Chapter Text
“So you’re saying that he just… showed up at your house?” Asked Eda as she, Luz and King entered the Vanissen house.
“Yeah, poor little guy looked incredibly roughed up when I first saw him.” Said Aster before escorting the trio to the bathroom, where his mom and Ariel were busy cleaning up The Collector and applying band-aids to their injuries.
“Hey, Collector, guess who’s here?” Said Aster before gesturing for King Luz and Eda to enter.
“King! Luz! Eda!” Exclaimed The Collector happily.
“What’re you doing here, Collie?” Asked King. “Last any of us saw you, you went off to reunite with the other Archivists.”
At the mention of the Archivists, The Collector’s mood instantly dampened, and tears began to prick at their eyes.
“Hey, what’s wrong, squirt?” Asked Eda, gently placing a hand on The Collector’s shoulder, which made him flinch.
“I-I thought they would’ve changed.” Said The Collector, trying their best not to cry. “That after being gone for so long, they’d be different, nicer even. B-But they were exactly the same as before.
And when they found out I was friends with a Titan, they… they took turns hitting me. One even gave me a cosmic shiner.”
“ Oh hell no. ” Thought Holly Vanissen as she parted the hair that was covering The Collector’s right eye, revealing a massive black eye, much to everyone’s shock.
“Ok, that settles it, you’re staying in the Human Realm for the foreseeable future.” Said Eda after a moment.
“W-What? No, I should head back!” Said The Collector. “If my siblings find out where I am-”
“Then we’re just gonna kick their asses.” Said Ariel.
“Ariel’s right, kiddo,” Said Eda. “Nobody harms a member of the Bad Witch Coven and gets away with it. And that includes you, Collector.”
“B-But where am I gonna stay?” Said The Collector. “Your friends’ families probably don’t like me, considering I… you know…”
“I wouldn’t worry about that, Collector.” Said Luz. “While yes, you did turn them into puppets, you also protected them from the cancer when he went terminal, and you brought them back to normal afterwards. I’m sure Amity, Willow and Gus’s dads will be willing to listen to their kids when they say that you’re a good person.”
“And besides, you don’t have to stay with them if you don’t want to. It’s your choice.” Added Aster. “You could stay with Eda, King, Raine and the other BATTS, you could stay with Luz, Vee, Hunter and Ms. Camila, you could stay with me and my family, you also got Charlie, Jo and Molly, Mal, and their parents.
It’s all up to you who you want to stay with.”
The Collector contemplated about who he wanted to stay with (though he mentally narrowed his choices down to Eda, Luz and her friends, since they had only just met the Vanissens, and had no idea who the rest of the people were), and after a moment, they silently walked over to Luz and hugged her.
“...Well, I guess that's that.” Said Eda.
“Come on, Collector,” Said Luz. “Let’s go get you settled in and tell mami the good news."