Willow struggled against the petrification that was working up her body. She looked around terrified, seeing her friends, Eda, and past coven heads being helpless to stop Luz.
Luz.
How had she gone down this awful path? What happened to turn her into this…this monster that was attacking Hunter.
"Pathetic. I bet you're just jealous of me because Philip never loved you. And you can't even do the one thing you were supposed to and fight. You're weak." Luz cackled as she held Hunter.
He was fighting as hard as he could, trying to stop Luz and save all of them. It was sweet. No matter what happened, he never stopped fighting if those he cared about were on the line.
"Please Luz, just listen to me. Let me help you!" Hunter pleaded.
Willow struggled even harder against the spell. She had to get out. She had to protect him. She was strong enough to take down Luz. But was she strong enough to take down Luz while she was working with Belos?
She had to try.
"Why would I need help from someone like you? You aren't taking this power from me!"
The petrification covered Willow's mouth. It wouldn't be long before she was completely turned to stone along with everyone else.
"I don't want to take anything from you! I don't even want to fight you! You're-"
Hunter stopped as he turned around and locked eyes with Willow, seeing how far the petrification had reached on everyone. He ran over to her and summoned Flapjack. Willow felt herself tearing up as Hunter was about to save her.
Then it happened.
A long green spike stabbed through Hunter's chest.
He looked down, then back to Willow as she screamed.
"HUNTER!" Willow screamed, jolting up in her bed.
She looked around, momentarily confused. Then, reality set in. It was just that nightmare again. She was at home. She was safe. Hunter was safe. Luz was gone.
It was okay.
Willow sighed and slipped on her glasses. Carefully, she got out of bed, trying not to wake the still sleeping figure beside her. She put on her slippers and left the bedroom as quietly as she could. She went downstairs and into the basement. She grabbed some clean workout clothes from the dryer, changed into them, and wrapped vines around her hands and knuckles.
She had quickly gotten into the zone and wasn't holding back in the slightest against the punching bag that hung from the ceiling. She didn't even notice someone else had walked in until she heard a tired chuckle from behind her.
"You know punching bags are expensive, right? Have to pay for them with human money, and I don't think Eda is super exact with the conversion rates between the realms currencies." Hunter said lightheartedly, walking over to Willow.
"I'm not going that hard." Willow said, not stopping her brutal assault on the equipment.
"I'm just saying, you've broken more than I have. And by a significant margin might I say."
"I said, I'm not going that hard."
With that last word, Willow had accidentally made the vines around her hands spiked and punched clean through the bag. She grumbled, took it off the hook on the ceiling and set it on the floor, deciding she could probably fix it later. She sat down on the floor with a sigh and began to unwrap the vines, though she was quickly joined by Hunter, who sat right next to her. He gestured out with his hand and, begrudgingly, Willow put her hand in his and let him unwrap for her.
"Are you okay?" He asked softly, dropping the joking tone.
"I had that nightmare again." Willow said, just above a whisper.
"I can imagine what it's like, having to relive that day over and over again. Why do you think you're still getting those? I stopped having mine after a few years."
"I don't know. I just haven't gotten over what happened."
"It's been nearly a decade, Wils. Maybe you should call up Dr. Tholomule and-"
"I don't need Steve or anyone at that place. I don't need to go to therapy anymore. I know there's no shame in it but…I'm fine. You're right, it's been such a long time. I shouldn't be affected by it anymore."
"That's not what I'm saying. It makes sense that you're still affected. I am too. Everyone is. I'm just saying maybe talking with a professional about these dreams could help."
"What'll a therapist know about dreams? They're just images and sounds your brain creates while you sleep as it stores information."
"My therapist helped me with mine. Since they were an illusionist, they helped me literally visualize the underlying cause for the dreams. And I still go to them semi-regularly. There's nothing wrong with getting help. You don't have to be reliable, strong, old Willow anymore."
"But I have to be strong so I can keep you safe!" Willow exclaimed.
Hunter froze, having not expected her to raise her voice. But, he understood and didn't say anything. He just scooted closer to her and let her lay her head on his shoulder. She just sighed and stared at the wall. After a bit of waiting, she sighed again and closed her eyes.
"I can still feel it. Whenever I think about that day, I still feel it."
"I'd bet. Petrification is hard to-"
"Not that." Willow interrupted, "I can still feel the splatter of your blood on my face. You were just inches away, but I couldn't save you from her. You…you died."
"But I'm okay now."
"Are you?" Willow asked, sitting up straight.
Her eyes drifted down from Hunter's brown eyes. She looked over all the scars on his body from his years of service to Belos. He hadn't put a shirt on after waking up and coming to check on her, so every single one from his waist up was on display. Her eyes stopped at the pale line in the middle of his stomach, running straight down his abs. Slowly, she reached over and ran a finger down the scar.
"Do you remember how it felt?" She asked as she reached the bottom of it and moved her hand away again.
"I remember how all of them did. Almost all of them were thanks to that awful curse. It's kinda hard to forget, honestly." Hunter admitted.
"Are you mad at her?" Willow asked, looking Hunter in the eyes again.
"Luz? It'd be a waste. Not like I can do anything about it even if I was. She's too dead to care."
Willow's eyes looked down, making Hunter sigh.
"Willow, Luz is dead. She died in a shipwreck fighting a selkidomus."
"We don't know that she died!"
"You and I both saw the evidence. Luz stole Salty's ship two months after she vanished, killed him, got in a fight with a selkidomus, and lost. Her bitten off arm was found on board just like the shattered Collector's disk! She was eaten and died. There is no point in fighting over this again, Wils."
"You're right." Willow sighed.
"Hey, look at me." Hunter said, gently lifting up her chin to look her in the eyes, "I'm safe. We are all safe. Things are okay now. They're better than they ever have been. The Isles are the safest place in the realm. And, even if they weren't, we could just move to the human realm."
"And what would we do there?" Willow asked, a happy expression growing on her face.
"Well with your plant magic you could…grow crops easily and…sell them at a farmers market!"
"And what would you do?" Willow giggled.
"Me? I'd be your dutiful house husband. Keeping the place clean and making sure nobody got suspicious of us. We would live in a nice house with a big garden in the back. And the house would be big too! Plenty of room for guests. Camila and Vee could come over and we'd make them the tastiest pumpkin pie."
"Why pumpkin pie?"
"First human food I could think of. And because of your magic, we would be able to grow food compatible with witch and human stomachs! We would be completely…vegan I think it's called?"
With that last comment, Willow began laughing loudly, quickly joined by Hunter. They just sat on the floor, laughing together for an amount of time neither of them were aware of. Eventually their laughter died down. Hunter practically flopped over and laid back and closed his eyes, head resting in Willow's lap. She began to play with his hair as he lay contently.
"You know, with such a big house, it might be too big for just us and occasional guests." Willow absentmindedly said.
"Yeah. And having a garden bigger than a house would draw suspicion."
"That's not what I'm saying. I mean, maybe we could fill up those rooms some other way?"
Hunter opened his eyes slightly and looked at Willow confused.
"I'm just saying, I know that grimwalkers can't have kids but, I mean, didn't Camila mention something about the adoption system in the human realm and how way too few people are adopting?"
Hunter's eyes opened all the way and he looked at her surprised. Willow chuckled slightly and her face began to turn a pale pink.
"Are you saying that…" Hunter trailed off as he began to sit up again.
"Maybe we could move to the human realm and adopt. Obviously we wouldn't right now, we'd need to plan everything. Moving alone is a lot but moving across realms would take awhile. Plus the system is undoubtedly complex and we'd have to live there for a few years just so we'd meet the qualifications. Gus could make us fake ids, passports, social security information, and anything else easily, but we'd still need time and money and…"
As Willow trailed off, she saw Hunter staring at her, looking absolutely giddy.
"What?" She asked, an awkward grin on her face.
"You want to start a family?" He asked quietly.
"I mean, we've been married for a while now. If you don't want kids, I'd totally understand. Your family situation has never been straightforward and it'd take lots of work and neither of us know nearly enough about the human realm to live there full time yet and us having magic would just make things way more complicated-"
Willow was cut off by Hunter practically tackling her with a hug and kissing her.
"Hunter! I'm sweaty and gross, you shouldn't be hugging me." Willow laughed as Hunter held her tightly.
"Mrs. Willow Park, I'm afraid I can not grant your request as I love you way too much to not show you the level of affection suiting the situation." Hunter said with a fake posh accent.
"Well Mr. Hunter Wittebane Clawthorne Park, I guess you have a fair point." Willow replied, trying to mimic the accent despite her laughing.
The two kissed again before just laying on the floor, cuddling, Hunter's chin slotted perfectly in the crook of Willow's neck.
"So is that a yes?" Willow asked after a pause.
"Absolutely."
"You're such a dork." Willow affectionately scoffed.
"I was just made that way, I guess." Hunter shrugged.
"Don't know how being a lovable dork helps make a better soldier."
"It doesn't but uncle never said I was perfect."
After a while longer of cuddling, Hunter and Willow got uncomfortable and got up. They left the basement and figured they were too awake to try going back to sleep, so they both took showers and ate breakfast. After watching tv on their crystal ball for a while, it got to be a reasonable hour and they actually got their day started. They put on actual day clothes instead of just pajamas, Willow watered all the plants, and Hunter checked his scroll for the news as he drank a cup of caramel crab apple flavored coffee. When Willow was done with the plants, she made a protein shake and sat at the table across from Hunter. He caught her up on the news and they talked more seriously about the logistics of moving to the human realm. At 10, they put on their shoes and a light jacket and walked out of the house and through the neighborhood, deciding to walk rather than fly, leaving Clover and Waffle to have a more relaxed morning.
Since they were part of the group who fought Belos on the Day of Unity, they were able to pick wherever they wanted to live when they were old enough to have their own place. They picked a small neighborhood just outside Bonesborough, which had nice houses with backyards and a decent square footage where most young married couples lived. Their neighbors were all nice, and they didn't mind being outside of Bonesborough as everything was within walking or flying range. They eventually arrived at Bones Appetit, got a table, and waited for the others to arrive.
After waiting slightly longer than expected, they noticed a flash of light outside and saw a portal door opening up on the sidewalk just outside the building. Vee, Masha, and Gus all walked through quickly, Gus almost forgetting to close the door behind them, and came inside and joined Hunter and Willow at their table.
"Sorry we're late." Gus said as he sat down, sounding out of breath, "Masha's cats decided to steal my portal key and hid it in their and Vee's apartment. And since Camila is out at a conference, we couldn't borrow hers."
"You could have just texted me. I'd have gladly used mine so you wouldn't be late." Hunter said, "I didn't spend months with Mr. Blight perfecting a clear, lag-free way to contact between realms, breaking several phones and scrolls in the process, just for you to not text me when you're stuck on the other side of the portal."
"We didn't think of that at the moment. We were too busy calling Tui and La little goobers for delaying us." Masha explained, "Though speaking of Blights, where's Amity? She didn't come to our last brunch in the human realm and I miss being able to see Boscha."
"Will you ever not be fascinated by everything having to do with this realm?" Vee sarcastically asked with a smile.
"No love, I don't think I will."
Right once Masha said that, the bell over the door of the diner jingled and Amity and Boscha walked through. Vee waved them over and they came and sat down.
"Sorry we're late." Boscha began, "This sweet little pint of apple blood stayed up late writing, knowing she's the one who's in charge of waking up in time."
"So it's my fault you can't stand alarms?" Amity chuckled.
"Yes, actually. Thanks to the two realms being closer than ever, at least on our end, human junk is being used more since apparently having bell demons was unethical."
"You should blame Gus for that! His status as the official go-between for the realms gave him the ability to suggest changes to make our realm more human-y."
"No way you're bringing me into this argument. It's fine that you two were late, Vee, Masha, and I were too. Hunter and Willow were the only ones who got here on time."
"Well that's because Hunter was raised to be punctual." Vee pointed out, "Has he ever been late to anything?"
"Ironically enough, he was late to the wedding. One of the biggest events in his life, and he slept in." Willow laughed.
"Wait, that's why you walked down the aisle instead of Willow?" Amity asked, laughter starting to grow in her voice.
"Okay, in my defense, it was not my idea to have a bachelor party. I didn't even know what that was besides a human tradition because that's all Gus told me! Next thing I know, me, him, Matt, and Jerbo are going bar hopping in both realms when I'd never had anything alcoholic before and next thing I know, I blacked out at some point and wake up of Steve's couch an hour before the wedding because he wanted me to get as much sleep as possible! I took the fastest shower I could, realized my suit was still at Darius', had to break in because he had already left, found out he took it with him, went to the venue, got lectured to by Darius as I changed, and then walked down the aisle, where to my absolute joy, Willow was standing there at the altar waiting, looking more beautiful than she did the first time she saved my life. Everything was fine in the end, so we don't need to make fun of me for it."
At the end of his defense, pretty much everyone was laughing. Willow comfortingly took his hand in her and smiled at him, which made him feel better. He was able to laugh along with everyone else and they all continued to share stories about everything that went wrong or was unplanned that happened that night. They ordered their food, and everything was going great.
"You know," Willow began as she finished her food, "Hunter and I were talking about something and I want your guys' input."
"Sure. We're all ears." Boscha said.
"Well, this morning we were talking and…we're now thinking about starting a family. We…we want to move to the human realm and adopt."
For a moment, everyone stared in silence. Hunter could feel her grip on his hand grow tighter as she was clearly terrified of what their response would be. Too many moments passed of silence. Willow felt like it was a massive mistake to bring it up at all.
Why did she tell them? Why would they be supportive? She just told them she was abandoning them and sprung two massive pieces of information on them at once.
Gus was the one who finally broke the silence with a cheer.
"Hell yeah! You're moving to the human realm? Willow, that is so cool!" He excitedly said.
"I'm not surprised. You two really seemed like you'd be the first to settle down somewhere peaceful and start a family." Boscha shrugged.
"More people from this realm living among humans? Uh, sign me up!" Masha said excitedly.
Willow released all the tension in her body she didn't even realize she had as all her closest friends were supportive as always towards her and Hunter. Gus was more than happy to help them with human realm identification and legal stuff, Masha and Vee told them about real estate in the northeast part of the human realm, Amity helped them through logistical needs like timeline and finances, and Boscha was there to make sure everyone stayed realistic with the planning.
They talked for over half an hour about all the details they could help with. They decided that at some point they should also talk to Camila about everything having to do with adoption since she had to become highly aware of the process when she had to become the legal guardian of Vee when people started asking questions about the random kid that started living with her.
As their conversation wound down, they paid for the brunch and left the diner to go sit in at the monthly open council forum. They all walked together and everything was fun, until they passed by a dark alley and Willow heard a strange noise. She stopped and looked down it, questioning if she was just hearing things. Amity noticed and walked back to her.
"Is everything okay, Willow?" She asked, sounding slightly worried.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just…I thought I heard something. I'm gonna go check it out."
"Is that really the best idea? Going down a dark and mysterious alleyway after you hear something weird?"
"Hey, you know how strong I am. I just want to make sure whatever or whoever made that noise is okay. I'll catch up, go on to the forum."
Amity reluctantly nodded and jogged back to the group. Slowly and cautiously, Willow walked down the dark alley. When it got too hard to see, she drew a small spell circle and made a small bioluminescent flower in her hand.
The alley was unnervingly long and way too quiet for Willows liking. Just before she turned back, she heard a noise again. What sounded like a child crying. She began to move faster down the alley, trying to figure out where the noise was coming from.
"Hello! Who's there? Are you hurt?" She called out.
Eventually, she reached the very end. There was nothing there except a solid brick wall. As she walked forward to investigate, she heard a crunching noise beneath her feet. She immediately stepped back and saw she had stepped on a flower. It looked like it had already been nearly dead, and she just finished the job.
"Oh! Sorry little friend." She said sweetly, kneeling down, "I didn't see you. Actually, I've never seen a plant that looks like you before. Here, let me help."
Willow drew a spell circle over the plant and slowly healed it, bringing it back to life strong and healthy.
It was a strange flower with a dark green stem and yellow and white petals, all closed together like they were protecting something.
"You wouldn't happen to have heard anything, would you?" She jokingly asked, lightly touching the stem.
Suddenly, the petals opened up and blasted an almost glowing orange pollen all over her face. She fell back, coughing from it getting into her mouth and lungs. With a groan, she wiped all the pollen off her face and glasses onto her sleeve.
"You know, that was rude of you. The last plant that spit pollen at me got moved out of the big greenhouse and into the small one. That's right, the witch you spit at is head of the Bonesborough Plant and Conservation Society. You are very interesting though. What even are you?"
Willow reached out to touch it again, but froze when she heard the crying again. She stood up and looked around. She noticed in the corner of the alley was a pile of junk, and the crying sound seemed to be coming from inside. She carefully walked closer, trying to be quiet so she wouldn't scare whoever or whatever was crying.
"Hello? Do you need help? Are you hurt?"
The crying didn't stop and just seemed to get louder. Willow got closer and kneeled just in front of the garbage. She moved a crate propped up against it out of the way and looked inside the pile that almost functioned as a fort. She moved the shining plant she made inside the pile and saw the silhouette of the crying child.
"Hey, are you lost? Do you need me to help you find your parents? You don't need to be scared. I can help you."
The child's head started to move and turn towards Willow as the crying turned into laughter. Willow began to get more and more unnerved, especially when she realized she wasn't looking at a person's silhouette, but the person was a silhouette. Suddenly, the child's head snapped completely 180 degrees and stared at Willow with beady eyes she instantly recognized as belonging to the Collector.
"Hello!"
Willow screamed and ran out of the alley. She dropped her glowing plant in the panic but didn't stop to go back and grab it. She was running blind and ran into several walls and tripped over things as she tried to get out as fast as she could. Soon, she saw the light of the street and rushed out onto the sidewalk. Once she was finally out of the alley, she stopped running and let herself breathe.
With no time to lose, Willow summoned her staff and flew to where the public forums were always held to tell the others. She saw the group about to walk into the council building and landed right by the rest of the group.
"Willow? Are you okay? What happened?" Hunter asked nervously when he saw her looking disheveled, out of breath, and scared.
"I need to talk to you in private. The rest of you go in." She said firmly.
She grabbed Hunter by the arm and pulled him to the side of the building where nobody else was. She looked around to make sure they were alone, then let out a breath of exhaustion.
"Willow, what's going on? One moment you're with us, then you're gone and Amity says you're checking something out, then you show up looking like you just got out of a fight? Please, tell me what happened." Hunter said, holding Willow's shoulders.
"I-I'm fine. I heard a weird noise coming from an alley, went to check it out, heard a kid crying, a plant spit pollen at me, and next thing I know the crying kid is actually the Collector!"
"Wait, hold on, what?!"
"I know it sounds crazy, but let me explain. The Collector was still in their shadow form, so they're not free but they're also not gone like we thought they were," Willow rambled, "And I came here as fast as I could and-"
Willow was cut off by Hunter pulling her into a tight hug.
"I had no idea you were under so much stress." He softly said.
Her confusion at the sudden hug deepened from his words.
"This whole thing of moving to the human realm and starting a family is clearly going too fast for you. We should have talked more before telling the others. That combined with our talk this morning about Luz…it's clearly a lot."
"W-what do you mean?" Willow asked as she pulled herself out of the embrace, now being able to see Hunter's concerned expression.
"Wils, the Collector isn't back. The plant or your stress gave you some sort of hallucination. Maybe the sounds you heard was the stress and the plant pollen spray was hallucinogenic and made you see them."
"It wasn't a hallucination! I know what I saw! I-I'm not that stressed. I'm fine. A little tired, sure, but we've been up since 3 am and I've only had one cup of coffee."
"I'm not saying what you claim you saw didn't happen, just that it wasn't real. Maybe you should go home? Or stop by the greenhouse? Gardening always helps you feel better."
"I don't need to go home. I need to go into that forum and tell them what I saw. People should know!"
"Willow," Hunter sighed, "Even if it wasn't a hallucination, you'd either start a panic or, since you have nothing but anecdotal evidence, nobody would believe you. You'd just sound like Tinella Nosa when she runs in with her conspiracy boards yelling about how she saw Titan Trappers off the coast of the island."
Willow grumbled something to herself and looked at the ground, arms crossed. Because he was right. Nobody would believe her. She had nothing to prove the Collector was back and nothing to show it wasn't a hallucination induced by stress or hallucinogenic pollen.
At that last thought, her eyes caught the pollen she rubbed onto her sleeve. The gears in her head began to turn and she got an idea.
"Look Willow, remember when Luz first went missing? And then when we found the shipwreck a few months later? During all that time you refused to go visit her statue because, at least from what you told me, you were terrified and convinced that if Luz or the Collector would return, the memorial would be the place that they did. Because you were scared of them, and you still are. I don't want to sound dismissive, but maybe the hallucinations are just a result of that repressed fear combined with the pollen of a strange plant?"
"Yeah, you're right. And some gardening would be good for me." Willow sighed, looking back at Hunter, "I'll take your advice and go to the greenhouses to check on things. Plus, it's always good to check in on the witches there on my days off so I can make sure they aren't growing certain human realm plants Gus taught them about."
"Sounds great. Do you want me to come with you?" Hunter offered as they walked back to the front of the council building.
"No, it's fine. You enjoy the meeting."
Willow leaned in and gave Hunter a quick kiss, making his face flush slightly. Even after being married for years, Willow could still make him blush effortlessly. She summoned her staff and waved as she flew off. Once she was out of sight, Hunter turned and walked into the council building, excited to see what would happen in the meeting. Meanwhile, Willow began flying towards the greenhouses, determined to get some answers.
