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Chapter 17: Risk and Reward
The Owl House
"Tell me, Eda, what risk are you willing to take?"
Those words echoed throughout the room. Luz, Eda, and King stared at the weapon, waves of confusion washing over them. On the other end, Fou just shrugged and laid down in the corner.
Eda opened her mouth, trying to reply. "I-I don't... That's no ordinary conjuration."
"Shirou, how are you able to make something like that." Kanshou and Bakuya were one thing. They seemed like swords with a magnetic ability. "You made a sword that can counter magic?"
"It had a name," added King. "How did you find this thing?"
Shirou was quiet for a moment. "Are any of you familiar with the Witch of Colchis?"
Eda and King shook their head.
Luz made a thoughtful expression. "That sounds Greek."
"It is. This irregular dagger was once used by Princess Medea of Colchis: sorceress and priestess of the goddess Hecate."
Luz's eyes widened. "That has to be thousands of years old!"
Shirou nodded. "She was a magus from the Age of Gods, a time when faith and mystery were much stronger than it is now."
Luz drew closer. "I assumed it was just another magic sword, but why does it feel so weird?"
Eda, with King behind her, took a cautious step forward. "Yeah. I can feel its presence. I'm pretty sure the Owl Beast can too. How is that possible?"
Shirou contemplated for a moment. He raised his left hand and projected an almost identical copy of the Rule Breaker in his right hand. "When people normally conjure a sword, there are several variables that come to mind, such as material, mass, structure, design, and assembly. However, there is one last characteristic that I can use to project, changing it entirely." He twirled the newly created copy of Rule Breaker in his hand before offering it to Luz. "Hold it."
Luz looked to Eda, who was just as curious and confused. The Owl Lady gestured to listen to the hero. So far, he hadn't steered them, wrong. Awkwardly, Lus stepped forward before taking the blade from him.
Shirou held Rule Breaker to the side. "Tell me, Luz. Do you have the same weird feeling from this blade?"
The girl was quiet for several moments, just as confused as before. Luz just felt the weight of the blade. "I don't." She looked back at the Rule Breaker Shirou held, still emitting an ominous tone. "Nothing, like that."
"As expected." Shirou raised his copy. "This one is a little more special."
This time, Eda took the other copy. Instincts raised the hairs on her body as the blade drew closer. The Owl Lady wasn't sure what she was feeling right now. There was a sense of foreboding dread compared to the one Luz had.
"These two daggers are physically identical. They have the same metal, mass, design, and so on. However, what you two felt coming from the first dagger was its history, its experience." He dismissed the hollow copy and retrieved the one in Eda's possession without resistance. "There's a reason the weapons I can make are special. While others create something new, untouched, and inexperienced, I can create objects rich in history and experience. This abstract quality isn't something anyone can reproduce. It's my version of Projection that I call Tracing."
As Eda and King tried to process Shirou's explanation, Luz racked her brain, trying to recall the Greek story he was referencing. "What did this dagger do to make us feel this way?"
Shirou held Rule Breaker in his open hands, and with closed eyes, he sympathized with its history once more. "In ancient Greece, the princess Medea of Colchis was born, a pure and gentle girl. Growing up, she learned from the god of Magic herself, Hecate, and just wanted a happy life."
"This all changed after a different god got involved. The hero known as Jason was on a mission to retrieve the Golden Fleece to regain his father's country taken by King Pelias."
"King Aeetes, Medea's father, owned the fleece, and he would not surrender it to Jason. Unfortunately for the King and his country, Jason was supported by the Goddess of Love, Aphrodite."
"Oh, no." Luz knew this was another instance where the Greek gods treated the people like toys.
"Upon realizing that the King of Colchis would not comply, Aphrodite took control of Medea's mind. Medea was made to love Jason blindly, betraying her father and her country for a foreigner she had never seen."
"She got mind controlled?!" exclaimed the witch in training.
"In a sense, yes."
"Why didn't that Hecate stop her?" asked King.
"The Greek Gods are... unreliable. They were not omnibenevolent, often uncaring unless their domain was threatened."
Eda narrowed her eyes. "Did Jason know what this Aphrodite was doing?"
"At the time, it's unclear. In any case, her magic allowed Jason to obtain the Golden Fleece. King Aeetes was infuriated, leading his army to capture Jason." The redhead frowned. "Once more, Aphrodite used Medea to help Jason."
"I don't like where this is going."
"Medea boarded the ship of her brother, Apsyrtus, and sliced him into pieces in front of their father with this same dagger." The hero sighed. "Overcome by grief, the King ordered the collection of his dead son, allowing Jason and Medea to escape."
The trio made expressions of varying shock.
Luz's eyes watered. "That's horrible..."
"Because of powers beyond her control, she hurt her family..." Eda's expression grew hollow, staring at the blade in sympathy.
As much as King liked fictional violence, this was just sad. "Please tell me it's over."
Shirou shook his head. "Sadly, no."
"It gets worse?" cried Eda.
"When Jason asked for the return of his country with the Fleece as promised, King Pelias refused. After escaping three plots to kill them, Medea created a plan to trick the king. Using the allure of a spell of immortality, Medea got Pelias to willingly give his body to her, only to be left in pieces much like her brother."
Eda's eyes went back to the dark blade. "Titan's sake..."
"Jason became king, but the people did not approve of his conduct, and most of all, they disapproved of Medea's very existence."
"What? Why?" cried King.
"They denounced her as a witch who betrayed her country for a man, killed her brother to save herself, and now had taken the throne by deceit."
"But that wasn't even her fault. It was all Aphrodite," argued Luz.
"The people didn't care. Jason and Medea were both chased out of the country and fled to Corinth, where they were welcomed by the king."
King felt a sinking feeling in himself. When he finally becomes ruler of the Boiling Isles, how would he avoid getting tricked, chopped up, or chased out?
"One could argue she finally found rest in this land after everything."
The girl's expression stayed downcast. "It didn't last long. Did it?"
"No. The King of Corinth liked Jason and decided to have his daughter marry him. Jason agreed, sending Medea into exile."
The man Medea was manipulated into loving dumped her for someone new. To the three, it seemed that the entire world was against Medea. What did she ever do to deserve this? Was it just Fate?
Shirou's expression darkened. "Love and hate can go hand in hand. She appeared at Jason's wedding and burned everyone except for Jason. You can say this was when the former princess embraced the title of a witch and continued to roam the Greek lands until her eventual death."
"I... I can see why Rule Breaker feels so cold and dark with everything that happened to her." Allowed to grab hold of it, Luz started to pick out the swirl of emotions immersed in it.
"Despite the use of the title for a general magic user here, Medea became somewhat of an archetype of the dark side of witchcraft: the use of magic to harm others."
Luz's eyes narrowed. "I remember some of that in my history classes. Even people in my hometown were accused of dark magic and 'colluding with the devil.'"
Shirou didn't want to assume, but with a portal connected to her hometown, there could have been an inciting incident of magic affecting the human world. The dominos fell from there. "Medea was controlled and manipulated by others, and her mind was damaged at a young age. Despite this, she was blamed for being a witch and was used as a convenient scapegoat for people to attribute evil and disasters. People saw her as the perfect sacrifice and blamed her for all the ugly things in the world, with no one defending her. In doing so, all her sadness, anger, and resentment was ingrained in her sacred dagger."
Eda's expression hardened. The past thirty years have not been kind to her. The Empire and her own family were against her in a way. Her saving grace was King fora time. Now, Luz and Shirou were too. Eda determinedly took the dagger from Luz and handed it back to Shirou. "How does Rule Breaker work?"
King's eyes widened. "Are you gonna stab Eda?"
Luz jumped, imagining a scene like the brother and the king.
Shirou put his hands up in a placating gesture. "No. No. I'm not stabbing anyone. I don't need to. I just need the blade to contact a node generated by the core of her curse. Rule Breaker will alleviate the corrupting effects of the soul merging. It's not a cure, but it's something. Soul Magic is beyond the realm of mortals. However, I don't know about other possible side effects." Shirou turned to the older witch. "Eda, you told us that all witches on the isles have a Bile Sac. This organ is the source of your magic energy."
"It is possible for Rule Breaker to negate your magic reserves."
"Is that a bad thing?"
"My magic acts like an immune system all throughout my body. It's already fighting back against the curse constantly, and I've felt my magic get weaker as time goes on. Without magic at all, I'll be vulnerable."
Shirou nodded. "Then that means I can't miss. Ready?"
Eda was silent, looking at Luz and King. The two were unsure but showed that the offer was tempting. Steeling her resolve, she answered. "I am."
"Alright, then." Shirou guided everyone to Eda's nest and got her to lie down. "Stay calm, and it'll be over soon."
Fou came by and jumped onto the edge of the nest, curious.
Luz put a hand on her servant's arm. "Be careful, Shirou."
The hero nodded. "Always." He focused his senses and placed a hand on Eda's sternum. "Trace on." Like before, Teal lines across his arms lit up, and upon actualization, Shirou's and Eda's eyes glowed white.
Eda's Witch body was much different than her Owl Beast form. He could see the Bile sac and the threads of magical energy that expanded throughout her body. Shirou could feel the increased flow of magic from her heart to her brain.
Just as threads extended from the heart, there were threads extending from her composited soul. Near her head, he saw the familiar magical overlay and runic the ichor of black magic sapped energy from her whole body. Her bile sac tried to supplement it. If the flow of magic stopped, the curse would directly eat away at her cells and spread throughout her body. It acted like a tumor that needed to be severed.
To get a better look at the root location, he rolled Eda on her back to get a better look at the base of her soul. While the black ichor surrounded the light of both souls, his eyes followed the interconnecting thread pathways that reached outward. His fingers moved along the threads, hoping to find a central node that didn't directly intersect with the threads from her bile sac.
Eventually, he came across a workable node on the upper left of her back. "Okay. I'm going to make the incision."
"Do it," muttered Eda.
Like acupuncture, Shirou raised his right hand with Rule Breaker and brought it down on the black spot.
The effect was immediate as Eda started to scream out. Her body convulsed as the Owl Beast fought against the pain as well. The cursed threads inside her body were burning away.
Luz, King, and Shirou held her down to keep her from hurting herself. The pain was both physical and metaphysical. As more and more threads burned away, the convulsions slowed. No longer keeping the black ichor satisfied, the internal magic was returning the body to normal stability.
The composite soul shuddered at the change, but the tendrils retreated into themselves. They would eventually return, but that would be a problem for another time. Eda's breathing turned ragged, forcing herself to roll over.
The others saw an immediate change. Eda's skin had already started returning to a more youthful shade.
Luz studied the woman by her shoulder. "Eda! Eda! Calm down. Are you alright?"
Eda stopped moving and let out a shaky breath. "I... I think so." She brought up her own hand and noticed the change in shade. Using her left, she managed to pull off her right hand like before. "Well, looks like that's still there."
"The changes to your body not supported by the curse after its affliction were not affected," answered Shirou. "Any more draining or corrosion should have been halted."
"Yeah... I can feel the difference." Eda pressed a hand to her chest. "My heart doesn't hurt as much anymore."
Hearing this, Luz, King, and Fou cheered at the success. "We did it!"
Shirou and Eda chuckled at their enthusiasm.
When Eda looked back at the boy, her expression softened. "I know you said that 'm not cured, but this is the best I've felt in a long time. I don't know what else to say, let alone do to repay you." Eda was always of the mind nothing was truly free. Even stealing costed time and effort to get away with it. "Thank you, Shirou."
His master was no different, hugging the hero by his side and rambling multiple thanks.
King walked up to Shirou and hugged his leg. "I'm sorry again for everything that happened today, and I can't thank you enough for helping Eda."
Shirou patted King on the back. He's seen that look of concern on children before. King thought of Eda as something more than a roommate. "It's fine King. Better that we found out now than later." As if treating Eda like a kid, he ruffled her hair. "This was never something you had to go through alone."
The Owl Lady sighed. "Some days felt like it was, but I'm not like Medea, not anymore."
"A shackle over your life has been removed." The hero smirked. "What are you going to do now?"
An honest toothy grin that was gone for decades resurfaced. "Everything." Eda attempted to get up, only to feel a bit woozy.
With an eye-roll, Shirou set her back down. "You're body is still acclimating to the changes. You need rest."
Eda huffed, amused. "Fine. Fine."
Luz pumped up. "In the meantime, we'll get the rest of the house cleaned while testing out my new magic."
Shirou picked up Fou and King, leaving the room with Luz. With that, the long night came to an end. Over the coming days, Eda would notice an orange tint to the roots of her hair.
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