#waxwitch

Ptisane

She noticed it when they were lounging in bed as the draught wore off. She kissed his fingers as the tips began to cool under her lips.

“How was it tonight?”

“Which part? Both were incredible, by the way.”

She smiled up at him, “The flying.”

He hummed, “Colder than last time, but nice. I got caught in the rain a bit. Haven’t had to worry about that in a while.”

She smiled up at him, “I noticed you were a bit damp.”

He pulled her in closer, “I could make a joke about that, but I won’t.”

She threw her head back to laugh and he smothered a quick cough into his shoulder. She stayed smiling, but her brow furrowed, “You alright?”

“Getting used to breathing again is harder than I thought, hey?” He joked, and she relaxed back against his chest.

—-

The next day, she heard him before she saw him.

“Hih’NG’SHH!”

From across the room, Icarus rubbed his nose and nodded his head at Odysseus. The older shade had a firm hand on his shoulder. She caught the tail-end of their conversation as she stepped closer, “...Our good witch of the crossroads would know.”

“Would know what?”

“Master Odysseus was jus-hh!” Icarus fiddled with a pocket on his belt. Melinoe noted the pink tinge to his nose. His hands finally found what they were looking for, and he pulled out a tattered work cloth. He pressed it to his face, his eyes watering. “Hh!”

“NN’GGshh!” He turned away at the last moment and doubled over, one hand splayed over the cloth, the other on his knee.

A mechanism on his back reacted from the motion and his wings gave an unexpected beat, causing him to stumble.

Melinoe’s hand flinched, as if to reach out to touch him, steady him. But her fingers would fall through empty air. She allowed her palm to stay resting at her side.

The shade didn’t seem to notice. He straightened and turned back to them with the cloth still over his nose, muffling his voice. “Excuse me, sorry.”

Odysseus, however, did seem to notice, and gave Icarus’ arm a squeeze in her stead. “That doesn’t seem right, lad.”

“It isn’t.” Melinoe frowned and stepped closer, her eyes narrowing.

She knew Hecate wouldn’t think so, either.

—

They agreed to meet in Melinoe’s tent to save the shade some humiliation, but, seeing Icarus shrink under Hecate’s gaze, she now knew there was no avoiding that.

He was perched on Melinoe’s bed, his mechanical wings leaned gently against her nightstand, hands folded in his lap as he looked up at the older witch, who bent down to meet his gaze.

“Say, ‘Ah.’”

His eyes drifted to the ceiling and he let out a weak, “Ahhhh…” before ducking his head to clear his throat.

Hecate clicked her tongue, “Turn your head to the left.”

“My left or your left?”

She sighed, and Icarus shrank further. “It matters not.”

He nodded and jerked his chin to her left.

“And now the other side.”

He turned.

“Now a breath in, hold it as long as you can.”

He fumbled, mouth opening and closing. “Er, Madam, that would be a very long time, I think.”

“Why don’t we give it a shot?” Hecate waved her hand for him to begin.

He spared a curious glance to Melinoe.

She motioned at him to hurry up.

Well, he was always up for an experiment. He sucked in a breath. Held it.

They sat in silence.

Icarus kicked his legs absentmindedly.

And then, for the first time in centuries, his lungs started to ache. At first, he thought it was his imagination. But, no, the pressure only grew worse. Until, after another minute or two, he let the breath out in a puff.

“Oh.”

Hecate hummed and nodded. “Seems like some effects from your latest draught have lasted longer than you intended,” She straightened, adjusting her hat, “Our young Icarus has come down with the flu, common for mortals.”

“The flu!” Icarus said, incredulous, “I’m a shade!”

“And you were flesh and blood when you went flying in the rain and caught the blasted thing.”

Icarus’ mouth dropped as he looked to Hecate in sheepishness and then to Melinoe in betrayal. She put her hands up in defense, “I didn’t tell her! She just knows.”

“He’ll need another draught to give his physical form time to recover,” Hecate continued, “I assume this won’t be a problem for you, Melinoe?”

Melinoe nodded, “I have the shaderot and shadow.”

Icarus looked between them, much less enthused by the idea of the draught than the first time. He didn’t remember much of what it felt like to be alive and ailing, but he wasn’t eager to take a walk down memory lane. “Are you sure I can’t just, you know, wait it out? It feels like it’s just a cold, not that I’ve had much experience with those.”

Hecate clicked her tongue. “As a shade, you are numbed from pain and illness. That tends to stall the recovery process a bit. You’d be waiting for quite some time, not sure how many years.”

“Years?!” He started, shocked, then resigned as he turned to look at Melinoe.

She flashed him a sympathetic smile, “I’ll get started on that draught.”

Hecate took a long look at Icarus, slumped and miserable, before nodding. “Ptisane with honey will needed as well.”

—

“I suppose it’s something mortals drink when they’re ailing.” Melinoe told Icarus as she stirred a pot above a miniature flame in her room.

He stood beside her, hands behind his back, staring into the mixture. “I can’t remember if I’ve had it or not. Looks kind of milky.”

“It’s mostly barley and water, but it should be easy on your stomach, once you have one.”

He nodded, watching her stir with her ghost-like arm. The joints of the bones shifted delicately with each movement. They fit so carefully between one another. He wondered if it ever hurt her.

“The draught should be ready by now. Be right back.”

He jumped a little, the spell broken, “Ah! Alright, I’ll be here. Obviously.” He watched her stroll around the corner and took the opportunity to fish out his abused handkerchief and blow his nose, hoping the sound didn’t travel.

By the time she returned, his head felt significantly lighter, but his ears were definitely popped, as if he had flown too high too fast. “Successful?” Was he shouting?

Melinoe lifted the bottle in response. “Ready?”

He reached out, and she dropped it into his hand. Cool, green liquid sloshed inside. Before he could second-guess himself, he popped the cork off and knocked it back.

When he took the draught the first time, after he saw Melinoe in the crossroads, it was a rush of adrenaline and joy. This time felt like…not that. His head spun, his nose itched ten times worse, and wow did his body ache.

“Ugh.” He sat back on the bed, hands falling behind him.

“Ugh?”

He scrubbed his face with the back of his hand, his hair a little wilder, one strand sticking straight up. He ran a hand through it and sniffed. “Did I look better dead?”

“Less miserable, maybe.” She pulled a spare piece of cloth from her table drawer and handed it to him, “Why don’t you use this and keep it on hand? I think it’s a little nicer than what you have now.”

He took it, sheepish. “Sorry, right. That’s…probably a good idea.”

She smiled and cupped his face, her hands wonderfully cool. Her fingers walked under his chin and lifted.

At first, he thought she was going to kiss him, but her lips moved up to his forehead, and he found that just as nice.

She straightened, her dark lips pulled down in a small frown. “Hm…”

“Let me remind you, I’m actually dead. So, there’s not much to worry about here.”

Melinoe shot him a look, “Right now you’re not! I’m not sure what would happen if you were to—”

“I’d probably just go back to being a shade. I’ll be fine. Here, let’s check on the–” He rose to his feet and the blood rushed to his head. He stumbled and Melinoe’s arm shot out and steadied him.

It was nice that she could touch him like that, so casually. It almost made him forget the vertigo threatening to spill the contents of his stomach onto the floor.

“Sit.” Melinoe’s voice lowered. She hit the t in “sit” sharply with the tip of her tongue, which told him she had lost patience.

He sat.

She started gathering up blankets and tucking them around him, adjusting the pillows behind his back. He allowed himself to sink into them, relishing feeling warm cloth against his skin again.

When she was satisfied, she ladled some ptisane into a bowl and handed it to him.

He had the common sense to eat it as soon as it was in his lap, but once it was in his mouth, he started.

Melinoe frowned, “What, no good? Or, have you burned yourself?”

“No, it’s not that, it’s perfect. Well, okay maybe I did burn myself a little.” He gave a soft laugh before sticking out the end of his tongue. It was pink as opposed to the soft gray she was used to, with a little red mark where the ptisane had scalded.

She watched his face, soft and thoughtful as he stirred the bowl. This time, he blew on the spoon before taking a sip. “I’ve just remembered, I’ve had this before. Not quite food, not quite drink, is it?”

“A bit like ambrosia, I think.” Melinoe said.

That made him laugh, which made him cough. He leaned forward as his lungs spasmed.

Melinoe rested a hand on his back, heat pulsing through his shirt. “I should go. Let you get some rest.”

“Stay,” he croaked. The illness and draught were making him bold. Not that he needed help with that, the dolt he was. “Tell me about your latest battle, or something.” He moved to make space for her on the bed.

She smiled, sat down, and told him about a giant squid rampaging through Oceanus, with little ones all around it.

He began thinking of things to help, maybe something with the umbral flames. She needed a defense so they couldn’t gang up on her, like she was complaining about.

She continued on about seeing Artemis, and somewhere between running into Narcissus and fighting Scilla, he fell asleep.

His first dream was hazy. He was eating ptisane again, this one was thicker, and tasted more of barley and less of honey. There was a woman with wild, curly hair holding the spoon for him. The face kept blurring and flashing.

He blinked and she was gone. There was a hand tucked behind his head.

His eyes flicked up to his father, the older man’s dark hair was pushed back behind his ears, his face as impartial as ever. Behind him stood the yellow stone walls of the tower.

Daedalus was pressing a cup to his mouth. “Drink.”

Icarus obeyed. This ptisane tasted bland, gluey. No honey. He swallowed and his breath came in hot bursts, echoing back onto his face.

The hand behind his head eased him back onto the pillow and black crept and bled over his vision.

“Icarus.”

His eyes snapped open and Daedalus was still there, but it had gone dark, save for one or two flickering candles. There was a ghostly, see-through quality to his father.

When Icarus looked down, he noticed the same quality to himself. “Am…I still dreaming?” The words scratched through his throat. It hurt to speak.

“No.”

That got him to sit up. The draught had worn off, then. “What are you doing here?”

Daedalus really did look the same. He still had his wings and belts and hammers, all polished and oiled. He still had that steady, neutral expression aimed at Icarus.

“I’ve been seeing a significant lack of hammers as of late.”

He was almost disappointed. “Business is down, hey? Or rather,” his voice wobbled as his chest hitched in irritation, “you’re not getting calls during retirement, are you?” The last word broke off as he coughed once, twice, and dissolved into a fit. He braced a hand against his chest, wheezing.

Daedalus took a step forward, gaze sharpening. “How did you get like this? I should be told of these things. You’re my apprentice.”

Icarus swallowed and wiped at his mouth, “I’m also your son.”

Thick, uncomfortable silence.

Icarus sighed and slumped forward, spent.

Footsteps. Then, rough, calloused hands lifted his bangs off his forehead. Icarus kept his eyes closed, mostly out of embarrassment, but also to stop the room from spinning. The damned fever.

“You are warm for a shade,” Daedalus said, as if confirming it.

“Am I thinking out loud?”

“Yes.”

“Hm.” Icarus pressed his lips together, cursing at himself, careful to keep it in his head.

“Did you go out in the rain?”

Icarus’ breath caught, threatening to send him coughing again. “How did you know that? Did you talk to Hecate?”

“No.” Daedalus said, firm. He pushed Icarus’ hair all the way back and tucked the locks behind his ears. It felt cool against his scalp, his hair slick with sweat. “I know because I’m your father.”

“Ah.” He opened his eyes to see amber ones, very similar to his own, peering down at him. If Icarus wasn’t mistaken, he’d say he saw a bit of concern on the great Daedalus’ face. “I suppose you are.”

Daedalus continued to fuss with his hair, tucking it away even as it stubbornly flew back between his eyes. “Back in the tower, you had sat on the roof during a storm. Out of boredom, it seemed. You made yourself so sick, I thought you might die there.”

Icarus allowed himself a moment to be a child again, sick and shivering while his father fussed over him, “Well,” He mumbled, “I didn’t.”

“No. I watched you fall into the sea, instead.”

Icarus couldn’t look him in the eye, coward that he was. Instead, he kept his head down and whispered, “I suppose you did.”

He considered, for the first time, that Daedalus might not have been angry that Icarus had broken his wings.

Maybe, his father was angry at him for dying. It was something new to untangle, an unsolved problem.

Icarus let himself sit on that. the idea of Daedalus watching his last few moments. He wondered how much his father saw. He probably heard the initial panic, saw the arms flailing, trying to gain purchase on empty air, and then he would watch as Icarus grew smaller and smaller.

Until…right. He supposed he could understand. Or, he would try to, anyway.

There was the rustle of a curtain and he looked up to see Melinoe at the entrance. She held a glowing bottle of draught in one hand and a cloth in the other.

He smiled, and she smiled back. The air in the room lifted a little.

Her eyes flicked to Daedalus’ hand in his hair. “Hope I’m not interrupting something important.”

“You’re fine, Meli-ih…hh!” Daedalus dropped his arm to his side just as Icarus ducked back behind the cloth Melinoe had given him. “Heh-HEH..! RRSHHOO!”

“It seems like he’s getting worse.” Melinoe’s voice got closer as he blinked, dazed. He felt a blanket tuck back up around him. It was a nice gesture, but useless against the skin of a shade.

“Mortals typically do before they start getting better.” Daedalus began adjusting his wings and walking towards the door. “But if it gets serious, you’ll let me know?”

“Of course.”

Icarus looked at his father, and somehow felt a little better, despite the ache in his head. “See you, dad.” He gave a nod.

Daedalus nodded back. Icarus watched him catch a gust of wind back to the top. His form grew smaller and smaller until he was out of sight.

Melinoe looked back at Icarus over her shoulder, eyebrows pinching a little crease between them. “I hope I didn’t chase him off.”

(Before hearing these I would like to defend their quality by saying that my passion is songwriting not singing and also I’m terrible at understanding characters past surface level)

(three songs in one long video so I don’t have to make multiple posts)(Edit: moving the original song to the front because I got like a dozen compliments on it irl and my self confidence is through the roof rn)

1st: Damn you, Icarus(filler name because writing these songs genuinely made my grades drop because I kept writing them in class. All the other full song names get progressively angrier)(yes I know the vocals are bad but that’s what happens when your only free time for recording is 3am)

[Verse 1]

Watch from the sky, flying high

Til I saw you pass by

And I couldn’t miss those eyes

Said “hey, haven’t talked in a while”

And I guess I missed your smile

Wish I could follow it for miles

[prechorus]

Just give me a minute to pack my things

I’ll give you whatever I said I’d bring

I’d take your hand, but that would seem a little rude

[chorus]

Now I’m falling through the air without a care because you’re by my side

But I won’t lie

I know that I don’t stand a chance but would you could you just give me this dance

Before goodbyes

[Verse 2]

Know that I’ll never be the best

Always part of “just the rest”

But that seems enough for me

I’d gift you the heart off of my sleeve 

If it meant you’d never leave 

But I know that that sounds greedy

[prechorus]

Just give me a minute to pack my things

I’ll give you whatever I said I’d bring

I’d take your hand, but that would seem a little rude

[chorus]

Now I’m falling through the air without a care because you’re by my side

But I won’t lie

I know that I don’t stand a chance but would you could you just give me this dance

Before goodbyes

[bridge]

Wish I could hold you hand

feel the touch again my skin

cause you make me feel alive again

No matter on sea or land

I know you would understand 

So just say when

[chorus]

Now I’m falling through the air without a care because you’re right by my side

For all this time

I thought I’d never stand a chance but you’ve given me this perfect romance

For this whole life

2nd: Her(JVKE) open verse

[lyrics]

Through the days

Through the waves

Through the things that they’ll say

Oh my heart is floating on the winds

Can love be as sweet as poets sing?

I’ve known you

Through the years

How you fell down, disappeared 

There’s rip currents running in the night

I know through it all we’ll be alright

Right along, by my side, stay and watch the time

My heart it leaps, when I see, bronze wings in the sky

I never thought, I’d have fought, all the way through the dark

To the dawn

3rd: This is what falling in love feels like(JVKE) open verse

[lyrics]

Walking through sunshine, never a cloud on your face

You’re looking just fine and I’m probably the luckiest shade

Head on my shoulder, never been colder

Now I’ve felt what we could be, I never thought I’d live to see it

Trading gifts on the rainiest days

Never felt alive but now I’m awake

Feet on the ground but it still feels like flyin 

i feel the spray of the sea

YOU - Icarus— ICARUS - Meli. YOU - Icarus, may I ask you something? ICARUS - Anything.

OR; Melinoe, princess of the underworld and newly minted weapon against time, becomes something of a 'can opener'. (A reimagining of HADES 2 in the style of Disco Elysium, including original skills, dialouge trees and even... plot?)