#btwg

After an accident that left her with amnesia, Petra lives a solitary life with her cat and manages her small farm. The townspeople who once helped her back on her feet have long since turned her away due to her rediscovery of her magic abilities, magic which is pure evil to them and seen as a source of corruption. She stays hidden in her home, careful to not be seen while a hefty bounty is still out for her.

Petra had enough on her plate with managing her search for magical knowledge and sneaking into the town for resources, when a snowstorm brought in four strangers in need of a warm place to stay. There are many ways her story could unfold; it is your choice that determines how this story will end.

Character Picrew

Petra stifled a laugh, humoring her bad memory, as she got down onto her knees, cloak resting on her shoulder. Without missing a beat, the calico cat clambered onto her lap to rub all over her, purring, and filling the room with quiet sounds of her contentment. Petra ran her hands along the thick fur coat of the cat and got nibbles and a happy, shaky tail from Poppy in return. With big, yellow bug eyes, the little cat was nothing short of captivating.

“I’ll be right back Poppy, okay? Are you gonna be a good kitty for me?” Petra asked before giving the kitty a loud kiss on the head and standing up slowly to let the cat hop off her lap. “I’ll give you your supper when I get back, okay baby?”

Turning away reluctantly, she took hold of the heavy cloak with both hands to undo the clasp and throw it over both shoulders in one fell swoop. She searched the basement while redoing the clasp until she spotted a dark colored flannel and grabbed it, shimming it on from under the cloak. The bite of the cold air in just the basement had her shivering, so a flannel on top of a sweater would help keep in a little more warmth.

Adjusting the cloak once the flannel was on, she felt the bottom of the fabric getting caught on something. With a quick realization, she gave her hips a wiggle and pushed back the cloak, revealing a tail, the same color as her muted light skin tone, and covered in soft peach fuzz except for the few inches of silky black hair on the tip. Just another thing she needed to hide so she wasn’t identified. Petra let go of the cloak to lift her sweater, willing the tail to wrap itself around her midriff once and resting just past her belly button. She lowered and tucked the front of the sweater in for extra security.

With dread growing in her chest, Petra grabbed a cloth bag and adjusted the cloak’s clasp, which was choking her. Her hand ran farther down where a palm-sized, crystal eye hung on a thin chain around her neck, covering it with the clasp. Watching as her chest rose whilst taking a deep breath, Petra grimaced at the eye that now hung forever around her neck.

She stared into the cat’s eye, trying to convince herself it was just glass; however, looking for a moment too long allowed for the beauty of the necklace to be revealed. The eye swirled and sparkled, unreal movements being made in an object that’s supposed to be stationary. It made her wonder just how magic can be so dangerous and yet so pretty.

It had only been a few weeks since Petra started playing around with the magic necklace despite knowing she was a novice mage, only self-educated and relying heavily on old, worn books. Unfortunately for her, attempting to harness magic that she hardly understood didn’t mesh well when it came to a magic item with unknown origins. After it lit up with a supernatural glow, the chain on the necklace shrank until it shortened enough that she couldn’t remove it. She realized too late that with whatever unknown influence the crystal had, it initiated a binding curse, and now she has bound it to herself until death.

The piece would pass as a decoration to any untrained eye, but to those who delved into the arts of magic, any one of them could identify what this object was. With the deep and light blues with accents of green and a cat-eye pupil that was forever staring, there was no mistaking the Draco Oculus, as it was formally called. The crystallized eye of a dragon, an ancient creature rumored to have more magic in its body than 100 mages. The object was rich in stored-up mana, leftover from the dragon, but it was nothing to play with lightly.

Even the most skilled of mages had to be cautious and limit the time they interacted with the eye. The sooner Petra could distance herself from the object, the better, as the eye has been heavily rumored to take possession of people who use its magic for too long. Some say it is the dragon seeking revenge on humanity for slaying it. Mages long past recorded their knowledge, records that Petra has read countless times, about how the eye has influenced beings to cause great harm and destruction. Its motives are still unknown.

With the crystal on her person 24/7, she takes caution with every bit of magic she uses and every choice she makes in case the eye decides it's time to take control. All she can do is hope it isn't any time soon.

Tucking the crystal eye away in the safety of her sweater, Petra slowly opened up the old oak door, looking up the basement steps outside to be met with chilled air kissing her cheeks. The bitter promise of snow. More reason to get her errands done as soon as she could to get back home before the weather hit.

Shaking grown-out curtain bangs out of her face to further conceal pointed ears, she popped up the hood and gave the sides a light tug to let it droop over her face, insistent on hiding her features as much as possible. Petra let out an encouraging breath, leaning over to grab a leather satchel, jingling with coins, on a small table beside the door, and tied it onto the belt loop of her pants. Before she thought about the cold any longer, she set out through the door, locking it behind her.

This certainly wasn’t the life she wanted for herself, scurrying around other people like a rat and hiding when someone spots her. Some part of herself knew she lived a higher, more eloquent life before all of this; she could feel it, but amnesia is a terrible thing. Her earliest memory is waking up bloodied, sore, and in the wreckage of a burning carriage. Unconscious, and she would later learn, deceased bodies lay in and around the wreckage in burning silk dresses and torn-up fine-pressed suits. Petra lay in the dirt in a daze for only a few minutes before kind Samaritans helped her to a carriage and took her into the city. 

To this day, she never got an explanation for what happened or ever saw the aftermath of that wreck; she was busy learning where she was and being taken care of by an old couple who ran a shop in Blackrock Port. After she rediscovered her touch of magic, accidentally stealing a flame from a nearby torch to hover over her freezing hands one cold night, she was excited to show it off to the people she had gotten to know. To her, she was remembering who she was, but to them, she was a monster in disguise. 

Blackrock was small for a reason: a small chosen government and a very tight-knit support structure between nearly every resident, so nothing could go awry in the port. Many times in the port’s history did bureaucratic men come to influence the town with their magic and wonders, a gift that took years of intense study and practice, but left many open to the corruptive power of mana. Even if Petra was devoid of any partial influence, the town's leaders refused to keep that danger in their town. She tried to hide, the kind old shopkeepers helped her for a while, but after a bounty was put on her head, dead or alive, the only way she would survive was to leave.

The old couple pointed her in the direction of an abandoned two-story home over five miles out; they intended for her to stay there one night and head to a better city to the north. Petra stayed, she restored the home, and after three years, it was a miracle she was still there and thriving. After three years, posters still hung around the town of increased bounties and “Watch for the WITCH”.

After two hours of walking down a few winding forest paths, carved out by years of taking the same route, the bustling port was in view. Snow littered the ground and piled up as slush on the sides of the dirt roads, which were now a muddy mess. Petra walked carefully in the slush, cringing every time her boots sank into mud or particularly icy snow, and by the time she reached the welcome sign for Blackrock Port, she could start to feel the water resistance of the leather wearing off and cold seeping into her socks. The walk back was sure to be a little more miserable with freezing feet. With the sky overcast and the feeling of snow in the air, she picked up her pace in hopes of not getting caught in the worst of it. The coming week was sure to be rough with that kind of weather, but she made sure to stock her purse with extra coins the night before.

As she approached the crowd of the farmer’s market, surprisingly active for such a dreary day, she tugged her hood down further and kept her eyes on the ground as much as possible among the sea of bodies. Her heart was thudding against her chest from being in the presence of other people, terrified that today might be the day someone recognizes her. Right as Petra turned to head down an alley, she rammed shoulders with a man, much taller than her, and completely froze up. He scoffed and stood there for what felt like forever. Petra was hoping he wasn’t waiting for her to look at him.

“Watch where you’re going,” The man spat in annoyance, hitting her shoulder on purpose as he walked past, talking to himself loud enough so she could hear. “The people here, I swear.”

Petra hurriedly made her way into the alley to keep out of anyone else’s way, her heart pounding, breath coming in gasps, and tears blurring up her vision. She kept walking despite how shaken up she was, disturbing a few stray cats and a dog who ran away from their dinner of trash. Petra stopped at an old, rickety door sunk into the brick walls and knocked five times in a rhythm, then waited. She stood there and mentally reassured herself that the threat was gone and no one was coming for her.

The door creaked open just enough for an old green eye to peer out. Petra looked down to meet the weary eye peeking out at her and had a hard time fighting a smile. A cackle rang out into the alley, and the door swung open to reveal a small, old woman. Her hair, peppered with gray and white, was long and braided over her shoulder; her eyes were alive and brimming with joy.

“Oh my little bird, how are you doing?” She asked fondly with a heavy, Germanic accent. Petra leaned down for the woman when she reached up, gesturing for Petra’s cheeks just to hold her and make sure she looked well. Warm air from the fireplace inside the shop spilled out of the doorway, sending a wave of comfort over her.

“I’m well, Oma. You look as young as ever.” Petra complimented, making the woman let out a hearty laugh.

“So, what do you need today? I just got a big order of sugar, so please take a sack.”

“That would be wonderful, thank you. I need flour, milk, and apples. Is Opa at his shop today? He always has those glass bottles that I like.”

“No, he’s at home sick today, my dear,” She chatted as she walked into the shop to retrieve what Petra needed. “He caught a small cold, but he’ll be better soon. Wait just a moment, I’ll go grab what you need.”

The lady went off on her way, and Petra sat in the open doorway, happy to have a moment to rest her feet and warm up. While waiting, she stared down the alley at the people walking by, listening to bits and pieces of conversations. She tensed when hearing the mention of a witch, surprised she was still being brought up in conversations after so long in hiding. She felt like some sort of tall tale at this point. Like one of those scary stories parents would tell their children to keep them from misbehaving. Despite the talk, the fact that she wasn’t being actively hunted anymore was a blessing in her mind.

A few long minutes passed, and there was a thump from inside that caught her attention. When she looked back, there were two large sacks and no sign of the old woman. After a few moments, the old lady was just barely managing to carry two more large sacks filled to the brim. 

“Oma! Oh, I didn’t ask for all this. I don’t have enough coins for everything. I can’t even carry half of this home.” Petra exclaimed, getting up in a hurry to meet the woman who just rolled her eyes.

“I know, I know, child. You’re going to need it, though, with the snowstorm we have coming in. Who knows how long it will last. So don’t fuss. Besides, as payment, you can show me that magic you talked about last time. You know that… carrying magic..” She gestured wildly, trying her hardest to remember the word as Petra knelt beside the goods.

“The spatial magic? Oma, I don’t think I can carry all of this, I mean, I haven’t even practiced that much and-” Petra cut herself off, seeing the woman’s face fall. “You know what… you’re right. I can’t afford not to take all of this right now. Okay, are you ready? I hope I am…” 

Petra looked back at the door and then to the woman as she pointed back at it. She got the hint and closed the back door, staying behind but to the side of Petra, giving her shoulder a rub while she took her hood off before taking a step away. 

Petra held her hands out toward the bags, closing her eyes to focus internally on the feeling of the magic. She wasn’t a true mage, so it was a gamble whether she could pull off a trick like this. It was all a mental game she learned; if she can imagine it, then she can pull it off. Most of the time.

Exhaling a slow breath, she kept her hands relaxed and envisioned the magic flowing through her veins, pooling up in her hands. Just like that, her hands grew tingly and warm, and from behind her closed eyes, she could see the purple glow. The old woman gasped behind her, making a sound of awe. Petra focused on the feeling and imagined the strong arms of the universe taking the bags for her, carrying a burden for her so she could make it home.

She opened her eyes to make sure the magic was following her thoughts. The veins in the backs of her hands were aglow from beneath her skin with a gentle purple color, and from her palms, two hands stretched out, as dark as the night, reaching out toward the bags. The moment a hand touched a bag, it was enveloped with that same nightly darkness and was absorbed like a liquid into the hands, then back into Petra. With each bag, she could feel her bones, her very soul, get heavier, and she felt weaker. The price of such magic, the universe cannot hold burdens without some sort of price.

The glow dimmed as the hands retreated into her hands, and she relaxed. Raising her hands to inspect them, as the woman came over to do the same. The palms of her hands looked to be stained purple, as if she had smashed blackberries in them and didn’t wash them off in time.

“Oh, little bird! You are so talented, how incredible, oh thank you!” The woman squealed, a huge grin on her face as she pulled Petra’s face to her, kissing her head loudly and lovingly. She still giggled as she grabbed her stained hand, getting Petra to look her in the eyes. “Please hurry home now and stay safe. Opa and I love you, and I hope to see you again very, very soon.” 

With a quick hug and wave out the door, she pulled her hood on and made her way back into the crowd. She felt a bit more out of breath as she walked, like every step took more energy than she was used to. Thankfully, she was out of the hustle and bustle in no time, making her way back up the muddy, snow-covered slope that followed her road home. It was a blessing that her only bad run-in was getting sworn at.

Petra kept up a good pace beside the busy road, impatiently waiting to see her path and escape into the safe coverage of the woods, but her body was growing heavier by the minute. The hill and the snow blowing into her face were making it harder to convince herself to keep this magic up. Her mind wandered to the crystal eye at her neck and how relying on a little magic could help her get home.

Without thinking of the consequences, or ignoring them completely, Petra reached into her sweater, cold hands grabbing the warm chain and pulling the crystal out into the winter air. Grasping the warm pendant in her palm, the object being just small enough for her hand to wrap all the way around it, she felt the way it pulsed with life beneath her fingers, melding with the magic still leftover in her hands. She slowed her pace, pooling her energy into her hand and into the eye, letting it stay there for a few paces, then sucked it back into her body. Releasing the crystal quickly to stuff into her sweater, Petra saw a glow of blue behind her eyes as her sight grew blurry for a second, then dissipated.

Petra knew the eye wanted her to use it, and old mages only ever wrote about its evils, but a part of her believed she could be better than it with a good amount of willpower. Right now, she refused to keep it on her mind as her body felt nearly normal again, and she knew her personal pocket dimension grew stronger for the time being. She upped the pace, dipping into the forest as soon as she found her path, not caring if a passing carriage saw. The thickening snow would keep the drivers focused on their horses and the road.

The walk back home was fast, and upon reaching her land, the wind was starting to howl with the incoming storm. She ran down the steps to her door, unlocked it, and raced in. Her body ached with cold and exhaustion, but the warmth of her cottage surrounded her like a warm blanket. Leaning into the door, taking that moment to rest and try to fight off the tiredness in her eyes, excited meows approached her.

“Hey, Poppy, did you miss me, sweet girl?” Petra leaned down and petted the cat’s face as she purred. Stepping around the cat, she walked over to the far wall of the basement next to a table of dried herbs and books, and performed the same ritual to spit the sacks out onto the ground.

She hummed a soft tune, taking off her cloak and unwrapping her tail to let it hang free. It naturally curled up at the end, so it didn’t touch the ground. She went through the goodies, putting things away in the cabinets of the basement, with Poppy meowing insistently for food. Petra was swayed into going upstairs and grabbed as much as she could to deliver to the kitchen. The house was dark, and outside, snow was blowing past the windows. 

“I knew it was going to be bad, but this is a full-on blizzard.” She muttered to herself, walking over to the smoldering fireplace to put a couple more logs on. While waiting for the fire to start up, she relit the lanterns she had turned off before she left, a precaution in case anyone came snooping, and put food in a bowl for the cat before heading back downstairs.

Petra was putting away the last of the sugar when a heavy thump sounded at the door beside her, followed by a hurried couple of knocks. She froze, fear piercing through her, the only thought being that the bounty hunters had found her. Muffled male voices talked on the other side, and it wasn’t until she heard the cry of a young boy that she knew she had to see who was there. Pushing some of her anxiety away, she looked around for a small knife kept in the basement for animal skinning and held it tight in her hand. Petra looked hesitantly through the peephole on the door, seeing four individuals huddled together. 

Two taller men stood on the outsides to frame the four; the one on the right was lean and light-skinned with curly blonde hair. The one on the left was a bit taller, muscular with dark skin, patches of light skin splotched on his face and neck, his black hair pulled back into a bun. Noticeable tusks stuck out from his bottom lip, and his ears looked inhuman and down-pointed. He held a boy to his side who had skin a bit lighter than his own and brown, curly hair. Petra couldn’t get a good look at the boy, but he had a tall, thin frame, which the tusked man held close to him to try to shield him from the cold. The two tall men both had on heavy armor along with the boy, though his armor was more leather than metal. 

On the right, the blonde man shielded his glasses with his hand, leaning into the man in the middle who sported large wings, wrapping one around the curly blonde. The wings belonged to another blonde, wearing expensive-looking white and gold mage robes, who was shoulder height to the man he held in his sandy colored wing.

Petra knew better than to trust a stranger, but light shone onto the winged man’s face from the peephole. They knew she was there. She could ignore them; they would have to move on fast if they wanted to survive the blizzard, but then she thought of the young boy, shivering next to the tusked man. There was only one answer. Petra slowly opened up the door, all four eyes darting to her and squinting in the light. The winged man stepped forward, wiping snow off his gold-rimmed glasses.

“Please let us in. We will leave as soon as it’s day, but please just-” Petra put her hand up to stop the man mid-sentence as she opened up the door wide, making a split-second and selfless choice.

“Come in, come in!” Petra ushered the bunch inside, eager to find out if this was a ruse or not, and mentally preparing herself to be able to fight.

The burly dark-haired man was the first to make a move, pushing the boy toward the doorway before reaching over to push the curly-haired man next, and only moving once the winged man hurried in too. He gave Petra a short nod of appreciation before bypassing her.

Petra had just gotten the door closed, turning around to speak to the strangers when she was hit with a bear hug from the winged man. She was surprised by just how cold his body was compared to hers and hugged him back with one hand, concealing the knife in the other as he muttered many ‘thank you's' into her shoulder. The man pulled away, and she watched the others nervously, though they all seemed too tired and limbs too cold to make any move. They weren’t putting on an act, especially the boy who stood huddled against the curly blonde man who was rubbing the boy’s shoulders.

“I truly cannot thank you enough for this. We would have died out there.” The man said and studied her face for a moment, looking for more words of gratitude, it seemed. “Oh, we should introduce ourselves. My name is Wilhelm, and the big guy back there is Perseus.  And these two are my sons, the lanky one is Finn, and the brunette is Elias.”

Petra watched the men and boy as Wilhelm introduced them. Each of them gave them some sort of little greeting when they were called. Perseus gave her another head nod, Elias a little wave, and Finn a smile. They seemed nice.

Before Petra could respond, Perseus stepped in front of Finn and Elias, his arms crossed, staring down at Petra. Either to intimidate her or size her up, Petra couldn’t tell, but it was working. With the man closer, his size and appearance felt like they were created for intimidation.

“What’s your name? Who are you?” Perseus grumbled out the question, though it sounded more like a command. He looked down on her, intentionally, she felt, and squared her shoulders to stand a little taller.

“Percy- for god’s sake, be a little nicer. Bloody hell, she just saved us.” Wilhelm retorted, and Perseus huffed a little growl, stepping back beside Finn but still watching her. He wasn’t the friendly type it seemed. Hard to trust, like her. 

Finn pulled himself away from Elias and rested a hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist. The gesture wasn’t meant as a threat, Petra was sure by the friendly look on his face, but she grew uneasy.

“What’s your name?” He asked as he and Wilhelm looked at her expectantly. She hesitated for a moment, all eyes on her, and cleared her throat.

“My name is Petra... It’s nice to meet you all.” She thought for a moment about what she should say to these people as they just stood around, warming up from the cold. “How about I uh… go get some blankets for you all? Blankets and I’ll set up my two spare rooms. One is in that back corner, the other is upstairs, if you want to choose who goes where,” She gestured out of the storage area and into the library area of the basement, where an open door was. Before giving anyone time to talk, she headed upstairs, discarding the knife onto a nearby counter as soon as she could.

 As she got ready to go out into the cold to do her morning chores, Finn stumbled out of the bedroom in his full armor, helmet tucked under his arm and sword on his hip. She almost forgot he came here in such a get-up; it hardly fit the soft, sensitive soul he proudly showed off to her.

“Hey! Um, since Percy went with you yesterday, I hoped I could go today?” He said in a question, like he wanted to take Perseus’ spot.

Petra fought a smile, tucking in her tail as she got dressed for the cold. “I don’t think he planned on it today, but you are more than welcome to join me. I might take a little bit. I need to make sure everyone is okay.”

“I am happy to,” Finn said, a giddy look on his face as he pulled on metal-covered gloves.

Petra sat with the barbed wire fence to her back as her small flock of sheep gathered around to check her out and get attention. She raised them from lambs and spent as much time as possible with them so they would be sociable and it paid off as she petted one’s face.

“So… where did you all come from? Because obviously,” Petra looked behind her to Finn who was surveying her land. “You didn’t come from anywhere near here. None of you are dressed the part.”

He laughed, taking his helmet off and giving himself a once over then looked back at her. “You really think so? I don’t know, I think we fit in pretty well with a little port town.”

“Ha ha,” She said with as much sarcasm as possible, “did you travel through Blackrock?”

“Is that what it’s called? No, we didn’t. I chose the port area on a map, but we didn’t have a chance to get to town once the weather got bad. We saw the smoke from your house and decided it was our best bet.”

Petra hummed a response, turning back to her sheep as a new one approached. The conversation fell silent, and she continued wiping snow off the sheep’s fleece, thinking about the tiny tidbit he gave her. He chose the area on a map, but from where and why? How long ago, even?

There were a long few minutes of silence, allowing for a couple of sheep to be comfortable enough with Finn standing there to lie down in the snow beside Petra. The sheep closest to the fence jumped up all of a sudden, but when Petra turned to look, it was just Finn settling down beside her on the other side of the barbed wire.

“We lived in Westdenn.” He said. It wasn't until he saw the confused furrow of Petra’s brows when they looked at each other that he elaborated with pride. “The capital, the most prosperous city in the country. Well… at least it was.”

“What happened?” She asked and turned toward him. A couple of the sheep jumped up but settled after a few moments. Finn let out a long sigh, looking up at the cloud-covered sky.

“A lot. We lived and worked in the castle. It’s all thanks to my dad, honestly, he was very close with his majesty and he was the top royal mage there. When he took Percy in, that gave him a big head start and ended up being captain of the royal guard. I was a castle guard, so not as important as him, but being family to him earned me a lot of respect. And Elias was in training to be a guard, all he would talk about when he was little was wanting to be just like me.” Finn explained with a nostalgic smile on his face but hesitated as he continued.

“It was all fine until his majesty, King Edison, died suddenly… We still don't even know what happened to him. One morning, he just… never woke up. It hit my dad hard, but Percy was taking it very personally, being by his majesty’s side so much and all.” He turned and met Petra’s gaze, spitting his next words in disgust. “We barely even got time to grieve before Lord Malcolum took his place.”

“Is that… not his son?” Petra asked, getting an airy laugh from Finn.

“No, it’s his cousin. His majesty had yet to marry, so he was without an heir. The lord was the best option, chosen by his immediate family. Though why him, I couldn’t tell you.” Finn shifted around to face Petra as the aggravation was clearly building up from retelling this story. “Malcolum was not fit to rule. From day one, Dad didn’t like him. He warned the closest advisors that he wasn’t a good choice, but no one listened to him. Keeping the bloodline is important, and all.”

“After a few weeks of nothing but jacking around and getting drunk off his ass, my dad stood up to him. He told Malcolum to take his position seriously or the city would fall into ruin. All he got was drunken scolding in return. I could hear them from outside the throne room arguing, and eventually Malcolum just shouted, “You don’t like the way I rule? Then leave”, and Dad lashed out.” Finn sighed, letting his shoulders drop as he closed his eyes. Retelling the story seemed to be dampening his mood.

“The guards chose to be loyal to Malcolum, and when my dad resisted them, they tried using force. They tore out a few feathers when pinning him to the ground. I had run in once I heard a struggle, but I couldn’t do anything. I didn’t know what to do… but Percy killed the guards to save him. Men I grew up with… I mean, they were only following orders, doing the only job they have ever known. It’s hard to think they’re gone even after seeing them…” Finn trailed off, choking up as he looked down at the grass with watery eyes.

“Finn,” Petra reached through the fence and put her hand on the cold metal plate on his shoulder. “You can stop, it’s okay. You don’t have to relive all of this.”

“No. I want to. You deserve to know what happened, why we’re here. What we had to do.” He said with soft seriousness, looking over to hold Petra’s gaze. Grief was painted over his features, and he let out a breath to urge himself on. “Percy lost it. He has always been protective of my dad, so seeing his wing all bloody sent him over the edge. All I could do was help Dad up while Percy was… massacring them. Malcolm fled, and guard after guard charged at Percy. My dad was screaming for him to stop, but… it was like he was an animal.”

“Something seemed to snap him back to reality, maybe it was Dad yelling or me crying, I don’t know. But Percy came back to us, and we ran. We found Elias, and we were gone. It took hours to scrub all the blood off Percy in rivers. It’s been over a month since that happened. After living a life of luxury, it was hard for us out there.” Finn laughed softly, sniffling as he stood up. 

“I chose a place, far away from Westdenn, and we never stopped moving. You can imagine the bounty on our heads, so we had no choice but to find somewhere where no one would know us. Someplace where if we showed up at a stranger’s doorstep,” He looked at Petra with a sad smile. “They would have no clue who we were. And we could live comfortably again.”

~

When next morning rolled around, and Finn wasn’t too keen on going out in the cold. Elias heard about her livestock and happily layered up to meet the chickens and sheep. Petra gave him the feed bucket so he could feed the animals.

“I heard from Finn that you guys lived in a castle before. That’s gotta be a pretty crazy change being here now.” Petra said thoughtfully while watching Elias pet the hen in his lap, now fast asleep. 

“Holy hell, man- this is like a completely different life! In Westdenn, I never got to do anything but train, and I wasn’t allowed to see the animals. I did go into the stables with the horses one time. Only one time though. My friend Rowan and I got caught by Phebe, she took care of the horses, and yelled at us till we went back to the trainees' quarters.” Elias retold excitedly, though when the hen moved in his lap, he focused on her again with pets.

“Was Rowan in training too?” Petra asked, sitting in a spot of damp ground where the snow had melted.

“Yeah! He’s my best friend!” He said quickly, just to pause as he had a realization, talking quieter now. “He was. I’m a year older than him, but we started training together at the same time. Toby joined us recently, and he liked Rowan a lot. I liked him, but I liked Rowan better. He was too tall, and honestly, a try-hard… I guess I kind of miss him, though.”

Petra watched him, feeling sympathy for the boy having to leave everything he has ever known and ever loved. “I’m sorry. I wish you could have brought them with you.”

“I tried to… but we didn’t have enough time to find Rowan and Wilhelm said we needed to leave as soon as possible. Rowan would have missed Toby though…” He trailed off, petting the hen and gently putting his hands beneath the soft feathers of her back before looking back up at Petra suddenly. “You know what? They would deny it every time, but I think they were dating and just not telling me! They flirted all the time, right in front of me! Almost like… like Wilhelm and Kayla! No… no, like Finn and Lily! Yeah, yeah those two were disgusting!”

“Ooh, who are Kayla and Lily?” She asked and leaned forward with her elbows propped up on her knees to hold her head in her hands. Seeing his excitement return  brought a smile to her face. The poor boy had been through so much, yet his childish nature was still there. Still alive and still fresh.

“Finn didn’t tell you? Ohoho, well, don’t mind if I do then!” Elias adjusted himself around to face Petra, saying little apologies to the chicken, who was upset by his shifting around. “Okay! So, Kayla was Wilhelm’s wife, and basically my mum, she was like a mum to all the trainees actually, she always made us snacks and helped us when we got hurt. She baked really good too, but died a couple of years ago.”

“She did? What happened?”

Elias just shrugged, “I don’t know, she just got sick. But Wilhelm was really upset and spent a lot of time in his tower doing magic stuff. It helped him, I guess.”

“That’s terrible… You must miss her a lot.” Elias nodded, watching the chicken as she got up from his lap. “Did Lily pass away too?”

“Huh? Oh, no! Well, I don’t think so yet. She’s a pirate lady; she just showed up one day in a big group of ‘em. Wilhelm didn’t think they were a good idea to have in the city, but Finn really liked her. If he wasn’t standing guard, he was gone with her. I never saw him!” He explained with a groan and roll of his eyes, before locking back into the conversation. “But! After a couple of months, she was pregnant! Finn told me that after she found out, she ran away with her pirate group, just all of a sudden! We never heard from her again.”

“What!” She said, getting into the story with him to keep up his energy. “How did Finn take it?”

“Oh, he was heartbroken! I really missed the person he was before her. He used to be fun and hang out with me, but after that, he was just sad and mopey all the time. It’s been a couple of years, though, and he is getting better, I think. Especially since we got here.”

Elias went quiet, and Petra felt like it was better for her not to try to fill the silence with empty words. She couldn’t help but smile at the insinuation that she was helping him; her chest warmed at the thought of being a saving grace for the family.

“Thank you for that, Petra…”

~

By the fourth day of the family living with her, Petra got used to sharing the responsibilities of things and having near-constant company. This morning, however, Finn and Elias were still asleep when she was getting around to go out. Wilhelm offered to go with her, though Perseus pulled him aside to try and convince him otherwise. With quiet bickering on the stairs, Wilhelm shooed Perseus away and headed down to join Petra, dressed in his robes for warmth. He requested a walk in the woods once she was finished, craving the comfort of nature, he explained.

“The boys are really taking a liking to you, mate,” Wilhelm spoke while gazing thoughtfully at the surrounding trees and plants bathed in the morning glow.

“Speaking of them, I had a question,” Petra said, walking alongside him, looking at the partially melted snow along the worn deer path.

“Oh? Well, ask away, this must be a good one.”

Petra laughed a little and took in a breath, taking a second to think of how she wanted to word things. “So… not to sound rude, but there is no way BOTH of them are yours.”

Wilhelm burst out laughing, stopping his walk as he grabbed onto her shoulder for stability. His laugh was contagious enough to get her to laugh alongside him, her cheeks warming with embarrassment of having asked the question.

“I’m sorry, I just, I have to know!” She justified, but Wilhelm just silenced her with his hand as he calmed himself with a few breaths.

“Holy hell! That was not what I was expecting you to ask.” He laughed his response, but reeled it in. “No, you’re completely right, though. Finn is my flesh and blood, but I found Elias… well, and Percy.”

Wilhelm smiled at her when she gave him a confused look. He waved for her to follow as he continued walking, holding his hands behind his back. The attention placed there by his hands let Petra get a look at his wings; she could finally see the spots where long flight feathers were missing. Seemingly feeling her eyes on him, he shook his wings and looked back at her expectantly till she joined his side.

“So, Elias, he was abandoned, right on my doorstep. Luckily, he showed up during my high time at the castle. Finn told you about everything, yes? So you know I was a royal mage. It paid quite well, and I was able to give my boys the luxuries of royalty, something I am very thankful for.”

“He’s adopted then. Do you know anything about his blood family?” Petra asked.

“Unfortunately, no, I assume they couldn’t take care of him or needed to flee the capital for one reason or another. He was only a few days old. Same as Percy.”

“Really? Why is Perseus any different? That would make him your son too, right?”

“You would think that, but his situation is a bit more… complicated.” Wilhelm looked to the side at Petra. “You mess around with magic, I know. I can feel it radiating from you. Plus, you don’t hide that dragon eye very well.”

At the mention, Petra instinctively reached to grab it, stepping away and growing wary. Although it was a simple mention of the crystal, not a threat or demand, something in her grew suddenly protective of him knowing of its existence. With limited knowledge, she didn’t know what else it could do or what someone could do with it. Wilhelm knowing about the object and that she had it was an instant red flag. However, instead of making a move to take advantage of her, he put his hands up, some sort of stand off between them.

“I’m not going to hurt you, mate, I thought that much was clear. Besides, you are doing worse to yourself with that around your neck. Curse of binding. A nasty one indeed.”

“How do you know that?”

“I can see it. Petra, I don’t think you understand what royal mage implies. My life has been dedicated to magic. I am among the most powerful in the country. I can tell a lot about a magic user just by their look alone.” Wilhelm narrowed his eyes, a subtle threat to tell her he isn’t afraid to defend himself. “Please, let us continue our walk.”

Wilhelm put his hands down, keeping a steady gaze on Petra until she lowered her hand from the crystal and relaxed. Once again, he motioned for her to walk with him despite the tension that remained.

“Where was I… ah, right. You have to know a little bit about the origin of magic. Tell me, what do you know about the Infernal Domain?”

“The-” Petra laughed in disbelief, “The old myth? I’ve read hundreds of stories about it. The portal to a fiery, hostile dimension that somehow harbors life.”

“Exactly. Can you tell me what all lives there?”

“I mean… I have read about the boar creatures and the hellhounds. I know there were rumors of the undead too. Again, it’s obviously fiction, though. Magic comes from the dragons.” She said, gesturing to her chest where the crystalized dragon eye sat.

“You aren’t entirely wrong. This dimension did get its ability to use magic from dragons, but where do you think the dragons came from? If it was natural for our kinds to have it, why do we have to work so hard to use it? If the Infernal Domain was a myth, tell me how Perseus is here with us?” He gave her a knowing look, but her disbelief wouldn’t allow her to comprehend.

“Well, he… Wilhelm, are you telling me the Infernal Domain is real? Hold on, are you telling me Perseus is from there?!” Petra stopped suddenly, grabbing onto Wilhelm’s sleeve to halt his leisurely walk. The bemused smile on his face made it difficult for her to tell if he was playing a trick on her or not. “Wilhelm.”

“Percy isn’t human. Not even partially. I’m sure that didn’t take too long to catch on to; tusks and pointed ears are hard to conceal. You would know.”

“What is he?” She asked impatiently.

Her interest in Perseus brought twinkle into his eye as he reached over to make her release his sleeve, affectionately moving aside some of the stray hair that fell into her eyes as he went. “A Flampri, the boar creature, as you put it. Though not fully. We still aren’t sure what his other half is, but we settled on a shapeshifter for convenience. Being a half-divine being was too much for both of us to consider.”

“But I thought flampri were like eight feet tall and covered in fur. They don’t even resemble humans other than being bipedal.”

“Correct, he doesn’t look like one right now. That’s his… human form. Well, as close as we can get to it. When I first found him, he wasn’t so human. That’s why we are thinking his other part is some form of shapeshifter, because he can take either form at will. We had to work on it quite a bit, oh man, was that a struggle.” Wilhelm chuckled to himself with a sigh. “He prefers staying human, though it used to be very costly for him; he’s grown a lot. He hardly ever transforms back, unless emotions are high. It affects him just like it affects our magic use.”

“When was the last time he transformed?”

“Um… right before we left the capital. Finn told you that story. It was… yeah. Perseus can tell you that story.” He said shortly, and Petra got the hint as she nodded and kept on with the walk, kicking some snow.

“How did you find him in the Infernal Domain?” She asked as Wilhelm followed her.

“Well, I was there collecting materials for his majesty, rare herbs and such. I just stumbled upon him, left on the dirt. Crying and alone. I assume the other flampri sensed his difference and wouldn’t take him in, or his parents were killed, or both. I found him just a few years before Finn was born.” He explained, going quiet for a moment before he chuckled. “That realm is unbelievably hot, so bringing Percy here was a huge shock to his nervous system. He was sick for months, constantly shivering. I had to dress him in layers of clothes, giving him steaming baths just to barely help him. I eventually had to make a special potion for him to drink to help with it. But over the years, he has grown quite accustomed. He was working overtime while being a trainee because of his condition.”

“I’m surprised he’s doing so well with the cold here. I can’t imagine how cold it feels to him,” Petra said, and Wilhelm hummed back. She watched the woods ahead of her as she took in this information, forming a mental picture of the story in her mind. “What about Finn?”

“He’s from his realm.”

Petra laughed at his quick reply, earning a chuckle from Wilhelm. “No like… He’s your son, so shouldn’t he be like you? You know, with the wings?” She asked and he took in a deep breath, a conflicted look passing over his features.

“They had to um… remove them. When Finn began his training, they gave him a choice. Keep his wings or continue training. You can imagine, they saw it as too much of a hazard, but he chose to follow his dream of being a guard alongside Percy.”

“That’s horrible… I’m so sorry I shouldn’t have asked.” She said quickly, with guilt over getting such personal information. She assumed it would have been a simple response, like he was born without them.

“It’s alright mate, it was a long time ago. I can’t help but think about it sometimes, though… wonder who he would have been with them.” He said quietly. “How about we head back, ey?”

~

The next day, Petra was alone with her chores, and Wilhelm was teaching the boys to cook since they never got the chance. It gave her time to think, alone, about each of them and their pasts. The story of how they arrived and the life they lived was all laid out and bare, but part of her felt like she didn’t truly know them yet. 

The day after, Petra was getting ready to head out, expecting to be alone, when she heard hushed talking at the top of the stairs from Perseus and Wilhelm. Wilhelm was prompting him to join her, “just one more time,” she heard from him, and Perseus grumbled in response. A few minutes later, he came downstairs with his armor on. It looked just like Finn’s, except with more engravings and gold detailing on top of the silver plates. He told her plainly he was joining her only to “keep an eye on her,” he said.

They didn’t chat. He merely escorted her along the muddy ground. Much of the snow had melted by now, and the sun was shining brighter, allowing for a warmer day. Petra knelt to her chickens, letting them eat out of her hand as Perseus stood a pace behind her, watching over her like she was royalty.

“Finn told me that you know all about the incident at the castle now.” Petra was surprised by him sparking up a conversation with her first, and glanced back at him.

“Yeah, he told me about it. I’m sorry about what happened. I hope you all are comfortable here though.” She said shortly.

“How’s it feel?” He asked, something in his voice sounding condescending.

“How does… what feel?” Petra couldn’t place the nerves growing in her chest. She and Perseus hadn’t had any time alone since the first full day they were here, though she preferred it that way with how ready to pounce he was if she made a wrong move. Everyone else was relaxing around her, but Perseus was strung high and tight. She felt as he stepped closer to her, right behind her, and nearly touching.

“You’re housing a murderer, and you know that. You’ve known for a few days now. And yet, you sit there with your back to me.” A shiver of fear went down her spine, her body freezing up at his cold, harsh tone. “You know what I am, what I’ve done, and yet you still let me sleep in your home. You let me cook for you. You trust that I won’t take my sword from its sheath and kill you too, so that we can have your home all to ourselves.”

There was a crisp, metallic sound of Perseus unsheathing his sword and a whoosh behind her head of him swinging it. He knelt in the mud beside her, putting a foot on the end of her tail, smushing it into the mud and making her wince. He rested his sword lightly on the other side of her neck as he spoke into her ear, slowly and gravely enough to make his voice sound like an animalistic growl.

“You know I can. I can smell how much you fear me. So, why are you still gracing us with your kindness? Are you planning on using us, or selling us out for the sake of the hefty bounty on our heads?” Perseus questioned, but with her heart and mind racing, speaking felt impossible. He pushed the sword against her neck when she stayed silent. “Speak, Witch.”

“I-I don’t know!” She spoke quickly, shutting her eyes tight when feeling the burn of tears. He let out an amused breath at her response. “It’s been… nice to have company, I guess. I was enjoying it, so I didn’t care how long you had to stay.”

“Too easy… You let in total strangers, armed strangers. Pathetic, risking it all for the sake of attention.” He spat the words out.

“Well, what the hell did you want me to do?” Petra snapped at him, “Did you wish I had left you to freeze? By what Wilhelm told me, you would have been first!”

At that, Perseus grabbed her shoulder, shifting his foot off her tail, and shoved her into the muddy earth. In an instant, he was on top of her, an armored hand on her chest, and digging the crystal eye into her skin while he held the tip of his blade right below that. He held her there, jaw clenched as he stared at her with a snarl. The mention of his vulnerability clearly touched a nerve. 

Petra took short, heavy breaths as she clutched Perseus’s arm with shaking hands. Her mind was bouncing back and forth between searing his arm and giving him a chance to let her go. Just as she was flowing mana into her hands and her veins began to glow a soft orange beneath her skin, he glanced back and forth between her eyes and sighed. Perseus lowered his sword and took his hand off her chest, sheathing the sword while still towering over her.

“I don’t understand your willingness… but I suppose I don’t need to.” He got up and extended a hand to her. “Sorry… I won’t do it again. I just wanted to… test you, I suppose. If you didn’t care what happened to us, you would have lashed out. But you didn’t.”

Petra was on edge, not sure if this was what he wanted, so he could make another advancement on her. She looked between his hand and his face a couple of times before he growled in annoyance and gestured for her to take his hand.

“Come on, Petra. I’ll play nice, I promise.” He said. She studied his expression, seeing how the guardness wasn’t there, and he looked earnest. She grabbed onto his hand, and he gave her a small smile. He yanked her up with enough force to make her stumble, but he caught her with the other arm. “You alright?”

“Yeah… just, don’t do that again.” She quipped, stepping away from him, rubbing her chest where the crystal dug in. Petra grumbled, flicking her tail, which was now covered in mud along with her entire back and hair. When she cast a look at Perseus, he looked a little guilty, assessing the damage and glancing away.

“Since you know about what we’ve been through.. Would you mind telling the big ol’ Perseus what you’ve endured?” He inquired, walking over to grab her feed bucket while she was brushing out the mud on her tail. “It’s only fair, right? You know us, but we don’t know you.”

Petra told her sad tale to him, waking up in a burning mess, getting taken in by the people of Blackrock, then discarded once she discovered her aptitude for magic. Then, having to live hidden away, afraid to show her face or move away after a bounty was placed on her and the “witch hunters” started prowling.

She recounted having to hide and scurry around whenever she had to sneak into town to restock her supplies from the only vendor who trusted her. She briefly mentioned that when she was cursed by binding the necklace to herself till death, though it was more in passing than anything. Perseus was listening closely as she spoke, surprising her with his engagement.

“Have you ever had to take a life?” He asked solemnly, eyes focused on a few passing hens and the rooster watching over them.

“I have. Four actually. And I have injured quite a few more, but it was all in defense. Frankly, I regret it every day.” She laughed a little in sad amusement. “It sticks with you… really makes you think.”

“Heh, you could say that again. I am… sorry you have to bear that kind of weight, though. It’s a hard thing to deal with.” Perseus sounded incredibly sincere, a gentle giant kind of feeling to it, which made Petra smile. It made her wonder if that was his true colors shining through.

~

A few days pass with ease, and Wilhelm begins to hound Petra, insisting he needs to repay her. With the ground drying and a plan to travel in the works, he was begging her for something.

“We will do anything you need; that is a promise.” He always adds. His pestering was working as she was thinking in any downtime she had about what in the world the family could do with her. They have been displaced, they have nothing to their names anymore other than the clothes on their back. An impossible idea came to mind, letting them live with her, but she always shook it away. That was a cheesy thing to ask, and she knew Wilhelm wouldn’t see it as doing her any good. As she lay in her bed in the morning, Poppy curled up at her side, and an idea finally came to mind.

“Hey, boys! Good morning, get up and meet me in the kitchen. We need to chat!” Petra yelled from the kitchen, making coffee and smiling to herself.

After a long 20 minutes, the family filed in. Wilhelm was wide awake and dressed. Perseus looked like a tired mess, but dressed as well. However, both Finn and Elias came upstairs in pajamas, looking groggy. She couldn’t help but giggle at their state.

“Thank you all for so kindly joining me.” She hopped up onto the counter as Elias took a seat on the floor in front of her, Wilhelm seated at the table with Finn, and Perseus, rubbing his eye, stood against the wall across from Petra.

“You’re awfully cheerful this morning.” Wilhelm happily noted while Elias scoffed.

“A bit too much, I’d say. I’m too tired for this,” Elias complained with a huff.

“Suck it up, big man,” Finn muttered,

“I know, I know, I’m sorry. But I have been thinking for a while. Wilhelm has been reminding me that he wants to repay my kindness in whatever way possible. I’ve finally come up with something I want from you all, and I’d like your thoughts.”

They all went quiet, four sets of eyes expectantly on Petra and waiting for what she had to say. She stayed quiet, looking at each one, a smile slowly growing as she kept them in suspense, Elias looking like he wanted to burst from his growing anticipation.

“Wilhelm, I would like you to teach me the magic that you know, as much as possible. Elias, Finn, and Perseus, I want you three to be my personal guards. Not all the time, but if someone threatens my life, I would like you to be there to protect me. You would, in turn, live here with me. If you all aren’t opposed to the idea.”

Without a second more to think, Elias jumped up, suddenly wide awake and full of excitement.  “Fuck yes!! Oh my god- this is perfect. No, that is so great, right, Finn? Percy?” He looked between the two with shining eyes and bouncing on his feet.

Wilhelm cracked up laughing with everyone slowly joining in before he looked to the other two for an answer. They both nodded, Finn smiling and Perseus trying to hide a smile. Wilhelm turned to Petra and grinned at her.

“Absolutely. Petra, we are more than happy to stay here with you. Honestly, I feel like this arrangement will be doing much more for us than you, but thank you regardless.” He joked a little before excited conversations floated around, Elias raising everyone’s energy with his bubbliness about this whole situation.

After that, the day flew by with everyone making their rooms more comfortable since their stay was permanent. Before they knew it, it was dark, and everyone went to bed. The start of a new life, for all of them, was solidified tomorrow.

Petra woke up with a snuggly cat as usual, but didn’t hear any ruckus in the home. She got up and got dressed, realizing she had slept much later than she meant to, but quickly saw that morning chores were taken care of for her. The boys were all out of the house, and breakfast was saved for her on the stove. It was a nice day, sunny and warm, so she didn’t blame them at all. 

After eating, Petra tied half her hair up in a bun, then stepped outside. Looking around, she noted where everyone was on the property, except for Wilhelm, whom she knew was in the woods. Taking in the warm sunshine, she sighed with the lightness in her chest and thought about who she should go visit.

----

(routes coming soon...)

Meet up with Elias at the sheep pasture

Go find Wilhelm in the woods to ask him about magic

Go meet up with Perseus, who is training by himself

Still waking up, she wasn’t thinking rationally, running purely on adrenaline. She crept down the hall, seeing the spare room beside hers had the door wide open and blankets spread about, when she always kept it neat.

Pressing herself against the wall at the end of the hallway, she listened to the voices in the kitchen. Her brows furrowed, foggy recognition swirling in her half-asleep and anxiety-wired brain.

“Wiiillll I’m cold! Can’t you just, you know, make Finn go mess with the fireplace?”

“Elias, shush! You’re gonna wake Petra up. And no, we can wait until she is up. I don’t want to get into her things.”

“Hi kitty, oh, you are so cute, is your owner up too? Percy, look… aw, she’s precious.”

“Uh huh…”

Finally, her brain clicked when recognizing Wilhelm as he said her name and Finn as he cooed at the cat. Instant relief flooded through her, and she let out a sigh, not realizing how audible it was until all the voices went quiet. There was a mutter and soft footsteps approaching, and as she stepped out to make herself known, Petra was thrown against the wall, choking out a cough at the arm keeping her neck to the wall. Fierce dark brown eyes stared her down, and his tusked mouth grimaced at her. She struggled against him, reaching up to grab at his arm, her tail lashing wildly as her air supply was being limited. Perseus’ other hand quickly grabbed hers that held the dagger and pinned it up by her head. From this close, she could see a scar under his left tusk that sliced into both lips, and a bit of scruff grew on his chin and jaw, the hair being white wherever his splotched skin color was. A low grumble in his chest shot her back to reality, and a scramble of footsteps approached before Wilhelm shot into view.

“Percy! Percy let her go-”

“What’s with the dagger?” Perseus interrupted, and Wilhelm’s eyes shot to the dagger still in her hand. “Why were you sneaking in here?”

“Hold- hold on, you don’t understand, I’m just-” Petra choked as Perseus pressed harder on her neck, her strangled breath growing faster and her eyes darting around to find an escape. She knew she was no match for a man as large as he and would have no chance of winning any fight with him. Between her fight and flight, her flight instincts were screaming at her.

Suddenly, the arm was off of her, and oxygen rushed back into her system. She leaned against the wall to breathe. She looked up to see Wilhelm grabbing Perseus’s arm and throwing it down, giving him an unfavorable look. It was then that Petra noticed Wilhelm’s outfit. His wavy blonde hair was tied back into a little ponytail, and his free hand held a spatula. With the top of his robes off, he just wore white with gold pants and a casual, short-sleeved black shirt.

“Does she look like she is trying to kill you? Leave it, I’m sure we just startled her. We’re in her home, remember?” Wilhelm scolded as Perseus retreated into the kitchen. He approached her with a soft look and a gentle hand on her shoulder as he guided her into the kitchen.

“You mustn’t have had guests in some time. I’m sorry Percy isn’t making a good impression for you. A bit on edge and protective, that one.” Petra laughed a little to accompany Wilhelm’s light-hearted chuckle, putting her knife down on the nearest counter. Elias was sitting at the table, turned around in a chair to watch the commotion with curious eyes, and Finn sat across from him, wearing a tight-fitting, sleeveless black shirt, the same as Perseus. When he caught Petra’s eye, he gave a friendly smile and a wave to which she returned.

“Good morning, hope you slept well,” Finn said, crossing his arms and leaning forward on the table.

“Gooood morning!” Elias drawled out, leaning his cheek on the chair.

“I did, thank you. I hope you all did too, the snowstorm must have left you all cold last night- OH! It’s cold in here! I'm so sorry, let me throw some wood in the fireplace.” She started to hurry toward the main living area before Finn shot up, putting his hand out to interject her path.

“Hey, no, no, just tell me where the wood is. I can do it.” He offered, putting a hand warmly on her shoulder. She tensed up at the contact, and after a moment, he retracted his hand.

“Oh, um, it’s in the mud room, stacked up against the wall.” She said, pointing through the living room toward the front door.

“Perfect, let me go get it.” Finn smiled and raced off. She assumed he must have been cold with how eagerly he ran off to get the fireplace up and running.

“Thank you, uh- Finn!” She called out after him, not even knowing if he heard her. Shaking away the worry, she turned back to Wilhelm, who was busy cooking.

“And Wilhelm, you didn’t have to cook. I can take over for you-”

“Absolutely not!” Wilhelm raised the spatula to emphasize his point. “You let us stay on a whim. It is the least I can do. Using your food, but my point still stands.” 

He turned back around to flip his omelet, giving Petra a moment to admire his wings. No one in this area had features like that, though with her tail and elf ears, she didn’t have much room to talk. The back of his shirt was cut out, tailored for him, to allow room for his wings and exposing all the downy feathers that covered where his wings connected to his back, tapering off down his back.

“Can I at least help?” She pressed, but was promptly ignored. Elias was happy to break the silence.

“Or you could come talk to me, I’m bored as fuck over here!” Wilhelm cleared his throat to correct Elias’ swearing, “Come, come, sit. I have questions.” He said while patting the table excitedly. Compared to last night, he perked up the most. Petra gave in and sat in Finn’s spot across from him, to which he spun around to face her. Still on edge, she looked past Elias when Perseus moved, but he only walked over to Wilhelm, leaning on the counter to talk to him in a quiet tone. 

"So what do you think of swords?”

“Swords?” Petra said with a laugh, not expecting the question. “Um… I like them, although they are a little dangerous if you aren’t careful.”

“Mhm, mhm… you’re pretty cool. So far! But, you see, lots of people say I’m annoying. You don’t think so, do you?” He questioned, giving her an inquisitive look, staring and waiting for an answer, while Petra was taken aback by how quickly he seemed to bounce around subjects.

“No, no, you’re alright. How old are you, pipsqueak?” 

“Hell yes- whoa wait, pipsqueak!? Now what the fu-” He was cut off by Finn putting a dirt-covered hand over his mouth, making Elias sputter and feverishly wipe his face off.

“Don’t worry, you’ll find him annoying soon enough. He’s eleven, not too hard to believe, huh?” Finn playfully shoved the boy, looking up to meet Petra’s eyes, seemingly getting lost as he stared at her. Whether it was just looking her over or spacing out, she couldn’t tell, but he seemed to come to and cleared his throat, quick to look away to Wilhelm.

“Um, so I checked outside to see how things are faring, and it’s still a blizzard out there. There’s a heavy amount of snow on the ground.” Finn looked back at Petra with a sympathetic look. “Petra, I am afraid we are going to have to overstay our welcome until some of this snow melts. We have no hope of traveling like this.”

“Absolutely not, we can’t afford to stay still.” Perseus shot up from resting on the counter, giving Finn a look of disapproval, then turned to Wilhelm, speaking through gritted teeth. “We need to go today. She doesn’t want us, and I don’t like this place.” 

“I would rather you stay here than get caught in that snow. It can last for weeks here.” Petra butted in, getting up and standing beside Finn, who looked ready to back her up.

“Percy, you don’t know how bad it is out there,” Finn added.

“And we have been through worse, we can go-” Perseus argued and was interrupted.

“Elias can’t, you saw him last night!”

“Stop making excuses!”

Wilhelm was quick to step between Finn and Perseus’ line of sight of each other, so both would look at him. He sighed loudly, looking at the two of them, a plated omelet in his hand. He silently handed it to Petra with a quick smile, walking back to the stove.

“Oh, thank you, but I need to go outside,” Petra said quietly, trying to hand it back to him but opting for the counter since he turned around.

“Ah, perfect. Percy, go with her.” He said, plating more food for the others.

“What, why?” Perseus watched him in bewilderment.

“If you are so certain we can travel like this, go out there. Finn says we can’t, but you haven’t seen it yet. So, go with her and check it out. Plus, if it is that bad, you can do her a favor and help her do whatever she needs to do.”

Perseus opened his mouth to object, but closed it with a grumble. He shot Petra a look before nodding and heading to the spare bedroom. 

“I can do it by myself. It really isn’t a big deal. This wouldn’t be the first time.” Petra said, hoping Wilhelm would let her go alone. Not that she didn’t like Perseus, but he was the last of the four she wanted to be alone with after the aggression he had already displayed.

Wilhelm turned around, plates in hand to deliver to the table. “Petra, please give him a chance. Besides, think of this protection as a way for me to repay you. Just giving you a helping hand.”

That was all he needed to say for her to realize she just needed to get this over with. Not that she had to listen to him, but there wasn’t harm in the act. If it is as bad as Finn says, maybe he can help her open the coop door and trudge through the snow.

Petra headed downstairs, the stairway being just off the kitchen, and into the storage room. Two large barrels sat next to the door with a feed bucket hung up above it, which she grabbed and filled when Poppy appeared to remind her she was suddenly hungry. Petra grabbed down her cloak, setting it on a barrel along with the bucket.

Walking to the stairs, she nearly ran into Perseus, who was pulling a thick wool shirt over the undershirt, heading down to her. He pulled it over his face, stopping to look at her. She stepped aside, and he walked past her, looking around the storage room and into the library.

“Is that all you’re going to wear?” She asked, and he looked over at her, unimpressed. “I have another cloak if you want it. It’s too big for me.”

“Where is it?”

“The spare room, the one in the library.” Petra pointed, and he looked in the direction, pulling his hair out of the small bun and shaking it out to one side. His hair was messily down; it made him look a little softer, friendlier. She stopped looking before he could catch her and made quick work of getting upstairs to feed Poppy.

By the time she got back down, Perseus had on the black cloak, nearly a perfect fit for him, and his hair tied back up. Petra hurried over to get her cloak, lifting a side of her shirt to let her tail wrap around her midriff again, to keep it warm this time. She glanced over when hearing a soft “huh” from Perseus, noticing him watching her.

“So, what are you?” He asked bluntly and surprised Petra a bit, realizing how contradictory it was for him to be asking.

“What are you? With tusks and ears like that.” She retorted, “What is Wilhelm?”

He scoffed a small laugh, pulling the droopy hood up. “Fair enough.” The little laugh was the closest thing to friendly she had seen of him.

Petra clasped her cloak, pulling the hood up and grabbing her bucket. With the blowing wind, she was dreading her cloak being blown open, but it was either that or nothing. She opened up the door to be met with a gust of flurries in her face and piled up snow falling inside the doorway.

“Are you sure you want to join? This isn’t going to be fun.” She tried to be light-hearted, but Perseus grabbed the door from her, pushing past and moving the snow away from the door before heading out into the blurry mess.

Petra quickly followed after, having to put in extra effort to shut the door. The snow was already up to her ankles and coming down nonstop, but with the divot Perseus was making, it made it easier. He stopped suddenly, and she bumped into his back, taking a couple of steps back when he turned to look at her.

“Where am I going?” Perseus called out over the wind. “I’ll make a path, just tell me where to go.”

“Okay, keep going straight, then follow along the treeline to the left. I have one coop and a small barn.” She yelled back to him.

Nearly no words were passed between them after that. With the wind blowing and her following him like a duckling after its mother, it didn’t make for good conversation. He helped clear snow when she struggled with the coop door and propped it only halfway to minimize the snow that got inside. When it came to the sheep, all huddled in the barn, Perseus took the bucket and went through the barbed wire to deliver it to them. The chores went by faster than usual, not having time to sit and enjoy her animals.

Once back inside, Perseus put her feed bucket back up and sighed as he undid the cloak, shaking off some leftover snow. He was looking impatient as Petra was taking her cloak off and letting her tail free again, waiting until she finally gave him her attention.

“Finn was right. I’m sorry, but we’ll have to stay until it clears. Maybe until the ground dries up too, depending on how muddy it gets here.” He told her, reluctantly.

“It can get bad. You all are welcome to stay, as long as you can try to trust me a bit.” She said as a warning, referencing the incident earlier. He stared her down. He looked to be fighting not being the one in charge. Eventually, he gave in, and he nodded to her.

“Deal. Thank you.” He said before retreating quickly upstairs.

She took her time going to her room to grab clothes and wash up in the bath at the end of the hall. Once she was clean and dry, she quietly made her way into the kitchen and grabbed up the food Wilhelm had made for her. Not hot, but still warm, and she ate while making a small cup of coffee. That was her most expensive luxury item, gotten only every once in a while from her Oma.

The group was gathered around the table, Wilhelm and Finn chatting while Elias was still eating, and Perseus stood next to the table, leaning against a wall while eating. The three of them were talking quietly, and occasionally one of them would wrangle Perseus into the conversation. They all looked at peace, like it was the first time they got to enjoy a morning like this together in a long time.

Petra slipped away with her hot cup of coffee, giving herself time to decompress from them and allowing them their time together. She headed into the spare room next to hers that Wilhelm and Perseus were using, aiming to tidy up and lay out an old futon she hadn’t thought about last night. When she first found the house, it seemed like it wasn’t left abandoned for long; it had plenty of leftover clothes and bedding from a big family. She didn’t question what happened and just took it as a blessing, though this was the first time it ever got put to use.

Petra mindlessly spent the majority of the day in both spare rooms, setting up a futon in both, along with pillows and blankets. She gave the boys in the basement heavier blankets, as she knew it got cold down there. If they were going to stay here, she saw no reason not to make their stay as comfortable as she could. Surprisingly, she didn’t run into anyone as she went from both rooms, but eventually the rumble in her stomach urged her to call it quits.

The feeling of hunger and overworking herself was finally kicking in now. Entering the kitchen, she was surprised to see only Wilhelm, sitting at the dining room table and peacefully reading an old book she had discarded on the table weeks ago. Taking a look around, she realized she didn’t hear any other voices in the home.

"Hey Wilhelm, where are… the boys?" Petra hesitated, hoping he wouldn't mind her referring to the three that way. He smiled down at the book, still scanning the words, but glancing up at her with a twinkle in his eye, which gave her more reassurance than words could have.

“My sons are outside, Perseus followed suit to make sure they stayed safe. Eli noticed the snow had died down, and wanted to go out there. It’s been a while since they’ve gotten a chance to have fun. What about you, mate?” Wilhelm set the book down, pages side down to mark his spot. “You seem tired.”

"Ah, a tad. I came in to make supper. Are you all okay with goulash?"

"Pardon?"

"It's a type of soup, one my Oma taught me. I'll make it for you all tonight. It makes a lot, so it's perfect." Petra said, her tone light, and Wilhelm nodded. It had been a long time since she had cooked a big meal. The last time was when Oma and Opa made a secret visit to her home over a year ago. Having dinner with company was another luxury she rarely got to enjoy.

Petra went to work, gathering ingredients and her recipe page, and beginning to prep when Wilhelm joined her near the counter.

"I can help if you'd like." He offered, and she stopped, contemplating it for just a moment before giving a quick reply.

"No, I've got this. You could keep me company, though, if you'd like. You seemed a little lonely."

Wilhelm smiled and leaned back against the counter out of the way as he watched her work. Cooking was a joy for her, but soups were a personal favorite and perfect for a cold day like this. Wilhelm spoke, stirring her from her thoughts.

"Well, I was thinking actually…" When he stopped talking, she looked over at him to see him looking intently at her. "How can I repay you?"

"Repay me?"

“I owe you my life, we all do. If you didn’t let us in, we would have frozen to death out there, and you know that. You’re letting us stay longer than we promised, and now you're cooking for us. How can we repay you?” Wilhelm said insistently, looking serious as he stared at her. It was clear how much thought he put into this.

"Well… you’ll be staying here for a while, so how about I get back to you on that, okay?"

He huffed, looking entirely dissatisfied with her answer. Even his wings drooped with his disappointment. Petra couldn't help but let out a breathy laugh, turning back to her cooking. 

“I just need to think about it, you’ve sprung this on me out of nowhere!” 

“Alright, but I won’t let us leave until we’ve done something for you.”

Petra flashed him a smile so he knew she heard him. They both drifted off into a comfortable silence. He stayed nearby, watching her cook but they didn’t speak which she appreciated. Petra hadn’t thought about them wanting to repay her. She assumed they would just move on once the weather was clear. They seemed to come from someplace wealthy. Not just anyone would own such expensive clothes and elaborate armor like that. Maybe they did have something she could use; they might know some powerful people or know things about magic she could use to help her crystal eye situation.

After setting the soup to simmer for a bit, Petra rested against the counter just as she heard the loud opening and closing of the front door, followed by Elias’ voice.

“Holy fuck, I’m starving and that smells so good!” He ran over to see what Petra was cooking. The childlike excitement and happiness were sparkling in his eyes. Wilhelm cleared his throat, giving Elias a disapproving look, but shaking his head with a small smile.

“It’s goulash.” She said, grabbing a small spoon to dip into the soup and offering it to him. He looked at the spoon, then to her, seeming unsure of whether he was really allowed.

“It’s good,” Petra reassured, further offering him to try. He took the spoon, quick to pop it in his mouth. He took a second to process the new taste, but perked up suddenly.

“That’s really good. Is it done?” He asked eagerly and looked at her. Petra couldn't help but giggle a bit, getting the urge to ruffle his hair, but instead walked around him to grab five bowls and spoons so they could eat.

“Yeah, almost, it needs just about 5 minutes. Could you put the spoons on the table? And where are Finn and Perseus?” Elias just rolled his eyes with a little scoff, reaching over to take the silverware from her and heading over to the table.

“Still outside, I guess. They got all pissed off at each other or something and are throwing snowballs now. I got tired of getting hit and tried to get them to come inside, but nooo.” He mumbled more, something about Finn, and her name was mentioned. She didn’t hear what he said, but Wilhelm certainly did as he went over to the table, giving Elias a light smack on the arm.

“Elias!” He hissed with a displeased expression.

“Ow! What the hell!" Elias glared back at Wilhelm, but after a second of silent communication between the two, he just sighed in defeat, “I’m sorry, too much. I don't want Finn to beat my arse.” He snickered, and Wilhelm couldn’t help but join in a little. He squeezed Elias’ shoulder, taking a seat at the table. 

“Petra, I don’t mean to put pressure on you to do this, but maybe you could yell at those two to come in? I feel like they might listen to you.”

“Oh, of course. You can go ahead and serve this if you want. I’ll be right back.” She set down the bowls, stirring the pot quickly before going to the front door, not sure what to expect. Petra swung the door open, instantly getting hit with a hard snowball to the chest, making her stagger back. She was baffled, brushing off the snow and looking up to see Finn, his hands over his mouth and face quickly flushing. Perseus was seemingly ducking out of the way with handfuls of snowballs, looking back to see what happened, and bursting out laughing once he pieced it together.

“OH MY GOD! Oh god- I’m SO sorry!!” Finn looked like he wanted to say more, but was too embarrassed to think. Petra couldn’t help but laugh, wiping most of the snow off, but a large wet mark stayed on the chest of her light brown shirt. She desperately wanted to hurl a snowball back, but decided to take pity on the fact that they were already wet and cold.

“Yep, that’s- that’s alright. I just wanted to tell you that supper is ready, so get inside.” Her tone was light-hearted, having a hard time keeping a straight face with Perseus still laughing at Finn.

“Right- right! I’m sorry again, we’ll be right in!”

Petra closed the door and quickly heard them start bantering back and forth, though too muffled to make out the words. She made her way back into the kitchen, excited to finally relieve her hunger, when she was quickly questioned.

“The fuck happened?” Elias turned himself halfway around the chair, the same one he sat in this morning, to see what the commotion was.

“Well, I opened up the door and got caught in the crossfire of their little battle out there.” She said while filling the one empty bowl left for her with goulash and hearing Elias wheeze out a laugh, “Needless to say, they’re coming in.” 

As if summoning them, the front door opened up. Petra hopped up on the kitchen counter with her food, watching as the two walked in. They were both snow-covered and soaking wet. Perseus walked in first, his hair taken down and was raking through it with his hand, with Finn behind him, his wet curly hair pushed back out of his face.

“Before you come any closer, there are spare clothes in both rooms. I beg you both to change.” Petra said, and Finn seemed happy to head downstairs, and Perseus left down the hall right after.

They were back quickly to eat, Finn in a brown sweater and Perseus in a dark linen shirt, both thanking her as they passed by her. The family began chatting about little, unimportant things. The peaceful chatter was pure music to Petra’s ears. As much as she hated to admit it, she deeply craved the company of others, and this group scratched that itch of wanting a taste of domestic life.

Happily, she ate in silence while the family was enveloped in their bubble of conversation. Even when she was done eating, she stayed on the counter and listened to them, talking about the house and the food until Poppy trotted into the kitchen with a big meow to announce she was hungry for her dinner. The meow was loud enough to make Finn stop talking to "aww" at the cat. Petra hopped off the counter and washed her bowl before turning back to the Poppy.

“Alright, baby, are you hungry?” Poppy meowed again and impatiently walked around so Petra would follow her to her bowl as she filled it. “Okay, you all can wash the bowls when you’re done. I’ll be in the library if you need me.” With that, she waved the family off.

Half an hour passed, and she had settled into one of the two plush blue chairs kept in the corner of the library, opposite the bedroom. Bookcases lined the walls, almost entirely filled with books left from the previous owners. She hummed a quiet song while flipping through a recipe book, trying to find something she had thought of earlier in the day. Poppy joined her after eating and was fast asleep in her lap, her own tail curled around the cat.

“Hey, Petra?” Came the soft calling of Finn as he took a few steps down the stairs and met her eyes. Elias rushed past him to the room, clearly going to sleep as he closed the door behind him.

“Hi, do you need something?”

“Well, no, the others are going to bed, and I wanted to know if…” He trailed off, walking down the stairs, stopping at the doorway that led into the library. "If I could come read with you, actually.”

“Oh, yeah. The books aren’t in any order, but I’m sure you’ll be able to find something here you like.” She watched him walk to the farthest shelf from her and skim over it, trying to find something of interest.

“I was never given the chance to sit down and read like this.” He commented while skimming over the books. Finding one that caught his attention, he plucked it out. “You know, I’ve always wanted to learn music.”

“Really?”

“Really. It has always been a topic that has enticed me. I used to write little songs in the small bits of free time I was so graciously granted.” He exaggerated as he plopped down in the chair beside her, not so slyly looking her over and smiling before getting comfy and opening the cover.

“I guess you’re in luck then, I have numerous books on music, and I think two folders that are filled with some stray sheet music.” She said before turning her attention back to her book.

Comfortable silence fell over them as they read, although Petra would occasionally see him glance at her out of the corner of her eye. After a few minutes, he leaned back with a sigh, adjusting his glasses and looking around until something caught his eye.

“Do you play?”

“Hm?”

“That guitar over there.”

“Oh, well, I used to. It’s been at least a year or two since I’ve even tried to play anything.” She laughed a little, glancing at Finn, who turned his attention back to her. 

“Have you been interested in learning anything else?”

“Oh, absolutely, though I don't think I have the money to buy a new instrument from anywhere. At least not here.”

Finn hummed softly in reply, obviously thinking over her response, though the conversation died out after that as he seemed to become engrossed in the pages, while Petra found the recipe she had been searching for.

It came to her mind how nice this was. Despite no one talking, she was able to spend time with someone in her most comfortable environment. Who would have known a snowstorm would gift her people who weren’t here to hurt her? People who wanted to get to know her.