Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Life was perfect. How could it not be? For as long as they could remember, it had been Frette’s dream to be in the emperor’s coven, and now they were. What an honor! It wasn’t unexpected, of course, Frette had been working harder for this than anyone they knew. A prodigy, their teachers would tell their parents on parent teacher conferences. They knew as well as their family that it wasn’t true. Even if it was, they wouldn’t be able to accept it. “Luck” and “talent” we’re for chumps. Hard work was the only way, and that philosophy rang true as their hard work paid off again and again. And now, they were finally here.
Their parents had thrown them a party the night before they left to move into their new quarters with the rest of the new recruits. The noise of it all made Frette’s head hurt, but it was a sweet gesture regardless. Their family had insisted Frette play a song before they left, and after a moment of hesitation the bard complied. An easy excuse to play something that would lessen the headache, or at the least lower the noise.
Months had passed since then. Nearly half a year and Frette had risen to every opportunity and occasion given, flawlessly following orders and completing tasks with grace. It wasn’t like there was much else to do. Not much for hobbies to keep them busy around the fortress. They had been stationed in a room with their squadron leader, Steve. Though, nowadays Steve seemed more like Lilith’s personal escort than a squadron leader. His never ending praises to her name didn’t help much either, every word about the woman made Frette annoyed to no end.
Of course, Lilith Clawthorne was all the praise Steve had given and more, she was the leader of the coven of course. But even Frette got sick of the apparent ass-kissery every now and then.
It was all worth it, though. Being roomed with their squadron leader gave them an advantage. With nothing to do but work, they poured themself into the job. When their tasks were done with, they would go to Steve, asking for more. Filling paperwork, covering shifts, escorting higher ups, all the extra work was done easily. It was nearly expected of them by now. When the list of jobs of that caliber were done with, then came the polishing of statues, organizing weaponry, even gardening at times, it was not only fun, but put them on Steve’s good side. Gave them some credibility.

The day had started like any other, wake up, eat breakfast—it was griffon egg and oats, Frette’s favorite—do the bed, and get ready for their daily tasks. They had a guard shift out front that evening, giving plenty of time beforehand to get all the other tasks done.
Frette thought about their situation for a moment, a thought they regularly had while walking from task to task. Taking in the area, breathing it all in and grounding themself in the fact that this was real, they were in the emperors coven. Their hard work had finally paid off, and now they were in the most prestigious coven on the isles. Not that prestige was their motivation, far from it. Frette would be insulted if anyone thought that of them. They never were one for fancy titles or celebrations to their name, the party before they left had been awkward enough. All they wanted in life was the freedom to do what they loved and support their family. Mainly supporting their family, of course, who would do such things for their own happiness? A selfish thought it was. Their family needed the money they made from the job, the more they help and the more attached people get to them the harder it will be to be fired, they rationalized. Despite their claims, Frette couldn’t deny the admiration they had for the students in the beast keeping track back in school. Frette would stay lasts after class, claiming to their parents that it was extra credit work when in reality they would visit the beast keeping wing and talk to the students. Many of them asked Frette to aid by calming various beasts down with their bard magic. That’s how it started actually, a beast keeper asked for their aid in calming down a beast, and after that more and more students asked them for help. Well. “Help.” It started with wild beasts, then calming them down for a health check, then it was helping them get to bed, and by that time the beast keepers were out of excuses, many just asked for Frette to play their music while they worked. It was a nice exchange, Frette got to watch the beast keepers work their magic and they got to hear Frette’s music. The hay in the barn used to house many larger creatures was annoying to get off of their clothes, and even worse to get out of their feathers, but nevertheless it was peaceful. With a clunk, Frette placed the last pot back to its place. Another task done, they crossed it off the list. What next? Oh right, Steve had asked them to clean up the northern outpost. With all the guards stationed there, coming in and out to change posts, not wiping their feet, the whole floor was caked with mud and various other nature. Their feathers bristled at the thought, how ungrateful of the guards. Frette always made sure not to track mud. As they entered the room, the two scouts standing guard at the outpost paid them no mind. A slight wave came from the left guard as a greeting but nothing more. Both watched vigilantly as Frette got to work. Ugh. There was a lot more grime than they had expected. It looked like it was a two person job. As they scrubbed the muck from the floor, Frette gently hummed a tune. Their antennae vibrated with the noise, and a second rag they had grabbed was enveloped in magic, they worked alongside the rag to the tune. They could’ve sworn they saw one of the guards swaying to the music, but when they looked over, Frette caught their eye and the guard stood up straight and snapped their head away so that they no longer made eye contact. Frette smiled knowingly to themself and continued on their work.

Frette was nearly halfway done with the first round of scrubbing when Steve broke into the room, looking panicked. A lump formed in Frette’s throat, what had happened? They had never seen Steve look like this before, had someone died? Broken in? Was war being waged? Treason being committed?

“Steve, what’s wrong?” They inquired while Steve fought to catch his breath. A few wheezing gasps later and Steve finally regained the ability to say a coherent sentence.

“Lilith is ambushing the Owl Lady’s house, she asked for scouts to come along for backup and I volunteered you for for job. They’re leaving in five minutes, you need to go!” Steve hurriedly explained, pushing me out of the room. A job with Lilith Clawthorne herself? This was amazing! What could go wrong?

Chapter Text

Frette stood in line with the others, marching behind their coven leader to the home of the most dangerous witches in the Isles. A shiver snaked down their spine, they had only heard tale of The Owl Lady, they had never been this close to her. They could only imagine what the result of this battle could be, not that Frette doubted the emperor’s coven’s power, but if it was as easy to capture the acclaimed witch as this, she would have been in custody ages ago.

That being said, if they knew her place of residence, why not just send an army to her house? Wouldn’t that do the job? Ah Frette you fool, they chided themself, The Owl Lady is no idiot, she must have traps and defenses. So what if they knew where she lived if they couldn’t get close to the house.

Frette was torn from their thoughts as a signal was given, hide and wait for the signal to attack. Every guard and scout there found a hiding place quite easily, as did Frette. They couldn’t help but to peek out from their cover, what fortress did The Owl Lady hide away from the law in?

To their surprise, when they caught site of the home it left their jaw agape, but for all the reasons they hadn’t expected. It was a simple cottage, rather blandly decorated but definitely The Owl Lady’s home with all the bird decorum. A house demon was stretched from the door, scouting out, looking for dangers. It turned around, searching the woods for danger that could harm its Lady no doubt, when Frette locked eyes with the house demon. There was a moment of silence, time stopped as his eyes, deep and piercing as a dagger, gripped the witches heart. Their heart?

That was right, they could feel their heart pumping double time, a fight or flight response to the predator staring down at them. The predator, whose silky feathers shined in the sunlight. Whose face, beautifully shaped, began to contort into a look of joy.

“Friends!!!” The house demon screeched, extending rapidly from the door to greet the members of the emperor’s coven. Lilith gave the signal, everyone sprang from their hidings. Frette, for a reason they couldn’t quite explain, fumbled for a moment before joining the others. Thankfully no one noticed.

“Edalyn, on the authority of the emperors coven—“ Lilith began, summoning the scroll covered with crimes of their target, but before she could get any farther the house demon interrupted.

“You’re looking for Eda? That’s too bad hoot hoot! She’s off doing something, but we can still play!” The owl demon offered, stretching to block the exits. They were trapped, this hell owl encircling them like a snake ready to crush them.

“That will not be necessary, we will be taking our leave if you have no helpful information on the whereabouts of your owner.” Lilith announced, trying to keep confident and commanding. Even Frette could see her faltering as the owl grew closer. Lilith? Faltering? They could barely believe their eyes if they didn’t know the source of panic.

“Eda’s not my owner hoot hoot! I’m a big boy house! No one owns me. Buuuuut if you want to know where she is, I can tell you!” The owl offered. Confusion spread through the guards, would the house demon really betray The Owl Lady that easily. There had to be a catch.

“But hoot hoot, I won’t tell you for free!” He continued. There it was.

“What must we do for you to tell us?” Lilith inquired as everyone listened in to hear his terms with baited breath. Would it even be possible? What horrors would he subject them to for information?

To their surprise, he didn’t see to have anything prepared. The house demon fidgeted and paced, mumbling and trying to figure out what to ask of them, before letting out a gasp that caused many to jump. “I know!! Gimme some of your friends for a play date! I’ll tell you where she is if I get some of your friends.”

He seemed rather proud of himself. Murmurs came from the squadron, and from Frette. Could this beast be serious? A play date? What were they, children? There was no way their coven leader would allow this, their job was to apprehend The Owl Lady, not to babysit her house demon. To their surprise, when they looked over to Lilith, she seemed to be considering it. There was no way she could just leave them with this beast, as there? Of course, if she told them to, Frette wouldn’t protest. It was an order of course, it would be treason to disobey. Finally, their leader spoke up.

“How many of my guards do you require, and for exactly how long do you expect this… “play date” to last?” She asked of the demon. No. She couldn’t possibly be—there was no way! Why would she give into this creatures demands? Couldn’t they just wait for The Owl Lady here for when she returned? The had time for that, didn’t they? A lump formed in Frette’s throat as they listened intently for the owl’s response, and kept their eyes on their leader, looking for her response as if they were an Oracle that could see the future on reaction alone.

“Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm hoot hoot how about five! Five friends for Hooty! You can pick them up when you’re done visiting Eda!” Hooty, was that this things name? Frette supposed it fit. Lilith had a conflicted look on her face. There was a moment of tense silence before she looked over to her guards. Frette’s stomach turned to knots. She was giving in to the demands.

“You all heard him. I need five volunteers!” Lilith demanded. A few hands meekly shot up, she pointed to the ones she saw fit and dismissed those she decided necessary for capturing Edalyn.

“Wait!!!!” Hooty screeched, everyone halted where they were. The tubular—read literal—bird rushed the crowd of guards, picking up a few and taking three that Lilith had picked. Including Frette. Wait, what? They hadn’t volunteered! They needed to help Lilith with the job they had been assigned.

“What is the meaning of this?” Lilith asked, seemingly bewildered. Hooty simply wrapped around the “friends” he had scooped up, giving a crushing hug.

“Three friends from you and two feathered friends!” He claimed. Wait what? Feathered? He couldn’t possibly be referring to… oh. As you looked over to the other “friend” that has been unwillingly taken by Hooty, you saw their mask ajar due to the crushing they were being subjected to. Low and behold, they were a bird like biped demon. And true, Frette had feathers, but they didn’t expect it to be counted. It was like calling a shaved cat fuzzy. The top of Frette’s head instead of hair was feathers, much easier to style than hair Frette had found from doing some of his friends from school’s hair a few times.

Hooty nuzzled his head into Frette’s azure feathers, dislodging a few. They hadn’t plucked the loose feathers in quite a while, Frette supposed. Lilith looked at the end of her wits. Hooty gently placed the gaurds down on the ground but didn’t let them escape.

“Fine. I accept your terms. Now where is The Owl Lady?” Lilith sighed. Hooty was caught up in… sorting? His new friends. Frette wasn’t sure, but accepted it, moving wherever the owl worm pushed him.

“Huh? Oh yeah hoot hoot! She’s down at the market downtown.” Hooty told her, the directions vague but it didn’t seem that they would be able to get any more information. Lilith nodded.

“Understood. We’ll be on our way, keep the house demon busy until we return.” Lilith ordered the last part to the five guards who were already tired of Hooty’s playing. Lilith took her leave with the other guards, all Frette could think about was how long it would be until she came back for them.

Chapter Text

Sometimes, Frette wondered if it was worth it. To be in the emperor's coven was an honor, but oftentimes they felt it brought more trouble than needed. Case in point, the wild goose chases they and most other field scouts were being sent on as of late, in an attempt to catch the illusive Owl Lady. Frette could have chosen another career path, they thought, but the moment they dug beneath the surface level of that thought, realization came that they didn't quite know what career they would have done if not for the current.

Maybe a zoo keeper. They were originally a bard, sure, but beast keeping was second nature by now. Though, it would require interacting with all the grubby little kids that would come to poke and prod at the animals, and most likely at Frette about said animals. The image of having to keep dirty little hands from grabbing at a snagglebeast, or having to deal with sniveling little ones because they couldn't buy a toy. Maybe the job of zookeeper wasn't meant for Frette. The more they thought on it, the zookeepers they always saw did always look miserable.

Maybe a demon hunter? The thought was immediately shot down, Frette didn't have the strength for that kind of job. If they did become a demon hunter, it was a surefire bet that they would lose a limb or two. That would be murder on their family, having to deal with the emotional baggage a dangerous job like demon hunter would bring. Sure, being a member of the esteemed emperor's coven was the sort of thing that most would agree came with dangerous adventures and quests, but Frette spend most of their time either working on chores at the castle or behind much stronger members to intimidate the opposition with numbers. There were very rare cases when Frette was needed to fight, and those cases were getting fewer and fewer.

Frette wracked their head, unable to think of anything they would excel in as a job. None seemed to fit. Each was too dangerous, too boring, not enough pay, nothing was right for them. Or maybe they weren't right for anything but this job. They hung their head in sorrow, was this all there was? Chores, listen to Steve's rants of unrequited love, be backup for people who are actually strong? It couldn't be all there was, surely. Frette had goals. They had hobbies. They weren't just some boring old janitor! But... weren't they? The majority of work was what no one else wanted to do that they did to keep themself busy, they were nothing more than a well paid janitor at this point.

"Found you!" Came a screech that knocked Frette out of their self pity, the abruptness made them jump and hit their head on the top of the cramped and hollow tree trunk they had fit themself into. They cursed, rubbing the back of their sore head and checking for blood. Being left in the tree trunk to wallow in self pity would have been more favorable, they thought as they crawled out of the tree trunk. Deciding it wasn't happening fast enough, Hooty picked up the trunk with his snake-like neck, and dumped the coven scout into his grasp. The owl seemed lost in his own world, doing a victory dance. A sharp gasp came from him once he got a look at Frette.

"Woah there, hoot hoot! Whats got you all down in the dumps. Tell all your woes to your best friend and confidant, Hooty!" The house demon shoved its face too close for comfort into Frette's. They didn't want to give the house demon any more attention than they needed to, Frette didn't dignify the effort to get them to open up with an answer and worked to get free of the snake like grasp that had a hold on them. Hooty was strong, much stronger than Frette anticipated, and their struggling did nothing but waste energy, and of course the creature holding them didn't take the hint and let them down. Hooty seemed to already be preoccupied with juggling a rock. It was... actually rather impressive. Given "juggling" in this case was just Hooty hitting a rock into the air multiple times with his face. In a snap, he turned his attention to Frette. The rock hit him on the head, Frette couldn't keep the snicker in.

"Lets get going newest bestie! We still have another friend to find, and then I win this round of hide and seek!!!" The way the owl was constantly slightly too loud was astounding. A true talent. Maybe Frette could do that. Being annoying, that payed good probably. Many people they knew of that were rich were annoying. If it was correlated then Hooty had to be loaded. Speaking of which, Hooty was already out of sight by now. His neck extended far away, weaved between trees and searching for the other scout he had demanded as a playdate while Lilith searched for the Owl Lady. Unfortunately, Hooty had neglected to set them free, so until he remembered the coven scout's presence-which could be who knows how long-Frette was stuck.

From the corner of their eye, Frette saw something moving. Their fellow coworker, a person they had not actually talked to before, made a break for it. The coven member was covered in leaves and dirt, huffing and puffing, taking just a moment to rest their hands on their knees and wheeze out for air. Should they say something? Get the coworker's attention? Hooty didn't seem to have noticed where either of them were, so maybe they could make a break for it together. Nothing too loud, Frette deliberated, they weren't sure how perceptive Hooty's senses were. Frette cleared their throat, no response from the wheezing one. They tried again, louder this time. The coven guard seemed startled, looked in their direction, and then held up a finger to give themself more time to breath.

"I'm-Huff-sorry dude, but I..." The scout dry heaved. Whoever they were, they were around the same level as Frette. Only there for intimidation in numbers. "I gotta go. You've seen how fucked this demon is, I'm not taking any chances." And a coward too! No wonder Lilith gave this one up so easily. Then again, same could be said for Frette. They let out a sigh. There wasn't any way they could convince this one to stay any longer, both scouts knew this.

"No hard feelings." Frette grumbled, trying to be polite. There were so many other things that they wished they could say, but most probably wouldn’t do anything to help their situation. The scout gave a wave then fled from the scene, if the scout was lucky they would make it back within a few hours. Meanwhile, Frette slowly came to terms with the fact that they were now officially trapped here. All alone, no one but themself and a horrible bird worm. This was going to be a very long day.