Raine
Ever since I met Eda, I knew I wanted to be by her side. At first, I thought it was because I had finally found someone that I could be friends with, but I would eventually realize that it was much more than that. A part of me always knew I had feelings for her, but it took a while before I was ready to admit it. She became my best friend, my biggest supporter, and the person I admire the most in the world. I wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with her and I was sure she felt the same way.
Eda has always been very independent, it's one of the things I admire about her but it's also what makes her push me away. Rather than facing obstacles together, she prefers dealing with them by herself and lying to me so that I don't worry. But I know her better than anybody, I know when she's lying, and it hurts. It has always made me feel like she doesn't trust me and at times it gets hard to trust her. I suppose that's the reason everything came to crash when the baby came along.
The day I learned about him I felt a wide range of emotions in just a few minutes. I was confused at first but for a brief moment I thought he was our child and I felt overwhelming joy. I had never given any thought to having children. Eda and I had never discussed it before. Yet for just that moment I saw us growing old together with a family of our own. Then when she clarified that the child belonged to Lilith, I felt sad as I saw that short-lived dream fade. But also, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief. We had never discussed what direction we wanted our relationship to go in. There were many things that we needed to sort out before then. Unfortunately, we did not get that far.
After leaving the owl house that day I felt very overwhelmed. Taking care of the baby together with Eda made me realize that there was a lot more we were missing out on as a couple. We hardly ever spent any time together just hanging out like we did that day. I also experienced Eda relying on me for the first time in a long time. Even though it was just doing simple tasks like entertaining a baby it still made me happy that she depended on me.
I had previously wanted us to move in together but after that day, I felt myself wanting more. It didn't help that I still kept getting praised and receiving gifts for the child everyone thought we had together. Every time someone would approach me, I would feel a mixed sensation of joy, regret, and longing. It didn't help that most people wouldn't listen to me when I told them Hunter wasn't ours, so the news just kept spreading. Some even gave me personalized gifts that were just too embarrassing to even look at but that also pushed me even further over the edge.
Next thing I knew I was purchasing a special ring and calling Eda to make plans for a special night together. We were going to go out on the town just the two of us. We would have dinner, dance, and maybe go to a brawl. Then when the moment was right, I would take her to our special place up on the hill. Over the years it had become a special place for us where we could escape the world and be together. It was where we shared our first kiss and where we confessed our feelings for one another. Once there I would play her favorite song and then take out the ring and ask her to marry me. It was going to be perfect. Unfortunately, we never even made it out of the house.
When I arrived that night Eda informed me that we would have to leave a little later than planned because Lilith was running late. I didn't mind waiting a bit longer, but I could tell something was wrong. Eda was acting strange and even Hooty seemed concerned. I tried asking them what was wrong but neither of them would budge. Eda even tried brushing off the question and tried distracting me with the baby. I'm ashamed to say it but it worked for a while. I suppose the baby fever had gone to my head. Still, as the hours passed Eda became more and more on edge. It was clear to me that she was scared but I didn't know why. She kept stealing glances at the clock and then at the door. Hooty spent most of the time outside patrolling. It was strange and it gave me the impression that we were all in danger.
Maybe I shouldn't have pushed for an answer, but I did. If there was a threat, I needed to know. Unfortunately, my questions triggered Eda resulting in her turning all her pent-up emotions on me. I'm not proud to say that I did the same, but I was just so frustrated. It made me forget everything about starting a family together and made me remember all the times she has kept something from me. It just made all my insecurities about our relationship come to the surface. We both said hurtful things and I wish I could take them all back. I was just so angry.
Everything happened so fast. One moment we were arguing then the next her eyes turned black, and I was getting dragged out of the house. I knew it was over and so did she. Once Hooty stopped dragging me he started crying and saying he was sorry, but he sounded so far away. All the anger and frustration I had been feeling had disappeared and had been replaced by a cold numbness. The only thing I could feel was the weight of the ring box in my pocket. With a heavy heart, I pulled out the box and looked at it one last time before setting it down on the ground and walking away.
Eda
"Eda please just tell me what's going on. I know something is bothering you and Hooty. You can't hide it from me. Let me help you." pleaded Raine.
"I don't need your help!" I yelled. The last thing I needed right now was Raine trying to pry into this. I didn't want them to know. They were safer if they didn't know.
Please just stop.
"Eda..." I could see the pain in their eyes, but I didn't care.
I hurt them.
"I've never needed your help, or anyone else's so why don't you just mind your own business?!"
I take it back.
"Eda your eyes," the pain in their eyes quickly turned into fear as I started to transform.
"No not now." I couldn't let Raine see me transform.
"What's going on? Please just let me help."
There's nothing you can do.
"Leave! I don't want to see you!"
I just want to protect you.
"What?" The pain in Raine's voice was almost too much for me to bear. "What are you saying? Are you breaking up with me?"
"Yes...Hooty! Get Raine out of here now." Hooty was probably listening to us argue because he quickly swept wrapping himself around Raine before dragging them out.
"Eda! Wait! No! Let me go! Eda!"
"EDA! EDA! WAKE UP!"
"Huh, what?" When I opened my eyes, I saw that I was in my nest with Hooty leaning over me looking frightened. "Hooty, why are you yelling did something happen?"
"You were crying in your sleep, and you started getting all feathery," he said concerned. "Are you okay?"
I started to look around but the light coming from my bedroom window made my eyes burn. It took a moment for them to adjust and that's when I saw the bottles. There were at least five that I could see. I thought that after Lilith, and I started sharing the curse this wouldn't be an issue anymore but I was wrong. After I broke up with Raine I took so many elixirs I lost count. Even after the feathers had gone away, I still kept on drinking them hoping that they would make the bad feelings go away too.
"I'm okay Hooty don't worry," I said getting out of my nest. He still looked worried. On any other day, he would have pushed the issue but I was grateful that he didn't. "Where's the kid?"
"Lilith took him with her to see the Blights. She thought that you could use the time off."
That was good it saved me from having to explain things to Lily. If I told her about the breakup, she would just blame herself when it was all my fault. I love Raine more than anything in this world but if anything, bad ever happened to them because of me I wouldn't be able to forgive myself. Even before we started talking about going against Belos I always felt like I was holding Raine back. They had big dreams and I knew they were putting them aside because of me.
Even after I tried building distance between us so they would feel freer to pursue their passions they still held back. I knew that Raine wanted nothing more than to join the Bard coven and show the rest of the Boiling Isles just how powerful bards could be. Yet they limited themselves to doing things the hard way without the backing of a coven because of me. They deserve better.
"It's for the best," I whispered then settled myself back into my nest. "I'm just going to sleep in today. Don't worry about me I'm just tired."
Hooty's face made it clear he didn't believe me, but he still left the room closing the door behind him and leaving me alone with my thoughts. I wasn't lying about being tired. I hardly got any sleep last night because every time I closed my eyes those last few moments together would start replaying in my mind. Then I would open the box and I would feel myself start to crumble.
After Hooty had dragged Raine out of the house he came back with the small box. He said Raine had left it behind before leaving. When I opened it, I felt lost and empty. I wanted to run out of the room and chaise after Raine, but my legs wouldn't move. As much as I wanted to chase after them, I also wanted to hide. I wanted to throw myself into the deepest darkest hole in the Boiling Isles and stay there forever. How could I have been so stupid?
The first thing I noticed was the silver ring inside. At first glance, it looked like a plain silver ring with no markings. Then I saw the writing on the top half of the box. It was Raine's handwriting.
"I have loved you from the first moment I met you. When I am with you, I feel like I can do anything. You are my best friend, my inspiration, and my reason for living. Will you marry me?"
I hadn't realized I was crying until Hooty started crying his lungs out next to me. Even the kid was crying but he was simply scared by Hooty and me. At that moment though I didn't care. I couldn't move I couldn't stop myself from crying. I felt like my whole world was crumbling around me and I didn't know what to do. My mind went blank and the only thing I could see and hear was the memory of my argument with Raine.
It wasn't until Lilith came home that time seemed to start moving again. Hooty was still crying on the floor even though he had settled down a bit. I had stopped crying though I don't remember when that happened, and the kid had taken the box from me and was playing with it. I wonder if he somehow knew that the box was affecting me.
I managed to pull myself together enough to half listen to Lilith. She told me she had been summoned by Belos and what they had talked about. To be honest, I was thankful for the distraction, but I also realized that I had completely forgotten about the potential threat we had been in. I had forgotten about the baby and about the fear that Lily was in trouble. If this had been a real emergency, I would have been useless. Then she reminded me about joining the emperor's coven.
Everything was changing so fast. Lily had a baby, I was an aunt taking care of a kid, and I'm going to be joining a coven, if Raine and I hadn't fought we would be engaged right now. It was too much too quickly. Would I have even said yes?
I didn't when Lilith left the room last night. I don't even remember coming upstairs to my room. While I was awake, I would stare at Raine's words and the ring. I still hadn't taken the ring out of the box. I was afraid that somehow that would make all this real and I wasn't ready to truly accept that I had lost Raine. Still, this was something that I needed to do.
The ring itself looked like a plain silver ring. I carefully pulled it out of the box and placed it on my hand. Then an inscription started to appear that said: "Forever Yours." As if that wasn't enough to break me, I noticed that the ring had some indentations on it. My eyes must have been so tired that I hadn't noticed them before. I couldn't quite make out what they were even when I held the ring closer. I ran a finger over them, and they lit up and then the music started to play. The indentations were musical notes and the song, it was Raine playing. Tears started to flow down my face, and I didn't do anything to hold them back.
"I'm so sorry Raine."