Distressing Dominance | Owl House x Reader

Chapter 25

"You've always had a choice," Eda said, her expression unreadable. "But now that you know the truth, you have a responsibility too. Whether you like it or not, you're a part of this world now."

I stared at the floor, the gravity of her words sinking in. "But what if I can't do it?" I asked, feeling the weight of doubt pressing down on me. "What if I can't be the hero you all need me to be? Just unlock the door and let me leave, I'm done."

Eda's expression was a maelstrom of emotions, but the anger had given way to something else, something deeper. "You're not a hero, Y/N," she said, her voice firm. "You're a human. And humans are messy, they make mistakes, they're afraid. But you know what else they are?"

"They're survivors, and that's what I'm doing here, surviving." I murmured, not quite meeting her gaze.

Eda's eyes flashed with a fiery intensity, and before I could blink, she had thrown a spell that sent me flying across the room. I slammed into a bookshelf, sending tomes and trinkets flying in every direction. Pain exploded across my back, and for a moment, I couldn't breathe.

As the stars cleared from my vision, I saw her standing over me, her wand still outstretched. "You think you can just walk away?" she snarled. "You think the Emperor's Coven will just let you go?"

I pushed myself to my feet, feeling the anger and adrenaline coursing through me. "You're just like them," I spat. "Using me for your own ends."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Eda shot back, her eyes flashing. "You've been given a gift, a chance to make a real difference, and all you can do is whine about it."

The insult stung, and without thinking, I lunged at her, my fists balled in rage. She was ready for me, though, and with a flick of her wrist, she sent a blast of magic that sent me flying into the opposite wall. The impact rattled my bones, but I was too furious to feel the pain. "Is that all you know how to do?" I shouted, pushing myself to my feet. "Hit and run?"

Eda's eyes narrowed, and she took a step closer, her wand pointed at my chest. "You think this is a game?" she yelled. "You think you can just waltz in here, learn some spells, and decide whether or not you want to help us?"

The anger in her voice was like a match to dry kindling, igniting a fury within me that I hadn't known was there. "This isn't my fight," I roared back. "I didn't ask to be brought here, and I sure as hell didn't ask to be some sort of messiah for your doomed realm!"

Eda's eyes flashed, and she shot a bolt of energy that I barely managed to dodge. "You think you're the first to stumble into this world, unprepared and unwilling?" she spat. "You think you're the first to feel the pull of the Boiling Isles?"

The rage boiling inside me was unlike anything I had ever felt. I had lost everything, and now she was telling me that I had a responsibility to save a world I never even knew existed? "I didn't ask for any of this!" I screamed, throwing a book at her.

It was a childish gesture, but in that moment, I didn't care. I just wanted to get out, to go back to my simple life where the biggest decision of the day was what to have for lunch. But as the book soared through the air, something strange happened. A gust of wind whipped through the room, and it grew wings, soaring past Eda's head and out the window.

With a snarl, she raised her wand, and the house trembled with the power she was about to unleash. But before she could say a word, I turned on my heel and bolted. I didn't look back, didn't stop to grab anything. I just ran.

I ran out of the owl house and into the night, the cool air biting at my face and the stars above blurring as I sprinted through the woods. The branches slapped at me as if trying to hold me back, but I didn't care. All I could think of was the anger in Eda's eyes, the fact that I was just another weapon in a war that wasn't mine to fight.

As I stumbled through the dark, my thoughts raced. What had I gotten myself into? A world of magic, of friendship and danger, where everyone looked to me to save them? It was too much. I didn't want to be a hero, I just wanted to go home.

But as I crashed through the underbrush, a soft glow caught my eye. It was the human exhibit from the festival, now abandoned and forgotten in the woods. I approached the lifeless mannequins with their plastic smiles, feeling a strange kinship with them. They were out of place here, just like I was.

As I looked around, a glint of metal caught my eye. It was a small, delicate necklace, half-buried in the dirt. The charm was a tiny owl, just like the one that had brought me here. It was a stark reminder of the world I had left behind, and the world I now found myself in.

I picked it up, feeling the warmth of the metal in my hand. It was a talisman, a symbol of home. But what did that mean anymore? Was the human realm still home, or had the Owl House become my new one? The necklace felt heavy with unanswered questions, a tangible representation of the burdens that had been placed on me.

As I held the owl charm, the decision before me grew more real than ever. Could I leave this place? Could I abandon Eda and Amity, who had all come to mean so much to me? And yet, the pull of the human world was strong. The thought of my family, my friends, the simple life I knew, beckoned me back to safety, to normalcy.