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witches-wings · 19 days

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Soul Overture: Chapter 1

Read on Ao3.

Darkness loomed over Patchwork Laboratory, the yellowed moon laughing overhead at all the little people down below. The moonlight painted everything in soft tones, illuminating the form of a woman standing near a dead tree in the front lawn. She was small in stature with blonde hair and bright eyes that matched the brightness of the stars that dotted the night sky.

A massive being darted through the opening in the stone fence that surrounded the stitched building, meeting with the slender woman. The being’s fur was dark and its clothing darker. A dark colored scarf moved like a cape behind the creature—a wolfman.

The woman moved closer to the wolfman. “Conri, what has you so worried?” she asked in a soft tone. Her brow was furrowed in her worry. “Why meet with me in the middle of the night in Death City? You know the meister’s would hunt you—will hunt you—as soon as they find out.”

“Eula,” the being—Conri—started, his Irish accent thick. He held a worn scroll in his clawed hands, the paper weathered by time. He seemed concerned about something. “I came across a prophecy that concerns little Julian.”

Eula’s eyes narrowed, her posture becoming tense. Anything concerning her son was important to her. “Show it to me.”

The wolfman held the scroll out to the woman, placing it in her outstretched hands. She gingerly unrolled it, her gaze scanning the words scrawled across it.

In the shadows of night, where moonlight meets the dark,

An owl witch shall rise with an unwavering spark.

A great evil looms, casting its malevolent shroud,

But the owl with wisdom will make the darkness cower and bow.

Feathers as soft as velvet, eyes piercing and keen,

A guardian of secrets, a force rarely seen.

With incantations whispered in the language of the stars,

He'll summon his magic, removing evil's bars.

The night shall be his ally, the stars his guiding light,

As he soars on silent wings, ready to fight.

With talons sharp as daggers and a heart pure and bold,

The owl witch's tale of triumph shall forever be told.

For in the end, his courage and wisdom will prevail,

A timeless prophecy fulfilled, as darkness turns pale.

The great evil shall crumble, and the land will rejoice,

Thanks to the owl witch's power, the people's unwavering choice.

Eula’s hands began to shake, nearly dropping the scroll in the process. Her skin paled. “A great evil… No,” she whispered. “He was never supposed to meet her, Conri,” she said softly. Her voice was full of fear about something only the two knew.

“I wish I never found this, Eula,” he agreed, his expression grim. “The pup doesn’t need to face an evil like hers. Maybe you can find a way around it, though. The prophecy does speak of an owl, like you.”

She chuckled humorlessly, her own expression dark. “The last time I tried to divert a prophecy, I inadvertently awoke Shaula and three NOT students had to kill her. I don’t want him dealing with any of my family, but look at how things are turning out. I still haven’t let Franken know about any of them.”

His eyes softened, knowing the woman’s worries well. “Maybe it’s time to let him know,” Conri said. “You can’t hide it forever, Eula. Medusa is still out there and Arachne could wake up at any moment. Not to mention her.”

Eula was the one to sigh next, running a hand through her long hair. “I know, it’s just… I guess I’m afraid.” She let out a soft laugh. “I know he won’t judge me, but if Julian were to find out…”

“He deserves to know, Eula.”

She closed her eyes, her shoulders sagging in defeat. “I’m going to tell him. Tonight. About my sisters, about Athena, about the prophecy.”

“Would you like me with you while you do?” He sounded concerned for his friend.

Eula nodded. “He’s in his lab still.”

Knocking on the door to the lab, Eula opened it slowly. “Franken, we need to talk about something. Conri is here as well,” she said, keeping her voice soft. She didn’t want to wake Julian, the infant had a hard enough time falling asleep as it was. “It’s… about Julian.”

A head of silver hair looked up from their computer. Turning his chair, green eyes bore into Eula’s blue. “What’s wrong?” Stein asked. She could hear the concern in his voice, even though he tried to hide it. Even though he was new at being a father, she knew that he felt the same way about their son.

“It’s… There’s a lot about this, and we need to start at my mother.” Eula pulled out another chair, sitting down in front of him. “You’re not going to like any of this.”

Conri held the scroll once more and held it out for Stein to take. He was now in his human form, his soul protected by Eula’s magic. “This concerns the pup in general.”

“My mother, Franken, was not a nice woman. She was… She is a great old one, currently sealed in Mount Fuji. Her specific madness is destruction. Her name is Athena Gorgon.”

“The Gorgon sisters,” he said as he opened the scroll.

Eula nodded, she knew that he knew where this was going. “Athena created Arachne, Medusa, Shaula, and myself. I…” She sighed. “I never subscribed to her beliefs, her desire to create a world of chaos and destruction. My sisters did, in their own ways.” Threading her fingers together, she continued. “Lord Death and I sealed her in Mount Fuji. Arachne was reduced to spiders and sealed in Europe, Medusa ran off, and Shaula was sealed within the body of a scorpion.” She sighed, shaking her head. “I inadvertently unsealed her while trying to divert a prophecy about Athena waking up, but it seems she is destined to regardless of what we do.”

“And Julian is the one to end her,” he said bluntly. He threaded his fingers together, resting them and his chin on the back of his swivel chair.

“It seems that way,” Conri answered with a short nod. “Trying to go around this prophecy could make things worse. We could very well end with Athena taking down Lord Death, in a worst case scenario.”

His gaze became determined. “Then we’ll make sure to prepare Julian as much as we can.”

Eula nodded. “Of course. I’ll also let Lord Death know myself. Maybe he can find a suitable partner for Julian when he comes of age. He needs to be trained in combat by the school as well.”

Stein put a hand over Eula’s in a sort of comforting gesture. “Thank you for telling me, Eula.”

She closed her eyes, leaning closer to her husband. “I wish you never had to find out about my family this way. I was waiting for the right moment, but it seems that wasn’t in life’s plans.”

A piercing wail was heard from another room of the lab and Eula gave a tired chuckle, moving to get up. “It seems someone is awake. Don’t worry, Stitches, I’ll get him.”

Stein shook his head. “You need to go to sleep, Eula. I’ll get him, I don’t plan on sleeping for a while yet.”

She smiled softly. “I don’t deserve you.”

Putting a hand on Eula’s shoulder as he stood, the scientist smiled. “I could say the same about you.”

#professor stein #soul eater #eula stein #mention of Julian Stein #Conri Faolan #mention of Arachne Gorgon #mention of Medusa Gorgon #mention of Shaula Gorgon #mention of Athena Gorgon #fanfiction #OC #witches wings #soul overture

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witches-wings · 19 days

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Oneshot: Story Time

Read on A03.

The night air wisped through the window as Eula Stein settled herself down in her son’s reading nook, a thick tome in her hands. The boy in question poked his head into the room, his toothbrush sticking out of his mouth at an awkward angle. “I’m ready!” he said with a lopsided grin reminiscent of his father.

Eula sighed and shook her head. This boy, her baby boy. “Julian, you have to finish brushing your teeth before I start the story,” she said, laughing softly. He opened his mouth, clearly about to offer some sort of solution involving brushing his teeth and the story at the same time, so she added: “And no, brushing your teeth on my lap doesn’t count.”

The young boy pouted. “But moooooom!”

“It’s not worth it to argue with your mother when she’s set on something, Little Monster,” her husband said, poking his head out of his computer room. “Trust me, I’ve tried!” The stitched doctor laughed, standing up and moving towards his son. He ruffled the boy's hair, earning a string of giggles from the younger one. “Besides, after this it’s time for you to go to bed, so you need to have everything ready.”

“Exactly right,” the witch said with a nod. “You can’t learn magic tomorrow if you haven’t slept at least ten hours. So if you want a story before bed, you have to finish brushing your teeth in…”

Julian was already running off for the bathroom again before she had a chance to finish. Eula found herself laughing at his energy. “I’m going, I’m going! You’ve gotta make this story a good one though!” he called.

Stein chuckled, leaning against the door frame. “He’s got your energy, you know,” he said. And she knew this. She had been the same way as a child, always trying to get her sisters to play with her. It never worked, they were more interested in helping their mother, but she tried!

“And your eagerness to learn,” Eula shot back with a knowing smirk. It wasn’t a secret that her husband helped Julian with anything he wanted to learn about when it came to science. She was honestly debating on letting him take over the seven-year-old’s science and math classes at this rate. “Will you be joining us for story time, Stitches?”

He shook his head. “Not tonight, I’m afraid. I have a few more calculations to run through before you try and drag me to bed.”

“Ah, darn, my plot to get you to sleep early was foiled again,” she joked with a warm smile. Shaking her head, she added, “I’ll take care of wrangling him for the night, you go get what you need done.”

As Stein moved back to his lair, Eula closed her eyes and smiled. So much had changed in the past seven years. She had been an agent at the DWMA Intelligence Agency, but now she was a wife, a mother. A teacher. She never thought she would get this far in life, she had honestly never imagined herself with a husband or a child. Not after the way she had grown up.

But what a wonderful family she had.

Her husband, one Doctor Franken Stein, was one of the best men she had met in her centuries in existence. He was kind in his own way, clever, and didn't care if she was a witch. He was a breath of fresh air compared to the men who had tried to gain her hand in marriage in the past, and he saw her as an equal.

Then there was their son…

“I’m ready now, mom!”

Acacius Julian Stein, aged seven years and three months (yes, she was counting). Her precious baby boy, her silver haired son. There were… so many things about him she loved, too many to list. He was her whole world. She loved her husband, but she didn’t know if she could love anyone more than she loved her little boy.

Curling up against his mother, Julian looked up at her, breaking Eula out of her thoughts. “What’s today’s story?” he asked softly. He pulled her arm out from behind him, putting it around his shoulders instead.

Eula loved moments like this. Moments when her son wasn’t working himself to the bone trying to make himself a meister like his father. If she had her way, Julian would be at a normal school, learning normal things and making normal friends. He wouldn’t be worrying about serial killers, souls, making death scythes… But they had tried a regular elementary school when he turned five.

That… hadn’t been a good experience. He managed to scare his teacher—her husband had gotten a stern lecture about how he taught Julian to effectively get out of handcuffs by dislocating his thumb was not something age-appropriate for the then-five-year-old—and then his classmates. And then the principal. They tried a gifted school the next year, but once Julian had mentioned watching his father do dissections… Eula had decided homeschooling was the better option after that.

And he did flourish after that. He was currently getting so close to the end of all the science and math materials she had for his grade level. He struggled more with his language classes, but his reading grades were still stellar. Eula just wished that he was able to make friends his own age… or any age, really. His social skills were sorely lacking and it hurt Eula to watch her baby boy get rejected by his peers.

Next year, he’d finally start attending the DWMA. Of course, he wasn’t allowed anywhere near a weapon partner for two years. He was too young for that! Lord Death was only allowing him to take classes right now because of his grades. Eula was afraid his new classmates would find him too different.

But the moment she got to see him let his guard down and be himself, around his immediate family… Those were the times Eula cherished greatly.

“We’re learning about someone very powerful today, Owlet,” Eula whispered, telekinetically pulling a book from his bookshelf. Opening it to a page she knew well, she began her tale. “Her name was Athena Gorgon, and she was the first witch, a great old one.”

Julian had a look of wonder on his face. Eula loved how expressive her son could be, even if she knew that Athena deserved none of the awe in her son’s eyes. “The first witch? Does that mean she was super strong?” he whispered.

Eula nodded. “She was. But she didn’t use her magic for the right reasons.” Pointing at a picture that showed Athena with three children, she continued. “Athena had at least three children that we know of, but their names have been lost to time,” no they hadn’t, she just refused to let Julian know… any of that part of her family, “and she’s known as the mother of all witches because she gave magic to the first humans.”

Turning the page, Eula heard her son hum to himself.

“Why did she give magic to humans?” he asked. “We… People don’t like us because we have magic and they don’t. Wouldn’t it be better if everyone was the same?”

Eula frowned, rubbing Julian’s arm. She didn’t mind having to hide her magic, but she knew that her son just wanted to be himself—magic and all. “Owlet, I can’t tell you why she decided to give humans magic,” she wanted to make the normal humans scared of witches so that they could be easily controlled, she would have said had he been older, “but if everyone was the same, nothing would change in the world. Humans don’t understand us now, but one day they will, and I hope you and I get to see that day together.”

Julian cuddled closer to his mother, trying to look at the pages of the book that were written in a script he couldn’t yet read. “What else does the book say?”

“It talks about how Athena created other creatures, like werewolves and bloodsuckers,” Eula replied, giving her son a slight smile. “Humans haven’t seen either in a very long time, but I think they’re still around.” She gave her son a knowing wink, knowing who he would think of at the mention of werewolves.

Julian grinned. “Yeah, because of Uncle Conri!” The boy, had he been a puppy, would’ve been wagging his tail and Eula knew it. He looked up at his mother with wide eyes. “Is he gonna call soon? I wanna hear what he’s been doing!”

“You’ll have to wait for tomorrow to see,” Eula whispered as she picked Julian up. “Do you want to continue your story, or do you want to lay in bed?”

Julian yawned. “Is there more to the story? I wanna hear what happened to Athena. You said she wasn’t using her magic nicely, what happened?”

Eula pulled the covers of Julian’s bed back so she could tuck her son in. “Well, Lord Death didn’t like how she used her magic, or how her children did, so he sealed her away in the tallest mountain in Japan. One of her children was sealed in Europe, while the other two went into hiding,” she regaled. “We haven’t seen any of them in centuries.”

Julian gave another yawn. “If she wakes up…” he mumbled tiredly, “then ‘ll ‘tect you from ‘er, mom…” He started to drift off, not fighting Eula as she pulled his covers over him.

The mother sighed, brushing a strand of hair out of Julian’s face. “I truly hope that never has to happen, Owlet… But it will and I hate it so much.”

#professor stein #soul eater #witches wings au #eula stein #julian stein #OC #fanfiction

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