The title comes from this quote by Voltaire: "Tears are the silent language of grief."
I wanted to get the first chapter out before "Thanks to Them" drops, so I'm doing something I don't normally do and posting the first chapter before the second one is finished. My goal is to post chapter 2 by next weekend.
It hits him hard in the shower.
He's washing himself in the cold water - Mrs. Noceda showed him how to turn the water temperature up, but hot water is a reward he hasn't earned - and greenish sludge washes off his shoulder and down the drain. He watches it disappear, and his brain echoes with the splat of his uncle hitting the wall.
The Collector was destroying everything when they left. That wall may not exist anymore. That bit of sludge may have been all that was left of his uncle.
He shouldn't miss him. He shouldn't. His uncle was evil. His uncle wanted to kill him. His uncle tried to murder everyone across the entire Boiling Isles.
But his uncle raised him. His uncle found him (created him) and took him in. His uncle gave him food and shelter and an education. Sometimes, if Hunter had been very, very good, he would even give him rewards. He has (had) a toy on his bed, a pink frog, that his uncle gave him when he was young, when he passed every test his tutors gave him with flying colors. He remembers the way his uncle smiled, just a little, and affectionately tousled his hair.
(That was before the scar on his cheek, before the notch in his ear, before he started going stiff any time his uncle reached for him. That was back when things were still good.
Even before everything went entirely wrong, things hadn't been good for a long time.)
Any small, quiet kindness to Hunter isn't nearly enough to make up for all the evil that his uncle wrought throughout the entire Boiling Isles. He knows that, he understands that, and he knows he shouldn't be mourning his uncle, and yet-
And yet.
He feels a burning behind his eyes, but he doesn't let himself cry. That's too much, that would be a betrayal of his friends and everyone back home. He's got lots of experience at not crying, after all, so he takes the urge and shoves it down. He does his best to bury the grief too, locking it away in a corner of his mind.
He misses his uncle. He shouldn't.
He finishes washing himself and turns off the water - and oh, he definitely didn't deserve warm water with his mind betraying him like this - and dresses in the too-big clothes Mrs. Noceda left out for him. They're comfortable, and they're not so big they'll fall off, so he doesn't mind the cuffs he has to roll up and the neckline that slips down to show a bit of his shoulder. There's no gloves, which is a problem, but his own gloves are salvageable. He slides them on over his hands, then he gathers his wet, dirty clothes and steps out of the bathroom.
"Ah, Hunter!" a voice says, and Hunter feels himself jump about two feet in the air as he whirls around to face Mrs. Noceda. "I was just coming up to let you know dinner is ready."
Hunter's stomach roils at the thought of food, but he knows better than to turn it down; he doesn't know when it'll next be offered, so he should take what he can get. "Thank you, ma'am."
"You can call me Camila," Mrs. Noceda replies. "Are those your dirty clothes? You can give them to me, I'll see if they can be cleaned."
Hunter tightens his grip a little on the clothes. They're all he has left of home, and they were a gift from Gus. He doesn't want to let them go. "I can wash them myself, it's no problem. Is there a tub somewhere for washing?"
"They would be hand-wash only," Mrs. Noceda murmurs, which confuses Hunter, since there's no magic here and he can't think of another alternative to washing clothes by hand. "But it's alright," she adds in a louder voice, directed at Hunter, "I can wash them. You don't need to worry about it."
"I'm an uninvited guest in your home," Hunter says, hoping he doesn't rip his clothes with how tight his grip has gotten. "I wouldn't ask you to wash my clothes for me, ma'am. That wouldn't be polite. I can do it myself."
Hunter can't quite read Mrs. Noceda's expression, which is always worrying, but either he'll learn her tells soon enough or they'll be gone too quickly for it to matter. "You're very welcome here, Hunter," she says after a moment. "We can worry about the clothes later. Why don't you leave them on the bathroom floor for now, and we can go have dinner?"
Hunter knows better than to argue with an order, no matter how gently given, so he nods and sets the clothes down on the bathroom floor, like he was told. He follows Mrs. Noceda downstairs to the kitchen, where the others are all already sitting around the table. There aren't enough chairs, so when Mrs. Noceda hands him a bowl of stew, Hunter takes it but remains standing while he eats. He positions himself in front of a wall so no one can get behind him - that's a mistake you only make once - and angles himself in a way that lets him see the whole room.
He takes it in as he eats, assessing the room and the people in it. Luz and Amity are sitting pressed so close to each other that they're practically sharing a chair. Willow is stirring her stew more than eating it. Gus has stopped crying, but his eyes are dull and Hunter can tell he's still in shock. Vee, the basilisk girl who's apparently somehow also Mrs. Noceda's daughter, is looking around the room nervously as she eats her food.
(He remembers hearing about the basilisk experiments. He was never involved with them. Looking at Vee now, he's glad of it.)
Last of all, Hunter studies Mrs. Noceda. He does it in flickers, in glimpses; his uncle would always call him out if he stared, and he doesn't know if Mrs. Noceda will as well. He's not always great at reading people, but he thinks he sees exhaustion in the slope of her shoulders and something that might be concern in the shape of her mouth. She's looking around at everyone as well, and there's curiosity in her eyes. She must be expecting some sort of report from Luz. Of course she is; five injured, wet, and exhausted children just showed up on her doorstep, and no one's really explained much of anything. Hunter has been trying to figure out the best way to frame it, the best way to word the report, but he doesn't know Mrs. Noceda well enough to know what works with her and what doesn't. Besides, he doesn't know what Luz would want them to share. He always hated it when his uncle got reports from scouts or, even worse, Kikimora before Hunter had a chance to give his own. Unless Luz asks Hunter for help, he'll let her report in however she thinks is best.
Mrs. Noceda is far more patient than Hunter's uncle ever was; even as they all finish their food, she doesn't demand to know what happened. Instead, she gently says, "We have a blow-up mattress, and the couch is a pull-out. Luz, you and Vee can share the bunk bed."
Luz blinks up at her mother as if she's only just remembering that she's there. Hunter can see her slowly process the sentence, then she looks over at Amity before looking back to her mom.
"Uh, can I stay with the others in the living room instead?"
Mrs. Noceda hesitates for a moment, then she offers Luz a gentle smile. "Of course. It might be a little crowded, but three of you can probably fit on the blow-up mattress."
"I can sleep on the floor, if there's not enough space," Hunter offers, then he immediately regrets it when all eyes turn to him. He truly wouldn't mind sleeping on the floor - he's slept in less comfortable places before - but he wishes he hadn't drawn attention to himself.
"We can get out a sleeping bag if we need to," Mrs. Noceda says. "Vee, can you help me get things ready?"
Vee nods and hurries out of the kitchen. Mrs. Noceda pauses to kiss the top of Luz's head, then she also leaves the room. Perhaps it's just Hunter, but he feels like the tension decreases when they're gone, when it's just the five of them. He knows he relaxes a little with the unknowns out of the room, though he's still on alert so he'll know when they come back.
"What are we gonna tell your mom?" Amity asks eventually, breaking the silence.
Luz slumps against Amity's shoulder a little. "I don't know," she admits, and her voice is duller than it should be. There's none of Luz's normal energy, just exhaustion and grief.
(She has a reason to be grieving, a real one. Hunter shoves his own grief down once more.)
"We can wait until tomorrow morning, can't we?" Willow asks. "Maybe it'll seem better once we get some sleep."
Hunter doesn't think anything can make things seem better, but he doesn't say that. He wonders if Mrs. Noceda's patience will extend all the way to the morning. His uncle would never have let him wait that long before reporting in, but Mrs. Noceda seems more lenient than his uncle ever was with him.
"We need to figure out a way to get back," Luz says, and there's a bit more fire in her words than there was before. "I- I can't tell my mom I'm going back, I promised her I wouldn't, but we can't just leave everything like that. I can't- I don't even know if Eda is still alive. I don't know what the Collector is going to do with King. I don't- I don't-"
There are tears in her eyes, and Amity makes a small comforting noise and gathers Luz into her arms. Hunter watches as Luz's shoulders shake and her breathing hitches. He wishes he could do something to help, but he has no idea what.
"We'll figure out a way back," Willow says, her voice gentle but authoritative. "And we stopped the draining spell, so I'm sure everyone's alive. Hunter survived, so everyone else probably did too."
Honestly, Hunter isn't sure if that comparison is entirely valid; he's hardly the average witch, given that he's not even really a witch at all. But no one knows that but Luz, and he doesn't think it'll help anyone if he casts doubt on their parents' survival, so he doesn't say a word.
"Eda is smart," Amity says as she holds Luz. "She'll figure out a way to get King back from the Collector. They'll all be okay."
"I just want to help," Luz whispers. "I want to be there. We stopped Belos, but what if the Collector is even worse? What if we didn't help at all?"
"Maybe the Collector isn't good news, but he stopped the draining spell," Amity says. "We couldn't have done that ourselves. Now, they have a chance."
"Can we build a portal from this side?" Gus asks, his voice quiet and hoarse. "Is it even possible without magic or Titan's blood?"
"Belos- Philip- He must have gotten to the Boiling Isles somehow, and that was before there was a portal," Amity says. "And you have human stuff that you didn't get from Eda, right? There must be natural portals."
"Then why didn't Belos use them?" Gus counters.
"Maybe they're only one way," Willow offers. "You can go from the Human Realm to the Boiling Isles, but not from the Boiling Isles to the Human Realm."
"We'll figure something out," Luz says, finally lifting her head up from Amity's shoulder. "We have to."
Hunter hears incoming footsteps and stiffens. "Mrs. Noceda and Vee are on their way back," he reports before anyone else can say a word.
"We'll be okay, Luz," Amity whispers. "Everyone will be okay."
Hunter hopes they will be.
(He doesn't let himself think about how his uncle won't. That's for the best. It is.
He tells himself that doesn't miss his uncle at all. Maybe if he says it enough times, it'll even feel true.)
The living room is a little crowded, like Mrs. Noceda said it would be, but that's okay. Hunter doesn't need to take up any space on the blow-up mattress, because he doesn't sleep anyway.
To be fair, he doesn't try that hard. Apparently, there's no security system around the Nocedas' house except for a ridiculously flimsy lock on the door, so he needs to stay up to keep watch. He doesn't know the dangers that the Human Realm holds, but that just means he needs to be even more vigilant against them.
(He doesn't know exactly what sort of nightmares he'll have if he tries to sleep, but he knows they'll be bad. It's stupid and weak to be afraid of his own dreams, but he is. His uncle would be so disappointed in him.
His uncle, he reminds himself, will never be disappointed in anything ever again.)
He hears Mrs. Noceda upstairs before anyone else wakes up, and he quickly feigns sleep when he hears her coming down the stairs. He fights to keep his breathing at a regular rhythm when she pokes her head into the room, and he steels himself so he doesn't flinch when she comes closer. He opens his eyes a crack, just in case, but all she does is brush Luz's hair out of her face and kiss her forehead. He closes his eyes quickly when her gaze sweeps over the rest of the room, and he only relaxes when he hears her leave the room and go into the kitchen.
He hears quiet talking coming from the kitchen and strains his ears. It sounds like Mrs. Noceda is on whatever the human equivalent of a crow phone is, since she's clearly having a conversation with someone who isn't there. From the sound of it, she's calling her work and telling them she won't be there today. Hunter wonders what exactly she expects out of them, what's so important she'll even put her work on pause for it.
It takes an agonizingly long time for any of the others to start stirring after Mrs. Noceda comes down. Hunter can still hear her in the kitchen, and he wishes she'd just go upstairs, but of course, it's her house and he's just an uninvited and unexpected guest. Still, he doesn't want to be alone downstairs with her, so it's a relief when he sees Luz's face scrunch up in a way that means she's waking up.
Luz wakes slowly, then quickly. Hunter sees how her eyes fly open, and how she takes in the whole room and everyone in it. Her eyes fall on him last, and he meets her gaze.
"It really happened, didn't it?" she whispers into the early morning darkness.
"It did," Hunter whispers back.
Luz closes her eyes for a long moment, then she opens them again, looking determined. For a moment, she looks like she's going to speak, then she tilts her head to the side a little as Mrs. Noceda makes a noise in the kitchen.
"It's your mother," Hunter supplies. "She's been up for a while."
Luz looks back at him and frowns. "Did you sleep at all?"
"A little," Hunter hedges, because he did doze for a few minutes before he realized he was dozing and pinched his still-inflamed sigil to make him wake back up.
"Mija?" Mrs. Noceda calls quietly, poking her head out of the kitchen. "Are you awake?"
"I'm up, Mom," Luz agrees, carefully extricating herself from Amity. "Don't you have work?"
"I called in and said I have a family emergency," Mrs. Noceda replies. "I think this counts, don't you?"
Hunter slouches down further in his blankets, but then Luz shoots him a look and he disentangles himself. She swore up and down that her mother was good and kind and safe, and Hunter does believe her, but he can also see that Luz is nervous and doesn't want to be alone with her mother right now. With what she said the night before about promising Mrs. Noceda she wouldn't go back to the Boiling Isles, Hunter can understand why. Adults don't like it when you disobey them, especially when you told them you wouldn't. Technically, Luz hasn't disobeyed her mother yet, but Hunter hasn't found that technicalities work very well on most adults.
"Oh, good morning, Hunter," Mrs. Noceda says. She reaches out vaguely in his direction, but Hunter flinches away automatically, and he sees Luz shake her head out of the corner of his eye. He doesn't think it's directed at him. He hopes it isn't.
"Good morning, ma'am," he mumbles, not daring to meet her eyes.
"You don't have to call me ma'am, Hunter," she says gently. She said that last night too, but she told Hunter he could call her by her first name instead, and that doesn't seem right at all.
"Is Vee going to school today?" Luz cuts in.
"It's a Saturday," Mrs. Noceda replies, thankfully distracted. Hunter's not quite sure how Mrs. Noceda telling Luz the day of the week answered her question, but Luz seems to accept it easily, so he figures it must be some sort of human thing. "Did you have days of the week, over there?"
"Yeah, we do, but they don't line up exactly," Luz replies. "And I kinda lost track of the exact day of the week over the last few days."
Mrs. Noceda's face softens. "What happened, mija? You know you can tell me anything."
It's starting to feel distinctly awkward to stand here with Luz and her mother, but Hunter doesn't move. Luz wanted him to be here, so he'll stay until she asks him to go. He has the feeling this is exactly what Luz wanted him here for anyway. Maybe Mrs. Noceda will have more mercy if she has an audience.
(His uncle normally did, but sometimes it would make things worse in the long run. Hunter hopes Mrs. Noceda isn't like that. Luz wouldn't have asked him to be there if she were, would she?)
"It's... a long story," Luz hedges.
"Luz," Mrs. Noceda says, and her voice is a bit firmer, just enough to make Hunter's instincts pay attention, "you have to tell me something. You showed up on the doorstep with four kids who aren't human, and all of you look like you've been in some sort of awful fight. I'll help you, of course, you know I'll always help you, but I need to know what happened."
Luz opens her mouth, then she closes it and looks down.
Mrs. Noceda sighs, a bit of a huff in the sound. "Fine. Hunter?"
Hunter's head snaps up, and it takes a lot of self-control not to immediately assume a more formal pose.
"Yes, ma'am?"
"If my daughter won't tell me what happened, will you?"
It's not worded exactly like an order, but it is one, Hunter can tell. (He could always tell with his uncle too, when a suggestion was really a suggestion and when it was much more.) He should follow orders, except this one goes against what Luz asked of him, and he doesn't know how to report to Mrs. Noceda, he doesn't know what she wants to hear, he doesn't know how she wants things to be worded, and-
(And he doesn't think she'll like his news, and whenever he had to tell his uncle something he didn't like, it always went bad, always-)
He doesn't realize how far his mind has drifted from his body until Luz's voice snaps it back in again. "How does Gus's breathing thing go again?" she's muttering to herself. "Come on, Hunter, breathe with me, work with me-"
Breathing, right, that's a thing Hunter should do. He finds that he's got his arms wrapped tightly around himself and doesn't want to let go, so instead of holding out a hand to count on, he tightens his grip finger by finger. In, two, three, four; out, two, three four. In, two, three, four; out, two, three, four.
Luz's words filter back into his consciousness. "You're okay, you're safe, we're all safe here, it's alright-"
"Luz," he chokes out. He doesn't quite know why he's saying her name, but he doesn't quite know what else to say either. He's coming back to himself, which brings with it soreness he's been trying to ignore and exhaustion like a mallet. His mind is fuzzy, but it's sharpening every second. Unfortunately, that also has the side effect of making his panic go from vague and unformed to very, very specific.
His uncle never saw him lose control like this, thankfully, but he did see Hunter lose control in other ways, and he never took it well. This is even worse than any of those were, and it happened directly after Mrs. Noceda gave him an order - an order he didn't follow at all - and he doesn't want to see how she's going to react.
He focuses on Luz instead, who's kneeling in front of him, since he's apparently somehow ended up sitting wedged in the corner of the kitchen. "You back with me?" she asks gently.
"Sorry," Hunter rasps. "Didn't mean to."
"You don't have to apologize for having a panic attack," Luz says. "Do you want to get up, or are you not ready to move yet?"
"I can move," Hunter says, although his legs do feel distinctly wobbly.
Luz takes him at his word and stands, holding out a hand. Hunter takes it and lets Luz pull him up to his feet. Luckily, his legs hold him, and he doesn't think he even shakes that much.
It's only then that he realizes they're the only people in the kitchen. "Where did your mom go?"
"She went into the other room to give you some space," Luz says. "She's not going to hurt you, I promise. She's not going to hurt any of us. She can be bossy and a little strict, and she yells sometimes, but she's never hurt me. She's a veterinarian. Uh, animal doctor. Do you guys have vets in the Boiling Isles? Anyway, she's a vet because she wants to help makes things better, not worse."
(His uncle always told him he wanted to make things better, that everything he did was to help everyone on the Boiling Isles. He's sure that Mrs. Noceda is nothing like his uncle, but he knows how warped the idea of making things better can become.)
"Anyway," Luz adds, "do you want breakfast, or do you want to go back into the living room, or do you want to go to sleep, because you really don't look like you slept-"
"Are any of the others awake?" Hunter asks.
"I don't think so, but they'll probably wake up soon," Luz says. "We can wake them up too, if you want. I'm sure they wouldn't mind. What do you want?"
What Hunter wants is to go back home. What he wants is for the world to go back to normal. (What he wants is to go back to a few weeks ago, before he knew what he was and what his uncle was, when he still had a family.) What he wants is to be able to sleep without knowing he'll wake up screaming.
He knows he should accept food if it's offered, but his stomach feels too uneasy for him to be able to reasonably believe he'll keep it down. He knows he should sleep so he can be in top form, but if he can even get to sleep, he knows it won't go very well. He knows the others wouldn't mind if he woke them to ask for comfort, but they're going through just as much as he is, and if they can escape that for a while, he's not going to ruin that.
So he'll go with the only option left, he decides, and he asks, "Can I go back in the living room?"
"Sure," Luz agrees. "Sorry I kinda dragged you in here with me, by the way. I just-"
"It's okay," Hunter replies. "It goes better if there's an audience."
Luz's face twists a bit. "She's really not like that, Hunter, I promise. I just- I didn't want to tell her yet, I don't want to tell her yet, but if I did end up telling her, I didn't want to do it alone."
"We'll need to tell her eventually," Hunter says quietly. "Won't we?"
"Probably," Luz agrees. "I'll do it. She's my mom. I just- I don't want to upset her, and I don't want to leave her forever, but I don't want to choose, you know? I want to be here and on the Boiling Isles. I want to have both families."
(Hunter would be satisfied with just one. He doesn't say that.)
"Let's go back in the living room," Luz says. "Come on."
Hunter follows Luz out of the kitchen, then he stops in the doorway when she does. He can see over her shoulder, and he can guess why she's stopping.
"Hey, Mom, could you-"
Mrs. Noceda looks up and sees Hunter, still standing behind Luz. "I can go."
"It's your house," Hunter says quietly. He fights the urge to go down on his knees; Willow and Gus seemed to think that was a strange thing to do for a parent, and he doesn't know what the human customs are.
"And I want you to feel safe in it," Mrs. Noceda says. "I'm sorry about what happened in the kitchen. You're safe in my house, Hunter, I promise. You and all your friends."
Hunter nods stiffly. Mrs. Noceda nods and leaves the living room.
"She means it," Luz says as they enter. "Really."
(His uncle said things Hunter thought he meant. He said that he was helping Hunter whenever he pushed him, that he was only trying to make him better whenever he punished him. He said what he did was for Hunter's own good.
He never said Hunter was safe. Hunter learned he wasn't when he was very young.
How strange is it, then, that he misses that familiar danger of it, that he almost feels like he'd rather have that than this unfamiliar promise of safety.)
Willow blearily lifts her head off her pillow as they settle on the floor. "Hunter? Luz?"
"Go back to sleep, Captain," Hunter urges, but Willow is already sitting up. He sees her memories slide back in place; he sees the way her eyes dull with each one.
"Is everyone else still sleeping?"
"I think we're all kinda exhausted," Luz says. "I'm surprised we didn't have more nightmares."
"Sometimes, you get too tired for nightmares," Hunter says. He's hoping to reach that state soon, so he can sleep without remembering. He's gone through that cycle before, many times; stay awake until you can't anymore, sleep dreamlessly, and repeat.
He hasn't had a good night's sleep in a long while, but he also knows the nightmares will be worse than normal. It's a delicate balance, but he hopes he can manage it.
"How long have you two been up?" Willow asks.
"Not long," Luz says. "But Hunter was up when I got up."
Willow turns to him, and Hunter fights not to wilt under her gaze. He knows exactly how exhausted he looks. He knows it's not exhausted enough to avoid nightmares.
(He knows what'll feature in his nightmares, even if he doesn't know their exact shape: the splat of a body hitting a wall and the squelch of goo under his feet.)
Gus wakes up with a startled-sounding snort before Willow can say anything, and that wakes Amity, who blinks owlishly at them before reaching for Luz. Luz lets her girlfriend drag her closer, leaning into Amity's embrace.
"Morning."
"So that all really did happen," Gus says quietly.
"We'll figure out a way back," Luz says with confidence that doesn't quite ring true, at least not to Hunter. "We'll go home. Or, you'll go home. I'll..."
"You can have both," Hunter says quietly.
Luz shoots him a look. "I hope so."
"Do we have any ideas of where to start looking?" Amity asks. "If there's really these natural portals, where would they be?"
"Well, it doesn't seem like humans go through them too often, so probably somewhere without a lot of people," Luz says. "But somewhere where objects can go through. Gus, what sorts of human things have you found that didn't come from Eda's shop?"
"Well, I don't know if they didn't come from Eda's shop," Gus admits. "I mean, I didn't get them from her shop, but maybe someone else did, and then they lost it, and that's where I found it. Or maybe-"
"Gus," Hunter says quietly, and when Gus turns to him, he holds out a hand and starts counting. Gus counts with him, and Hunter sees his breathing even back out.
He also sees Willow watching him fondly, but he makes himself ignore that.
"We can have breakfast first, if you guys want," Luz offers, looking a bit embarrassed. "I don't mean to push, I just..."
"Let's go eat," Willow says gently. "Where are your mom and Vee? Are they awake?"
"Vee is probably asleep," Luz says. "My mom..." She looks at Hunter, then ducks her head. "My mom is probably upstairs."
Willow looks from Luz to Hunter, her brow furrowed. "Did something happen?"
"It's not important," Hunter says. "We can go eat."
Willow is still eyeing him with concern, but Gus's stomach rumbles loudly before she can say anything.
"Let's eat," Amity says, standing up. "Come on, let's go."
They all head into the empty kitchen. There's enough space at the table for all of them, with Vee and Mrs. Noceda not there, so Hunter takes a seat at Willow's urging. He specifically takes the one that gives him the best view of the room, just in case.
"Are you okay?" Willow asks Hunter quietly as Luz begins explaining human breakfasts to Amity and Gus. "The draining spell didn't do any permanent damage, did it?"
"It didn't," Hunter says, although his sigil is still angry and red and inflamed. He's glad for his gloves, glad they go up high enough to cover the mark on his wrist.
"And are you okay with... everything else?" Willow asks.
It's a very polite way to say the way your genocidal uncle splattered on a wall like putty.
"I'm okay," Hunter lies. "I'm totally okay."
He's not sure Willow buys it. He's completely sure he doesn't sound convincing. But she doesn't push, so that's enough for now.
The other three come to the table with a plate piled high with toast. Luz also offers a variety of things they can put on the toast, but Hunter settles for nibbling at a plain slice. His stomach is still a bit uneasy from his panic earlier, and he tends to prefer plainer foods anyway. The food that the scouts eat is always plain. According to Willow and Gus, that means it's boring, but when they offered him their favorite foods, he could hardly eat them, so he's not sure they're right about that. He has to admit, though, that the stew Mrs. Noceda served them the night before was much closer to the food Willow and Gus eat than the food the scouts eat.
(The food the scouts ate. Hunter's not sure how many are even still alive, and after what happened to his uncle, they won't exactly be scouts anymore. Right now, they're probably just trying to stay alive.)
"So," Luz says once they've all started eating, "before we start looking... I really need to figure out what to say to my mom. Do you guys... have any ideas?"
Amity shrugs. "My go-to was always hiding things from my mom, so..."
"I think the worst thing I ever had to tell my parents was that we got expelled, and my papa freaked, so I don't think I did it well," Willow admits.
"Yeah, I've never had to tell my dad anything this big," Gus agrees.
Hunter doesn't even bother speaking. He knows no one is expecting any real input from him. It's not like he has a mother to explain things to, and his uncle...
Well, that wasn't anything like Luz's relationship with her mother.
"How did you tell your parents about the draining spell?" Luz asks.
"We didn't, exactly," Willow admits. "Principal Bump did."
"Who told Bump?"
Willow, Gus, and Amity all look over at Hunter. He shrinks back a little, unable to help it.
"I didn't plan anything when I told him. It just all kinda... spilled out. Everyone was asking questions, and I just... answered."
"Maybe if my mom asks questions, then?" Luz says, a bit dubiously. "It might make it easier. But she's already been asking questions, and I don't- I don't know how to answer her."
"She's asking big questions," Amity says. "Maybe if she asks little ones, it'll be easier. Like, instead of asking what happened, just... What is it like on the Boiling Isles? What are the people like there? And then maybe it'll all just... come out."
"Maybe," Luz agrees, although she doesn't sound convinced. "I know I should be the one to tell her, I'm her kid, but I really wish someone else could."
"What do you want her to know?" Hunter asks. All eyes turn to him, and he adds, "Well, are there things you don't want her to know? Or things you're going to tell her about in a specific way? Like, if I made a mistake on a mission, I wouldn't leave it out, because Uncle would always find out and that made it way worse, and I wouldn't make too many excuses, because he hated that, but I knew ways to talk kinda... around them, and sometimes, it would work, and he wouldn't get too mad. Do you... want... to..."
Everyone is looking at him with pity in their eyes, and Hunter's voice peters out. Clearly, that's not an ordinary family thing. Clearly, it's another thing about his uncle that makes everyone else horrified. Clearly, it's just another thing that makes his entire past completely abnormal.
(Abnormal or not, part of him wants to go back to that past, where at least he knew what to expect.)
"Sorry," he mutters. He hopes the others can tell how much he desperately does not want them to voice their pity right now.
"Well, it is a good point," Luz says valiantly. "I don't want my mom to know how much danger we've been in. I mean, she'll know there's some danger, that's kinda hard to hide at this point, but I don't want her to know how much. She'll just freak out, and... Um. I'm not sure how I want to tell her about Eda yet, so I'll need to figure that out. And maybe it's not a great idea to tell her too much about, well..." Her gaze flickers to Amity, then to Hunter. "We haven't all always been, you know, best friends, but maybe let's not tell my mom that?"
Hunter wasn't planning on telling Mrs. Noceda about all the times he threatened her daughter, not if he didn't have to. He was relieved to hear that Luz didn't intend to tell her either.
"So what does your mom need to know?" Amity asks. "She wants to know why we're here, right? And what happened? Does she need to know a lot about the Boiling Isles, or are we going to keep it to the bare minimum?"
"She doesn't need to know the details," Luz says. "She doesn't know anything about the Boiling Isles. It's not her home. She doesn't need to know the bad stuff, just... I don't want her to worry when I go back."
"What about the basi- Vee?" Hunter asked, remembering her name at the last second.
"What about her?"
"The Boiling Isles is her home. Or, it was. She deserves to know what happened, doesn't she?"
"You're right," Luz says, slumping a little. "But maybe not when we tell my mom, okay?"
"How exactly did a basilisk end up in the Human Realm anyway?" Amity asks. "You never really explained."
"How does she even exist?" Gus adds.
"She told me she was an experiment," Luz says. "Belos was trying to bring back basilisks."
Everyone's eyes flicker to Hunter. "I wasn't a part of that," he says quickly. He heard about it happening, but it wasn't under his command.
"She escaped," Luz continues, "and she snuck through Eda's portal into the Human Realm. Then she took my place for a while, until I was able to communicate with her and my mom. She came clean about who she was, but my mom adopted her anyway."
"Did she ever see you, back before?" Amity asks Hunter. "She didn't seem to recognize you last night, but would she if she spent more time with you?"
"We never met," Hunter replies. "But she's probably heard of the Golden Guard."
"Should some of us talk to Vee while you talk to your mom, Luz?" Willow asks. "Or do you want us to be with you when you talk to her?"
"You don't all need to be there," Luz says, and Hunter knows she's talking to him. "Maybe..." She looks at Amity. "Could you stick with me?"
"Of course."
"And you three can tell Vee?" Luz asks, looking at Hunter, Willow, and Gus. "If you want to?"
"We can tell her," Willow says. "Right, guys?"
"Right," Gus agrees.
Hunter nods sharply. He rubs at his sigil through the gloves; it's still inflamed enough to bite. The pain sharpens and centers him. He's not sure what'll come of the discussion with Vee, but he has to be on alert. He doesn't think she'll hurt any of them, not when Luz obviously trusts her, but...
Well. If she hurts him, he'll deserve it.
"Okay," Luz says. "So we split up after breakfast. And then, after we tell them... Maybe we can start checking out the town to see if we can find evidence of a portal? You guys can pass for human if you cover your ears, so we should be safe."
"That sounds like a good plan," Amity agrees. "I'm done eating if you are."
Luz looks at the pile of toast, then she nods and stands. "Let's go find my mom."
Luz and Amity leave the kitchen, leaving Hunter with Willow and Gus at the table. He nibbles again on his slice of toast, wondering who'll break the silence first.
"We get to explore a real human town," Gus says, clearly trying to sound as eager and cheerful as normal. "I can't believe I'll actually see one in person."
"I wonder if there's any places to avoid," Willow says. "Gus, do human towns have quicksand pits? Or boiling beaches?"
"I don't think so," Gus says. "We can check with Luz."
"Are we all done eating?" Hunter asks. He can be, and neither Gus nor Willow appear to be going for more toast.
"I am," Willow says, and Gus nods his own agreement. "Should we go see Vee now?"
"Is she awake?" Gus asks. "Didn't Luz says it's a Saturday? She might be sleeping in."
The time is far too late to wake up, even with sleeping in. Then again, they probably did disrupt Vee's sleep the night before, so perhaps that's why she's allowed to sleep so late today.
Before anyone can answer Gus, a basilisk slithers into the kitchen, yawning widely. Hunter almost wants to grab for his staff, but he reminds himself that Vee isn't a danger, and he doesn't have his staff anyway.
(Flapjack didn't come through the portal with him. He doesn't think any of their palismans did. Hunter hopes he's alright. Flapjack survived for a long time before Hunter; surely he can survive without him now.)
"G'morning," Vee says as she slides into a chair and reaches for toast. "I saw Luz and, uh, purple-haired girl going up to talk to Mom. What are your names again?"
"I'm Willow, he's Gus, he's Hunter, and the purple-haired girl is Amity."
Vee nods, taking a bite out of her toast. "And you're all from the Boiling Isles?"
"We are," Willow agrees. "Do you... want to know what happened? We know it was your home too."
Vee looks down at her toast. "It was never a real home. This is a real home." Her eyes flicker up to them for a moment. "But... I'd like to know."
Willow leans forward a little. "What do you know about the coven system?"
Apparently, the answer is not much, so Willow explains that first. Hunter almost shows Vee his sigil when Willow explains how they work, but he remembers himself at the last second; Vee probably wouldn't like to see a reminder of the Emperor's Coven like that, and the sigil is still inflamed enough that Willow and Gus will worry. He listens, instead, as Willow tells Vee about the covens, about the sigils, about the draining spell.
"It was killing everyone," she says, her voice a bit blunt, and Gus winces behind her. Hunter does his best not to follow suit. "So we had to stop it. King freed the Collector, and they stopped the spell. And... they killed Emperor Belos."
"Belos is dead?" Vee asks, some eagerness in her voice.
"Yes."
"Good," Vee pronounces, the eagerness transformed into viciousness. Hunter tries his best to keep breathing. He feels Gus's small hand squeeze his leg gently under the table.
"There's something else you should know," Hunter says, because Vee will find out eventually, and it was always better to tell his uncle things up front if he was going to find them out eventually. Mrs. Noceda still doesn't need to know the details, but Vee deserves them. "I am- was the Golden Guard."
They may never have met in person, but Vee's clearly heard of the Golden Guard, because her eyes go wide and frightened. Both Willow and Gus look at Hunter in surprise, but Hunter keeps his eyes focused on Vee. Hiding this from her would only backfire, and she deserves to know who she's sharing her house with.
(Hunter tries not to think about the secret he's keeping from his friends and whether they deserve to know who - what - they're sharing a house with.)
"You're the Golden Guard," Vee repeats in a tight voice. "The Emperor's right hand man."
"He's not anymore, though!" Gus protests quickly. "He stopped working with the Emperor, and he started helping us! He helped us defeat the Emperor!"
("Hunter, why are you hurting me?")
Vee's wary eyes don't leave Hunter's face, and Hunter watches her in return, his spine straight and shoulders back. Whatever Vee does, he won't try to stop her. She has every right to hate him. Maybe he wasn't directly involved, but his uncle was, and he worked with his uncle. He wonders absently what would happen if she tried to eat his magic. He doesn't have magic, not in the traditional way that the others do, but he is made of magic, so perhaps he would just fall apart.
(Right now, he feels a bit like he's falling apart anyway.)
Finally, Vee looks over at Willow. "Does Luz trust him?"
"Yes," Willow says simply, firmly. "She does."
Vee nods slowly. "Then I trust him too."
Hunter can't help but gape at her a little. "You do?"
"Luz trusted me, even when I had stolen her identity and her mom. She trusted me, and she helped save me. She gave me a second chance, so if she's given you a second chance, I can do it too."
Hunter knows he doesn't deserve that, but he's selfish enough to want it anyway. "Thank you."
Vee nods, a little stiffly. "Don't make me regret it."
"I won't."
Vee looks down at her toast and eats a bite, then she shifts slightly in her seat looks up with an expression that's almost normal. "Do you guys have plans for today?"
"Luz wanted to see if we can find a portal anywhere," Willow says. "We need to get home."
"Do you want to come home with us?" Gus asks tentatively. "You'd be safe now. We could make sure of it."
"This is my home," Vee says. "It's Luz's home too, isn't it? She promised Mom she'd stay when she was able to come back."
"I think that's what she's talking to Camila about upstairs," Willow says. "I know Luz missed her home and her mom, but... She loves the Boiling Isles, and she has family there too."
"Do you think you'll find a portal?"
"I hope we do."
"If you can't, I'm sure Mom would let you stay here," Vee offers. "It's nice in the Human Realm."
"We have families," Willow says. "We need to go home."
Vee looks at them for a moment, then she says, "If you're going to go out, you need to borrow some clothes. And you need to have hats or something to cover your ears, or the humans will freak out. Stay away from the Historical Society, by the way. The man who runs it is obsessed with the idea of finding real witches and demons."
"Do witches and demons exist here?" Gus asks.
"Only the ones who come through from the Boiling Isles, I think," Vee replies. "But humans have lots of weird stories."
"Do you have clothes we can borrow?" Willow asks.
Vee nods. "We should be able to find something. Except..." She looks at Hunter. "You'll need to talk to Mom. You won't fit in Luz's clothes or mine."
Hunter nods silently. "Thanks," Willow says to Vee. "For... everything."
"You're Luz's friends," Vee says. "And Luz is my sister. I'm happy to help."
"Do you think her conversation with her mother is going well?" Gus asks in a voice so quiet Hunter's not sure they were even meant to hear it.
Vee looks up at the ceiling and swallows. Hunter watches the bob of her throat.
"I hope so."
However Luz's conversation with her mother went, she's not willing to talk about it. Amity admits quietly that she was only there for the first part before Luz asked her to leave, and she has no idea what happened after that. Whatever it was, Luz won't say, so they all stop asking. They get changed into human-appropriate clothes - Mrs. Noceda gives Hunter clothes that she says belonged to her late husband, which Hunter accepts and wears with careful reverence - and don hats to cover their ears, and then they set out. Vee declines the offer to come with them, so it's just Hunter, Luz, Amity, Willow, and Gus. To be honest, Hunter is a bit relieved; this is their mission, and he trusts the others with it. He doesn't actively mistrust Vee, but he's not sure he entirely trusts yet either.
(She has more reason to mistrust him than the other way around, and yet she's said she trusts him anyway. Hunter tries not to think about what that says about her, and about him.)
"So, when I first spoke to Vee, back before, we were looking for a place where she could find some magic to eat," Luz declares, taking her natural position at the head of the group. "We tried to basically trace Eda's footsteps, since she's been here before. That's not going to help us this time, since Eda came with her portal, but maybe we can try to trace any magic instead. I don't suppose you have any spells that can help with that?"
"Not really," Amity says. "And I'm not sure how much magic we have here anyway. I haven't tried." She looks at the others. "Have you?"
"Not yet," Willow says, and Gus shakes his head. Hunter doesn't bother to respond; he has no magic to try.
"Do your glyphs work?" Amity asks Luz.
"I... don't know," Luz admits. "I assumed they wouldn't, but..."
"We shouldn't try it out in the open," Willow says. "We don't want people to see."
"Right," Luz agrees. "Right, we should focus."
"Where should we check first?" Amity asks.
Luz leads them through the town, and Hunter tries not to jump out of his skin at every unexpected noise. Everything is loud and crowded and unfamiliar, and it sets all of his instincts off. He hates cars, he decides quickly, and generally, he's not fond of human towns. Maybe the Human Realm will grow on him eventually, but for now, he doesn't like it.
(This was the world that created his uncle, the world that created the person he's based off of. He wonders if that should make him like it more or less.)
"I feel like we could probably learn something from the Historical Society, but it's not a good idea to go there," Luz says, frustrated. "But I don't know where else to look."
"Vee told us about the man who runs it," Willow says. "Would you be safe? You're not a witch or a demon."
"No, but he'd probably think I'm Vee," Luz says. "And I think my mom scared him enough that he wouldn't mess with me, but I don't really want to try him."
"Should we figure out a way to lure him away from the Historical Society?" Hunter asks. "Or a way to enter without him knowing?" He doesn't mention the third option that comes to mind: eliminate the obstacle. He doesn't think the others would like that.
"Maybe, but we can do that later if we have to," Luz says. "For now, let's go to the square. It's in the middle of town, so we can get a better idea of where might be a good place to go."
They all follow Luz obediently, down the streets and towards a small, grassy park. Luz points at a café and offers them a smile that barely shakes.
"Eda's banned from there because she tried paying with a live raccoon. Then she brought the pastries to life when they wouldn't accept it, and they attacked everyone inside."
"That sounds like Eda," Amity says with a slightly wobbly smile of her own.
"Did you guys... see them?" Luz asks tentatively. "Eda and the others? After the spell started?"
Hunter's stomach twists. He remembers how still Darius had been under his hands as he shook him, how still everyone had been, as if they were barely even breathing.
Amity and Willow exchange a half-second glance. Hunter can't read it, but he knows there's volumes to it.
"We saw them," Willow says slowly.
"Was it bad?" Luz asks, her voice a bit breathless. From the look on her face, Hunter thinks she can already tell what the answer will be.
"It wasn't great," Willow admits. "But they're strong. Eda is strong. I'm sure they'll be okay." She looks over at Hunter, a bit beseechingly. "You're okay, right?"
"I'm okay," Hunter agrees obediently. He doesn't mention the fact that he's not a normal witch, or that the spell didn't seem to affect him as badly as the coven heads. They were the ones channeling the spell. They were at the epicenter of it. The spell was killing them, Hunter has no doubt about that.
"I really hope they're okay," Luz says, wrapping her arms tight around herself. "And I hope King is alright. The Collector..."
"The Collector wanted to play with King," Willow says. "I think they liked him. And they did stop the draining spell. Maybe they're not that bad."
Luz doesn't look convinced, but she only allows that worry to stay on her face for a moment before she forces it into a smile. "Does anyone want to try real human coffee? Mamí gave me some money before we left, so we can grab something to eat if you want."
They only just had breakfast, but no one mentions that. "What is coffee, exactly?" Gus asks.
"It's this hot drink that helps you wake up," Luz says. "Literally, it does something to your body to wake you up. I don't really know how it works. It's pretty bitter, but you can add milk and sugar to make it taste better. Ooh, and then there's lattes!"
Honestly, Hunter was sold the second Luz said it would help wake him up. He's not sure the effects will be the same on him as a human, but he's willing to try. He's tired, but not tired enough to avoid nightmares.
(Splat. Squelch.)
"I want to try a real human drink," Gus says, trying valiantly to sound as eager as usual. "But a sweet one."
"I'll try it too," Amity says. "It sounds interesting."
Luz looks at Willow and Hunter. "Do you guys want to try it?"
"Sure," Willow says, "but I want a sweet one too."
"I'll try it," Hunter says. "It doesn't need to be sweet." He'd rather it wasn't too sweet, actually; he's not used to sweet food, and it doesn't always sit well in his stomach.
"Okay, I'll go in and get five coffees, then," Luz declares. "Three sweet ones, one not-sweet one, and…" She looks at Amity. "What do you want?"
"Surprise me," Amity says, kissing her cheek.
Luz actually smiles at her, all the way up to her eyes. "Okay. I need two people to help me carry the cups out."
"I'll help," Amity says immediately.
Hunter is about to offer his own help when Gus beats him to it. "A chance to see the inside of a human shop? I'll help!"
"Gus, maybe stop talking so loudly about how excited you are to see human stuff," Willow suggests gently. "We're pretending to be human, remember?"
"Oh, right," Gus agrees. "It's exciting to see a, uh, Connecticut shop?"
"Connecticut isn't that interesting, but okay," Luz says with amusement. "Let's go in."
The three of them do, leaving Hunter outside with Willow. He watches her admire the park around them and wonders if she could manipulate the plants around them if she tried. He finds that he hopes she can; he knows Willow loves her magic, and he'd hate for her to be without it.
He's thinking hard enough that it takes him a moment to realize that Willow is watching him now. "Are you okay?" she asks quietly, when his eyes focus on her.
"I was just thinking," he blurts out. "Nothing important. Or bad."
"I'm not asking about that," Willow says gently. "I'm asking about… everything else. With the draining spell, and…"
"The draining spell didn't have any lasting effect," Hunter says, which is very nearly true, since his sigil is almost back to normal by now.
"I do think everyone else made it," Willow says. "Even the coven heads. I know you and Darius… Well, I don't know exactly what he is to you, but I'm sure he's okay."
Oh, that's what Willow is thinking, that he's worried about Darius. It makes sense. He is worried about Darius. It's just…
(He's not worried about his uncle. He knows his uncle is past that now. His uncle is a stain splattered across a wall, a bit of goo swirling down a drain. His uncle was evil, and he was awful, and now he's gone. That should be a good thing. That is a good thing.
It's just, Hunter's brain is stubborn, and it doesn't want to let go.)
"Hunter?"
"He's okay," Hunter says. "He's definitely okay. They're all okay. And we're okay, and we'll get back home, and then everything will be okay. Better than okay."
"And we're together," Willow says with a soft smile. "We don't have to do this alone. We can lean on each other."
She's right, of course, for the most part. They're not trying to find a portal alone. They're not figuring out the Human Realm alone. They're not recovering from their wounds alone.
(But in his grief, Hunter knows, he is alone.)
"Let's talk about something happier," Willow declares, just as Hunter is realizing he's been silent too long. "What's your favorite thing about the Human Realm so far?"
"It's nice that the rain isn't boiling," Hunter offers tentatively. Their first night was undeniably awful, but it would have been even worse if the rain had been boiling as it fell on them.
"It is nice," Willow agrees. "I like the food. Luz said her mom was a really good cook, but I didn't know what human food would be like."
"The food is good," Hunter agrees. "And Mrs. Noceda is very nice to let us stay in her house."
"She is nice. I like her." Willow gives Hunter a sideways look. "Did something happen with her this morning?"
"Nothing happened," Hunter says quickly. "Nothing. It was no big deal."
"Okay," Willow says, although she doesn't sound like she believes him. She holds out a hand, and it takes Hunter a beat too long to realize she wants to hold his hand. He takes her hand, and she squeezes his lightly.
"Remember, you're not alone."
"I know," Hunter says. He tries squeezing Willow's hand himself; that seems to be something people do to comfort others. She smiles, so hopefully that means it worked. "Thanks."
"Of course."
The others burst out of the café, juggling five white cups. "Okay," Luz says when they reach them. "Uh. Gus, you've got Hunter's, right? And Amity, you've got Willow's. Or was it the other way around?"
"This is Willow's," Amity says, handing one of the cups to Willow. "Luz says it's a latte."
"It's good, you'll like it," Luz says.
"And this is yours," Gus says, handing a cup to Hunter. It's warmer than he expected it to be, warm enough that he can feel it through his gloves. He's glad that he's wearing them; his hands are sensitive, especially to heat, and he thinks the sensation would be uncomfortable if his hands were bare. "It's called a black coffee. Luz got sugar and creamer, if you want them."
Luz holds out a tiny cup and a paper packet. Hunter accepts them dubiously.
"What did you get?" Willow asks, sniffing her latte.
"I got a mocha latte," Gus says. "Apparently it's like a coffee mixed with hot chocolate."
"And Luz got me a… What did you call it?"
"A pumpkin spice latte," Luz says. "They might be a little overdone, but they're good. I got one too."
Hunter lifts his cup to his nose and sniffs it. There's a cover on the top, with a little hole to drink out of. Luz, he sees, has taken the cover off and is blowing across the top of her cup. Amity is copying her, if a bit more tentatively.
"Blowing on it helps cool it down," Luz explains. "And taking off the lid helps too. Something about thermodynamics."
Hunter takes the lid off his cup and blows on it. Tentatively, he lifts it to his mouth and takes a tiny sip. It's hot - a bit too hot, to be honest - and it's bitter, but he likes it. The flavor is rich, but not overwhelming. And if it'll wake him up, well, that's just another bonus.
"Do you like it?" Luz asks eagerly.
"It's good," Hunter agrees, blowing on it again.
"Do you want the sugar and creamer?"
Hunter takes another sip. "I don't think so. What should I do with them?"
Luz waves a dismissive hand. "Oh, you can just throw them out."
Hunter frowns. That seems wasteful to do with food, no matter how little of it there might be. "Should I give them back to the shop?"
"Uh, you can put them on one of the tables, then maybe someone else will use them," Luz offers.
That seems like a good enough idea, so Hunter does, setting them down carefully at the center of one of the tables. He hopes someone will use them, so they don't just go to waste.
"This is good!" Gus says, taking a sip of his mocha latte. "I like it!"
"This is good too," Willow says, sipping her own latte. "What about yours, Amity?"
Amity takes a sip of her latte. "Somehow, this tastes like autumn."
"Doesn't it?" Luz agrees enthusiastically.
"Is there a nice place where we can sit and drink our coffee?" Willow asks. "Maybe somewhere in the park?"
"Ooh, I know just the spot," Luz says with a nod. "Come on, follow me."
They all do, of course, and Luz leads them to a bench under a tree. "There's not enough space for all of us," she says, a bit guiltily, "but maybe some of us can sit on the ground instead? Or we can all just sit on the ground."
"I can stand," Hunter offers immediately.
"Let's all sit on the ground," Willow says. She plops down next to the bench, crossing her legs underneath her and sipping her latte. The others sit too, so Hunter slowly joins them. He's not a fan of sitting on the ground, not in the open like this; it'll take him a second to get upright and moving, and sometimes, that second is crucial. But the Human Realm is safe, according to Luz, and the others are all sitting, so Hunter does too.
The others chat a bit, but Hunter sits in silence. No one tries to pull him into the conversation, which he appreciates. He needs a moment, he needs to sit and sip his bitter drink and pull his thoughts in line. He needs to think.
He finishes his drink first, and without it, he starts getting restless. He tries to hide it, since his friends are still enjoying sitting around, but he doesn't like sitting on the ground at the best of times, and right now-
He wants to move. He wants to get up. He wants to patrol the area, to make sure it's safe. He wants to move.
Maybe Luz can tell, because as she finishes her own drink, she suggests, "Why don't we walk around a bit? The park is nice."
Hunter is the first to his feet, but luckily, the others follow suit. Luz leads them around the park, keeping up a steady narration that Hunter doesn't really listen to. He looks around instead, clocking and dismissing potential threats. He determines the most defensible positions, he determines where best to stage an offensive. It might be unnecessary, but he'd rather have it planned than not.
"And this," Luz declares, "is a statue of our town… founders…"
Her voice trails off, and Hunter's head whips around to follow her gaze. She's looking at the statue, so Hunter looks too, and-
Oh.
He knows that face. He knows it well. The hair is shorter, the face is younger, there's no cursed scar or bump on the nose, but it's still familiar. He knows who that is.
"Hunter," Luz breathes, "that looks…"
But Hunter never finds out what Luz thinks the statue looks like, because he bursts into tears.
Please do NOT include any spoilers for "Thanks to Them" in your reviews! I might not be able to see the episode for a few days, and I don't want to spoil anything for myself or for other readers.