Chapter Text
Vee snuggled into herself in the back seat, blanket over her lap for the cold. It was dark out, and pretty quiet aside from the engine. A Spanish talk show played in the background, Camilla occasionally reacting with quiet gasps, or “oh no he didn’t!”s.
They were driving home from the library- Vee had gotten several new books with Luz’s card- Titan, that girl had a lot of late fees-, though it was too dark to read them now. And she was too tired to read them at home with the light, they would just have to wait until morning.
She was sitting up to ask Camilla for some gum, when-
Something stepped out into the road in front of them, and Camilla yelped, slamming on the brakes and nearly sending Vee into the controls in the front of the car. The thing in front of them looked up, and in a split second Vee realized it was a person holding a big stick. They slammed the stick down, and…
A golden forcefield shot out from it, and Camilla’s car hit it with a soft bump. There was something above and behind the person, but Vee couldn’t quite make it out. Almost as soon as the forcefield appeared, it vanished, and the person collapsed onto the ground.
Both Camilla and Vee were frozen for a few seconds, before the older woman processed what happened and yelped, quickly unbuckling her seat belt and shoving the car door open- Vee unbuckled hers in turn and crawled after her.
The car’s headlights were still on, so Vee could see the person well enough- it looked like a boy, blond hair, wearing a golden cape and uniform. The stick… for some reason, it now looked like a polished staff. The boy had a long cut on one of his arms, and-
Vee gasped, freezing to the spot as Camilla leaned next to the boy, checking for a pulse. “He’s-”
“He’s okay,” Camilla interrupted her. “That cut is nasty, but…” she trailed off, looking at all the visible scars she could see. “Aye yi yi, we should probably get him to the hospital…”
“Camilla,” Vee squeaked. “His- his ears.”
The woman looked up, and…
Pointed ears.
“At least the forcefield makes sense now,” she muttered, scooping up the teen and turning back to the car.
“He’s a witch,” Vee whispered. “I- he’s a witch .”
“Whatever he is,” Cammila sighed, strapping him into the back while Vee sat next to him, “he’s alive.”
***
“We should have a funeral,” Luz announced, “for Hunter.”
Raine looked up from their steaming tea. “A… funeral?”
“Yeah.” She looked a bit concerned. “You guys… do have those here, right? What do you do with the bodies?”
“We do, I just- we don’t exactly have a body to bury, Luz. And I’d rather not go into that castle ever again.”
“I mean , we can have like… a memorial service for him. Bodies don’t have to be present for that, right? We just… say nice things about him. And how we miss him. He should at least get that .”
“Good idea, Luz,” Eda encouraged, allowing Raine to consider the idea. It sounded nice.
Raine felt like… they were still in shock. Something like that- they mostly felt numb, and shaky. Every time they closed their eyes, the image of Hunter, covered in normal blood and Titan’s Blood, staring into nothing, was there. King was fast asleep on their lap, a comfort that might help them sleep that night.
“I suppose I could dig up a picture of him,” Lilith said slowly. “I’m sure I have a few on my pennstagram- I can’t guarantee they’ll be nice ones, but I’ll try to find something.”
Raine was silent, barely even feeling Gwendolyn rubbing their back. They sipped their tea slowly- they didn’t doubt Hooty had slipped something in there to help them sleep easier.
“Amity says she and the twins can come over in a few days,” Luz said, “so maybe have it then? I know she met him, and the twins are good at taking your mind off things.”
“Sure,” Raine mumbled. They had no idea who Luz was talking about. “Sounds good.” They finished their tea, patting King a few times as he snuggled into their stomach. They could invite the rest of the BATTs, maybe. They had probably broken themselves out of jail by now.
“His palisman might be back with the Bat Queen now,” Luz murmured. “Hopefully she’ll let us borrow him.”
“Mhm.” Whatever Hooty had put in the tea was really starting to kick in.
Eda suddenly appeared in front of them. “Hey, rainstorm,” she whispered. “I have a spare couch in the other room if you wanna get some rest.” She swallowed. “You could… I also have a nest, if that would be okay. There’s blankets in it, I swear.”
“...Nest sounds nice,” Raine murmured.
“...Okay.” Eda picked King up, setting him on her shoulder before scooping up Raine- they were too exhausted to yelp, so they just held on.
The stairs went by in a blur, and then they were lying in Eda’s nest, King still fast asleep on their chest.
Eda looked mildly uncomfortable, but before she could say anything, Raine interrupted. “You can stay, if you want.”
“I- I can?”
“‘S your nest.”
The woman hesitated, then carefully stepped into the next, resting her head against the side of it. “This okay?”
“Mhm.” Raine snuggled into her slightly. Eda cautiously wrapped her arm behind Raine’s neck, and they leaned into it. “I love you,” they murmured.
They closed their eyes, and they were too far asleep before they could hear the other’s whispered reply.
***
When Hunter woke up, the light was way too bright.
He squinted, groaning, and the person leaning over him froze, temporarily blocking out the light. They sort of… sqeaked a little, and Hunter tried to focus his vision. “Oh,” he muttered, “‘s you.”
The human squeaked again, before making a confused face. “I- what? We… haven’t met.”
“How’d you get here though,” Hunter murmured, ignoring her. “I thought you were still in the…” he trailed off as different footsteps came closer.
“Vee, don’t scare him.” The girl (wasn’t her name something else?) scrambled off of him, accidentally grazing his arm in the process. Hunter held back a yelp of pain, glancing down to see his arm wrapped in white bandages, being propped up by a pillow. His eyes trailed down to his hand, and…
He shot his arm up to his chest, covering his hand with his arm. “What do you want ,” he snarled, eyeing the woman who had entered.
She held her hands up. “Calm down. We’re not going to hurt you.” The girl (Hunter could have
sworn
her name was something other than Vee) hurried over to stand next to her. “You’re safe, I promise.” The woman sat down on a chair, the girl standing behind her. “My name is Camilla Noceda, what’s yours?”
Hunter froze, pressing his back more into the couch and still covering his hand. “I don’t need to tell you anything.”
The woman sighed. “You don’t. Can you tell me how you got that cut, though? I promise I won’t tell anyone how you got it if you don’t want me to.”
Hunter hesitated, glancing down at the long bandage warped around his arm. “There was… some guy. Said he was going to dissect me or something.”
Vee made a face. “Lemme guess, was his name Jacob?”
“...Yeah, actually.”
“Ugh. Hate that guy.” She walked over, stopping when Hunter tensed. Slowly, she revealed a series of small scars on the back of her hand, likely where that asshole had hurt her as well.
Camilla said something in some language Hunter couldn’t understand, but it sounded like a swear. “I wish I could report that guy. But you two would have to give statements, and you’re not exactly human…Vee, you could maybe pretend to be Luz, but you…”
You two.
As though Hunter was going to stick around.
Wait.
“Pretend to be Luz?” Hunter interrupted. “I thought… Are you her twin or something?”
“Wait.” Camilla stood up, quickly walking towards him. Hunter flinched. “Do you know Luz? Is she okay? Are you her friend?”
“I-” Hunter froze, pressing himself as far into the couch as he could. “I- I met her, once- I think she’s fine, I mean, haven’t heard about her for a couple days, but she’s probably managed to live-”
Camilla sighed, taking a step back and running a hand down her face. “I’m sorry,” she said, surprising him. “I just… she’s my daughter, and… I just don’t know if she’s okay, or where she is, or who she’s with…”
Hunter was silent, watching Vee place a gentle hand on Camilla’s shoulder before the girl was pulled into a hug.
Hunter cleared his throat after a moment, and the two turned back to him. “So… I’m just gonna go, thanks.” He started to pull himself up, but Camilla grabbed his uninjured arm suddenly, causing him to flinch violently. She let go instantly, and Hunter turned.
“Wait,” she said. “You know what Jacob did to you- it’s not safe for you out there, you can’t do what Vee can. We can protect you.”
“I don’t need protection! I can-” he trailed off, looking over at Vee. “Wait, what can you do?”
The girl hesitated, before taking off her strange hat and glasses, revealing the odd ears and spots on her face. She seemed to concentrate, and…
And the spots faded, ears shrinking back into what human ears looked like.
“You’re a basilisk,” Hunter managed after a moment. Vee nodded cautiously. “I- ok. That’s fine. This is fine. This is- this is fine!” He laughed wildly, hands digging into his hair as he forgot to hide the ungloved one. “A basilisk in the Human Realm, me in the Human Realm, this is just great !” He laughed again, but Camilla gently held up a hand up to stop him- he still flinched, but obediently stopped.
“Hey. It’s okay, seriously. We can try to find a way to get you back- the Historical society has all kinds of books, but Jacob’s there…”
“I locked him in a cage,” Hunter muttered.
Camilla opened and then closed her mouth. “Okay. That’s… not a permanent situation, but since this is the second time, maybe someone will send him off on a temporary leave for now?”
“I- second time?”
“You and I have the same ways to deal with him. Dunno how he got out the first time, but he’ll probably get out again. He hasn’t bothered us since, so if you stay here he probably won’t find you.”
Hunter thought for a moment. “...Maybe.” It was a good idea… but he still didn’t know anything about these people- or about the Human Realm. “Can I… think about it?”
“Of course.” Camilla disappeared for a moment, before returning with more bandages, and…
A glass of water.
“Is it okay if I replace your bandages? I would have liked to take to you the hospital, but you kept waking up while I was bandaging you the first time and begging me not to…”
“It’s not bubbling.”
Camilla looked up, confused. She had set the glass on a side table and was now kneeling in front of the couch with the bandages. “What?”
Hunter pointed. “The water. It’s not bubbling.”
“I- yeah, water doesn’t bubble. Does it bubble in the- what was it again- Boiling Isles?”
“...No, but when- when Jacob gave me some it was bubbling.”
Camilla tensed up, her face going slightly pale before her eyes narrowed. “He drugged you?! I-” she dropped the roll of bandages, standing up and grabbing her bag before Vee grabbed her arm. “ Cariño, stay here, I’m going to go have a talk with that son of a bit-”
“Wait,” Hunter said, “I- it’s okay, I’m fine.”
Camilla stopped. “No, hun, it’s not fine . You have different biology, drugging someone is bad enough but he could have killed you. Bet that bastard was hoping it would,” she muttered to herself. But she set down her bag anyway, returning to the couch. “I just- I’m sure I can get my coworkers to leave hate messages on the website, and I have a few emails I can leave reviews from…” She continued talking to herself, Hunter barely understanding any of it, until she kneeled down again, picking up the roll of bandages again. “If you want, I can get you some juice. What things do you usually drink in the Isles?”
“Water. Or, um… apple juice if one of the other members has it,” he whispered.
Camilla gave him a small smile. “Gotcha. Do you want juice before or after I replace the bandages?”
“After is fine.”
Camilla nodded, pulling back a strip of bandages from the roll before gently starting to peel the old ones from Hunter’s arm- his breath hitched, and she squeezed his arm gently. She hovered a little over his hand once she finished unwrapping the older ones, taking in the mass amounts of scar tissue that basically made up his hand. So his uncle had dipped his hands in a mild acid when Hunter was younger, no big deal. It was his own fault anyway- he had been doing something he shouldn’t have, so his hands got burned. Not a big deal. He could still use them, so it didn’t matter.
Camilla peeled a long strip of bandages, and as she did so Hunter looked at the stitches making up the cut on his forearm. “You’re lucky I’m a vet,” Camilla murmured, “though it’ll probably scar.”
Hunter shrugged. That was fine. He’d had worse. “I’ve had worse.”
Camilla got a sad look in her eyes, but she returned her gaze to the bandages and Hunter couldn’t see them anymore. He winced when she started wrapping them around his wound, the pain jumping up and hitting him in the face. “I wish I could give you pain meds,” she murmured, “but I don’t know what they’ll do to you. So you gotta be really careful, okay? I don’t know what’ll hurt you and what won’t- ask me before trying something, okay? And don’t do drugs.”
“...Okay? I-”
“Please don’t say you’ve had worse.”
“…”
Camilla finished wrapping the bandages after a moment, and she vanished into another room again, pouring a glass of apple juice. Vee looked like she was falling asleep, and Camilla shooed her off to bed with a hug. She set the glass of juice on the table between them after sitting on the couch opposite, and Hunter took a cautious sip, watching as Camilla drank the water herself.
After he didn’t feel drugged, he turned to her. “...Thank you. And I apologize, for being an inconvenience.”
Camilla shook her head. “No need- I’m happy to help.”
The pair were silent for a few more minutes, until Camilla said, “Hey, kid?”
“…Yeah?”
“What’s your name?”
Hunter paused, wondering if it was worth risking telling her. Finally, he sighed. “…Hunter.”
Camilla smiled, reaching over the table to shake his hand. “Nice to meet you, Hunter.”