Welcome back, I'm ecstatic to be done re-editing, I love this story so so much.
Before we get into Arc 3 let's do a little housekeeping, 1. I read the reviews and have chosen to do a Thanksgiving chapter. We'll get there when we get there, but there will also be a Team Pines Christmas story as part of my 12 Days Of Christmas Fic series. 2. As you'll be able to tell as you get into this chapter, Cary's curse manifests a little differently than Eda's. This is their story so I hope you guys don't mind that it's different for them. 3. At some point between writing chapter 20 and re-editing arcs 1 and 2 I found out that The Owl House is actually set in 2022 (the time skip would be 2025) which means when I get to my time-skip arc it will actually be two years later than I initially anticipated, and essentially 10 years later from current Team Pines canon. Sorry for the confusion, we'll cross that bridge together (two arcs from now)
Cary didn't really want to but she dragged herself to school that Friday. She could care less about her classes but there was no way that she was going to miss another rehearsal. Apparently, Jasmine Reed had been talking shit about her yesterday even though Jasmine had yet to get through a rehearsal without forgetting at least one line.
Wendy seemed relieved to see Cary in class that morning.
"Hey! I was worried about you."
"Yeah, I was just feeling a little out of it yesterday. I'm all good now."
"You don't have to be all good. I know things are going to be weird and hard for a while."
"I think things are going to be weird forever, given who I am and who my family is, but this particular thing will get easier."
"Well, I'm here for you, whatever you need." Wendy reached over and squeezed Cary's hand.
"Actually, there is one thing. Handsel wanted you to come to our session on Monday. I can explain more later, but do you think you could come?"
"Yeah, totally."
Wendy was a little less sure when she found out exactly what she was signing up for.
"Are you sure we should be summoning the beast on purpose?"
"No, but Handsel is. And if I can get this under control it will be worth the risk."
"I suppose… Okay, I'm in, but I have to ask my dad since we'd be back late."
Cary nodded with a small smile.
"It's a date," Cary said, winking and leaving Wendy completely flustered.
"Do you want to spend the night afterwards?" Wendy asked, wanting to keep the date talk going.
"If your dad is okay with it."
"Right. Well, that's just another thing to ask him about. Until then… Can I see you tomorrow?"
"No, this weekend Soos and I have to deep clean the Shack. I'm on mop duty."
"Yuck. Well, Monday then. I'll talk to my dad."
Wendy expected a little pushback on the sleepover, but she was not expecting her dad to have questions of his own.
"Was there a wild animal attack last weekend?"
"What? No."
"Don't lie to me, Wendy. Lee's mother told me he was attacked. Why didn't you mention that to me?" Manly Dan looked a little pissed, pacing the floor.
"It was no big deal, dad, we got it handled."
"That's still something you should tell me. I can't believe Cary didn't mention it either, that girl is terrible at keeping secrets."
Wendy cringed as something clicked in Manly Dan's mind.
"Actually, now that I think about it, Cary did mention it."
"She did?"
"She told me she turned into a giant monster and nearly killed Lee.'"
"Come on, dad, she was obviously kidding."
"A few months ago, I would have believed that. But then the world nearly ended and so I don't know what to believe anymore. Tell me the truth or you're grounded."
Wendy sputtered. "I, uh… Hold on."
Wendy went to her room and came back out with a sketchbook.
"You might want to sit down, dad."
Wendy sat next to him on the couch and opened her sketchbook to a picture of the beast.
"Cary inherited a curse from her birth mom that turns her into this creature. We don't know fully what causes it but she's learning to get it under control. She's not dangerous, dad."
Manly Dan took a few minutes to take it all in before fixating on her final statement.
"According to her own words, she nearly killed Lee."
"That was an accident, he provoked her. She would never hurt me."
"I just don't know if you can guarantee that. I'm not sure if you two should be dating."
Wendy's eyes widened, "You can't decide that for me!"
"Wendy-"
"No. You said you trusted me. If I'm wrong I'm wrong and I'll own up to that but you don't get to tell me who I'm allowed to love."
Manly Dan blanched. "I wasn't trying to tell you who to love."
"I'm tough enough to handle this, dad. You made me that way."
He sighed. "I know you are. I just don't want to lose you."
"I'm not going anywhere," Wendy promised, putting her hand over his.
"Okay. You can go on your hike but you have to tell me if anything happens. And Cary can't spend the night."
"I'll take it. Thank you for trying to trust me."
The rest of the weekend passed rather uneventfully, though Cary was able to call Stan and Ford for the first time and update them on how everything had been going. Their own weekend had been more eventful as, apparently, Stan had already punched a giant squid.
"You still have those brass knuckles I gave you, right sweetheart?" Stan asked.
"Yeah, and I may need to use them if Jasmine keeps trying to start things. She's not even a good actress."
"Try not to make too much trouble for your brother," Stan said with a laugh.
"You too," Cary shot back.
"Deal."
"Alright, I need to go, love you dad, love you Uncle Ford."
"Don't forget to tell us how it goes tomorrow," Ford reminded.
"I will. It'll be okay, Wendy is coming with me."
"Still, be careful. We love you, Carebear. We'll talk soon," Stan promised, and then one of them hung up, and for a moment, loneliness took hold of them both. Then Cary went back to deep cleaning and Stan went back to treasure hunting, and they were okay.
After class and rehearsal on Monday, Wendy and Cary picked up some food to eat on the way and headed up the mountain to the Hand Witch.
At first, they had a pleasant conversation as they hiked. Wendy asked about Handsel and how she compared to the witches on the Boiling Isles. And then, when Cary had been lulled into a false sense of security, Wendy dropped a bombshell.
"My dad figured out that you're the Beast."
Cary froze in the middle of a step, almost toppling. "What? How?!"
"He heard about what happened to Lee and drew a connection to what you said about turning into a monster and nearly killing Lee. He threatened to ground me if I didn't explain so I gave him the cliff notes and showed him a sketch I made of you."
"And what did he say?"
"He was unsure at first, but I convinced him that you wouldn't hurt me. He did say that you couldn't stay the night tonight. He'll come around. Hey," Wendy took Cary's hand, "we're going to learn how to control this, right?"
"We- I- yeah." Cary was a little upset, mad that Wendy had told their secret, even more mad that Wendy would take ownership of the curse. True, Wendy was their safety net but the curse was wholly their own. Cary would need to learn how to control it. Wendy could do little but be there.
Wendy squeezed Cary's hand as if being there was enough. Cary hoped it was.
They stopped long enough to eat the food they had brought. Cary was still shaken by Wendy's revelation and paced in between bites.
"Feathers, slow down. I'm sorry I told him, but if he grounded me I wouldn't have been able to be here for you."
Cary bit back a snarky comment, swallowing his pride with a bite of sandwich.
All he said was, "Let's go somewhere normal for our next date."
Wendy looked relieved. "Yeah. Let's get ice cream."
"Ice cream," Cary murmured in agreement. "Ready to head up the rest of the way?"
"Ready."
They hiked in silence after that.
"Your mind is agitated," Handsel sensed when Cary got there.
"Maybe."
"Perhaps that will make summoning the Beast easier."
Cary rolled his eyes. "I think I'll be just fine."
Anger and uncertainty seemed to be the easiest triggers and Cary had plenty to pull from. Though they weren't as frustrated with Wendy anymore, Cary was overwhelmed by the fact that Manly Dan no longer trusted them. Manly Dan approving of the relationship had instilled Cary with a confidence in their relationship that was now crumbling.
The world was eager to chew Cary up and spit them out for things they couldn't control, their curse, their gender, their sexuality. Every ally Cary lost was a blow to their confidence. Like maybe the world could win.
Cary would not let the world win.
"We want the same thing." Cary nearly jumped out of his skin. He'd never heard the Beast speak before.
From the nonchalant way Handsel, Brett, and Wendy were looking at them, none of them had heard.
"Have you been here this whole time?" Cary asked, keeping the dialogue in their head.
"I was hibernating until we went home. But you didn't need me then."
"What do you mean by that?"
"In the Boiling Isles you were safe with Eda. But when you came back here you were in turmoil. You needed me."
"I think I needed you more in the Conformatorium than I did during Fright Night." Cary hadn't meant to say that out loud.
"Feathers, are you okay?" Wendy looked concerned.
"We're fine."
Cary changed the subject, "I'm supposed to summon you. So I can control you."
"Then you misunderstand me. You can't control this if you keep running away."
"Running from what? I can't exactly run away from you."
The Beast seemed to laugh.
"No, you cannot. But you've spent the last few months running from yourself. You're not trying to run from me because I'm the part of you that's not afraid."
It was difficult for Cary to keep her retort in her head. "Oh yeah? What do you think I'm so afraid of?"
"You're afraid of asserting yourself. You won't stand up to Wendy because you're afraid of losing her, you won't stand up to your friends because you think they'll hate you, and you won't stand up to your dad because you don't want to break his heart. You only started speaking up when I got involved."
"Then why didn't you stand up to Eda? She didn't believe in us! She kicked us out!"
Cary's hands trembled and began to change into talons.
"Mother shares our curse. And her time is coming. Once she has made peace with the beast she's running from she'll be ready to make peace with us."
"What if that never happens?" Cary asked as wings sprouted from his back.
"Then we will make ourselves heard. That's what I'm here for, after all. Are you ready?"
"Ready."
Cary's teeth grew sharp and the necklace around her neck began to glow, bright yellow, without a speck of darkness. Cary's eyes remained gold, focused, alert. The transformation was complete and for the first time, Cary felt like she'd taken back control.
Wendy whistled.
"Feathers? Can you hear me?"
"We can hear you," Cary said.
Wendy let out a whoop. "We did it! You're in control!"
The Beast let out a low growl. "Assert yourself."
"No, Wendy, I did it. This is my curse, and you've helped me a lot, but I'm the one who had to make peace with it. I'm the one who had to take back control. Please don't act like this curse is yours to take ownership of and tell people about."
Wendy's eyes widened. "Oh, man, you're right… I am so sorry I told my dad, I should have… I don't know what I should have done but he should have found out on your terms."
"Yes," Cary agreed, but it wasn't Cary's voice speaking.
Wendy jumped. "Is that… Is the Beast speaking?"
"I am."
"Remarkable…" Handsel said.
"It's nice to meet you again, Beast," Wendy said nervously.
"Same to you."
"We should give you a proper name," Cary suggested.
"Hm, yes. How about Ryn?"
"Short for Caryn?"
"Yes. I am the other half of you."
"Perfect."
"You may call me Ryn."
"Oh, that's pretty," Wendy said.
"Thank you." Ryn seemed proud of themself.
"Ryn," Handsel said, "Now that we know you can be summoned we need to know that you can be unsummoned."
"Please," Cary added.
"No."
"No?!" It sounded like Cary was arguing with himself.
Wendy looked worried but not as worried as Cary, who was now imagining having to do A Midsummer Night's Dream in this form.
"Don't fight me. Listen."
Cary realized she'd begun struggling and relaxed.
"I can carry us both down this mountain faster than you can hike it. Once we reach the ground I will transform back. Deal?"
"Okay," Wendy said reluctantly.
"I was hoping to see the transformation process all the way through," Handsel said. Brett seemed super unaffected by all of this.
Ryn was about to answer, but Cary spoke up for them. "We're not a bug to be studied under a microscope."
"Of course not. Still, I hope you'll return for next Monday's lesson."
"I'm sure there's a lot left to learn," Cary said. Though they weren't certain if they'd be learning more about themself or more about magic. Maybe it would be pretty equal.
Wendy grabbed their things and then let Cary scoop her up. Last time she'd flown with Cary it had been involuntary and she hadn't had time to feel dread. Now, she was a little bit afraid until their feet were on the ground and Cary was changing back.
"How are you feeling?" Wendy asked.
"A little tired and also famished. I almost stopped midway and ate a squirrel."
Wendy laughed before becoming serious. "Hey, Feathers? You can always tell me if I do something that bothers you. You don't have to pretend to be okay all the time."
"Yeah, I'm figuring that out. I can't run away from any of my feelings."
"I also can't hulk out every time," He added on Ryn's behalf.
"Whatever you say."
Cary had a feeling that their journey with the Beast wasn't even close to over. This was just the first step toward unlocking their full potential. Who knew what the future had in store?
Cary hasn't gone full Harpy yet but they have had an epiphany way sooner than Eda did. That being said, Ryn is still a bit unpredictable and so the Beast may still cause problems. Idk if it was obvious but I was a little inspired by the Venom movies when I was writing the relationship between Cary and Ryn. I never would've thought the story would have gone this way but I'm having fun!
Feel free to leave any questions in the comments and I'll try to answer them next time.
