"Be careful girls! Sofia dear, please look after my sweet little Calista!"
"Ugh, mummy..." Cordelia was currently pinching her daughter's cheeks and adjusting her clothes before letting her go anywhere in the meadow. Cedric had forfeited his robe for the day, leading to Calista to do the same. She really loved her uncle.
"Don't worry Ms. Cordelia, I'll make sure she doesn't go too far."
Calista grumbled at that.
"Oh, alright, I'll stop tormenting you, sweetie," Cordelia stood, and fixed her dress, "go have fun."
"We will, bye mummy!. Come on Sofia!" Calista grabbed the princess's hand and was already out the door when Cedric came down the stairs, a few baskets in hand and Wormwood on his shoulder.
"I see the girls are already off. It's good to see Sofia get to relax for once."
Like anyone can get peace with that irritating ball of energy, wormwood thought with a roll of his eyes. He thinks back to when Calista was just a baby, and Cedric was left in charge of her for the first time. The raven had swooped down to get a better look at the infant but was immediately trapped by surprisingly quick reflexes and a strong grip. She had yanked out feathers and had almost gotten herself a pecking if it hadn't been for Cedric's thick robe sleeves being in the way.
"Relax? With Calista?" Cordelia said before letting out a bark of laughter that twinged her brother's ears and practically yanked Wormwood out of his thoughts.
"Oh Ceddy, I imagine Sofia has her hands full even now!" Cordelia looked out the open door and laughed some more at what she saw, "poor dear, I can still see them from here!" They all could, and from what they saw, Sofia was like a ragdoll being dragged behind her energetic little companion.
"If Calista pulls any harder, Sofia's arm might just pop off," Cedric commented.
"we might just end up going to war if she does, hurting the princess of another kingdom, goodness, I can see the uproar now!" Cordelia was joking, but Cedric remembers when Cordelia had turned a pesky prince's skin blue for pulling her hair.
Both siblings' laughs simmered down to easy chuckles as they watched the girls. Calm and saudade in the way only a brother and sister could achieve while seeing their lost youth in two little kids running hand in hand through a meadow.
He'd never admit it, but Cedric could see himself in Calista's black hair and white bangs, in the eager way she holds the hand of Cordelia's likeness in Sofia's curly brown hair. The picture isn't a perfect match, he knows. he never held Cordelia's hand again after "the incident".
Cedric's gut wrenched, and he felt a sudden urge to get away from the feeling. "Well, I guess we better go too, right Wormwood?"
The raven cawed in agreement, urgent to move since Sofia would be needing him soon. If she was actually planning on keeping her word. He hoped she would.
Cordelia, however, seemed a little upset to have Cedric leave so soon, judging from the slight downturn of her lips. The realization that life was too short must have hit her hard just then because she reached over and pulled her brother into a tight hug before he even made it to the door, a hug which he tentatively returned after the surprise had settled.
Cordelia's head took Cedric's empty shoulder, and she look at the bird beside her on Cedric's other, smiling gently. "Take care of him would you? make sure my dear brother doesn't fall and crush all his ingredients. again." Wormwood gave a short guffaw but quickly hushed himself, but the damage was already done, and Cedric was annoyed by both of them.
He couldn't exactly reprimand his bird without looking crazy, so Cedric settled with arguing with Cordelia, wounded pride against relentless teasing.
Wormwood was no stranger to their fighting, but these last couple months, it's been more playful bullying than genuine loathing from two people who could barely be called brother and sister.
Sofia's doing, he reminded himself, and that familiar bile makes itself known in a small corner of his gut. It might as well be home.
Cordelia ceased her teasing and with one last skin-scathing comment, pushed Cedric out the door, waving him off with the raven in tow.
Cedric was barely over the bridge when he was already going on about what they could find in the meadow, or even in the nearby thicket, possibly the river. Wormwood was barely listening but still cawed along in provoking ways to fuel the "conversation", the house and Cordelia were still too close for him to actually speak. Speaking of which, the raven bothered himself to look back to see if Cordelia was still in the doorway watching them, and his heart came to a sharp stop to see not only her, but Winifred standing beside her.
Was she watching the whole time? Wormwood would have fallen off his perch in fear, but something about the sight before him seemed off.
She wasn't staring him down like she had been doing the whole visit, she wasn't even looking at him, but rather Cedric. She almost looked… sad. The bile in Wormwood from earlier was long gone, but what he felt now looking at the old sorceress wasn't far from it. It was heavier, and far more confusing.
Wormwood tried to ignore the feeling, finding his master's rambling and occasional questions on their inventory to be an enjoyable distraction during the long walk. He'd never admit it, but it felt good to have his knowledge on their shared workspace relied upon. It was a good confidence boost to his already plentiful ego, and if it came from Cedric, all the better.
The walk took long enough, and when they finally reached a particularly rich stretch of the meadow that nestled plenty of plants and fruit trees, Cedric undeniably squealed, "Alright, Wormwood, now the fun begins: herb picking," the man was practically vibrating with excitement.
Wormwood stayed seated on Cedric's shoulder just like he always was whenever they went ingredient collecting, or left the tower, or when he just didn't feel like flapping his wings. His ego could take the hit of admitting to being a bit pampered his whole life. Cedric never minded, and frankly Wormwood never cared if he did, he'd sit where he liked.
As always, Cedric's hands were precise in their pickings, Wormwood could recall how Prisma would rip apart bushes and brambles that she managed to find, hungry and desperate for bitter wild berries to fill her stomach when villages were too far to steal from. Like a savage animal.
no, Wormwood scolded himself, even a wild animal develops grace appropriate to their surroundings, Prisma was a scavenging rat without a trash can, she was pathetic. He felt sick to his stomach comparing her calloused scavenging hands to the skillful collection of Cedric's trained ones.
A cozy upbringing in the Mystic Isles proved poor preparation for someone discarded in the Ever Realm. Life in those clouds was so charmed, so harmonic, that existing anywhere else was a death sentence for one of the Isle's natives.
Wormwood couldn't suppress a wicked grin. it was almost upsetting that Prisma didn't meet her end at the avoidable poison of wild fruits, but he could make peace with her living out the rest of her miserable days under heavy security in the Isles' prison.
The satisfaction he got from it was cut short at the realization of just what he was thinking. Was there a time when he wasn't cruel and sadistic to almost sickening degrees? He couldn't remember. His insecurities from last night caught up and threatened to swallow him. The reason for his sadism and bitter sickness wasn't the magic, it wasn't Cedric's influence, it was him. He was in fact... just a bad egg.
A bad egg abandoned in a tree by his own mother that didn't or just couldn't find love for her last offspring, and flew off. maybe the old bird thought a hard fall from the nest for him would just take care of her problem, or that it would at the very least, be a mercy. Maybe she was right.
Wormwood thoughts threatened to run deeper, but a thankful distraction interrupted any further self-reflection just in time.
It was a pull, an urge to follow an invisible trail beaconed him. The call sounded- no, felt like Sofia, but Sofia wasn't here. Was this the signal? Since when could she summon creatures or people? He settled for asking when he found her.
Cedric seemed occupied with naming off the ingredients as he collected them, a habit of his, and wasn't paying Wormwood any mind. But still the raven knew he could just fly off with ease. Cedric wouldn't take such a scare lightly, especially with the way he's been hovering lately. He needed an excuse.
"You know, Cedric," the Raven began, getting the curious attention of a rather peaceful looking Cedric that he almost regretted disturbing. "I believe the last time we both visited, the surrounding woods had some fungus we could collect now."
It was a lie, but he could easily pass off his return with an empty basket as simply being mistaken.
Cedric seemed unbothered by the vagueness of what the woods had to offer, seeming to take Wormwood's nondescript fungus as something the bird could clearly identify as useful, and thus worth considering.
"Hmm, alright then, let's go get it if you think it's good, which way?."
Like second nature, deceit came easily to Wormwood. "There's no need for you to come with, flying will be much quicker, especially if the fungus is gone by the time I get there. And besides, there's still plenty to be collected here. Stay, I'll go."
Cedric seemed convinced and offered his companion some baskets as he already removed himself from his shoulder. "If you think that would be best, go ahead, then."
another successful subterfuge spread Wormwood's beak into a self satisfied smirk as he began to fly away, but was stopped.
"Don't take too long, alright?" Wormwood groaned, annoyed with the unnecessary mothering. "Oh, and thank you, Wormy."
Cedric went back to his plants, oblivious to the doubletake Wormwood just did at hearing the pet name his master had forgone using since his betrayal. The raven stared after him for a while, curious if he would call attention to the return of such familiarity. He didn't.
Not wanting to waste any more time, Wormwood flew off with the baskets, and the determination of continuing his mission. The satisfaction from earlier was dead to him.
uuuugguuuuuuuhhhhgggggggggghhhhhhghgh
thats how i've been feeling these past couple of days over this chapter, ive written, rewritten, then scrapped, rewrote, then other junk ugh
