Scouting Of The Titans
"Ity really is amazing how life can turn out," mused Steve Malva as he strode down the halls of the Boiling Isles capitol building toward the office of Raine Whispers, his favorite superior. He distantly acknowledged that faint echoes of his time as a coven scout straightened his back and measured his steps to a familiar rhythmic cadence.
In relation to his comment, Steve himself was a former scout of the Emperor's Coven who had defected before the Day of Unity, now serving his nation as a special operative of its reformed successor, the Watchmen's Coven. Ever since the last and final defeat of Philip Wittebane — known to the Isles as their Emperor Belos — and the end of the "Troubles," as many on the Boiling Isles preferred to call the reign of the Collector, massive reforms had been inevitable and necessary with the loss of the ruler of the Isles, the resultant breakdown of the government, and the sheer devastation in the Collector's wake.
With the end of the Troubles, the three coven heads who had actively opposed Belos had stepped up to take command and lead the Boiling Isles through its reconstruction, vouched for by the Last Titan, King, and the saviors of the Isles — Luz Noceda and her mother Camila, Eda and Lilith Clawthorne, Willow Park, Gus Porter, Amity Blight, and Hunter soon-to-be-Clawthorne. The Children of the Isles had overall been accepting of this arrangement.
It had been a rough time, those first few months. Not the least of which because a few of the other coven heads had begun making plays at seizing the throne for themselves, only to be thwarted by the ruling triumvirate of Raine Whispers, Darius Deamonne, and Eberwolf the Huntsman, along with the CATs. Other scouts of the defunct Emperor's Coven had tried to carve out a piece of the Isles for themselves, if only to earn a little peace from the furious populace. A piece for peace, one might say.
The coven system itself had been placed under intense scrutiny, to put it lightly, almost immediately. Many had clamored for the system and the covens to be abolished entirely, no one more vocally than Eda Clawthorne. But abolition would not return their magic — that would be Alador Blight and his research team, in time — and many others had rallied around the camaraderie that the covens had provided, arguing that it was a fine idea that had been corrupted into a weapon.
The compromise had been to heavily reform the coven system. Restrictive sigils had been banned outright, not joining a coven was now accepted, and exclusivity to a single coven had been downplayed. Admission into more than one coven, even all of them, was permitted. And rather than handing out admissions like candy, one was now required to prove their mettle and talent to any coven they desired to join. Membership was a mark of mastery, not just conformity.
The Main Nine covens had been established as parent organizations to the thousands of smaller covens. Each coven and their subsidiaries were given voting rights to elect their coven heads, who had all been given executive authority as a ruling council. As it turned out, Raine, Darius, and Eberwolf had been reelected into their posts.
The largest change had been the reformation of the Emperor's Coven. Reformation, in this case, meaning dissolving and then literally reforming from the ground up. The Watchmen Coven was established from the onset with procedures, checks and balances, and accountability. Many members had been chosen from former scouts who had been heavily monitored through Oracle magic, and new applicants were judged not just on their magical and martial prowess or loyalty, but on their desire to serve the Isles and its people.
As for Steve, he had been appointed a special agent under the authority of the coven heads, to act quickly where necessary and with his actions monitored by the populace after every mission to maintain his and the council's accountability.
Steve shook off these retrospective thoughts — they really would have made great recap in a book or crystal ball show — and kept marching up to Raine's office door. He stopped at the sight of Derwin and Amber of the BATs, who had all been hired as Raine's personal staff and security, standing guard at each side of the double doors.
This meant it was a serious meeting.
"Heya, guys," Steve greeted with a respectful salute and then a friendly wave.
"Hey, Steve," Derwin said with a nod and a small smile, arms loosely crossed.
"Hi, Steve," Amber chirped, waving right back. It really was a far cry from how cold she had been when Steve had first started working alongside the BATs to help stabilize society after the Troubles. But then, the others had said she was like that with everyone at first.
"Identification?" Derwin prompted. Steve nodded and stood firm as Derwin whistled through his fingers, a wave of Bard magic washing over him like a warm breeze that would destabilize and break down any illusion or magical disguise he might be under. Steve chuckled and removed his watchman badge — a bronze plate with an image of the Titan's skull carved into it along with his name and credentials. Derwin took it and traced a spell known only to the coven heads and their personal staff over it, and the badge glowed silver for a moment, essentially a watermark indicating that it was real. "All set," Derwin said with a faintly apologetic smile. Procedure was procedure and there for a reason, and Steve grinned to show he understood.
Steve held one hand palm out and reached the other into his coat to remove a figurine of a three-faced, bearded monkey with a crack over its middle scalp, leaning its middle chin on a fist in the classic "thinker" pose. "Mind if I bring Trivius in with me?" he asked. The figurine, Steve's palisman adopted from the Bat Queen's protectorates, wriggled to life and gave a grunting whoop in question.
"Go on ahead, Steve," Amber said, and both BATs took the doors to open for him and allow him in. "Your lady is waiting, too," Amber teased as he passed. Steve entered the office to find Raine leaning back against the front of their desk and perusing through a leather folder of papers, while the final BAT, Katya, was leaning her hip against the edge of said desk with her arms crossed patiently. She gave a lopsided smile and wink at Steve, which he returned with a faint blush. Raine finished examining their files and looked up with a smile.
"Ah, Steve," they greeted jovially, offering a hand to shake. "Perfect timing."
"Always aiming to please," Steve said, taking the offer and shaking heartily offering a thumbs-up with his free hand. "So what have you got for me, Mx?"
"For you," Raine said, emphasizing the latter word. "By which I mean both of you." They indicated Katya, who blinked with clear surprise, her easy smile dropped into a thoughtful line.
Raine retrieved a different folder from their desk along with a shiny, new crystal ball. They slipped the file into a narrow opening in the dias holding it and the crystal ball glowed and floated, projecting a large image of a charcoal map of the Boiling Isles and surrounding land masses. Large stretches of Boiling Sea separated the Isles from its neighbors, if one could call them that, though Steve was aware that there were certain foreign nations that traded shipping and postage with their homeland.
It was a relatively new development of Oracle and Illusion magics to project files for greater viewing like this. Just another example of the benefits of mixing magic.
"Uh, Mx. Whispers," Steve said as Raine flicked their finger to show images of different maps, all from the folder they'd put into the dias, "I'm not sure I understand."
"Same here," Katya said in her faintly raspy voice.
"Your next mission will require you to live up to your former title, special agent," Raine said with a faint smile. They pointed at the next map in the queue, one of the southern stretches of the demon realm. "Before Belos came to power, it is known that a large swath of the southern hemisphere consisted of a sprawling empire that connected several titanic landmasses. It seems that one reason Belos declared the Isles an empire of his own was to deter them from trying to take us over," they twisted their lips, "before he could take his own chance to wipe us out."
"What a scumbag," Steve noted wryly. "What happened to this empire? I get the feeling it's no longer around."
"No," Raine confirmed. "The Behemic Empire had collapsed before Belos's time. Political infighting and a string of natural disasters from the decay of their foundational titans. Really, Belos was more staving off the remnants of the empire that have since dissolved even further into city-states." They pushed their glasses up their nose with their middle fingers before continuing. "The council has been trying to reestablish political ties with the remnants of the empire's populace. Their populations were decimated from the collapses and remain a shell of their former grandeur, and they are eager to restore commerce."
"So, I-" He blinked and looked at Katya, their eyes meeting, "we are being sent as envoys?" Steve asked, suddenly sweating.
"Oh, no," Raine laughed, waving a hand dismissively. "We have trained diplomats for that." They adjusted their glasses and looked serious. "No, I'm sending you two because a few of the local leaders I have made contact with have permitted scouts to explore the ruins of their empire in search of lost knowledge and artifacts." They lowered their face a bit, the lenses of their glasses flashing. "Especially as they have heard tell that the Last Titan lives here on the Boiling Isles."
"They've heard about King?" Katya asked, her eyes wide and posture tensing. Steve felt his own metaphorical hackles rise, but was much better at hiding it. As far as he was concerned, no one would hurt his little buddy.
"They have also offered some samples of preserved lore on their own titan," Raine explained. They pursed their lips and glanced between the two. "We think … it may be possible that some of these titans were relatives of King. Siblings of the Boiling Isles, perhaps."
"Whoa," Steve breathed.
"Yes," Raine chuckled. They moved to a small armored safe, which they opened with a sharp whistle charged with Bard magic, and removed something covered in cloth. They removed the cloth to reveal a golden harp with silver strings, something very familiar to anyone who studied magical lore, but especially to bards.
"The Harmonious Lyre?" Katya breathed, eyes wide. The relic of the Bard Coven, once housed in the Emperor's castle. It was said that the lyre could sense the intent of its holder and would play itself, channeling the user's Bard magic into any tune for any spell.
"Not exactly," Raine hedged, strumming a few soft if discordant notes. "This is the artifact that was stored in the relic room, but it's a shadow of its former self. All of the relics have withered and grown impotent after so long with no use or even proper care." They looked up at Steve. "Steve. Katya. Your mission, should you accept it, is to sail to one of the ruined sites of the Behemic Empire and discover anything you can about lost wild magic or anything about the local titans."
"We'll be sharing this with the locals, right?" Steve asked.
"Naturally," Raine assured. "Use of the lore is the payment for us searching it out." Their eyes hardened. "But both of you must be careful, as not all of the locals may be happy about this arrangement." Their gaze grew less intense and they smiled a little. "So? What do you say?"
Steve and Katya looked at each other, communicating with their eyes. Katya was all for it, as was Steve. But he did have one question. "Head witch?" he prompted. "May I ask for one more person to come along?"
Raine lifted an eyebrow in evident surprise and Steve stepped close to whisper in their ear. Their eyes widened as Steve stepped back, their eyes darting back and forth in thought. They sighed and lifted their glasses to massage the bridge of their nose. "I have no problem with it," they said and replaced their glasses before fixing Steve with a penetrating look, "but getting parental consent is up to you."
"Understood," Steve said with a grin.
"Hey, Raine?" Katya asked. "Why not send Lilith on a trip like this? It seems right up her alley."
"She was actually my first choice," Raine admitted, rubbing the back of their head. "But she's too busy with finishing up the library and museum renovations." They shook themselves a bit and leveled a straight look at the duo. "So? Do you accept?"
The two had clasped hands and woven their fingers in an unmistakably intimate way. "We accept," they said in perfect chorus.
"Lilith? You wanted to see me?"
"Ah, Amity," Lilith said warmly, putting down a scroll of library plans. "Please come in. Have a seat."
Amity closed the door and moved a stack of books from a plush armchair in Lilith's office, sitting primly as Lilith gathered reference materials. After a few minutes of darting about her office, seeming to know exactly what she was getting at any given time, she stopped and offered a dossier to Amity.
"What do you know about the Behemic Empire?" Lilith asked, eyes bright.
"Erm, not much," Amity admitted.
"That's perfectly fine," Lilith said, scooping up a few books and placing them on the chair's arm next to Amity. "Reference materials," she explained briefly, then adjusted her glasses. "Anyway. The other day, Raine discussed an opportunity to explore the ruins of the empire with the locals' consent to rediscover wild magic styles."
"And you can't go because of your workload," Amity surmised, her lips curling into a smile and her eyes shining. "And so you want me to go and bring back what I can."
"Such a brilliant girl," Lilith chuckled and took a sealed scroll from her desk to hand to Amity. "I took the liberty of contacting a local historian who was more than happy to point you in the right direction." When Amity reached for the scroll, Lilith twitched it just out of reach. "Just please remember-"
"Be friendly, but wary," Amity said, with a tone of rote memorization. "Never let your guard down when others may try to take your work."
"Always," Lilith chuckled and handed over the scroll.
Outside that very building, Steve and Katya rolled up on his motorbike. Removing their helmets, they took a moment to observe the seeming final phase of the renovations to the library. It really had come along quite well.
Steve glanced around and smiled when he finally caught sight of the person they had come here to meet. He and Katya dismounted the bike and moved to intercept Matt, who was shouting directions from the blueprints in his hands at some masons handling the stonework. Katya's lip twitched as she caught a flash of Kikimora atop the building, the little gremlin still working off her probation for her crimes under the Emperor's Coven and during the Troubles.
"Hey, Matty," Steve called jovially.
"Ugh, Steve," Matt hissed through his teeth. "I told you not to call me that. Especially at a worksite."
"Right, sorry," Steve chuckled. "I just wanted to let you know that Katya and I will be gone for a while."
"Is this a romantic thing?" Matt ventured, an eyebrow crooked with dubiousness as he gestured between them. "Or a work thing?"
"Work," Katya said simply. "Which means we can't talk about it."
"Ah, come on!" Matt whined. "You can't drop a line like that and not follow up."
"We kind of have to," Steve hedged.
"Come on, no one'll know!" Matt argued. He looked around to illustrate the point. "We're the only ones in listening distance."
"Matty-" Steve warned, and on cue Matt tried his best puppy-dog eyes. The effect was somewhat ruined by his fledgeling facial hair, but even if it hadn't been Steve was well past immune to his brothers, erm, charms. He was silent for a moment before he just laughed.
Katya, however, had not put in that kind of exposure. She and Steve had been dating for nearly as long as the Collector had been gone, and that certainly wasn't enough. Granted, Matt's puppy-dog eyes were more pathetic than cute, but the effect was the same. She held out for a long moment, then the truth burst out of her in a loud whisper.
"We're going to the Behemic Empire to search out wild magic," she hissed.
"Katya," Steve said, more in shock than protest. Katya and the BATs' loyalty to Raine was beyond question, so he had never even considered she may let classified information slip.
"Oh, cool!" Matt sighed.
"This stays between us, Matty," Steve said sternly, leveling a finger at his younger half-brother. "Crazy-classified. Got it?"
"Aye aye, bro," Matt said with a sarcastic salute. "Come on. Like I said," he said with a shrug, "no one's around."
As everyone said their goodbyes so that Matt could get back to work and Steve and Katya could make a few more stops to prepare for their mission, no one noticed a single large, round ear peeking out from the ramparts atop the library. Or the little Ruki demon with a new twinkle in her visible eye and a savage grin on her fanged face.
Once again, Kikimora's excellent hearing had served her well …
As tends to happen, not every single soul was happy with the rampant changes to the Boiling Isles society that the triumvirate and then the new Council of Nine had brought. A minority still supported Belos's ideals, even with the Emperor gone — though these hold outs were few, far between, and posed little threat after four years.
A more pervasive threat was the collections of former coven scouts and guards, as well as general people still clinging to the old covens, that had gathered around the familiar authority figures that were the ex-coven heads.
Osran the Elder, then-head of the Oracle Coven, had surrendered his mantle with little resistance. He was, in his own words, too old and tired to fight anymore. He had settled for amnesty in exchange for using his skills to track down his former fellows before slipping into retirement. Mason of the Construction Coven had done much the same, abdicating his title to dedicate his time and energy to helping to rebuild. Hettie Cutburn of the Healing Coven had been arrested for crimes against the Isles in her unethical medical research, but had been spared the death penalty by offering her knowledge and given a life sentence in the Conformatorium.
Terra Snapdragon had been a true thorn in the triumvirate's side for the first few years. Her immense personal power, fearsome reputation, psychological hold on many former Emperor's Coven, and ruthless ambition had been difficult to deal with. It had taken all three of the rebel head witches, the Clawthorne sisters, and a small force of new watchmen from the Emperor's Coven old guard to take her down hard.
Adrian Graye had been a slippery snake to catch, always trying to rally support to take the throne himself. That hadn't been much of a threat on its own, as most who worked with the man couldn't stand him for long, to the point that many had offered his location up to the triumvirate willingly. But he'd kept escaping, and his efforts had been a persistent annoyance until Osran's efforts had finally pinned him down to capture and imprison.
And then there was Vitimir of the Potions Coven, who had taken an approach that was more long-game. He had established a business of his own in commercial potion brewing, though heavily observed by the Council of Nine. But in doing so, he had established a legitimate way to hide his growing power base as he hired those who were silently unsatisfied with change.
One such individual was a former member of Vitimir's own former coven, who was tending to a scrying potion in a back room of Vitimir's factory-slash-brewhouse. A rat-like demon stirred the concoction that had been recently locked onto a specific individual close to the council. Granted, it was useless when said person was in the capitol building or their own home, both protected by powerful wards, but when out and about on the town, it worked just fine.
"Uh, Boss? You may wanna listen to this!" the demon called into a PA cone through the face mask he wore in the popular style of alchemists.
Not five minutes later, the door slid open to reveal the tall, gangly form of Vitimir strutting rooster-like on his avian feet, dressed in an overcoat, his own trademark facial mask, and the lopsidedly-sliced hat he still wore after the Day of Unity, though patched in the top. "A symbol of my reformation," he called it to the public. Really, it was a reminder of his goals.
"Yes, Igan," he asked, his voice ragged and raspy, presumably from a lifetime of exposure to chemical fumes. "What have you found?"
"You'll want to hear for yourself, sir," Igan said and traced a spell circle that brought a stream of the scrying potion out and into the air to flatten into a mirror-like disk. The image in the glowing purple disk shifted before settling into an image of its main target, Katya Serdste of the BATs, along with Steve Malva and the Mattholomule boy that was close with the Owl House group. Vitmir listened closely, his wide mouth slowly curling into a gruesome smile.
"Oh, this is most fortuitous," he hissed, and looked pointedly at Igan. "Keep an eye on that potion to see where they are headed." Then he turned and made to begin his own preparations.
As the sun was beginning to set, Steve and Katya arrived at the final place on their agenda after packing and arranging for transport from Captain Salty, an old acquaintance who also knew Luz, King, and Hunter. They removed their helmets and smiled at the lopsided edifice of the Owl House.
They approached the star-spangled door that now served as a portal to the human realm, thanks in part to the Collector, and knocked. The door was answered by none other than the young man they'd come to speak to.
"Steve!" King cheered in greeting, wrapping him in a hug at the waist. He separated and waved at Katya. "What are you guys doing here?"
"I wanted to run something by you and Eda," Steve said. "Is she around?"
"She's brewing up her homemade apple blood," King stage-whispered behind his paw. "I'll go get her." He turned and darted inside, calling over his shoulder, "Make yourselves at home."
As the couple entered and closed the door, they had no idea that the protections that the Collector had laid over the Owl House to support the portal also protected it from many other things. Such as scrying potions.
"Heya, lovebirds," Eda declared as she wandered in, pointing a finger gun at them with her hand while her hook was replaced by a clamp for holding glasses, this one with apple blood. "What can I do for ya?"
"Maybe we should sit down," Katya suggested. "It's kind of a long story."
When everyone had taken their seats, Steve and Katya began to explain their mission from Raine and Steve's request for a third companion. Given the situation, it was fairly clear what they were asking.
"You want me to come with you?" King asked, eyes shining.
"I figured you would appreciate the chance to learn about your kin," Steve sighed.
"Of course, your mom has a say in it, too," Katya teased, eying Eda. It was a well-known fact that Eda could be a bit unpredictable in how protective she was over her kids. Balancing faith in their abilities against her own well-earned knowledge of how dangerous the world was could be tough, especially for such a free spirit.
"You're all-in on this, aren't you, King?" Eda asked in a reasonable voice.
"Please, Eda," King said, clasping his claws. "Please!"
"If anything happens to him," Eda warned semi-seriously, pointing at the two of them, "you know it'll be on your heads."
"If anything happens to him," Katya replied, "we'll already be too dead to be scared."
Eda snorted and nodded at the rebuttal. "Alright, fine," she decided. "Go on another trip with your buddy, King."
King giggled and hugged Eda before racing off to pack. Katya volunteered to help and followed.
"Have him at the docks at daybreak," Steve instructed, handing her a card with directions. "We want this to be as quiet as possible."
"You got it, champ," Eda said.
Welcome, welcome,welcome everyone! It's been quite a while, but I've got something new for you. This story is inspired by the "My Movie Cast" posts from ReporterInevitable51. They have given approval and served as a sounding board, as well. If you want to see their finished post, here's the link: r/TheOwlHouse/comments/19cn0ny/the_final_part_happy_1yr_anniversary_ftf/
*Steve's musings toward the beginning are to establish the setting. Much of it is based on my own thoughts and ideas for a post-series world, especially the ruling coven heads and system reform.
*Steve's surname is chosen from the Spanish phrase "color de malva," meaning the color mauve. This is derived from the term "mauve shirt," or a minor character that gains more significance without becoming a major character.
*Trivius is my take on a male alternative to Trivia, the Roman triple-faced goddess of witchcraft that is Hecate in Greek myth.
*I'm using "Mx." - a common replacement for Mr. or Mrs. for non0binary people as replacement for "sir/ma'a,." If there is a better alternative, feel free to let me know.
*The idea of the southern hemisphere being an empire is completely my own idea. Tragically, we know very little about the demon realm outside the Boiling Isles or Titan Trapper Island. For the premise of this work, the Boiling Ises is situated in the northern hemisphere at roughly the same latitude as Texas, my home state.
*The Behemic Empire and its fall are based upon the Roman Empire. The title comes from the word "behemoth," derived from Biblical texts and described as a truly massive animal. The word is now used to describe something gigantic in size, much like the word "titanic" is used the same way.
*Ruki as a demon term is the Russian for "hand," referring to Kikimora and Osran's hand-like hair.
*Igan's name is derived from removing "rat" from "Rattigan," as in the antagonist of "The Great Mouse Detective." It also reminds me of Igor, the assistant to a mad scientist.
As always, I hope this was a fun read! Leave a review if you like! And may your own works be fun to read and to write!