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Chapter 2
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The coffee sputtered angrily on the stove, demanding attention as it filled the small room with a heady aroma that Eruka usually enjoyed. Now it barely registered, her mind already littered with a slough of complicated thoughts and emotions.
At some point Jackson had managed to herd everyone into the cabin with the suggestion of breakfast and coffee, and without realizing why or how it had happened, Eruka now sat stiffly at her supper table across from Free. Dog had also been shuffled inside, and was chewing loudly on one of the many bones that riddled the underworld at her feet.
"Nice place," Free muttered around a pancake, stuffing it back in his mouth when it fell out. "Ish cozshy."
Eruka smiled stiffly.
When the kettle continued to wail its displeasure, Eruka tore her stare from Free to Jackson, who currently had his hands over his face in what appeared to be inward panic. "Jackson," she hissed, kicking Jackson under the table, causing the poor tadpole to startle violently. His wide eyes shot to Eruka. "The kettle."
As if only just hearing the coffee screaming in the background, Jackson jumped from his chair, excusing himself quietly under his breath, and rushed to the small kitchen. Eruka noted the movement absently, before returning the force of her glare to the immortal sitting across from her. When the sputtering of the kettle died away, leaving behind a tense silence, Eruka pointedly cleared her throat.
Free either didn't hear her, or was ignoring her as he continued to stuff his face with eggs, toast, muffins, hash browns, and pomegranates. The tattered napkin in her hand tore further as Eruka watched him with gritted teeth.
"Free."
"Mhm?" Free answered through a mouthful of food, reaching to dig his spoon into a pile of potatoes. The movement knocked a sausage off his plate and Dog scrambled across the floor to retrieve it. Uncaring or unaware, Free sniffed loudly, wiping his nose with his other hand.
Breathing carefully through her nose, Eruka tried to be diplomatic. "Now that you've eaten, do you think we could talk about this a bit more?"
Free leaned back, stretching out the sinewy muscles of his shoulder. Eruka's lips pinched at the sight. After a blessedly short moment, Free relaxed from his stretch with a satisfied sigh and reached for one of Eruka's hand-sewn napkins, delicately wiping his face.
"I think I was promised coffee?"
Eruka's teeth clenched, but she managed to remain silent as Jackson rushed over from the kitchen.
"Here it is!" Jackson sing-songed in a way that was half-whimsical and half-hysterical. He set down several mugs in front of each place setting, then lifted his favourite kettle - one with pretty glass gems that he'd made during his pottery phase. As he carefully poured the thick, smoking sludge into Free's cup, he turned wide, meaningful eyes to Eruka. She made a face back at him.
Free took a loud sip from the earthenware mug. He then turned to Jackson, smiling, his shoulder positioned in a way that blocked Eruka from the interaction. "Hey, this is good! What do you put in it?"
"Ah... spices."
"Maybe you could show me the recipe some-?"
"You are vile," Eruka seethed, standing so abruptly that dishes rattled. Free shot her an annoyed glance in response, closing his mouth over the unfinished word. "I helped you and you've brought us nothing but trouble!"
"Oh, dear," said Jackson helplessly.
Free rolled his eyes and tossed aside the now-soiled napkin in his hands. "It was never my intention to cause you trouble."
"You expect me to believe you?"
"It'd certainly be helpful," Free returned easily. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "Though I can't say I'd be terribly heartbroken if you didn't."
Eruka felt her face burn as she jumped out of her chair with a screech. Before she could launch herself across the table, two skinny arms wrapped around Eruka's waist and pulled her back.
"Eruka can I talk to you - oof! - in the kitchen?" Jackson grunted as one of Eruka's thrashing arms elbowed him in the face. "Now."
"I'm going to kill him," Eruka hissed, breaking free from Jackson's hold after he'd pulled her into the next room. Her hands shook as they reached up to clutch at the fluttering strands of her hair. "I honestly think I'm going to kill him."
Jackson shot her a withering look from where he was peeking into the living room. "We're a bit beyond that point, don't you think?"
Eruka glared.
With a sigh, Jackson hovered towards her and gently grasped her arm. Until he touched her, Eruka hadn't known she'd been trembling. "Eruka, you need to calm down. Let's just take some time to figure this out."
"How?!" she snapped. "Jackson, if Zeus finds out about this she's going to kill us!"
"It didn't stop you before."
Eruka's face flushed. "That - I - that is completely different!" she protested, struggling to keep her voice low.
"It's not. Now stay here while I try and fix this," Jackson snapped, expression fearful and harried. It was the only thing that kept her from yelling back at him as he shuffled into the preferable fray.
Breathing shakily through her nose, Eruka willed away tears as thick emotion curdled at the back of her throat. Her fingers found the smooth counter top, worn away with years of use. She hadn't yet processed what had happened back at the river bank, and the familiar flickering candlelight of home had her emotions feeling altogether too raw.
The distant sound of Jackson's apologies didn't help the wave of humiliation, and she found she could accomplish little more than glare at the polished wood beneath her fingers. Her nails curled with her growing anger, catching on a knot in the wood and digging into it.
"...it's a very stressful job," she heard Jackson say from the living room. "No doubt I'd be half-mad by now if I was her."
"I dunno," was Free's nonchalant reply, "doesn't seem that hard."
Which was the last of what Eruka could take. The humiliation, shame, and anger swirled together and broke whatever control she had managed to maintain thus far. Chest heaving, Eruka re-entered the living room.
"You need to leave!" Eruka thundered, marching to the centre of the room and slamming her fists against the tabletop, sending food and dishes clattering to the floor. Black seeped from her bare feet to her surroundings, creeping along the floor and over furniture and walls. Bottles and trinkets lovingly arranged on dusted shelves shook and trembled, falling from their perch to smash against the ground.
"Eruka!" Jackson shouted, hands raised towards her. "Stop - my curtains!"
Free looked around himself in alarm, and had Eruka been in her right mind she would have rejoiced at finally ripping apart his calm façade. "Eruka-"
Eruka screamed and hurled a lamp at his head.
"Shut up, you idiot!" Jackson snapped. "She's too angry, we have to get out of here."
Jackson pushed Free out the door, careful to keep his hands away from any questionable parts as well as the floral tripping hazards. They stumbled out onto the black sand, turning in time to see the small, homey cottage become smothered in darkness.
With an otherworldly screech, Eruka burst from the house, the shroud of darkness escaping with her.
"What's happening?" she heard Free whisper, his eyes wide.
"She gets like this sometimes," Jackson replied, rubbing his face. "Either when she's scared or angry."
"Which is it this time?"
Jackson shot Free a look. "Both, I imagine."
"You used me!" she wailed, the white of her eyes gone. "I liked you!"
Eruka fell to her knees as the darkness trembled around her, growing louder with her cries. The shaking of her shoulders and the curtained blue of her bent head were all that distinguished her from the billowing mass.
"This wasn't how it was supposed to go!" the body of darkness screamed.
Free broke loose from Jackson's restraining hold and took several angry stomps towards Eruka. The flowers that grew in his wake spawned from the ground in a curling, quivering mass-thorny vines beneath blood red roses.
He pulled one free and chucked it at the angry cloud.
"Hey!"
Free threw another one, along with a handful of sand. "You do not get to throw a tantrum!"
The darkness shrilled at this, thrashing wildly. It spat out a shriveled, dead rose and blew back a gust with such force that Jackson was thrown back
"No!" Free yelled into the wind, finger pointing sternly. His feet were braced in the sand, and his flowers grew up the length of his calf as though to hold him in place. "You've set me up real nice as the villain in your little story but you're hardly any better!"
The gust of wind stopped as the black storm of emotion faltered, the darkness fading until Eruka peeked out with angry, wet eyes. "...Excuse me?"
"I used you just as much as you used me."
Eruka pushed herself up from the ground, brushing sand off her knees. She tripped several times before stopping in front of Free, hands clenched into trembling fists at her side. "What."
He scoffed, folding his arms. "Please - don't think I don't notice you staring at me like a piece of meat. My eyes are up here, you know."
"You - I-"
"No!" Free's hand cut through the air. "You've been coming to visit me for years, Eruka, and not once have you said hello!"
Shocked, Eruka could only stare at him with wide eyes. The darkness deflated, seeping back into the ground. "What?"
"Yes, I know about your little visits. I also know that no matter how long I waited you never said anything!" Free shook his head. "So I talked to you - flirted even. I tried to get you to like me."
"Then you admit to using me!"
"You were the one that suggested getting me out," Free shot back. "Then when I was finally free - after centuries in that prison - what was I supposed to do when I hear you tell your fat frog that you're going to send me back!?"
"Tadpole!"
Free ignored Jackson's outraged squawk as he took a step closer to Eruka, brows furrowed and red eye gleaming.
"You say you liked me? Well I liked you too." He gestured crudely to himself. "You wanted all this, but you didn't want to deal with what it took to keep it. Well, I say screw that, and screw you."
With a dramatic turn of his heel, Free stormed off down the beach in the general direction of his pomegranate trees. Dog made a concerned whine as he debated who to follow, before finally trotting off after Free.
Eruka wasn't sure how long she stared after him, numb. It wasn't until Jackson flopped beside her in a huff that she blinked in awareness.
"Well that took an interesting turn," he said.
"Shut up, Jackson," Eruka replied wearily. With some effort, she willed herself to stand, though it seemed to take all her strength. Sand coated her hair and limbs, but she ignored it as she wobbled forward.
"Hey, where are you going?"
Eruka ignored him, her body feeling sluggish as it often did after an episode. "Somewhere not here," she responded, feeling rather sorry for herself.
Jackson scrambled to his feet to run after her. "Oh, no you don't! You said you'd help me with that soul, and you are not slithering out of it again!"
Shoulders drooping, Eruka rubbed her face. The day had turned out to be the worst in a long time, and her plan of hiding from her feelings in a chair by the fire with a cup of tea sounded far better than chasing after Jackson's wayward soul. "Can we do it tomorrow?"
Jackson studied her face for a long while, his tiny arms crossed sternly over his chest. Finally, he sighed and nodded shortly. "That's probably for the best, anyway. I don't mean to be rude, but you do look terrible."
"Thanks," Eruka muttered.
He patted her arm kindly. "Nothing sleep and a bit of eye cream won't fix. Come on, I'll make you some tea with honey before bed. You've had a hard day."
"And lemon?"
"And lemon."
….
Eruka's eyes opened to the dull flickering of candlelight, her soft blanket pulled halfway up her face. It took a moment for the memories of the previous day to come back - but once they did, Eruka buried her face further into her pillow.
After Jackson had fed her tea and cookies, he'd stroked her hair sympathetically and sent her off to bed after extracting another promise to help him when she woke up.
Now that she was awake, however, slipping back into sleep sounded awfully attractive.
"Eruka!" came a muffled voice beyond her door followed by three loud knocks. "Is that you I hear moaning?"
"No," Eruka said into her pillow.
"You have five minutes! Hurry up or the pancakes will get cold!"
Jackson had a thing about breakfast food. Night and day were indistinguishable in the underworld, so he tended to cook his favourite food whenever. Being unable to cook herself, Eruka had a tendency to let him.
"Eruka!"
"I'm up!" she called, pushing off her covers. Ruefully, she magicked away the cotton feel from her mouth and the tangles from her hair. "That wasn't five minutes!"
Half an hour and a pile of pancakes later, Eruka stumbled out of the cabin behind Jackson. She still wasn't entirely sure how to feel about Free, and whenever his name arose in her mind a queer swirl of anger, guilt, misery, and sorrow twisted within her belly. Her eyes still stung from her miserable, snot-filled cry, and she now decided that the best way to deal with it was not to.
At least dealing with Jackson's missing soul would be a well-needed distraction.
"When it's not disturbing my work in the office, it likes to stay near the farm," Jackson said as they walked along the shore of the Styx towards his greenhouse.
Eruka grunted sadly.
"Gotta keep moving, Eruka. That's the only cure to heartache," Jackson said, kicking aside a large stone in his path. "I remember back in my youth a lovely young tadpole caught my eye. We promised each other we'd find a pond, have some tadpoles, and grow into old frogs together - she ended up leaving me for my father."
"Sharon was a bitch, Jackson."
"Yes, but that's not my point. If that hadn't happened I wouldn't have found you! Look at me now! Sharon-free and living thousands of years after her death with the goddess of the underworld."
Eruka frowned at Jackson's back. "...That's good, right?"
He waved his hands in the air. "My point is that sometimes things happen for a reason. This Free guy is hot stuff now, but in fifty years that thing he loves swaying all will-nilly between his thighs will be swinging a whole lot lower."
"He's immortal," Eruka reminded him.
Jackson's steps faltered a moment before he continued walking. "Ah, well. That is a shame. Granted, if anyone stays forever youthful, at least it's the nudist, right? I figure that's better for everyone."
If possible, Eruka felt her shoulders slump further. They reached Jackson's rickety greenhouse and she watched him gather his tools. For obvious reasons she didn't often visit the greenhouse, but from time to time she would sit by the open door and talk to Jackson as he worked. By Jackson's orders she wasn't allowed in, mostly due to the fact that she always brushed against some plant or other and killed it.
"Hey, Jackson?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you think he was right? What he said about me?"
"Eruka, you've always been creepy," Jackson said, fumbling with a pitchfork he'd magicked to be his size. "Remember when you had that skull collection? Or that dog that you harvested nail clippings and eye boogers from? That was gross."
"That was for a spell," Eruka muttered. "Where is this soul you keep talking about?"
"See, I have hobbies like sewing curtains, gardening, and cooking. Normal hobbies."
Eruka rolled her eyes and slumped against the glass. "The soul, Jackson. You said it'd be here."
"Said what would be here?" asked Free.
Eruka shrieked and fell off her stool, arms flailing. Dog ran out from behind Free yipping, and two of its heads licked her face.
"Woah there, champ," Free laughed, reaching for her arm.
"I'm fine," Eruka snapped, pushing Dog off and shoving aside Free's arm. She hastily got to her feet and stepped aside, face red.
Free appeared unsure for a moment, before he took a step closer. "Look, Eruka, I want to apologize for yesterday. What I said-"
"I can't talk right now," Eruka interrupted, not quite looking Free in the eye. She rubbed her arm, dug her toes in the sand. "I'm helping Jackson with a missing soul."
"Oh," said Free, his flowers drooping slightly. "Uh, well, maybe I can help?"
Eruka tucked her hair behind her ear. "No. No, I don't-"
"It's here!" Jackson shouted, bursting out of the greenhouse. "I knew once I started anything halfway productive that bastard would stick its foot in my business!"
"Where?" asked Eruka, looking inside Jackson's tiny greenhouse. "I don't see it."
Jackson pushed past her, completely ignoring Free. "On the roof - I saw the nuisance poking its nose through the rafters."
Eruka backed up and looked on top of the small, thatched roof. Sure enough, a transparent white wisp perched atop the tiny building. It maintained a human shape, with glowing red eyes and a wispy mop atop its head that might have passed as hair. It opened its mouth in what may have been a grin, the illusion of jagged teeth appearing through the faint, glimmering light of its body.
"It's real?"
"You didn't believe me?!" Jackson sounded offended, turning on Eruka. She raised her hands in defense.
"So that's what they look like," Free said curiously. He took several steps closer to the soul, head tilted. "I'm going to name him Soul."
"Is that just how you name everything?" Eruka sniped.
"Oh, so you're talking to me now?"
Eruka bristled, face hot as she glared at him. Her mouth opened to retort when Jackson smacked her in the leg.
"Enough!" he shouted, pointing his tiny hand at the curious soul. "Get him!"
Grumbling, Eruka raised her hands to do as she was told, pointedly ignoring the curious stare Free was giving her. Black tendrils rose from the earth and shot towards its prey-careful not to touch anything within the greenhouse and risk Jackson's wrath. The soul jerked away from the smoky appendages, hissing and curling inward.
"Hurry!"
"I'm doing it, you don't have to be so-" Eruka faltered, frowning. The smoke refused to go near the soul, no matter how many times she wiggled her fingers at it. "Something's wrong."
"Wrong? Eruka-"
Eruka dropped her hands - causing the black smoke to dissipate - and approached the greenhouse. "Free, give me a boost."
"What?" Free startled.
"Just do it, please," Eruka said, wondering if the heat in her cheeks was going to be a permanent feature now. In the silence that followed, Eruka shuffled closer to the building. "Or don't, I don't care."
"Okay, okay, no need to get snippy," Free said, his voice much closer to Eruka now. She felt his hands gently cup her waist. "I was just surprised is all."
Eruka sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm just a little sensitive tod-"
"Up you go!"
"FREEE!" Eruka screeched as she was catapulted up the side of the greenhouse and over the top. The soul watched her in that curious way of his, head tilted, and Eruka managed to take advantage of his interest by hooking an arm around his neck.
The soul hissed and choked but Eruka hung on as they hurtled together towards the ground. Before they could hit however, a burst of colourful flowers pushed out from the black sand to cushion their fall. The soul wiggled under her arm, hissing, legs and arms thrashing as it desperately tried to free itself.
"Eruka! Are you okay?" Free called, rushing over, a hint of guilty amusement in his voice. He tried to take the soul from her but his hands just went through the astral body. After several attempts he settled on clasping Eruka under her free arm and helping her gently to her feet. "I didn't mean to toss you that hard."
"It's alright," Eruka grunted, pushing aside dying flowers. "Jackson?"
"Yes?" Jackson answered, rushing over.
"This soul is cursed," she said, still struggling with the angry soul. "How did it get past screening?"
"Well Eruka," Jackson began, in a way that Eruka knew meant she would regret asking, "I have been running the underworld mostly by myself for the last several years due to the fact that my partner has been off staring at-"
"Okay, we get it," Eruka gritted out. "Thank you, Jackson." Today was clearly a day where she was going to constantly be embarrassed.
"What does it mean when a soul is cursed?" asked Free, graciously ignoring the current topic.
"It's basically an umbrella term we use when there's an abnormality in a soul," Eruka explained. "Sometimes a soul really is cursed, but more often than not the soul went through a traumatic event prior to its death. Because of it, they don't mingle well with the other souls and they can get loose."
"How do you fix it?"
"Usually they're screened prior to coming in, where the problem souls get purified, but this guy got through. There's a spell we can do, but it gets more complicated once the soul is actually in the underworld-the miasma down here makes them stronger."
"The spell takes several months. It's a drag," Jackson supplied, slumped down in Eruka's abandoned stool.
"So then this guy'll be with us for a while then?" Free said, watching the soul.
"Unfortunately."
"Then Soul can stay with me!"
Dog barked.
Soul hissed and gurgled beneath Eruka's arm.
Quite unable to distinguish how it happened, Eruka found herself once again sitting around her dining room table with Jackson, Free, Dog, and "Soul". She imagined it was some magical skill of Jackson's - the ability to lure unsuspecting victims to his supper table to feed them breakfast.
"French toast is ready!" Jackson sang from the kitchen, balancing several plates on his arm, and levitating several more in the air around him. "I also cut up some fruit and brought flowers from my garden for some ambiance. Don't touch those please, Eruka."
Eruka glared.
"Delicious as always, Jackson!" Free said, already digging in. Jackson beamed, and immediately after turned accusing eyes to Eruka.
"So nice to be appreciated."
"I appreciate you," Eruka snapped.
Soul, for his part, simply glared from his chair like a petulant teenager. As such, the urge to treat him like one was uncontrollable, and Eruka found herself having to resist the urge to pinch his cheek on several occasions.
"So is it alright if he stays with me?" Free asked. "Dog and I have a real nice set up next to the pome-...fruit trees," he quickly amended at Eruka's glare. "He would fit right in."
"On one condition," Eruka said, causing Free to perk up in clear surprise. The amount of shock on his face irritated her so much she almost retracted the statement. It wasn't like she was unreasonable. "I can do a temporary binding spell on him that will keep him tied to you and out of trouble, but I want both of you to wear pants. Both of you. You're traumatising poor Jackson."
Free looked scandalized.
"No pants, no pet soul!" Eruka said before Free could reply.
Jackson frowned, french toast halfway to his mouth. "Is this ethical?"
"No! Pants are not ethical!"
"He's talking about giving you a pet that used to be human, you idiot! Pants are not unethical, Free!"
"You know what's unethical?! Stalking!"
Eruka squawked, red faced. "Why you-!"
"Eruka!" Jackson shouted, rising from his chair. He looked concerned, staring hard into the distance. "Maba's people are here."
As soon as he said it, Eruka felt it too: an eerie tickle at the back of her neck that told her another presence had entered her realm. It wasn't Maba herself - not even Free would've been able to distract her from that - but a group of messengers with her magic signature.
Eruka's hands went into her hair. "Fuck." She looked at Free. "Fuck."
"Hades!" a voice yelled from outside the cabin. "As messengers of Zeus, we demand an audience!"
"I need to hide," Eruka whispered, diving under the table. Her body trembled as she curled around a table leg. The beat of her heart made breathing difficult, and she focused on the feel of her nails digging into the skin of her palms as her skin tingled with rising sweat.
"Eruka, if we hide from this, it'll only get worse," Jackson whispered beside her, making her jump. At some point he'd crawled in beside her, and was now patting her shoulder soothingly. She noted absently that Free, Soul, and even Dog were peeking under the table with concern. "If we talk to them, we may be able to sway their decision."
Eruka met Free's eyes; she wasn't sure why - he was the reason she was in this situation - but his answering smile bolstered what meager confidence she held. Taking a deep breath and exhaling shakily, Eruka rose from her crouch and pulled herself out from under the table.
"Okay," she said, trembling still. "Okay. I can do this, I can do this - I can't do this." Just as Eruka shrunk back from the front door taunting her, a gentle hand clasped her under the arm.
"It's alright," said Free quietly. He walked her over to one of the chairs and helped her down. "I'll go. You stay here."
After several deep breaths, Eruka pushed off the chair and grabbed Free's hand. "No, I'm going. But you're coming, too," she paused, suddenly aware that sounded too much like a demand. Staring up at his amused gaze, she added a breathless, "Please."
He smiled. "Of course."
"Okay," Eruka breathed, turning to face the door. She hadn't let go of Free's hand and she squeezed it in hers. Jackson was on her other side, and she sensed that Soul and Dog were following as well. No doubt they would complicate matters, but Eruka could only focus on pulling down the handle and opening the door. "You can do it, Eruka," she said under her breath, her heartbeat a painful rhythm.
Eruka pulled the door open and a flash of light beamed from the outside, blinding them.
Soul hissed, and Jackson cursed. "I always forget how bright they are. It's like they're compensating for something."
"Quiet Jackson," Eruka hushed. "They'll hear you."
"Too late."
Eruka squinted through the light and saw a woman in a leather skirt and armour, a shield at her back. Several soldiers dressed similarly stood behind her, but she was clearly the leader. She had faded blonde hair tied up in pigtails with twine, and she didn't look happy. The effects of the underworld were no doubt taking their toll on her, but the stubborn set of the woman's mouth told Eruka that she would rather die than show it.
Eruka heard Soul gasp from behind her.
"Maka, isn't it?" Eruka called, stepping down onto the sand. She detangled her fingers from Free's, knowing that acting close to him wouldn't help her cause. She felt the loss immediately.
"Yes," Maka answered, arms crossed. "You would know if you'd ever bothered to show up to our meetings." Those eerily empty green eyes darted behind Eruka. "You're looking well Jackson. Get those rhododendrons planted?"
"Ah, yes," Jackson said hurriedly. "And blooming."
"To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" Eruka asked, unease growing when Maka's calm gaze shifted to her.
"Hades, you are charged with freeing the being known as Free: the immortal werewolf who attacked Zeus's kingdom, stole Zeus's left eye, and stole the powers of Demeter by killing her."
Eruka froze, suddenly and violently nauseous. "What...?" she breathed.
"That bitch killed my family!" Free roared, but Maka obviously didn't care as her attention remained solely on Eruka.
"If you do not return the prisoner within three days, Zeus, otherwise known as Maba, will declare war on you. Choose wisely, Hades, lest you turn out like your predecessor."
"I can't give him back," Eruka said. "He's eaten the food of the underworld."
"Then war is your only option."
Shaking, Eruka looked at Free. He returned her gaze calmly. She found sympathy in his expression, but no guilt, or any other emotion that might imply that he regretted his actions. Without warning, her legs gave out and Eruka stared blankly ahead. "War," she choked.
Before her eyes, Free's face crumbled and he was next to her in an instant, a flurry of purple hyacinth sprouting behind him. "I'm sorry, Eruka. I'm sorry I lied."
When Eruka could only stare back at him, he collected her hands in his own and squeezed them gently. "Please, just… Demeter killed my entire clan, Eruka. Maba helped her. When they caught me I couldn't die so they locked me in that prison-which I promise you was not that nice when I was first thrown in there." He paused a moment, sighing. "If you knew, I didn't think you'd help me."
"You're right," Eruka said numbly. She sighed, rubbing at her eyes. "Was this your plan from the beginning? War?"
Free shook his head hurriedly. "No! I swear, I just wanted to be free! Even if I wanted Maba dead I would never put you at risk like that. Please, believe me."
Eruka slumped further into the sand. "Jackson?"
"Right here, Eruka," Jackson said, sounding as resigned as she felt.
"Get out the spell books. We're going to war."
…..
Eruka slammed the tome on the kitchen table, aware but mostly unconcerned that everyone had followed her into her home and were looking curiously over her shoulder. The book was dusty, the pages fragile and thin beneath her fingers as she turned them carefully. She skimmed the pages as best she could, mumbling words as her eyes passed over them.
"Jackson are you sure this is the right book?" she muttered, turning a fifth page.
"If it isn't, I don't know what to tell you. That was the only red-bound book with gold lettering in the library."
"Mmm," Eruka hummed, back to focusing on the pages before her.
"What are you doing here, by the way?" she heard Free ask behind her, sounding more guarded than she'd ever heard him before. It was out of character, and Eruka was about to reply when someone else spoke instead.
"I've been tasked to remain in the underworld until either Hades agrees to return you, or until the three days has ended," answered Maka.
"Well that hardly sounds suspicious. Why would Maba leave her soldiers in the territory of a potential enemy?" Free asked, voice chillingly polite.
Maka's response was equally curt. "Perhaps she trusts the ability of her people."
Out of the corner of her eye, Eruka noticed Free was leaning back against the wall beside her, several inches to her left. His forearms were crossed over his chest, drawing her eye to the soft hairs of his skin.
"You're staying?" asked another voice, equal parts far away and incredibly close. It was soft, like all spectral voices, but held a smooth edge that was unique to the individual.
"It can talk?" Maka asked, startled.
"Of course he can talk," scoffed Jackson. "Try getting him to shut up. Bastard once told me his entire life story while I was trimming the roses."
Dog barked.
As the voices continued to chatter amongst themselves, more or less contentedly, Eruka felt herself drown them out to focus once more on the task at hand. Until, of course, one particular voice whispered smoothly in her ear.
"Sorry I yelled at you," Free said quietly. "Before. At breakfast-or, uh, lunch? I get sensitive about pants."
"Shut up, Free."
He sighed. "Would you just listen, please?"
"I'm busy."
"Look, nudity wasn't a big deal in my clan. And no, before you ask we weren't nudist or anything creepy. Most of the time it was just easier after shifting from the wolf to stay naked. Before…" Free cleared his throat, visibly struggling to keep whatever was in him contained, "before Maba killed them, outsiders and hunters considered it a mark of shame. Any werewolf found nude was humiliated and killed."
Eruka noted how his teeth grew sharp in his gums, and remembered faintly how claws had scraped her foot one languid afternoon under the sun. Without meaning to, Eruka at some point had fully turned towards Free.
"So this," she gestured vaguely at Free's person, "is a tribute to your people?"
He frowned. "I don't know. Maybe? I think it's more for me than anything." A small, conspiratorial smile as he nudged Eruka's shoulder with his. "Pants are scratchy."
It was dumb, and it hardly made sense, but Eruka had to look away as a sudden feeling of shyness took over.
"I still haven't forgiven you for lying," she muttered, not quite as harshly as she'd intended.
"Then I'll just have to grovel until you do."
Eruka smiled stupidly down at her hands.
"What is a soul doing running around free, anyways? Aren't there rules about this?"
Maka's voice drew Eruka away from the warm happy place she'd been dozing in. Shaking her head in mortification, and hoping nobody noticed, Eruka returned to the text before her. She hurriedly flipped the page, ignoring the shake of her hand. Free was clearly not good for her health.
"His name is Soul," Free supplied helpfully.
"Soul the soul?" Maka repeated, clearly skeptical.
"Do you like music?" asked Soul. "We could make music together."
In the thick silence that followed, Free laughed awkwardly and said, "Okay, dial it back a bit, buddy."
"FOUND IT!" Eruka shouted triumphantly, halting the growing tension behind her. Her finger carefully traced the list of ingredients required for the spell detailed before her. "Jackson, I need clover, oak bark, and mint leaves. Soul, go get chalk and a shovel from the shed. Free, collect stones by the shore, please. Larger ones if possible. Dog, follow me."
As everyone shuffled into action, Maka alone remained standing in the living room.
"...You named the dog, Dog?"
Finding the oak bark was a touch more difficult than initially planned, and two of Dog's heads were particularly reluctant to give up their collective toe clippings, but after Soul found the missing jar of oak, and Free wrestled Dog's two disobedient heads, things went relatively smoothly.
"Jackson, how's the circle?" Eruka called, standing up from the river Styx with a jar full of the glowing water.
"Almost done!" Jackson yelled from across the beach. He stood beside Free, directing him in placing stones in a large circle. Eruka stared longer than perhaps was proper when Free bent over to rotate one of the stones.
Beside her, Soul pointedly cleared a throat he didn't have.
"Oh, shut up music man," Eruka muttered, stomping off.
Soul drifted contentedly beside her, humming Maka's name with his otherworldly voice. If her own love life wasn't in such turmoil, Eruka would almost feel bad for the guy. When stomping through sand got too tiring, Eruka slowed to a walk and sighed. She turned to Soul to apologize, or maybe complain more, but found his gaze locked somewhere in the distance. When Eruka followed his stare, she found Maka and her small group of soldiers sitting around a small fire, sharpening their weapons.
"Do you really think you have a chance?" Eruka asked, genuinely curious.
"I can be charming," Soul insisted. "The trick is to be cool and considerate."
Eruka looked from Soul's confident swagger to Maka, who had yet to look up from her weapon. "And how's that working out for you?"
"Give it time."
Shaking her head, Eruka reached over and ruffled Soul's odd looking hair.
"Hey! I just got it perfect!"
"Eruka! Quit playing around and get over here. I want to make biscuits before bed," Jackson said as they arrived at the circle, adjusting a final stone. "Everything is good over here. You just need to put the water with the clover, mint, and bark in the centre."
"Roger that," Eruka said, lifting the hem of her dress as she stepped delicately into the circle. She felt the magic already brewing shoot up her leg and tingle pleasantly at the base of his spine. It took several steps to reach the centre of the circle, her hair dancing with crackling magic-eager to be released.
Once in the centre, Eruka placed the jar of water in a small hole dug up in the sand. After taking a measured breath, Eruka closed her eyes and willed the eager magic to flow from the edges of the circle inward and up through the soles of her feet.
"Kaeroggu froeruu gekoeru furoggu," she chanted, fingers twisted together.
In her mind she visualised the underworld shutting down, enclosing the space and forbidding any immortal or godly being from entering. She heard the magic working, bursting free to do her bidding, but still she continued to chant, imagining words of protection and security as she did so. Shut, close, protect, guard.
When the magic had left all but a tiny flame within her chest, Eruka stopped the spell and dropped thankfully to her knees.
"There," she breathed, leaning back against Jackson who had rushed over to her side. "That'll give us time to think up a new spell."
"New spell?" Free asked, standing just outside the circle.
"This will only hold off Maba for so long," explained Jackson, his expression grim. "It's a temporary solution."
"At least until we find something more permanent," Eruka added.
"You aren't going to fight her?"
"No," Eruka swallowed. "We wouldn't stand a chance."
