"I need to be the favorite uncle of course. Do you think I'd let Everett or Garreth steal the spotlight?" He scoffed quietly, but then froze, "Oh fuck."
"What?"
Ominis looked grave, "He's going to find out Natsai was killed. That's really going to piss him off. She was our best potion brewer." He pinched the bridge of his nose, "And the fact that Leander got Natty captured since he was a spy for Rookwood. He's going to go on a bloody murder spree."
"That's what you wanted, isn't it? Since the rebellion couldn't handle the frontlines without him." She couldn't help the bitterness seeping through. Ominis was the reason he would had to go to the frontlines in nine days—
"Don't be upset with me because he's the best chance we have at winning the war." Ominis stated unapologetically, "Sebastian is my brother and I will protect him by any means necessary. I love him dearly. But he is incredibly ruthless and cunning. Every major battle has won only because he's scarified parts of his soul for the war. He has no morals."
"And—"
Gracie went to argue, but was cut off as the ground began to shake in front of them. Ominis snapped his head to where the vibrations in the ground were coming from. Both had their wands out almost immediately just as a Venomous Scurriour broke out of the ground. However... the ground didn't stop shaking.
One... Two... Three... Four... Five spiders broke through. Gracie sighed inwardly, staring at the largest spider ahead of them. Seven glowing eyes. In place of its eight eye was a scarlet marble. Great.
They found the fifth creature, but in doing so, they were surrounded.
Chapter Sixty Three: Caught in the Spider's Web
"Bit of a sticky situation, eh?" Ominis remarked, grimacing.
"He's got jokes." Gracie said flatly, "What about any ideas—"
Ominis didn't have the opportunity to finish as one of the smaller Scurriours pounced towards them from the side.
"Incendio!" He shouted, his tone more venomous than any of the spiders surrounding them.
Gracie yipped, dodging his fire. "Hello! A little warning next time?"
"Didn't see you there." Ominis remarked dryly, "Too busy—Flipendo!"
She ducked, dodging his spell. It landed on one of the Scurriours, ripping it from the ground. Gracie pointed her wand to the creature, "Imperio!"
"That's Dark magic." Ominis snarled, "What are you doing?!"
Gracie shot him a nasty glare, "Winning."
She masterfully hit half the spiders, forcing them against their will to attack each other. Her and Ominis didn't fight well together. That was clear as day. Sebastian read her and executed moves that complimented instead of taking the attention away from her. Gracie didn't have time to bicker, she only had the time to succeed. She wouldn't prolong any sort of fight that could harm the last existential proof she had that love was real.
"Dark magic is—" Ominis began, but Gracie ripped him to shreds with her words.
"I am not above using any sort of magic to protect what's mine." Her words echoed a past flame; a flame whose embers were beginning to grow cold without any attention. "If you have a problem with that, then I don't need you here to fucking try and protect me. You'll only get in the way."
Gracie didn't look to see if her words had hurt him. She put all her anger in over the past few hours, all her rage, and most of all—all her pain into her spell work. The smaller spiders took each other out which left the largest Scurriour and her.
With precise, careful movements under seven glittering eyes, Gracie drew out the sword from the satchel and faced her fifth creature. It showed no remorse for the dead humans around them nor for any sadness for its dead comrades. These magical creatures were loners despite the fact that spiders worked in colonies.
It's black and honey, veined torso rattled with anticipation. Ominis stood next to her with his wand drawn and blatant dislike on his face. For the spider or her—she wasn't sure. Maybe it was equal.
"Any ideas?" He asked curtly, another flame spell on the tip of his tongue.
Gracie scoured her mind.
Defense Against the Dark Arts.
Dark creatures.
Spiders.
The Venomous Scurriour is a large breed of Acromantula, or giant magical species of spiders that were originally bred to guard dwellings. This breed of spider was first spotted in 1794 and has a particular taste for human flesh. The Scurriours are as the name suggests venomous, but its venom became more lethal the longer it's infused in the target over time. A Wiggenweld potion can stop the poison from doing further damage, but it would take blood replenishing potions to cleanse the blood.
The best way to approach this breed of Acromantula is to cast the Knock back Jinx. The knock back jinx will rip these spiders out of the ground when they start to burrow which will do great damage to them.
Gracie slashed the sword against air, narrowly dodging the chelicerae dripping venom. She looked to Ominis who was trying to hurt the creature without killing it. Warning flames cautioned it to back away.
"The knock back jinx! Cast it!"
"What are you going to do?"
"Stop asking questions and do it!" Gracie snapped, dodging another strike from the venomous creature.
"They were made for each other." Ominis grumbled, partially under his breath before aiming his wand in the direction of the spider whose fangs kept snapping towards her, "Flipendo!"
Gracie threw a cast of magic against the ground, forcing the explosion to lift her into the air. She ended up on the abdomen of the spider and thrust the sword through the cephalothorax. The witch drove the sword down, severing the pedicel without any remorse.
It let out a dying wail, curling its hairy legs around her. Gracie paid special attention to its clicking fangs, not wanting them to get anywhere near her. She couldn't allow herself to get venom inside her body.
Both the spider and her crashed to the ground, but she rolled and casted a protego charm around herself while Ominis assisted with a cushioning charm.
"Is it dead?" Ominis inquired, walking towards the dead creature.
Gracie looked sullenly at the creature, "It's certainly not alive."
"Are you going to be this dreadful the whole trip?"
Ominis waved his wand towards the remaining spiderweb covering the streets. Flames licked away without damaging the buildings. It was unfortunate that the people trapped inside the spider's silk were already dead or decomposing, but it wasn't their battle. Someone would stumble upon the town, find a slaughter, and report it to the proper authorities about some mass casualty.
"If you have an issue with it, feel free to fuck off." Gracie said sweetly, heading back towards the abandoned building after having placing the red marble into the sword. "I'm going for the next creature."
Two in one day. Two more to go. And to think it had taken them weeks and weeks for each one. Sebastian really did just want to spend time with her.
"Get over it."
She spun around, "Excuse me?"
"Sebastian doesn't remember you." Ominis said bluntly, but she couldn't tell if he was angered or being spiteful, "You can't change that, but you can control how you live from this point forward."
"Are you trying to give me a motivational pep talk? Because it's not working." She reflected wryly, keeping her attention on the road ahead, "Why don't you go to the frontlines and make sure he doesn't get himself killed. He's fighting because he feels guilty over you and Charlotte not being together, not because he particularly cares about the outcome of the war." Her throat grew tighter as she battled against the endless tears that wanted to drown her, "Sebastian needs you more than I do."
Ominis let out an aggravated sigh, "Wampus tears do have degenerative effects when it comes to memories, but no study has shown for it to be one hundred percent permanent. There are instances where memories come back. He doesn't have to be on the frontlines right now, there are still nine days left—Maybe if we all travel together, he'll be able to remember you."
"If Charlotte forgot you, would you really want her around?" Gracie bit out, crossing her arms to give some semblance of a boundary around her, "Do you think you could handle not being able to love her openly?"
"If Charlotte was alive, I'd be thankful for every heart beat. Every time she opened her mouth and I was able to hear her voice," Ominis spoke in the same icy manner, "You're not the only one to have loved and lost."
Gracie spun around, "Charlotte died loving you. That'a nicety compared to Sebastian forgetting me entirely and every moment we shared together."
"I don't need to hear about your sex l—"
"Demons. Trauma. Fear. Insecurities. Don't belittle me as if what Sebastian and I had was purely physical." Gracie grew angrier with each word, "Sebastian helped me realize a lot about myself and made me care. He made me believe in myself. He helped me to understand what love is." Her jaw clenched as she fought the emotions closing in on her. Resentment and grief were like vultures picking away at what was left of her. "Don't compare your trauma with mine in an effort to try and make me feel better. It's not a pissing contest. I'm incredibly sorry about what happened with Charlotte, but I don't want your sympathy. Sebastian is your friend. Go take care of him and leave me the fuck alone."
"So you think you can do this all by yourself?" Ominis stopped in front of her, his face contorted in disbelief. "Sebastian sent me to make sure you would be alright."
It pained her to say this, but it was the truth. "I am nothing to him and I am nothing to you. I'll complete the sword and I'll send word when I'm done."
"How do you expect to defeat the creature in the Drake Passage alone and in Australia?" Ominis tried one last desperate attempt, seeing that he'd pushed her too far this time. "I'll shut up for the rest of the trip."
"I'll figure it out." Gracie remarked in a dry tone, "I've been told that I've got an excellent encyclopaedia for a brain."
Stubborn and repressed, Gracie had taken a pouch of floo powder that Sebastian invented. It might have been silly to go back, but there was only once place she wanted to go that she felt like she'd be able to breathe again. Throwing the powder against the ground, her last view was of Ominis scowling fiercely and looking every bit like a disgruntled younger brother. Boo-fucking-hoo. He shouldn't have thrown gasoline on a fire only one person in her life had the experience to control.
The witch went through the motions of transfiguring stones for dollars and buying a ticket for a first class cabin. She sat in the familiar cream colors seats and held the satchel against her chest.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
Gracie looked to see the trolley attendant giving her a kind smile, "The husband in the restroom? That was a quick trip was it not? Back to New York already?"
It was the opposite direction of where she needed to go, but Gracie needed the time to cry in a place where she felt safe.
"Short trip. I'll take a cuppa. Ginger please. I'm feeling rather nauseous." But it wasn't from pregnancy symptoms. It was from the ghosts of confessions lingering in the air, making her feel as if she was suffocating. How could a place so consoling also be so damning?
The trolley attendant gave her a cup of hot tea, "I'll be back in a few hours with dinner. Enjoy deary."
Gracie smiled politely, setting it down on the wooden tray table in front of her. She would read to distract herself, if only to procrastinate the breakdown that was surely on its way.
What she thought was a book in the satchel, ended up being something more valuable. It was a journal she didn't realize Sebastian had placed in there. He had been carrying it around more often than her, but when did he have time to write without her noticing?
She flipped to a random page, noticing there was only one entry, and the date was from the time spent onboard the RMS Campania. The same night she'd gotten drunk and he realized he loved her. Her fingers traced the calligraphy. His strokes with a quill were sharp, to the point just as he was.
She's pissed as a newt and my mind is on fire with burning declarations. The stubborn witch tried to seduce me and her hair is still shades of pink and purple. It reminds me of heather on the Scottish hills. A beautiful flower I used to pick with Anne as a boy. We'd give them to mum on days she didn't feel well and stayed in bed. I think I have the old vase hidden away somewhere. I made fun of Ominis for talking in poetics, but now I find myself wanting to tell her everything I'm scared of.
Like losing her to the truth.
I find myself becoming more greedy about every smile that flits across her face. Those smiles, that laugh, the love in her eyes, her moans—they're all mine. I want to consume her and yet she has no idea the hold she has on me. I don't think I'll ever be able to keep this amount of love I have for her a secret. She'll know sooner rather than later how much I adore her.
I think I'll write a song—though I can't sing for the life of me—but putting words to paper will help hide how I feel a little longer. If this song is terrible, I'm never showing it to her. Mark my words. I'd sooner cast a quick avada on myself than suffer the embarrassment she'd surely hold over me for the rest of our lives together. Ha. I'm already sold on forever.
When I was a young boy, my mother said to me
'Find yourself a pretty lass, don't take her love for free'
From the field of Aberfeldy to the shores of Loch Maree
I know that she's the only one for me
Oh, my love said to me, 'Will you meet me by the sea?'
You can kiss me underneath the misty moon
She is stunning, she is pretty, she's as warm as amber whisky
And as bonny as a heather on the hill
Oh, my love
She is stunning, she is pretty, she's as warm as amber whisky
And as bonny as a heather on the hill
(Author's Note: All credits for the song go to Nathan Evans - Heather On the Hill)
Gracie covered her mouth to silence her gasps for air as the sobs wracked her body. Why did she want to learn about love? Why did she want to learn about something that felt like a knife repeatedly being stabbed into her body over and over again.
She needed to finish the sword and then run.
Run far away.
As if heartbreak was escapable.
_______________________________
(✿◠‿◠) I highly recommend listening to Heather on the Hill! I knew from chapter one that this was a song from Sebastian to Gracie and used a lot of inspiration from it! Also, the next 3 chapters will be in Sebastian's POV!
Thank you for reading and please leave a comment!