Chapter Text
Hunter doesn’t know when he stopped running, when he crashed into the ground and scraped his knees on the hard ground, all but face-planting into the dirt.
Half-torn between digging himself another grave, if he could get his hands to cooperate. Everything part of him is shaking, and he doesn’t know how much longer he can hold back the tears.
(Crying is weakness, weakness, weakness, can’t do it)
What didn’t Belos lie about? What remains of his world view that hasn’t been shattered? What… is he?
( Cloned, replaceable, disposable, useless, expendable. Not real .)
You looked the most like him.
Hunter can’t seem to pretend he’s okay this time. Can’t even make out the noises behind him, the voices— the chirps of his Palisman.
His thoughts are far from coherent, a scrambled mess of panic. He tears at his hair and digs his fingernails into his skin. It’s all he can do to stop himself from screaming.
“Hunter?”
He choked out a sob. He couldn’t stop it, despite trying to muffle it with his hand. He’s… he’s not even real .
“Hunter!” It was Luz’s voice, or at least he thought. He wasn’t… entirely there, “Hunter, can you look at me?”
He couldn’t breathe.
Another figure crouched close to him— not too close. The Owl Lady, he vaguely recognized. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t…
“S… stay back.”
“We will,” The Owl Lady reassures, “Hey, Bl— Hunter, can you do something for me? I really need you to breathe.”
He looked at her, and he must look like such a mess because her eyes are full of sadness pity and she’s moving so cautiously.
“Try in through your nose, and out from your mouth,” Owl Lady says, “Can you do that for me?”
Hunter nods lightly and tries his best.
In.
Out.
In…
And out…
In… and out…
It’s so hard. Why is something so simple so hard for him? The Owl Lady and Luz saved his life, and he can’t even do one simple thing for them—
“Hey, hey… It’s okay,” The Owl Lady reassures, “Just go at your own pace. You can do this. Just follow my lead.”
Her voice is so gentle as she guides him, “In…. And out… In… and out…”
He doesn’t know how long it continues like that before he’s breathing on his own. His face is… almost vibrating, like every cell is trying to break through his skin. It’s strange.
“Can I…?” The Owl Lady asks, extending her hand slightly. He gives her a slight nod, so small it’s easy to miss, and she carefully places her hand on his shoulder. He chokes out a sob, almost instinctively. It’s so warm, and it doesn’t hurt and it’s so alien in a way.
He wants to simultaneously dart away and lean into it, and the latter wins out. He doesn’t— deserve this, but he’s… so weak, and crushed.
“It’s going to be okay,” She promises him, “You’re going to get through this.”
Flapjack chirps in agreement, the familiar pressure of his Palisman resting on his shoulder.
“He’s going to— he’ll…”
“He’s not going to do anything. You wanna know why?” She says, “Because we’re not going to let him.”
“Why?“ He asks, and his voice is so small, “…why are you helping me?”
The Owl Lady pauses, “You’re not going to accept a ‘because we are’, are you?”
He doesn’t respond.
“Because,” Luz says, instead of the Owl Lady, “You don’t deserve what he did. No one does— and you’re… my friend.”
“Not a very good one,” He mumbles to himself. Good friends don’t dangle you over the boiling sea, or steal your only way home.
“I think we’ll decide that,” The Owl Lady replies, and she removes her hand— and Hunter wishes she didn’t, misses the warmth and the gentleness and feels so weak and childish for wanting it back— only to offer it to him to help him stand.
“Now… let’s get you home,” She says.
“I can’t— I can’t— he’ll kill me,” Hunter frantically responds, taking a step back.
“Not that— The Owl House,” She corrects, “Come with us. Please.”
He looks at her with confusion, half of him still wanting to dart and run until he couldn’t (but he couldn’t) and the other half wanting to collapse in the false safety she offers.
“Give an old lady some peace of mind, would ya?” The Owl Lady jokes. Tentatively, Hunter takes her hand, and the Owl Lady smiles. It’s not the kind of smile he used to do, it’s so… genuine, that he wants to cry all over again.
Eda is used to this parenting thing by now, more than she ever thought she’d be. She’s stopped pretending she doesn’t see them as her kids, and for someone winging it, she seems to be doing okay.
Luz hasn’t said much about what she saw. Just that Hunter saved her, and that he’s not okay and Belos tried to kill him. Eda isn’t blind to the severe panic that was on his face.
He’s just a kid. A kid who has been thoroughly messed up, who just found out things she can’t even imagine.
Maybe she’s getting sentimental in her old age, but she’s not going to stand by while a hurt kid— who just saved hers— runs into the forest while he’s in that state.
Luz definitely agreed, given that she was the first to dart out the door after him.
And now, Hunter is sitting on her couch, mostly non responsive. Eda moved the cloak so he wouldn’t have to look at it. She, uh, had a feeling it might be a sore subject.
It might be a little early to give him a Bad Girl Coven shirt, but she should probably try and find something in his size. He keeps looking at his uniform like it’s making him physically sick, and Eda’s chest tightens.
She doesn’t want to leave him or Luz alone for a minute. The blank, haunted expressions they wear makes her want to wrap them up, tightly, in a blanket and make them both some hot cocoa. (And she’d make some for King, obviously, so he wouldn’t feel left out or jealous.)
If Hunter didn’t look like he was ready to climb out a window, she’d probably do just that.
She’s not going to push either of them to talk about what they saw, but she wishes she knew— wishes that she knew how to help. The two kids in her living room are devastated and she wants to strangle Belos.
(But with how jumpy Hunter is, she has to be extra careful to keep any kind of rage under wraps. She doesn’t think he could handle it in the state he’s in.)
Eda is so, so torn, because she doesn’t know what to do and she knows she needs to do something . She can’t even call Lily for advice, because her sister has some, uh, strong opinions on Hunter.
(Eda has to wonder how much they’re based in fact, and how much they’re Lily’s own projections. She loves her sister, but she treats everything like a competition and she’s a sore-loser. Not the most accurate narrator.)
Eda takes a deep breath, and turns towards the kids and decides to trust them, “I’m going to go make some cocoa. Will you two be… okay in the meantime?”
Luz nods, turns to Hunter, waiting for him to respond. He seems to have already forgotten he’s counted in the ‘you two’, and Eda wonders for a moment if someone wondering about his well-being is a foreign concept to him.
He realizes quickly enough, and gives a tentative nod. King jumps up on the couch.
“Don’t worry, Eda. I’ve got this,” King says, and she chuckles to herself. With the way he talks sometimes, you’d never know he was so young. (Other times, it was obvious— when he wasn’t talking like he was the big brother.)
Her kids take care of each other. That’s one thing she can count on.
“Call me if you need me,” She says anyway. To give them or herself comfort, she doesn’t know. But she feels better knowing they know.
Halfway into boiling water she realizes she doesn’t know if Hunter can even have hot chocolate. She’s never really met any powerless witches, and she doesn’t know if there’s any differences, or if the kid has allergies.
(Before Luz, the thought probably wouldn’t have crossed her mind.
She’s gotten soft, but it doesn’t bother her. She may not have magic, but she knows if her kids are in danger, she’ll always find a way. And heck, she’ll probably be even fiercer than she would’ve been when she was in it for herself.)
Eda pops her head in to the living room to ask. Hunter is staring at his arm now and Luz is cuddled up with King.
“Hey, Blondie,” She calls, to get his attention, the (now affectionate) nickname rolling off her tongue naturally. He looks up, “You don’t have any allergies, do you?”
“Huh…? I… I don’t know,” Hunter replies, and Eda comes to a horrified and belated realization that this kid was raised in the coven and lied to all his life. Even basic information like allergies could’ve been kept from him, and— has he even had hot chocolate?
Lily mentioned the Coven-recommend diet a couple times, usually with at least some distaste.
(Well, if the hot chocolate goes over badly, Eda’s got plenty of experience from dealing with Luz’s more limited Boiling Isles diet on how to deal with that.)
Eda finished making the hot chocolates and topped them generously, and brought them to the kids. A hot beverage can be very calming. She only hopes it helps the kids. Heck, she still doesn’t know if Hunter will like it.
(If she’s keeping this kid, that’s something she’ll have to learn. She’ll need to know what she can feed him. Oh, heck, what is she going to make the kids for breakfast if she doesn’t know what Blondie eats?
She could call Lily and ask about what the coven usually served, but she didn’t know if something familiar would be comforting to the kid or make it worse.)
Luz and King are quick to take theirs, both replying with a thank you. Eda keeps holding the tray out to Hunter, “You going to take yours, Blondie?”
Luz gently nudges him, “Go on.”
“I… thank you?” Hunter took the cup, “What… is it?”
“It’s hot chocolate,” Luz replies, “Have you… not had it before?”
Hunter slowly shook his head. Luz and King both looked at him slightly concerned at that, which seemed to unease him more.
“Well, uh— try it,” Luz encourages, “It’s good.”
Hunter stared at the mug blankly.
“You know it’s not poison, right?” King asks, “It’d be a waste of hot chocolate! It’d totally ruin the flavour.”
Following Luz and King’s lead, Hunter took a careful sip and immediately recoiled, though his expression wasn’t one of disgust. It almost seemed… pleasantly surprised.
Luz nudged him again, “See? It’s good, right?”
“I, uh— yeah, I guess,” It was obvious he was downplaying it. Eda relaxed, though a part of her wondered what it’d feel like to throw a mug of burning hot chocolate at Belos’ face.
Seriously, the kid never had hot chocolate? It seemed so… insignificant, but it made her so angry at the so-called Emperor. Hunter was just a kid.
He should be having snowball fights with kids his age or breaking rules for fun, and staying in on rainy days with a cup of hot chocolate and laughter. Heck, he should be enrolled in Hexside with all the other kids.
(Now when did she start supporting kids going to Hexside? She used to hate Hexside. Then again, maternal instincts used to make her sick, and now they were practically pouring out of her.)
Eda settles on the other couch, giving the kids some space. They’ve both been through a lot.
(She should probably clean out the closet where Lily was staying when she was here. Turn it into a makeshift room for Hunter— did she even have time to do that before he fell asleep? He looked more tired than usual after all… that.)
“Hey,” Luz turns her head towards Hunter to ask him something, “Would you… want to have a sleepover, maybe?”
“A… what?”
“You know, a sleepover. Like a slumber party without the ‘party’ part.”
“Yeah!” King agrees, “It’s like some dumb thing teenagers like to do. It’s surprisingly fun. We steal all of the blankets, put them on the floor in Luz’s room, and then we sleep! It’s devious .”
“So, will you join us?” Luz asks, hopefully.
“…okay.”
Huh. King was actually handling this pretty well. Pride welled up in her chest— look at him go, her little tyrant making friends with an ex-Coven head.
And it looks like she had a little extra time to clean out that room.
King knew a thing or two about having your worldview shattered. Even though Eda actually meant well, it was still hard for him to learn the truth. He could only imagine how difficult it would’ve been if Eda wasn’t so… Eda.
And through learning it all, he had Eda and Luz. And Hooty, though… that was a complicated relationship.
Whatever Hunter and Luz saw in there, it couldn’t have been good.
And the way Hunter was acting, it seemed like he wasn’t quite past the whole ‘we were just enemies’ thing like everyone else was— he wasn’t exactly in the coven anymore. King was even way past the whole cage thing.
(He couldn’t hold that against him when he looked like… that. Plus, Lilith had thrown Eda in a cage, and she forgave that. Heck, King got Eda arrested by animal control once.
They’ve all made mistakes. Or bad choices. The two might just be synonymous at this point.)
So he knew Hunter wasn’t about to accept their kindness without at least a little paranoia. He hadn’t got past the ‘enemy territory’ phase, although thankfully he wasn’t attacking them or anything.
The best course of action was obviously reassurance! He might not believe they wouldn’t poison him , but he might believe they wouldn’t poison hot chocolate . Baby steps.
Man, was he a genius. He was absolutely killing this. And it worked!
Luz was very, very glad that Hunter agreed to the sleepover. If she was honest, she wasn’t sure if it was for him or for her.
She didn’t want to be alone, after what she saw— and… she was ready to talk about it. Not tonight, and no one— no one else understood .
And, she trusted him. Maybe against her better judgement— after all, she was very much proved wrong before. But Hunter wasn’t Belos, and he saved her. He has a Palisman . A bad but sad boy.
(But he wasn’t bad, was he? Not anymore, at least. So she guessed that just made him a sad boy.)
Luz had a feeling she might have a nightmare tonight. She wasn’t sure if she was capable of not having one after that.
“I’m definitely sleeping in,” Luz says, collapsing onto her sleeping bag and curling up. King curls up beside her.
“To five or six?” Hunter asks.
“What? That wouldn’t be sleeping in,” Luz’s voice is muffled by her pillow, “At least until nine.”
“Sleep is good,” King agrees.
Hunter… didn’t know what to expect anymore. Kind of an understatement. What do you do when your life’s been a lie?
He had calmed down now. It was almost like being upset was more energy than he had left, like he ran out of tears.
There used to be a part of him that had always wanted more say in his future, to get to choose something for himself. He’d told himself that was treasonous and he was being selfish. Now, he had to wonder if he was still in the wrong.
Luz… she’s so different from him. But she calls him a friend, and— and he wishes he could be the friend she wants, wishes he could be good like everyone else here.
(But he helped him , and he was so stupid , how could he not see?)
Hunter has never had a sleepover before. It seems so… childish. He was always told things like that are below him. (His thoughts drift towards a pink frog tucked underneath a pillow and other hidden sources of comfort.)
But tonight, he’s grateful for this. He’s just… so scared. Every noise might as well bring him back to that moment.
He doesn’t know why The Owl Lady and Luz were helping him. Why they’d make him that drink he’s never had before that might just be better than anything he’s experienced, or why they were letting him stay.
The suspicions trained into him make him want to run, they tell him they’re enemies and he’s not safe. But he’s not safe anywhere else, either. This… is the safest place.
Of course he had to embarrass himself and have a nightmare, though.
You look the most like him.
What a shame.
You’re going to be okay! Sinking, sinking…
He knows we were in there.
I’m starting to think you make those things just to destroy them .
He awoke with a start, his breathing heavy again. He looks around, frantically, to make sure he hasn’t awoken anyone with this… outburst, as he would call it.
( Uncle. Emperor. Belos . What is he to him, now?)
“Hunter?”
He can immediately feel his face heat up. Yet another moment of weakness with witnesses. Luz is sitting up on her… sleeping arrangements, and staring at him through the dark.
“Uh… Hi, Luz,” He says, because what is he supposed to do? Immediately, he regrets speaking at all.
Luz just blinks, “Nightmare?”
He doesn’t reply.
“Me too,” Luz says.
It’s such a simple sentence, but it makes him relax and for a moment he thinks maybe, just maybe, he can do this. They can do this.