Archive of Our Own

Kaden gently parted the bushes, glancing around at the flora that surrounded him. He knew he had been warned about picking herbs at night by his mentor. As a young apprentice witch, he was skilled in many spells, but healing was not one of them. If he got injured out at night, he wouldn't be able to heal himself.

But Kaden didn't worry. He had two good friends back home, who would definitely look for him if he took too long coming back home. Besides, the woods during summer nights were so refreshing! The wind was cool, the fireflies were bright and pretty, and the herbs smelled so nice and strong, he barely needed to look for them with his eyes!

He also knew these woods like the back of his hand, having ventured through them many times even before becoming an apprentice witch. All he really needed were a few precautions in case of emergency.

The scent of mint drifted over to him, and Kaden's eyes lit up. He went over to the source and found a few mint plants. Smiling brightly, he took some of the leaves and put them in a small bag for safekeeping. Bryan loved mint tea and his mint supply was running low, so Kaden smiled at being able to help his friend.

Suddenly, the wind shifted, and this time it brought more than the smell of mint. Kaden froze at the sharp scent of blood, strong in the air, bringing with it a dampened fresh, floral scent. Following the smell, he noticed a crop of boulders.

Did an animal fall onto the rocks? Kaden wondered. He partially hoped it wasn't a person who had fallen. Either way, he'd take care of it, either give the injured food and water or the dead a grave and say last rites. However, the smell seemed to be coming from a shallow cave in the rocks. Peeking in, he found more than he expected.

The monster inside the cave is huge, at least eight feet tall, even if its body is mired in shadow. What he could see of its fur is a deep black. Its eyes are pitch-black voids, narrowed in fear, its horns on its head a deep green, lips pulled back as it growled, showing its bone-white teeth, which were as sharp as daggers.

Kaden was rather surprised. He'd heard of monsters and beasts, but they were quite rare, being elusive creatures who usually lived in places which would take a lot of effort to search for, to the point where some believed if you ever saw one, even a quick glance, it was a sign of good luck. Even so, there were people who were wary of their existence, and there were some who deemed them threats.

"What are you doing here?" Kaden gently asked. "You seem to have come a long way, creatures like you usually are quite hard to spot."

The beast backed further into the cave, its fur starting to fluff up the way cats do. Kaden realised the implication of his words and took a step back.

"Sorry, that was rude of me. I mean you no harm-"

He cut himself off with a gasp.

"You're injured." he said, his gaze falling onto a patch of dark, wet fur on the beast's side. For what he can see of it, the injury is a wound on the monster's left side. Without thinking, Kaden stepped forward, one hand outstretched towards the wound.

Immediately, the monster snarled and snapped at his hand.

Kaden didn't flinch, just lowered his hand, bringing it to his side again. "You're right, that was rude of me. You must be rather frightened after the night you've had." he said, a soft smile forming on his face. "But it's alright. You don't have to be frightened of me."

The monster stopped growling and huffed, as if finding the mere idea of being afraid of Kaden utterly ridiculous. But it did come over and sniff him a bit before pulling back.

"Do I smell that bad?" Kaden joked, before he took a few steps forward. The monster flinched slightly, but relaxed soon after. Kaden searched in his bag, before pulling out a sandwich in a box. He took it out, split it into half and offered one half to the monster.

The monster blinked, apparently confused by the action. Kaden doesn't blame it; it probably doesn't like humans, and if it was human, would be wondering why someone was offering food to it instead of running away or attacking it, treating it like a friend instead of a rare creature that was either lucky or potentially dangerous. Maybe that was what the monster was thinking right now.

"It's a normal sandwich, I promise." he said. "I don't know the diet of monsters, but this is all I have."

There was a tense silence between the two, until the beast took the offered half before tilting its head back to swallow it whole. Kaden smiled, pleased.

"There we go. I hope it's to your liking." he said, holding out the other half. "You can have the other half, I won't call you greedy."

The monster briefly looked surprised at Kaden's offer before its eyes narrowed again, eyeing him, making no move to take the other half. However, its stomach let out a contradicting growl. Kaden couldn't help but giggle, and received a sharp stare from the monster.

"Sorry, sorry." Kaden quickly apologised, a hand raised placatenly as he smiled.

The beast quickly took the other half and ate it before Kaden could say anything else.

"Now that we know each other a little better, would you let me take a look at your wound?"

The monster stared at him, before letting out a gusty sigh. With a slight quickening of its breath in pain, it turned and lay on its uninjured left side, showing its wound in its entirety. Kaden smiled. "Thank you, you won't regret it."

Wasting no time, Kaden pulled out a bottle of antiseptic from his bag. His healing magic sucked, so he came prepared with the mundane way of treating wounds, just in case.

If the monster was calm before, its body is now as tense as a bow string. Kaden wished he could pet it to calm it down, but he thinks that the monster would find the action insulting, so he instead meets its apprehensive gaze with a confident, strong expression.

"I know this will sting, but it'll help you. Trust me."

The creature met his gaze, before lowering its head to the ground, a sign of reassurance.

Working quickly and with a light touch, Kaden parted the monster's bloody fur and applied the antiseptic. Immediately, it whined, high and sharp.

"I know, I know." Kaden softly cooed. He leant closer to the monster's head, where its teeth are bared in a unconscious snarl. After a bit of thought, he rolled his sleeve up, baring his forearm, which he held out to the monster.

"If it hurts too much, you can bite down on me. I don't mind."

The monster eyed Kaden's flesh, raising its head. Kaden grit his teeth, waiting for the pain. It never comes. Instead, the monster just pushed aside his arm with its muzzle, before laying back down. Kaden stared, before quickly gathering his wits.

"In that case, I'll try to work quickly."

The rest of the antiseptic is applied swiftly, the monster not flinching as much. Eventually, Kaden leant back, screwing the bottle's cap back on. "Alright, the painful part is over, at least."

He then pulled out a fresh roll of bandages from his bag. It isn't easy weaving them around the beast's enormous body, even if it does its best to move when necessary, despite the pain. Eventually, Kaden wipes his brow, looking over his work.

"There, that should hold for a while."

Still, there is one more aspect to the treatment he must complete. He slowly raised his hands to the wound, taking a deep breath through his mouth, tapping into the well of power within him, feeling energy draw up from the pit in his stomach, traveling until it reached his fingertips.

Please, heal this creature.

A soft, yellow glow emanated from his palms, illuminating the shallow cave. Gentle warmth flowed from his hands into the beast's body, which relaxed as its pain eases.

Kaden lets his breath cycle in and out, trying to keep the healing steady. However, the well of power runs dry all too soon, and the glow from his hands flickers and fades. His shoulders slumped in exhaustion, and he fought the urge to collapse right then and there. He then noticed the monster was upright, looking at him with wide eyes.

"I'm sorry, this is as much as I can do for you right now. But my friend is a better healer than I am, do you want to come with me?"

The monster blinked, before looking away. Kaden assumed that was a no then. He cast one last glance at it, giving it a warm smile.

"Alright. Stay safe, okay?"

With that, Kaden rose to his feet and exited the cave.

The trip down the mountain is at least faster than the journey uphill. As it is, Kaden's almost asleep on his feet by the time he reaches his destination.

From a distance, all one can see is the thick grove of magnolia trees, their white petals shining in the moonlight, but it's clear there's more to this place than meets the eye. Kaden stepped close to the grove, his hand reaching out. However, before he can make contact, he turns around, addressing the silent woods behind him. "I'm afraid you'll have to come out if you want to go any further."

He's answered by a distinctively embarrassed silence, broken up by the call of insects. A second later, there's a rustling of leaves, and the monster appears, its head lowered. Kaden notices it's carrying a bag in its jaws, but decides not to ask for now.

"You didn't have to hide, y'know." Kaden said. The monster very deliberately avoids eye contact, and Kaden resisted the urge to laugh. "You'll have to come closer if you want to pass through the barrier. Otherwise, you might get lost."

It watched him for a bit, as if evaluating a threat, before coming within two or three arm lengths of Kaden.

"Closer than that." Kaden said, beckoning it closer with a wave of his hand. After some more hesitation, it comes within arm's reach.

"There you go. Now, excuse me." Kaden said, putting a hand on the monster's front leg. With the other, he reached out towards the magnolia grove. His fingers reach towards thin air, before all at once, they dip into an intangible substance. Suddenly, where there was only empty space, there is a wall of silky, iridescent blue light, rippling outwards from where Kaden touched it.

He gently pressed on the back of the monster's leg, guiding it forward at the same time he takes a step, moving through the barrier. The cool, refreshing feeling of magic washes over him and in a instant, both of them are on the other side of the magnolia grove, standing before Kaden's house that he was given by his mentor for his own personal training.

"Welcome to my home. It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Kaden looks to his companion, wondering how the beast is reacting to his home. To his surprise, it looks almost mystified by it.

When they reach the door, Kaden briefly worries on how the monster can get in, before it dispels his worries as it manages to get through the thankfully wide-enough door. Kaden also thanks his lucky stars that the living room has a high ceiling, enough so the monster won't feel cramped.

"Uh, Kaden?"

Kaden glanced toward the sofa, to see a boy sitting on it. He has large, white, feathery wings, three on each side. There is also a small pair on the sides of his head, and his eyes are partially dark brown and blue.

"Oh, Bryan! Hi! We have a guest here!" Kaden said.

The half-angel sighed. "Yes, I know. I felt you two come through the barrier. Are you aware that is a monster?" he said.

"Of course I do! It's injured, so I decided to ask you for help. You know my healing magic can only do so much." Kaden said. With that, Bryan's expression softened, he got off the sofa and approached the monster, who recoiled slightly at his approach.

"Don't worry, he won't hurt you." Kaden reassured. Bryan nodded in affirmation, before doing what Kaden had done earlier, except instead of yellow, his hands glowed a gentle blue that lasted for a few seconds before fading.

"Done. It's fully closed. Kaden did a good job himself, but you should avoid activities that could open it again." Bryan said as he lowered his hands. Suddenly, Kaden let out a gasp, which caused Bryan to glance at him.

"Kaden, no."

"Aw, please? It can stay with us as it recovers!"

"…Alright, fine. It looks like it's ready to move in anyways." Bryan joked. "What's in the bag that it's carrying?" he asked, slowly reaching out towards it, only for the monster to pull the bag away, growling.

"Oh, sorry." Bryan apologised, pulling his hand back. "If it's important to you, I won't pry."

"Hey, everyone!"

A bat suddenly swooped in from an open window. There was a poof of red smoke, and a figure replaced the bat, landing neatly on the carpeted floor. He then noticed the monster. "Oh hey, who is this?"

"Ah, Ethan! Right on time. This creature's injured. I healed it and Bryan helped me. It's gonna stay with us while its injury heals completely!" Kaden said. "WAIT. We should give it a name! Any suggestions?"

"Dunno, I just met the thing." Ethan said, absentmindedly picking at his fangs. "Blacky? Midnight? Darkness?"

At the vampire's name suggestions, the monster's eyes narrowed in unamusement.

"I don't think those are good names. And I also don't know whether to give it a masculine or feminine name because we don't know its gender." Kaden said.

Bryan thought for a second, before he snapped his fingers. "What about Jadeite? Gender-neutral, name of a precious stone, and this monster has green horns, the colour of the stone. I'd say it's a fitting name, don't you think?"

"Bryan. That's a excellent name!" Kaden exclaimed.

"Eh, I don't have any ideas, so I guess we're going with that." Ethan said, shrugging.

"What do you say? That sound good?" Bryan asked the monster, turning towards it.

It slowly blinked, before it let out a soft hum and nodded.

"Jadeite it is! Welcome to the family!" Kaden said.

"Kaden, we're not a family." Ethan said.

"Says you!"

Bryan would be lying if he said that this monster- Jadeite, as they all had named it- didn't unnerve him in some way.

It had been 4 days since they had welcomed Jadeite into their home, and Bryan was starting to notice things about it that weren't normal. For one, Jadeite's energy felt… off. It didn't feel like that of a monster at all. Rather, it felt like a human's, but distorted. It looked like a monster's energy at first glance, but he knew the differences between energies, and Jadeite's energy? He would describe it as like a human's distorted into a mimicry of a monster's.

But why? It didn't make sense to him at all. Jadeite's energy confused him.

Secondly, speaking of humans, Jadeite's behavior was weird as well. Its reactions to various things were strangely human-like. When it had first arrived at the house, it seemed to be able to understand what everyone was saying. Bryan didn't know a lot about monsters, but most of the time they were feral, unable to understand or unwilling to listen to human speech. Yet Jadeite had listened. Maybe it's smarter than most monsters, Bryan theorised.

Lastly, there was something about Jadeite that got Bryan worried. Jadeite always seemed to have an air of fear. It seemed nervous and actively avoided everyone sometimes. Kaden had said he found it injured. Was it trauma from a previous event?

He didn't dislike Jadeite. He actually found the beast rather endearing. He just found some confusing stuff about it, that was all.

"Mrrp?"

Bryan looked up from the sofa to see Jadeite staring at him, its head tilted in curiosity. "Oh, hey." he said, smiling. "Do you want to come over?"

It stared at him for a couple of seconds before hesitantly walking forward until it was right in front of him. Considering its size, it was staring down at Bryan, towering over him for a couple seconds before sitting down. When it did, it tilted its head again, its void eyes blinking, intrigued, an indirect 'what are you doing?'.

Bryan stifled a laugh at the endearing display. "Just… thinking about stuff." he said. He was silent for a second before he said, "I've noticed you seem to be rather nervous around us. If you ever need a moment of peace, I'm here, okay?"

Jadeite stared at Bryan, before lowering its head and settled down to sleep, making a soft huff as it did so. Bryan chuckled softly. "I'll take that as a yes, then."

He reached a hand to try to stroke it, but as soon as his hand made contact, Jadeite flinched away and growled at him. Bryan immediately pulled back his hand. "Right. No touching." he said as Jadeite settled down again.

As Jadeite's soft snores filled the room, Bryan drifted back to his earlier thoughts. Is Jadeite domesticated? But who would be able to capture a monster, let alone tame it? I mean, we did manage to get it to stay here. Did someone do the same but tricked it? That may explain why Jadeite's so nervous around us. But then I don't think Jadeite would be stupid enough to fall for the same thing again, he thought.

"Yo, Bryan! What'cha doing?" Ethan asked, sticking his head through the entryway to the hallway. Bryan looked up again, surprised.

"Ah, Ethan." he said as Ethan shifted into a bat, flew through the room towards the half-angel, transformed back just above the sofa and fell, landing neatly next to Bryan. "I was wondering about Jadeite here."

"Oh yeah. Kaden has been thinking about keeping it here as a companion, and I can't help but agree. I mean," Ethan said with a snort, "He wouldn't name it if he wasn't thinking of letting it stay here. He was also worried that you may have issues with that."

"No, it's fine with me. I was actually thinking about something else."

"Oh?"

"It's just…" Bryan paused for a second. "Jadeite doesn't… feel like a normal monster, in short. Some things are fine, but there are some things that have me a bit concerned. Kaden's the one with the most knowledge of magical stuff, so I feel like he'd know, but he's been busy with his own magic training, being an apprentice and all."

"And he'd be too busy being in awe over Jadeite to even clock anything off."

"Hey, don't tease him like that when he's not even here. Although, you are right in that regard."

Ethan burst into laughter, making Bryan laugh along, albeit more controlled and softer.

Jadeite let out an annoyed growl, swatting both boys with its tail.

"Ah- Sorry, Jadeite!"

Jadeite gently treaded throughout the living room, curiously sniffing at everything that drew its attention. Luckily, most things around the room weren't fragile or dangerous, and Jadeite was trying to be as careful as possible. Bryan was sitting a bit away, absorbed in his reading, supervising while Kaden and Ethan were out.

Bryan glanced up when Jadeite made a soft mrrp sound, to see it looking at him and standing at the entryway to the kitchen, its head tilted again, asking for permission.

"Oh! Yeah, you can go in the kitchen." Bryan said. Jadeite stared at Bryan for a bit, before slowly stepping into the kitchen as Bryan called after, "But you don't have to ask, y'know!"

As Jadeite disappeared into the kitchen, Bryan went back to his book.

A minute later, he heard a loud CRASH coming from the kitchen.

"What the-!" Bryan exclaimed, hastily leaping from his seat. "Jadeite? What happened?!"

When he didn't hear any response, not even a growl, Bryan ran into the kitchen to see a big shelf fallen over, its contents everywhere. What got him nervous was that he could not see Jadeite anywhere, the huge monster suddenly absent and no indication that it had run out the door or something.

"…Jadeite?"

Bryan carefully moved around the room, until he noticed something trapped under the fallen shelf. Or rather, someone.

A girl was trapped underneath the shelf. She looked human, other than the fact that she had a pair of horns just barely sticking out through her long, dark hair and her ears looked like an animal's. When she saw Bryan, she let out a soft, frightened gasp and flinched. Her eyes were blown wide with fear.

"Whoa, hey, are you alright?" Bryan asked. Sure, he was wondering where this girl came from and where the hell was Jadeite, but he was more focused on the current situation at hand. "Hold on…"

He then lifted the shelf, which surprisingly wasn't too heavy, enough for the girl to get out herself. Thankfully, she wasn't that badly trapped underneath it. The girl shakily pulled herself up. She didn't move however, baring sharp fangs and trying to stay as far away from him as possible.

"Stay… the hell… away from me." she growled, brandishing a box cutter at Bryan.

"Whoa, hey." Bryan said. He didn't know how she got her hands on a box cutter. Maybe there was one on the shelf. "I know you're confused right now, but you're safe here. So why don't we just put the blade down and-"

"FUCK YOU! You're just gonna bring me back there, and claim whatever god damn bounty they've put on my head. Do you think I'm stupid? I'm not going back without a hell of a fight so I- I-"

The girl swayed and collapsed. Bryan quickly threw out an arm and caught her before she hit the ground, quickly pulling her out from under the shelf. Once she was safely out he put the shelf down again.

"You alright?" Bryan asked again as he carefully laid her on his lap, putting a hand under her head to support her, as her whole body was trembling with noticeable effort to stay conscious.

"I… I don't want to go back… I don't… want to d-die… I- I did all I could…" she shakily mumbled. Suddenly, her eyes briefly widened with realisation, before they clouded over with guilt.

"Bryan… I'm sorr-"

The girl suddenly passed out, the last of her energy leaving her.

"Whoa- hey!" Bryan exclaimed, surprised. When the surprise faded, he looked down at her. Her breaths were shaky and uneven. Now that Bryan looked closer, other than the fangs, he could see the girl's fingernails were claws and she had a tail as well. The horns, tail and fur colour looked familiar to Bryan for some reason.

He scooped her up in a bridal carry before carrying her to the sofa and draped a large blanket over her, noticing she was visibly shivering. She also knew his name, which Bryan found strange.

Just then, it hit him.

Is this… Bryan thought as he looked towards the girl. Is this girl… Jadeite?

Bryan was beyond confused. He knew that shelf didn't have anything to transform one creature into another of any kind, it was a kitchen shelf for gods sake! Did Jadeite have the ability to turn into a human? Or was it something else entirely? Bryan had to admit in all his years of living he had never seen something like this.

She had acted hostile towards Bryan upon seeing him. Mostly due to fear and or confusion, I'm guessing, he thought.

"Mmmh…"

The girl's eyes fluttered open, blinking in confusion before coming to. "…Huh?" she blearily mumbled out.

"Oh, you're awake!" Bryan said. A second passed before the girl hid in the blanket, wrapping it around herself. "Wha- what?!" Bryan said, confused.

"No." was the only response Bryan received, and his heart broke upon hearing how scared she sounded from that single word alone.

"No…?"

"Don't look at me."

Silence. Bryan can see the fabric of the blanket shifting as the girl wraps it tighter around herself.

"Hey," Bryan asked, trying to keep his voice as gentle as possible, "What happened?"

"I said don't look at me."

There's a noticeable tremor in her voice. Bryan chooses to step closer anyway.

"Hey, it's alright. I won't judge or hurt you." he said, carefully moving a hand to the wrapped-up blanket bundle.

"No, no- Please- Don't-"

Bryan could hear muffled sobs mixed with soft, animalistic whimpers. Without thinking, he grabbed the girl by the shoulders, pulling her into a upright position. The blanket slipped off her head.

"Wh-what are you doing?"

"Trying to calm you down."

"Aren't you angry? Or scared?"

"Why would I be either of those?"

Despite everything, a broken sound escapes out of the girl that might've been an attempt at a laugh, a humorless one.

Bryan let go of the girl's shoulders, and opened his arms, offering her a hug while giving her every opportunity to reject it and pull away, as he knew Jadeite hated being touched. To his surprise, she carefully and apprehensively leaned into the hug, still holding the blanket tight around her body.

"You're… Jadeite… right?"

"…Yeah."

"You think just having a few monster-y features are going to make me mad?"

The girl's- Jadeite's- eyes get watery.

"…I'm not a monster that can turn into a human. I'm supposed to be human, but… the world apparently thinks otherwise." She sighs. "You don't understand. Something's wrong with me. And that's not why I think you're mad at me."

Bryan pursed his lips. "I won't pretend that I know what's happening to you. But what I do know is that you're still you. And that it doesn't matter if you're a monster or human; I won't be mad at you unless you've done something really bad."

"But- I've been living for free here. I've been exploiting all of you. That's bad."

"Why is that a bad thing?"

"Nothing good comes without a price. That witch, Kaden, this is his home. Witches are strong and powerful. You and that vampire must've had given something important up in exchange for living here. He's probably expecting something from me too."

Bryan chuckled softly.

"What's so funny?" Jadeite asked.

"Kaden's a witch's apprentice. He's not at that level yet. Besides," Bryan said, his tone softening, "Kaden let me and Ethan stay here out of the goodness of his heart. No price paid. He just offered a helping hand to us when we were in need. He did the same for you too."

Jadeite remained silent, slowly burying herself back in the blanket.

"What's your name, anyway?"

Jadeite still remained silent.

"It's fine if you don't feel like telling me yet."

Bryan heard no response, other than a pained whine. The blanket started to tremble.

"…Jadeite?"

Suddenly, the blanket started to ripple and shift. Bryan, surprised, let go of it. He could hear scared, pained noises from Jadeite along with the sound of bones creaking and breaking. The blanket briefly slipped off of her as she fell off the sofa, showing her body was half-transformed. Her hands turned into paws, her stance changed to that of a quadrupedal and her eyes turned into pitch-black voids. Bryan could only stare in shock as Jadeite turned back into a monster right in front of his eyes.

When the transformation was done, the blanket fully fell off, revealing Jadeite, as a monster again, visibly trembling and whimpering before slowly sinking to the ground and curling into herself. Bryan quickly snapped out of his shocked trance and ran over to her. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked.

Jadeite could only make a soft sound of fear in response. Hearing it broke Bryan's heart for the second time that day. He understood- Jadeite didn't want to be a monster, yet it seemed like the world was against her, as she said.

"Hey, it's alright- it's alright-" he soothed, throwing the blanket back over Jadeite to calm her down, trying his best not to be too patronizing. She looked up at him, slowly blinking out the tears beading in her void eyes.

Bryan at least recognised that expression.

Pleading.

Jadeite was staring up at him with a pleading look. The message gets through; it's a noiseless plea of 'don't leave me alone'. Bryan knew full well how scared and on edge she was, so he slowly knelt down next to her.

"I won't leave. I promise."

The two stared at each other for a bit, before Jadeite gently pushed her head into Bryan's outstretched hand, a sign of trust. Bryan smiled, happy at this outcome. He couldn't resist the chuckle that slipped out.

"We're home!"

At Kaden's call, Bryan snapped back to the present. He looked up to see the witch's apprentice and vampire walk through the door. Ethan, in particular, was wearing Kaden's brimmed hat to hide him from the bright sun outside.

Upon seeing Bryan and Jadeite, Kaden stopped, his mouth dropping into a 'O' shape from surprise, before he smiled widely. "Aw, you two are getting along! That's adorable!" he squealed with joy.

Ethan chuckled, before he caught sight of the fallen-over shelf in the kitchen. "Whoa, what happened here?" he asked.

"Jadeite accidentally knocked the shelf over." Bryan said. Jadeite seemed to shrink back with shame.

"It's alright, Jade." Kaden reassured upon seeing this. "I'm not mad, I'm more concerned for your safety. For everyone here. Anyways, Bryan, could you help me pick up the shelf?"

"Oh, alright."

As the two walked into the kitchen, Kaden said, "I'm happy to see you and Jadeite spending time together! Usually they just avoid everyone, but I'm glad to see progress has been made."

"Actually, I think Jadeite's a girl."

"Wait, shit, really?"

While Kaden was talking earnestly, Bryan was half-listening, deep in thought. Now that he thought about it, he had all the answers to the questions he had about Jadeite.

The weird energy? Jadeite was a human who transformed into a monster unpredictably and uncontrollably. The human-like behavior? Jadeite's human side showing. Jadeite being nervous around them? Residual trauma, it looked like.

What happened to her to make her act like that?

"Why does she like you more than me??" Kaden anguished.

Two days after the shelf incident, Kaden, Bryan, Ethan and Jadeite were all watching a movie at home. Kaden had clearly noticed Jadeite being closer (in the physical and metaphorical sense) to Bryan than him, much to his dismay.

"I don't see why that's such a big deal." Ethan shrugged.

"It's just…" Kaden made a sound of annoyance. "I'm just jealous is all! I've never seen a monster with my own two eyes before and I wanted to befriend Jadeite here first but it seems Bryan beat me to it! She even follows you everywhere!"

"To be fair, neither me nor Ethan have seen a monster before, and we've lived for way longer than you, so if you're implying that we've seen one before I can assure you we haven't."

Kaden glanced towards Jadeite with a pouty face. In response, Jadeite leaned in closer and hesitantly booped him with her nose, causing Kaden to squeal happily.

"Well, there you go." Ethan said. "Seems like Jadeite sees you as a friend. Anyway, look! This is my favourite part of this movie."

Everyone turned back to the screen to see a hunter stalk their prey, a rabbit trapped in a makeshift trap, quivering with fear.

"The hunter character just looks so cool, don't you think?" Ethan said as the hunter raised their rifle. There was a cut to black as the gun fired.

Kaden smiled at his friend's enthusiasm. Bryan's expression had morphed into a confused smile, on the other hand. Just then, Bryan felt a nudge from behind as Jadeite hid her head behind him. He heard a soft, scared whine. "Hey, you alright?" he asked. Jadeite curled tighter into herself, trembling.

"Jadeite? What's wrong?" Kaden asked. "Do you not like the movie? If you don't like it, you can leave, y'know. No one's forcing you to stay here."

Ethan paused the movie as Bryan moved to calm Jadeite down. However, before he could do so, Jadeite suddenly shot right up, startling the three boys.

"Jade?" Kaden tentatively asked.

Jadeite stood still for a couple of seconds, before turning and leaving the living room. They could hear the sounds of her heading upstairs, occasionally slipping on the steps with a soft catch in her breath.

Kaden frowned. "Hey, guys?" he asked.

"Yeah?" Ethan responded.

"A part of me is wondering where Jadeite came from. She was injured when I found her, and now… do you think she was attacked by a hunter?"

"Well, I've seen monster hunters before. They were quite prevalent then, but not now. Although there still might be some outliers." Ethan said. "Jadeite also may have been mistaken for a predatory animal by someone, like a wolf or bear, and gotten injured that way."

"Even so… that reaction was similar to how one would react when… remembering something traumatic." Bryan said.

The three of them were silent.

Meanwhile, Jadeite, upon getting upstairs, went into her room. Kaden had given her a spare room large enough for her since he felt like she deserved one. She slowly walked to the middle of the room, settled down and curled up, burying her head in her paws.

"You'll do what I ask you to do, nothing else."

"Is that really all she can do?"

"So… dull."

"Come back when you've learned to listen."

"Just kill that thing. You can at least do that much."

"What are you doing?!"

"You're so lazy. Always reliant on someone."

"What have you done?! What's your problem?"

"You're nothing but a useless tool."

"You… You are the real monster."

"Reliant."

"Useless."

"Monster."

"Useless."

"Reliant."

"Monster."

USELESS!

RELIANT!

You're nothing but a MONSTER!

Jadeite growled irritatedly, trying to distract herself from the spiraling thoughts, curling into herself tighter. However, a soft hiccup slipped from her lips as tears threatened to fall.

I…

I don't want to be a monster.

I don't want to go back.

I'm…

I'm scared.

Jadeite slowly pulled herself to her feet and moved towards a pile of pillows and blankets in the corner, a makeshift bed. She then buried herself in the pile, a warm, safe relief from the dangers and troubles outside.

Maybe for now, she could try to forget.

Jadeite felt her eyes closing, drifting off into unconsciousness.

She was running. She had lost her pursuers a bit ago, but they could still be chasing, and the injury on her side wasn't doing any favours. Breathing quickly to the point of hyperventilating, she looked around frantically for a place to hide. Just then, she noticed a shallow cave in front of her. Without hesitation, she ran towards it.

Once she was safely inside, she walked to the spot furthest from the entrance and sat down, leaning against the wall, breaths heavy from blood loss.

"Shit." she hissed, reaching into her bag and pulling out a roll of bandages, before taking off her top to dress the wound. Once that was done, she lay down, making sure to not lie on her wounded side.

Was she falling sick? She felt uncomfortably warm for some reason. Actually, scratch that, she felt uncomfortable all over. She groaned as she pushed herself up, head spinning and breaths shallow, and that caused her nerves to spike.

Out of nowhere, a sudden sharp pain hit her like a pile of bricks, causing her to collapse on the ground again with an 'oof!' slipping out. Before she could process what just happened, the pain started again, radiating throughout her entire body.

Suddenly, she felt the bones in her legs painfully break and reform by themselves. Choking back a pained cry and looking back, she could see their structure changing into something akin to an animal's. A prickling sensation rippled through them and up her body, and she realised with horror that she was sprouting fur, a deep black.

"H-Help! Someone!" she cried out, the risk of alerting her pursuers be damned. The thought of her body suddenly changing in this unnatural manner without explanation terrified her but what terrified her more was that she was all alone.

Hell, no one really cared about what she was doing unless it affected them in some way. Would anyone even notice if something happened to her?

The prickling feeling of fur growing spread further up her body. Her ears started stretching out, aching and changing shape before sprouting fur themselves. Pain flared from her tailbone as a tail started growing, getting longer as she transformed. Her hands and feet turned into paws with sharp claws replacing nails.

Panic was flooding her senses other than the overwhelming pain, confusion on what she was turning into, fear radiating throughout her body and mind as her own control over her body seemed to be slipping from her.

Her head pulsed with pain as a pair of horns grew. The bandages started to get uncomfortably tight as her torso expanded. However, before she could acknowledge that, the fur engulfed the entirety of her face, causing her to let out a scream.

That's when she realised her mouth didn't feel like a mouth anymore. The inside of her head and face began to change in shape, teeth sharpening into fangs as her skull tried to sculpt itself further out from where her mouth was. Pathetic cries, turning into animalistic whimpers, formed from her throat as a muzzle started appearing before her eyes.

"…H…help…" she pitifully tried, voice sounding less and less human by the second.

God, if she could throw up right now, she would.

Acid felt it was pouring into her eyes as she grew in size, bandages pressing painfully tight against her body until they tore apart into ribbons with a loud tearing sound, yells of pain becoming feral growls. The horns curved as they grew longer while the tail grew to its full length.

Cracking and popping noises could be heard as her body went through its final modifications. Her mind was filled with feral, animal behaviour, but the two feelings that had persisted in her pain-fogged mind the whole way through were fear and confusion. Being overwhelmed with impulsive animal instincts left her with slipping control of her mental state.

The sharp pangs of pain faded, but her body was still aching as she tried to get up, only collapsing again due to the transformation sapping her strength combined with the wound on her side, exposed to the elements again and clumsily trying to move in this body.

Is this how she dies? Bleeding out in a cave? Not even as a human anymore, but as a monster. What cruel irony.

She managed to muster enough strength to pull herself into a corner, emitting a soft cry as scared tears rolled down her cheeks.

She heard the sounds of something moving nearby, making her get up, alert, trying her best to ignore the stinging pain of the wound, lips instinctively pulled back in a snarl, a deep growl coming from her throat.

Someone walked into the cave.

Jadeite snapped awake.

Her breaths were heavy from the recollection of the memory. She shuddered involuntarily at it. Why is trying to forget so difficult? she thought. Even now, she could still feel the pain, the fear and the confusion that happened there.

She pulled herself out of the pillow pile, raising a hand to wipe her tears and-

Wait, hand?

She pulled the limb back to see that it was indeed a hand, not a paw. But before she could process that-

"…Jadeite?"

She froze as she slowly turned towards the door to see Kaden standing in the doorway, shock painted across his face.

Fuck.

"…Who are you? Where's Jadeite?"

Kaden could only stare in shock at the stranger in the room, whose eyes were wide in terror. Before Kaden could say anything else, she suddenly broke into a run, pushing past him.

For a brief second when she pushed past him, Kaden smelt a familiar floral scent. "Wait!" he exclaimed, running down the stairs, past Bryan who was at the foot of them, and into the living room just in time to see the front door move as the stranger ran out.

Bryan entered the living room behind Kaden and Ethan stood up from where he'd was sitting on the couch. "Crap." Bryan said, a hand running through his hair.

Kaden immediately ran towards the door and out of the house. He was confused on who that was, but she didn't look like she was here to harm them. In fact, she looked frightened, and Kaden wasn't going to let someone suffer! Besides, she might get lost in the magnolia grove!

"Guys, c'mon! Help me find her!" he said, turning back towards Bryan and Ethan before sprinting forwards into the grove. Bryan and Ethan exchanged a glance, before running after Kaden. As soon as they stepped outside, Bryan took to the skies, going left, while Ethan transformed into a bat and flew the opposite direction from Bryan.

She ran through the grove, mind filled with the only thought to get away as far as possible. Suddenly, she tripped on a pebble and crashed against the ground. Too anxious and tired to keep running, she sat near a tree.

Fuck he found out- I'm gonna have to go back- I don't want to go back-

Her spiraling thoughts were interrupted by a sharp headache. She could feel the horns pushing their way through her skull and her nails turning into claws again, feelings she was getting too familiar with at this point.

"No, fucking please- Not… now-"

She put her head on her knees, hugging herself as choked sobs escaped from her as she struggled to breathe properly.

But… Bryan said he was good… right?

…Can I trust him?

As much as she'd like to believe so, the doubt in her screamed otherwise.

…What do I do…?

"Hello? Hello?" Kaden called out. "Shit, where'd she go?"

Kaden couldn't help but be confused about what happened earlier. Where did Jadeite go anyways and where did that girl come from? He remembered that the girl and Jadeite had the same floral scent. But they can't be one and the same, right? Unless…

His eyes widened in shock as he realised.

Just then, he heard soft sobs nearby. Following them, he found the girl, curled up and crying.

"…Hi?"

As soon as he spoke, the girl looked up, and upon seeing him, she gasped and flinched.

"Whoa, hey! I'm not here to hurt you!" Kaden said.

"S-stay away from me!" she cried, backing away. Her back hit the tree behind her and her teeth gritted in pain.

"Hey. Calm down. Look at me, okay?"

The girl's shaky gaze panned towards Kaden as they both made eye contact. Kaden was surprised to see that her eyes were black voids, like Jadeite's were. A partial transformation it looks like… he thought.

"Are you alright?" he gently asked. "Follow me. Breathe in for four seconds… hold it for seven… breathe out for eight."

She slowly breathed in, following along with Kaden. When they'd repeated the breathing cycle about five times, Kaden asked, "There. Feeling better?"

The girl remained silent for a second, before she gave a short nod. Her eyes were notably normal again, having reverted during the breathing exercise.

"Right. Can you stand?"

She slowly stood up, stumbling a little before managing to stand properly.

"We'll be going back to the house now."

"…We're fucking lost, aren't we?"

Kaden choked back a laugh on how casual she was talking when before she was so frightened earlier.

"Kaden!"

From out of the trees, Bryan flew out and landed in front of them.

"Ah, Bry! Perfect timing! Where's Ethan?"

"Right here." Bryan said, turning around to reveal a bat Ethan clinging onto the back of Bryan's hoodie between his wings.

Ethan spread his wings out. "Surprise!"

The girl let out a soft chuckle at the sight.

"Alright, Bryan, bring us home." Ethan said.

"Got it. Everyone, hang on."

Bryan's magic washed over all of them. Soon, they were back inside the house.

"Okay. Had to use more magic to get us in the house, but it saves a bit of walking."

Kaden gently guided the girl to the couch and sat her down. He then draped a blanket over her shoulders, the same one that Bryan had used two days ago. He then took a hot chocolate he had made earlier for himself sitting on the table and gave it to her.

"Thank you, but i-isn't this too much?" she timidly asked.

"Nonsense. It's the least I can do for you."

Once everyone was comfortable and settled, Ethan asked, "So… this is Jadeite?"

Bryan nodded. "Yep. Two days ago, when that shelf fell over, she transformed back into a human. That's why I found out she was female. I didn't say anything because she was wary of Kaden and Ethan. But I don't understand. There were no potions or anything to transform anything with on that shelf."

"It's a curse."

The room went dead silent at Kaden's voice as everyone slowly glanced towards him. His expression was uncharacteristically grave.

"I was taught about them a while ago. Everything about this looks like a curse."

"How so…?" the girl asked.

"Well, when you de-transformed, you still had some non-human parts. Is that one of them?" Bryan asked.

Kaden nodded. "And did you notice you started slowly transforming when you were panicking or anxious?"

"…Yeah." she slowly muttered. "I…Fuck, am I cursed?"

"…Looks like it." Kaden said. "Someone cursed you to transform into a monster when you're stressed, overwhelmed or scared, that's as far as we all know."

Who would do such a thing? Kaden thought. That's got to be forbidden magic of some kind. When I find them, I'm going to make sure they've never been born.

A shuddering inhale snapped Kaden out of his thoughts. He looked up to see the girl shaking, clenching the cup until her knuckles turned white, tears threatening to spill.

"Shit- hey!" Ethan said, quickly getting to his feet. "Calm the fuck down, you're gonna transform again!"

"Ethan, don't yell-"

But Ethan's loud voice snapped the girl back to reality. "R-right." she said, before taking a deep breath to calm herself. "I'm… I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to apologise for!" Bryan said, standing up. "Panicking is perfectly normal! It's not like you cursed yourself!"

"I- I might as well have."

The room went dead silent for the third time that day.

"I was being chased before I came here."

"By bounty hunters or something? You mentioned something like, I was going to bring you back to… somewhere and claim a bounty put on you." Bryan asked.

"It's a bit more complicated than that." She sighed, preparing herself. "Oh boy." She exhaled and then said,

"I am- was- part of a family of hunters. Hunting things like- like you guys."

There was a pregnant pause.

"Excuse me?" Kaden said.

"What?" Bryan asked, confused.

"Those exist?!" Ethan exclaimed.

The girl blinked in confusion, not expecting those responses. "…Yeah? Well, being raised in a family like that, it… messes with your morals, if what you are doing is right or not. We're some of the last people who still do it, the practice being outlawed because… well, it's just straight-up prejudice, racism and murder."

"Now that I think about it, I remember being chased by vampire hunters a couple decades ago. Are those linked?" Ethan inquired.

"Could be. I got sick of it. Realised how horrible it all was after my first hunt where I…" she trailed off. "So I ran away. Was chased by my members of my house. Got that injury by them. And maybe one of them cursed me."

"Does… does your family know magic?" Bryan asked.

Or did whatever you hunt curse you in retaliation? went unsaid.

She nodded. "Doing something that illegal, there's nowhere to go but lower. Some members of my family practiced magic, along with forbidden spells. I was probably hit by one. Whatever I… hunted, it didn't have magic. So it wasn't that." Her gaze lowered, expression dismal.

"They said they would bring me back to that place, wouldn't take long for me to come crawling back, and when I do… those motherfuckers knew what they were doing. I would be surprised if they didn't put a bounty on my head to make their job of finding me easier. There. End of story."

She looked up at the others, and was surprised to see all three of the boys with varying expressions of concern on their faces. Kaden's expression looked like he was trying to comprehend why someone would do such a thing, Bryan was looking at her, his eyes wide as realisation dawned on him and Ethan looked like he was contemplating murder himself.

Bryan broke the silence first.

"…Hey, whatever it is, we'll deal with it with you, alright?" he said. "We all have our own issues, and we're helping each other. We can help you as well. We'll figure it out."

"Yeah, you can stay here with us. You're more than welcome to, and you at least will have a roof over your head." Kaden said.

"…What's the catch?" the girl cautiously asked.

"Hey."

She looked towards Bryan.

"Remember what I said? We're not letting you stay here because we're expecting something as repayment, but because we want to help you. Kaden offered a helping hand to Ethan and I when we were in need. Now it's our turn to do the same." he said.

"Yeah! Besides, it gets quite dull talking to the same two people for a while…" Ethan joked, to which Kaden laughed and nudged Ethan playfully.

A soft hiccup made them notice that the girl was crying, but they were tears of happiness this time. "I'd… I'd love to. Thank you."

Kaden smiled. "What's your name? I'm curious."

She smiled back, with a smile as bright as the sun.

"Megan. My name is Megan."