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It was a very late night in the Boiling Isles. Luz, her mom, and the rest of the Hexsquad had just crossed the portal from the Human Realm to the Demon Realm only hours before. Everyone else was asleep, Camila and Amity helped set up makeshift beds for everyone to sleep in inside the Owl House, which now sat abandoned. Its emptiness was unsettling for everyone, but for Luz it was much more than that. As everyone was asleep, Luz just laid there staring at the ceiling. Her mind was filled with the memories of her second home, and how now those memories seem long gone. The memories she had created with Willow and Gus, the memories she cherished with Amity, and the memories she longed for with Eda and King who she still had no clue of if they were okay. In her mind, she had ruined all of that all on her own. The guilt she felt was too much to bear most days.
“I have to fix this. For them.” Luz whispered to herself. Even after just being told earlier that day that she hadn’t caused any of what’s happened, Luz still blamed herself. She rested her hands onto her face trying her best not to cry, not because she didn’t want to, god she wanted to so badly, but she didn’t want to wake anyone up. After some time passed,she finally had given up on fighting her body's demand to sleep, but as she turned to her side to rest she noticed something.
Where’s Hunter?
Luz looked all around. He wasn’t in his bed,he wasn’t anywhere in the room. She gently stood up, the creaking of the floors caused her to flinch. She turned around and checked to see if everyone was still asleep, and thankfully they were. If Willows snoring wasn’t going to wake them, nothing would. Luz still wasn’t quite sure how anyone could sleep through that.
Luz looked outside the window, and there she saw him. Hunter was sitting in the middle of the path, completely unaffected by the boiling rain that had been pouring down all night. Luz’ expression fell, she could only imagine what was going through Hunter's head after the events of that night.
That’s right. You wouldn’t want me harming your precious palisman, would you? Oh but then again, I don’t care what you want…Goodbye, Evelyn.
Hunter was in a trance. Those words kept repeating in his head as he slowly ran his fingers through the muddy ground. He moved his hand towards his hair, as he gently pulled on the strand of hair that just wasn’t there when we woke up earlier that day. He let it fall down to stick to his face as he began to slowly and quietly cry. Before it could get any worse, his eyes widened as he was pulled out of his trance by the sound of the door behind him creaking open as he saw Luz standing there.
“L-Luz?! What are you doing, get inside you can’t be out here!!” Hunter tried keeping his voice down as best as he could, while still keeping his assertive tone.
“Hunter, please come in. You shouldn’t be out here alone.” Luz’ face showed nothing but concern, and Hunter could see that. But he wouldn’t budge.
“It’s fine, Luz. I’ll be fine out here. Somebody has to keep watch, we don’t know what’s out there! Now please, just go back inside. I won’t let you or anyone else get hurt out here for my sake. Not again.”
“Hunter…Nothing is going to happen this late at night, as far as we know no one knows we’re even here. Listen, we can go upstairs and talk if you want. Or we can just sit there in silence, whatever you need! Just please, don’t stay out here by yourself…”
Hunter tried to stay strong, but he couldn’t handle seeing Luz looked so worried. He cared about her way too much, and couldn’t help but cave in. He slowly got up and made his way back into the Owl House. The two quietly made their way upstairs into Eda’s old room. There laid the giant nest Eda slept in. Hunter made his way towards the nest and collapsed straight into it. Luz walked over and sat on the edge, looking down at his unmoving body.
“Hey, listen…I know that things are rough right now… Really rough. And I don’t expect you to be ready to talk about things right now, nor do I expect you to be ready for a good while. But please just know I’m here for you, okay? We all are. You don’t have to suffer through this alone, you don’t have to suffer through anything alone ever again.”
The room fell quiet. The sound of the boiling rain filled the air as Hunter just laid there completely unable to find anything to say. Luz looked at him, his body wasn’t moving. Luz thought he had finally fallen asleep. She slowly reached out to him, resting her hand on his shoulder until she saw him flinch at the touch. Yeah he’s still awake.
I thought this one was a lost cause. Those words kept repeating in Hunter’s head. Am I really a lost cause? Was he right about me? What if the others feel the same way?
Luz could hear Hunter’s breaths become rapid. She saw his body begin to move more and more, she wanted desperately to reach out to comfort him but she knew how he was with physical touch.
“Hey, I’m here. It’s gonna be okay, Hunter.”
Hunter whipped himself up, for some reason hearing that phrase set him off like he’d never been before.
“NO IT’S NOT! IT’S NOT GONNA BE OKAY, LUZ!” Hunter’s face was paler than usual, his eyes were bloodshot, he was trembling where he sat. He quickly covered his mouth. realizing how loud he was. They both sat silent hoping to still hear everyone still asleep, and thankfully everyone seemed to be fine.
“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell I-“ Hunter was cut off by Luz resting her hand on his shoulder, this time he didn’t flinch. Maybe he was too stuck in his own thoughts to react, or maybe this time he needed physical comfort.
“Please, don’t be sorry Hunter.” Luz was much more concerned for him than she was letting on. But she knew if she showed that, it would only stress Hunter out more. She kept a calm and collected tone, trying her absolute best to calm him down even slightly. “I know that you’re in a really bad place right now, and I know there’s nothing I could say right now that’ll completely fix things. But I’m here to listen. Whatever you need to say I’m all ears. And if you aren’t ready to talk about things, then I’ll be here to comfort you. I promise.”
Hunter just sat there, trying his best to muster up the words to say. He felt himself choke on anything he tried to spit out just to show Luz he was being receptive. “T-Thank you, Luz…I’m sorry. I know I should be able to protect you, I should be able to protect everyone else…I should be able to protect Willow. But without Flapjack I feel empty, I feel powerless. What am I supposed to do if someone bursts through that door right now? I have no magic, I couldn’t protect you guys even if I tried…”
Luz looked at Hunter with more concern than ever. He had never been this vulnerable with her before. She hated seeing him like this, it was an absolute far cry from the person Hunter became after they were sent to the Human Realm. He was so full of life, he was so happy to discover new things that he loved. He loved catching fireflies, he loved sewing, he loved Cosmic Frontier. And so to see him now laying down in a nest hugging himself to keep himself safe, it broke Luz’ heart.
“Besides, why would you guys even want me to protect you? After what I did to you guys back there…What I did to Flapjack…I don’t even know why you guys haven’t just told me to get lost…”
Luz felt her heart sink out of her chest. This sounded all too familiar to her. He thinks he’s to blame? How could he possibly think that? For God’s sake he was possessed, he had no control over what happened.
“Hunter, what are you saying? You had no part in what happened, you didn’t hurt any of us!”
“You don’t understand, Luz...I was forced to sit and watch as I was attacking you guys. I couldn’t stop myself. And worst of all...I felt it. I felt myself grab a hold of Flapjack. I tried so hard to stop it, but I wasn’t strong enough, Luz...and now my best friend is gone. I killed him, Luz...I killed Flapjack...And worst of all, despite the fact it was me who hurt me, he saved me...I shouldn’t be here, Luz. I should be dead but because of Flap, I’m still here....But he’s the one who should still be here.”
Hunter began to shake again, he couldn’t hold it in anymore. He started sobbing, his body began to shake more. Luz could see just how much he had been bottling up. Luz couldn’t bring herself to sit there and let him cry alone, she jumped into the nest and pulled Hunter in for a hug tighter than any hug she had ever given. Hunter flinched for a moment, but melted into the embrace. He rested his head into Luz’ shoulder, continuing to sob.
“Hunter, I promise you that you had no part in this. Belos took advantage of you, he used you for his own gain like he had done for years. I know how it feels, Hunter...I know how it feels to think you had any control in any given situation. If you had the control then you’re to blame...But I promise you that you are not to blame at all. This is all on Belos. And I’m gonna make sure he never hurts you or anyone else ever again.”
Hunter began to sob more, his body was shaking uncontrollably. “I miss him, Luz. I miss Flap so much. What am I gonna do? What am I gonna do without him Luz?!”
Luz held Hunter tighter, trying her hardest to ease his anxiety and fears. “In a perfect world, you would both be here. But...We have to make the best of our current circumstances. I can only imagine how hurt you are right now. But I promise you that you don’t have to suffer in silence. I told you before that I’d protect you, I told you that you were family and I meant it. You’re my family, and I’d do anything to make sure you’re safe.” And now Luz was crying as well. These two had been through so much together in the last few months. Luz meant it when she said Hunter was her family. She never had any siblings, though her mom always wanted another kid before her dad passed away. She had Vee now, but without Hunter things would be a lot different for her.
Hunter melted more into Luz. He never knew what real familial love was until he met Luz, and then met Camila. He grew up idolizing Belos, he did everything he could for years to impress Belos and to make him proud. But with his new family, he didn’t have to try. He didn’t have to earn their love and appreciation.
“Thank you, Luz...Thank you so much...I-I don’t even know what to say I-”
“You don’t need to say anything, Hunter. And you don’t need to thank me either. I told you, you’re my brother. I’ll do anything to make sure you’re okay.”
The two sat there for a few more seconds before separating. Luz looked at Hunter and chuckled a bit.
“I’m sorry about your hair, though. I know you preferred it how it was before.”
“Haha, Flap was so mad at me when I cut this strand of hair off. But I’ll probably ask Willow to help me cut it again when this is all said and done.”
“That sounds like a good idea. But what also sounds like a good idea is you getting some sleep.”
“Hey you need to sleep too, y’know.”
“Yeah yeah, I know. C’mon let’s go back downstairs.”
“Actually, do you mind if we stay up here? I don’t really know if I can bring myself to see everyone right now, even if they’re asleep.”
“Hey, of course. Let me go grab the blankets from downstairs. I’ll be right back!”
Luz quietly made her way downstairs. As she grabbed the blankets gently so as to not wake anyone up she couldn’t help but think. How ironic...I can admit that Belos took advantage of him...Why can’t I admit he did the same to me? Everyone keeps telling me I didn’t do anything wrong. Why can’t I just believe them?
As Luz was about to make her way upstairs, she heard a quiet whisper behind her.
“Luz?”
Luz froze where she stood for a second. It was Amity.
“Is everything okay, Luz?”
Luz quietly made her way over to Amity. “Everything’s okay, sweet potato. There was a situation with Hunter. He’s calm now, but I told him I’d sleep upstairs with him. I’ll see you in the morning, okay?” Luz then laid a kiss on Amity’s forehead, reassuring her everything was okay.
“Okay, honey. Sleep well, okay? You really deserve it after the day we’ve had.”
“Of course, Ams. Goodnight love.”
Luz made her way back upstairs and into Eda’s room.
“Alright, Hunter. I got the blankets-” Luz was shocked to walk in and see Hunter laying there sound asleep inside of the nest. He must’ve drained all of his energy from crying earlier. A gentle smile grew on Luz’ face as she made her way towards the nest. She laid his blanket on top of him. “Goodnight, Hunter.”
Luz then set her makeshift bed up right next to the nest. She finally laid back down after such a long day. I’m gonna make things right. I’m gonna protect you, Hunter. I’m gonna protect all of you. I promise.