Brewing Storms
Lilith was pleasantly surprised when Edalyn's name popped up on her scroll.
She wasn't expecting it per se, especially as Edalyn had limited her contact and only Hooty corresponded with her ever since she'd moved back home, but she certainly welcomed it. Surely it was a sign that their relationship was slowly being repaired.
So, of course, she answered the call. "Edalyn! Congratulations! I saw the livestream; I'm glad King finally managed to tell you."
She assumed that's what this call was about. Lilith knew how much Edalyn cared for the little demon who was now officially her son. That's why Lilith had gladly helped King and Luz with obtaining and filling out the necessary paperwork.
"...Thanks." Edalyn huffed and gave her a tired smile. Not shocking considering how much she'd been crying on the livestream earlier.
But there was something else in her expression that caught Lilith's eye. She couldn't quite pinpoint it, but there was a darkness of some sort that seemed to shroud her. It didn't make sense.
Based upon what she knew of her sister and what she'd seen in the livestream, Lilith had expected her to still be riding the high of ultimately being chosen by King over his father.
"But…" Edalyn glanced away almost sheepishly. "That's not why I was calling."
Lilith frowned. What on the Titan was there to talk about?
"Lilith —" she flinched as her actual name was a sure sign of Edalyn's seriousness "— when you were the head of the Emperor's Coven, what were you told about the Day of Unity?"
Lilith blinked. And then she blinked again. "What?"
Edalyn had never shown much interest in the Emperor's plans. Sure, she seemed to delight in spiting him and refused to join a coven or do his bidding, but she'd always been more interested in avoiding him as much as possible. Despite her lack of subtlety and the fact that she never bothered to hide her identity, Edalyn always somehow managed to slip from his grasp and that's the way she liked it. It's why Lilith had to go to such extreme measures to bring Edalyn in.
She never got involved before the human came here. And even then, she only went so far as to protect those she'd claimed as her own.
So, what had changed?
Edalyn sighed and ran her hand down her face. Suddenly, she looked so tired. The curse had accelerated her aging, but at this moment, she looked even older than their mother. "Do you… do you remember Raine Whispers?"
"Raine?" What sort of question was that? How could she forget Raine? She spent way too many years at Hexside being the third wheel to them and Edalyn. The two were so in love that it was sickening. "What about them?"
"Well, you may have heard that they were made the head of the Bard Coven recently."
Lilith snorted. She still couldn't believe it. Yes, Raine's grasp of Bard magic was some of the best she'd ever seen, but their inability to perform in front of others (besides maybe Edalyn) seriously hampered their overall appeal. She had no clue what the Emperor had been thinking.
"And they were also leading a small rebellion on the side, trying to free wild witches."
Lilith's thoughts screeched to a halt. "They were what?"
Edalyn smiled, pride creeping into her voice. "Yeah, couldn't quite believe it myself, but it's true."
"I —" Lilith blinked, trying to adjust to the thought of sweet, shy Raine being a rebel leader. Edalyn had always been the more rebellious of the two. However, it might answer something that she'd been wondering for a while. "Is that why I didn't see them around the Owl House? They were working on this rebellion?"
It was Edalyn's turn to blink at her in shock. "What? They — Raine's never been to the Owl House."
She stared at her sister. "What?"
"You didn't…" Edalyn trailed off, before she sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "Lily, we broke up ages ago."
That was somehow even more inconceivable than Raine being a rebel against the Emperor. Lilith stared, watching as Edalyn fidgeted more and more but completely unable to come up with a response.
How was she supposed to reconcile living in a world where Edalyn and Raine broke up? Apparently, for years!
The silence must have gotten to be too much for her sister. "Anywho!" Edalyn clapped her hands as she tried to get things back on track. "So I discovered Raine was leading a rebellion, and naturally, I wanted in."
Lilith forced herself to focus on the matter at hand. "Of course, you did."
"And we actually did some good work. Helped some wild witches escape from Bonesborough so they'll have a better chance of evading Belos. It was… kinda fun, actually." And Edalyn was blushing just as she did back in their Hexside days.
Even if they had broken up, it was obvious that Edalyn at least still had feelings for Raine. Lilith was glad she could at least take solace in her sister still being head over heels for them.
Then Edalyn frowned. "But then Belos sent Darius and Eberwolf after us."
Lilith hissed. Those two didn't get along, but they were certainly a powerful team-up. Darius could capture practically anyone with his skills in Abomination magic, and with Eberwolf's abilities and control over animals, they could track anyone down. If they were on the hunt, it would be difficult to evade them.
"We… we tried to take them out, but —" Edalyn abruptly cut off, biting her lip. If Lilith didn't know better, she'd say her sister almost looked guilty.
After a long moment of silence, Lilith prompted her. "But?" She raised an eyebrow.
"But… But we couldn't do it." Edalyn evaded Lilith's narrowed eyes. She knew Edalyn wasn't telling her the whole story, but she'd leave it for now. "And Raine got captured while making sure I could get away."
"Oh," Lilith sighed in sympathy. Now Edalyn definitely looked guilty and Lilith couldn't blame her. With Raine taken, it was no wonder she was upset.
It seemed that she and Raine were bound and determined to stumble into every romantic trope in the book, including sacrificing yourself for a loved one.
A somber air settled between them as Lilith mulled over all that Edalyn told her. It was a lot to take in, honestly, but there was still one more thing…
"Edalyn," Lilith waited until her sister looked up and met her gaze, "why did you call me?"
Edalyn's expression hardened, serious in a way Lilith had rarely seen. "Raine said that the Day of Unity is more dangerous than anyone else knows. That Belos will need all of the coven heads for his scheme to work. That's why we tried to take out Darius and Eberwolf, but now…"
She huffed, crossing her arms and tapping her fingers on forearm. "There's been no news about the capture of Raine's group or any hint about Raine. It seems that Belos is keeping this entirely under wraps. So I can't tell what he might have done to them or what he's planning or —" Edalyn cut herself off as feathers began to pop out.
Lilith held her breath, but her sister quickly got herself under control, closing her eyes and taking several deep breaths. Once she was calm and the feathers receded, Lilith still waited.
"Look, just — if there's anything you can tell me…" This was as close to pleading as Edalyn got, and some part of Lilith was still shocked by it.
And it made it even worse that she would have to disappoint her. "Edalyn, to be honest, I spent a majority of my time in the Emperor's Coven trying to find you and a way to cure the curse."
Edalyn just stared at her with wide eyes and she was compelled to continue.
"I wasn't told the full details of the Day of Unity. My responsibilities were to hunt down wild witches, confiscate their palismans, and see to it that they were either sent to the Conformatorium or persuaded to join a coven. He emphasized that he wanted as many people as possible in covens by the time the day arrived, and that he would reveal more when the time was right. So that's what I focused on, and I used it as an opportunity to hunt you as well." Lilith couldn't meet her sister's eyes anymore. "A lot of the day-to-day running of the coven actually fell to Kikimora. The two of us were considered the Emperor's right and left hands."
Lilith had been the face and head of the coven, and the most active in hunting and recruitment. She was essentially the coven's head of offensive activities, and now that brat the Golden Guard had taken her place in such operations.
Kikimora had been the Emperor's assistant and was in charge of the coven's defense. Though from the rumors Lilith heard, even Kiki was going more on the offensive now. Still, the fact remained that Kikimora had been more involved in the logistics of the upcoming Day.
It pained Lilith that she couldn't offer more. She slumped down a bit. "Edalyn, I —"
"It's okay, Lily." At her sister's words, she finally looked back up to meet Edalyn's forced smile. "You've given me more than I had before. I have something to start with now at least."
Lilith's brow furrowed. "But —"
"Anyway, thanks for that! Oh, and thanks for helping King with that paperwork. Titan knows that he and Luz could never figure out how to do that themselves." Edalyn seemed back fully to her normally loud and sarcastic self.
"I —"
"See ya later, Lily!" And before Lilith could even utter a single protest, Edalyn had ended the call.
For a long while, Lilith just sat there and stared at her scroll. Her thoughts and feelings churned in her head and guts like an incoming rainstorm.
Edalyn used to call Raine that.
All at once, Lilith stood and walked over to her desk, grabbing a piece of paper and something to write with.
Lilith was not one to lie around moping. She was a witch of action that always pushed for the absolute best.
Her actions, though, had caused this. Maybe not directly, but she'd started Edalyn's isolation when she cursed her. Then she'd trusted the Emperor to fix her problems and turned a blind eye to whatever he was plotting in favor of her own interests.
This simply wouldn't do.
Lilith began writing down everything she knew about the Day of Unity.
If Raine could figure out what the Emperor was up to, then she could, too. She was not going to stand idly by as Edalyn and her sister's children threw themselves right into the mire of the Emperor's plots.
She would fix this.
Lilith would accept nothing less from herself.
And so she buckled down to discover the Emperor's plans, ignoring the dark clouds that gathered outside her window.
AN: So I started this the day after Eda's Requiem aired, but then life (and the last week of the Summer Reading Program) popped up and I didn't get around to finishing it. So I've finally finished it and I decided to add in some details from Knock, Knock, Knocking on Hooty's Door. I like the idea of this conversation happening and then Lilith getting the letter from Hooty that everything's going wrong, so (since he's there and she's not) she encouraged him to use his abilities for the better.
Also, I'm somewhat surprised that it hasn't come up yet that as a former coven head, and of the Emperor Coven no less, that Lilith should have some idea of what the Day of Unity entails. Though it seems that the other coven heads didn't know too much until recently.
I saw a theory that depending on when everything happened, maybe Raine didn't know about Eda and Lilith's falling out and maybe Lilith didn't know Eda and Raine broke up. Meaning that neither realizes how alone Eda was for years until after everything with Belos is over. I thought that was a delicious theory and decided to incorporate it here. I had line where Lilith couldn't believe Eda and Raine broke up when Alador and Odalia were still together.
I wasn't sure how to tag for Eda and Raine since they're technically not together at the moment but they're obviously still in love. I had fun with this, and I hope you liked it!
