And I'd give up forever to touch you
'Cause I know that you feel me somehow
You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be
And I don't wanna go home right now
(...)
And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am
- Iris, The Goo Goo Dolls
Hunter has only known rage.
He feels the rage, the ravaging anger that threatens his every step and every word that comes out of his mouth.
He's only reflected the rage upon the pathetic civilians of the Boiling Isles. He hunts the fear of the innocent.
That is, until he got to know the one human girl living in this world.
He didn't feel rage at her. Even if he tried.
Luz makes him feel strange. But not… angry. That's probably the most positive thing he's ever felt.
The girl has finally found Belos and has decided to fight him to return home. Her friends are nowhere to be found. As far as Hunter is concerned, they weren't captured by his coven. Knowing Luz, unfortunately, that must mean she came to fight Belos alone.
Hunter doesn't doubt her fighting skills, of course not. Even if he's learned the glyphs from the palm of his hand, he could never be fast like Luz. She's a prodigy at this point, better than any witch he knows.
But Hunter does not hunt, he does not rage.
He… protects.
Or tries to.
Because Uncle's rage stops him every time their eyes meet. His blue, cold eyes kill with only one look. Hunter does not have the heart to fight him, even if his furious shadows do not hesitate to scar his face.
Luz is actually holding off Belos well. Hunter knows she'd probably beat up everyone in the Boiling Isles now. None of them are match to her glyph combinations.
But just like Hunter, Belos knows what her weakness is.
And then Belos is targeting his own nephew.
The shadow is too fast, and Hunter screams his eyes out.
Literally.
Luz is yelling his name. Not the Golden Guard. His true name.
Belos finally hits Luz and forces her to stay on her knees.
Hunter can't reach them. The pain is too much. He only sees red.
His equally red palisman can't do much, either, aside from trying to know if Hunter is even alive after that hit.
… Wait.
Hunter attempts to raise his arm, which brings the Rascal to him.
He throws something, anything, just to distract his uncle.
But Belos is already expecting that.
Because Hunter is pathetic, worthless.
Belos takes the human by her burnt clothes, staring down at his nephew with no remorse at all.
"D-Don't hurt her," Hunter wants to threaten him, but it sounds like a desperate cry.
His uncle smiles with satisfaction. Even though they can see his face now, Hunter would've known it even behind a mask.
"Since when do you worry about a foolish human, my nephew?" Belos asks with disgust in his voice. Luz is struggling to break free from his grasp.
Belos throws her away with force, and Hunter can't do anything. He has stopped yelling at this point, knowing it's useless.
He needs to stop his uncle. He has to.
Hunter hears wings flapping to his side, while Belos talks down to Luz, making a whole monologue. Hunter crawls, his face hurting, burning like rain.
His shaky arms are at least enough to take him and pull down the lever.
Machine noises deafen the palace, taking Belos off guard.
"What have you done ?" Belos asks, his voice deepening in darkness.
There's a bright white light behind them, Luz's eyes shifting between Hunter and the portal that opens to them. But not for long.
"Go !" Hunter cries.
Luz just stares at him. Why won't she move?
Belos, however, doesn't stop her.
For he takes Hunter by his neck, his hand tightening violently.
"Hunter!" Luz yells.
"Go AWAY, Luz!" He insists, even if he's losing breath. "Just GO!"
Seeing Belos' expressionless face as he strangles his own nephew hurts more than anything. Hunter tries to beg him one last time, don't you love me?
Despite the lack of emotion, Hunter feels the rage in his fists. The rage is going to kill him.
And he can't do anything.
"With the human's power, I will take over all the other worlds," Belos says somberly. "What use, then, do I have for you when you are not who I created you to be?"
Hunter manages out a "please", please don't kill me, I love you, Uncle, I love you, don't kill me.
He hears a protest.
Something is shoved in his uncle's chest, and although it's not enough to kill him, Belos roars like a thunder, finally letting his grasp out of Hunter.
Spiky roots have come out of the ground, and they trap Belos now that he's vulnerable. Luz is holding a determined expression, only for her look to sadden at the sight of Hunter. He waits for her to run while she can, now that nothing is stopping her.
But when Luz prepares her next attack, something inside Hunter shatters.
He knows what she's going to do.
"No," Hunter tries to scream but his throat hurts still. "No, no, no…"
Luz hesitates even if for a moment, yet she closes her eyes to avoid Hunter's pleads.
"Now !"
Her palisman obeys her, a small owl coming his way. The owl takes Hunter away, driving him to the light.
"LUZ!"
She uses the last of her glyphs to create a huge explosion.
The palisman takes him to the other world while he sees his crumbling apart, shoved in bright, mortal light. The red bird also follows them.
"NO !"
The door closes.
Hunter lands roughly on the ground, as the owl is thrown off by the explosion. The grass is… wet. It's raining, but it doesn't hurt, just like he read in the books, like his uncle knew.
But it doesn't matter.
"LUZ! LUZ!"
He wants to break down the invisible door, but clearly, he's powerless. Hunter takes off the grass to hopefully get the portal back, do anything, bring her back, I need her, I can't lose her.
He cries, grieves like the scalding rain. It might not boil, but his tears do.
He couldn't save her. He couldn't finally put a stop to the rage and defeat all the damage it's done. The rage took Luz away. Hunter couldn't do anything, like the failure that he is.
The birds that are with him are extremely silent. Lil' Rascal lands on his lap in attempt to comfort him. The owl is on his shoulder, silently crying to itself for Luz. The pain in Hunter's left side is nothing compared to this. Nothing. Nothing.
Hunter just wants her back.
He wants nothing else.
They can take anything.
But please, give Luz back.
…
He hears something in the middle of this rain and his mourning.
Like a miracle, the lines of the portal show to him.
And it opens again.
It's… glitching, and Hunter can't see clearly, except for one body lying on the ground. He does not hesitate.
"Luz!"
He immediately falls on his knees beside her, her clothes and her hair having been burnt. Her body is full of injuries that are probably fatal to a human being.
Hunter shakes her, tries to feel anything.
He relieves at the heartbeat against his hand.
"Luz?"
Twitching her eyes, Luz slowly awakes to him.
"… Hunter," she whispers.
She's okay. She's okay. Maybe not entirely, but she will be.
Just like that, the portal is closed again. Luz stares, not exactly surprised. She does seem to have questions, though.
"I… I don't get it," Luz says, "You could've left. Y-You could be happy the in the Human Realm… Why didn't you stay there?"
It is a worthy question. The Human Realm was his dream for his entire life. The day Hunter could feel the non-boiling rain and watch the sun set and rise every day without any fear. The day Hunter could live things that weren't trying to kill him all the time. The day Hunter could live without the rage.
He can only shake his head at the suggestion now.
"How could I be happy knowing you'd be dead?"
Luz's brown eyes sparkle. "Hunter…"
He shivers at her tone.
That's his call for him to envelop his arms around her.
Hug… that's what Luz calls them. It's nice.
"D-Don't ever do that again, you idiot," Hunter sobs.
Luz hugs him back.
"I just wanted you to be okay," she explains.
"I would never be okay without you."
Luz smiles in his shoulder.
"Don't you dare die on me," he threatens her, but obviously not with rage. "I'm going to kill you myself."
Luz laughs, "Deal."
Hunter holds her while he can.
He will never let the rage come back.