If there was one thing Hunter could say about himself, it was that he was always certain. There were right ways of doing things and wrong ways of doing things. Those who served the Titan's will were rewarded; those who spurned his gift were punished. As the mouthpiece of the Titan, the fountainhead of goodness and virtue, it was Emperor Belos's responsibility to put an end to wild magic and make sure the coven system spread throughout the Demon Realm. Thus, anything that accomplished this objective – no matter how underhanded or immoral it appeared to be – was good. Anything – and anyone who – stood in Belos's way was evil.

Hunter did not question his uncle. Not very often anyway. Certainly not twice. Belos was a great man. He was a very busy man who was spending his valuable time looking after his nephew, a kind and selfless act he'd done out of love for Hunter's deceased parents, murdered by wild witches in an incident so traumatic Hunter must have blocked it out of his memory. If Hunter thought Belos was making a mistake, logic dictated that it was, in fact, he who must have been wrong. Belos was the favored of the Titan and he could do anything he wanted. Punish Hunter in any way he chose. And even if it seemed unfair, even if it seemed cruel, it must not have been, because if it was, the Titan would have done something about it. And since he didn't, since he'd never listened to Hunter's prayers, even when he was being dipped in acid for questioning why Belos had to petrify the children in a wild witch encampment, then Belos had to be right.

That wasn't to say Hunter never questioned Belos inside his head. Belos could be…confusing sometimes. Yes. That was the word for it. The ways of the Titan were mysterious to mere mortals and so were the ways of his messenger. Hunter had to trust there was a greater plan involved. But for the life of him, he couldn't quite understand what it was right now. What was there to gain for sending Hunter to school? Especially since the last time he'd asked to go to school, he'd gotten whipped for his insolence.

But he knew better than to say a word against his uncle. Instead, he just stood quietly as Belos put on a hopelessly out of date outfit and an absurdly fake handlebar mustache, then walked with him to Hexside. Hunter wasn't quite sure why Belos bothered wearing a fake mustache since no one but Hunter knew what he looked like under the mask anyway. It was strange to see Belos looking like a normal person, walking among the crowd. He really must have had a distaste for spending time among commoners. He acted like the people around him were diseased, like spending time in their presence was going to infect him with something.

For Hunter, it was a wonderful, albeit unfortunately brief experience. Hunter had been sequestered in the castle for as long as he could remember. He'd only stepped foot outside of it twice, once out of curiosity and a second time to go to a healer to heal the wounds he received for his punishment for the first time. There were so many different kinds of witches and demons out there. They must have had all sorts of exciting stories to tell. Though Hunter was still confused about why he was going to Hexside, he was really looking forward to meeting kids his own age. After all, learning how to work with others was going to be a necessary skill when he became a coven scout when he turned twelve and then Golden Guard when he turned sixteen.

"Ah, Principal Bump, thank you for meeting with me," Belos said as the two of them stepped into Bump's office, twirling his moustache for some reason. Hunter had never seen a palisman worn on someone's head before. In fact, he'd never seen anyone use a palisman for anything but devouring before. "My name is Mr. Soleb and I come from…someplace far away. Yes, that'll do. This is my nephew Hunter, and I wish to enroll him in this fine school."

Bump tilted his head. "Ah. Well, it's unorthodox to accept new students at this point in the school year…" A bag of snails was suddenly on Bump's desk. "But, of course, for worthy individuals such as yourself, Mr. Soleb, we are readily prepared to make exceptions. We'll put him in the class with the other ten year olds…"

"My nephew is eight," Belos lied. "You will place him with the other eight year olds." Bump hesitated for a few seconds, then looked at the bag of snails and nodded. "I understand you have a human enrolled here. What can you tell me about her?"

Bump frowned. "I don't make it a habit of discussing my students with other people, Mr. Soleb, no matter how generous they may be. I'm sure you'd want me to exercise the same discretion with your nephew here."

Hunter expected Belos to become enraged at being denied something, but he just nodded. Perhaps he was persuaded by Bump's logic. Either way, Hunter was relieved Bump didn't give in so easily. Something about the idea of going to school really appealed to him. So far, his education had come from an ever changing collection of tutors, many of whom were resentful about being called in to tutor a child when they were experts in their fields.

"Now, Hunter, I expect you to do well here," Belos said in a warm, almost fatherly tone. "Mistakes won't be tolerated. Remember, the Titan demands excellence. And try to make friends."

Hunter nodded. He knew what Belos meant by that now. He understood why he was here. He was supposed to gain intelligence on the human Luz Noceda, and presumably her parents as well. It was sensible. Information about humans was quite spotty, almost as if someone was deliberately removing it, but everything Hunter had read indicated they were savage, hateful individuals. For the Titan's sake, some people even said they had a problem with two people of the same gender being together. What sort of person in their right mind had a problem with that? It was understandable Belos had concerns.

And Hunter would be the one to help resolve them. He was absolutely certain. With his keen mind, persistence, and charming nature, he'd unveil every single secret Luz had. Heck, by the time he was done with her, she'd probably be signing up to get a coven tattoo. Hunter rubbed his arm unconsciously where his own tattoo was. He was the youngest person to ever have a coven tattoo and bore it proudly, if secretly.

For some reason Bump seemed a bit uncomfortable with Belos. He deftly sidestepped Belos's further attempts for conversation and proceeded to lead Hunter to a classroom filled with kids. And they were running amok! Some of them were whispering to each other. Two of them were passing notes. And worst of all, a few of them weren't even paying attention to the teacher! Pure anarchy and chaos! This was why people should be branded with coven sigils from birth, Hunter decided. Without them, they were basically wild witches in training.

Hunter stood to attention while Bump and the vampire teaching the class – Miss Phoebe according to her nametag – spoke in whispered tones. When they spotted him standing at attention, they looked concerned for some reason. They must have been worrying Hunter wouldn't fit in, he decided. Well, the joke was on them. Hunter was about to become the most popular student in the class. He had a surefire, brilliant plan. It couldn't fail.

"Well, would you like to say a few words to the class?" Miss Phoebe said after Bump had left the classroom. "And, uh, you don't have to stand at attention, Hunter."

Hunter moved to a relaxed stance. "Thank you, ma'am," he said with a formal incline of his head. He peered out at his, well, peers. And there she was, in the back of the classroom, hanging out with a girl with pigtails and a Blight of all people. "You should all be deeply ashamed of yourselves!"

Gasps and whispers filled the classroom. Miss Phoebe looked flummoxed. "There is a natural hierarchy to the world," Hunter lectured, echoing one of his first memories of Belos. "At the top is the Titan, then Belos, then the leader of the Emperor's Coven, then the coven heads (though there's considerable debate about whether or not the last two should have the same rank or not), and then members of the Emperor's Coven, and then members of the other covens. They are followed by children, then beasts, then microorganisms, then inanimate objects, and finally wild witches at the very bottom."

Miss Phoebe opened and closed her mouth repeatedly. She seemed at a loss for words. Something about his speech was alarming her, but for the life of him Hunter couldn't figure out why. "Hunter…"

"You are children, as am I," Hunter went on. "It is our responsibility to heed and obey our elders and superiors. Disrespecting Miss Phoebe is an act of blasphemy against the Titan. I sincerely hope your actions today do not condemn your souls to eternal hellfire. I will not shed a tear if it does. I urge you to change your ways before –"

"That's enough!" Miss Phoebe snapped. "Hunter, it is my job to discipline my students, not yours." Hunter could feel his cheeks flushing in embarrassment. Miss Phoebe was right! He had vastly overstepped his bounds. "You'll stay in here during recess, Hunter. I have some concerns that need addressing."

Hunter slinked to his assigned seat, barely able to keep his head up from the force of the embarrassment he was feeling. He had really messed things up, hadn't he? Now he'd lost the favor of Miss Phoebe, and only a few minutes had passed since arriving in the classroom! At least he no doubt had Luz's respect for alerting her to her flaws and giving her an opportunity to repent her actions before the Titan.

Unfortunately, his speech didn't seem to make any impact on the kids. Not only were they just as rambunctious as ever, but for some reason they seemed to hate him. Hunter couldn't figure out why. If he were in their shoes, he'd appreciate a chance to change his ways. Many were the times he wished someone had pointed out his flaws before Belos had a chance to punish him for them.

As soon as recess began and the kids were all out of the classroom, Hunter took off his shirt and assumed the punishment position, placing himself on the floor with his arms spread out so his arms and legs formed a cross, readying himself mentally for the blows to come. It didn't usually help. No matter how many times he told himself he deserved his punishments, some part of his ungrateful brain was frightened. Maybe one day, he'd manage to train himself to release the fear of a necessary process, but that day was not today.

"Hunter, what in the Titan's name are you doing?!" Miss Phoebe asked, sounding incredibly alarmed and panicked. Hunter winced. Of course he was being too forward. He was acting like he had a right to decide what his punishment was. "Put your shirt back on right now!"

Hunter's face burned as he quickly put his shirt back on and stood at attention. "Hunter, sweetie, is this how you're punished at home?" Hunter didn't understand the question. Wasn't this how everyone was punished? That's what Belos had told him. So he just nodded.

Miss Phoebe bit her lip hard enough to draw blood, which her vampiric instincts caused her tongue to quickly lap up. "Hunter, this is not how things are done in school. We don't practice corporal punishment. I don't hit people. I've never harmed a child before in my life, and I'm certainly not going to start now."

Hunter scoffed internally. She should have known someone like Miss Phoebe would be soft. Why would a wild witch send her ward somewhere where the teachers treated children as they were supposed to be treated? But aloud, he said, "Yes, ma'am."

Miss Phoebe seemed to be at a loss for words for a few moments. "You shouldn't lecture your peers like that, Hunter. How will you ever make friends with them that way?"

Hunter opened his mouth to deliver a respectful but incisive retort, but then he paused. Miss Phoebe, as misguided as she was, did have a bit of a point. His job wasn't to save anyone's souls. It was to befriend Luz. He was on a mission of infiltration, not evangelism. Perhaps it was necessary to lower himself down to her level so as to serve the Titan. After all, had Belos not expounded how sometimes it was necessary to reject common morality to serve a higher cause?

"I'll try to do better, ma'am," Hunter said finally.

Phoebe nodded slowly. "You'll find the world does things differently than your parents do. Trying to force the world to fit your mold doesn't usually work."

"My parents are dead, Miss Phoebe," Hunter said softly. "They were murdered by wild witches. I live with my uncle."

"I'm sorry about your parents, Hunter," Miss Phoebe said, sounding like she genuinely meant it. "You can go to recess now. I have to talk to Principal Bump about something. You're not in trouble."

Miss Phoebe left the classroom. Hunter left shortly thereafter. He was about to go out to the slayground, but then he paused. If his suspicions were correct, Miss Phoebe's discussion with Principal Bump probably involved him. For all he knew, they could be planning on removing him from the school. It was probably in his best interests to listen in and figure out what was going on. So he stealthily followed Miss Phoebe to the principal's office and looked in through the keyhole.

"…and I am telling you, Hieronymus, he is being abused at home!" Miss Phoebe hissed, and Hunter meant that literally. Vampires could be scary when they were enraged and by the looks of it, Miss Phoebe was steaming mad. "We have to get him removed from his care."

Principal Bump gestured at the bag of snails still on his desk. "As you can see, it's not quite that simple."

"I never thought you were a man to be swayed by money when children's welfare was at stake," Miss Phoebe snarled.

"You misunderstand me, Phoebe," Principal Bump said coldly. "A man who can afford to spend this much as a bribe can afford to spend even more to bribe social services. Any formal complaint we make would be destined to fail. And chances are good a failed attempt would only exacerbate his treatment at home."

Miss Phoebe scowled but did not seem able to dispute his point. "Then what do we do?"

"The only thing we can do, my friend, is to provide as safe a space for Hunter as we can," Principal Bump said. "This gives me no pleasure, as you well know. But there's nothing more we can do."

"Well, I know that if I ever meet this uncle of his, I'm going to punch him in the face," Miss Phoebe vowed, slamming her fist on the desk for emphasis. She started walking towards the door. Hunter quickly hid against a wall, completely exposed to anyone who would look in his direction, but thankfully Miss Phoebe was too enraged to notice him.

Hunter hightailed it to the slayground, Miss Phoebe's words churning in his mind. He wasn't abused. The very idea was silly. Maybe ordinary children could be abused, but not Hunter. He was more than a child. He was a chosen of the Titan. The Titan had big plans for him. Belos had said so and Belos was never wrong. Besides, even if he could be abused, he wasn't. Sure, superficially the way he was treated may have been akin to how abused children were treated, but it wasn't the same. Abused children were treated that way out of hatred. Belos loved him.

For the rest of recess, Hunter tried his best to repair his reputation among the students to very little success. They looked at him with contempt and scorn. Miss Phoebe had been right. He'd alienated them. Luz was no different. She and her friends avoided him like he was contagious. Hunter couldn't help but feel despair, but he forced himself to stay calm and in control. Missions weren't completed overnight. He had time to regain the trust he lost.

As the days went on, Hunter was able to make some progress in this goal, though not as much as he'd liked. He'd found something of a niche helping students with their homework. Hunter was rightfully proud of his intelligence and found the homework they were being assigned to be, well, child's play. Slowly but surely, he was making an impression on the students. They seemed to regard him as a geek and a weirdo, but not the enemy they'd seen him as when he first arrived. To aid him in his infiltration, Hunter no longer chastised the students directly for their crimes, sins, and fashion mistakes. Instead, he just reported them to Miss Phoebe or Principal Bump depending on the severity of their crimes, taking care to make sure it didn't leak back to him.

Unfortunately, it turned out he wasn't careful enough. One day, right after school, Boscha and several of her cronies jumped him in a hallway. Hunter found himself most disgusted by Boscha out of all his peers. She was of noble blood, the daughter of two of the most prominent members of the Potions Coven. It was whispered one of Boscha's mothers may even become coven leader one day, though they had stiff competition from that spot from Vitimir. Boscha was supposed to carry herself with a dignity befitting her station, and she did the exact opposite.

"Looks like we finally caught ourselves a rat," Boscha said, her three eyes glittering with sadistic delight. Two of her cronies pinned him against the wall. Hunter did not like his chances. There were three of them and only one of him and he couldn't do magic. "I was wondering who told the teacher about that little lesson we tried to teach on the half witch. And now I know."

Hunter delivered an impressive sneer at her. He didn't regret his actions one iota. He had no idea what was in that potion Boscha had slipped into Willow's drink at lunch, but whatever it was, it must have been bad, because Boscha was suspended for three days and that was probably markedly reduced from whatever punishment she should have received since her mothers were on the PCA. "Bring it on, quarter witch!"

One of the cronies punched him in the stomach. Hunter didn't even grunt. He'd taken worse. Boscha pulled a potion vial out of her pocket. "Since you like Willow so much, you get to take it instead of her."

Just before she could pour the potion into his mouth, it was knocked out of her hand by what appeared to be a large thorn moving at a very fast speed. It landed on the floor and shattered. Hunter watched, relieved and confused in equal measure, as Luz, Amity, and Willow strode over to them. Amity had a small but fearsome looking abomination trotting alongside her and Willow had two more thorns hovering in the air, ready to fire at anyone who stood in her way. Such strength! She'd do the Emperor's Coven proud. And the human, well, the human wasn't using any magic, of course, but Hunter didn't think that'd make her any less dangerous in a fight.

"You leave him alone," Luz snarled. "We don't like bullies around here."

"It figures you'd defend the freak," Boscha said, trying and failing to hide her fear with false bravado.

Luz's face twitched. Those words had struck a chord in her. Had she been subject to such words back in her human school? She was pretty strange, after all. "Get the heck away from him, Boscha! Or do you want to see what a human can do?"

"Whatever," Boscha said dismissively. "You losers aren't worth my time anyway." She and her cronies scurried away.

"Are you okay?" Luz asked urgently. It took a few seconds for Hunter to realize she was talking to him. "Did she hurt you?"

Hunter's first reaction was to say she didn't. It would have been mostly true. He could and had walked off much worse injuries. However…it may have been more advantageous to play on her sympathy. "Yeah…a little. I mean, I'm tough, I can handle it…"

"Wanna hang out with us at the Owl House?" Luz asked. Hunter blinked. If he'd known all he had to do was almost get poisoned by Boscha, he would provoked her ages ago.

Amity and Willow took Luz aside. "You can't be serious," Amity said. "He's a boy!"

Luz shrugged. "I mean, we've all got our flaws."

"He's a tattletale," Willow said. "I'm pretty sure he's gotten you into trouble at least six times this last week."

Hunter raised a hand. "I won't do it again," he offered.

"There, you see," Luz said, sounding triumphant. "Look, I know what it's like to be alone. To be the weird kid. To be the freak and the nerd and the target of all the bullies. I can't let that happen to anyone else."

Hunter felt pretty darn smug as the three of them led him towards the Owl House, home of the legendary leader of the wild witches, Edalyn Clawthorne, the person Hunter hated most in the entire universe. The woman who was, no doubt, responsible for the murder of his parents. Without her, he'd have been raised by parents who loved him instead of Belos. Who also loved him! Obviously. But, well, Belos was just Hunter's uncle. His parents would have loved him as much as Belos but…well, their love would have been, um…

Undivided. There, that was a good word. Belos rightfully spent a great deal of his time fulfilling the Titan's will. Whereas Hunter's father, Belos's brother, would have been able to just focus on being a parent to Hunter. And maybe he would been able to spend more time with him. Maybe even love him more. More often! Yes, that's what Hunter meant.

The Owl House hadn't been what Hunter had been expecting. He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, to be honest. Maybe the flayed corpses of people like his parents nailed to the walls? Ominous lava pits everywhere? Suede couches? (Hunter despised the texture of suede.) But it wasn't quite like that. It was…cozy. There was a feeling of comfort that permeated the place. Well, once you got past the overly enthusiastic house demon guarding the place, anyway.

Since Hunter was completely out of his element, he let Luz take the lead. The four of them played a game where they all pretended to be characters in the Good Witch Azura novels. Luz was Azura and Amity was Hecate, Azura's worst friend and best enemy. Willow played Paulina, Azura's childhood friend. And Hunter played Sir William, who was apparently supposed to be Azura's love interest, but according to Luz, any shipper worth their salt wouldn't be caught dead shipping Azura and Sir William. The two of them were apparently together in canon due to heteronormativity (whatever that was) and true fans of the series only shipped Hezura (and sometimes Pazura, though Hepazura was gaining traction these days). It all went over Hunter's head, but that was okay. The point was, he was succeeding in his mission.

As time went on, Hunter found himself hanging out at the Owl House after every single school day. Matters were still awkward between him and Amity, but Willow was starting to warm up to him and Luz had basically made him an essential part of the friend group. Hunter was starting to get to know the other denizens of the Owl House as well.

There was Eda the Owl Lady, of course. Hunter wasn't impressed by her. He'd been expecting a powerful, dangerous juggernaut of pure evil, but most of the time Eda seemed to be more of a danger to herself than anyone else. Life in the woods and with her family must have made her soft. In all honesty, Hunter couldn't imagine her leading attacks on villages, let alone burning his parents to death. While she was a disgustingly chaotic individual whose very existence was a mockery of the Titan, she didn't seem to be actively engaged in rebellion against the government. Maybe Belos had overestimated her somehow?

Then there were Eda's partners, Luz's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Noceda. Okay, yes, they denied being Eda's partners. But according to Luz, Azura's continued denial of having feelings for Hecate was a sure sign that those feelings actually existed. Luz seemed to be quite authoritative in such matters, so Hunter trusted her judgment, at least in this specific matter. If they denied it so often and so vehemently, it must have been true.

At any rate, Mr. and Mrs. Noceda were very good parents, even if they were shamefully lax in disciplining Luz. They truly loved her with all their heart. She wasn't the only kid they had, though, much to Hunter's surprise. They were also raising Luz's cousin Vee, who was not attending Hexside for reasons still unknown to him. He had sensed that it was not a subject it would behoove him to dwell on and decided to avoid the subject as much as possible.

Utilizing the utmost in subtlety, Hunter made it his business to interrogate the Nocedas about life in the Human Realm. Hunter was quite surprised to learn that technology in the Human Realm was far more advanced than technology in the Demon Realm. They had cell phones which combined the functions of a scroll and a crow. They had used science to walk upon the foot of their very moon. They used mechanical devices called airplanes that could circumnavigate the globe in mere dozens of hours.

When he had reported this back to Belos, he had refused to believe him. The very idea the Human Realm had advanced so far (from what, Hunter couldn't help but wonder) filled him with a rage few things did. However, since the idea was so far fetched, Hunter had planned for Belos's disbelief by sneaking out some books detailing human advances. Once Belos saw the truth for his own eyes, he was able to calm down. Well, insofar as he wasn't enraged at Hunter anymore, then.

"How is this possible?" Belos muttered. He probably was not intending for Hunter to hear, but Hunter had always had extraordinarily good hearing, far better than the average witch. "Four hundred years is a long time, but still…how could humanity have accomplished this without divine help?"

He started pacing around the throne room. Hunter knew he should have left, but for some reason, he stayed and listened. "Furthermore, most of the advancement seems to have happened within the last century. Perhaps the source of this advancement is the exact opposite," he decided. "Yes. I detect infernal influence. It is the only explanation."

Belos spun around and looked surprised to see Hunter in the room. Fortunately for Hunter, he didn't seem terribly bothered by it. "Tell me, my boy, do you see any…echoes of technology or culture from this realm from what you have learned of the Human Realm?"

"Well, yes, actually, sire," Hunter said, relaxing much more now that he knew he wasn't going to be in trouble for listening in on Belos's private thoughts. "I've noticed a wide variety of similarities. For example, instead of Penstagram, they have something called Instagram, I believe, which –"

Belos put a hand up. "That is all I need to hear, Hunter. The path forward for me is clear." Hunter was very glad it was so clear for Belos. It wasn't nearly so clear for him. "You are doing good work, nephew. The Titan is proud of you. He has told me so himself." Hunter beamed. "When you have fully gained the humans' trust, I want you to tell the male adult human I wish to meet with him. It is very important." Hunter bowed his head in acknowledgement.

Time went on and Hunter found himself settling into a routine. It was a very different routine than he was used to. He spent more and more time at the Owl House while not at school, in the name of continuing his infiltration. If Hunter didn't know any better, he would have thought Belos was actually pleased to not have him underfoot, though of course that couldn't be the case. Though Eda was annoying in the extreme (and since when the hell had he been on first name terms with a wild witch), and Luz and her friends were actually pretty fun, it was the Noceda parents Hunter enjoyed spending time with the most.

There was just something about the Noceda parents Hunter was drawn to. They had so much love in their hearts. They'd even gone to the trouble of taking in Vee after her parents passed, though Hunter questioned the wisdom of bringing her to a completely different realm so soon after such a profound change in her life. Mr. Noceda was almost as mischievous as Eda sometimes, but when the situation called for it, he could be serious and solemn. He really felt like Mr. Noceda understood him. He felt so incredibly safe in Mr. Noceda's presence. Mrs. Noceda was the opposite of her husband: usually a levelheaded voice of reason, but with the ability to indulge her daughter's moods easily and embrace the madness that seemed to be the order of the day at the Owl House.

Spending so much time around the Nocedas made Hunter feel things he'd never felt before. Things that seemed disloyal to his uncle. He kept on fantasizing about what it would be like for them to raise him. Especially after he learned they not only never hit Luz, but were as appalled as Miss Phoebe had been at the very notion. Hunter had always been taught that the pain he experienced was a necessary learning experience to make him a well adjusted member of society, but Luz seemed to be doing more or less okay. Perhaps, he concluded, it was different for humans.

Though the Hunter of just a few months ago would have been appalled, Hunter had even helped the Nocedas sell human junk to the populace of Bonesborough. It was on one of these forays that Hunter discovered something that turned his worldview upside down. It was a book called the Bible. And it was eerily similar to the main religious text of the Boiling Isles, the Malleus Maleficarum, to an almost absurd degree. It wasn't an exact 1:1 reproduction, but large swathes of the book were copied almost word for word.

"What the hell is this?!" Hunter demanded. "What is this…mockery?!"

Mr. Noceda blinked. "That's the Bible, Hunter. It's the religious text of my faith."

"Your faith is plagiarizing the word of the Titan," Hunter snapped. "As written by the great and glorious Emperor Belos over two hundred years ago."

Mr. Noceda looked absolutely befuddled. "Hunter, this text was written thousands of years ago in our world. Are you sure about this?"

"Am I…?" Hunter couldn't even begin to find the right words. Was he sure that rain boiled?! Was he sure that the sun shined?! Of course he was bloody sure! "YES! Yes, I'm sure! Look at this passage here," he said, pointing at Exodus 22:18. "'Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.'"

Mrs. Noceda's face went pale. "Hunter, that's…that's not referring to you. That refers to human practitioners of magic. Some people think it refers to just practitioners of evil magic, actually."

Hunter waved a hand dismissively. "That's not what I'm talking about. This is near word for word identical to the emperor's warning for us to not suffer a wild witch to live, as he wrote in the Malleus Maleficarum."

Mr. Noceda's eyes widened with horror. Hunter didn't know what was going on in his head. He didn't like it at all. Something he'd just said had been very, very bad. Hunter knew that much. But for the life of him, he could not figure out what it was. "We need to get back to the Owl House now," he said tightly, looking around him like he was expecting some monster to sneak up out of nowhere.

"But –"

"NOW, HUNTER!" Mr. Noceda shouted. Hunter looked over at Mrs. Noceda for context, but she seemed to be just as confused as he was. However, despite this confusion, she didn't seem like she was going to argue with her husband.

The three of them quickly moved to the Owl House. Eda had taken the children, even Vee, out to a carnival, so they were alone in the house. Well, unless one counted Hooty, which Hunter didn't. "The Malleus Maleficarum is a text from the fifteenth century dedicated to the extermination of witches, Hunter," Mr. Noceda said as soon as they were all seated on the couch. "This, combined with the extensive plagiarism from the Bible, leads me to wonder if Belos might be human – and have a grudge against witches. Have you seen any proof of that?"

Hunter thought to himself. The idea was ridiculous, wasn't it? But…then again, Belos had never used magic unless one counted the manipulation of his curse without the aid of staves. And Hunter, his nephew, didn't have magic or even a bile sac…no, no, this was ludicrous. But the idea kept on ricocheting through his mind. Belos…a human. He had seemed rather shocked to learn of the progress in the Human Realm, almost as if he himself had some familiarity with it.

And then he realized what Mr. Noceda had just asked him. He'd asked Hunter if he'd seen any proof of Belos being human. Not from what he'd heard. From what he'd seen. His cover was blown!

"I don't know what you're talking about," Hunter stammered.

Mrs. Noceda reached out and squeezed his hand. "Hunter, sweetie, we know. We've known all along."

"How?" Hunter demanded. "I thought I was doing such a good job!"

"You were brought to the school by a man whose name was Belos spelled backwards," Mr. Noceda said gently. "You weren't really all that subtle, I'm afraid, niño. It's okay! We understand you didn't have a choice. And we don't have anything to hide." Mrs. Noceda looked a little nervous at that statement; clearly he was lying or wrong. But right now, Hunter was surprised to realize he didn't care.

Hunter just didn't understand it. Nothing they were saying made any sense at all. "You brought me, an enemy, into your house? In the same space as your daughter?!"

"You're not the enemy, Hunter," Mrs. Noceda said firmly. "Belos may be the enemy, but you're not. You're a child. A badly treated, abused child, who –"

"I am not abused!" Hunter screamed at her, and then flinched. It was the first time he'd ever raised his voice to an adult in his life. He waited for the blows to land, and then cursed himself for his reaction. Not only were the Nocedas ardently against such punishment, it hardly disproved their argument. "I can't be. He loves me!"

He ran for the door. He needed fresh air. That was all. He needed to get back to the castle, where things had made sense and his uncle loved him and didn't abuse him, because abuse happened to bad people, and he wasn't bad. "Hooty, don't let him go!" Mr. Noceda snapped.

He appeared to regret his words immediately, but not half as much Hunter regretted them when Hooty swallowed him whole. He must have blocked out whatever eldritch things were inside of Hooty because the next thing he knew, he was being spit out into the basement.

Mr. Noceda took a seat next to him. "I'm sorry I did that, Hunter," he said, sounding genuinely sorry. "You're free to leave if you like, but please, please stay and listen to me."

"Belos wants to meet with you," Hunter said, never one to not press the advantage even at a time of extreme emotional turmoil. "Meet with him and I'll hear you out."

"Deal," Mr. Noceda said and held out his hand. Hunter thought Mr. Noceda was asking him to make an Everlasting Oath, but then he remembered neither of them had any magic with which to bind it. Instead, the two of them just shook hands normally. "My father wasn't a good man, Hunter. He saw sin and weakness everywhere, especially in me. He…he beat me, Hunter."

"And you…you didn't deserve it?" Hunter asked, afraid of the answer.

"Well, for starters, nothing deserves that sort of punishment," Mr. Noceda said firmly. "But, yes, I didn't deserve it. He, like your uncle, thought he was doing it in the name of his god."

Hunter had to admit that there were similarities between Mr. Noceda's father and Belos when he put it like that, but there were also differences. Belos, unlike the elder Mr. Noceda, spoke to the Titan. Somehow, Hunter didn't think the Titan was the kind of deity to forget to mention that, oh, yeah, it's not cool to hit your nephew. The Titan loved everyone (except wild witches) and such a deity would have done something about Hunter's treatment if he disagreed with him.

"If hurting me is so bad," Hunter said, in the tone of voice of one about to lay down a trump card, "then why does the Titan keep speaking to Belos? Why hasn't he struck him down?"

Mr. Noceda gave a sad smile. "This is the part where you're expecting me to have a pithy answer, isn't it? Thing is, Hunter, I don't have one. I don't know why the Titan let you suffer any more than I know why God let me suffer. All I know is that sometimes, God helps those who helps themselves, and I imagine the Titan isn't any different."

"He loves me," Hunter said, far weaker than he liked. He had to keep on hanging onto that one, undeniable fact, because what else was left?

Mr. Noceda sighed. "My father loved me too." The silence felt heavy and ponderous. Suffocating, almost. "Hunter, you're not safe in that palace. We can argue all the live long day about whether your uncle is the messenger of the Titan or not. And maybe he is; what the hell do I know?" Hunter knew very well he didn't believe that, not if Mr. Noceda believed Belos was some sort of…of witch hunter. "But you deserve to be in an environment where you don't have to be afraid of the people who are supposed to keep you safe!"

Hunter stood up. "Mr. Noceda, I appreciate your concern. It means more to me than you know. But my uncle has great plans for me, and it would be blasphemy to abandon them just so I can be safe." He winced. He had not meant for that to sound like he wasn't already safe.

Mr. Noceda grabbed his arm, looking frantic. Hunter flinched and hated himself for it. The more he flinched whenever an adult grabbed him, the harder it would be to convince the Nocedas he wasn't being abused, to say nothing of himself. "Hunter, please. I'm begging you. Don't go back."

"I have to," Hunter said. He was resigned to it. It was his destiny, his lot in life.

"No, wait, I have an idea!" Mr. Noceda shouted. "Let's make a deal. If I can prove Belos doesn't care about you during our meeting, then you'll stay here with my family from now on. If I don't, then I'll never speak of this again."

Hunter laughed. "Sure, you do that and I'll stay here with you." He didn't think for an instant Mr. Noceda was ever going to do that, especially when he explained his ridiculous plan to accomplish it. But agreeing would be worth it if it finally put an end to this nonsense.

Hunter received a great deal of praise from Belos for setting up the meeting but it felt…wrong. As if Belos was slipping on a mask of a kind, doting uncle. Hunter hated himself for letting the Nocedas' misguided concerns get in his head. But he hated the idea they may have been right even more. That was why Hunter was looking forward to the meeting going ahead and Belos proving, once and for all, that he truly loved Hunter. Then things could get back to normal.

On the day of the meeting, Hunter joined Eda and Mrs. Noceda in the living room of the Owl House. Eda had made a scrying potion so they could spy on Mr. Noceda's meeting with Belos. Hunter was worried that Belos would somehow detect it, but Eda was pretty sure they'd be fine, and, well, she was the expert in such things. He just hoped they wouldn't regret it.

"Mr. Noceda, I am so sorry it took me so long to realize a kindred spirit had appeared in these Isles," Belos said as Kikimora led Mr. Noceda into one of the drawing rooms. Much to Hunter's shock, Belos had taken off his mask for the meeting. Getting Mr. Noceda on his side must have been very important to him. "But men of faith such as ourselves inevitably are drawn to one another, are we not?"

Mr. Noceda peered at him as if he looked familiar and then his eyes widened. "You're Philip Wittebane."

Belos – Philip? – looked delighted. "My, my! I had no clue my name still was spoken to this day. Though, of course, I imagine my fight against evil was an example for witch hunters throughout the ages."

"Witch hunter," Hunter whispered. He could feel the blood draining from his face. They were right, weren't they? Right about Belos being a human. But that didn't mean he was evil like they were insinuating. Like the Nocedas had said, the human and demonic term witch had two different meanings.

Mr. Noceda nodded. "There are stories told about you to this day. They say you and your brother were lured into another world by a witch…"

Belos's face twitched. "I do not wish to discuss my brother."

"Of course," Mr. Noceda said with a polite inclination of his head. "My apologies, Mr. Wittebane. You went to a great deal of trouble to arrange this meeting. I can't help but wonder why – and why you're using a child as an errand boy."

Belos steepled his fingers, trying his best to look calm and wise and fatherly, all very difficult things to do, no doubt, given how much Mr. Noceda had rattled him with talk of Hunter's father. "I have no great love for your colleagues in the Spanish Inquisition, but I know we are on the same side, the side of the Lord. I wasn't expecting your superiors to send an agent here."

Mrs. Noceda guffawed. "The Spanish Inquisition?! I didn't expect that!"

"Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!" Eda said and gave Mrs. Noceda a high five. Hunter didn't get it.

Mr. Noceda was clearly as taken aback by this obviously false assumption as his wife and girlfriend were. "Yes, well, our chief weapon is surprise. Surprise and fear. Fear and surprise. Our two weapons are fear and surprise and ruthless efficiency. Our three weapons –" He cleared his throat. "As I was saying, we in the Inquisition only recently learned of this place and sent me to investigate it."

Belos scoffed. "There is no investigation that needs to occur. Everyone in this realm is evil and must be exterminated. Already, demonic influence has seeped into our world! Can you not feel it?" Mr. Noceda merely arched an eyebrow in response.

Hunter was horrified to find out he was crying. All this time, Belos had really been lying about the Titan speaking to him! About everything! But not about loving him, he hastened to remind himself. Hunter was a valued part of Belos's family, the only family he had left after his brother's death. He just had to keep on holding onto that.

Mrs. Noceda wrapped her arm around his shoulders. It felt nice in a way that none of Belos's shows of affections had felt. "It's okay, cariño," she whispered. "It's okay to cry."

"Unless you yourself have already been corrupted by Clawthorne's malevolent influence, by her satanic wiles!" Belos's voice grew louder and shriller with each word. "All Clawthornes are insatiable harlots!" Hunter didn't know what a harlot was, but it didn't sound good.

Mr. Noceda glared at him. "Mr. Wittebane, you forget yourself! You speak to an emissary of the Holy Church, a servant of God. You speak of these creatures as evil, yet you yourself rule them. Do you not bear responsibility for their actions?"

"I rule over them so that I may place them in a position where they can be destroyed in one fell swoop," Belos said, sounding a calmer than before. "I will not divulge details to a papist such as yourself."

Mr. Noceda rolled his eyes. "Mr. Wittebane, like you, my only reason for associating with Clawthorne is to serve a greater purpose. I am only using her to gain intelligence, nothing more." Eda winced despite knowing he was lying. "And we have gotten away from the crux of this meeting. The Inquisition is considering aiding your cause, but my superiors will have reservations. They will require a show of good faith on your part. We want the boy."

Hunter drew himself up. This was it. This was the moment when Belos would defend him, when he'd prove his love by refusing Mr. Noceda's demands, by kicking him out of his palace in a blind fury. And hopefully not by trying to kill him, but if Mr. Noceda did die at the hands of Belos's wrath, he had sort of brought it on himself by making such an insulting demand.

But that didn't happen. Instead, Belos said, without even hesitating for a second, "Done. He's yours."

"NO!" Hunter screamed. This couldn't be happening. This was a sick joke! A bad dream. Eda must have doctored the footage somehow! "You did this!" Hunter said to Eda.

"Kid, you think I'd spend time trying to trick a ten year old?" Eda shot back. Hunter didn't have a response to that.

Mr. Noceda leaned forward, unable to keep the concern out of his face. "Perhaps you misunderstood me, Mr. Wittebane. We want to gain full and permanent custody of your nephew Hunter."

"Yes, yes, it's no big deal, I can just make another one," Belos said with a dismissive wave of his hand. A tremendous sob erupted, involuntarily, from Hunter's chest as he realized the truth that had been staring him in the face the whole time.

His uncle had never loved him.

His uncle had abused him.

And Hunter was the biggest moron in existence for ever falling for it for a second.

Mr. Noceda's face twitched. "I see," he said, unable to keep coldness out of his voice and apparently not even bothering to try. "Well, it would seem in that case we have an accord." He stood up and charged out of the room. They kept the scrying spell active for a while, but Belos didn't do or say anything more incriminating than lying down on a sofa and closing his eyes with a contented smile on his face.

Which was pretty darn incriminating in of itself now that Hunter thought about it.

Eda deactivated the scrying spell and awkwardly stepped out of the room. Hunter was glad. The last person he wanted to be comforted by was the woman who may or may not have seduced his father.

He looked Mrs. Noceda in the eyes. "I am so, so sorry," he whispered. "I'm a fool."

"You have nothing to apologize for, Hunter," Mrs. Noceda said firmly. "On the contrary, you have shown great strength and wisdom beyond the ability of most those your age."

"Can…can I stay here?" Hunter asked, hating how small and weak and childish his voice sounded.

Mrs. Noceda ruffled his hair like a mother would. "Of course, sweetie. We'd be honored to add you to our family. We're not going to let that man get to you again. You can even call me mom if you want."

A part of Hunter wanted that. The greater part of him just wanted to, well, scream his head off until he was numb, but he'd settle for getting sleep. "Can I call you Camila?"

Camila kissed him on the forehead. "Of course, mijo. Whatever makes you feel better."