Chapter Twenty-Two

Willow was hyperventilating as she raced through the brush and trees, thoughts and realizations rushing together and crystalizing into absolute clarity. How could she have been so blind?! So stupid?!

Hunter, her Hunter, was the Golden Guard! And all the evidence had been right in front of her! The coven head's lenience on her, Hunter's familiarity with the coven system, his tension around Luz and the Owl House residents, his behavior around Lady Feronia … even the Golden Guard's vexingly familiar voice! It all made perfect sense, and she had been too enamoured to realize it!

"Willow!"

She gasped as that voice, one that had always brought warmth and security and now brought fear to her as it echoed through the woods as if he were wearing his mask. It spurred her to keep up her wild pace until a flash of red arced into her path and she stumbled to a halt mere feet from Hunter. And clutched in his hand was the mechanized staff of the Golden Guard.

"I can explain!" he shouted in obvious genuine panic.

Willow felt another even-larger wave of panic and confusion well up inside and she turned to run again. She had to go! She had to sort through her feelings before she did something reckless! Willow heard Hunter yelp in pain over the sound of furious buzzing, and then Clover was beside her and growing into her staff-form for Willow to take up. She did without hesitation and was swept into the air by her pailsman.

"Ow! Hey! Stop it, Bird! She's- Ow!"

Willow felt hollow inside as she realized — unable to bring herself to look back — that Lil Rascal was no-doubt interfering with Hunter's pursuit. She took a series of deep breaths to try and calm her heart, her vision tunneling and growing fuzzy. As she calmed herself, Willow frantically thought over who she could talk to about this. And as the wind flowing through her hair calmed her, she could think of only one choice.

She gripped her staff behind Clover and swung them around toward the Owl House. Luz would know what to-

Wait …

Willow gasped so hard she felt something tear in her abdomen as, for the second time that night, so many puzzle pieces slammed into place and became so unbelievably clear. Luz. Luz knew! Her strange interaction with Hunter that first day, their cryptic references to who-knew-what, Luz's discomfort when he visited the Owl House … Luz had told her — and Amity and Gus — that she met the Golden Guard and had seen his face. Had learned his name, even if she had refused to divulge it.

Luz had known from the very beginning — Eda and King, too, no doubt — and she had willfully and repeatedly lied about it.

Willow jerked Clover's flight path away from the Owl House even as they neared it, anger at the betrayal from both Hunter and Luz battling with the grief of the selfsame betrayal … and collapsing under its weight. Willow blindly wrenched the staff downward and crashed into the foliage of a tree to tumble off her staff. She grunted and yelped as she bounced from branch to branch, screaming as she plunged into freefall before Clover's staff caught her and slowed her fall before dropping her to the ground in a nest of pink leaves.

But Willow hardly noticed. Her breathing was too rapid again as the crushing weight of betrayal pressed upon her chest. She curled herself into a fetal position as a vision she hadn't had in months came roaring back to her.

The students of Hexside were gathered around her, jeering and cruelly laughing, pointing and mocking Half-a-Witch Willow. At the front of it were Boscha and her crew, Amity standing to the side and looking down at her with something worse than disgust. With apathy. That was all wretchedly familiar, but something was new. Luz and Hunter were there, both with crossed arms and looks of disappointment on their faces.

"Why would we tell you?" Luz asked with contempt. "You would have ruined everything."

"You honestly thought I loved you?" Hunter asked harshly. "You were a job, a mission, a con. How could I ever love a wild witch? And a weak one at that?!"

Willow shook with dry sobs and dry heaves as the self-confidence she had built since meeting Luz cracked like glass. Along with her heart.

Luz was deep in examination of a glyph combination when she was roused by the sound of rhythmic thumping from downstairs. Hooty's cries of discomfort were halted by what she could only assume was the door opening. King's voice came from downstairs, along with a very loud and familiar second voice. A few sentences later and someone was pounding up the stairs and her bedroom door flew open to reveal Hunter, looking terrified beyond belief.

"She knows!" Hunter shouted in obvious panic.

Luz's heart almost stopped. He didn't need to be any more specific. "How?"

"We were having a picnic," Hunter started, with all the signs of it spiraling into a ramble. "I told her some heavy stuff about my past and I cried and fell asleep and next thing I know I'm falling awake and this," he fished in his waistcoat pocket and removed something that looked like a pocket watch or a compact mirror engraved with the Emperor's sigil, "lying on the ground with a captain asking for the Golden Guard."

Luz blinked. "Hold on, back up! You're telling me you had that with you? On a date?!" Luz stood up in sudden outrage. "Why would you do that?!"

"That's what you focus on?!" Hunter snapped. "I haven't been sleeping well, okay? And Belos levelled an ultimatum that expires in a matter of days, so I can't miss a summons! That's like shouting at the top of my lungs that this mission is trash-slug vomit!"

"Were you guys separated at birth or something?" King asked, having caught up with Hunter. "'Cause only siblings could fight like this."

"Shut up, Rat!" Hunter spat.

"Hey! Don't take it out on him!" Luz shouted.

"What the farts is goin' on here?" Eda said, stumbling onto the situation in her purple-pink sleepshirt, blue skirt, and bunny slippers. She yawned and rubbed her eyes. "Why all the yelling in my house?"

"I don't have time for this!" Hunter cried out before looking solely at Luz. "Please, Luz, tell me where she could be. She's not here, and I don't think she's at home." The frustration and even faint anger in his eyes evaporated to leave only soul-rending pain and fear. "Please. I-" His voice broke. "I can't lose her."

Luz swallowed as she thought about losing Amity, and she understood. "I don't know. I mean, she might have gone home. But her dads would probably call you to help fix it if she shut them out, which she would after something like this." She was thinking as she spoke, her eyes tracking from side to side as if watching a game of grudgby. "Amity's house is too cold for her and the Blight parents still don't like her. Maybe Gus? No, we would know by now, too."

"If she's this hurt, she may not want to see anyone," King piped up in a surprisingly reasonable tone. "She may be just running on instinct." He scratched his skull. "Which, since she's Willow, means she would be attracted to plant life, and probably wild magic, too. It would make her feel safe."

The pieces came together for Luz. "The Grom tree!" she shouted in realization. "Willow's been tending to it ever since Amity and I made it! She might be there!"

"Outside Hexside?" Hunter asked. Luz had barely nodded before he bolted past her and jumped out the open window, only to swoop upward on Lil Rascal's staff form and race away into the night.

"Wow," Luz said, genuinely impressed at the sheer drama of that move. And all-natural in his state of panic. She turned to race out of her room by way of the door when she gagged as Eda took hold of the back of her shirt.

"Hold up, Kid," Eda said seriously. "I think you should let the blond handle this."

"Eda, Willow's my best friend!" Luz shouted in indignant shock. "I have to help her. Especially since this is partly my fault."

"No argument on that last part," Eda snarked. "But take it from me, Luz, Hunter needs to take the first crack at it. Trust me when I say that romance makes-" Eda shuddered and her face twisted with raw pain, moisture collecting at the corners of her eyes as she visibly fought tears. "It's a different demon entirely for this stuff." She tugged Luz toward her and placed both hands on her shoulders, levelling her most serious look.

"Let them handle this, Luz. You can make it up to Willow later, but her relationship with Hunter is practically newborn." Her grip tightened a little. "For both their sakes, Luz, let them work it out first."

Luz was silent for a string of heartbeats, her face blank, before she sighed with resignation and nodded. "Okay. I'll leave them alone." She sniffled and brushed her hand across her eyes. "Dio, I'm a terrible friend."

"No you're not," Eda said, bringing Luz into a loose hug. "You're a great friend who did something questionable." She snorted. "I know a thing or two about that, Kid."

Luz chuckled hoarsely and separated before bidding her mentor and King goodnight and returning to her room, closing the door behind her. When Eda and King were alone, the witch glanced down at the demon with an appraising look. "The Grom tree, huh?" She huffed a laugh. "When did you get so smart, huh?"

"I've always been smart!" King cried with clear indignation. "If you recall, I was the one who said glyphs mix differently than bile magic. And I was the one who first thought that Luz's glyphs are the only ones, too!" He turned away with as much dignity as his size would allow. "I just know how to use it better without those dumb delusions of granduer weighing me down," he added.

Eda rolled her eyes. "Alright, Genius. Mama's gonna get some more shuteye."

King waited a few minutes before stretching with a yawn and following her. "Yeah, me too."

After a while, Willow's trembling had eased and her breathing levelled out. Her confidence in herself was not so fragile anymore as to be shattered by two rapid-fire betrayals by her first boyfriend and her best frie- She grit her teeth at the sudden sting of pain that lanced across her core. She gasped and rose to a sitting position, pressing her back into the bark of the tree she had fallen out of.

"Did Amity and Gus know?" she wondered aloud, her voice heavy with despair. "Did everyone lie? Who-? Who else knew?"

Clover trilled under her hand and Willow absently petted her. The palisman looked troubled and moved out from under Willow's hand to fly and settle upon her partner's head. 'I knew,' she buzzed mournfully.

Willow's eyes widened behind her glasses. "What?" she asked.

'That first day,' Clover explained, dropping onto her thorax and lightly gripping Willow's hair for reassurance. 'When Lil Rascal and I had that little scuffle, it was because he'd told Shimmer and I about Hunter's identity. I panicked and was ready to attack, but Rascal begged me to keep the secret.'

"Why did you?" Willow asked. It didn't even cross her mind that Clover would lie to her, or even mislead with the truth. She was more than a friend; she was her palisman.

'Because Lil Rascal assured me, quite frantically, that the Golden Guard had no intention of harming you. That your use of wild magic had attracted the notice of the Emperor and he had volunteered to guide you away from its use. From the very beginning, he meant only to protect you, Willow.'

"And you believed him?" Willow asked, her voice laced with the faintest hint of scorn.

'Yes.' A single word, delivered with surety more solid than the Isles themselves, was enough to convince Willow.

"Why?" she couldn't help but ask.

'Lil Rascal, or Scharlaken as he was first known, was the one who first brought me to the Bat Queen.' Clover buzzed sadly. 'I … haven't told you about my previous life, have I?'

Willow blinked and clutched her fist to her heart, very much aware that she'd already taken on one tragic backstory tonight — assuming Hunter's tale had been real, though — but she knew that Clover would not reveal her past so easily a second time. "No, you haven't," she agreed.

Clover was silent for a time; long enough that Willow feared she wouldn't reply. And then, 'I was crafted by a Havara demon fifty years before the Emperor came to power.' Willow blinked and considered what she knew of that particular kind of demon. Havara, according to Luz, resembled earth pigs with longer ears and four eyes, and on the Boiling Isles they were known to resemble schvine demons in the same way. But while schvine were beast-type demons, Havara were bipeds. They were also known to often be deeply spiritual.

'My carver and first partner,' Clover continued, 'was a simple farmer. He used wild magic to nurture his crops, making them hardier and more flavorful. He was a prosperous demon, but never wanted more than to grow his crops and take care of his family.' She sharted buzzing agitatedly. 'And then the Emperor rose to power, and his crusade against wild magic swept the land.

'My carver was able to hide his practices for a few years before he was found out. When they came for him, he decided to surrender himself in exchange for his family — and me — being spared. He left me with his family and went with the Emperor's Coven, and I never saw him again.'

Clover's buzzes quieted with clear grief. 'After he was gone, I couldn't bear to live on the farm anymore. I couldn't bring myself to partner with a member of his family.' She trilled sadly. 'So I left. I flew away into the forest and never looked back. I had hoped to die, to join my carver, when Lil Rascal found me. He convinced me that life could be lived with more of my kind, under the caring watch of our queen. And so I went with him and lived with her.' She buzzed and nuzzled Willow. 'And after so many years, the Bat Queen asked for volunteers to find a new partner, and I asked to join. So I met you, and the rest is history.'

Willow would have cried at the sad tale, but her tears were spent for the night. Instead, she gently took Clover from off of her head and cradled her into her chest. "I'm so sorry, Clover," she whispered hoarsely.

'I know,' Clover replied, nuzzling her even harder. 'And I love you for it.'

Willow smiled wanly, but then Clover twitched and looked upward. Willow did the same and found a streak of yellow light that blazed across the sky before resolving in a deep rumble into Hunter astride Lil Rascal's staff-form. He descended and landed in a hurried roll that brought him up ten feet shy of Willow.

His eyes were wide and bloodshot, his face pale in the moonlight and his breathing heavy. "Willow, please don't go," he said, stretching his hand forward, his voice haggard with unmistakably real pain. "Please. Let me explain. I'll tell you everything."

Willow remained silent, unable to say a word as her twisting emotions came roaring back. But she could bring herself to offer the faintest nod.

Hunter gave a shuddering exhale as he grunted and leaned on Lil Rascal's staff. "It started when Lady Feronia said she needed some help finding a source of wild magic in Bonesborough …"

With that, Hunter explained his mission to find a teacher of wild magic, with the intent of learning from Willow. He told her how he had arranged with Principal Bump to be close to her, never guessing at extended consequences. He even told her about Lil Rascal's argument with Clover.

"So … it was all a mission?" Willow asked, her voice hollow. "Did you ever-?" She covered her mouth with shame. "Did you really care …?"

"Yes, Willow," he said. "I did — I do — care for you." He brushed at his eyes with an exhausted sigh. "It's why I've been so out of it, lately. My duty says I have to do one thing, but my-" He winced and grit his teeth before he dropped to his knees. "My heart says something totally different."

Hunter looked up at her, his magenta eyes red-rimmed and gleaming. "Willow, please believe me." his voice was trembling. "I never wanted to hurt you. Even from the beginning, that was the last thing I wanted." He began to reach out to her, but seemed to think better of it and drew his hand back. "I-" His frame was shaking with suppressed emotion for the second time that night. "I c-can't lose you, Willow. I can't."

Willow's heart felt like it was tearing in two. She wanted with every fibre of her being to believe him. To accept his words and to fall to her knees and to wrap her Hunter in a crushing hug and to kiss away his pain. She was a forgiving soul; she'd begun to forgive Amity for years of bullying, what was to keep her from forgiving Hunter?

But there was that creeping tendril of doubt lurking in the back of her mind. He'd lied to her from the start; who's to say he wasn't lying now? The image of the Golden Guard brutally executing a wild witch — Cuth the Thulu, she had never forgotten — flashed through her mind. That had shown her the boy before her, a coven head, could be utterly ruthless in his drive.

What would lying to fulfill his mission be compared to that?

But then she remembered when the Golden Gu- when Hunter had protected her from his own men, had let her free with only a warning. That was Hunter, too. And it had beena mere day before they confessed their feelings. He'd protected her, even then.

Willow's spiraling thoughts were broken as Hunter's staff shrunk into Lil Rascal, the adorable cardinal tweeting sadly and fluttering to Hunter's shoulder to nuzzle his head. Hunter's pained frown trembled just a little at the affection from the palisman, but he focused back on Willow with something like mad determination.

Lil Rascal … A palisman, of all things, vouched for Hunter's honesty. For the Golden Guard's honesty. Maybe that was the sign she needed.

Willow approached with cautious, measured steps and slowly sunk to her knees before Hunter. A spark of hope kindled in his eyes and he slowly reached toward her … and she couldn't help but flinch back as the image of the Golden Guard appeared before her, his mask menacing. Then it was gone, and only Hunter remained with a look of hurt, guilt, and despairing acceptance.

"I want to believe you, Hunter," Willow admitted. "And I-" She swallowed down her doubts. "I'm choosing to." She reached for him and ran the backs of her fingers across his cheek. "But I can't ignore this," she said. "If you want me to stay, if you want to be with me … then no more lies. No more half-truths." She took his face in both hands and bored her gaze into his. "Is there anything else I need to know?"

Hunter paled and looked like he would be sick, his eyes screwing shut and his lips twisting … but he nodded. "I told you once," he said through gritted teeth, "that my uncle hates wild magic as much as Emperor Belos does." He placed his hands on her wrists and took a deep breath, seeming to draw strength from her touch, her very presence. "When I said that, it wasn't an exaggeration or some idle comparison. It was a very literal truth …" He looked up at her, his eyes wide. "They're hatreds are the same because they are the same person." Willow's eyes widened.

"My uncle … is Belos."

Willow rocked backward as if she'd been slapped, though her grip on Hunter did not falter, nor did his grip on her. Hunter, her Hunter, was related to that monster?! Then she glanced at the scar on Hunter's face … and she wondered where it had come from. "Anything else?" she asked.

"One more thing," he said quietly. "Belos gave me four more days to find your supposed teacher and bring her in, and … to bind you to a coven." He lowered his eyes in shame. "Or he'll try his way."

"What will happen to you?" Willow asked.

"What?" Hunter asked with obvious surprise.

"What will happen to you if you fail?" Willow asked.

"Wha-?" Hunter seemed unable to form words for a moment. "Didn't you hear me? Willow, they'll torture you for information! Belos won't rest until he scours the Isles of wild magic, and a single witchling isn't going to sway him!"

"But what … happens … to you?" she asked, her eyes glowing for a moment with emerald magic.

"I, uh …" Hunter blinked a few times and seemed to think it over. And then he shuddered with fear. "Belos doesn't take failure lightly," he admitted. "And after I failed my last mission, I-" His breathing sped up. "I don't know what he'll do."

Willow drew Hunter forward and placed her forehead against his. "It won't come to that," she promised. "We'll get through this."

"How?" Hunter asked. "Willow, you don't have a teacher." His grip on her wrists tightened ever-so-slightly, his gaze hardening. "And I can't force you into a coven," he said. "I won't."

Willow wracked her brain for any shred of inspiration. They were in a tough position, but if Luz had taught her anything from their spree of crazy adventures … it was that anything could happen if you were quick and clever enough. But they were just two kids up against a mad Emperor. How could they alone hope to …?

Wait, maybe not alone. Eda would be of limited assistance, but Lilith might know some people in the system who could- Wait, the coven system …? Willow's eyes widened behind her glasses as an absolutely crazy idea began to form in her mind.

"That could work," she whispered.

Hunter blinked in surprise and tilted his head in confusion. "What could work?" he asked.

Chapter twenty-two! LOTS of drama here. I don't know if I can even write drama-less fluff. And two tragic and dramatic backstories in two chapters - that's gotta be some kind of record, right?

*King being the one to deduce Willow's location was heavily influenced by his behavior in "Escaping expulsion." The little guy's brains were on their best showing there.

*Lil Rascal's original name - a product of my own creation - is Dutch for scarlet, as in his coloration. How could that be important, hmm...?

*And we finally get Clover's origin story, another product of my imagination. I've been itching to write the palisman's tale ever since I first conceived it, and I struggled for a truly tragic tale that didn't involve outright abandonment. I think it turned out pretty well.

*Havara demons are like the guy at the Bounty stall in "Separate Tides," named after Varaha a pig-like avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu. The cloth drape the canon character wears brings traditional Indian attire to my mind, and it spawned the idea that they're very spiritual. It was fun whipping that up.

At any rate, I hope to heaven that you all liked this! Leave a review, they make me so happy! And may your inspiration flow freely.