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Chapter Text

Morrigan flopped down onto her bed face-first, slamming a pillow over her ears as she did so. Perhaps childishly, she intended for it to act as a buffer between her and her brain replaying the conversation she had just had on loop, and still, she half-expected it to work. It did not.

“I don't understand why you would choose him over us! The Society, all of us here at the Deucalion, your unit-mates!” 

Morrigan had never heard Jupiter sound so irate before, but she supposed she had now had the unpleasant experience of doing so from where she was sitting in the chair behind his desk. Jupiter paced around the room, Morrigan not daring to look around lest she become dizzy like the first few times she tried to track his progress. Jupiter continued to rant.

“I thought we had covered the part where he had murdered multiple people for the sake of it. I thought we had covered the part where you would stop making dangerous deals or pulling awful stunts like this, specifically after the Museum of Stolen Moments incident and the hollowpox!” Jupiter paused to spin Morrigan around in the chair and lean over right in front of her, his hands gripping her armrests while he stared down at her, face inches from hers. “Tell me why Mog. Tell me why you would put yourself and everyone else in Nevermoor in danger like this.”

Any slight regret that Morrigan had had for this situation had now evaporated in the face of Jupiter's ire, replaced with a fiery anger that caused him to lean back just a little, taken aback. She pushed herself out of the chair, causing Jupiter to fall back even more, before facing him with Wunder visibly dancing and swirling around her like a deadly inferno.

“You want to know WHY, Jupiter? Let me inform you then, shall I? You have claimed multiple times that you want the best for me, but clearly you just wanted to lay claim on the first candidate you met, who CLEARLY came from a family who wasn't the best, and immediately after fulfilling one goal, which was to get me into the Society, you discarded me like I was the latest toy in a lineup that had lost its appeal. And everyone would say, ‘Hurrah, Jupiter North finally got a candidate that he got into the Society! Everyone clap at his success story! The criminal baby Wundersmith who could kill us all like Squall is now under the control of the Society like she should be! Jupiter is a hero!’”

Jupiter flinched. “Mog-”

“Oh and that's not all!” she continued with false cheer. “You filled my head with false promises and then did not fulfill any of them. If you were too busy, you could have told me. If you decided you did not want anything to do with me anymore, you could have told me. And if the appeal of having the big bad baby Wundersmith in your grasp had worn off, YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME.” Morrigan's voice cracked at this but she shrugged it off, sniffing back angry tears. “I know all about abandonment, Jupiter, and you abandoned me. Why would I NOT go to the first person who promised me a sense of belonging? At least he's transparent with me by having me sign a contract to show how long he wants me for. And at the end of the day, Jupiter, maybe he'll be a hell of a lot of a better guardian than you ever pretended to be.”

Angry yet broken tears were spilling down her cheeks now, and Morrigan could not bear it anymore. “You gave me material gifts like my umbrella, but ultimately, you broke me, Jupiter North.”

She pushed past the stunned man and fled the office, running back to room 83 and flopping down onto her bed.

Morrigan fully intended to never come out of her room ever again, not after she had angrily spilled her deepest thoughts to someone who likely didn't care. But then she thought of Jupiter's face, and his flinch, and the guilt returned tenfold. Maybe he did care, or maybe he only cared that she was angry. She groaned into her mattress, and unbidden, a thought popped up into her head.

“I should leave so he doesn't have to deal with me.”

The thought had always been there, particularly in lonely days at Crow Manor where Corvus wasn't kind, and Ivy was feeling vindictive and tried to pin anything that went wrong on Morrigan, even if it was her makeup which Morrigan had never touched. She'd often thought of running away then, but hadn't had the courage to go along with it. Who would take in the cursed brat? There was no one, and they'd just take her home again. No small wonder that she'd never done it before.

Now though…now she was just Morrigan Crow, Wundersmith, but she was the Society's Wundersmith. Thinking about it, she wasn't sure this was better than simply being a cursed child. However, she wasn't as infamous as before, and people who didn't read or listen to the news did not know who she was and wouldn't be able to tell who she was by appearance, which she counted as a win. Morrigan wasn't sure how long she'd laid there before Jupiter's voice filtered through the door.

“Mog? I need to talk to you.”

Morrigan ignored him.

“Morrigan?”

Silence. Jupiter huffed.

“Morrigan Odelle Crow, don't you dare make me come in there,” Jupiter snapped.

Morrigan continued to stay silent until Jupiter, tired of waiting for her to make a sound, gave a sigh and something rustled. Probably his hair. He sounded tired when he next spoke, voice rough but gentler than before.

“Mog, I'll be in my office when you're ready to talk.”

Footsteps faded and a sudden thrill of fear overtook Morrigan. Maybe he would kick her out. Heck, that seemed like the most probable choice, particularly with how rude she was to him before. But, she could always leave on her own terms before the inevitable happened. Morrigan hovered between choices before her gaze flicked to the door and she felt another jolt of fear. She couldn’t face him.

Sliding off her bed, Morrigan moved on light feet to her wardrobe. She had to leave, then. 

Tonight.

Chapter Text

Morrigan knew that Hometrain came at a specific time each day, and that time was early morning. She didn’t know if it was 8am or 8:30am, but she liked to keep track of time, and the clock in Hometrain had said 8:45am a few times while they were travelling. The clock in her room now showed it was around 9pm, so she would have about eleven hours before she could potentially be knocked over by a carriage. She didn’t know if other scholars’ carriages ran on the same tracks, but she presumed they did, considering that they all ended up in the same place, just on different platforms.

There were two doors that Morrigan had to get through, one in her room and one just beyond that. Luckily, she had had quite a bit of practice at Weaving by now, so making something to prise the door open, like a crowbar, was not much of an issue. Kind of. Well, shaping it was easy. Making it metal? Not so much. But her desperation and determination found her leaning over the side of her bed, trying to shape a crowbar through force of will.

Twenty minutes and ten failed ones later saw Morrigan holding the one perfect crowbar she’d managed to shape and grinning proudly in the middle of her bed. The rest were unceremoniously kicked under the bed, which had a dropped sheet placed on it and draped down to cover all sides of the gap between the bedframe and the floor. Morrigan picked up her backpack and turned to the door, cursing the fact that she couldn’t just place her finger on the reliable fingerprint sign that normally appeared to go to school. 

Much to her pleasure though, breaking through the door did turn out to be easier than making the crowbar, as she found where the lock mechanism on the door was and placed the flat end just below it, forcibly shoving it upwards into the lock itself, trying to lever the door open. Eventually, though, it was open and Morrigan was stepping through into the familiar darkness she was faced with when it was time to change clothes. A repeated forcing of the next door open led to the train station reserved just for her unit, and notes were promptly slipped under her unit-mates’ doors simply reading “I’m sorry”. 

There was no note in her Deucalion room.

She stopped at Hawthorne’s door last, placing one palm flat against it and regretting with every fibre in her that she was leaving. And so it was with a heavy heart that she slid off the platform and onto the tracks. As Hometrain only went between this station and the Society, Morrigan knew she’d have to sneak out of Wunsoc’s grounds when she got there, so with an apprehensive air around her, she began to walk through the dark tunnel that was thankfully dimly lit.

Morrigan’s legs were aching and her steps were mere shuffles of her feet along the tracks by the time she reached Wunsoc, and she immediately proceeded to turn in the opposite direction from the Whinging Woods, not wanting to be revealed if the trees started talking. However, this would mean she would have to walk past the main building, and although she was not inclined to deal with any motion-activated floodlights, she was left with no choice. Morrigan slunk closer to the building and began to walk, hoping against hope that the floodlights would not switch on. 

Thankfully, as she walked, the floodlights did not switch on. Unfortunately, a rather loud alarm began blaring, and rather than risk being discovered, Morrigan began to sprint past the building and down the path, ignoring her aching feet that threatened to trip her up every time they hit the floor. A glance behind her as she sprinted revealed the doors slowly opening, so with a grimace, she darted behind a tree just as one of the Scholar Mistresses appeared from the building in the distance.

Morrigan waited until the alarm had stopped blaring, and every moment was spent waiting with bated breath, half-expecting the Scholar Mistress to turn around and point directly at her as if she knew she was there. Eventually though, the doors closed again, and the night was bathed in darkness. Morrigan slid out from behind the tree, sneaking down the path and opening the gates as slowly as possible to slip through. It was then that she walked down a few more streets before leaning back against a lamppost and breathing the first sigh of relief all night. It was now probably close to midnight, and Morrigan had a couple of things to do before she could be truly free.

Firstly, cancel the contract with Squall. If she was not going to live in Nevermoor anymore, what was the point? Morrigan let out a low whistle for the hunt of smoke and shadow, even though Squall had previously told her to never do that again. If she was leaving though, Morrigan was beyond caring. Better to push her limits now because she was not going to be doing it again. 

The hunt, on their part, showed up within a minute of Morrigan’s call. Slipping onto the back of a shadow horse was easy, and demanding them to take her to Squall was, too. Figuring out what she had to say though was probably one of the hardest things she had to do, considering that her teacher was a mass murderer and could probably kill her where she stood. Eventually the ride was over and she was standing in an empty room while a hunt rider went to go and get Squall.

“Miss Crow, what-”

“I would like to prematurely break the apprenticeship contract.”

Squall looked baffled. “ Why?”

“I’m not going to be around anymore, so having a contract about an apprenticeship I won’t be here to complete does not have a point. Whether you agree or disagree, I will be leaving anyway, so this isn’t really a request. It’s more informing you about what I’ve decided.”

“Miss Crow, you do know that Wundrous contracts aren’t…normal contracts, don’t you?”

Morrigan’s face twisted into confusion. “What?”

“They’ll kill you if you break them early. It will be a slow and dangerous death, and it will be utterly painful for both you and anyone you’re around at the time. Especially those which are made by Wundersmith for Wundersmith.”

“Oh,” she responded blankly. Then she shrugged. “Well, that’s ok. I’ll just leave anyway and it can do whatever it wants with me. What do I care?”

“Miss Crow, you simply cannot- ”

“I can, and I’m doing it right now. As of now, my apprenticeship is cancelled. Goodbye, Mr Squall.”

Before Squall could find the words to say anything, Morrigan had walked out of the room. His face twisted into an expression of outrage, transforming him into a caricature of the murderer he was known as. Jupiter North had a lot to answer for.

Morrigan settled onto the edge of a cliff. The wind ruffled through her hair and her legs dangled off the edge. So, she now had a limited amount of time left to live. There wasn’t much point to running off to a place far away if she was due to die anyway.

She gave a bitter laugh. She’d evaded death for fourteen years, and now it was catching up to her. What utter irony she was facing at the moment. There was one bright side, though--now her death was on her own terms, and she honestly wouldn’t have it any other way. How harmful would it be to simply sit here until death came to take her as its own? It was coming for her anyway, so why go anywhere and do anything?

Morrigan sat on the edge of the cliff, hands grasping sharp rock beneath her, and contemplated her fate.

Chapter Text

Jupiter had waited all night for Morrigan to show up. At some point around midnight, he’d drifted off, and those awful feelings of pure unadulterated anger at her perceived betrayal had morphed into a simmering worry and apprehension for when she did show up. Morrigan had been more short tempered nowadays, and he had previously chalked that up to just teenage angst, but now he was wondering if it was the stress of hiding the apprenticeship on top of being a teenager. It was a lot for someone to conceal. Either way, he did not know what mood she would be in or how she would react to a second talk, but he hoped it would have a calmer result.

The door creaked open without warning, and Fenestra plodded in, nosing the door shut behind her like the kitten she insisted she wasn’t. Jupiter mumbled a garbled greeting and Fen plopped herself down behind the desk. 

“Hey Jupiter, do you know where Morrigan is? She’s looked a bit down recently and I was wondering where she was. She’s not in her room, at any rate.”

“Is she not on her station platform? It is time for Hometrain soon, anyway.”

“I mean, yes, but I walked in and her bed seemed like she hadn’t slept in it, and her station door is currently slightly open. Does it not remain closed when she goes to school so no one breaks in?”

There was a pause. “What?” he asked weakly.

“...I’m not sure what else to tell you.”

Jupiter shot to his feet and began the brisk walk towards Morrigan’s room. “We had a…fight last night, and I told her to come and speak to me when she was ready, but I fell asleep waiting. I was going to go and pick her up from school today myself, but now with what you’ve told me: what if she went to Squall?”

“Squall?”

“She signed a contract or something with him and now she’s taking lessons under him.”

“ Oh, him,” Fen sighed. “Yeah, I figured something was up when I saw him briefly when Morrigan was fighting the Hollowpox. Under his orders, I assumed.”

Jupiter paused in his tracks, a few doors down from Room 83. “You what ?”

“Oh, look, we’re almost here!” Fen deflected nervously. “You want to go in, or?”

Jupiter shot her a frustrated look that promised they would talk later too, and turned back to Morrigan’s door, gently pushing it open and having a cursory look around. Nothing seemed out of place--wait. Where was Emmett? And why was her station door open? Fen had said it earlier, but seeing it was a little different. An uneasy feeling brewing in the pit of his stomach, Jupiter pushed the door open a bit more and immediately almost fell over something metal on the floor. A crowbar? What-

Jupiter stormed back into Morrigan’s room and threw the cupboards open, noting the distinct lack of clothes. Panic rising in him, he turned to her room door to go and find Squall and give him a piece of his mind about encouraging Morrigan to leave, when the man he was looking for suddenly materialised in the middle of her room. He spotted Jupiter and immediately made for him, looking murderous.

“Where is Miss Crow? What did you do to her?” were his first words.

“What do you mean, what did I do to her?”

“Why did she come to me late last night, informing me that she was breaking the contract of our apprenticeship, is what I mean? What the hell did you do to her, North?”

Jupiter spluttered. “I thought she’d left to go to you! ”

Squall paused in his tirade. “She’s not here?”

“No! I was just about to go and look for her myself, see if she was with you and then check her friends’ houses. But if she’s not with you-”

Squall understood remarkably quickly, expression switching from puzzled to concerned to a touch horrified. “Then we’d better hope she’s found quickly, because she does not have much time.”

Jupiter paled. “What does that mean?”

Squall gestured for him to start walking, and then launched into an explanation. “Wundrous contracts are normally fine, but those made by Wundersmith for Wundersmith are dangerous because our Wunder infuses in our signatures, and it knows our intention. If you abide by the contracts you’ve signed, that’s fine, but if you break them, they’re not so kind. And Miss Crow, she broke one last night, by breaking off the apprenticeship.”

“What does that mean for Morrigan?” Jupiter asked quietly as they reached the lobby.

“They’ll start sapping her energy very quickly at first, taking the Wunder with it, and then when she has little to no Wunder left to fight the parts that fuelled the contract, It’ll start directly attacking her. It’s a painful death, and one that I wish upon no one. Not even you.” He shot Jupiter a poisonous glare.

There was a pause.

“Where do we start looking?” Jupiter’s voice was shaky.

“Check her friends’ houses, you know them better than I. Check anywhere else you think she would go,” Squall replied. “I will check the edges of districts as well as structures of anything that was made with Wunder, like Cascade Towers. Meet here in a few hours, with or without the girl.”

Jupiter could do nothing but nod, hurrying off in the direction of the first member of unit 919’s house. The knot of guilt swirled in his stomach, making it difficult to swallow or breathe properly, and Jupiter knew this would continue until he found Morrigan, dead or alive.

Ezra Squall knew they were out of time. The Wunder would start to sap energy from Morrigan soon, and at that point, they would have reached the point of no return if he was not there to fight the Wunder that would kill her. As the other contract holder, he was 50% sure that he likely had the power to stop it from killing her for what it would class as a betrayal. 

Morrigan Crow was the most talented young Wundersmith he’d seen in some time, and he would hate to see her die. He’d once told her she was very much like him, and it still applied. Squall hurried up his pace, determined to find Morrigan one way or another.

Chapter Text

Morrigan was snapped out of her thoughts by a shout from directly behind her, and rushing footsteps getting closer and louder. Whipping around, she fully expected to find someone who had somehow located her and had come to take her home, but was instead met with two angry boys who had nothing but self-righteous fury written all over their faces.

“I was talking to you, Wundersmith, ” one snapped at her as he continued to approach.

“Did I…do something wrong?” she asked hesitantly. Big mistake.

“Did you do something wrong?” the other mocked. “Your entire existence is wrong. You know what your predecessors did, you know what the Wundersmith did, and yet you sit out in the open and pretend like you’re the pinnacle of all that’s good and right? I know you,” he continued, stepping closer and closer with the last three words, “and I know your type. You will never amount to anything good in your entire life, and you’re not fooling anyone in this city.”

Morrigan scrambled to her feet, well aware she was on a cliffside and had nowhere else to go. Thus, she was completely unprepared for him to grab her by the collar, spin her around and throw her to the ground.

“I was so disappointed in the Society when they allowed you to stay. If I was them, I would have exiled you out of Nevermoor completely.”

“Good thing you’re not the Society then,” Morrigan snarked, only to have to bite back a yelp of pain as her hand, which was splayed open on the ground to steady herself from the fall, was harshly stood on by the first boy. 

“Shut up , Wundersmith. You’re not talking, we are. And this is what we think of you.”

He squatted down on the ground, taking his foot off her hand, and she only had a minute to cradle it with the other before looking back up, only to be spat at directly in the face. Morrigan sat there for a moment, utterly stunned, before eyeing the boy and rocking back. The other two were satisfied by this, thinking she was cowed enough, before the one squatting was dealt a swift foot to the groin. He squealed, reaching a pitch that realistically only dogs should be able to hear, falling back onto rock and curling into a ball. The other boy was stunned, hands instinctively reaching downwards to protect himself, but Morrigan had other plans and decked him in the stomach with her good hand. She grabbed his lapels after glancing at the other, who was still crying on the ground, and hissed in his face. 

“Firstly, the cliff was literally right there. If you really intended to hurt me, you could have pushed me off that instead of this stupid display of intimidation that did not work one bit. Secondly, I don’t think you can judge who I am and who the Society lets in, because it’s clearly obvious you two don’t have a single brain cell between you, and you wouldn’t have gotten in simply because of this. Now, you’re going to leave me alone. I’m in contact with the Wundersmith,” she smirked at the expression of fear that crossed his face, “and you already know what he can do. So it’s in your best interests to leave me the hell alone.”

She dumped the boy on the floor and walked away. Clearly, she couldn’t stay at the cliffside any longer; there were too many idiots around nowadays.

“You want to know why we didn’t push you off the cliff? It’s because we’re not aiming to be murderers like you .”

Morrigan froze in her steps for only a second, only able to throw back a weak “I hope you get struck by lightning, you bigoted twit,” before resuming her walk, his words bouncing around her head.

She secluded herself in an empty alleyway before breathing out shakily, hand throbbing with every passing second. Summoning Wunder and silently requesting it to clean her face, she suddenly wondered why she was getting so tired. 

It was clear that her dwindling energy couldn’t get that far, and so she turned her feet towards the house of the first person who had become her friend with no strings attached, silently hoping his parents wouldn’t send for Jupiter. This is just for now, until I have enough energy to properly leave.

One foot in front of another, and another, and another, and another- Before Morrigan knew it, she was standing in front of Hawthorne’s house, stumbling up to the door and tempted to cry like a small child before ringing the doorbell and promptly collapsing.

Morrigan next came to with sheets thrown over her and a soft pillow below her head. She was immediately aware of just how much she ached , and by that logic, she expected her hand to still be in pain, but thankfully it just felt slightly stiff. Cracking an eye open, she was not greeted with the familiar ceiling of room 83 at the Deucalion. This made both open wide, and a sort-of-familiar female voice rang out.

“Morrigan? Are you awake?”

“Cat?” She slurred, turning her head to look at the concerned and confused woman.

“Here, I’ll help you sit up,” Cat murmured, before helping Morrigan prop herself up against the pillow and headboard before turning a steely eye onto her. 

“What exactly happened, Morrigan? You came here and you looked awful, and your hand was bruised to high heavens and you collapsed on our front step. It’s been hours since you got here.” She paused. “Did something happen at home?”

Morrigan opened her mouth to begin explaining, but instead of words, a yell of agony came out. 

It seemed like the contract had begun its last stage of revenge.

Unseen by both, Hawthorne Swift darted out of the shadows by the door of the room and began to send an emergency summons to all members of 919.

“Did you find Morrigan?” Cadence began immediately, once they’d all convened at her house. 

They’d all noticed their missing member immediately, even without the notes, and Miss Cheery had seemed taken aback. What had unnerved her even more was the notes they’d found that Unit 919 were comparing, and Hometrain had been a silent affair filled with worry. None had done well in lessons that day, and they’d agreed to send summons if anyone found Morrigan.

Hawthorne nodded jerkily, mind still going over the utterly chilling scream that had emerged from his best friend’s mouth.

Francis leaned over and placed a wrapped toffee gently in his hand. “For panic.”

Seven members of Unit 919 watched their eighth calm down slowly as he sucked on the toffee, eyeing him with varying levels of concern and exchanging glances with one another. It was a good five minutes later that he began to speak, voice rough.

“She’s at my house. Mum found her on the doorstep, collapsed, and took her inside. She woke up just now, and I heard them both talking, and Morrigan looked awful . Her hand was bandaged, and she seemed… she seemed dead . But that’s not even the worst part. Mum helped her sit up and it was fine, but then she screamed. And it was horrible. She’s in the worst pain imaginable and I can’t get her screaming out of my head, and we don’t even know what happened .”

Hawthorne shuddered and Arch tugged the taller boy in for a hug. Everyone was silent.

“Do you think it’s to do with her being a Wundersmith?” Thaddea asked, suddenly, as if it had just occurred to her.

Lam nodded slowly. “If it is, then Squall will be able to help.”

Hawthorne jolted out of Arch’s hold, staring directly at Lam. “What do you know?”

Everyone looked between them, confused. 

“Who’s Squall?” Mahir recovered first.

“The Wundersmith,” Lam replied. “She’s in contact with him, after all.”

Hawthorne’s mouth opened and closed a few times before he shut it again, nodding. “Yeah,” he said softly. “Yeah, she is.”

“Then we’d better find him so he can help her,” Anah spoke up. “Well, with the exception of Hawthorne. You should go home and get some rest, because no offense, you look awful.”

Unit 919 dispersed.

Chapter Text

Morrigan was still screaming, and Cat didn’t know what to do. Dave came barrelling in while Cat was attempting to pin Morrigan’s flailing arms to her sides in a tight hug, and upon taking in the scene, shot right back out to take a missive to Jupiter. Hawthorne re-entered the house right as Morrigan’s screams tapered off into whimpers, strength spent. He peeked around the doorway, feeling a little sick.

“Please,” Morrigan choked out between whines, voice raw and unable to summon up more strength before the next strangled gasp left her as pain hit once more.

Without hesitation, Hawthorne entered the room, beelining for the bed and climbing up onto it, hugging his best friend tight. He was unsure as to what exactly it would do, but all he knew was that she needed him, and he’d do anything, even if it was just this. He was rewarded a few seconds later as Morrigan relaxed a little, before immediately straightening back up in pain, face going bone-white, Cat paling at seeing this. 

“I’m gonna need you to let her go, Hawthorne,” she murmured, before gently prying Morrigan from Hawthorne and lying her on her side so she was facing Cat. “You can stay here but I need to monitor her. Could you keep an ear out for when your father comes home?”

At her son’s nod, she easily positioned herself to take up watch, staring intently at the girl’s face and holding her hand while praying that Jupiter North, or anyone who could help, showed up soon.

Dave Swift showed up at the Hotel Deucalion just to see Ezra Squall’s Hunt disappear with both he and Jupiter among them. He slammed the missive down on the concierge desk before immediately leaving, running back in the direction of his home. He didn’t know where Jupiter was going with this stranger, but he could only hope it was in the direction of Morrigan.

The Hunt dissipated at Ezra’s command, Ezra crumbling the door to pieces with Ruination while promising silently to replace it afterwards. Morrigan let out another imperceptible whine of pain, and both Jupiter and Ezra entered the room only to stop short at what they were seeing and sensing, respectively. Jupiter immediately turned to Ezra and pressed his forehead against his, and in turn, Ezra’s mouth fell slightly open at the sight of Morrigan.

The Wunder seemed to be fleeing, and Morrigan’s body was shutting down with the absence of her life force. For Wundersmiths, the Wunder was part of their life force; it helped them to survive and in the case of Morrigan, it quite literally was the only thing to keep her alive sometimes as her family would forget her basic needs such as feeding her. She would wither away until she was quite suddenly remembered at the fifth family dinner that she’d missed because of them, and she’d forgive them every time. How foolish she’d been.

But, anyway.

The Wunder had mostly fled, and Morrigan was dying.

The Wunder that had not fled seemed to be circling the younger Wundersmith, before turning back in midair and zapping her spinal cord as well as her heart and brain softly but repetitively. It was a slow and painful way to see someone dying, and even Ezra wouldn’t have wished this upon his worst enemies. He wasn’t that heartless. 

For a second, he wondered what could have caused this, but then the broken contract flooded his mind, and he suddenly knew.

Jupiter North had collapsed into Cat’s previous spot, deserted to give all of them some space. She had attempted to pry Hawthorne away, but he had snarled at her for the first time in his life that he was going to stay right where he was, thank you, and she had retreated with a squeeze of his shoulder and a kiss in his hair.

The patron stared at his half-dead candidate and began to cry, pressing her hand to his cheek and suddenly gathering her up into his arms. Her head lolled a bit, but he simply held her tighter and whispered apologies into her hair.

“I’m…I’m so so sorry, Mog. I’m so sorry that I wasn’t there, and I know you’re only half with me right now and I’ll have to also repeat this later, but I promise I’ll do better. I promise I’ll be there when you need me and I promise you’ll never feel like you have to keep anything big or small from me again. I promise to trust you and I promise you’ll be able to learn to trust me. Just hang on until Squall sets everything right. I love you, Mog.”

He glanced over at Squall to check his progress to see the man muttering and growling under his breath, hands stretched out in front of him and a dangerous expression on his face. 

“I am the most experienced Wundersmith alive, and you will listen to me, you intrepid pieces of gold dust. The girl lying over there half-dead is still my apprentice, and no contract has been broken, and you will release her and let her live, or I will personally go around destroying every single piece of you that I can find, no matter if it kills me too. Now you will let her go, or you will witness my wrath like you saw on that day.”

Jupiter had never seen Ezra so enraged. It reminded him of the man that parents would jokingly threaten their children that he would get them in the middle of the night, the man who he studied intensively after graduation to find just a little bit of motive for the Courage Square Massacre apart from intense jealousy and hate. 

The Wunder itself seemed to pause at these words, before deciding they were of no matter if the other participant was not awake, before attacking Morrigan once more, causing her back to arch and her to weakly fist the back of Jupiter’s coat with a sound that was barely a groan. Hawthorne looked anguished as he continued to watch his friend suffer, before turning his gaze upon Ezra, looking pleadingly his way with the beginnings of tears in his eyes as if expecting a miracle.

And Ezra delivered. He hummed a few notes that Morrigan recognised even in her befuddled, agonised state, and lit up the air around them with so much Wunder that even for a non-Witness like Hawthorne, all the shades of gold swirling around him were visible. And then he slammed them around the charging Wunder, caging it, using it as a barrier between it and the exhausted Morrigan. He began to fill her body with his own Wunder in a strange parody of a blood infusion so it could steady her pulse and heartbeat until she was strong enough to fight the rebelling Wunder.

And as for Morrigan? Her breath steadied, and she breathed, once, twice…

And then it stopped.

Ezra’s Wunder flickered out.

Chapter Text

Morrigan wanted to lie where she was and never open her eyes. Or move. Or anything, really. There was a cool breeze surrounding her, rustling through her hair gently, and she was not feeling the incessant zapping of pain up and down her entire body like she was a while ago. It was a far cry from where she had been just then, nestled in warm arms and her hair wet from Jupiter’s tears. It was the realisation that she was nowhere near the Swift house that caused her eyes to finally open a crack, and then another half-second to start panicking because she was nowhere she recognised. Morrigan pushed herself up to lean on unsteady forearms and stare around for a minute, the soft mattress beneath her dipping with the movement. 

She was in a field of some description, yet she seemed to be as small as a mouse. The bed she was lying on was in a clearing, surrounded by grass twice as small as she, and a bench to her left, occupied by an unfamiliar woman. She gave her a polite nod, just to be safe, and returned to gazing around. It was night time, the sky sparkling with stars, and there was a faint outline of trees in the distance. Morrigan returned her gaze to the woman, taking her in properly, only for her brain to short circuit.

She’d seen this woman too many times to count. And she wasn’t sure she was hallucinating. Morrigan needed to say something, anything. SPEAK.

“You’re dead,” is what came out instead.

The woman’s laughter rang out. It was a small laugh, not mocking, the same as Jupiter’s that first year in the Deucalion; as if something was incredibly funny and Morrigan was not let in on the joke.

“I am,” she said simply. “And so are you, darling. For now, anyway.”

“So you are ,” Morrigan said in wonder. “My, uh, mother, I mean.”

She looked awed at her own words, having never encountered someone who could have been her mother before. There was Ivy, but Ivy had been awful to her since the start, and Ornella had never stepped up to take care of her only granddaughter before, so she didn’t count. However, the awe Morrigan had been feeling quickly replaced itself with a sadness-tinted-with-betrayal so strong that her soul ached, and she said the next words with the tone of a small child who had just been told that Santa wasn’t real.

“But you can’t be.”

Morrigan’s mother looked taken aback, before taking cautious steps over to the bed to properly talk, Morrigan scooting back out of instinct.

“You can’t be my mother, because my mother abandoned me when I was a baby. She died when I needed her, and she left me with Corvus, and then with Jupiter, and she’s not meant to be here. She’s not meant to be in front of me, and she’s not meant to call me ‘dear heart’ like she loves me. You can’t be my mother. My mother left.”

Her mother looked anguished, pausing in her tracks and holding her hands up cautiously.

“I’m sorry, love,” she could only say in as small a voice as Morrigan had used. “I’m sorry I had to leave, and I’m sorry you had to stay with those people, and I’m sorry I was never there for you growing up. For what it’s worth, I did watch, and I’m glad you grew up with Emmett at your side, but I am so incredibly sorry that you had to grow up alone, love. Can I…can I give you a hug?”

Morrigan held her position but nodded cautiously, expression still guarded, her mother moving closer and then enveloping her in the first hug from her birth family that she could ever remember. And she broke down finally, tears from years of neglect from both her birth family and her found family streaming down her cheeks and sobs escaping from her throat, nestling in closer to her mother and seeking the comfort she had never known. 

It took about ten minutes for Morrigan’s tears to dry up, and with a last sniffle, she pulled away from her mother slightly, allowing her to keep her arm around her.

“All better, love?” her mother asked, withdrawing a handkerchief to wipe her daughter’s tears away and placing a kiss on her forehead.

Morrigan nodded.

“I think I need to explain a couple of things that are currently happening. Firstly, you are currently dead. Your Wunder fighting Ezra’s won and your body couldn’t handle it, because it thought you broke a contract. So it shut down your body and currently you are not breathing. Now that you are technically not alive, though, the contract has successfully been broken and if you choose to live again you should return to normal. You could sign a new contract, or you don’t have to--it’s your choice.”

“What do you mean, if I choose to live again?” Morrigan interrupted, curiosity burning through her.

“This place, it’s called limbo. You died and came here, but since we’re not in the afterlife and instead here, it seems you have the choice to stay here or go back. But if you choose to stay here you’ll be fully dead.”

Morrigan considered this. “I want to stay here, but there’s so many people outside who I want to see again. I don’t…I don’t know what to do.”

“Just remember that whatever you choose, I want you to be happy, do you understand?” Morrigan’s mother lifted her chin to look her in the eye, and upon her daughter’s nod, released her again and pulled her back into her side.

“Now, the second thing is about Ezra Squall. When he attempted to fight the Wunder attacking you, he used his own Wunder to protect you, but that didn’t work out as you are here. He used too much though, and he’s got a long hard journey ahead of him. He’ll sleep for a while, and then he’ll be fine, but I just wanted to let you know this seeing as you’re directly involved in this. It’s also to let you know that no matter what he says, he does care.”

Morrigan stared at her mother in awe. “I thought he was protecting me out of obligation,” she admitted.

“It was a bit, but now he actually cares. And if you go back, you have my permission to prank him by calling him ‘dad’ one day,” she replied with a wink.

Morrigan giggled. “I’ll have to think about going back at this point.”

Her mother grinned, tapping her nose before they settled back into their previous positions and continued to chat.

Chapter Text

“Morrigan?”

Morrigan looked up at the tone and words from where she was snuggled into her mother’s side. They had both elapsed into silence after a while, preferring to sit in silence and enjoy an imaginary wind rustling through their hair while they thought of all they’d missed and what was yet to come.

“Yeah?”

“You know that I love you, right?”

“Um, yes. But why are you telling me this all of a sudden?”

Her mother sighed. “It’s time.”

Her brows furrowed in confusion and then realisation, but before she could get another word in, her mother continued to speak.

“I’ve absolutely loved spending time with you today, but you’re getting closer and closer to the afterlife, and I don’t want to see you completely die if you don’t want to. I hate to rush you, but the time has come for you to make your choice.”

Her mother shifted gently, slowly, so that she was clasping her daughter’s hands in her own, looking at her softly but with a strange sense of urgency. Something in Morrigan recoiled, and she tried to look away, to pull away, but her mother held fast to her hands.

“Why can’t I just stay with you?” she almost whined, something she’d never been able to do growing up and taking full advantage of the ability to do so now.

“Because, dear girl, you have your whole life ahead of you. You have your unit, your patron, your Deucalion staff. They’re all waiting for you, Morrigan.” She looked to be contemplating something for a second. “Here, let me show you something.”

She led Morrigan off the bed and, still holding tight to her hands, walked with her to a crop of trees and plants she’d never seen before, with a pool in the middle. Before their eyes, as if it could sense who was watching, the pool’s surface transformed into little ripples that smoothed out so Morrigan could see Jupiter. Jupiter, crying, pleading for Morrigan to return even though he seemed to know it was an impossible task. The pool rippled again to show Ezra Squall of all people sitting numbly on the floor, not even responding as Hawthorne screamed in his face to bring his best friend back, damnit . And Ezra could only sit and bask in his failure. And Hawthorne, headstrong, wild Hawthorne, face contorted with desperation and rage and heartbreak and so many more emotions all at the same time.

Morrigan stumbled away from the pool, ripping her hands away from her mother’s, pulling her hands to her face and trying to contain her conflict, even though it was so, so hard. Her breathing stuttered as she began to pace, still with her hands to her face and her mind whirling with thoughts that would not cease. She sank to her knees mid-pace, feeling a warm presence sink to her knees in front of her, and before she could stop it, an agonised whisper peeked through.

“I don’t know what to do,” the words escaped from her lips, much like the night she destroyed the Hollowpox.

“You don’t know? Well, I do. Trust in me, and trust that your family and friends will keep you safe and happy, and they’ll keep giving you something to live for, to thrive for.”

“But…what if I can’t keep going?”

“Then know I’m always with you, and my love shall give you the strength you need to carry on.”

“Okay,” Morrigan whispered, something oh so small and sad and resigned.

They remained like that for a couple of moments more, Morrigan calming and her mother just there, a calming presence that promised to give her all the space she needed, before she whispered again. 

“I’ll do it. I’ll go back.”

Her mother swallowed. “I love you.”

A whine erupted from Morrigan’s throat, and she lunged forward to get one last hug, one last touch before it would fade away and she would never know the warmth of her mother’s hug until it was her time.

The world went white. Morrigan’s answering “love you” would forever get lost in the mist.

While the room’s occupants watched, Morrigan took her first breath. The room went still.

Her eyes fluttered open.

It only took a moment before the room sprang into action and noise, Jupiter giving her the longest hug of her life while his tears dripped into her hair, and Hawthorne collapsing to his knees in sheer relief while Ezra Squall of all people held his shoulders to stop him from falling further.

“Morrigan?” Hawthorne croaked, before she turned her head only slightly and gave him a tired smile.

Cat had somewhat recovered by now and immediately took charge, ushering everyone away from Morrigan and tucking her into bed.

“You can meet her when she’s awake again,” she said with a glare, staring each occupant of the room down before turning back to fuss over the half-asleep girl, who was staring up at her with a mixture of gratitude and resignation.

The occupants filed out, and Morrigan sank into a stupor.

Things got better after that.

Jupiter crushed Morrigan into a hug as soon as he saw her again, whispering more apologies into her hair that she returned tiredly. Hawthorne refused to let her out of his sight, even going so far as to follow her back to the Deucalion when Cat let her go, intending to sleep over for as long as possible. Unit 919 followed, and Morrigan’s room was full of fun and laughter every night even as they tried to get over the realisation that she had actually died.

Morrigan renewed the contract with Squall, but this time with a clause to say that she could exit the apprenticeship at any time. She pretended not to notice him glancing at her sideways every so often, as if to figure out a puzzle.

One night when Morrigan could not sleep, she carefully skirted around each member of 919, not noticing she’d woken one up as she made her way up the stairs towards the rooftop.

The door opened gently and she positioned herself on the balustrade so her legs were dangling off the edge.

My love shall give you the strength you need to carry on.

“Couldn’t sleep?”

Morrigan jumped and whirled around to see Cadence standing in her pyjamas, staring cautiously at her before edging towards the balustrade. She shook her head.

“Too many thoughts in my mind. You?”

“You were missing,” Cadence replied simply. “Had to come and find you, didn’t I?”

Morrigan hummed, and they sat in silence for a minute.

“I met my mum,” Morrigan broke the quiet abruptly.

“Oh?” It was a very non-committal answer, one of the things Morrigan liked about Cadence.

“We talked for a bit, and then she gave me the choice to either…move on, or come back. She said to trust that you would give me the strength to carry on, but I don’t know if I can,” she admitted in a whisper that easily carried on the wind. “I miss her.”

There was another moment of silence. Both girls jumped as a furry face poked into view, face contorted into a grimacing sort of sadness.

“Did you know that when I was a kitten I was separated from my mother?” Fen began abruptly, settling down next to the girls. “I never saw her again. But when I met Jupiter, and I gained a purpose of working here, at the Deucalion, one day I woke up and realised I hadn’t felt that sadness I used to feel daily for a while. Don’t get me wrong, I know she loves me, and I love her too, but I’ve made peace with that separation, now. And I can easily carry on.” Fen paused. “One day, Morrigan, you’ll feel that peace too.”

“Thanks, Fen.”

If her voice was a little wobbly, no one mentioned it.

The door opened one more time to admit the rest of Unit 919, looking sleep-rumpled, but visible panic fading as they spotted Morrigan and Cadence with Fen. Looking back at the newcomers, the magnificat stood, brushing past them gently, ears twitching, to leave them in peace.

Despite Anah’s protests of being so high, You could fall and then who would save you?, all nine unit members sat close to each other as they watched the stars move across the sky, Cadence and Hawthorne on either side of Morrigan with the rest huddled near. And by the time the sun was rising in the sky and they groggily made their way back inside, tiredness creeping across everyone’s features, Morrigan took a second to just…breathe, Cadence and Hawthorne still on either side, refusing to let her out of their sight.

You were right. I don’t know how, but I think I can carry on. I love you.

She swore she felt an imaginary kiss on her brow.