I made it! I can't believe I actually made it! Hello everyone, 'tis I, Fangirling Heart with my very first one-shot in celebration of the "Thanks to Them" 1 year anniversary! One year ago on this day, the first episode of season 3 aired and we all lost our minds and cried over Flapjack's death... Anyway, before we get to the story, minor warnings: This story includes talks about death and references to suicide. All righty, now let's go!
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"You know what I'd like, Belos?"
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"I'd like to leave the emperor's coven! And never step foot in that throne room again!"
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"I'd like to study wild magic! And learn how to carve palismen!"
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"I'd like to attend Hexside as a regular student! And play flyer derby with my friends!"
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"But most of all..."
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"I'd like..."
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"...To make sure you never... hurt anyone... again!"
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Wouldn't that be nice...?
Hunter could almost see it, feel it.
The thought of the golden guard uniform falling away, him not even knowing nor caring where could it be. Instead, donning a different one. A colorful, Hexside school uniform. Learning about every type of magic, about wild magic. Spending time with his friends, in and out of school... Flying beside them on his staff, as they win another flyer derby game... Giving a young witchling... their own palisman. A palisman he carved for them himself...
A staff... A palisman...
His staff... His palisman...
"Goodbye, Evelyn."
"No! NO! Stop, that's enough!"
...That's right. He stopped Belos. He felt Flapjack escaping his girp, he... he heard him... He was safe. Everyone was safe now. And he-
...
He slowly half-opened his eyes, feeling too weak to open them fully (or to do anything for that matter). He couldn't really see anything though. Just a distant, fading light above him, getting farther and farther away.
Along with all those previous hopeful thoughts of a life he'd never get to have. But it didn't matter. It shouldn't matter... Not when he was taking Belos down with him.
So he closed his eyes again, letting himself sink into the darkness. He was content with it, so long as everyone was okay in the light...
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...
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"He-..."
...!
"...Hey!"
A voice...?
And a hand outstretched, desperately reaching out to him.
Hunter couldn't tell who they belonged to, their form looking too distant and blurry in his half-lidded vision and the darkness around them not really helping. But he still found himself slowly raising his hand, reaching out to catch theirs.
...!
Hold on, should he be doing this? Wasn't Belos still-?
...!
Before he could withdraw his hand, it was caught. Held tightly in another one. One that seemed pretty skrawny, but it was still pulling him up without much effort.
"-ot you. I've got got you."
That voice again, this time a little clearer, laced with tenderness. And it sounded awfully similar to...
...!
Hunter stumbled forward with a sharp inhale, falling onto something. Or rather someone. Someone that held him and kept him steady as he coughed, as if he had been underwater for hours and just broke the surface.
...And apparently he did. As he started to calm down, he could feel... water(?) around his ankles. He could see some black liquid all over the ground, as his eyes cracked open and then drifted over to his rescuer.
Who slowly helped him move over to some... strange rock thing. They left him to sit there, their every movement careful and gentle, and then moved a bit farther. Probably to give him some space.
"I'm sorry I couldn't get to you sooner. Are you okay?"...! He heard... him ask. And this time he was sure. Aside from an accent and a bit of different color, that voice was his own.
And so was that blond hair, with one hair noodle sticking out. That nose on a slightly different face, whose biggest difference from his own, was that pair of brown eyes staring him up and down with a warm concern.
Hunter pulled back, his eyes wide and shocked stuck on... the man before him. If he didn't know, he'd probably think he was looking at an older version of himself.
The man took a step back too, looking almost hurt. His eyes drifted to the side for a moment, before turning to Hunter again. This time with an awkward smile. "Guess that would be a bit of a shock. You... are the one who looks like me the most, after all..." The smile grew a bit more strained as he finished, clearly regretting that last part.
"...You're... Belos' brother. You're Caleb." Hunter said, his voice surprisingly calm for how much his mind was racing.
"Yes, I am..." Caleb rubbed his arm as he spoke, looking away again. But his face seemed to brighten up a bit, as he extended his hand for a handshake. "Nice to meet you... Hunter."
Hunter slightly flinched when he saw his hand reaching out, but nonetheless extended his as well and shook with him. Actually shook with him. But...
"Wait. You know my name? But you're... You've been gone for years! Belos, he-"
"Killed me?" Caleb cut him off, with a bitter smile. His gaze remained on Hunter, taking in every little reaction. Every second in which his face tensed as the realisation settled in. "Yeah. And unfortunately, not just me."
"...Right. I, uh... knew that. I guess." Hunter said, blinking away the tension. As much of it as he could...
He should have known this. He... He actually did this. Sure, Belos was the one that made his body jump in the water, but Hunter gave him the reason to do it when he threw the Titan blood.
...So, that was it? Was this the after-life? A vast place with nothing but water (for a lack of another word), strangely-shaped walls of rock and... some floating cube things? Where the only people for some reason were he and... Caleb?
"...At least Belos is gone too..." He muttered, mostly to himself, but then remembered... "Uh, no offense!"
"None... taken..." Caleb said, again rubbing his arm, again looking away.
"Is something wrong?" He asked, unsure if he should be concerned.
Caleb was still averting his eyes. Instead he was staring into the water almost desperately, as if he was searching for something. "I, uh... You previously asked how I know your name. This will probably sound creepy, but I have been keeping an eye on you, since you first came to the world. As I've also done with those that came before you. So, I know what happened. I know how you ended up here. I know what you wanted to do to him and... to yourself... But if it had worked... you'd both be under... And I only found you."
...!
"...What?" Hunter felt like he was sinking all over again, his throat tight, struggling to breathe. "Could-couldn't he have arrived earlier- or later than I did and you didn't notice?! He was possesing me! That probably affected... something! Right?!" He asked, his voice growing more and more desperate for an answer with every word.
"I don't know much about possesion, but I also thought you had indeed... died together. If that was true though, you'd probably be here in seperate bodies-"
"Then probably he's still possessing me! He's here! He-he won't hurt the others or anyone else anymore, right?!"
"No, Hunter." Caleb said, his voice soft and sympathetic, his hands holding Hunter's and slowly removing them from his shirt. Hunter only seemed to realize he had come so close, when Caleb touched him. "Look at your hands. They're normal again. And I can see your eyes. They're not blue anymore."
"No..." Hunter slowly pulled away from him, not looking at him anymore. His head was lowered, his hands clutching it tight. He was looking at the water below, his mind replaying again those (his) last moments, so violently it made his head hurt.
The Titan blood.
The lake.
The abbyss...
All for nothing...!
...!
...!
"Hey... Hey, breathe. It's... It's okay-"
"No, no, NO!" He shook his head, as if that would sort out his thoughts, and moved away from Caleb's form beside him. He heard him come after him, almost felt his hand reaching out to him again. And turned abruptly to face him with a tense, enraged expression. "HE'S STILL ALIVE!" He yelled, while Caleb just stood there, at a loss of words. "I was willing to give up everything so he would disappear for good! And I did! And it still wasn't enough! I wasn't enough! No matter what I do I'm useless! I'm never going to be good enough for anything or anyone! Or maybe wouldn't be, because, hey, apparently I'm dead! I'm dead and he's alive-!"
"HUNTER!"
...!
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...
Everything felt... so blurry. So fast.
Hunter only knew that he was breathing. Rapidly. That his eyes were stinging and his eyelids felt heavy. And wet like his cheeks. And he couldn't really move. Either due to all his tension or, more possibly, to Caleb's form cradling him, one of his hands rubbing gentle circles around his back.
"Are you..." Caleb begun, but didn't finish his question. He probably realised there was no point in doing so. "I'm going to pull away now. Okay? Please don't try to stand right away."
Hunter simply nodded at him, without a word and without a glance.
And Caleb pulled away from him, but still remained seated beside him, on the same rock he had placed him before. He wasn't looking at him either. From the look on his face, it was clear he couldn't do it.
Hunter pulled his legs closer, hugging his knees, and wiped his eyes, staring at the water.
...How deep could it be?
When they were standing it was merely covering their ankles. But he was still able to be under it... and Caleb pulled him out...!
He did it again.
"You pulled me back again. Didn't you?" Hunter asked, his gaze drifting over to him ever so slightly. "I was sinking and you pulled me back up."
Caleb nodded at him. "If I let you go under, you'd be gone for good. You're not ready for that yet."
"No, I guess not..." Hunter looked away again, gathering his knees closer. "Is that why you're still here?"
"No. Not exactly..." Caleb sighed, looking up, a forlorn expression clouding his face. "I arrived here the same way as you. But instead of someone pulling me out, I kicked my way up. At first I thought I'd stay until my family arrived. I didn't want to... pass on to the unknown without meeting with my wife one last time. Without meeting my child... But then I saw what Belos was doing to the Isles, the other witches... the grimwalkers..." He paused at this, locking eyes with Hunter for a brief second, before the latter looked away again. "So I decided to stay longer, to stay with them when they came here. I thought I could offer them some comfort, or maybe even closure, until they were ready to move on."
"And... they did? Even your family?"
"Yes. My family stayed for a while. For a lifetime or two..." He smiled fondly at this, but it didn't seem to last. "But eventually they felt ready to move on. I wanted to go with them, but... I couldn't. Not when I knew that my brother was still alive and would still keep sending people, even children, here, playing this twisted game of pretend...!" His almost growled those last words, his eyes narrowed, an angry flare inside them. But there seemed to also be something else inside them, something that Hunter was too familiar with: The glistening of unshed tears. However, it was quickly blinked away.
"...What were they like?" Hunter suddenly asked, much to the surprise of both of them. "The other... guards. Were they... like me?"
"Well... everyone had some things in common, like their kindness. But they were each one of a kind. No one was exactly like the other... no one was exactly like you or me."
Hunter noticed Caleb looking at him again. This time with a small, but earnest smile.
"You were worried about that, weren't you? Just because you... came from me, and look like me, doesn't mean you are me. You always were, you are and you'll always be Hunter. Never forget that."
Hunter's lip slightly pulled up, almost returning that smile.
If he said that he hadn't been thinking about this at times, like whenever he looked in the mirror, since finding out, like those nights in Hexside when he'd stay awake trying to find something anything on grimwalkers... he'd be lying.
And having it come from... Caleb, who was actually kind and gentle...
"And may I add, I really liked your haircut. Your friend did a good job."
"Yeah. She did..." Hunter said, again looking away, remembering once again what he lost (what he gave up)...
"I'm sorry, I-"
"No, it's okay..." Hunter cut Caleb's apology short, but that didn't seem to phase him much.
"You... want to talk about it or..."
"I... I wanted to live... all this time. It didn't really occur to me until now, but... I wanted to live so badly. And I threw it away, because I thought I could help. Because I thought I could take Belos down with me, and keep the people I love safe. But I just messed up again..." He hid his face on his knees, feeling the fresh tears forming in his eyes.
"No, don't say that." He heard Caleb's voice beside him, but it was quickly cut off. As if he suddenly ran out of words.
And he might as well have. As much as Hunter appreciated the effort, he couldn't really think of anything Caleb could say that would help with that...
...And he seemed to have realised it too.
Hunter heard him stand up and walk away...
"Luz, Willow, Gus, Amity, Vee, Camila."
"Huh?!" Hunter raised his head and shot up in shock, looking around and praying he wouldn't see any of them with Caleb.
"Here." Who about a second later, turned to him with a (this time bigger) smile and one of those strange cubes in his hands.
Hunter raised an eyebrow, staring between him and the cube in confusion.
"I told you I've been keeping an eye on you, didn't I? Well, this is how. Only problem is, that while you can see and hear them, they cannot. Now take it and check on your friends."
Not wasting a second, he grabbed the cube from Caleb's hands. And in a flash of light...
...
A large archway... no... A portal! Luz was standing not too far away with her back turned and-
"THAT'S the Belos you've been fighting this whole time?!" Camila's voice suddenly called out. Shrill, shocked. But Belos didn't appear to be there (Thank Titan...). He must've gone through the portal.
But where-?
"Guys. Hunter isn't moving!" Willow!
Hunter's chest tightened hearing the worry in her voice. Even more so, when the world turned and saw how horrified she looked. She and Gus, whose face could be seen just barely on the side.
"Vee, call an ambulance!" Camila said, as the view changed.
Vee pulled out her phone, as Luz, Amity and Camila came towards Willow, all of them with the same panicked expression, fearing or maybe even realizing the worst. Staring at... Hunter's lifeless body, his head resting on Willow's lap...
Everyone was frantic, worried, scared. Hunter didn't know who to focus on
"Do human doctors know about possession?"
"Or grimwalkers?"
"Possession?!"
"Grimwalkers?!"
"We still need to call a doctor!"
"I'm not getting cell reception..."
"What do we do?!"
...!
Was that... Flapjack?
He landed on Hunter's chest, barely able to make himself fly-
"You'll be okay, Hunter..."
...!
In a flash of light, everyone disappeared and Hunter was back in that strang place, Caleb forcefully pulling his arms, while the cube drifted away from his grip.
"No, not yet! Caleb, let me go!" Hunter called out, trying to pull away.
"Hunter, you're sinking!" Caleb called back and Hunter looked down to see that indeed he was sinking, the water now almost reaching his knees.
Did that mean he was really leaving? That he was actually dying?! Didn't he get to choose when to move on?!
He held back onto Caleb, looking him straight in the eyes, begging him not to let go, not to let him leave just yet!
And Caleb kept trying to pull him back up again, keep him afloat, but unlike before, this time it felt like he wasn't simply sinking. Something was... pulling him...!
They both looked down, as a bright light started glimmering from under the water, below Hunter. Every second getting stronger, warmer
"-nter."
...Hunter and Caleb looked at each other in shock, each to make sure that it really wasn't the other they just heard. But someone else. Someone they both knew...
"Hunter."
...!
Caleb let go.
Hunter was under the water. Into the light. And before him was-
"Flapjack?"
"Hello..." His palisman greeted him with a sad smile, his body full of scratches.
"What are you doing here? What's going on?" He asked, dreading the answer.
"I'm here to get you back."
"How?"
Flapjack didn't answer. He just flew closer to him.
"Flapjack?" Hunter insisted, his eyes growing wide, horrified.
"...It's going to be all right. Trust me."
"Flapjack, are you going to... give me your soul?!"
"...Yes." He sighed.
"No! I can't..."
"Hunter, please. It's the only way to save you-"
"Then I don't want it!" Hunter cut him off, pulling away. "Not like this! Not without you!"
"It's okay-"
"Don't say that! It's not!"
"Hunter, look at me! Whether I do this or not, I won't make it!" Flapjack suddenly yelled, but his voice quickly softened again. "Nothing can save me... but I can save you. Please. Go back there and live. Live for both of us. And live to spite the jerk that got us here."
Hunter honestly didn't know what else to say. Just a couple moments ago, he was talking about how he wanted to live. And now that he had a chance to have that again... It was coming with the cruelest price. Could he really do this? Could he keep on living knowing that his life was a trade fo that of his best and first friend?
"I agree."
...!
"Caleb...?!" Flapjack gasped, clearly not believing what he was seeing.
"Hello, buddy..." Caleb greeted warmly, as if he was seeing again...an old friend... an old palisman.
"Wait, what are you doing here?" Hunter wondered aloud, concerned all over again. "You said if you go under the water, you move on, you-"
"It's okay. I don't mind. Just as long as you do what Flapjack asked. And what I'm sure your predecessors would want as well. Live your life however you want. And if you see my brother again... kick his butt for us."
"But please be safe!" Flapjack piped up.
"Most of all."
Hunter looked between the two with an almost forced smile, that almost immediately fell apart when the light surrounding them got stronger.
When Flapjack flew closer to him.
When Caleb held his hand.
This was it...
"I'm so glad I got to meet you. Goodbye, Hunter."
"I'm so glad I got to meet you. Goodbye, Hunter."
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...
...
...
Hunter opened his eyes.
"Hey guys... Is everyone else okay?"
And this is the end of my first one-shot! Honestly, given my writing history, I consider this to be some sort of milestone. Thanks for reading, I really hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a review and stay safe. Byeeeeeee! :)