That morning, Evie woke up– not grim, but with determination. As if she hadn't slept the past eight hours at all and her last awake-thought had been etched into the back of her eyelids. Finn snuffled against the pillow, waking blearily and slowly. Evie glanced towards the window and grimaced at the still dark and stormy sky, barely lightened by the coming dawn. There was a twitchiness to her limbs, her body full of energy that had her pacing the length of her house while brushing her teeth. When she stopped long enough to spit and rinse, she stared at her too wide, too awake eyes in the mirror. The conversation with the Goddess ran through her mind again; the soft, nonjudgmental words, the encouragement and understanding, the forgiveness.

She managed to work on autopilot, running from house to barn to coop and back again, before she stopped and then, just stopped. Evie braced her hands on the sink, damp leather gloves squeaking on porcelain, head drooping as she inhaled and exhaled steadily. Candace and her letter popped into Evie's head, then Luke's heartfelt and stricken confession almost a week ago, only to follow it up with Luke's hurt and furious expression and Gill's diplomatically blank and polite one. Of course, Renee's thoughtful words came tumbling back and made Evie smile to herself.

"For me and my expectations," Evie muttered, frowning slightly.

And there was Toby.

Steadfast, gentle, and warm. She remembered their mutual wish, their desire to support, to ask for no excuses or reasons, but just to hold the other up in time of need. The closest she'd come to saying aloud how she truly felt. Her slow, controlled breathing suddenly hitched and her heart pumped fast and hard.

Well, Lupe?

His voice had that exasperated impatience eerily similar to her own. She could picture his smirk and eye roll, the stupid cowlick he would unconsciously try to smooth down whenever he was frustrated or bored or feeling shy.

"I'm not going to run away this time," Evie whispered fiercely to her reflection. And to the voice in her head.

A light, warm weight landed on her shoulder. She raised her eyes to meet Finn's curious gaze in the glass.

"Evie? Whatcha doing just standing in here?"

"Making a decision, I guess," Evie answered finally. Finn's head cocked to the side, puzzled. "Let's get going, then."

She smirked wryly and glanced around one more time as she stepped towards the open bathroom door. Outside the wind still whistled and thunder rumbled. A sudden flash lit up every corner of her house. There, on the nightstand, beside the open journal, something glittered. The pen had rolled off the page and had been stopped by a sand-encrusted curve of a pink shell. The curl of her smirk softened, spread into a smile that felt as serene as the storm was turbulent.

"Going where? It's still not sunny and it's too early to meet that pastor man, isn't it?" Finn asked, his pointy ear bumping her chin as he tried to lean back enough to look up at her face.

"True, the Wizard probably won't see anybody, not even me, this early. But I'm going up to Garmon–"

"The Mines again?" Finn exclaimed in dismay.

Evie huffed and chuckled. "No, twinkletoes, you interrupted. I'm going to see Luke."

Finn blinked, then cheered, jumping into the air and cartwheeling. "Finally!"

Her hand covered her mouth and her other arm wrapped around her stomach, almost nervously. "I think you miss Luke more than you want me to say sorry. Who knew you liked him so much?"

"It's a lot less boring with him around," Finn admitted.

"Hey!"

He giggled, looking contrite and excited at his own teasing, and it made Evie shake her head, smiling. He looked like such a little kid getting caught doing something naughty for the first time, it was adorable. He flung himself through the air just moments later and snuggled under her chin.

"You're still my favorite. And I'm so glad you won't be sad anymore!"

Evie reached up to cup his chiming little body in her hands, a smile on her face even as her nose and eyes stung. "Let's go, yeah?"

"You betcha!"

The moment the door opened, he flew straight into the blustering winds with another crow of triumph. Evie grinned and moved to follow. Rain spattered across the threshold, her boots and her bare shins just recently dried after her morning chores already wet again. Only a few crops had been harvested, but all her livestock and poultry had done so well that she was looking forward to a bit of profit at least. Her hand braced against the doorjamb and she turned back. Her eyes sought out her still-packed and half-packed baggage, and she thought again of the dozens of conversations with Cris.

"This could be the most important thing I could ever do," Evie whispered, ribcage squeezing too hard. "For me, too." She bit her bottom lip, sighed through her nose, and then reached over to flick off the light. The door snicked shut just as Finn careened back into her waiting hands (and empty slicker pocket).

The weather was too wild to pause and (over)think too much. Just thirty minutes later, she blew into the Carpentry feeling distinctly ruffled and out of sorts. Her cheeks were flushed, but the rest of her was covered in goosepimples as rain dripped down every gap it could get into. The shop smelled overwhelmingly of wood and sawdust, but the heady aroma of coffee and eggs still permeated the air. Although the lights were on, only Bo stood at his workbench, peering at planks of wood with a level in one hand. He glanced up, young and guileless face an innocent picture of confusion.

"Ms. Evelyn? You're here a bit early, aintcha?" Bo asked, nonplussed.

"Uh, um... yeah," Evie said lamely, hedging as she let Finn out of his pocket and wiped her muddy boots on the doormat.

"If'n you're lookin' for Luke, he's in the back. I can go grab him," Bo offered, already setting down his plank and level.

"Y-yeah, no? Well, him and Mr. Carpenter, really," Evie said with half a chuckle and her head ducking.

There was a click of toenails on wood. Both Finn and Evie glanced towards the doorway behind the register just in time to see Boss, in all his big, fluffy glory, trot in. An eager bark– short and sharp– preceded him scrambling over the shop floor, tail wagging fit enough to jump right off his body. Evie laughed, dropping to her knees and holding out her hands. Boss' tongue lolled from him mouth in his goofy doggy grin when Evie's gloved hands dug into his thick fur and scritched him all over. Finn perched on Boss' head, patted his silky ears and chattered away about what they'd been up to and got Boss' happy barks in return. A few long licks over Evie's cheeks had her sputtering and dropping back on her heels, rubbing at her face with her wet, fuzzy gloves. A bit of white fur clung to her skin, and as she tried to rub saliva and fur alike off with her slightly drier shirt sleeve, movement in the same direction Boss came from caught her eye.

She glanced up, one hand still on Boss' back, the other damp wrist scraping at her face, to see Dale coming into the room. And behind him, Luke. He wasn't one to hide his feelings; even if he didn't understand them, he wore them plainly. Now, he wore such a myriad of constantly shifting emotion that it was hard for her to keep up, or even identify them.

Mostly, all she could see what that hurt she saw before. There didn't seem to be much left of the anger, though, and she took courage from that. She got to her feet and walked up to the register, gaze a little shifty and arms feeling useless and heavy at her sides.

"Morning, everyone," Evie said awkwardly. She felt suddenly hot and sweaty at the terrible thought of Dale Carpenter knowing what she said.

"Long time no see, Ms. Evelyn," Dale greeted warmly with a hearty grin and a twinkle in his dark eyes. There was no sign that he knew what she'd said the other day to Luke. She glanced towards Luke, but he was pointedly looking away, thumb rubbing the side of his nose. "Other than this storm blowing through, you seem to be a good fortune charm for us."

"Sorry? I don't know…?" Evie started, frowning and baffled.

"The Bell!" Dale boomed joyfully. "The fourth one Rang the other day. We've been lucky since you've come t'Castanet. If my Nettie were alive…" He broke off and covered his mouth a gloved hand.

"See, Evie? You are doing something amazing!" Finn stage-whispered.

She cleared her throat awkwardly. "Th-that's… um… that's nice of you," Evie muttered. "But… uh…"

"Well, I'll leave you two be," Dale said then, winking at Evie's stuttering incoherent ramblings. "I don't mean to make ya embarrassed when you're just here to get my boy into trouble again. No drinking all night again, got it?"

"W-wha–"

"Pops! She wasn't there! I told ya it was just me!" Luke groaned loudly.

"And that sweet Sonata girl you got dragged into it," Dale said pointedly. Luke flushed bright red and outright pouted as he looked up to the ceiling. "She walked all the way up to Garmon by herself t'bring us dinner and check up on 'im. Treated us to homemade blueberry pie."

"I wouldn' mind Luke gettin' into more trouble for the pie," Bo muttered, a dreamy look on his face. Dale's whole body shook with his laughter.

"His mother'd be proud–"

"So whaddaya want?!" Luke shouted loudly, desperately interrupting his father's soliloquy with ears and face burning.

Evie couldn't help the giggles, then the snickers, that finally burst into unrestrained laughter. It was the first thing he'd said to her for more than a whole day, and for the first time that morning his eyes met hers. But she couldn't help laughing even harder. Luke blinked, then scrubbed a hand over his bandanna and down the back of his neck as his mouth twitched. Between one breath and the next, the two of them were laughing, faces flushed and eyes a little shiny when they caught their breaths a few long seconds later.

"If–If you wanna keep g-giving him a hard time, I can come back later," Evie finally wheezed. "Don't let me stop you. I was just here for some business, really."

"Hey!" Luke yelped. Bo and Dale chuckled quietly.

There was something shrewd and satisfied in Dale's gaze when he leaned forward on the register. "How about we do business first? I can give Luke a hard time any ole day."

"I don't like this…" Luke mumbled, his half-cocked smirk belying his words as he glanced at Evie. Her lips lifted up on the side in response.

Evie swung her pack around. It thudded onto the counter and, with a short inhale, took out the carefully counted coins in a small leather wallet.

"It's not enough, just a bit short, but when the storm passes, I'll have the rest and the materials ready." Her heart beat too swiftly, stuck in her throat like a panicked hummingbird.

Dale smoothed his thumb over his bristly blue mustache, eyes on the wallet rather than the rapidly paling Evie. Bo spoke up instead.

"You don't need t'make a deposit, Miss Evelyn. That's not how it's done here," Bo told her with a reassuring smile.

Evie pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and bit down painfully. Her glance flickered to Luke and he smiled at her, slow and slanted.

"No, it isn't how we do things," Dale agreed, but his whiskers twitched.

Luke jumped in, one hand clapping Evie's shoulder. "But we can make an exception for a friend, right, Pops?"

"That we can, son."

Her nose and eyes stung, and Evie grinned widely. "Thanks, Lu. And, uh, Mr. Carpenter, you, too."

"It's Dale," he reminded her warmly. "Keep an eye on the forecast, Miss Evelyn. We'll be on your doorstep for the rest o' this soon enough," Dale winked. Evie huffed lightly, amused, and nodded.

"I better get going now. Some visits to make before heading to Fugue," Evie said, gesturing with a thumb pointing over her shoulder. She headed awkwardly towards the door, half-turned and waving from shoulder-height– and immediately regretting it as she did it.

"Hey, Eves!"

Evie froze and saw Luke fingergunning at her. "See you there after lunch sometime …right?"

She nodded and fingergunned back. "You betcha."

"Come back again soon, Miss Evelyn," Bo said politely, frowning slightly, bewilderment writ clear across his face.

It was just as turbulent, as dark, and as soaking wet as before. But Evie felt so much lighter when she stepped into the thick of it. Finn tucked himself under her chin and called through the rushing wind.

"I toldja it'd be easy!"

"Yeah, I guess you did," Evie agreed. She flipped up her collar to shield him from the worst of it. And hopefully keep him from noticing her path to the mine cart.

Finn's teeth were still chattering when they made it to the Church. Evie was flushed and grinning with exhilaration, though. The big wooden door didn't quite slam behind her, but the heavy thud of it had Perry lifting his head from his praying position. He turned fully and smiled, rather distractedly, as she came towards him through the pews.

"Morning, Pastor Park! …is everything okay?" Evie asked in some concern when she got a closer, clearer look at him. Even with her glasses liberally coated in raindrops, Evie could make out the dark circles under Perry's eyes and the fine tremor in his hands.

He glanced, oddly, to Evie's right, not quite turning to look over his shoulder. Then, he shook himself all over.

"Oh yes, quite all right. Thank you so much for coming through this terrible weather to help me," Perry said, reaching forward to shake her hand– just barely freed from its damp prison of leather– in both of his. "Oh my! You're freezing. Would you like a cup of tea before we go?"

"Thanks, but we can do that after the Wizard. We can get some cake, too, at Ocarina," Evie suggested. She was honestly too worried to enjoy a peaceful moment now, especially with her adrenaline still high.

Perry clapped his hand briskly and nodded. "Shall we sally forth?" he asked, gesticulating widely and smiling a little more freely.

Evie snickered a bit. "Sure thing, general." For a moment, Perry looked young and carefree as he laughed quietly.

"Already?" Finn grumbled from behind her raincoat's zipper. Evie conveniently hid her grin by ducking into the storm.

Perry led the way to the Wizard's house with his giant black umbrella in front of them like a tower shield. Evie couldn't help but be impressed by how sturdy it was. They had to go slowly over the slippery cobbles, but it was the incline that had Evie holding her breath most of the way. Turning into the Wizard's alley had her breathing a sigh of relief.

She and Perry huddled under the skimpy eave while Evie knocked smartly on the door. In a creepily short amount of time– her hand hadn't even fallen back to her side yet– the Wizard opened the door. Without a word, he stepped back and gestured them in. Perry hesitated on the doorstep, still blinking nonplussed, while Evie eagerly jumped inside. She swiftly unzipped her coat so Finn could fly free, straight to the four steaming cups on the table.

"There's milk tea for you, and coffee for you two," the Wizard said, glancing at Finn, then at the two humans.

"I– I'm sorry? Do I take the milk tea or the coffee?" Perry asked, utterly confused.

"The coffee," Evie said quickly, leading him to a chair. "Thanks, G– Wizard."

"Yeah, thank you! It's great," Finn said happily, already sipping at the striped straw stuck in his teacup.

"Oh, yes, thank you. I really appreciate your thoughtfulness," Perry said as he sat, smiling kindly over at the Wizard. He stared at Perry, his bicolored eyes blinking slowly and blankly.

"So, we're here 'cuz the pastor has a bit of a problem," Evie told him after a gulp of her own perfect temperature coffee. Creepy? Yes. Convenient? Also yes.

"Ah… I should…" Perry blushed slightly. He set his cup, which he'd only just picked up, back down and twisted his fingers together. "It's very silly, and I've been trying so hard to keep my head since coming here– to Castanet, I mean. Being so young, I have a lot to live up to– not that that matters," Perry babbled, eyes shifty and cheeks growing even warmer. "What I mean to say is, I haven't really spoken to anyone even though it's been several days now… but it's gotten so much worse…" His blush faded as the blood drained from his face so abruptly Evie felt dizzy.

"What's he saying?" Finn demanded with anxious bafflement.

Evie reached over to touch Perry's shoulder. "Just spit it out, Pastor. There's no judgement here."

Perry glanced over at her, then at the Wizard, then took a slight, trembling breath.

"The Church is haunted!"

Evie blinked. Finn sputtered milky tea all over his face. Gale just looked on impassively.

"It's what?" Finn exclaimed.

"One more time, Pastor?" Evie asked awkwardly.

His hands began to fly about in the air and his eyes were a little too wide. "Every night, in the middle of the night, I wake up to hear wailing and– and moaning! Maybe crying? I have no idea why! The storms have only made it worse and worse. I can't sleep at night, I'm exhausted every day, and sleeping through townsfolk coming to visit, and even when I manage to sleep, I still hear it in my head. Just echoing and sobbing and sad." His maple brown eyes managed to look weary and terrified and heartbroken all at once. Perry gazed at them, his eyes taking on a golden sheen in the room's low light.

The Wizard was smiling by the end of Perry's short, staccato tale despite the amount of emotion he'd just poured out at them. Evie wasn't sure Perry could tell, since Gale's "smile" was a very small, barely there kind of expression; there was just something... softer... and more approachable about his face. Perry's tense and high shoulders were more relaxed and slumped now, so maybe he did notice? Evie glanced between them, wondering why her heart was beating so hard and her palms tingling over a story about ghosts. She didn't believe in ghosts, so why?

Gale met her eyes and that smile curved into a knowing smirk.

"You're right, Evelyn. It isn't a ghost," he said. To poor Perry, who stared in embarrassed bewilderment, it came out of nowhere.

Evie's cheeks reddened as she shifted uncomfortably. She still didn't like it when he gleaned her thoughts. She made sure to think that loudly at him. Gale's eyebrows shot up.

"Oh, thank goodness. I don't think I could handle ghosts," Finn sighed in relief.

"You're a fairy," Evie whispered out the side of her mouth. Finn hurrumphed.

"Fairies are not the same as ghosts, Evie!"

Evie had to duck her head to conceal the laughter trying to burst free.

"If it's not a ghost, what is it?" Perry asked, hands wringing in his lap. "Will you be able to help me, Mr. Wizard?"

"...I'm afraid not, Pastor Park, but Evelyn can," Gale answered, lifting his hand to gesture at her. Evie blinked.

"I can?"

"She can?" Finn said at the same time.

Gale nodded. "What time do the sounds normally happen? A little more exact timing, please."

Perry frowned, his hand covering his mouth as his brows contracted. "It's usually quite late, when I'm sound asleep. I caught the time on my alarm last night, though. It was about 2 AM."

There was another nod while Gale's gaze went a little distant, as if hearing something far away. "That time should be right. Just go to the Church as 2 AM and you'll find out what to do, Evelyn."

"I–I couldn't ask you to do that, Miss Evelyn. I know how busy you are, how early you wake up. I'm sure I'll be just fine... since it's not a ghost?" Perry said, his eyes dancing back to Gale in question. Gale shook his head and Perry's shoulders drooped. "It must just be the storm, then."

"I didn't say that," Gale said mildly. "Evelyn will find something she needs there."

Evie's eyes widened and she glanced at Finn just as his wings trilled.

"Edge," Finn gasped, hands pressed over his mouth. "Mother did say they're near where wishes are told!"

"Where wishes are told...?"

"Excuse me?" Perry asked, turning towards Evie. She winced and ducked her head at the slip. Just as a 'sorry' began to hiss past her teeth, he added, "what does the shrine have to do with this?"

"Shrine? What shrine?" Evie blurted as that hard thumping returned to her heart.

Perry's face burned hotly and he pressed his hand over his mouth again. "I didn't...? Oh my, I really haven't. I never showed you the Wishing Shrine. What sort of pastor am I? No one really visits, but I should've..."

"No use beating yourself up now," Evie said quickly, reaching over to touch his shoulder kindly again. She felt weak and trembly, even as excitement trailed down her spine like hot ice. "Just tell me what you mean?"

"The Wishing Shrine is a relic made sacred by the Goddess. It's old and faded now, but precious. People used to... People used to tell their wishes, their hopes and dreams, even their secrets, to the Goddess at that shrine," Perry explained. A sad, wistful smile crossed his face. "It's been forgotten for years now, since before my predecessor retired and I was given this church. But I can still feel it sometimes, when I pray near there..." His voice teetered off, his features soft.

"Feel what?" Evie asked, her fingers curling around the hem of her shorts.

"I– Hm, I don't know if I can quite explain," Perry said, raising his eyes upwards pensively. "Something sad. Sad and profound. Sorry, that sounds so vague." He chuckled under his breath and his head bowed slightly.

"No, I get it," Evie said, trying not to jump up and go right then. All the while, Finn was buzzing and trilling and zooming around the table. Occasionally, Gale's bicolored eyes flickered up to the darting ball of light, his carefully blank face concealing any annoyance or amusement. "2 AM. I can do that. I will do that. Tonight."

She got to her feet decisively. Perry scrambled up after her, his hands wringing again and his eyes shifting nervously with ruddy cheeks.

"I–I know you said it's not a ghost, and I do believe you, but..." Perry gulped loudly. "It's been a very long week and I just couldn't bear staying up alone tonight. If... Perhaps, you would like to join me for some tea a little earlier? Maybe after dinner?"

Evie rubbed the back of her neck. "I would love to, but I better make an early night of it. I don't wanna be totally wiped tomorrow morning after coming by tonight. I would still like to have cake with you, though?"

"Oh, yes, of course. I'll… I'll stay up with some music. I'll be quite all right knowing you're coming," Perry said, even at his eye twitched nervously. "Cake sounds lovely."

At the table, Gale's mouth opened, then closed without a sound. A small, perplexed frown dragged down his brows.

"I do have cake, if you'd like to finish the coffee?" Gale offered, still frowning absently.

"Oh, yes! I haven't even had a sip. Of course," Perry said, dropping like a stone to his chair and blushing bright red. Evie followed suit, a little less abashed.

"Did you bake a cake for us, Wizard?" Evie asked, amazed and trying not to chuckle.

"Hm. I bought it from Yolanda. I didn't know why at the time," he said, walking away, ostensibly to get the cake. Perry and Evie exchanged glances, and she shrugged with a grin.

She had a strange half hour or so to look forward to, and then a busy afternoon to get through before getting to bed early enough. Hopefully, Luke wouldn't take it to heart if she had to leave the Forest early just after they finally made up.

The alarm went off and Evie slapped it so hard her palm smarted. Blearily, she muttered an "ow", but she was too tired to do more than that. Finn mumbled and rolled over. Evie, however, squinted at the bright red numbers; 01:00. It used to be she went to bed at this time, not curse it for existing. Groaning and rubbing at her face, Evie swung her legs over the side of the bed. At the abrupt motion, Finn sniffled awake. Evie stumbled and clattered around in the dark, the idea of turning on the overhead, unhooded light right now making her grimace.

Finally– 01:15– Evie shoved her feet into her galoshes and paused at the door. Finn was mid-yawn, body swaying where he sat in the midst of her blankets.

"Well, c'mon then. We've got a sprite to find," Evie urged sleepily.

"I-I'm coming!" Finn said around yet another yawn. He all but floated through the room, barely a twinkle made by his wings, to drop to her shoulder. "Ready!"

Evie made it through the Clarinet district pretty easily. Despite the dark and the wind and sheets of rain, the roads were hard-packed and easy to traverse. Mud did splatter up her shins, but it was a matter of minutes to make it to the sandier stretch of road that quickly became cobbles. Then, the rest of the journey was downright perilous. With her boots caked in slippery mud, jogging over slick, wet cobblestones already smooth with age was an exercise in balance that did not come naturally to Evie.

Out of breath, heart thudding and nerve-wracked adrenaline pumping in her veins, Evie crested the hill to the Church Grounds and all but fell through the doors. Just to stop dead and gape, wondering if she had, in fact, woken up at all.

Gale, the Wizard, was sitting cross-legged on a picnic blanket, a steaming mug in his hand. Perry was sitting on his knees catty-corner on the blanket, another matching mug in his hands. The soul-warming scent of green tea filled the dim, gloomy chapel, made cheery with two large electric lanterns and the amused smile on Perry's face.

"You're here at last," Perry proclaimed unnecessarily. "It really must've been a dream, a strangely reoccurring one, because I haven't heard a single thing–"

A sudden wailing echoed weirdly through the chapel. Perry's face blanched to bone-white, but Gale merely sipped at his tea and set his cup aside. Evie jumped in place, goosebumps trailing down her spine as Finn tucked close under her chin and chattered like those teeth wind-up toys.

"Wh-what is it!?" Finn cried in fear.

"It's– It's the ghost!" Perry gasped, scrambling to his feet and knocking his teapot on its side. Luckily, it was mostly empty, just wet dregs of tea leaves spilling onto his tablecloth-cum-picnic blanket.

Gale's hand reached out and snagged the edge of Perry's sleeve before the poor young man sprinted out of the chapel screaming his head off. Perry fell the short ways down to one knee and gripped Gale's wrist in a bloodless, white-knuckled grip. Gale's eyebrows rose in wry amusement.

"There's no ghost."

"It sounds like a ghost!" Evie and Finn said at the same time, just as another wail sounded. But Evie frowned a second later, barely catching the wet hiccupping sound at the end of the bodiless weeping.

It sounded familiar. A distant memory, but not really. It sounded like a child crying, like the same child that had been crying when the Goddess's words had transported her to wherever Edge was lost and abandoned.

"Edge…?" Evie whispered, her eyes sliding shut, a scowl forming as she focused. Finn trembled and then gasped. The goosebumps down her spine felt different, not fear or shock, but that same tremulous, too hot shiver that she associated with the Bells and the Harvest Goddess.

"There's a Bell in here," Evie said, eyes opening and mouth falling open.

The Wizard smiled enigmatically and got to his feet. He didn't seem to notice Perry's grip still tight around his wrist or how Perry somehow managed to trip his way to his feet. "It's time to leave. Pastor, would you like a walk around the Grounds?"

Perry boggled at him. "I-In this weather?!"

"That won't be a problem," Gale said, already leading Perry outside.

In the tiny second that the doors remained opened, Evie saw the rain part around Gale like a curtain. The lamps on the Grounds lit the cobbles with a bright, white sheen, and it was like watching Perry and Gale walk straight into someplace magical. Then, the door closed and Evie shook her musings away.

"You can feel Edge? You've never felt the Bells before I could!" Finn said, wings trilling and voice indignant.

"You were a little distracted, little man," Evie teased, flicking his pointy ear. She was walking with purpose to the right, her eyes already on the door set innocuously in the wall.

She'd been here at least three other times, but she never looked at that door. Finn hadn't even noticed it. There had been this solemn energy about the place, but Evie had chalked it up to the usual "church-feeling". The closer she got to that door, though, the closer to the sobs increasing in volume and frequency, the more that energy felt like magic. Humming deep in her blood.

As she set her hand on the door knob, she realized in awe that she felt magical herself. A little… fae.

Then, the door opened and a hue of forlorn lavender drenched her head to toe. Drenched the entire room. In the midst of all that purple was the biggest Bell of them all. It was almost big enough to fit Evie's entire upper half, the etchings along the rim wide and clear. …let everyone hear…

"Oh!"

Evie tore her eyes away when that child's weeping ended in a loud hiccup.

The Bell glowed bright and then in a burst of light, a sprite barely bigger than Finn appeared. Tears streamed down their face and snot bubbled in their nose as they sniffled and hiccupped. Evie reached into the pack pocket and pulled out her bandanna. She knelt on the stone floor where the purple sprite stood, wobbling and sniffing and blinking through bloodshot eyes up at her.

"Hey there, Edge."

They blinked and burst into loud, wordless wails again. Evie and Finn glanced at each other, both shocked and grimacing. Again, Evie held out the bandanna and this time, Edge took it with a choked and cracked word of "thanks" before burying their face in it.

"Edge, do you remember Finn?" Evie asked gently.

Edge nodded into the bandanna.

"Good!" Finn said, some of his worry falling away. His eyes glinted with a fierce triumph. "You don't have to cry anymore, Edge. Evie's the hero Mother sent me to find!

Edge peeked up through tear-matted eyelashes and sniffled hard. "You d-don't understand. It's– The b-b-Bell. It w-won't Ring!" Edge gasped at last.

Finn and Evie exchanged another look.

"If it's the melody, I'm sure we could figure out how to find it. We'll do everything we can to help you, Edge," Evie promised, but Edge was shaking their head, and their whole body along with it, before she'd even finished.

"I know the m-melody! It's the w-wishes, the w-Wishing Shrine," Edge stammered. They stopped to blow their nose messily. Evie winced. "No one's c-coming here anym-more. With no w-wishes, the Wishing Shrine is empty! It's d-dead! There's n-n-nothing left to Ring!"

Edge burst into fresh, earsplitting wails. And then disappeared in another burst of purple– taking her bandanna with them.

Evie and Finn stared at the Bell, the blinding shine fading into nothing. Within seconds, the small room was almost pitch black and the only sounds left was that of the pouring rain outside. "Okay, so what was Edge talking about, Twinkletoes?"

"I don't know. I've never heard of the Wishing Shrine. But Perry talked about it, didn't he? He said no one ever came to visit it anymore, so maybe that's what Edge means."

"But… why does Edge need it?"

Finn shrugged, clearly bewildered. Evie sighed and rubbed her hand through her hair. "Guess we need to talk to the Pastor again, and maybe the Goddess, too." And invest in handkerchiefs if Edge is gonna steal 'em every time I lend one.

"That's a good idea," Finn said, following it up with a wide, jaw-cracking yawn.

Evie smiled fondly. "Let's get to bed, Tinks."

"Y-yeah. We can ask tomorrow."

Finn dropped into her shirt pocket and missed the look of excited apprehension that crossed Evie's face.

Tomorrow. The date.

She made it home in a daze, barely noticing the rain sluicing over her face and glasses or the mud painting her legs. She hadn't even seen the Wizard or Perry in her absent-minded zombie walk towards home. She wiped the worst of the mud off, changed into warm, fuzzy pajamas, and passed out next to where she laid Finn on her pillow. She had maybe 3 hours before her alarm went off, but her mind was still whirring behind her closed eyelids.

What's our label going to be? Am I more scared of having the label than not having it?


AN: So, ofc I have ideas and headcanons for these characters in a HP/Hogwarts AU. And, Evie's patronus is a hummingbird! I was reminded of it when I compared her heartbeat to a hummingbird's waaay up there, lol. And yes, "they" not "he or she" for Edge. I think in an earlier chapter, I might've said Edge was a he, which was my original idea, but I thought why not have an agender sprite? We need no binary here, folks. ;p (also lemme now if I missed referring to them as a 'he' on accident. I had to fix it a few times.)