When Hunter and Varian started dating, they kept their relationship secret from the emperor, and thanks to the Penstagram that Darius gave them, they could talk more frequently. Hunter even had Flapjack bring Varian a few homemade gifts when he couldn't get away from his duties. He always had to hide his Penstagram from his uncle; he knew his uncle was in deep debt with Belos and he didn't want to make things worse. One night, Hunter's uncle came into their room bone tired from his duties. He almost collapsed to the ground but thankfully Hunter caught him and helped him walk towards his bed.
Hunter looked at his uncle with worry, things were getting worse for them. Every night, Hunter would always ask his uncle why they couldn't just leave the castle, but every time his uncle would always say they couldn't. Hunter waited until his uncle fell asleep then he snuck out to the Owl House to see Varian. Varian had spent the day going over Philip's diary with Luz finding unfinished glyph combos. So far, they found a wind glyph, a water glyph, a petrification glyph, and a demon glyph which they will never use. Luz thought one of them could help with the portal door, but she had no luck.
Hunter showed up at the Owl House on Flapjack; Varian was happy to see him, and Hunter told him that he had something very special planned. Varian wanted to use Sapphire to follow Hunter, but he had Varian ride on Flapjack like a couple. Varian thought it was kind of cheesy, but it was a sweet gesture. Hunter took Varian to a cliffside that no one went to, not even the emperor's scouts. He covered Varian's eyes with his hands; he uncovered his eyes to reveal a lovely picnic set up with food Varian could digest. "Hunter, how did you...?" Varian asked.
"Just wait. It gets better." Hunter stated.
They sat down on the blanket when suddenly, the night sky was lit with a few lanterns. Varian couldn't help but blush at Hunter's romantic gesture. The two spend hours eating, talking, and just hanging out. Hours had passed before Hunter brought Varian back to the Owl House. He waved Varian goodbye before heading back to the castle, unfortunately, trouble started brewing. When Hunter returned to the castle, he made sure that Flapjack was well hidden before sneaking back inside. But he got caught by Belos himself; beside him were two scouts who had dragged Hunter's uncle out of their room.
"Emperor Belos?!" Hunter asked in surprise, "What, what brings you here this late?"
Belos threw some papers in Hunter's face and that was when he saw what they were; all the letters that he and Varian had written to each other. "Is this what I trained you for Hunter? Ditching your duties and consulting with wild witches?!" Belos shrieked.
Hunter tried to protest but he knew that it was useless; Belos had found out about his biggest secret. But a wicked grin spread across Belos's masked face, he knew just how to jail the Owl Lady and her children. He ordered one of his scouts to retrieve Varian from the Owl House and bring him to the castle. Then he ordered Hunter to get dressed in his Golden Guard uniform and join him in the throne room. Hunter refused to obey Belos's order "I'm done being your puppet." Hunter stated.
But Belos had ways of making Hunter obey him; he ordered the scouts to lock Hunter's uncle up in their room. As the scouts dragged Hunter's uncle away, Belos told Hunter that he would release his uncle and him if he obeyed Belos. Hunter had no choice; he went up to his room and changed into his Golden Guard uniform. Back at the Owl House, the scouts that Belos ordered had rounded up Eda, Luz, King, Varian, and Ruddiger. They dragged Varian and his friends towards the castle, but they kept Eda, Luz, King, and Varian in the wagon while they cuffed Varian and took him to the throne room.
The scouts forced Varian to his knees in front of Belos as he sat on his throne with a large thumping heart echoing behind Belos. Varian shouted at Belos to release him and his friends, but Belos just scoffed at him. "You may run the Isle, but there are some of us who cannot be bullied. Even some witches." Varian confidently spoke.
"You mean like that Golden Guard? Such a bright and talented boy." Belos said with no remorse.
"I'll tell him you said so," Varian stated.
"Oh, no need. He can hear for himself. Can't you, child?" Belos claimed.
Then out of the shadows, Hunter walked out in his Golden Guard uniform with a painful expression on his face. Varian was too stunned to even speak; he thought that the witch he loved had betrayed him. Hunter tried to walk over to Varian, but Belos stopped him and whispered in his ear to not forget their deal. Hunter kept still like he was made of stone as he fought back tears. "How could you? I trusted you!" Varian shouted.
"Please, Varian, let me explain..."
"Now, now, Hunter. Don't trouble the boy with your problems." Belos interrupted, "I'll make you a deal, human. You leave the Owl Lady and join the Emperor's Coven. You'll have the best equipment, knowledge at your fingertips, and even time with Hunter. Refuse, and I'll have every single one of your friends locked up in the Confermaturium."
Varian got up from the floor, walked closer to Belos then punched Belos right in the face. "There isn't a person in this room that doesn't know you stink. I would never betray the people I love." Varian stated.
Varian tried to run but the guards grabbed him and pinned him to the ground. Belos ordered them to take Varian to a cell for the night until he decided on the proper punishment. Hunter just stood there as the guards dragged Varian away. Belos then roughly grabbed Hunter by the wrist then dragged him to the same room where Hunter's uncle was. He threw Hunter in there then slammed the door shut and locked the door. Hunter angrily tore his white cloak off his back and flung it across the room in a rage. He was done with the emperor's coven, Belos, and being the Golden Guard.
He started packing everything he needed including Flapjack and his Penstagram, he was breaking out with or without his uncle's help. Hunter thought he was going to stop him, but his uncle did something else that surprised him. He took off his mask and threw it out the window, his face was scarred, he had blue eyes, and long gray hair, and even his ears were sort of pointed. Hunter was shocked by his uncle's sudden change of behavior; he was always quiet. He explained to Hunter that he was only obeying Belos because he threatened to hurt Hunter or worse if he didn't obey.
"Then why haven't you tried to fight back? Belos is a monster, and he treats us like we're garbage. I don't even know how he found the letters." Hunter ranted.
"It was my fault, Hunter." his uncle confessed, "I saw the letters and I started reading them. Belos suddenly came in and took all the letters."
Hunter was angry at his uncle for not only invading his privacy but also letting Belos use the letters as leverage against him. Because of Belos, Hunter feared that he had lost the only person he had loved. Suddenly, someone tapped on the window, Hunter looked outside to see Hooty in a birdhouse pack back with Lilith who was waving at him. Hunter looked a little confused but that was when his uncle smashed the window open and told Hunter to follow him. Hunter wanted to go back and rescue Varian and the others, but his uncle grabbed him, and they jumped out the window.
His uncle and Lilith started talking about heading to a secret location, but Hunter wasn't willing to leave. "I'm not going anywhere without Varian," Hunter stated.
Without warning, Hunter's uncle took out some sleeping nettles from his pocket and blew them in Hunter's face, he suddenly blacked out. When Huter woke up, he found himself in a strange hideout with a bag of his belongings. He suddenly heard someone shouting, then he ran out of the room towards the entrance where Raine, Lilith, Steve, the BATS, his uncle, and Eda were. The person he heard screaming was Luz who was being held back by Darius and Eberwolf. He saw King and Ruddiger playing but he didn't see Varian. Raine introduces themselves to Luz who is fangirling over Raine and Eda's love story.
Raine explained that when Darius and Eberwolf captured them, Darius was actually protecting them. Darius thought he was the only one who thought the Day of Unity was suspicious. When he heard that Raine was causing trouble he had a feeling that they'd know more. "You would've been locked away if it weren't for me," Darius said to Raine.
"And a little less bruised." Raine complained, "You could've let me in on things before attacking me."
"You're a horrible actor. I had to make it look real." Darius stated.
Raine rolled their eyes at Darius's remark. Eda asked them why they didn't tell Eda anything, she could have helped. Raine wanted to keep Eda safe but even they knew that Eda wasn't gonna stop until she made things right. Eda blushed hard at what Raine said. Hunter cleared his throat and that made Luz and King give him daggers. He understood that they were angry with him, he explained everything to them and told them that he didn't have much of a choice. Belos was always so cruel to him and his uncle growing up, that Belos would threaten them to do his dirty work. Luz ran to Hunter and hugged him tight, King joined in too.
Hunter asked Luz where Varian was; she told him that Varian was in another room feeling betrayed. Luz took one look at Hunter's uncle, and she couldn't help but think that she had seen him before. His uncle stepped forward and shook Luz's hand. "I thought you would have guessed who I was, Luzura." Hunter's uncle spoke.
Almost all the breath that Luz held escaped her body when she realized who Hunter's uncle really was. "You're... You're Philip Wittebane?! But how? I thought you went back to the human realm. Wait, that means Hunter is a Wittebane?! And you didn't tell us?!" Luz asked in both excitement and shock.
"You never asked," Hunter said with a smirk.
Hunter decided to go find Varian and explain what had happened at the castle. He found Varian in another room not far from the main entrance, he saw Varian looking at some of his drawings in his journal. Hunter leaned over Varian's shoulder and saw the drawing of Varian's village, Old Corona covered in black rocks and in ruins. "Is this what it was like there?" Hunter asked which startled Varian, "Black rocks appearing, destroying houses, people running away or begging for help?"
"What? A little different from where you were raised?" Varian snapped.
"You told me that you got labeled as a traitor for stealing the most powerful object from the royal vault and threatening the royal family. This is why, it isn't. You were trying to help your village, your father. I don't understand! If you are willing to help your people, then how could you turn your back on them?" Hunter stated.
With that, Varian slammed his journal shut and looked at Hunter with a cold expression. "Oh, I don't think you are one to talk about turning on people!"
"I never turned on you or anyone else."
"Oh, no, you didn't. You just used me and then double-crossed me to Belos! Belos!"
"Emperor Belos has eyes all over the Isles! He doesn't need me to spy for him. And I never betrayed you. He threatened me after he found our letters. I told you that I served the Emperor's Coven, and I did. I told you I was the Golden Guard, and I was. I told you my real name. You never asked what my status was."
"I wouldn't think I had to unless I knew I was dealing with a backstabber!"
"Backstabber?! Me?! I was the one who gave you that piece from the scroll, I let you take that vial of Titan's Blood, heck I even let you take those palismen! If I was a wild witch, you would be looking at me with one swollen eye!"
"Oh yeah, come on! Give me your best shot!"
They're shouting match attracted Eda and the others to check on them. Luz peaked through the doorway expecting Hunter and Varian to fight. Instead, Hunter grabbed Varian's face then pulled him in for a kiss right on the lips. Luz's jaw dropped, King covered his eyes, Eda and most of the adults looked impressed and Hooty let out an oooooh. Hunter immediately pulled away from Varian as they both gasped for air. Hunter told Varian that he was done with Belos and he was sorry for not helping him, he was a coward. Varian pulled Hunter close and kissed him again as a way of saying he forgave Hunter.
Luz was fangirling so much that she fainted again; that caught Hunter and Varian's attention and they turned around to where the others were. "How long were you all standing there?" Varian asked.
"Long enough for Luz to pass out from your romantic kissing." Eda joked.
Both boys turned bright red from embarrassment as Luz snapped out of her fangirl daze. They all returned to the main room of the hideout of the Covens Against the Throne, AKA the CATS, the name annoyed Darius. Turns out, Lilith and Hooty grabbed a few things from the Owl House after rescuing her sister. Lilith gave King his stuffed rabbit, Francois, then she gave Eda a box that was marked Eda's longest toenails. Eda passed the box to Luz who gagged when she read the title of the box. She opened the box expecting to see toenails; except inside weren't toenails, it was the Palistrom Wood.
Eda asked Lilith to grab it from the house since she figured that Luz would want to carve her palisman. "What if the palisman doesn't like me?" Luz asked.
"By my count, you've befriended more enemies than I have claws on my paw." King stated.
"King has a point. You keep learning and fighting. What's not to like?" Varian chimed in.
With their support, Luz finally agreed to start craving her palismen, Eda was going to teach her how to crave. As Luz and Eda started to crave the Palistrom wood, Varian went towards Hunter and asked him if he still loved him. Hunter said of course he still loved Varian then he asked why he would think that. "Because guys like you don't wind up with guys like me. And I don't want you promising something you're just gonna take back later." Varian stated.
Hunter placed a hand on Varian's chin and gently lifted it up for Varian to meet his eyes. "I'd give up everything to be with you. You snuck up on me, Varian. I didn't even see it coming." he stated.
