, minor annoyance. "I haven't done squat."

The guard looks down at Number Five. "And you're coming, too." His hulking, gloved hand grabs her by the collar and drags her across the stall. "For fraternizing with a criminal." Holding her high in the air in front of him, his stare pierces her.

She writhes in his grip, kicking pointlessly at the air. "No, no, no, no, no!" She feels herself momentarily break the illusion as nictitating membranes blink across her eyes.

The guards eyes narrow at her.

"Oh, all right, all right, you win," Eda concedes.

The guard and Number Five both shift their attention to her.

Eda crouches down behind her stall and scrounges around for something. "Just let me get my stuff," Faster than anybody can react, she jumps back out from behind her stall and swings her staff right at the guard's head.

The guard and Number Five crash hard into the ground below. Number Five jumps back up as quickly as she can and backs away from the guard, but he just stays there on the ground, groaning in pain.

Eda strikes the base of her staff against the ground and, with a golden glow, everything in her stall and tent floats into the air and brings itself together above her. A tablecloth wraps itself around it all, bringing everything into an impossibly small bundle. She jabs her staff through the knot of the bundle and runs over to Number Five.

Taking Number Five by the arm, Eda throws them both up onto her staff. Eda hoots and hollers as they jet upward into the sky above, leaving the city and the guard behind them.

Number Five wraps her arms tightly around Eda's waist, and stares in awe at the landscape as it grows smaller and smaller below her.

Eda glances back. "Y'know, I don't think I caught your name, kid."

"Oh, uh…" She pauses to thinks for a moment. "Vee. My name is Vee. And you are 'Eda the Owl Lady'?"

"Yeah, just 'Eda' is fine," she says. "Vee, huh? Well, Vee, are you still not going to tell me the real reason you were sneaking around my tent?"

"I—uh… well, like I said, I really wasn't trying to do anything. I was just… lost."

"Uh-huh, I remember what you said, 'fellow witch'," she snarks. "Say, you've got awfully round ears for a witch, Vee."

Oh no.

Her hands dart up to the sides of her head. She feels that her ears do, in fact, end in short, oval-shaped tips.

That picture in the tent must've been a human! Titan, how did I not notice that?

Glancing below her, she remembers that she is still sitting on a staff a thousand feet in the air. Her arms quickly wrap back around Eda's waist in front of her.

Okay… It's okay. She thinks I'm a human. I can work with that.

"Yeah, don't think I didn't notice that, kid." Eda continues. "Can't say I blame you for 'getting lost'. I've been around your realm my fair share, too. Good to see if the grass really is redder on the other side, isn't it?"

"You've been to the Human Realm?"

"Well, of course I have. Where do you think I got all my shop's merchandise?"

The foggy memory of a sign reading 'Human Collectibles' crosses Vee's mind. "Oh, right. I guess I didn't really thought about it…" She glances away nervously for a moment, then looks back up at Eda. "What do you think of it there?"

"Oh, it's real nice. I don't think it's exactly a secret that I'm a free spirit, in this realm or anywhere else, but when I'm in the Human Realm especially, I can do whatever I want!"

Vee perks up at that. "Wow… sounds like you really like it."

"Course I do! But… it doesn't hold a candle to the Demon Realm. There's just something… special about the Boiling Isles." For just a moment, she slips into a different tone, more genuine and deliberate. She soon replaces this tone with a far more grandiose one. "I mean, I only get to be 'the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles' when I'm on the Boiling Isles, after all!"

Vee stares off to the landscape below, frowning.

Yeah, must be easy to like it here when you don't have everybody against you.

She looks back up to Eda in front of her.

Actually… maybe she does know what that's like.

"Really?" Vee asks. "Even with those guards going after you?"

"Oh, those buffoons? Pfft. They've been trying to catch me for years now, but they're not nearly good enough to do it." She chuckles to herself. "Anyway, what about you, kid? How do you like it in the Human Realm?"

"It—It was—" Vee stammers out. "It just… wasn't were I wanted to be. I needed something different. But being out here… it's not exactly the change I expected it would be. Out here, it's all just so… hectic and uncertain… I don't know."

Eda glances back at her with a sympathetic expression. "Well, you can ease up around me, kid. Just come along with me for a bit, and then you can go back to the Human Realm or back to Bonesborough or whatever you decide you wanna do. But, before that…" she emphasizes, pointing a finger straight up matter-a-factly. "Because I got us out of that little ordeal with the guard, I expect you to make us even. And I just so happen to have something you can help me with."

"What kind of 'something'?"

"Well, we can discuss the details in a minute." Eda scans the landscape below her. "We're almost here."

Vee and Eda gently touch down in the middle of a narrow clearing, nestled between the edge of the forest and the edge of the land itself. In front of them stands a building; a few stories tall, with white plaster walls and turquoise tile roofing. It looks comfortable.

Eda steps off the staff and walks ahead.

About to follow in Eda's footsteps, Vee is instead distracted by a sight in her periphery: Eda's pale, ringed hand right there beside her, still clutching onto the staff.

Shrieking, Vee tumbles off the staff and onto the ground. She jumps up and steps back a pace, eyes still affixed on the severed hand.

"Oops." Eda walks back over, picks up her own hand, and wrenches it back into her wrist. "That happens sometimes."

Vee brushes herself off and struggles to match Eda's nonchalance. "Oh. Right."

Eda continues down the path. "Now, come along, human."

After taking a moment to process, Vee rushes to meet her. She gawks at the tall house ahead. "Wow…"

They both stop at the front door. Eda stares expectantly at the owl face in the door. Vee flinches as the owl face announces himself. "Hoot-hoot! Password, please!"

Eda stares indifferently at him. "We got no time for this, Hooty." Vee flinches once more as Eda jabs the owl face in both eyes. "Let us in."

"All right, all right! Geez!" Hooty squawks. "You never want to have any fun! Ow! Hoot!"

Hooty's mouth stretches wide open, as far as it should be able to open and then farther yet. The edges of his open maw reach the edges of the doorframe, forming a passageway to enter the house. Eda strolls in, with Vee following closely behind. The room becomes dark as Hooty's mouth closes behind them.

"Welcome…" Eda snaps her fingers. "To the Owl House!"

A series of candles burst to life, bathing the room in a gentle, warm glow. Vee walks out into the center of the room, admiring everything around her.

"Where I hide away from the pressures of modern life…" Eda continues. "Also, the cops. Mm, also, ex-boyfriends." She chuckles to herself.

"Wow…" Vee stares in awe.

"Don't get too comfortable, kid. We still got things to do." Eda takes a step away and looks off at nothing in particular. "It's afternoon, he should be awake by now," she utters under her breath.

Vee almost asks a question, but the clamor of footsteps above interrupts her.

"Ah, there he is."

"There who is?"

"My roommate." Eda looks expectantly at the entryway on the opposite side of the room.

Shadows shift on the wall behind the doorway as a voice echos from just out of view. "Who dares intrude upon I…" A tiny figure emerges, wearing a towel over his still-slighty-damp fur and another over his head. "… the King of Demons?" He squeaks the rubber ducky in his hand for emphasis.

"Aww…" Vee struggles to hold back a giggle.

"No! Don't 'aw' me! You should be cowering!" His shouting only makes Vee coo harder. He shakes off his towels and scampers on all fours over to Eda. "Eda, why did you bring this faithless peasant here?"

"This is Vee, the human. She's here to help us with our little… situation."

"Oh! Hooray!" King cheers.

Vee interrupts. "You still haven't told me what this 'situation' actually is."

"Alright, it's about time I explain." Eda traces a circle in the air, conjuring an image of King in front of her. "King was once a mighty king of demons, until his Crown of Power was stolen, and he became…" She points to the tiny King sitting at her feet. "… this."

Vee coos at him.

"The crown is being held by the evil Warden Wrath…"

Vee's heart sinks in her chest.

Warden Wrath?

Eda's continues, but the words all fade into the background. Vee stares blankly at the ground between them.

Her mind is flooded with memories of cages, memories of the warden, memories of screaming, weeping, and pain—lots of pain.

She looks back up at Eda.

"I mean, it's not like you really have a choice here."

Vee staggers back a step.

The nonchalance fades from Eda's face. "Uh… kid, you okay?"

Eda takes a step towards Vee, but Vee recoils back. "No! No! Stay away from me!"

"Vee?"

"I'm not going back! I—I won't go back!" Vee bolts for the door behind her, throwing it open and running out.

"Hey, wait a minute, Vee! What's—"

Eda's voice fades away as Vee keeps running. She hooks right, breaking through the treeline and into the cover of the forest.

Bobbing and weaving between trees and vaulting over fallen logs, she does not slow down for a moment.

Every part of her is sore and weak, but nevertheless she keeps running until she cannot take herself any farther.

Her legs burn. She breathes in as deeply as she can muster, as the drumming of her heart seems to compete to push the air back out.

"Argh! Damn it!" she screams and kicks a rock as hard as she can, sending it flying out of sight.

She holds her face in her hands and groans.

Why did I ever think that was going to work out!?

Her eyes begin to water. Her hands tremble.

Even the people against the Coven are still against me. I have nobody out here.

She can feel herself begin to lose control. Everything feels tingly. The skin of her hands begins turning back to scales.

She returns to her true form—to the form that has cursed her to this life of struggle.

She collapses against a tree trunk. Tears begin streaming down her face. Her breathing grows erratic. She curls up into a tight coil and sobs.

She doesn't know what else she can do.

"… Vee?"

Vee looks up to the familiar face of Eda, sitting atop her staff just a few paces away. Eda stares back at Vee with wide eyes.

Vee makes eye contact with Eda for just a moment before turning her gaze behind her towards a possible escape route. She rushes as quickly as she can to stand up, hoping she can flee faster than Eda can follow.

"No, Vee! I'm not—" Eda jumps off her staff and towards Vee, but stops herself. "I'm not here to… to hurt you or anything like that, I promise. I just want to talk to you, Vee."

Vee pauses where she is, halfway-stood-up, and turns her head back to Eda.

Eda stands there, motionless, staring back at her. She looks shocked, but more than that, she looks genuinely concerned.

Vee hovers there for a moment longer, then relents. She sits back down against the tree trunk and stares down at the ground in front of her.

"Can I sit?" Eda asks, gesturing towards Vee.

For a moment, Vee sits there without a word or even a glance upward, as though she did not hear the question. Then, her hand moves out and lightly taps the ground beside her.

Eda treads carefully as she approaches, seemingly worried about startling Vee once more. Wood taps against wood as her staff is propped up against the tree. Eda leans herself against the tree with it, sitting down beside Vee with a sigh.

Vee finally looks up, meeting the gaze of Eda beside her. With unbreaking eye contact, they both sit there together in deafening silence for a moment. Eda's lips part and unpart several times, unable to find any words to escape them.

"So uh…" Eda finally manages to say. "You… aren't a human, then?"

She grimaces as if she's berating herself in her head.

Vee stares blankly at her for a moment until the thought of the question finally overwhelms her, and she starts laughing the hardest she has laughed in a long time.

Eda chuckles for a moment with her. "Sorry, that's—I know that's a dumb question. Titan… I just—I guess I just don't know what to say here. I've never really been good with this… y'know, heart-to-heart kind of stuff."

The brief moment of light-heartedness subsides. Both stare at each other for a moment.

Eda sighs. "I'm sorry that I upset you. I really am." She looks at Vee remorsefully. "Look, I can't even imagine what you're going through right now, kid, but… uh… y'know, I'm here for you. If you want to talk it out with me, I'm here to listen, and if you don't want to talk, that's fine, too."

"No, it's—it's fine." Vee struggles to speak through the tightness in her throat and her shaky breathing. "I'm ready to talk."

"Okay."

Vee stares off for a moment, trying to think of where to start. Taking the hem of her cloak, she wipes the tears from her face. "My… real name is Number Five. I'm a basilisk."

"A basilisk? I thought they were—uh… they were all…" Eda trails off and looks away nervously.

"Extinct?" Vee finishes for her. "We were, for a long time. But we were brought back. There were four of us—me and my siblings, Four, Three, and Two. I, uh… never knew Number One. They were taken away by the guards when I was young… the others all suspected that they had been…"

The next word isn't able to come out of her mouth. The grave expression on Eda's face seems to say it for her.

Vee swallows and takes a deep breath. "We were being kept in the Conformatorium. They wanted to know how we drained magic. Warden Wrath oversaw it all for… him."

Eda winces with realization.

"One night, we were able to escape, but they were following close behind us. Number Two went off on her own, and I was with Three and Four, but we got seperated, and I—I don't know where they could be, or what could've happened to them, or—or if they're even safe, and—" Her sobbing overtakes her again. She hides her face behind her hands.

"Oh, kid…" Eda reaches over, about to lay a hand on Vee's shoulder. "It's okay—"

"It's not okay!" Vee pushes her hand away.

Eda retracts back, giving her space.

"It is—" Vee speaks shakily. "It is not okay! They—they could be in danger right now! They could be back in the C—Conformatorium! They—they—" All that is able to come out of her mouth is whines and sobs.

Eda sits quiet for a moment, seemingly choosing her words carefully. "I won't pretend like it's not gonna be hard not knowing, but… look at how far you've gotten on your own. If you've taken after your siblings—if they are anything like you—then I'm sure they're safe out there somewhere."

Vee takes a few deep breathes. In, then out. In, then out. She manages to calm herself down enough to speak. "You… you think so?"

"Yeah. Do you think so?"

Vee stares down at the ground between them. After a moment in thought, a smile forms on her face. "Yeah." She looks back up at Eda, sniffling and wiping the tears from her face. "I think they are."

Eda smiles back at her.

Vee dives at Eda, wrapping her arms around her tightly. She doesn't seem to notice Eda recoiling in surprise. "It's just…" she continues, her face buried in Eda's shoulder. "I miss them. I miss them so much."

Eda sits silently for a moment. "I… I know," she says as she awkwardly pats Vee's back. "It's… hard to be away from family."

Vee remains in the comfort of her embrace for a minute before letting go.

The wet shine of tears and probably some snot blot Eda's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, I got you all gross." Vee apologizes.

Eda wipes her shoulder off with her hand and wipes her hand on her dress. "Oh, don't worry about it, kid. If you think that's gross, you should see what King gets up to!" Chuckles fade away into a blank expression as she stares off at nothing for a moment. "… Hooty, too."

"And I'm sorry for yelling at you."

"It's fine."

"Do you…" Vee sniffles. "Do you want me to keep going?"

"If you'd like to."

Vee nods. "When I made it to Bonesborough, I saw a Coven guard and panicked, so I went to hide in your tent, but I guess he was actually looking for you." She chuckles softly. "You were so confident about being safe from them… it made me feel safe from them for the first time."

Eda weakly smiles back at her, seeming to know where this is going.

"But, uh…" She sniffles. "When you said you were going to take me back to the Conformatorium… I panicked again. I'm sorry."

"Oh, kid, you don't have to apologize. That wasn't on you." Eda reassures her. "I'll admit, I could've handled that better. I shouldn't've said that."

Vee nods with understanding. They both sit there, quiet for a moment.

"If I'm being honest…" Eda finally breaks the silence. "That 'Crown of Power' of King's doesn't even do anything."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it's just some human junk that I found a while back." She chuckles. "I just thought it'd look cute on him, but he got real attached!"

Vee averts her gaze with a guilty expression on her face.

"But, uh… if you don't want to go to get it back, then don't even worry about it! Honestly, he'll probably just forget about it or find something else he likes or something."

Another awkward pause overtakes them.

"So…" Eda begins. "Why were you shape-shifted as a human when you were with me?"

"Oh, well… that was a picture of someone I saw in your tent. I snuck into there in… this form." She gestures at herself. "And then I heard you coming, so I kinda panicked to disguise myself. It's easier to do with a reference, and I just had a few seconds, so I just turned into the first person I saw. I wasn't really thinking clearly. I didn't even notice they weren't a witch until you were flying us away."

"Really?" She looks with an astounded smile. "Ha! That's funny."

Vee chuckles softly. "Yeah, I guess it is."

"Y'know, when we were flying away, I remember thinking, 'this kid's acting kinda weird for a human'. Like, I'd never heard a human call it 'the Human Realm' before."

"Really? What do they call it, then?"

"It's just 'the world' to them. They don't know about any worlds besides their own. That's why I always gotta be careful while I'm over there. Luckily, I am an expert in being discrete."

They both smile at each other.

"You feelin' any better?"

"Mm-hmm." Vee nods. "A lot better."

"That's good." Eda says with a sympathetic look. "Probably oughta head back soon, I need to get back to—"

"Edaaaa!" A familiar shrill voice yells.

"King!?" Eda exclaims.

"King!?" Vee echoes.

"Eda, you left me!"

"Just for a minute! I told you to stay back at the house!"

"Yeah, alone with Hooty! I've been alone with him enough today, I wanted to see what you and the new human were up to!" He looks at Vee as he finishes. "Huh, you look different."

Vee nervously rubs the back of her neck. "Oh… uh, yeah…"

"Cool!" Seemingly unfazed, he runs over beside Eda.

Eda stands back up with a groan. Stretching her arms out behind her, she arches her back until her bones crackle. "Anyway, as I was saying, we've been out here for a while. I think we oughta head back." She looks over to Vee and smiles. "Would you want to come stay at the Owl House with us?"

Vee's eyes widen. "Really?" She stands up to meet Eda. "I can stay with you?"

"Course you can, kid."

"Yes! Stay!" King runs over beside her. "You can make us snacks!"

"Ooh, snacks?" She says with an exaggerated incredulity. "Well, if that's the case, then I'm sold!"

King giggles and scampers around excitedly.

Vee looks back over to Eda. "Thanks," she says, back to a sincere tone.

"Ah, don't mention it." Eda holds out her hand, and her staff flies right to her. She leads the way forward. "C'mon, King."

"Are we going to get my Crown of Power back now?"

"Sorry, change of plans."

"Aww…" he whines.

As Eda and King continue ahead, Vee stares at the ground with remorse.

Her attention is then turned to the cloak wrapped around her. Her one and only possession. The only source of comfort she had during those long days and nights alone in the wilderness.

But she is not alone anymore. The wilderness is not her home anymore.

She slips the cloak off over her head, and looks over at the dejected King.

"Uh… well, King, I know it's not the same, but…" She adopts the most fanciful tone she can muster. "This cloak is actually the… uh… the Shroud of Sovereignty! It grants the wearer a… supernatural power of authority over everything around them!"

She holds the cloak in front of him, and he excitedly snatches it out of her hands.

"It's… helped me a lot recently, but I think now it might help you more."

"Wow!" He stares wide-eyed at the bunch of fabric in his hands. "Sovereignty smells like sweat!"

Vee giggles as he clumsily slips the cloak over himself and starts scampering around, the bottom half of the cloak dragging across the ground behind him.

"You there, rock! Bow to me!" King yells.

King runs ahead of Eda and Vee, ordering around all sorts of inanimate objects along the way.

Eda chuckles. "Y'know, that probably just made his day."

"I'm glad."

"We should go catch up with him." Eda places a hand on Vee's shoulder and leads her onwards. "It's about time we head home."