Once A Curse

"With the blood of my blood, the veins of the Witch Evanora, I revoke the bond of the moon and wolf cast upon this Never—Queen." Ava chanted, a mystical wind blowing around them. Ava raised her hands, palms pointing to Freya.

Freya frowned, suddenly noticing the red-brown runes etched upon her skin. Freya's eyes widened as her back straightened, her arms thrown to her side as if they were being pulled by chains. Freya let out a bloodcurdling scream as her body was torn from the inside. "What has been done must be undone."

"Freya..." Victor whispered.

Moving slightly in his circle. "Don't move." Ava and Aline screeched.

"You can't leave the circle until the spell has run its course." Aline said softly.

"But Freya."

"Has been through worse," Charlotte said quietly.

Victor watched as blood trickled down Freya's cheeks like tears. They all watched as her back snapped like a twig, and she hunched over, claws bursting forth and fur covering her like a blanket.

"In order to undo the wolf, she needed to become it one last time," Aline said. Freya fell on her four paws snorting once before she threw her head back and howled just as the clouds moved revealing a pearl moon.

"Victor look!" Xander said, pointing upwards.

Victor looked at the cursed violet storm that formed over them. "The end is near," Rina whispered as she joined Victor where he stood.

"She looks like she's in so much pain," Victor said.

"Change is painful," Rina replied. "I've learned that lesson more times than I care to admit."

"Is there really nothing we can do?" Victor asked looking at Aline from where he stood in his circle.

"We are doing something." Ava snarled glaring at Victor while her hand was still outstretched to the wolf that had now put its snout to the ground.

As they watched ropes of silver burst out of Ava's palm snaking around the wolf's body as it raised its head howling once more until the howl turned into a scream, and the body of the wolf shrunk as the scream tapered off Freya curling on the floor her hair draped around her body.

Ava moved both her hands to where Xander and Victor stood watching. A line of smoke created a triangle between the three of them.

"What is happening?" Charlotte demanded.

"The curse is lifting. Xander is a symbol of the time she lost. The time that is now being returned to her."

"And what of my brother?" Charlotte asked, glancing at Victor worriedly.

"Yes what about me?" Victor asked, glancing at Ava before his gaze moved to Freya's unmoving form.

"As the one who broke her curse, you will symbolize the future she will now be a part of. Her curse might be over, but there will always be lingering fragments of the wolf." Ava murmured.

She clasped her hands together, the triangle shimmering for a moment before it disappeared. Freya let out a huff of noise while the clouds above seemed to fade into the air. "She'll need rest. To recover." Ava said looking up at Victor.

"Can I move now?" Victor asked dryly.

"Yes," Ava said watching Victor approach, Freya.

"Take this," Rina said as Victor passed by handing him a fur covering. He covered Freya with it, lifting her.

"Here I'll show you her old room," Xander said, leading him out of the chamber.

"How long will your protections last?" Rina asked looking at Aline.

"About the next sunrise, why?" Aline asked.

"I need an hour to rest before I can summon us a way home," Rina said glancing at Xander and Ava. "I suggest you do the same."

Somewhere in the deep darkness that had enveloped her like a blanket, after the pain, she could hear the soft murmur of voices as she leaned towards the sound she felt the softness of furs, the brush of her curls on her arm. Her eyes blinked open into the gloom of a day turning to night. Her eyes focused up and she saw the curved branches and green leaves that she and Wilhelm had painstakingly painted on the roof of her canopy bed. She lay in her childhood bed.

"You're awake."

Freya felt a light touch on her arm and turned to look at Victor. "Hey." She said quietly.

"Hey, yourself. How are you feeling?" He asked.

"Like I fought a Wolf and lost." She said.

"Except that you won." Victor reminded her. "You never have to be a werewolf again. That has to feel good."

"It feels lonely like I lost a piece of myself." Freya mused.

"The werewolf was a part of you for a very long time," Victor said.

Freya looked at her fingers wonderingly. "Never have to be a werewolf again. Never to be torn apart and remade." she mused. "That is worth something."

Victor smiled. "Do you want me to leave you alone?"

"No I don't." She said moving to make space for him on the bed. Victor joined her being cautious of her body. He cradled her to his chest with a smile as she cuddled closer.

"I will never leave you," Victor whispered in her hair.

Freya smiled lifting her head to look at Victor who bent down and pressed his lips to hers. Freya's hands threaded in his hair, deepening the kiss. The two of them move closer. Their kiss faded into smiles as they fell asleep.

At peace, in each other's arms.

Ava folded the robes back into the chest she'd found in Evanora's tower. She moved to the center gazing up at the pale blue moon that was the end of one cycle and the beginning of another.

"I wasn't sure you'd be able to undo the curse." A voice whispered in the darkness. "You had forsaken magic for so long."

Ava turned to look at her great ancestor forming out of the shadows. "And whose fault was that?" Ava asked, a chill running down her spine at how closely she resembled the Witch who had cursed Freya.

A smile chased its way across Evanora's face. "You've fought me for so long, against me. Now, who will you fight when I'm gone?"

"Gone?" Ava asked.

"With the spell broken, I am free from the bonds that shackled me to this place."

"Spell?" Ava scoffed.

"The curse affected every woman of my line," Evanora said searching Ava's face. "You will make mistakes. Our line is a most tumultuous one. You will no doubt have no shortage of enemies. Do what I couldn't, and have people you can count on. A coven of your own."

Ava watched as Evanora disappeared, her last words lingering in the air.

"Be better than I was..."