The Door So Far Away
Eda was not having a good day; she had gotten into another fight with Raine, the third one in the last two weeks. But this wasn't a typical spat; it was a full fight. Raine was trying hard to get their girlfriend to open up to them about her problems.
Eda, of course, wasn't having any of it and decided to leave before things got worse. She planned to head home and drown her problems with a jug of apple blood. However, upon reaching the Owl House, as she had been calling, she got a surprise.
"What are you?" The soon-to-be-famous Owl Lady asked.
There, sleeping in her door, was an ornament shaped like an owl's face. Eda thought it was just someone's idea of a joke, but when she saw the mouth moving, she realized it was alive.
Eda cautiously stepped up to her door and began to study it. The ornament suddenly opened its eyes with a 'hoot' and extended its tube-like body. Eda was startled by this and jumped back. She began making a spell circle when the bird-tube talked.
"Hoot, Hoot, welcome home," it said chirpily.
Eda kept her guard up as the sight of this thing extending its body to a length that shouldn't have been possible was unnerving her a little.
"Okay," she replied, trying to keep her voice calm. "What are you doing here? And what are you?"
"Me, hoot, hoot?" the creature said, "I'm Hooty, just your loveable house demon, and your house looked like the best place for naps."
Eda relaxed slightly and cocked an eyebrow. She had heard about house demons, a rare breed of bug-types, but this was her first time seeing one in person.
She might have been impressed at seeing one if one question did pop into her mind…how was this bird-tube thing a bug-type demon? She quickly decided she didn't want to know the answer; she was too tired to put up with anything at the moment.
"Okay, Hooty," she said, sighing, "Can you let me in."
"Sure, Hoot," Hooty replied chirpily, "But what's the password?"
Eda let out an irritated sigh through her teeth. Now that the shock from seeing Hooty was wearing off, her irritation from earlier was returning, and Hooty wasn't helping matters. So, she did the only thing she could think of and poked the demon in the eyes.
"Just open up," Eda retorted.
"Okay, hoot," Hooty replied, now irritated himself. "Just trying to have a little fun. Ow, hoot."
Eda rolled her eyes at the house demon's antics, but he did open the door. The wild witch then hurried into the house.
She sighed as she took in the familiar feeling of the place she called home and made a spell circle. She went over to the couch and lay down as a jug of apple blood came floating from the kitchen, glass following close behind it.
"Ahh, mama's night juice," She moaned contently, pouring herself a glass, "Make all my worries go away."
She brought it close to her face and took a good whiff of drink. She smiled as she brought it to her lips and took a sip.
Suddenly, the door swung open, startling Eda into dropping her glass. The glass was shatter-proof thanks to a spell Eda put on it. It wasn't, however, spill-proof, so apple blood spilled all over the floor when the glass fell.
Eda glared at Hooty for the waste drink and another stain added to the floor. The house demon, in turn, just gave the witch a stare that was a strange mix of innocence and vacuous.
"You have a gentlemanly caller," Hooty sang after a second and then returned to his spot in the door.
Eda kept her glare on Hooty for a second and then turned her attention to her caller. She groaned when she realized who her "gentlemanly" caller was.
"Raine," She growled, "I don't know why you're here but leave. I'm still not in the mood to deal with you."
Raine didn't leave; instead, they got close to Eda. This irritated the wild witch, and she was about ready to blast them with a spell.
"Eda," Raine suddenly said, speaking calmly. "Please, I need your help…she needs your help."
It was at this time Eda realized that Raine had someone in their arms. The wild witch's anger faded somewhat, and she got off the couch. Eda got closer to her partner and saw that it was a child. But when she got a little closer, she saw something that surprised her.
"Is…is she human?" Eda asked softly.
"Yes," Raine replied quickly, "And we need to get her to the human realm as fast as we can."
Eda looked at her partner inquiringly. Raine saw this and did something that surprised both of them; they growled ferociously. Eda was stunned by this; in all the years she knew them, Raine had never done something even close to what they did just now.
Raine was just as surprised as Eda was, but they quickly recovered from their shock.
"Eda, please," they said softly, "I don't know if I was followed, so we need to get this child back to Human Realm."
"H-human?" the girl whispered uncertainly.
Eda looked at the girl for a second and turned her attention to their partner. She saw something in Raine's eyes she never thought she would see outside of them standing in front of a crowd…fear.
So, she awkwardly dug through her hair and took out an old-looking key with an eye on it. She pressed the eye, and a small circle materialized at her feet. A suitcase rose from the magical circle with the same eye decoration on the front, and Eda grabbed the handle.
Eda tossed the suitcase over her shoulder, and it spun around twice. It next unfolded into a door, and then the door opened. The three looked into it and saw blue skies and green trees.
Raine felt something of their worries fade, and they put Camila on the floor. They tried to smile in a comforting way as they looked into the human girl's eyes.
"Camila, my friend and I are taking you back to the human realm," Raine explained softly. "You will be safe when we leave at the local guard station. Do you understand?"
Camila stared up at Raine uncertainly and then awkwardly pointed at herself. "Human?"
Raine nearly bit their lip to keep from frowning, but they nodded and stood up. They offered the human their hand, and Camila hesitantly took it.
Raine smiled reassuringly at her and faced the door. The human and witch walked up to the door, but when they were three feet from the door, Camila screamed. Raine looked down at the human as she let go of their hand and fell to their knees.
Eda and Raine watched as Calima grabbed her right wrist, which was glowing with a gold circle. The two witches gasped when bolts of magic began to surge from the glowing circle.
"CAMILA!" Raine screamed, reaching for the human.
They jolt their hands away when one of the magical bolts hits one of their hands. They tried to keep their panic under control as they tried to figure out what was causing this. They gasped when something dawned on them.
"EDA! Put away your door!" Raine screamed, looking at their girlfriend, and saw they were motionless. "EDA!"
Eda snapped out of her trance when she heard Raine scream and quickly pressed the eye on the key again.
The door closed and folded into its suitcase form a second later. It returned to the void a second after folding up.
The two Witches looked at the human and waited to see what would happen.
They watched as the magical bolts faded from the human's body as the circle dimmed until it disappeared altogether.
Camila's scream died down as the effort of the spell wore off, but she was now hyperventilating, silently crying, and shaking. The two witches didn't know what to do. Soon, however, Raine's got over their shock and reached for the human.
Camila saw the witch move, screamed again, and began to back up. "Nononononononono!" she screams frantically.
Raine pulled their arm away and looked at the human in concern. Camila was close to hysteria, and if something wasn't done fast, things might get ugly.
Thankfully, they weren't the only ones who thought this as Raine heard the sound of a spell being cast, and Camila was bathed in a gold light. They watched as Camila quickly drifted off to sleep and softly lifted off the ground.
They looked at Eda, who offered them a smile.
"Don't worry, Rainestorm. I just used a sleeping spell on her," the Owl lady explained as she levitated the child onto the couch.
Eda next materialized a blanket and placed it over Camila. She walked up to the human and took a second to fix the blanket by hand so the human was at least comfortable. She looked at the round ears, sighed, and looked at their datefriend.
"Okay, Rainestorm," She said seriously, "Want to tell what's going on?"
"...Yes," Raine replied after a second, "But let's talk outside. I need some air after all of this."
Eda nodded and followed Raine out. Hooty then softly closed the door behind them.
Once outside, Raine took a few deep breaths and took in the scenery around them. Something about this place always put them at ease, allowing them to collect their thoughts.
"Okay, Raine, time to spill," Eda said seriously after she felt Raine was ready.
Raine sighed and looked their girlfriend right in the eyes.
"Eda, have you heard the rumors of a cult about the Isles?" they asked and frowned when they noticed the deadpan look she was giving them. "Don't give me that look, Edalyn! The cult's real. I fought some of them when they tried to take Camila."
Eda could only stare at their partner dumbfounded; they have known Raine for years. So she knew when Raine was being serious about something.
"Whao, you serious?"
Raine nodded and said, "Yes. And Eda, these cultists are worse than the rumors said. They talked like Camila was an object, a tool they could use and throw away when they no longer had use for her. Titan, one of them even called her a tool!"
Eda was starting to feel a pit forming in her stomach. She could tell Raine was getting anxious about this whole thing. That worried her. She couldn't remember ever seeing their datefriend in such a state.
"But that's not even the worst of it," Raine said somberly and then looked at Eda with fear in their eyes. "When I asked for her name, Camila struggled for a few seconds to remember it. During that time, it was almost like she was in pain. Even when she told me, I could hear some uncertainty in her voice, like she wasn't sure that was her name."
Eda was now starting to get scared. The dread in Raine's voice had grown by leaps and bounds. For once in her life, she wasn't able to find any words to say and gestured for Raine to continue.
"So, while coming here, I asked her a few questions. The more I learned, the more worried I became," Raine explained, suddenly sounding very tired. "Eda, she can remember her first name but not her last. She knows her age but not her birthday. She told me her parents' names but can't remember their faces. And with what we just learned, I can't help but dread what those cultists are planning for that child."
Eda was feeling sick to her stomach; she had a good idea where Raine was heading with this, and it just didn't sit right with her.
She opened her mouth to say something, but Raine cut her off.
"We both had never seen it before, Eda, but we knew that was an Everlasting Oath," the bard spoke softly and with much dread behind their voice. "And I know you're smart and clever enough to understand why it activated."
Eda's sick feeling worsened as she understood what Raine was talking about. Still, she finally found her voice.
"The kid's Oath flared when she got three feet near my door," she said, speaking slowly. "So, I guess those cult dorks had a knock-off of my door. They brought the kid here with it and put the oath on her, so if she ran, she couldn't get back home through their door or any other door for that matter."
"Yes," Raine replied seriously, "But I learned one more thing just now, and makes me sick to my stomach just thinking about it."
Eda was once again unnerved by the look in their partner's eyes and lost her voice again. Thankfully, Raine continued as they noticed Eda's state of being.
"I think whatever issue Camila has with her memories is spell-related. She was confused when we talked about the human realm. She said she was 11, so there's no way she wouldn't know what a human is. I think…whatever spell she's under made her forget she's human."
(G Corner)
If this ending made you feel like Raine and Eda were a bit out of character, that was on purpose. The idea is that Raine and Eda, who are younger than in canon, are now facing an unknown factor, and there's nothing scarier than the unknown, even for powerful witches like Raine and Eda.
