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ninjacupcake333 · 4 years ago

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Curse

“It was...probably just a one time thing, don’t you think?” Lilith sat beside Eda on her bed, hands clasped together tightly, heart in her stomach with guilt. “Some sort of magical fluke, or, or a prank someone pulled on you to get back at you for all the times you’ve gotten them!”

“Some prank,” Eda mumbled into her pillow, turning to face Lilith. “It turned me into a wild animal. I don’t even know what I did while I was transformed! I didn’t,” she grasped at the blanket between them, “hurt anyone or anything, did I?”

Lilith flashed back to the duel- the rocks thrown at the beast. The beast attempting to flee from its attackers only to be brought down from the air by bounty hunters- and the bounty hunters flung into trees with seemingly no effort at all. And in the wake of the destruction, Eda, on the ground, delirious, exhausted, and on the verge of passing out.

“No,” she settled on. The beast had been the one to hurt the bounty hunters, not Eda. The curse was to be a short one, and there was no reason to concern her. “No, everyone was fine.”

“Other than me.”

“Unfortunately,” she admitted.

“Well. Like you said. Maybe it was just a one time thing. Nothing to worry about now, right?”

“Right.”

—

Lilith sprinted down the path away from the school, not chancing a look back at the beast racing after her. She wasn’t sure what had happened- one minute she was arguing with Odalia and the next, the owl beast was bearing down on them, claws raised to swipe. She remembers throwing a spell at it to save Odalia- however terrible she was, she didn’t deserve to die over a petty argument of all things- and then there was a pained roar. And now she was running for her life from the thing that used to be her sister.

She tripped and fell, rolling down the hill, the beast gliding smoothly after her with its long, sharp claws extended.

Lilith hit a tree, coming to a sudden stop. The beast landed smoothly, a low growl emanating from it as it approached. Ended by a monster of her own creation, she thought to herself. Appropriate. Her chest seized at the thought of Eda waking up to discover what she’d done, the guilt she’d no doubt carry for the rest of her life.

“Eda,” she couldn’t help the tears that began to run down her face as she reached out for the beast, “Eda I’m sorry. I did this to you.”

The owl beast tilted its head curiously, the growl fading away.

“I should have just accepted you as the better witch- let you have the spot in the coven. I’m so sorry.”

She felt something soft on her hand and she looked up to see the beast pressing its head into her hand. It noticed her gaze and chirped at her curiously.

“Edalyn,” she asked hopefully.

The beast stuck its tongue out at her and then batted her to the ground with one giant claw. Her breath came in short bursts as she felt its teeth on the back of her head, her neck- her cowl?

Giant wings flapped, throwing leaves and dust into the air, and Lilith shielded her eyes as the owl beast took off.

“Eda, let me down!” She pried at the beast’s mouth, trying to free herself. “You’re going to rip my uniform!”

The beast let out a huffing sound- laughter maybe?- as they soared. Lilith caught a glimpse of the ground far beneath them and stopped struggling.

“Where are we even going?!”

The beast didn’t answer or acknowledge the question, only flapping its broad wings to gain altitude.

“Mother’s going to be so upset when she finds out,” Lilith said to herself, already able to hear Gwendolyn’s disappointed tone in her head. Not careful enough with Eda, not keeping an eye on her well enough, not keeping her out of trouble, or calm so she doesn’t transform...She’d heard it all often enough.

The beast gave another chirp, short and sharp before slowly landing. It dropped Lilith to the ground in the forest behind the Clawthorne house, letting out a snort as she stumbled. It caught her with an outreached claw, carefully avoiding scratching her.

“Thank you,” she said, trying to steady herself on shaky legs. “Can you understand me?” The beast only looked at her curiously. “Sometimes I can’t tell if you’re still in there when you transform…” She reached her hand out again, the beast immediately butting its head into it and nuzzling at her. “You seem to recognize me at least…”

“Lilith, is that you?” Both of them jolted at the sound of Gwendolyn’s voice coming from inside the house. “Where’s Eda?”

“Uh- she said...she said she’d be coming home a little late today, Mother,” she called back, hoping Gwen would stay inside.

“Why didn’t you stay with her, sweet flea? You know it’s important to keep an eye on her these days!”

Lilith scowled, more than familiar with this particular lecture as well. The beast huffed at her, headbutting her stomach.

“I- she said she wanted privacy, Mother. Something about that bard witch she likes, Raine?” The beast’s jaw dropped, an almost offended expression on its face. “What was I supposed to say,” she whispered to it. She squeaked in fear as the beast’s mouth closed on her arm- only to feel playfully threatening bites on it instead of actual pain. “Let go- let- Eda! I’m not a chew toy!”

“What was that, dear?”

“Nothing, Mother!” She slapped at the beast’s head, less afraid of what it would do now. “I think she said she was going to try to ask them out! I’m pretty sure she’ll chicken out again!” She smirked at Eda, who definitely looked offended now.

The beast tackled her, slapping at her with gentle claws.

“You’ve done it before, Eda, how am I to know if this is the time you actually go through with it,” she laughed quietly. Eda blew a raspberry at her and then walked forward- sitting directly on Lilith’s stomach. “Get,” she groaned, “off!” The beast huffed out its laughter again, staying right where it was.

—

“Edalyn you have to go! The guards are coming and,” she looked past the crates hiding them from sight, spotting a small contingent of them approaching, “no matter my rank, I don’t think they’ll listen if I tell them to let you go.”

“I’m fine I’m fine I’m fine.” Eda’s breaths were sharp and fast, her skin clammy with sweat. “I just need to- ghhh concentrate so I don’t transform-“ Feathers sprouted from her arms and she let out a cry of pain.

Lilith’s eyes went wide with panic. “Stay here alright? I’ll be back, just- stay here.” She ran out of the alley towards the guards, giving them an imperious look. “The Owl Lady has fled into the sewers,” she said, pointing at the manhole on the next street over. “I want every guard we have looking for her, leave no tunnel unexplored!”

“The sewers?”

The second guard groaned, “It’s so gross in there though!”

“Are you questioning my orders?”

The guards shared a panicked look, quickly shaking their heads. “No, no ma’am! We’ll get on it right away!”

“The Owl Lady is in the sewers!” The cry went up around them, guards flooding into the sewers to begin the search.

Lilith waited until the streets were clear again, and then ran back to where Eda was hiding, dropping to her knees to hold her now-feathery shoulders.

“You should be safe now, but you have to go. There’s no telling when they’ll be back-“

“Ma’am how far should we- the Owl Lady!” He brandished his spear and Eda’s skin rippled, a layer of downy feathers sprouting from every inch of her.

“Stand down! Guard!”

“She’s going to turn!” He lunged, and the beast met him head on, catching the shaft of the spear in its teeth before flinging guard and weapon away into the city.

The beast let out a snarl, standing up on its hind legs to watch him fly, letting out a self satisfied noise as he went.

“Edalyn?” The beast turned to her, no malice in its eyes. “I still don’t know if you can understand me but you need to leave. There’s more guards looking for you and we can’t fight them all. I’ll…try to come see you when it’s safe, alright? But you have to go now.”

The beast shook itself as it stood, settling its feathers into place. It looked at her with a toothy grin and then took off into the air, leaving Lilith alone in the alley.

She watched her fly away, a sad smile on her face.

—

“So after all these years,” Eda explained, “the owl beast is finally under control. Turns out it was just as afraid of me as I was of it. It’s not my favorite thing in the world, having to let it out once in a while to make sure it doesn’t try to maul anyone, but…” She raised an eyebrow at Lilith’s smirk. “What?”

“I’m glad that you’ve struck a deal with the beast, but truth be told, I’m not sure it was ever really dangerous.”

“I have several warrants for my arrest that say otherwise,” Eda said skeptically.

“And I have more memories than that of times you transformed without attacking anyone, dear sister.”

“Go on…”

“It’s just as you said- the beast was afraid. Nearly every time you transformed it was out of anger, or fear, or exhaustion, or you’d transform and then be almost immediately attacked because of someone else’s fear. And the beast would respond to that and fight back. I never told you this because of my own guilt, and the fear that talking about the curse might cause you to turn, but…there were times when we were younger that you would transform and the beast would be almost docile.”

“Really?”

“It was somewhat of a rarity, given how people treated you after I cursed you, but yes. There were times that, although you didn’t seem to understand anything I was saying, I could tell that I was familiar to you. I could see your personality shine through- still as much of a trickster as you were in your witch form,” she said with a smile, “but still very obviously a beast. Had you not been attacked after nearly every transformation, I believe the beast would have been as threatening as a Slitherbeast.”

“Potentially deadly, but only attacking things that got to me first,” Eda said with a slow, understanding nod. She tilted her head to the side as if listening to another voice. “Well you’re not wrong. It says that everyone was always trying to fight it or get rid of it- or control it. And then you…you talked to it. Us? You weren’t usually a threat and helped us out of some sticky situations so it would let our guard down around you.” She blinked in realization. “It really is just a scared animal.”

“Perhaps knowing that will help us both in the future. In case of more surprise transformations or fights.”

“Hopefully.” Eda looked at her. “What about you?”

“Hm?”

“Has yours,” she pointed at her head, “you know?”

“Has it…”

“Talked to you. Not that mine is talking really, I just know what it means when it thinks at me now sometimes.”

“Oh. No, not yet. We’ve been keeping the curse under control with the elixir so far but I suppose I should consider trying to commune with my beast as well, now that we know more about it.”

“Well, when you’re ready,” Eda clapped her on the shoulder, “I’ll be right there with you.”

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ninjacupcake333 · 4 years ago

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Alternate Universe

“Come on Edalyn, open up…” She knocked on the door to the rundown apartment again, not sure whether to knock louder to get Eda’s attention faster, or to keep quiet to avoid drawing attention to herself.

She pulled her deep blue cloak tighter around her shoulders. It was new- unfamiliar to her, its color in direct contrast to her old coven cloak, now abandoned in her room back in Belos’ castle. This one, at least, made it easier for her to blend in with the darkness of the night surrounding her while she waited for Eda to open the door.

She tapped her foot impatiently as she knocked again, sighing with relief when she heard something break inside the apartment.

“Keep your pants on,” Eda called from inside, opening the door with a yawn. “What do you want, don’t you know how late it is?” She blinked tiredly at Lilith, then stood up straight as she realized who her guest was. “Lily? What are you doing here?”

“May I come in?” She looked at her sister earnestly, heart pounding. Doing this- telling Eda- would make it real. Even now she could turn back, but she steeled herself. No. Not after what she’d seen.

“You’re being rather...secret agent-y tonight,” Eda said, watching Lilith draw the curtains all around the room. “Shouldn’t you be back at Emperor Bonehead’s place?”

Lilith ducked her head, hands still grasping at fabric. “No. I...I should never have gone there in the first place.”

“Did...something happen?”

Lilith laughed bitterly. “I suppose you can say that the luster’s worn off already. Bringing peace and unity, law and order to the Isles.” She shook her head. “What a joke.”

“Well I could’ve told you that,” Eda said with a careful grin, watching Lilith closely.

Lilith laughed again, pressing the heels of her hands into her eyes. “I’m pretty sure you did. Multiple times. But I...I always thought I knew better, didn’t I. And now look where it’s gotten us.”

“Hey, you’re worrying me.” She set her hand on her shoulder, Lilith’s breath hitching at the touch. “Do I have to go fight someone for you? Cuz I will, you know.”

“NO!” They both recoiled from Lilith’s sudden shout. “No. Please don’t. Don’t go anywhere near- the things that they’re doing, Eda.” Her eyes grew haunted. “Emperor Belos has plans for wild witches. It’s beyond despicable.” She grabbed both of Eda’s hands in her own, knuckles turning white from the pressure. “Promise me. That you won’t provoke him. Any of them.”

“Okay, okay! Titan, Lily, what are they doing over there?”

“Forced coven brands,” she said, beginning to pace the length of the room, “for anyone he believes can be controlled and cajoled into obedience. Petrification for those he thinks will be too defiant.” She held a hand over her mouth, trying to hold back her lunch at the memories of what she’d seen, her voice coming out in a whisper. “Making examples of the ‘worst’ wild witches in ways I don’t want to describe.” She looked at Eda. “I’m afraid of what he’d do to you,” she said plainly.

“He can’t get me here, Lil,” she reassured her, voice quiet and confident. “I’m out here with all the nobodies that no one remembers. There’s no reason for him to come after me.”

“It’s not just you, Edalyn!” Lilith pulled at her hair, throwing her arms in the air to beg for Eda to understand. “It’s every wild witch. To leave even a single covenless witch alive and free is unacceptable to him!”

“No one knows I’m here! And there’s no way he’d find out, either! I’ve been keeping to myself, keeping my nose clean. No one looks twice at me these days, so long as I don’t beast out on them.”

“You don’t understand,” Lilith said desperately. “It doesn’t matter if you’re staying out of trouble- unless you join a coven-”

“You know I’m not going to do that,” Eda scowled.

“I’m not asking you to!” She held out her arm and peeled back her sleeve with a pained gasp.

“Your mark…” Eda’s hand hovered over the remains of Lilith’s coven mark, the skin still inflamed from where Lilith had burned it away.

“I left the coven, Eda. And I’m not going back. Belos is manipulative. He’ll do whatever it takes to get what he wants. Flattery, bribery, guilt trips, lies. Anything to get one step closer to his goals. You need to leave the city. Find somewhere remote- somewhere it’ll be difficult for other people to lead him to.”

“He- he’s not going to- I mean, guilt trips and lies,” Eda laughed uncomfortably, the severity of the situation finally beginning to sink in, “you don’t really think that stuff will work on me if he tries it, do you?”

Lilith weighed her next words carefully. She’d already passed on the news of her leaving the coven, and warned Eda to leave the city. Whether or not she’d take the advice wouldn’t change, whatever Lilith said next. Eda had always been stubborn like that.

“Some of the worst things he’s said,” she said warily, “are the truth. And I think you need to be prepared for that.”

“I don’t understand. If it’s the truth...wouldn’t you already know?”

“No.” Her words were quiet. “Not if...not if he’s telling you secrets. Things that others have kept hidden from you. Things you’ve tried not to see in yourself. He knows how to make the words cut deep- and then pretends to offer you safety and absolution in exchange for obedience. After all, how does years-old shame measure up against the emperor’s forgiveness and pride?”

“What did he do to you, Lily?”

“I did it to myself.” Her hands clenched in her cloak behind her back and she looked away, face contorted in pain. “Promise me you’ll leave the city.”

“Lilith-”

“Promise me, Edalyn!”

“Tomorrow!” She gripped Lilith’s shoulders, holding her steady, even as she shook. “I’ll leave tomorrow, I promise, but what did you do? We can fix it, whatever it is. Clawthorne sisters against the world, right?”

Lilith licked her lips, working her jaw as she tried to get the words out.

“I- I’m the one that cursed you.”

Eda’s face went blank.

“Get out.”

—

“They sure do like their wanted posters of you, don’t they Eda?” Luz let out a pained laugh as they walked away from the Covention Center, Eda supporting half her weight with an arm around her shoulders as Luz limped forward.

“Yeah, of course they do,” she grunted. “Gotta make the city look good somehow! What in the world possessed you to challenge that girl, kid? I mean, Coven Leader’s apprentice,” she spat the words.

“Amity’s,” she hissed as they continued down the path, “Amity’s not so bad! She stopped fighting as soon as she saw I was hurt. She even caught up to apologize while you were fighting her mentor!” She frowned. “Why did you fight her?”

“Me and the coven system have history,” she said darkly. She shook her head to rid herself of the memories, leaning a little harder on Luz when the dizziness hit. “Apparently too much history if the way I feel right now means anything. Not sure it would be safe for us to fly in our conditions right now, or we’d already be halfway home.”

“At least we get to enjoy the scenery.”

“Always looking on the bright side, aren’t you?” She ruffled Luz’s hair before wrapping her arm around her shoulders again.

“Well somebody has to!” Luz took in the sights as they headed for one of the many cracks in the city walls to avoid leaving through the guard-infested gates. Her eye caught on another of Eda’s posters, and then on the witch staring at it. Her hood was up, but Luz could still see her face, old scars set into a melancholy face. She set a hand on the poster and Luz let out a squeak as it went up in flames.

“What is it,” Eda asked distractedly. “Guards coming our way?”

“No-” Luz heard the pounding of footsteps headed right for them. “I mean yes, but that witch over there,” she said, gesturing towards her with her head, “she just burned one of your wanted posters. I think we should focus more on the guards though.”

“It couldn’t be…” She stared at the witch as she walked away, trying to look for any trace of familiarity.

“Eda!!!” She tackled Luz to the ground at the sound of Luz’s yell, narrowly avoiding both of them being run through.

“Run, kid! I’ll hold ‘em off!”

“Hold them off,” Luz said incredulously, “you don’t even have the energy to stand right now!”

Eda smacked another spear away, already breathing hard. “Well you don’t have to tell them that!”

A bright blue beam of magic flew between them, throwing most of the guards back and encasing them in ice. The remaining guards shared a look- and then fled the scene, no longer willing to fight.

“Whoa…” Luz turned to see the mystery witch standing behind them, her white staff still outstretched from the spell. “That was so cool!! Eda, did you see?”

“Yeah, I saw, I saw.” She snorted angrily, summoning her staff to lift herself to her feet. “Once a show-off, always a show-off.”

“Wait,” Luz looked between the two witches. “Do you two...know each other?”

“Unfortunately. This is Lilith, former head of the Emperor’s Coven and,” she grimaced, “my sister.”

—

“This would go a lot faster if you’d simply allow me to heal your wounds too, Edalyn. Or at least fly you both to your house!”

“And as I keep telling you, no one asked you!” She took a hand off Owlbert and waved at Lilith flippantly. “Just get out of here, we’ll be fine! We don’t need your help!”

“Of course you don’t. You’re only the most wanted witch on the Isles, who attacked the leader of the Emperor’s Coven in public, you can’t stand, and barely have any magic left. I’m sure you and your,” she glanced over at Luz, hanging onto Owlbert with one hand as she walked beside Eda, “human apprentice would be fine against the next contingent of guards.”

“Say one more word about the kid,” Eda threatened tiredly, “and I’ll show you how ‘fine’ we would be.”

—

“So…” Luz caught up to Lilith on the path, Eda still flying low and slow behind them. The witch gave her another appraising look, catching Eda watching her with a glare. “You’re Eda’s sister?”

“That’s right.”

“I didn’t even know she had a sister!”

“We...don’t talk much.”

“Right, right. So, no family get-togethers?”

Eda snorted behind them. “Not if I can help it.”

“Our relationship is complicated, to say the least.”

“Seems pretty simple to me,” Eda called out again.

“Would you like me to tell her the story?”

“Magic mentor backstory?!”

“No and no.” She caught Luz’s pleading eyes. “It’s personal, and now’s really not the time to get into it.”

“Fine...Then can I ask,” she turned back to Lilith and pointed at her own face. “I mean it’s fine if you don’t want to talk about it but-”

Lilith raised a hand to her face, trailing her fingers over the marks. They were shallow, superficial. Even if they hadn’t felt like it that night. “I...was selfish. I knew what I was doing was wrong and did it anyway to get what I wanted. And when I got it, I realized it was tainted, both by the reality of the situation, and my own actions. Had I thought it through for longer, or looked more carefully at my methods, many tragedies could have been avoided, including this.” She took a deep breath. “I count this as retribution for what I did. Nothing more than I deserved.”

Behind them, Eda was silent.

—

“This is as far as I want you coming with us.” Eda stood on her own two feet, glaring defiantly at Lilith when she reached out to steady her. “This is already too close, but better safe than sorry when it comes to the guards.” She tapped Luz on the shoulder and nodded towards the branch of path leading to the house. “Get going kiddo, I’ll meet you there in a few.”

“But-” Eda frowned at her and Luz sighed. “Fine..Nice to meet you, Lilith! See you later!” She jogged off, leaving the two sisters alone.

“I’m glad you left the city after all.”

“After a rampaging owl beast took out my house? Yeah, huge surprise that I left.” She tapped her fingers on the staff. “I don’t want to see you running around here. I’ve got enough to deal with, having the kid around and trying to teach her magic-”

“You’re actually teaching her magic? But she’s a human, they don’t even have bile sacs!”

“I will teach my apprentice what I want, when I want. You lost the right to have any input in my life a long, long time ago.” She gestured at Lilith’s scars. “Or did you forget.”

“How could I? It’s like I told your apprentice though- it’s nothing more than I deserved. I regretted the curse as soon as I’d cast it-”

“Save it. I didn’t want to hear it then, and I don’t want to hear it now.” She headed towards the path Luz had taken, leaning heavily on her staff. “Thanks for helping us with the guards. Let’s not do this again.”

“Eda-”

“You know! I’m just a little bit tired right now. All I want is to go home and collapse on my couch, and maybe drink apple blood until I pass out. I don’t want to have long drawn out apologies and conversations about what could have been, or what you should have done. That’s all in the past, and that’s where it should stay.”

“I can...accept that. All I wanted to say was to be careful.” She caught up to Eda, still keeping her distance for Eda’s sake. “There’s been rumors about...about wild witches. Disappearing. I think he’s starting again. There’s no limit to the brutality he’s willing to inflict on those he deems a threat. And you, with your human...If you’re really training her to do magic, I would suggest you do it quickly. He preys on people’s vulnerabilities. Better if she’s able to defend herself.”

Eda nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind.” She disappeared into the trees without another word.

Lilith watched the spot where she had vanished, taking several calming breaths before mounting her staff and flying away.

There would be more opportunities to talk to her sister in the future, opportunities to atone for her actions. She was sure of it.

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