Chapter Text
“Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the goblin city…”
Taako’s voice trailed off, trying to recall the rest of the line as he made his way home, a heavy shopping bag slung over his shoulder. It was part of an old fairy tale, a story that his aunt had read to him and Lup as kids, about a girl who had to rescue her little brother, stolen away by the Raven Queen. They had asked for the story every night, though he couldn’t remember much of it beyond the ending now – that bit always stuck out in his mind, something powerful in the monologue that he kept finding himself coming back to lately. “For my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom as great…”
Again the rest of the quote escaped him, just on the tip of his tongue. He should have known it, he had playacted the whole scene with Lup so many times, but that was a long time ago. It must have been the weather reminding him of it now, storm clouds gathering rapidly overhead and bringing with them an early nightfall. It had been bright and sunny when he left, but the storm had rolled in quick and unexpected. It didn’t feel like a normal thunderstorm, something about it heavy and foreboding. As the wind swirled around him and the rain began to pick up he unfurled his umbrella (Lup’s umbrella, really, and she’d probably be pissed at him for using her incredibly powerful magical artifact to keep the rain off, but whatever) and picked up his pace, hoisting the overstuffed bag full of ingredients for dinner that night. A dinner he wouldn’t even be cooking.
Which was fine - Lup was an amazing chef in her own right, second only to himself. She had been gracious about taking on all of the cooking duties in the past months, but it still stung that she even had to. Taako desperately missed cooking, wished for nothing more than to get back in the kitchen where he belonged. But six months after Sizzle It Up! With Taako met its untimely end, six months after he’d crawled back home to Lup after his final show in Glamour Springs, he still couldn’t bring himself to do more than prep ingredients for Lup if that. It was too risky, cooking for people he cared about, he couldn’t be trusted not to taint anything he fed people no matter how much Lup told him it would be fine.
He tried to shake off those dark thoughts, turning back to the story instead, but they lingered heavy as the storm clouds followed him home, the puddles splashing up on his boots souring his mood. Unnoticed by the elf a lone raven flew overhead, unruffled by the rain. It occasionally settled on a branch to watch him with bright, curious black eyes, never trailing far behind.
It was a relief to finally escape the rain. Taako cast a quick cantrip to dry off his wide-brimmed hat and folded up the Umbra Staff as he came into the little apartment he shared with his sister. It wasn’t much, the kitchen was abysmally small, a least he had his own bedroom now; they hadn’t been able to afford such luxuries since they’d lived with their aunt. He smiled sadly at the memory of that house from their childhood, how warm and inviting it had been, the smell of fresh bread always rising from the kitchen. No, this place didn’t look like much in comparison, but it was theirs.
The kitchen was empty, Lup nowhere to be seen, so he busied himself with putting away the groceries before the cold stuff went bad after the long walk back from the market, umbrella hooked over his elbow. “How about this storm, huh? Snuck right up on me.” He didn’t get an answer, but went on anyway, knowing Lup could hear him from her room down the hall. “Couldn’t find the cheese you wanted, so cheddar had best be good enough for your fancy ass…”
He trailed off as he turned around to set something down on the counter, startled by what was already lying there: a familiar old journal, open and face down, its edges scuffed and pages stained from years and years of use. He didn’t even have to look inside to remember all the recipes he’d written there, perfected by years of work. On the cover in glittering gold paint, now chipped at the edges, was the looping, swirling letters he’d painted so many years ago, back when having his own cooking show was nothing but a pipe dream. Sizzle It Up! They proclaimed.
“Lup!" He yelled, snatching up the journal and catching the loose recipe cards and photos that threatened to fall out of it. He’d planned on copying all of these one day, publishing his recipes, another brick in the wall that was the Taako™ brand, but he hadn’t opened this book since the night that… well, since the show ended, since everything ended. Hadn’t even taken the book out from under the bed where he’d shoved it, determined never to cook one of these recipes again.
“What?” The answering shout came muffled from Lup’s room. Taako stormed down the hall, journal gripped tight in one hand as he pushed open her door. She sat cross-legged on her bed, painting her nails an obnoxiously bright orange. She finally glanced up when he came to stand in front of her, arms crossed and scowling. “Yeah?”
“What were you doing with this?” He shoved the book in her face, but she just shrugged. “You can’t just go in my room and take my shit!”
She laughed, which only pissed him off more. “Uh, you’re one to talk! That’s my staff!” She pointed at the umbrella still dangling from his arm. “I just wanted to make those dope cookies you used to make, no biggie.”
“You can’t!” He clutched the book tighter. “You can’t use this.”
“Yeesh, Koko, it’s just a recipe.”
“Don’t call me that, Lulu.” Lup hated her nickname even more than he hated his own, so he expected her glare, wanted to piss her off. He just didn’t know how to explain to her how the idea of anyone making his old recipes made him sick without sounding stupid. They were his, they were special and they made him special and then they had poisoned forty people. Lup knew what he had done, but she didn’t get it, he didn’t think he could ever make her get it.
Roused by the shouting, the gerblins began to wake up. They were mischievous little things, always looking for ways to make trouble, and they delighted in the twin's arguments.
Outside Lup’s window the storm picked up, lightning flashing against the black sky, rain slamming into the closed window. Taako could see the trees outside bending in the wind. What he didn’t see was the flock of ravens perched on the tree just outside the window.
Lup finished her nails and stood up. “Dude, it’s been months, you’re being paranoid. I’m not gonna screw anything up.”
“Yes you will!”
She threw her hands up. “I’m sorry I took your book, alright? You've gotta chill out. They’re just cookies.”
“You’re such an asshole,” Taako snapped, tucking the book up under his arm as he turned on his heel. “Leave my recipes alone and leave me alone.”
“Not happening, little bro, you’re stuck with me.”
He gritted his teeth. She was only three minutes older than him but she’d always held it over his head. “Well if I could wish for you to disappear I would.” Just like in the story. The girl had wished for her brother to be taken away and poof, he was gone in a flash of smoke. Too bad he didn’t have a spell for that. What were the words she had spoken? They, too, were right on the tip of his tongue.
Unbeknownst to the twins, the gerblins’ ears perked up to listen. They could always hear when they were being talked about, and it had been a long time since anyone was foolish enough to call on them. They held their breaths in anticipation, just waiting for the right words. “Did he say it?” One whispered, and the others shushed it, one smacking it upside the head.
“Sharing a kitchen with you must have sucked!” Lup yelled after him as he stormed away, the rolling thunder booming at the same time as he slammed the door behind him. “Fucking drama queen!”
“I wish the Raven Queen would come and take you away!” He shouted at the closed door. It was childish and he knew it even as he turned back around but he spoke without thinking, nearly compelled to say the words like they were being pulled from his tongue. “Right now!”
Giggling to themselves, climbing over one another to be the first to get their hands on their new captive, the gerblins set out to do their work. All the while, the raven watched over them and waited.