"Sit up slowly baby. Are you in pain anywhere?"
No, I'm okay, Hunter wanted to answer, but it was such an obvious lie that the words wouldn't even make it past his throat. He was not okay. He was very far from it, actually. He felt completely drained, both physically and mentally. Was that really so surprising though, considering that only seconds ago, he was possessed by Belos? He just spent every ounce of his might fighting to stay in control, but for what? He put up his fight too late. Belos got the titan blood. He went through the portal. And…and…
He got Flapjack.
Ever since Hunter and the others got stranded in the human realm after the Day of Unity, he had nightmares almost every night. Some were mild, and some awoke him in a cold sweat, but they always had to do with Belos.
Some, memories of the more distant past, when Hunter was still the Golden Guard. Others, of the horrors he and Luz saw in the Emperor's mind. Then of course, he had plenty of nightmares about the Day of Unity, about the Collector killing Belos in an instant.
It wasn't that he was sad that Belos was dead. It certainly wasn't that he missed him. He was terrified of Belos, and it was supposed to be a good thing that he was dead.
So why…Why did those dreams haunt him so much?
Maybe it was because Hunter looked up to Belos for all those years, worshiped him even. Maybe it was because even though he knew Belos was pure evil, he was still…he was still his uncle…
Or maybe it was because deep down, he felt that Belos wasn't really gone. Somewhere deep down, Hunter knew this wasn't really over; that there was no way the man who'd tormented him for so long died so easily.
…And he was right. He was right to be worried, and over these past couple of days, paranoid. Because look what happened. Look what happened!
He got Flapjack.
Hunter wanted to scream. He wanted to kneel over and break down, he wanted to cry for his lost friend, but he couldn't even do that. He couldn't bring himself to do more than shed a few, silent tears for his first ever friend, for his best friend, all because Belos possessing him drained all of his strength. He would have died, he almost did die, but Flapjack saved him. That stupidly loyal, stupidly selfless palisman sacrificed himself so that Hunter could live.
And that hurt.
That hurt so bad.
The feeling of having the person who hurt you the most, in so many different ways, possess him, be inside of him, was indescribable. It was horrifying, it was disgusting, and knowing that Belos, using Hunter's own two hands, injured Flapjack like that?
There were no words, just no words to describe how deeply awful that was. Nothing, not being threatened or even harmed by Belos' curse, not discovering he was a clone of a witch hunter, not even knowing his uncle wanted to kill him just like all of the other clones, compared to this.
Hunter's own two hands, regardless of whether he was in control or not, hurt Flapjack. Flapjack, who had always been more than a palisman to him. Flapjack, who was his first friend; Flapjack, who was always there when Hunter needed someone to talk to; Flapjack, who was always there to protect Hunter, right up until now, when he sacrificed himself to save him.
That felt horrible.
It was so unfair that he was still alive when Flapjack was not. Hunter didn't feel worthy of still breathing when he wasn't even a real witch, or a human. He was just a copy of someone else, and yet that stupid, stupid, wonderful bird insisted on saving him.
And all that aside? He physically felt horrible too. His head felt so foggy and weighed down, his skin burned and felt like a thousand tiny needles were pricking into him, and doing anything more than blinking his eyes seemed nigh impossible.
But he had to get up. He had to, because Belos needed to be stopped; even if Hunter was still terrified beyond his wits, he had to finally stop Belos once and for all. He had to.
"Hunter?" WIllow's worried voice came from right behind him. Oh, right. All he could do right now was lay helpless in her lap as the portal flickered before them, signaling that it was about to close.
"Hunter, can you move, mijo?" Camila asked gently, a concerned look on her face. In any other situation, Hunter would have broken out into tears simply because she seemed to care so much about him. Because before he met Luz and the others, he'd never had anyone care about him like that.
But now? Hunter felt nothing. Everyone's concern was wasted on him.
"I…" Hunter tried to push himself up into a sitting position because he had to stop Belos, he had to reach the portal before it closed, but he found that it was a great struggle to even lift his head. His eyes shut with frustration. Everything stung. Everything burned.
Suddenly, there was a rush of voices.
"Don't push yourself, you just went through a lot."
"It's okay, you're okay…"
"The portal's closing! We-we have to-"
"Who cares about the portal right now?! Look at him, he's in too much pain, he can't even sit up!"
"I know this is scary and stressful, but I need everyone to take a deep breath…"
They were all speaking at once, and he couldn't tell whose voice was who's right now, and they were all so loud. Their words started jumbling together, and Hunter's head hurt too much to make any sense of it. Everything hurt, so he let himself drown out the voices. He needed to focus on the current situation, regardless of his physical-and mental-condition. He could worry about everything else later, they had to make it through the portal.
Belos just…He just…
And the titan's blood…The portal…
…Flapjack…"
No, no, no, stay focused! For Flapjack.
"We…we have to go through," Hunter said weakly, the words so fragile on his tongue. The voices stopped. He opened his eyes and blearily noticed that everyone was looking at him with various frightened looks on their faces, Camila, Gus, Luz, Amity, Vee…Wait, where was Willow? Oh, right. He was still laying on her lap. Now that he was forcing himself to focus a little more, he suddenly became aware of strong yet gentle arms encasing him. Willow.
Hunter let out a shuddering breath and continued. "...Now, before it…before it closes."
Titan, he hated how weak he sounded. It was pathetic, it was-it was-
"Hunter…" a worried voice from behind him-Willow-said.
"You don't look so good, we need to get you help first-"
'No," came Hunter's quiet, begging reply. "No…No, we have to. We have to go now…Please…For-for Flapjack?"
Everyone was silent. Hunter looked at Gus. The poor kid-his best friend-his brother-looked close to tears. Was he upset for him? For Flapjack? Or perhaps both? "Please," Hunter tried again. His gaze moved to Luz, who anxiously turned to look at the portal.
"Guys..." Luz said desperately. "It's almost-we have to hurry!" She looked back at Hunter with a pain-filled expression. "Can you stand?"
Hunter grunted and forced himself to try to sit up once more. He knew how bad Luz had been feeling over the past few months due to her guilt. She was convinced that it was her fault that they were all stuck here, and now that a portal was right in front of them, it was killing her to just stand there watching it. All she wanted was for her friends to be able to return home, but that chance was slipping right before their eyes, all because Hunter was weak. All because he couldn't stand.
So he had to. He had to, even if every inch of his body screamed at him not to.
His arms trembled as his hands clutched at the dirt beneath him. Come on, come on, come on! His shoulders shook. He grit his teeth, tears forming at his eyes due to the pain. Come on, come on, move. Move!
His skin felt too tight, it stung, it burned-he felt so incredibly exhausted and feverish, but he had to do this. He had to sit, he had to stand, he had to move. For Luz…For everyone…For Flapjack…
He felt Willow's arms support him from behind, helping him into a sitting position that he wasn't sure he'd be able to get into otherwise. Jagged, raspy breaths came from his lungs just from that. It was hard to breathe, his head spun wildly, he felt sick.
"Hey, woah! Careful!" Willow exclaimed, holding onto him carefully as his world started to tilt.
"The-the portal," Luz said, sinking to her knees. Hunter's vision was starting to fill with black spots, but he was certain the portal was closing.
"It's-it's okay, Luz," Amity said, voice tight. "We'll find another way. There has to be more titan blood around here."
"Hunter? Mijo?"
"Hunter?!"
"Hunter!"
The voices started to drown out again as darkness completely overtook his vision and he succumbed to unconsciousness.