Do I have too many WIPs already? Yes. Am I starting another one? Obviously.
I know there are like a hundred other fics out there with a similar premise but I wanted to write one of my own.
"Darius? Darius, wake up. Wake up, please-"
Like a marionette, Darius rose. Where his eyes were or used to be (Hunter couldn't tell) glowed blinding purple. He wasn't breathing.
"Darius? I'm sorry, I didn't- I failed, I couldn't help."
"You, only you could mess up such a small task."
"No, I didn't- you're dead, you're supposed to be dead!"
"Hunter, I made you."
His voice was so familiar, one that Hunter had heard his entire childhood it echoed in his mind it was in his head like some worm that writhed its way in and wouldn't come out
I made you
I am a part of you
I live in you and as long as you're alive then I am never dead I WILL NEVER DIE-
Hunter woke abruptly, a horrified scream tearing from his throat. He smacked his head on the edge of the end table as he sat up, and sank back to the Nocedas' living room carpet with a groan. Oh Titan, he was in the human realm. He was in Luz's house but he felt lost at sea.
Gus's head came up from the couch. "What? What time is- oh my god. It wasn't a dream."
The others were starting to stir. Nice job Hunter, you fucked it up again.
Mrs. Noceda peeked into the room. It seemed like she hadn't slept much either. "Que? Luz, is something the matter?"
Luz sat up, squinting at her mom. "Hm?"
"Oh, mi vida, you still look exhausted..." Mrs. Noceda knelt by her daughter to put her arms around her again. Luz happily leaned into her mother's embrace, and something in Hunter's chest tightened uncomfortably. "I'm going to go out and get some things for breakfast, I certainly wasn't expecting this much company."
Those words made Hunter sit up (dodging the end table this time), suddenly alert. "Right. I'm sorry Mrs. Noceda, ma'am, I'll be out of your hair soon. I don't mean to be a drain on resources-"
Mrs. Noceda leaned over to shush Hunter with a finger over his lips. "What do you mean? You're all staying here, I'm not letting you leave, you have nowhere to go- cual es su nombre? Lo siento." She muttered the last part to Luz.
"This is Hunter," Luz said, "and you absolutely are not a drain on resources. I don't know how things worked in the Emperor's Coven, but it doesn't work like that here."
Hunter drew his knees up to his chest. His muscles ached from being so tense all night. He was given a blanket before they went to sleep, but it had gotten cold in the night so he draped it over Willow, who was also sleeping on the floor. Gus had passed out on the couch, and Luz and Amity had crawled into one big sleeping bag together. For most of the night, Hunter had stood watch over the living room. He didn't know what else to do.
"Good morning," Vee entered the room, yawning. "Can I help with breakfast, Mom?"
"Sure, we just need to take a quick trip to the grocery store first. While we're gone, you all need to clean up. We need to put new bandages on that wound, chica," she reached over and touched Willow's face lightly.
"I can start taking care of that, Mami," Luz assured her.
"Hunter first," Gus said sleepily. "I don't think he even fully recovered from living in the walls of Hexside."
"You all are going to have to explain everything to me again," Mrs. Noceda muttered, "because not a lot that you're saying makes sense."
"Okay," Hunter said. "Just point me in the direction of the nearest river."
"Oh, nuh-uh. You're coming with me, mister. Did the Emperor's Coven have showers?" Luz stood and dragged Hunter up with her.
"I- I mean yeah, I just preferred the stream sometimes because they were communal, and I didn't really have friends." Hunter could feel his heart speeding up as reality started sinking in. The castle, Hexside, and his fellow scouts were unreachable memories. He was stranded in the human realm, where nothing was familiar, where he might have to stay for the rest of his life if they didn't figure out a way to get back to the Demon Realm.
He glanced over at a clock. It was seven-thirty. Who had let him sleep this late? Why didn't he wake up on time?! There was no morning rounds to do, why did he care? Why did he suddenly feel like he couldn't get any air? Before he could even mention it, Luz was digging through a closet and handing him a pair of human pants and human shorts. Also human socks.
"Turn the knobs," she said, "it's not like Demon Realm showers but it's fairly self-explanatory I'd say."
Hunter took longer than he had expected. The mirror fogged up and he felt warm from the inside out when he was finished. One problem solved, he no longer felt so gross. He wouldn't lose it, not today. Gus looked scared to death, he couldn't freak out and make his friend feel worse.
He couldn't lose it today. The only thing he had control over was the way he acted in this situation. He had to stay cool.
He learns how to wash the dishes. There is a pair of yellow rubber gloves by the sink and after every meal, he puts them on and scrubs every dish until it's good as new, and Vee teaches him where to put them away.
"It's the least I can do, Mrs. Noceda," he says when she tries to protest. "I can't just stay here indefinitely and not be useful."
She sees the tension leave his shoulders when he has something to do, something he can do well three times a day right on schedule. So she lets him. Still, she worries. Hunter isn't like these other Boiling Isle kids, not like Luz. He can't seem to make eye contact, he's so formal, and he doesn't warm up to her and seek comfort the way the other kids do. She had a nagging worry in the back of her mind for him that was bigger than her worry for the others. Gus spoke of his dad fondly and was endlessly entertained by even the most mundane of human things. Willow liked to tell stories about her dads when they were all sitting around the kitchen table and went on jogs around the neighborhood with Vee to help her train for her soccer matches. Amity and Luz, once they adjusted, were trying to find a way back to the Boiling Isles with Gus and Willow, but they also took the time to go on some dates in the human world. They all talked about Hexside, the school for magic that they attended, and something called Flyer Derby which reminded Camila of that book series Luz read when she was little with the flying broomstick game.
Hunter didn't talk about anyone. He hadn't brought up any parents at all.
He flinched away from goodnight hugs whereas the others needed them. She stopped trying to hug him. Had he ever been hugged before?
It made her worry.
Six o'clock. Waking up at six o'clock was the Right Thing to do.
He folded up the blanket and set it on top of the pillow, then shoved the small mattress under the couch, quietly so Gus wouldn't wake up. Making his bed was the Right Thing to do, he'd done it every morning since he was six, and to stop would make his skin crawl.
Opening the pantry quietly, praying that the hinges wouldn't squeak, he grabbed a granola bar out of the box. They reminded him of the Coven Scout rations that he had eaten three times a day for a decade, except they had chocolate chips on them. He knew that there must be something in the Demon Realm that was sweet like chocolate, and regretted that he had never tried it before. Darius was right, he needed some teenage rebellion. Maybe it wasn't too late to start now. Or tomorrow maybe. Eventually. He ate slowly, watching the treeline out of habit, in case anything came out of the woods.
He went to the bathroom and removed the sweatpants and t-shirt that Camila had lent to him. He put on the sweater and jeans he had picked out at something humans called a thrift store. The sweater was soft and red, and Camila had cut the tags out of the back of this one and the two others when she realized how uncomfortable they made him. He grabbed his toothbrush- red- out of his cup on the sink and ran the water to brush. Twice a day, Camila had said.
Hunter hadn't actually been sleeping, but he didn't feel like getting up out of bed until it was time. He couldn't sleep. Every time he closed his eyes that awful thing that used to be his uncle was right in front of him every time.
He didn't eat much dinner because he often threw it up in the middle of the night, imagining cracked masks in every dark corner, imagining his own self unwinding and crumbling and replaceable replaceable replaceable-
The doorbell rang and Hunter jumped. He spat the last of the foamy toothpaste out of his mouth and scrambled to the window to peek. Gus was stirring on the couch. "Whozit?" he mumbled.
"One of the... uh... mail-humans."
"Oh, a package?" Gus perked up. "I'll go get Luz and Vee." It was around seven now. Still early by Luz's standards but not too bad. Soon the house was alive with the chatter of six kids and one adult trying to listen to them all.
Among all of that noise, Hunter watched and listened. He'd done everything Right today so he didn't know why his throat felt closed up.
When Spring Break was over, Vee had to go back to school during the day, and wandering around the neighborhood during school hours was discouraged.
"I don't need anyone calling CPS because they think my kids are truants," Camila said. "It would raise a lot of suspicions. So you six will have to stay home while Vee is at school."
Willow nodded. "We can work on that door some more," she suggested.
"Yeah!" Luz jumps up. "Just you wait, Mami, when we get a door set up, I'm going to give you a tour of the Boiling Isles!"
"Oh, and my dad would love to meet another human, will you visit our house?" Gus asked.
"Sure I will," Camila said, looking slightly uneasy. "If you're sure this place is safe."
"Well, the entire Demon Realm isn't safe, but neither is the entire human world," Amity said.
"Yeah," Willow agreed. "We'll keep to the tamer parts. Nowhere crazier than the Owl House."
"It might be hard to find a place crazier than the Owl House," Hunter chimed in for the first time. "Seriously, am I the only one who can see the... owl tube?"
"No, that's just Hooty, don't worry about him," Luz waved her hand.
"And where will you bring me on the grand tour, Hunter?" Camila asked with a smile. The boy stared blankly back at her. "You know, your home? Somewhere you like to be, a favorite spot to watch the sunset maybe?"
"I... liked Hexside. I lived there for a while. Does that count?"
Everyone was glancing at each other, that look that made Hunter's stomach turn. The concern on their faces was almost too much to bear. "Or... the old training grounds? If they're still there after the Collector... y'know."
"Where will you go back to, once this portal is opened?" Camila asked gently.
Hunter couldn't answer that question.
When Camila asked him to help with dinner, Hunter was eager to do so. He could be useful. She handed him a small knife and set him to work dicing tomatoes.
"So, I was hoping we could talk," she said, standing in front of the stove and stirring the contents of a pot absentmindedly. Hunter didn't even know half of what was in there, but it smelled amazing.
"Talk about what?"
Camila sighed. "Everyone else has a home to go back to, but it doesn't sound like you do. Where is your family? Who keeps you safe?"
Hunter slowed to a stop, staring down at the tomato juice and seeds. "I..." He supposed he owed her honesty. "Emperor Belos was my uncle- at least he said he was. Kinda? I think I'm a copy of his brother. Which might make him my brother too? Or something like that. He's gone now. He was a bad person."
"Are there any good people that you know? Adults?"
"There's- no. Well, Eda is good. I think. But she has her hands full and I don't know her very well. And..."
Wake up. Wake up, please.
A shiver ran down Hunter's spine. "I don't know if any of them are okay. The Coven heads. The last time I saw them- the last time I saw him, he wouldn't wake up."
"Who?" Camila asked gently.
"Darius. I thought he hated me for the longest time. A lot of people hated me. I was just a kid but I had all this power, they wanted it. And I... I didn't deserve it. He told me as much. I shouldn't have been the Golden Guard. But he- he changed. Or maybe he was like that all along. He started being... nice to me? After I stole that palisman and I tried to kidnap my teammates away from him to bring them back home. He gave me a scroll and told me I needed to have connections outside the castle..."
"Do you think he had your best interests at heart?"
Hunter's mind was reeling. "I... he was better than Belos. When he sent me out of the castle to find new recruits, or leave him alone or whatever, I met my Flyer Derby friends. I met Willow. He- gave me a way to communicate with them. So, maybe?"
"Hm," Camila turned back to the food she was cooking. "Maybe I'll just have to meet this Darius."
"I hope he's okay."
"Me too."
Hunter woke up in a cold sweat again. There was tapping at the window. He grabbed his staff. He couldn't do magic with it any longer, but he could still use it as a weapon.
The tapping had wormed its way into his dreams, the tapping of claws on the floor as the Em- his un- Belos advanced towards him. His form had grown less and less human-like as time went on, and the sight of those claws, that hollowed out face, followed Hunter into the human realm.
Now he advanced slowly toward the window. Who could it be? He crept past Gus and Willow, willing them not to wake up unless they needed to. He could protect them, he would. He reached out a shaking hand to grasp the corner of the curtain and counted backward from three, heart pounding in his ears louder, and louder, then whipped the curtain to the side.
The branch tapped the window again as another breeze shook the little bush.
"Hunter? Are you okay?" Vee stood behind him, a glass of water in her hands.
"Yeah, of course. Just thought I heard something. Everything is fine though." Hunter shut the curtain and set his staff down on the floor.
"Okay. If you say so."
He knew, deep down, it had to happen eventually. Whenever he felt it start to creep up, he couldn't avoid it forever. Extra stress always sped up the process and made it unavoidable. He'd been feeling another big one creeping up on him since the last one ended, the night he got trapped in Belos' mind.
He was pretty sure it was called a meltdown. At least that's what he had started calling them, he wasn't sure if it was the right term. Back at home- the castle, he would find time to curl up at the bottom of his closet to hug his frog plushie while he rocked back and forth until it went away. Then he could put his mask on and be the Golden Guard again. He hadn't been able to find time alone recently.
Or his frog plushie.
So it happened in public instead, his hearing turning fuzzy and his arms starting to feel staticy, and he melted down in the middle of the crowd at one of Vee's soccer games. He didn't know why, couldn't explain why he was crying, or why every voice in the crowd felt like marbles hitting each other inside of his head. When Gus realized the breathing trick wasn't going to bring him down from this, he grabbed Hunter's hand to pull him to the bathrooms. Hunter felt bad for flinging his friend's hand away but he couldn't stand it, he couldn't stand being touched right now, couldn't stand speaking, couldn't get any words out to answer their questions.
Willow and Gus walked him back to the Nocedas' house early, and they didn't call him weird for flapping his hands to make the static feeling go away.
He pulled out his mattress, hugged his pillow to his chest, and finally slept the whole night through.
When he woke up in the morning, his mind felt... tired. Tender, like a recently healed-over wound. He didn't even process the ruckus coming from the kitchen until Luz yelled "Eda!"
The Owl Lady?!
Hunter jumped up, still in his clothes from yesterday, and rushed into the kitchen.
The Nocedas' back door was open, but not into their yard, into the Demon Realm.
All at once, Gus was at his side, babbling excitedly, but making sure not to touch him in case he was still not okay with that. "The adults figured it out, they opened another door! I think the Collector had something to do with it- they're here! They're actually here! Dad!"
Gus's dad was the next person through the doorway, and he caught his son when he ran to him. Then he stepped aside to let Willow's dad's through, and Lillith next. Luz and Amity had been swept up by Eda, and King was clinging to Luz's back as the two of them cried.
Hunter stood amongst the tears, the laughter, the introductions. A white boot stepped through the doorway and he perked up, only to see Raine step through and get pulled into Luz's embrace. Hunter stood with his arms by his sides and an ache in his chest. Camila finally glanced over at him and her heart broke.
"Oh, Hunter!" Raine said, raising their voice over the chaos. "Someone is going to be very happy to see you safe, I called him when the portal started acting up, and he should be here any-"
"Hunter!" Before they could even finish their sentence, the door opened again. Hunter's eyes went wide. Darius was dressed in sweatpants and a loose t-shirt, only one slipper on. Had he just been asleep? He looked frantic as he crossed the room. He had bags under his eyes- not as bad as Hunter's, but still noticeable. And on his face, slightly paler lines. They were all over his arms too. From the Draining Spell.
"Darius?"
The man knelt to Hunter's level, one hand coming up to cup his chin. "Hunter, are you alright? Were you hurt? Have they been feeding you?" He tilted his head to the side. "Have you been sleeping enough? You look awful. How much time has passed here?"
"It's been nearly a month," Luz said.
"Time passes the same way in both Realms," Eda said. "Slow down, Darius, he looks overwhelmed."
"You worried about me?" Hunter asked, still trying to catch up.
"Of course I did. I heard your voice when I was under, but I couldn't- get up, break away from the spell or anything. Then I woke up and you were gone Titan knows where-"
"He was working night and day on that portal," Raine said, with a fond smile.
"And I wasn't even there when it opened," Darius groused.
"I thought- I thought you didn't like me. I'm annoying."
"This past month gave me time to think, and I was- wrong. The way I treated you- like you were a nuisance- was cruel. I was still mourning my mentor, and I let all those negative feelings about his murder get in the way of recognizing that you needed help. It was never your fault that you got that position and couldn't handle it. You were just a kid. And- and that favoritism you were shown? I should have looked into it. You were in danger. Belos was hurting you."
Hunter could hardly believe what he was hearing. Darius went on. "That day when you tried to recruit your friends, I started to see how wrong I was. And I've just been realizing it more and more, I was really shitty towards you sometimes. And I'm so sorry."
"Darius... I was bad at my job. I was bad at it, I deserved it."
"No, little prince, you were- and are- a child. And when you needed someone, I wasn't- I could have helped you but I was too wrapped up in my preconceived notions of you to see who you really were."
"What if you don't like that person either? I mean, I'm not even real." Hunter hates the growing lump in his throat making his voice wobble. He hates it. He freaked out last night, he should be fine for a while, but now here was Darius saying all these nice things, apologizing, and he couldn't handle it.
"What do you mean?" Darius asked, sounding like he was about to laugh.
"Of course you're real," Willow chimed in. "You're right here."
"I'm a grimwalker," Hunter admitted, feeling that awful weight on his chest lessening. "I'm not real, I'm just a copy. I don't matter. I don't have any family, and I can't do any real magic. And Belos was going to get rid of me."
"Belos was going to get rid of everyone. Does that mean the rest of us don't matter either?" Gus asked.
"I- well, no."
"You can't judge your worth based on what Belos thought of you. He sucked!" Luz said.
"Don't be so hard on yourself," Willow laid a hand on his shoulder.
"You may not have anyone you're related to by blood, but you do have... allies. I failed to help you before but I will do everything in my power to help you now," Darius said. "If you should choose to come back to the Demon Realm, my door is always open to you. For as long as you should want or need it."
Oh no, now his vision was blurring. "You don't have to do that," his voice cracked embarrassingly at the end of his sentence.
"I know, but I want to. After everything you've been through you deserve something to fall back on."
"And you know the Owl House is always open to you too," Eda said. "If you want to spend your time somewhere more exciting." Darius rolled his eyes at that.
"Or you could stay here if you prefer the human realm," Camila offered.
"I'd offer for you to move in with me, but my parents suck," Amity said.
They all... wanted him? Would tolerate him? This was too much. He didn't deserve this. He didn't realize he had started crying until Darius was wiping the tears away. "You don't have to make your decision now, of course. And there won't be any hard feelings no matter what you choose."
Hunter opened his mouth to say something, to say thank you, to ask why, but instead of words he started to sob. "I'm sorry," he managed around gasping breaths. He sank to the floor to sit against the cabinets, and Darius stayed next to him. At some point, he tried to touch Hunter, to lay a hand on his arm and ground him, but the boy flinched so badly that he didn't try again.
It hadn't felt like he had any more tears to cry after last night's meltdown, but they wouldn't stop now. He didn't know where they were coming from. The Golden Guard wasn't supposed to cry. Darius would take care of him. He doesn't really want to and when he sees the way you are, he'll kick you to the curb. No, they all liked him. For real. He had three potential homes to choose from, each better than the one he'd spent his first sixteen years suffering in.
No matter where he went, it could never be as bad as Belos. It could never be as bad as feeling so useless he wanted to dig his own grave. Even if any of them did kick him out, it wouldn't be as bad as his only relative attempting to murder him.
He wouldn't hurt that badly again.