Hello human realm!

This is my 1st Owl House fanfic so I am sooooo happy to be posting this!

I've been wanting to write an Owl House fanfic for some time now but couldn't come up with anything. Then when the 1st part of the season 3 final came out just a few weeks ago (loved it), I really wanted to write something. I just wish this idea came to me sooner because this only took me roughly a week.


Camila resurfaced from the pound that flooded the old graveyard with Hunter in her arms. He was unconscious and still covered in the sickly dark green marks. Camila swam back to the icy bridge, held together with Amity's abomination magic, where her other kids were waiting.

"Be careful with him," Willow said with tearful worry as Camila lifted him up to them. Willow and Gus grabbed him and pulled him out of the water and onto the bridge. Once he was completely out, Luz helped her mother up as well.

Vee and Amity came over as Willow laid Hunter's head on her lap. Gus stood beside his unconscious friend as the others stood and/or knelt closer to his feet. They just watched him for a few seconds, seeing if he'd wake up or anything.

The small tube of Titan's blood was grasped tightly in his hand.

Suddenly, his face made a grimace—like he was in pain—then his eyes snapped open, revealing nothing but pure glowing blue-ish light. While at the same time, tendrils of the sickly dark green goop started coming out of the identical marks on his body, only leaving behind red scars on his face and arms.

The tendrils shot out of Hunter and all landed a few feet back behind the others, further down the bridge, closer to the island. Along with it, the Titan's blood.

The goop pilled itself together before taking the monstrous and terrifying form of Belos.

"Caleb! You'd stab me in the back!?" he growled at the still unconscious boy.

"You did it to him first," Luz sneered back at him.

Without replying, Belos turned away from them, making his way to the little island, Titan's blood in hand.

"Guys," Willow uttered, bringing everyone's attention back to her. "Hunter isn't moving," she said, tears in her eyes.

Everyone fearfully looked down at their blonde friend. He was as still as a statue.

Camila quickly felt his wrist then his neck. "I can't find a pulse—Vee, call an ambulance!" she quickly said, turning to the basilisk girl. Vee wordlessly took out her cell phone and tried to dial 911.

As everyone crowded around Hunter, a sound drew Luz's attention back to the other side of the bridge.

Belos had made his way over to the archway that lead to a bigger grave atop the hill. Her eyes widened in horror as she saw a dark blue splatter on top of the arch start to drip down.

"Oh on," she said under her breath. "He's opening a portal."

"I'm not getting cell reception," Vee said, drawing the young human's attention back to their other important crisis.

"What do we do?!" Amity exclaimed.

How could they help Hunter? Was he going to die?

Was he already dead?!

None of them noticed the little guy until he was standing on Hunter's chest. Flapjack faced Hunter, nuzzled his beak to his check, then curled himself up on his chest. Bright green liquid oozed out of him from the cracks inflicted by Belos using Hunter's hand, and onto Hunter's wolf shirt. The glow got brighter and brighter. Eventually, Flapjack's body started to disintegrate, admitting tiny spheres of light from his body that floated up into the sky, until there was only a bright glow still on Hunter's chest.

When that dissipated, Hunter's eyes finally opened.

But they weren't his eyes.

They weren't the wine-red that they were all familiar with. These eyes had light brown irises. And they glowed. The iris and the still white sclera gave off a subtle but still obvious glow.

"Hunter?" Willow said, hopeful that her dear friend was okay but also concerned that something was still going on with him.

Face blank from expression, Hunter sat up effortlessly and then stood, completely oblivious to his friends surrounding him, watching him with worried faces. They stepped aside as Hunter walked past them. He took a few steps further down the bridge, his gaze focused on Belos and the slowing opening portal.

"Philip!" Hunter shouted, but he sounded different.

Like while Belos was processing him, his voice was a terrifying mix of his and Hunter's. Now the voice coming from his mouth sounded like a mix of his own and an unfamiliar but kinder voice.

Belos abruptly turned around at being addressed by the new voice. He looked at Hunter, a vague look of recognition came to his monstrous face.

"What?!" he hollered. "But how-?"

"A part of me has always lived inside of Hunter. As well as the rest of them, and as well as inside of Flapjack," Hunter and the new voice spoke together, looking at the barely human creature with calm authority. There was a pause as the two just stared at each other. One with surprise and anger, the other with pity and dread. "Look at yourself! Look at what you've become!" he shouted pleadingly.

"I am still a witch hunter!" Belos shouted back, undeterred. "It is still my mission to kill witches and end their evil!"

"What evil?!" Hunter replied, desperately. "Have you really learned nothing from living for centuries on the Boiling Isles?" He had seen it all. Watched it all as it happened through different pairs of eyes, and he still didn't understand how it was possible for someone to live for so long without learning anything. Never changing. "The beauty, the kindness, the light, the good," he listed off with a smile, thinking back to everything he once loved about the realm beyond theirs. "There is good and innocence in the land of demons. You cannot in good conscious destroy that. We were wrong. I know you don't want to acknowledge it but we were!" Belos took a small step back. He had not had a conversation similar to this in centuries. Yet just like last time, he refused to consider what the other person was trying to help him see. But he would only see and hear what he wanted. What he already knew. Hunter's face shifted to solum at Belos's silence. It still felt like lecturing a wall. "You were upset and confused back then. I understand that. But if after all this time, you still can't see the severity and feel no remorse for what you have done…then I'm sorry, little brother, but I believe you are beyond saving."

Everyone standing behind Hunter's body gasped.

"L-Little brother?" Amity stuttered.

"Caleb," Luz whispered.

That wasn't Hunter in there. It was Caleb. The person Philip allegedly used to create Hunter.

Belos had possessed Hunter to attack them and get the Titan's blood. Now Caleb was possessing Hunter to talk to his brother, after all these years.

"You will not succeed. If you go back, you will be stopped. Every witch and demon knows of your truth intentions. You are no longer their prophet," Hunter—well, Caleb, to be more exact—told Philip. "And after what you did to Flapjack…" he paused, looking down in grief for a moment. "He and his friends will not rest until you are no longer a threat," he said, sure and determined.

"You'd really destroy me, brother?"

"Why not? You've destroyed me hundreds of times," he replied grimly. "And Hunter…he was willing to end himself in order to end you." Caleb moved Hunter's body closer to Philip, taking just a few steps down the bridge. Hunter's shoulders were squared and his feet in a solid stance, like he was preparing to fight. "His second chance with Flapjack's death will not be in vain."

Hunter's hand raised up, pointing a finger at Belos and drew a circle in the air that glowed a brilliant yellow.

This made everyone gasp again, including Belos.

Hunter couldn't do magic by hand. He could only do it was the assistance of…

Circle drawn, Hunter flattened his hand raised it against the circle, shooting forth a powerful blast of red, orange, and yellow flames. The blast struck Belos in the shoulder—too much in shock to move out of its path—causing the dark green monstrosity to stumble back.

He howled in pain, clutching at his shoulder which was now missing a sizable chunk. "How!?" he screamed in confusion.

"There is a great difference in taking power by force and it being gifted to you," Hunter/Caleb continued as he calmly advanced forward. His steps did not stop as he drew another circle and fired the same power at the lost soul before him. This blast struck the side of Belos's torso on the opposite side. Belos stumbled again, falling to his knees, screaming in agony. "For years, you destroyed and absorbed millions of palismen to gain magic of your own. But Flapjack-" Hunter/Caleb paused again, stopping in his tracks as his feet stood on the small island. He glanced down and raised a hand over his heart, clutching at the fabric of the wolf sheet Hunter had made and wore under his costume. A few grieving moments later, his glowing brown eyes snapped back up to Belos, glaring in rage. "his willing sacrifice has gifted him with power you could not hope to gain." Hunter's eyes closed as Caleb moved his arms up, pointing both his index fingers straight up and touched them together. Then moved them downward toward his sides, creating an even bigger yellow circle. When his two index fingers finally met again, Hunter's eyes opened and locked with Philip's. "I'm sorry, brother," he whispered before slamming both his palms against the large circle, unleashing a blast ten times bigger and more powerful than the others straight at Belos, striking him square in his abdomen, latching him several feet back, right in front of the now flickering poral gateway.

Belos rose to his feet again, now with a huge hole where his gooey gut used to be. Nothing regenerated; not his shoulder, not his side, nor his abdomen. But he was still standing.

Belos glanced behind him to the portal then looked back at his brother using a body he created in his imagine.

Caleb/Hunter glared back. He knew what he was going to do. He couldn't stop him. At least not right now. "This isn't over, brother. I will see you again," he said as his last parting words for the time being.

Indeed, this was not over.

Not yet, anyway.

Seizing the opportunity, Belos crawled like a wounded animal into the portal. A second later, the ripples of light and astro-colors faded and disappeared.

"No!" Luz screamed, running forward until she was off the bridge and on the small island too. She stared at the archway but saw nothing but the top of the hill on the other side.

"The portal!" Gus exclaimed as he and the others ran onto the island as well.

"That was the only Titan's blood in the Human Realm," Willow cried.

"How are we supposed to get back to the Demon Realm now?!" Amity lamented in despair.

Hunter/Caleb turned back to the distraught group and grinned.

"Who said that was my only stash?"

Everyone stared at their still possessed friend in bewilderment. Before they could reply or ask him any questions, Hunter/Caleb walked up the hill, passed the archway, climbed passed the stone platforms that formed the big grave, and approached the top. As he stood before the tombstone, Hunter/Caleb knelt down and moved a rock away from in front of the base. He turned the rock over, seeing nothing but caked on dirt, until he wiped some away and revealed a red bird symbol painted on. With that confirmation, he placed the rock off to the side and began to dig at the soil where the rock had been.

As he dug, Luz and the others all approached the archway and watched him curiously and with rising hope. After about a minute of digging, Hunter/Caleb's hand finally touched something other than more dirt. Swiping more dirt away, he was able to pull out another glass test tube with an owl head shaped stopper, full of a dark blue liquid.

"Is that-?" Luz muttered, squinting at the object.

Her eyes widened when she realized it was indeed what she thought it was.

More Titan's blood!

"Hah. Right where I remember," Hunter/Caleb chuckled lightly to himself. "Evelyn did love to be prepared," he added, looking off into the sky in fawned remembrance. When he was finished, Hunter/Caleb turned around and climbed back down from the grave. When he made it to the archway where the others still where, he stood before Luz. "I know it's not right, asking you to clean up my brother's mess," he said apologetically before extending his hand out with the tube between his fingers. "Please. Go back, and stop him," he pleaded. Luz gave him a determined nod and took the tube. "And…take good care of this boy," he added, offering her a grateful smile and then glancing at her other friends. "Every one of them had rebelled against Philip after discovering the truth, but none of them have had friends like you to help them live on," he said to the group.

Caleb was so happy. This time, things could be different. This time, his duplicate wasn't alone. Sure, his brother was still out there and now back in the realm of creatures he still despised, but there was hope.

For the Demon Realm. And for Hunter.

"We will," Luz replied. "Hunter's family." They were the only true family he had. And they'd do anything for him.

"And we won't let Belos destroy our home either," Willow added, coming up behind her human friend.

Hunter/Caleb smiled back at the kind plant-witch with dark pigtails.

Yes. Hunter was in good hands. As was the Boiling Isles.

"Thank you," Hunter/Caleb thanked them. "It was once my home as well," he added before closing his eyes and clutching at the wolf shirt over his heart again. Tears started to fall passed his closed lids. "I missed you, old friend," he whispered as a bright green light appeared under his hand. It flashed blindingly bright for a moment, and as it started to fade, Hunter's body collapsed.

Acting with the reflexes of a super protective mom, Camila ran behind Hunter and caught him just in time. The others crowded around him again, watching and waiting with baited breath as Camila looked him over.

After touching a spot on his neck and then placing her fingers under his nose, she sighed in relief.

"He's breathing."

The friends all breathed and gasped with joy.

Hunter was alive.

Grimwalker, basilisk, or witch, a human doctor wouldn't be able to help them. Besides, Camila was sure that he wasn't in danger. But they should still get him back to the house.

Since he was too heavy for any of them to carry, Amity created a tall and strong abomination to carry Hunter in its arms across the bridge and back through the woods.

The abomination couldn't be seen by the townspeople, so while the kids stayed hidden in the tree line by the road on the edge of town, Camila ran to bring the car around. When she arrived and they were sure that the area was clear, Amity instructed the abomination to load Hunter into the car's backseat before turning it back into raw material. She and the others then got in and Camila drove them home.

By the time they got back, Hunter still hadn't woken up.

Seeing his chest rise and fall was reassuring but his still face worried them all.

When they got back to the house, Camila thought it best not to bring Hunter down to the basement, so they laid him down on the couch in the living room. After Camila gave Hunter a better examination—just to see if he had any worse injuries but all she saw were new bigger scars—she let him rest on the couch.

Willow sat on the couch with Hunter's head in her lap, one hand stroking his hair. Gus draped a blanket over his unconscious friend before sitting on the floor in front of the couch. He looked up at Hunter's still form as Willow looked down at him, both with cornered expressions.

Amity, Vee, and Luz sat on the floor behind him, also watching Hunter for any movement.

Camila came back into the living room with mugs of hot chocolate. Everyone took a mug but only took occasional sipped, all more focused on Hunter.

"Why won't he wake up?" Willow asked with a sniffle. Even if he was breathing, him still being unconscious was still worrying.

"He was being possessed. It probably took a lot of energy out of him," Amity said.

"Yeah. Plus, it must have taken him even more to get control back from Belos," Luz added.

"He must be exhausted. Letting him rest should help and I'm sure he'll wake up soon," Camila told them, sitting on the reclining chair next to the couch. She yawned and stood up. "That being said, I think we could all use some rest."

Willow yawned too. It had been a long night and they were all bone tired, but one look back down at the boy in her lap and Willow couldn't bring herself to move. "Can I stay here with him tonight? If he wakes up, I don't want him to be alone," she asked Mrs. Noceda.

This was Camila's house and they all knew her house rules, one of them being that boys and girls sleep in separate rooms, so she wasn't sure if she'd be allowed to sleep in the living room with Hunter—let alone let them sleep on the same piece of furniture together. But she just couldn't leave him.

"Can I sleep in here too?" Gus asked, raising his hand, also not moving from his spot beside his best guy friend.

"Me too?" Amity also spoke up.

"And me?" Vee chimed in.

Luz looked around at all her friend and grinned. None of them wanted to leave Hunter's side. Including her.

"Slumber party?" the human girl asked, grinning pleadingly at her mother.

Camila just smiled.

She supposed it was okay if they were all sleeping in the same room together with her. She was worried for Hunter's health too. He was her charge, and now, her patient. It would be wise to stay close by if something happened.

Living room slumber party it was.