apocalypsehowcomm | LOG | July Catch-All

The pieces were starting to fall into place. Raine thought back to what they were told when they arrived here.. people from different worlds were showing up. Now they didn't say anything about time, but the things Eda was saying was helping them draw the necessary conclusion.

Eda has been here for months, apparently.. she says the last time they saw eachother they wouldn't look at her.. they had to assume it meant the Coven Day Parade incident, even though that was just about a week ago. She didn't seem to know what they meant when they prompted her about the sigil and her arm. Then of course the most damning evidence was Eda outright mentioning time as a factor just now.. Raine wasn't certain they knew what this all meant in the grand scheme of things but there was one thing they couldn't deny.

She didn't know about what happens on the day of unity. They had mere moments to decide how to proceed, their face knotting up and they turned to the side a bit so they wouldn't have to look at her as they hugged themselves.

"We were.. preparing. For the Day of Unity. It was just around the bend, I'd made sure you and Luz were brought to us safely so we could come up with a plan.." They looked back to her, gaze flickering over her expression for any sign of recognition. "You don't remember that, do you?"

Eda started to reach out a hand when Raine turned away and wrapped their arms around themselves like that. She almost put it on their shoulder, but then hesitated. She wasn't quite sure what was happening but she wanted to help, wanted to pull them into a hug... but that didn't exactly go over well last time. Even if they were acting very different right now.

"I don't," Eda agreed slowly, her expression as puzzled as before, but at least it seemed that she'd put the situation together right. Admittedly she wasn't happy about that.

"It was... a week until the Day of Unity, when I got here." So the amount of time between them showing up doesn't really line up, either. Ugh. She really does hate time magic at this point.

"You'd made sure... Raine, last time I saw you you were all, you know, brainwashed or whatever. What happened? Do you remember getting captured and everything now?" It sure seemed like they'd snapped out of it, but she wanted to make sure they were on... well, not the same page, but more or less.

Of course, there was a little bit of suspicion nagging at the back of her mind. There had been ever since Raine handed her back her invisibility glyph. But Raine wouldn't have lied.

Raine didn't lie. That was sort of a big thing.

...Apparently Raine lied to the Emperor's coven these days.

But Raine didn't lie to her.

Raine's face tightened up, expression knotting with discomfort as they slowly looked back to Eda, at which point their facade began to crack just a bit. They didn't like lying to her, hell- the incident at the Parade was painful in a way they never wanted to experience again. Yet.. here they were. Stringing her along again. Maybe this time it will really be for the better.

They let out a small sigh and looked away again as they begun their confession. "I wasn't brainwashed, not exactly. There was an attempt, through Terra.. But with the help of Darius and Eber I was able to prevent it without them knowing. I couldn't afford for the other Covenheads or the Emperor to realize I was foiling their plan but also I just-"

Raine tensed up and pinched the bridge of their nose, shutting their eyes as they took another deep breath. "I wanted to protect you, Eda. If you got caught after all by Kikimora when Darius and Eber cornered us I don't think you would have been nearly as lucky as me. Your safety and the safety of those close to you was too important to risk."

Eda's expression grew harder to read as she listened, the concern fading into... well, to be completely honest it was taking a little while to process everything. She wasn't sure which was harder to believe, the fact Darius and Eberwolf were apparently helping or the fact that Raine had been lying. Or the fact that Raine had pulled off lying. No, it was definitely a tie between those last two. She'd worry about the other coven heads later.

Raine lying to her was enough to be a shock, but so was the fact she apparently didn't know all their tells anymore on the rare occasion they did. She really didn't like this. But she had to admit she was still happy they were alright.

"...Well, first things first," she said after a long moment. Eda pulled them into a crushingly tight hug, probably lifting them off their feet briefly. "M'glad you're not brainwashed."

She squeezed them for a few seconds, then let go, let out an irritated huff and shoved them away. "Now tell me what the hell you were thinking," she growled. Technically they kind of had, but apparently she didn't like that answer.

"Thinking I had to keep the kids safe by myself, and stop the emperor somehow, without any allies was supposed to keep me safe? Thinking you definitely needed someone to fucking rescue you was supposed to keep me safe? Did you think I wouldn't just be more worried--!"

Eda paused, but only to take a deep breath.

The moment of silence was almost enough to break them. Watching her conflicted expression made their stomach tie up in a billion little knots. Then she moved forwards and pulled them into a hug. It was suffocating, almost.. but.. nice. They didn't care about how their feet lifted up, or how they hand to brace against her to keep from toppling over as they were set back down.

They were a second from returning the gesture before she was shoving them away. They staggered back and just barely managed to catch themselves in the shock of the sudden mood shift.

Raine's eyes flickered over her face before frowning, looking down and to the side. It was just getting harder to look her in the eyes. Especially knowing how it all ends.. in the moments before they showed up here.

"I- I know. I know it wasn't the best move, now at least. You don't remember it, or know it yet I suppose but when we met again before the preparations for the Day of Unity I realized that I couldn't leave you out of this. That I should have let you know sooner. Admittedly? I thought you would realize it would be too easy to loose the things you care about trying to fight this, let alone without any help. That you'd stay far away from the Emperor, the Covens.."

They trailed off as their voice wavered, hands balled up to keep them from shaking at their sides. It's their fault she was there in the end, they should have kept her far away from it.

"I'm sorry, Eda."

Eda really, really wanted to keep yelling at them. She was mad at them and mad at the situation and honestly she just needed to yell.

But... Raine also kind of looked like a kicked puppy at the moment. It was hard to keep yelling at them when they looked so upset and guilty already. And when she was guessing they'd already heard it all, at least if they were telling the truth about coming clean in their timeline.

She took another deep breath, but this time to try and hold it together.

"I guess... I'll have to take your word for that," she decided, albeit grudgingly. "You better have," she added, a little more warning her tone.

As for the rest they almost had a point but, well, she could lose the things she cared about if she didn't try, too. One of those things being Raine, thank you very much. Not that she says that bit out loud.

"It's... weird. The time stuff I mean." She glances away and pinches the bridge of her nose. She should probably fill them in, especially since that might be an easier topic.

"Hunter's here. Um. The Golden Guard," she clarified the last bit as an afterthought, not actually sure how well Raine actually knew the kid even if they both worked for the Emperor. "But he doesn't remember the last time he saw me or Luz. Or... a lot of stuff I know about that he doesn't yet."

They were expecting more shouting, a load more yelling and raw emotion to come pouring out, they half expected her to call them on their bluff any moment now. Then she took a deep breath, and the shouting didn't come. They weren't sure how long they could keep doing this, lying to protect her but.. at least this time they know exactly what they're protecting her from.

Raine nodded and didn't say anything more until she continued on. They still seemed on edge and weary but they did perk up a bit at the mention of the boy.

"The Golden Guard is here?" They stewed in thought for a moment before placing a hand under their chin in thought. "When I'm from, I suppose, the last time I'd seen him was right before the memory spell went awry." They muttered in recollection, not exactly processing that may be news to Eda. "I'm guessing that would be about when you saw him last too, right?"

“No, the last time I saw him was after I got the kids out of there–” Eda corrected them, before trailing off with a raised eyebrow.

“How do you know about that memory spell?” It was possible that she’d told them about it later, but something about the way they mentioned it going awry and the way they said right before made her think they might mean something else.

“...Luz said they got in that mess because Hunter was trying to stop someone else from spying on Belos.” Someone else who she was kind of mad at, given it ended in her having to rescue the kids. Even if she couldn’t blame them for wanting to spy. After all, she’d been telling Luz that someone needed to find some actual proof. But she still wasn’t happy about it.

Raine stalled to a stop and blinked a bit owlishly as they realized they never really.. told her, even when THEY'RE from, let alone the fact she seems to be from right around then.

"Well.. It sounds like you've figured it out. Me, Darius and Eber were trying to figure out what exactly would happen on the Day of Unity, the Golden Guard and your kid both.. interrupted it. We didn't know they'd get stuck in there, last we saw them they were both fine when we left."

They moved a hand down to fidget with one of their buttons as they. "I did try to help get them out of there, and I assume it worked. It was the flowers, for the potion. It was the only way I could think to get past Hooty without being caught and still lend a hand."

Eda looked like she was ready to be angry again, based on that first part. Even if it was a good excuse, that didn't mean she had to be happy about it.

The next part, though, caught her off guard. It made sense now, but at the time she'd had no idea who'd both know and want to help.

"...I did think that was dumb even for Hooty," she said after a moment. If it was someone he knew that explained a lot. Or maybe the flowers would have worked for anyone, you never knew with him.

"Thanks," she added, deflating a bit. "Not sure I could have pulled it off without that. And they got out just in time, too. Belos wasn't exactly happ--" Eda paused, suddenly remembering the specific note with those flowers.

"Hang on, secret admirer?"

Raine let out an internal sigh of relief when it tided her over. They weren't sure how much more arguing they could do at this rate, it was proving to be extremely emotionally and physically taxing to try and keep this up. If things were different, they'd tell her everything they could, confide in her. She still thinks there's a home to go back to, doesn't she? They'd rather keep it that way.

Then she decided to press a specific detail about their little stunt with the flowers and Raine's face begun to burn as their eyes went wide. For a moment they stammered, trying to come up with some sort of sly comment or coy excuse but it all turned to mush before they could say anything.

Raine stopped themselves, took a deep breath.. and let out a small, sort of nervous laugh. "Yeah.. I was- Well I was working on the fly and I knew that'd appeal to Hooty's sensibilities, at least. Besides, it worked didn't it?"

Eda started to smirk, just a tiny bit, at that blush. Upset as she was overall, it didn't change the fact that Raine was very, very cute when they did that. But then they made excuses and... what else was she expecting? After all, she teased them about it to be obnoxious. It wasn't like she actually thought they meant anything by it.

So why did it kind of hurt a little? Why did they somehow feel further away when they were here than when they weren't? Pull yourself together Edalyn, you're a grown-ass woman.

"Yeah--yeah, I guess it did. Hooty's always been a big sap so, you know, good thinking."

LOG | July Catch-All | Closed for Now

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