A/N: Man, these chapters are hard to title… I kind of regret naming them at all.

Anyway! I don't mean to sound repetitive or like I'm beating a dead horse, but I've been getting a ton of positive feedback and each positive comment means the world to me. I'm already at over 500 cumulative views, that's incredible.

I'm worried, though, because I did take a few looks around and it does look like the Owl House fanfiction market is pretty saturated.. But I wonder if this hunger for more TOH content is what's let my fic be successful.

I don't know how many fics explore this exact same premise, but… I feel like I've carved out my own little niche. And if the end result turns out well, or it turns out bad, at least know I gave it my all.

Special thanks: Eris, Neo, Crow, Laine, and You.

Luz greeted Amity as she walked out of the spare room, with a "So, how did it go?"

Amity paused, still reflecting on what she'd seen. "Surprisingly well, I think he actually kind of trusts me."

Luz's eyes went a bit wide. "I can't believe it."

The two spoke as they walked downstairs, and into the kitchen. "I mean….I'm keeping him at arms length…Who knows if it could be a trick." Amity said, with a small frown.

Luz took a deep breath, very much remembering the whole Time Pool incident. How he appeared kind, curteous, and sweet at first - but shoved a dagger in her back with a smile when they were no longer useful. It wasn't just that…It was what she saw in his memories. Dozens of Golden Guards, killed once they outlived their usefulness…

Eventually, she shook her head, "I hope not. I'm hoping… Maybe he's genuine. All we need to do is show him a little… Kindness and forgiveness." She tried to keep her chin up, very much thinking about what she told the Collector.

"He's…Really scared right now, he barely knows what's going on." Amity sighed, as she grabbed a couple sheets of kitchen roll.

"What are you grabbing those for?" Luz asked, tilting her head.

"Oh, uh. He…bled." Amity said, trying to think of a better way to phrase it.

"Weh?" Luz squeaked, a habit she picked up from King.

"How do I put it…" Amity took a deep breath. "He slipped on something, and fell on his face…And his nose started bleeding pretty heavily."

"But- that's impossible, he doesn't have blood…Not anymore.." The image in her mind of when the Collector tossed him against the wall and he exploded into green sludge. He wasn't human, or not anymore…But was he…again?

"Hello, Amity." Belos said with a small smile, as she handed over the paper towel. "Sorry, I couldn't find any tissue on short notice, I hope this works." she said.

Luz just stared. It was true. Red blood was dribbling from his nose.

Amity just teasingly gave her a nudge. "C'mon, Luz, It's rude to stare." She looked over at Belos, hoping that he didn't notice. "This is my girlfriend - Luz."

"A pleasure to meet you." He said, bowing his head slightly.

"Alright, now that that's taken care of…I'll let you two get acquainted. I need to go call my dads." Amity said, as she pulled a scroll from her pocket and left the room.

The two humans stared at each other for a moment. Before Belos exhaled a breath, and introduced himself again.

"Caleb. Caleb Wittebane." He didn't bother showing Luz the patch on the inside of his coat, because he got distracted. Something about her face looked off… It took him a minute to realize it. "Your ears." He eventually narrowed it down.

"My ears? What aboooout them-" She asked, realizing what he meant in the middle of her sentence.

"They're….Round. Everyone else's I've seen are triangular." He said.

"Oh, yeah, it's…Uh… A genetic, uh. A defect. Yea! That's the word. Nothing to worry about, just a little bit of nature at work!" Luz stammered, making things up on the fly. Belos narrowed his eyes, unconvinced.

"Hey Dad." Amity opened the facetime call, as soon as he picked up.

"Hello, pumpkin." Alador replied.

"How's research on Coven Sigils going?" She decided to bury her lead, make it less conspicuous.

"Not well. It feels like we've hit a dead end." He grumbled. He felt like he was at the edge of a breakthrough, but it had been eluding him for years.

The two continued conversing for a little bit. About general boring stuff. Life, college work, all that jazz. Until Amity just kind of…Tossed it out.

"Say, dad, I have a friend who's kind of fallen on hard times lately, and needs somewhere to crash until he gets on his feet… Do you think he can stay with us?"

Alador just shrugged. "I don't see why not." The spare bedroom was just collecting dust, after all, after Odalia moved out.

Said spare bedroom used to belong to Alador. It was the smallest of the house's quintuple bedrooms, Odalia of course taking the biggest of them. But, now that she'd moved out, Alador and Darius had moved in. They were actually thinking of inviting Hunter to move in, but he seemed pretty content living with Willow.

"May I ask, who is this…'friend'?" Alador asked, finally looking up and into his phone camera. "Is it someone I know?"

"No, I don't think you've ever met him… Darius did, though. I'll introduce you two in person." Amity said, smiling.

"Alright. Speak to you soon." He looked back down.

"See ya soon! Byee!~" Amity squeaked, as she let out a huge sigh of relief.

Whatever her dads' reaction were going to be, she wanted to break the news in person and not over the phone. Looking them straight in the eyes. It would just…Be easier that way.

Amity stepped back into the room, "I have good news. There's a spare room at my place, you can crash there."

At this, Belos smiled. Happy to get away from the Owl House. "Thank you, Amity. Shall we get going?"

"Yea, it's only a few minute walk. Cmon."

Amity gave her awesome girlfriend a kiss goodbye, and a small "Seeya later, hun. 1 Love ya!" before she and Belos stepped down the stairs.

King, Raine, and Eda didn't even notice them as they sneaked out. They were busy, arguing in circles, about…If they should tell Hunter or not. King had won Raine over to his side, but Eda was still unconvinced…

'A bridge to cross when I come to it!' Amity thought to herself. Not really feeling any guilt sneaking out while they weren't paying attention. She was sure that Luz was going to fill them in anyway - and Belos would be under Darius' care. A former coven head, just like Raine.

The duo of them walked slowly, Amity taking the lead. Belos walked slowly, almost shambling…A seeming result of old age. Another strange detail…Amity made a mental note to start keeping a diary of all these things.

Wait…Wait…A journal! It was then that she remembered how he used to keep a diary, and how it might not be a bad idea to get him a new one. A place where he could spill his deepest thoughts, recorded for posterity but for his eyes only…

Though, this line of thought was broken when she noticed that he had a strange look of discomfort. It didn't seem to be from pain, no, just- his surroundings made him weary, was the best she could gather. She tried to ask, "Are you alright?" only to be met by a "Yes, I'm fine."

They unfortunately had to take the long route. Amity purposely avoided walking through Bonesborough, in fact- she avoided all populated areas. She knew that she couldn't let the secret that Belos had come back get out there…it would cause mass panic on the isles. Eventually, they arrived at Blight Manor, and she rang the doorbell.

Alador opened the door, looking down at Amity. "So, who's the mystery guest?…" His voice trailed off, as he looked behind her to see…The former Emperor.

"Hello." He nervously said, giving a small wave.

An awkward moment later, Darius joined his boyfriend down stairs…

And if things weren't bad enough already…

They were about to get worse.

Standing at Darius' side, was his Protige…

Hunter.