Archive of Our Own ^beta

“What was that?”

“Still shadows, Maud,” Mildred sighed. Lifting her lantern higher, Mildred cast its pale light as far as she could. Flickering shapes crept along the rough stone of the walls. They all pretended they couldn’t hear the scratching of…something moving in the shadows.

“Did it just get colder?”

Enid turned around, dropping her own light. Darkness crept closer. “Maud. We’re in the castle. Castles are drafty.”

“We’re in the basement, Enid.” Maud shoved her glasses higher up her nose. “Below the basement. Where is this draft coming from?”

“Shhh!” Mildred waved at them to be quiet. “Listen!” They stood silently in the gloom. Water dripped from somewhere. The stones popped and hissed as they settled in the cooler night air. Up ahead, something wet slapped against the stone.

“We shouldn’t be here…” Maud warned.

Even Mildred was beginning to look skeptical. “How did you find this place?”

“Just exploring. Now hurry up, we’re almost there.” Enid’s cryptic answer did nothing to calm Maud’s nerves. Still, they followed along, splashing through fetid puddles and occasionally slipping on patches of slime.

“Hiccup, darling!” Pippa leaned in and brushed her lips against Hecate’s cheek. It wouldn’t do to push. Even though they’d grown closer, Hecate was still skittish when it came to physical affection. She needed to warm up to the idea. Pippa didn’t mind, though. In fact, she rather enjoyed stoking that tiny flame until they were both ablaze. “You’re looking lovely tonight.”

“Flattery will not make me go any easier on you during our chess match.” She helped Pippa out of her cloak and hung it by the door. That done, she allowed herself to drink in Pippa’s appearance. “You’re looking rather lovely yourself, Pipsqueak.” Despite the rising blush in her cheeks, she pulled Pippa’s hands to her lips and dusted them in featherlight kisses. “But I’m still going to wipe the board with you.”

“Ah, but I’ve brought along a few things to even the odds. First,” she held out her hand and summoned a bottle of honeyed mead. She handed it to Hecate. “And second…” Pippa snapped her fingers and her dress was replaced with a pair of comfy yoga pants and an oversized sweatshirt with a wide neck that left one shoulder and a fair bit of cleavage exposed. “My secret weapons,” she grinned, “sure to keep you distracted.”

Gasping, Hecate froze, ramrod straight. Someone – or something – had tripped wards that hadn’t been disturbed in decades. Dangerous wards. An old, long-forgotten fear roared to life, as if it had been days instead of decades.

“Hecate?” Pippa pulled the sweatshirt up over her shoulder. “I’m sorry… I didn’t—”

“It’s not you – truly.” Hecate tried to gather herself enough for a transfer. “Someone’s just set off the protective wards to my… to where I’ve stored some dangerous things.” She thrust the bottle of mead into Pippa’s hands. “Pour us each a glass. I’ll be back as quickly as I can.”

She was gone before Pippa could say a word.

“Here it is!” Enid said, proudly showing off her find. “Tell me this isn’t the perfect place for a midnight feast.” An entire room lay hidden behind a jumbled mountain of broken-down boxes and moldy furniture. “And it’s all ours.”

Sagging shelves lined the walls, failing under the weight of specimen jars filled with unidentifiable ingredients. Some were cracked and the contents dripped onto the stacks of rotting books. In the middle stood a battered table with a squat, rusted cauldron in its center.

Dubious, Maud shook her head. “What is this place?”

“It looks like somebody used to make potions down here.” Mildred used the tip of her finger to open the cover of one of the books. “Joy H… The rest of the name’s been chewed away. Do you think this is her place?”

“Who cares,” Enid said, sitting on a rickety stool. “There’s nobody named Joy here now. The main thing is that HB won’t find us.”

“Don’t count on it!” Hecate growled as soon as she materialized. “I don’t know how you found this place, but you should not be here. Come along, we need to leave.”

Before anyone could move, Maud screamed and pointed. “Behind you!”

Closing her eyes, Hecate steadied herself before turning around. She knew what she’d see.

A creature, with wet flesh the color of a bruise, pulled itself forward on a writhing mass of tentacles. The sound they made slapping against the stone was disturbingly familiar.

“sssurely you aren’t leeeaving so sssooon… it’sss been yearsss…” The creature pulled itself upright, the lumpy blob knotting and twisting until it was eerily human-shaped. “and you’ve brought friendsss…” It lumbered towards Hecate, pulsing in anticipation.

Hecate stepped between it and her students. “Stay behind me and do as I say.”

Pippa swallowed the last of her mead and checked the time. Again. Hecate should’ve been back ages ago. Certainly, Pippa was no stranger to the way things could go sideways in a magical school, but… What if there was no emergency? What if she’d gotten too flirty, too fast? Rather than worrying about it, Pippa magicked her glass away and went searching for Hecate.

The corridors were strangely quiet, unnaturally so. She’d turned her third corner when she realized she hadn’t seen or heard another soul. Pippa transferred to Ada’s office, where she pounded on the door to no avail. Forcing herself inside, she found Ada at her desk. “Ada? Have you seen Hecate?” Ada didn’t respond; she didn’t even acknowledge Pippa’s arrival. Her eyes stayed glued to a paper on her desk, pen scratching away. Pippa stepped close enough to look over her shoulder. Ada’s pen might be working, but she was writing nonsense. Something was wrong.

Back in the hallway, each step Pippa took made a sticky, sucking sound.  A trail, of sorts, glistened in the lights. It hadn’t been there before. Crouching down, Pippa touched it. Slimy, like a snail’s trail, but… It was easily three feet wide. No snail that she’d ever seen could make this.

Reaching out with her magic, Pippa searched for the crackling magic she knew to be Hecate’s. She couldn’t find it; she could barely feel it at all – nowhere near strong enough to pinpoint. Out of ideas, Pippa decided to follow the trail.

Racing through empty corridors, Pippa slipped and slid her way deeper into the castle. There was noise coming from the kitchens.

THWACK!

“Miss Tapioca! You gave me a fright.”

THWACK!

The silver blade of the butcher’s knife flashed in the dim light. The cook never even glanced in Pippa’s direction. Edging forward, Pippa hoped she’d be able to break through the trance.

THWACK!

Blood splattered across her chest and Pippa stumbled backwards, swallowing a scream. Miss Tapioca was butchering her own hand.

Bolting for the door, Pippa slipped on the trail of mucus, twisting her ankle. It didn’t matter. Hecate was missing and—

Enid and Maud stood motionless in the hallway. “Hello, Miss Pentangle,” they chorused. Their voices were as lifeless as their eyes.

“Hello, girls.” Pippa kept herself well out of reach – and held her magic at the ready. “Fancy meeting you here. Where’s Mildred?”

“Mildred is not part of the One,” they said. Neither had blinked.

“That’s…too bad. Is Miss Hardbroom part of the One?”

“She is the One.” In unison they moved towards her, stiff-limbed and terrifying. “You will be part of the One.”

“Oh! How lovely!” Pippa backed away, her gut warning her not to let them close. “The One’s just down there, then?” They raised their hands, but Pippa was ready. She transferred them to the rooftop and headed towards the basement.  

Something dark crossed the end of the corridor, a shadow against the shadows. Gritting her teeth against the pain, Pippa limped faster, hoping to catch up.

Pressed against the corner, Pippa held her breath and listened. A steady squelching sound echoed in the darkness as the shadow traveled downward. She followed it.

Deeper she went, deeper into the castle than she’d ever been. As a girl she’d heard whispers of the dungeons beneath the basement, but even then she’d thought they were only silly rumors. They weren’t so silly now.

The mucus was thicker here, and Pippa struggled to keep her feet. Pain lanced through her ankle with each step, but she didn’t dare stop. Pippa didn’t know if she believed the Maud and Enid things, but Hecate had to be somewhere – and if there was trouble in the basement… Well, that’s where Hecate was likely to be.

Goosebumps broke out across her arms as Pippa hit a pocket of cold air. It stank of rotting meat. She had to be close.

Cautiously now, Pippa rounded a corner and nearly found herself engulfed by a stunning spell. Instead, she was jerked out of its path by a battered Mildred Hubble.

“Sshh!” Mildred pulled her into the shadows. The creature oozed past them, as though it was searching for something. Or someone. “It can’t see well,” she whispered. “Don’t let it touch you.” She held out her arm revealing rows of angry red welts.

“Got it.” So that was the One. “Maud and Enid said Hecate was here?”

“I don’t think that’s them anymore.” She waited for it to pass again. “Miss Hardbroom is there,” she pointed at the thing stalking them. “Inside.”

“Did it…eat…” Pippa couldn’t finish the sentence. She couldn’t even finish the thought.

“No…it just sort of…absorbed her. I’m sure she’s still alive. Something keeps pushing from the inside. Once there was a light.” Mildred wrinkled her nose in disgust. “It must be horrid being inside a slug.”

“A slug? Even with the tentacles?”

“Too slimy to be anything else.”

Maybe Mildred was right. Maybe not. Either way, she’d given Pippa an idea. She summoned what she needed and waited. As soon as the thing slithered past, she made her move.

“Oi! Thing!” Pippa dropped a burlap bag between her and the slug and stepped back. “I’ve had about enough of you. Give me Hecate back.”

The One oozed closer. “no hecate…only joy…only the one…”

Pippa magicked up a lightning ball in each hand. Moist skin reflected the light, accentuating every undulation, every bulge and pulse beneath the surface – including one that looked like a hand.

“You aren’t joy. You’re a monster – but you won’t even be that if you don’t let Hecate go.” She stepped back, drawing it closer to the bag.

“what’sss wrong…don’t you think i’m pretty…would you rather i look like thisss…” Lumps formed beneath its skin, as its flesh twisted, contorting the surface until it stretched and pulled into a grotesque caricature of Hecate. “betterrrr…” It was practically on top of the bag now.

“Perfect.” Pippa hurled both lightning balls into the bag, blasting it open and covering the One in salt. Its skin erupted in blisters, popping and sizzling, hemorrhaging tar-like ichor. Its piercing shriek of pain was so loud Pippa had to cover her ears.

“Hiccup! I know you’re in there! Fight it, darling! Push!”

Charred skin cracked and split as black lacquered nails clawed their way out. And then she was free, covered in dark mucus and coughing more out of her lungs. Faintly glowing stones spilled from the carcass. Hecate grabbed one and clutched it to her chest.

“Hecate!” Pippa scrambled forward on her hands and knees, heedless of the slime or the mess. She pulled Hecate into her arms, holding her as she coughed, afraid she’d disappear again.

The coughing finally passed and Hecate could speak. “Mildred…the stones… Gather as many as you can and…” Her words left with her breath.

“They’re pieces of people, aren’t they? They need to go back together.”

“Very good, Mil…Mildred.”

Pippa kissed Hecate’s forehead. “Shh, darling. Don’t try to speak, just breathe.” She watched Mildred gather the stones into a basket she’d taken from the lab.

“Don’t worry, HB. I’ll sort everyone out. Miss Pentangle can get you sorted.”

Pippa had never been more grateful in her life. “Thank you, Mildred.”

“It took three washings, darling, but I think that’s the last of it.” Pippa poured one last pitcher of water over Hecate’s hair. “At least it smells better.”

“I can still smell it.” Hecate dunked herself under the water. She’d been in the bath well over an hour and still didn’t feel clean.

“What was that thing, anyway?”

“The consequences of a foolish girl meddling with magic best left alone.” Hecate summoned the glowing stone she’d taken from the basement. “After Indigo, I swore I’d never be so foolish again. To make sure, I found a spell in an old book I had no business reading. I used that spell to remove every foolish trait I believed I had and I created a vessel where I could hide them away. It never occurred to me that it would be a living, breathing, hungry thing. That it would grow and feed.”

“And when the girls found your secret laboratory…”

“They freed it.”

“This wasn’t your fault, Hiccup. And even if it was, all is well.” She touched the stone in Hecate’s hand. “What will you do with that?”

“I don’t know. I banished these feelings when I was twelve years old. If I…take them back…will I be that bubbly, outgoing girl again? Do I even want to be that girl again?”

“That’s for you to decide, darling, but just so you know… I love this Hecate. Full stop. If you want those feelings back, take them, I’ll love you then, too. But don’t do it because you think I’ll somehow love you more if you do. I can promise you that’s not possible.” Pippa leaned over the edge of the tub and kissed her. “Take all the time you need to think about it. I’ll be right here if you need me.” With that, she left Hecate alone with her thoughts.

Hecate studied the stone, undecided. “And I don’t have to decide tonight,” she murmured. Sinking further into the water, she leaned her head back and closed her eyes. The water was colder than she liked. Slowly, a pale tentacle slithered out of the tub and turned on the hot water.