A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

"I- Is it permanent?" A teary-eyed Emma had asked.

Knowing what she was talking about, Erik nodded thoughtfully, appearing to Emma as if he was thinking while actually wanting to discuss the matter with Elora.

He started speaking through the mental connection between him and his little partner, "Want to weigh in here, Elora?"

As expected, what he heard back was a lot of groaning and sighing about helping strangers again, "Do you really want to help them? I agree their fate is pitiful, but is that our business?"

Erik wouldn't usually be so caring to a stranger, but this was a special case. He would have had to be made of stone to not be affected by their story.

Well, that or be a lusty and wicked little fairy who danced on the line between sociopathy and mere selective empathy. He knew Elora was perfectly capable of feeling love and compassion; it was just carefully directed at a small group of people.

And these two sisters were definitely not part of that group.

Erik chuckled, "Perhaps not, but if even you find their fates to be pitiful, isn't that worthy of some attention right there? Besides, even though we've only just returned to Earth, I know you've already made half a dozen plans on how best to make use of this situation."

Erik's lips curled into a conspiratory smile, "Surely we could use the help of these two sisters, especially when one of them has a darkness affinity?"

The response took a few moments to come, but eventually, he heard a grumbling Elora respond, "I could just enslave them both, you know."

Erik's smile turned into a grin, "Yeah, but you won't because that would be going against our deal of not enslaving innocents. And I know the last thing you'll do is break a deal with me."

Another few groans and sighs later, she finally relented, "Fine! But you owe me! And I want a covenant with that Emma girl to ensure she'll serve us in the future!"

Saying Erik owed her was pointless. If they actually kept track of all the times Elora had said that, their relationship would never be the way it is now. It was just a way for Elora to save some face.

Erik grinned. He never doubted he'd be able to convince her, but it was still nice to succeed, "Deal! A covenant is fine; I'm sure I can convince Emma of just about anything so long as it saves her sister."

A covenant was essentially a magical contract made with a fairy's Seidr magic. It would bind both parties to the specifics of the deal and force them to obey it until the details are fulfilled or until they grow powerful enough to break free.

He continued, "So? What do we do about Emily?"

Sighing with reluctant acceptance, Elora began to explain, "Well, I can somewhat cleanse Emily's soul myself, but I actually think there might be a better way, assuming I am right about this Emma girl."

She then talked some more about Emily's condition and the method for restoring her before Erik focussed back on an impatiently waiting Emma.

Even though Erik's conversation with Elora was pretty extensive, it didn't actually take more than a minute or so, as mental communication was very fast.

He lost his thoughtful expression and began talking, "It is permanent." But seeing the adorable Emma immediately about to break down, he quickly clarified, "At least, normally it is."

Emma naturally honed in on those words like a hawk, "N- Normally?!"

Erik smiled at the young Emma, "A situation like your sister won't recover without outside influence, but it is possible."

He turned serious, "She'll never be completely the same, however. Her corruption will leave a permanent scar, and she'll always be a much darker person than she used to be."

His expression softened a little, "That said, it should be possible to bring her back to a point where she remembers how to act like a real sister. Think of it as the Emily you remember, but likely to be a lot more willing to hurt others and a lot less likely to care about strangers."

Emma didn't care about any of that, however. All she wanted was her sister back; they could figure out the rest later. A sentiment she wasn't shy about uttering, "But… she'll be my sister again?"

Erik nodded but then smirked, "I won't help for free, however. And I'll require your trust."

Having expected something like that, Emma stared at him with determination, clearly ready to do whatever it took, "I'll do whatever it takes."

Erik curved his lips into a grin as he stood up, "Good! You can start by getting up."

She stood up, a little confused about what he wanted but unwilling to back down.

She staggered a little, however, as she was still weak.

Erik held out his hand to stabilise her, but she quickly retreated from him, clearly still skittish.

Erik raised an eyebrow at her behaviour, "I did just say something about trust, didn't I? I understand that you're still a little wary of me, but the first thing I will need you to do is grab my hand, so if you want me to help your sister, you'll have to get over it."

After telling her what he needed from her, he kept standing there with his hand outstretched, waiting for Emma to take the next step.

He naturally had the power to simply grab her, but that wouldn't help anyone; she needed to make this decision on her own.

Emma kept looking at Erik for a moment longer, inwardly debating her next action. Although Erik didn't seem to be a bad person, she clearly understood he had his own goals and ambitions. Did she really want to get tangled up with this person?

Perhaps she could simply try to work it out with Emily now that she has a little more information on the subject?

But she quickly shook her head. She had just claimed she would do whatever it took, but now she was hesitating at the thought of simply holding his hand?

She scolded herself inwardly for her lack of conviction. She couldn't really be blamed too harshly, though, as the last few years were tough on her and had severely eroded her mental resilience.

With renewed determination, she stepped closer to Erik and grasped his hand.

It looked a little comical, as Emma was a somewhat small girl whose growth had also been stunted a little due to malnourishment during her teenage years; combined with Erik's generally over-sized body, his hands were far larger than Emma's.

But Erik wasn't bothered as he closed his large hand over her small one with his lips curled into a grin.

The physical contact allowed Elora to check Emma quickly for what she already suspected was there.

When she found what she was looking for, she informed Erik, letting him know that they could proceed as planned.

Emma was getting a little anxious, as they had just been standing there, grasping each other's hands and staring into each other's eyes for a couple of seconds already. Still, she figured that perhaps this was a test of her conviction, so she kept standing there with a determined expression.

Eventually, something changed, as some kind of dark green energy started coiling around Erik's arm as it crept closer to where their hands intersected.

Emma got even more anxious. She didn't say anything but instinctively tried to pull her hand back, which was obviously impossible while it was firmly clasped by one of Erik's dinner plate-like hands.

Seeing her behaviour, Erik quickly comforted her, "Don't worry, it won't do anything without your permission."

Hearing his words, she calmed down a little but looked at him with a questioning gaze.

Erik was starting to get the feeling this girl didn't really talk much when she could help it.

At this point, the coiling energy had reached Erik's wrist and stopped there as Erik looked at Emma, "This magic will create a covenant between us. Think of it like a contract, except much more binding."

While the contract would technically be formed between Emma and Elora, since it was Elora's magic doing the binding, Erik and Elora's close connection basically meant they would share any and all soul-related bindings, for better or worse.

Somewhat getting the feeling she was about to make a deal with the devil, Emma gulped a little but then asked, "W- What are the terms?"

Erik explained, "In return for me and my partner helping you diminish the effects of corruption on Emily, you will serve us, non-sexually, for ten years. Furthermore, you are not allowed to speak a word of me or my partner to anyone without our permission."

Setting aside her gratitude for including the non-sexual part, she was slightly stunned at the rest.

Since her knowledge of magic basically only came from fantasy books, she had expected him to take something from her, like years of her life or a part of her soul or something.

But what could a powerless person like her possibly offer him during ten years of service if it didn't include sex?