Hellhound AU

[just_aces]

Sometime round about 1900, a witch summoned a hellhound as a familiar.

He didn't mind it, hellhounds are loyal after all, and if some of her spells left him tired and drained, well, that was what he was there for, to keep her from using too much of her own energy for things. That and to eat the souls of her victims, sometimes.

But then, in the early 1970s, she ran afoul of a much stronger coven.

She was quite quickly banished to hell, but the hellhound couldn't be allowed to go with her, because, well, hellhounds are loyal and she was powerful and would have been able to use him to escape.

So the hellhound was made human, figuring that sixty, seventy, even eighty years if he was lucky would be enough time for the witch to have been consumed, so that even when the human-that-had-been-a-hellhound died, and Death herself realized that he was definitely not where, or what, he was supposed to be, she'd send him back.

But then one Charles Rowland kind of fucked up that whole plan by dying young and immediately running away from Death herself.

So the ghost-who-was-the-boy-who-was-the-hellhound has no idea what he was, or still is, under it all.

But, after a trip through hell to save his best friend (Hellhounds are loyal, after all) and time spent in a familiar position -though not a familiar kitchen- after that has been enough to knock a few things loose...

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[just_aces]

Charles' lip curled just briefly, not an actual growl and definitely not a threat, just letting his gaze slide over her, exposing one fang for a bare moment before settling again, mostly because he knew they weren't going to let him speak for himself, this wasn't like the trial, despite that they knew he could, Coven rules were far different than those of the Lower Parliament, and far stricter in many ways.

"Use alone doesn't necessarily indicate malicious intent, Astra, as you well know." That was one of the ones Charles didn't mind, though he wasn't sure he'd ever actually caught her name, Daphne and the obviously younger members sometimes referred to her as 'auntie', and he knew those visibly her age or older must have said her name at some point, he just couldn't remember having heard it. All he knew was that she was one of the older members, but still one of the lower ranks because it suited her, it left her to run her greenhouse and plant stall at the occasional Floating Market in peace.

Charles didn't think he'd ever seen her snipe at anyone, and even though the statement alone could have been biting, it was more exasperated than anything, like she was dealing with a petulant child, and that was one of the other reasons Charles liked her, she always seemed like she was just humoring a bunch of kids playing house. He also made a mental note to remind Edwin to look for her the next time they needed organic supplies so that he could thank her.

[uptightboy]

"Oh, I do know. But wasn't it said at this very meeting that the hound was not a pet but a friend? Hm?" Astra countered, clearly annoyed at the lack of drama in the room and turned to Edwin. "So ghosts use friends like that?"

"If I may, I did not even state anything yet, why would you assume it was my doing?" Edwin retorted, crossing his legs.

"So are you saying you two encountered something that could hurt a Hellhound? If that's so it is a high priority case-"

"And I believe that is why you should have let me speak first and not waste time on accusations."

Lady Goode lit her cigarette, while there was a low murmur coming from the others. When nobody wanted to pick up from there, Edwin nodded. He pat Charles's head and continued with the case that indeed made Charles this way. When he finished and turned in his notes, Astra was buzzing.

"That spell should've been banner decades ago," Lady Goode remarked, reading the transcript of the spell. "Along with the banishment version."

"So it was you," Astra smirked. The auntie shook her head though not at Edwin.

"It was," Edwin admitted. "But..."

"Oh, I can't wait to hear what lie you're about to utter, Mr. Payne."

[just_aces]

Charles kept still throughout Edwin's report, because that was how he remembered things going as well, mostly because he'd gone over Edwin's notes the night before just to make sure, as they'd known he wouldn't be able to say anything for himself at the actual meeting.

He'd even gone so far as to add a written affidavit to the file himself stating that he and Edwin had already hashed things out between them and it was a mistake that wouldn't be repeated now that they knew it could happen in the first place. He doubted any of the witches would actually read it, let alone believe it hadn't been written under duress, but it was the best they could do, under the circumstances.

He pressed his head up under Edwin's hand at Astra's demand of a nearly-neutral statement, narrowing his eyes at her again but not moving otherwise because he knew better than to do anything that could be taken as a threat at a time like this.

[uptightboy]

Edwin licked his lips, probably sending the same look at Astra as Charles. Then he looked away for a moment.

"I was scared," he started quietly. "Entities like that could get strong and mad. They stir up a lot of power," he explained. "It could have hurt Charles, it could also have alerted Hell." Which was not that much of a problem anymore but Edwin still doesn't want to do anything with it anymore. "I was scared."

"So you were scared and you just happened to use one of the strongest destroying spells known?" Astra called.

"In my haste I misremembered the words, I was intended to use the banishment spell," Edwin said, closing his eyes for a moment.

"Why do you know this spell in the first place?" Lady Goode was the one asking this time.

Edwin pursed his lips. He looked at Charles, as if he wanted to apologize.

"I... I wanted to have as much offensive spells I could, so if I were to return to Hell I..." he cleared his throat, his fingers absently running up and down on Charles's head. "I wished to be prepared."

"But these spells could not be used by a ghost."

"I'm aware now," Edwin nodded.

"Well, I'm not convinced," Astra said. Auntie murmured something about being too stupid to understand anyway but since she didn't mean it for the public, Astra ignored her. "It is clear you wanted to use the hound, now that you know what treasure you have. But you cannot even take proper care of it."

[just_aces]

Charles bristled at the implication that Edwin only saw him as a power source, the same way he always did, still frustrated that he couldn't say anything against it, and the statement of Edwin not taking proper care of him did have him snarling faintly, though quickly stifling it, because Edwin had done that, just because this lot hadn't seen every step of it didn't mean he hadn't.

Likewise it hadn't even occurred to Charles to ask why Edwin knew a spell like that, mostly because it hadn't occurred to him that it might be banned before he'd found that out at this very meeting, but it just made sense to him that Edwin knew spells like that, Edwin knew a lot of spells, and the revelation that he'd learned it just in case he was ever taken back only stung, but that was because Edwin still worried that he might be despite everything else stung, it was something he'd have to keep an eye on in the future.

Lady Goode didn't mention that Astra had a point about care and keeping, only asking: "Have you even fed it since the incident?"
That was enough to have Charles' head lifting in confusion, blinking slowly before some fragments of memory slipped back into place. If he'd been in human form he would have paled, instead he just shrunk back again, head dipping below the level of Edwin's chair arm because he remembered what it was Hellhounds ate, or at least what the Duchess had fed him, and he didn't want any part of that.

[uptightboy]

Edwin grabbed the armrest of his chair once Charles moved lower, not taking his eyes off of the witches. Maybe for the first time since the meeting started, he felt anger boil in him. He was prepared for a fight but not to be made fun of.

"You surely jest, he is a ghost, how could he eat?" he huffed. Because he was serious here. Edwin told the witches everything of what happened and they were still unconvinced. And now, they were mocking him.

"'You surely jest'," Astra chuckled.

"Mr. Payne, as you also know 'it' is not a ghost, it is a Hound," Lady Goode shook her head. "They consume souls." Edwin's eyes widened. The implication of that, with his frustration already growing, did not sit well with him.

"No!" Edwin yelled before he could stop himself. "No, I- that is not...."

"No proper care, and not even feeding him?" Astra gasped way too dramatically. "Did you think he would provide you with power with the magic of friendship?"

"Please do stop with the mocking," Edwin hissed. "Charles is my friend and I handle him accurately," he said, hating how he sounded like Charles wasn't even in the room. But the thought about feeding him did catch him off guard. "Do... do they need to be fed?"

[just_aces]

Auntie came to the rescue once more, and did so by being scathingly polite, as she often was, when she had the time and energy not to just say what was on her mind -and sometimes even when she didn't- she set her tea cup down audibly on the saucer, "If their energy isn't being consumed, no." Which meant that Charles could, technically, subsist on the power of friendship, that and just the ambient energy generated by the multitude of mildly haunted and barely-cursed items in the collection back at the office.

"But energy used does need to be replenished. Though I understand you might not have thought of that right away, having been a ghost as long as you have." Despite being the same borderline-exasperated tone, the comment was genuine, and Charles' head did finally nudge up under Edwin's hand again, leaning closer. He still didn't particularly like the idea, but there had to be other ways for him to consume energy that wasn't just eating stray souls.

[uptightboy]

"See, what I'm getting from this is a Hound isn't in good hands with a ghosts," Astra said, looking at Lady Goode.

Edwin was truly grateful for the auntie, making him believe that this meeting that suddenly turned into a trial may be just a stupid nightmare. But he couldn't because what Astra just said implied something unsettling.

"If he uses it actively," Lady Goode added.

Edwin opened his mouth then closed it, shaking his head.

"I am not using Charles," he stated, which sounded weak with an exhausted Charles by him.

"Doesn't that mean it's wasted on you, then?" Astra asked.

[just_aces]

Charles was starting to lose the turns this conversation had taken, first it seemed like they were going to be alright, and then it didn't, and even though he knew they hadn't really been away from the office that long it already felt like too much. But he also wasn't about to show weakness in front of anyone who would jump on it, just sitting more fully upright once more and turning a baleful look on Daphne, still perched beside the Lady Goode, taking notes on the meeting as she always did.

Daphne, for her part, slid something across the table so that Lady Goode had it at hand, though she glanced at it and nodded once, "Astra, I'm aware that you and your sisters have petitioned no less than eight times to have the Hound confiscated and brought to the keeping of the Coven which is something we aren't here to discuss today, but I am of the opinion that doing so would simply cause the Hound to fall to recalcitrance and we'd lose valuable research time and results that are being so generously being provided by Detective Payne."

The fact that the other two who deliberately sniped at Edwin were -apparently- Astra's sisters, certainly explained a lot, and even if they weren't, it still explained a lot, and the fact that this was, apparently, an ongoing bout of infighting definitely didn't surprise him.

[uptightboy]

Edwin snapped his mouth shut as Lady Goode started to talk and did not address him but Astra. He was ready to fight, ready to put his debating skills to use as he always had to whenever one of these witches sank their claws deep into him but this time he didn't have to.

Astra went completely silent, looking over at Lady Goode in disbelief. He sent a look at Edwin as if it was personally his fault and leaned back in her chair.

"Me and my sisters are only trying to protect the coven from a gruesome future or yet another useless hunt if that beast gets out of hand," she said, though with less fight than she had moments ago. "I'm only looking out for us, Lady Goode," she added.

Edwin had to tighten his lips as to not snark at her. But it was precious information knowing that apparently there was a discourse about the hound in the coven, besides their usual meetings. It was good to know that others were actually out to take Charles, no matter what it took. It made Edwin more determined to do good by him, to take care of him and keep him by his side. He barely noted his hand reaching for Charles again, stroking the back of his head to soothe him.

[just_aces]

Lady Goode nodded, "I'm sure you are." She squared her stack of papers, passing them over to Daphne to file, picking up her still-smouldering cigarette once more, "Now, that concludes our business for today, Daphne will schedule a follow-up meeting with you for next week, Detective, so we can get a better read on the Hound's state before resuming our usual schedule."

She nodded once, prim as ever, "You are, of course, welcome to visit the library as usual, though we can't allow the hound inside in it's current state, too many fluctuating energies. You can leave him in the anteroom with Daphne if you wish, but for now we will call this meeting concluded."

Daphne carefully filed the notes along with Edwin's report, tucking it into the folder under her clipboard, sliding easily from her seat to go open the door for Edwin and Charles, waiting until it had closed behind them, effectively blocking the sound of what was bound to be yet another argument before turning a gentle smile on the pair, "Library, then? Or are you departing us now?"

[uptightboy]

With a barely there sigh, Edwin sent a thankful look at Daphne. She was always there to support them in her own way, it was eerie how invisible yet crucial her role was in some of these meetings. Along with auntie. Every time Edwin was reminded that while there were horrible people about like Astra, there were still the types of Daphne. Edwin was thankful he can accept help from them, and it was all thanks to Charles. And Crystal, too.

So he smiled all too politely when the meeting is concluded though he wasn't too happy about having to come next week. With Charles's current state he wouldn't want to drag him all over if not necessary. He gently said his goodbyes, even to Astra who ignored him.

"Ah, well..." Edwin frowned, looking at Charles. He would have loved to leave, it was a hectic meeting. And now that he knew some witches were out to get Charles he didn't feel all too comfortable sticking around. "I do need to look at some books quickly, mostly on healing. It shall not take long, Charles. Will you be alright?"

[just_aces]

Charles considered for a moment, but nodded once, something that made Daphne smile, just leading them both to the lift down to the Library, tilting her head off to the anteroom, "We'll be just here, do you know where you're looking?"

At that point she was pretty sure that Edwin knew the Library as well as any of the coven members and would be able to find what he needed with relative ease. She perched in one of the comfortable chairs, waiting for Charles to settle beside her, crossing his front paws and keeping his head up and alert with his ears pointed towards the Library doors like some kind of Anubis statue.

While Edwin looked up what he needed, she jotted down a quick list of all the things she could remember that a Hellhound could eat besides souls, there weren't many, other types of magical energy mostly, but there were also suggestions like letting him sit somewhere where he could smell food cooking or even in a vegetable garden where food stock was growing, because those things both generated small amounts of energy that he could, potentially, draw from.

[uptightboy]

"I shall be alright, thank you," Edwin said before quickly ducking into the library. He heard giggling inside, despite seeing nobody for the short time he was there. It was a usual phenomenon whenever they visited.

Little did Daphne know that that list was indeed something Edwin was looking for. He did find some satisfactory information in the books he checked but Daphne's little list helped his case more. He thanked her as he tuck it in his notebook, thinking about how they could ever repay for her invaluable support.

Edwin did want to start on 'feeding' Charles by bringing him to one of the markets but he still needed a stop by their office. It was his safe space a place where he could unwind and relax after such a meeting with snappy witches. He also wished to know if Charles wasn't overly exhausted.

"Well, that was quite an excitement," Edwin remarked as they walked through the mirror. He immediately took the list to have a better look at it. "I did have suspicions about some kind of talk going on in the coven about you but I truly did not expect it to be a malicious one," he said. "I believe it is difficult to think of ill intentions with such support also present," he held up the list. Then he paused to look at Charles. "How are you feeling, Charles?"

[just_aces]

Charles had shifted back to himself almost as soon as they were through the mirror, just leaning against the desk, arms folded loosely over his chest, comfortable as he ever was, practically lounging.

He nodded at Edwin's initial run of statements, because he'd felt the same, really, and agreed, it was just remembering in the moment of being argued against that they also had support that was the hard part, which was part of what had him asking: "It's Celeste and Estelle is the other two, yeah? One of them asks questions differently than Astra and the other one." His brow creased, lifting one hand to scratch behind his ear, squinting ceilingward as if that might help him figure it out, but he finally shook his head, fingers wiggling near his temple, "I'll sort it out eventually, got to let it simmer a bit, probably just have to pay better attention next time they're both talking."

He was caught up enough in trying to remember what it was he'd noticed about the three of them who seemed to delight in needling Edwin and, apparently, were trying to 'confiscate' him -and he definitely didn't like the sound of that- that he almost missed Edwin's actual question, and he smiled, "I'm alright. Better here than there." Which had as much to do with familiar and friendly surroundings as it did anything else.

[uptightboy]

Edwin frowned at Charles. Asking questions differently? He narrowed his eyes. Had Charles noticed something about the sisters? But he just nodded a little preoccupied, waiting for Charles's answer to his question.

"Good, I did not wish to exhaust you further with this visit but I was afraid it would look worse if we didn't show," Edwin sighed. "We shall catch our breath then..." he started, then took his notebook with the list Daphne got them. He walked to Charles, showing it to him. "Then we shall look into these items and practices," he said. "Some of these are quite expensive and rare magical items but there are some items and things we could try out to see if we can replenish your energies faster. And maybe... maybe get rid of the scarring too," he added a little careful.

[just_aces]

"Oh yeah, would have been worse if we hadn't gone." He replied easily to that explanation, glancing at the list as it was offered over, brow creasing as he studied it more intently once he realized just what was on it.

His fingers drifted reflexively to the where that scabbed-over burn spot was on his shoulder, currently hidden by his shirt, when Edwin mentioned the scarring, "It doesn't hurt. Mostly just annoying." He assured, even as he dropped that hand to tap a fingertip against one of the line items, "We've still got a couple of these in storage, bottled spells, from the Cloister case, they were in the bottom drawer of the alchemy case and we just moved them to a shelf to make room for actual ingredients."

He wouldn't have remembered as much if he hadn't literally just done the inventory a few days before, "'Course I'll have to figure out how to y'know, consume the magic without using the spell, but I'll have to do that for most of these anyway." He doubted that consuming magic was the same as consuming a soul, for one thing he doubted the magic would fight back, or be afraid of him.

[uptightboy]

"Good memory, Charles," Edwin nodded. "Then, we shall start with those," he decided. "Then we may look into places where they make delicious food so you can... feed," he added, bringing the list to put it on his desk for now.

"As I noticed," he started, turning to Charles again. "Your instincts work quite sharp when you shift," he said. "So, it may be advisable to trust your other self to find out how to consume the magic of a bottled spell. I shall also see what I can find." Edwin stopped for a second, thinking. "I'm quite relieved we do not need to feed you souls, however," he said. Though, he wondered... if they had no choice, would he do it? Would he catch a ghost to feed it to Charles? Would it ever come to it? As Edwin remembered how it felt when he thought he was going to lose Charles, he had to realize Despair of the Endless had chosen him as a 'friend' for a reason. He closed his eyes for a moment to try and get that thought out of his head. They didn't need to feed souls to Charles, not as long as he was careful.

[just_aces]

He did smile at that praise, the same as he ever did, "It's only because I just did inventory the other day. Should probably try some of the lower-power ideas first, though, just in case?" A little shake of his head as he explained, "Too much energy might be worse than not enough, I know how I used to get after I had a coffee, figure this is probably about the same thing, yeah?"

It seemed like it should be at least, or at least something similar, "But if there's no change after we get back from the market, can try one of the bottles. But yeah, other shape is probably for the best, I think I can still absorb energy or whatnot like this, but I don't know for sure, and probably better not to test that if it's just as easy not to." And considering that changing between the two forms was already second nature, something he did without even having to think about it too hard, it really would be that easy.

[uptightboy]

"I had never imagined a high-quality magical spell in a bottle would be compared to coffee and yet, here we are," Edwin remarked with a raised eyebrow. "That said, starting small is indeed the safest way to proceed into this."

"May I suggest..." he started, narrowing his eyes. "You need a scent of food, any kind. While the market is indeed a good place to smell food, we could visit actual kitchens," he advised. "Restaurants, perhaps. Including Italian ones. My idea would be it may work better if it is food you actually like."

[just_aces]

That suggestion just kindled warmth in his chest all over again and his smile spread, "Yeah? Sounds like a valid theory, only one way to find out." He gave a shrug, hands in his pockets once more, but smile very much in place. He knew Edwin knew how much he missed spaghetti -among a handful of other things- but the fact that he thought ahead that way, or even took something like that into consideration in a new situation was... it was nice in ways he didn't have words for.

"If it works we could always try that park near the university, where all the food trucks set up on the weekends? Crystal says it always smells amazing over there, that many different kinds of food at once and all." His brow furrowed a moment later, "Usually pretty big crowd, though, might be safer to go disguise route if we're doing that."

[uptightboy]

Edwin is already trying to rake his memory of nearby places where they could start feeding, when Charles also suggests the university.

"Ah, yes, I suppose finding new favorites may also benefit the cause," he nodded. "Do you think we need disguises? I believe plain ghost form should be enough to visit. Or, well, if we were to go with Crystal I suppose we can take on the disguises," he adds, not too enthusiastic. He would fight for Crystal and protect her with everything he got but being in a crowded area for her? No, he has to draw the line somewhere.

[just_aces]

He laughed softly, "I just meant it'd be less people trying to ask questions if it's two of you and a fuckoff big dog instead of just you." He shook his head, "We'll save that for later, have to find out how well this even works first, and how close I have to be, all that kind of thing. The finer points and all."

He gave a shrug, "And if the garden thing works, we can always get some planter boxes up on the roof, yeah? Might not be enough for full recharge, but could work for a sort of top-up?" And depending on what they managed to actually plant in them it might attract more birds for the Hound to chase besides the pigeons. Not that he was actually trying to catch them, he just liked pouncing at them to make them scatter.

[uptightboy]

"Right, later then," Edwin agreed. "Oh dear, a garden of our own," he huffed. While he does love nature, gardening isn't really their forte. But maybe for Charles, he can put some effort into the skill, and maybe the witches can advise them on the details of it. "If we start going down that path, I believe we could also grow some of our own supplies of alchemical components," he added. It may be useful but Edwin still wasn't entirely thrilled about gardening.

"Well then, do rest now, and inform me if we can go to, well, feed you," Edwin said at last.

[just_aces]

He nodded, moving to drop onto the couch, "It's probably a couple hours until most restaurants are open, still early." Their meeting with the Coven hadn't gotten dragged out like they sometimes did, which he was definitely grateful for in some ways, but he'd already been tired to start with, though not as badly as he had been the past few days, so he'd take it.

He shifted himself around so he was leaning against the arm of the couch, just dragging the blanket down off the back to wrap himself in like a shawl, "Three hours? Then we can go."