Chapter Text
The darkness opened into light and then he was falling. Hunter managed to catch himself but the slime he was now covered in caused him to slip and fall to the floor. He grumbled in annoyance but quickly righted himself, being careful not to slip again.
He was on some kind of ship. The Owl Lady and her pet had landed next to him, coated in a similar goo. He looked around for the beast that attacked them and found it slithering away, small once again. He started to go after it when he noticed the witch.
She was clad in a starry cloak, the shadow of which hid her face. He didn’t recognize her, but the aura of power was unmistakable. The snake slithered under the bottom of her cloak and came out of the neck hole to wrap itself around her shoulders.
“Who are you?”
The witch raised her hand and a cocoon of magic wrapped around each of them. Hunter struggled to break his, but it held strong. He couldn’t move anything but his head.
“Do you know who I am?” He exclaimed, leveling the stranger with a glare. “Kidnapping a coven official is treason. Let me go and the Emperor may be merciful.”
The woman held up a hand for the snake to crawl on. “What have you brought me this time?” She asked, ignoring everyone but her pet. The snake hissed at her and she hummed like she understood what it was saying.
“Hey, I’m talking to you!”
“Wait, I know you.” The Owl Lady said, her eyes widening. “You were in my dream. You captured the Owl Beast and turned it into a scroll!”
The woman finally seemed to acknowledge their presence, turning towards Eda.
“The Owl Beast.” She repeated. “Ah yes. You have been bound to it. Unfortunate.”
“What do you want with us?”
“I am known as the Collector.” The strange witch stated. “I collect and preserve rare creatures.”
“Okay great, have fun.” Hunter snapped. “I’m not a rare creature. Let me go.”
She turned towards him and in a flash she was in his face, a surprisingly strong grip holding his head in place.
“You do look like a normal witch.” She mused. The snake hissed something at her and she hummed. “But the eyes are the right color.” She let his head go.
“What, I’m here because of my eyes? Yeah, that totally makes sense. Next time you should kidnap someone with a special hair color.”
The Collector ignored his quip. “I will have to test to see if you’re right.” She stated. The magic holding Hunter pulled him up into the air.
“Hey!”
She floated up to meet him. “Do not worry. I will heal you if this goes wrong.” And then suddenly they were hovering directly over the boiling sea. Hunter’s breath caught in his chest. He could only think of one test she could preform here. His bindings still held tight.
“Hey, look, this really isn’t necessary.”
The Collector ignored him, reaching through her magic that yielded for her alone to grab his wrist. He tried to keep his arm at his side but she was unreasonably strong for someone so thin.
“I’m just a witch.”
She removed his glove, throwing it into the boiling sea without a care, and forced his hand under the water.
Hunter clenched his eyes shut, mentally preparing for the pain he knew would come.
Except it didn’t.
Hunter tentatively opened one eye to assess the situation, then opened both to gape at what he saw.
His hand was under the water. He felt the bubbles, the turbulent surface, the heat, but it didn’t burn. It didn’t hurt. The Collector pulled his hand back out of the water. He didn’t have a mark on him. His skin wasn’t even red.
“What?” He murmured breathlessly.
“Excellent.” She said like this had been exactly what she was looking for. In a flash, Hunter was somewhere else. The rocking told him he was still on the ship, but the room was dark. He barely noticed his accommodations.
He couldn’t stop staring at his hand.
“I can’t get out of these binds. Any luck, Eda?” King said in a whisper.
“No.” The old witch replied at the same volume. “I don’t think they can be broken without magic.”
“I can’t shout.” King stated. “She did something to my mouth, I can’t get it open.”
Before Eda could respond the Collector returned to the deck of the ship sans Golden Guard. Eda couldn’t ignore the possibility that she’d tossed him into the sea, the possibility she’d do the same to Eda and King if she wanted.
“Now that that’s settled.” The Collector said. She sounded like she’d conducted a business deal, not potentially murdered a teenager.
King struggled further against his bonds, making some adorable ‘weh’ sounds Eda would love in any other situation.
The collector hummed, turning her attention to him.
“Don’t touch him!” Eda ordered, hackles raised.
The Collector ignored her, waving her hand and using her magic to pull King up to her eye level. King stared into the darkness of her hood, wide eyed.
“Uh hi?” He attempted nervously. “Nice cloak you’ve got there.”
“You’re young.” She stated. “But I have yet to preserve one of your kind.”
Kings eyes widened. “You know what I am? What is it? What am I?”
The Collector considered him for a moment. “You truly don’t know, do you? Just like that other one.”
“The other one.” Eda repeated. “You mean the Golden Guard? What did you do to him?”
The woman drew a circle and suddenly King was gone.
“They are below deck.” She stated, turning to Eda. “I have matters to discuss with you, witch bound to Owl Beast.”
“Manners to discuss.” Eda mocked. “What matters? You kidnapped me and my kid. I’m not about to do you any favors.”
“I do not wish a favor from you.” The Collector stated calmly. “More of a deal. I am a collector of rare creatures, not witches.”
“So what? You’ll let King go if I do something for you? Is that it?”
The Collector shook her head. “What I mean to say is that I want the Owl Beast, not you Ms. Clawthorne.”
“Well I don’t know if you’ve noticed but we’re kind of a package deal. I’m bound to it or whatever.”
“But you do not have to be.” The Collector stated.
“Oh trust me, I’ve tried removing the curse. Not happening.”
“I am the witch that sealed the Owl Beast into a scroll.” The Collector summoned a similar scroll to her hand, sending it away a moment later. “You have seen as much in its memories.” She tilted her head to the side. “It would be no problem for me to remove that seal and release the Owl Beast.”
“What are you saying?” Eda asked eyes narrowing.
“I can remove your curse.” The mysterious witch stated bluntly.
Eda’s eyes widened.
“In return.” The Collector drew a spell circle, releasing her magical binds. “I only require your cooperation.” She held a hand out for the other witch. “And the Beast itself.”
King grunted and scratched at the door to their temporary prison. There wasn’t a knob on this side, no lock to pick, too thick to ram or scream open. His current plan involved climbing up to the bars on the window and trying to get them loose. Sadly the door and walls were made of some material his claws couldn’t catch on.
He gave up with a huff and turned to sit with his back against the door. Across from him in the small unfurnished room the Golden Guard was laying on the floor, staring blankly at the ceiling.
“Hey, Goldie!” King called. “Could I get a little help? Or do you want to rot away in prison forever?”
The Guard hummed a noncommittal noise and didn’t move. King glared at him.
“What is with you?” He exclaimed, throwing his paws into the air. “No comment about my efforts being futile? No name calling? You’re not even trying to get out! Don’t you want to get back to your emperor or whatever?”
King got the same response, just a hum.
He growled. “Snap out of it!” King ran over, climbed on the teenager’s chest and slapped his face. The Guard gasped and rubbed at the sore spot he left behind. “We are getting further and further from shore and I don’t think we’re heading anywhere good! You suck and I hate you but we need to work together to get out of this!” King grabbed the collar of his shirt and shook him. “So wake up!”
“I’m up. I’m up.” The Guard said pushing King off of him. “Stop it.”
“Good.” King stood up with his hands on his hips, “Now pick me up so I can get at those bars.”
Hunter huffed in annoyance but did as requested. The bars were high so he had to hold King up over his head.
The small demon pulled and pushed at the bars, he hit them, he screamed at them but they didn’t budge. He let out a small squeal of rage, shaking them aggressively. Hunter took that as his cue to drop him.
King held on to the bars so he didn’t fall. “Hey!”
Hunter just shrugged.
“Get me down!”
“It’s not that far.”
“You are the worst accomplice ever!” King eventually had to let gravity do the trick and fell to the floor. The Golden Guard had curled up in a corner and was staring at his hand like it was foreign to him.
King felt his bubbling anger fizzle out at the sight of him so despondent.
“Uh, you okay?”
Hunter rubbed at the palm of his ungloved hand with his opposite thumb.
“Did something happen to your hand?”
He laughed, a short unhinged sound. “More like something didn’t happen.” The Guard blurted out hysterically. “It didn’t burn or melt or anything! She shoved it right in and nothing happened!” He started shaking and curled up tight in an attempt to stop it. “Nothing happened!” He repeated, his voice wobbling. “it should have but it didn’t. Nothing happened.”
“Uh,” King wasn’t sure what to say to that.
“And it is my hand.” He continued like King had said nothing. “It’s not an illusion, I checked. It’s not an illusion. It is my hand. My hand did that and it was what she was looking for. She’s looking for a creature, a rare creature and not a witch and I’m-” His voice choked itself out. He hid his face in his knees.
“Oh,” King tapped his fingers together as he thought. “I guess this is a pretty awful way to find out you’re not a witch, huh?”
Hunter made a muffled indistinguishable noise of anguish.
“Yeah, I feel you.” King wracked his brain, trying to think of something to make him feel better, or at least get him functional enough to help with an escape plan.
“I don’t even know what else I could be.” The blond muttered sadly.
“I don’t know what I am either.” King stated.
“It’s not the same!” Hunter exclaimed, lifting his head up. “I’ve spent my whole life thinking I was a witch and now it turns out I’m not. My whole life is a lie, and my, my only so called family has been lying to me this whole time!”
“Well I thought I was the King of Demons for most of my life.” King countered. “Eda encouraged it. My family fed into a lie I believed wholeheartedly. They didn’t mean any harm but I was devastated when I found out that it wasn’t true. That the life I knew and the purpose I thought I had weren’t real.” King gestured widely. “I get it! It hurts. You don’t know who you are anymore, you don’t know what’s real and what’s not. But you can’t go back to not knowing. This happened. All we can do is figure out who and what we are and move on.”
Hunter looked at him as if he was seeing him for the first time. “Heh.” He gave King a small watery smile. “Guess we’re both frauds, huh?” King returned a happy look.
“That collector lady seems to know more than we do.” He held out a hand towards the teen. “Why don’t we get out of here and beat the answers out of her.”
“How though?” Hunter frowned. “You tried that shout thing and I don’t have magic without my staff.”
“Well,” King tapped his chin as he thought. “You thought you were a powerless witch, but if you’re not a witch then maybe you have some other power!”
“I think I would have noticed if I had sonic shouts or something.” Hunter said blandly.
“You didn’t notice your own species.” King pointed out, crossing his arms, “Your powers of observation are questionable at best.”
Hunter rolled his eyes but didn’t comment. “Well, you live with the Human, right? Do you know how to draw any of her glyphs?”
King brightened. “Oh yeah!”
An ice spike shot from inside the cell, impaling the door and sending it flying into the opposite wall. The halls of the ship were narrow so they had to climb around their self made obstruction, but Hunter and King were free.
“Take that, door!” King exclaimed pointing triumphantly at said door’s mangled remains.
“Okay so we need to either get control of the ship or find some way off of it.” Hunter said, ignoring King’s attempts to ridicule an inanimate object. “I don’t think we can take on the Collector, especially without my staff, so finding alternate transportation would be our best bet.”
“We’re not leaving without Eda!” King insisted before realization dawned. “Wait, Eda! She can turn into a harpy and fly us out!”
Hunter looked at King, about to say something and then held himself back with a hiss of breath. “Right, the Owl Lady can turn into a harpy.” He muttered mostly to himself. “Why not.”
“She was with that Collector lady last I saw her, maybe she’s still there!”
“Or she was sent to a cell like we were.”
“Eda!” King yelled.
Hunter shushed him and put a hand over his muzzle. “Quiet. We can’t let her know we got out.” He hissed.
They waited a moment. Thankfully, no retribution came. They let out a sigh of relief.
“Well she’s not down here,” King concluded, “or we would have heard something.”
“Above deck then.” Hunter mumbled. “With our lovely host, great. We need a plan.”
The Collector had brought Eda to the captains quarters, offering some snacks while they ‘negotiated.’
“I’m not leaving without King.” Eda stated, arms crossed. “Even if you can remove my curse.”
The Collector hummed, pouring herself a cup of tea. “The small demon, correct? I would wish something else in return. I am doing you a favor by removing the Owl Beast after all, and the Owl Beast is not worth more to me than a stonesleeper.”
“A stonesleeper?” Eda repeated. “Is that what King is?”
“Yes.” The Collector scooped some sugar like cubes into her tea. “Very rare creatures, very old, they predate even the Titan your society is built on.” She stirred her cup. “I would not be surprised if one even caused its demise.” She lifted the cup to mouth level, the steam moved as if she had blown on it but there was no matching sound.
“He’s gonna get big then.” Eda concluded.
“Perhaps,” The cup disappeared into the black void under her hood, “but in this current era it is unlikely he will attain that size. There isn’t enough room, and his kind tend to grow to fit the space they’re in.” The cup returned partially empty. Eda hadn’t heard her take a sip nor had she stopped talking long enough to do so. “He is young and can be molded, however. With the right environment I could keep him at the size he is or have him grow as large as your titan.”
“You’re not doing either of those.” Eda snapped. “I’m taking my kid back and if that means finding you something else then fine, name it. What do you want?”
A bird Eda had assumed was stuffed suddenly animated with a loud screech, causing her to jump. The Collector remained calm, ‘sipping’ her tea again as she turned to look at it.
“It seems your companions are resourceful enough to escape their confines.” She stated plainly.
“King’s my companion.” Eda said. “Me and the golden brat don’t exactly get along.”
The Collector hummed again. “I see.” She placed the teacup down on it’s plate. “Then I believe I know what you can offer in return for your King.”
“I don’t think this is gonna work.” King whispered.
“If you have a better plan I’d love to hear it.” Hunter hissed back.
“King?”
The boys shushed each other and ducked low behind the crate they were hiding behind. King peaked around the edge to see who’d called him.
“It’s Eda!” His tail perked up, wagging a bit. “She got out!”
“Wait!” Hunter whisper shouted, trying and failing to stop King from leaving their shelter to greet his mother figure. “It’s probably a trap.” He mumbled to himself once the small demon was gone.
“Eda!” King bounded up to the witch, jumping into her arms. The Owl Lady smiled softly as she picked up her charge.
“I see someone got out.”
“I smashed the door open with an ice glyph!” King exclaimed proudly. “Wait til Luz hears! How’d you do it? The Collector was with you, right? Is she unconscious or something?”
Her smile faltered. Hunter squinted at her suspiciously from where he was still hiding. “Oh you know, master escape artist right here. I’ve got my methods.”
“I knew it!” King continued, oblivious, “We didn’t have to bust you out at all!”
Eda’s smile fell completely. “We?”
“Yeah! Goldie’s not so bad when he’s not trying to capture you.” He leaned closer to whisper to her. “We have a plan.”
“Oh,” She put up a wavering smile. “That’s great.”
“Don’t tell her.” Hunter whined to himself, looking around the area to see what he could do with what he had.
“Yeah!” King beamed. “You see, Hunter thought-”
He was cut off as a bag of some kind of powder smacked Eda in the face, the impact shrouding the area in white clouds. King fell to the ground with an unhappy ‘weh.’
Eda gasped and retched as she tried to spit out the powder that had gotten in her mouth.
“What was that for!” King exclaimed in Hunter’s general direction.
“Can’t you tell something’s not right?” Said boy explained, arriving at King’s side with more bags in hand.
“Observant.”
Both boys froze at the voice. A wind swept over the area, blowing away the clouds and revealing the Collector floating above them all.
Hunter readied another bag but he was encased in a magic cocoon before he could throw it. He groaned in annoyance, dropping his head against the front.
“Eda?” King looked at his guardian, betrayed. Eda didn’t meet his gaze.
“Your end of the bargain has been filled.” The Collector stated. The magic encasing Hunter crawled up his head as he struggled, eventually fully encasing him completely in something that looked like a pod. “Silly that this one decided to stay.” She noted, floating over to the pod. “I demonstrated that he has no need to fear the boiling sea. No matter.” She turned back to Eda. “This was easier than expected but I am a witch of my word.” She drew a spell circle and a small boat appeared in front of the other witch. “You and your stonesleeper are free to go.”
“Bargain?” King repeated, addressing Eda. “What did you do?”
“Uh, well.” Eda didn’t look at him. “Turns out Golden boy is worth more to her than you and me combined. So I helped her recapture him in exchange for letting us go.”
King didn’t looked pleased by this.
“With one last condition.” The Collector teleported in front of Eda, holding out a hand. “Give me permission and I will remove the Owl Beast.”
Eda nodded. She reached for the hand but stopped when the beast within her screamed and trashed. Feathers sprouted over her body and Eda hunched over as she struggled to take back control.
“It’s alright.” She internally told the beast. “She’s going to separate us. You don’t want to be here either right?”
Her mental projection of the Owl Beast screeched and tried to fly away, only stopping when the red tether connecting them pulled taught.
Eda frowned. “You want out, but not with her.” She translated.
Back in real time Eda took a deep breath and the feathers receded. She stood up tall and looked at the Collector.
“What happens to them?” She asked. The Collector lowered her hand slightly, tilting her head to the side. “The Golden Guard and the Owl Beast. What happens if I leave them with you?”
“They will be preserved.” The other witch stated.
“How.” Eda’s eyes narrowed.
“I do not bring harm to my collection, if that is your concern.” The Collector said. She retracted her offered hand and drew a circle, summoning a scroll like she had earlier. She unrolled it showing them a drawing of some demon with a lion’s body and multiple snake heads. “Each creature is documented as such. Preserved for eternity.”
“But where’s the creature?”
The Collector tilted her head to the side. “Right here.”
Eda looked at the picture again and gasped. It was slight but the image was moving, shifting like a living being.
“I don’t get it.” King stated.
“You turned them into a scroll.” Eda realized breathlessly.
“Yes.” The Collector returned the object from whence it came. “They are unharmed.”
“But they’re trapped forever.” Eda mumbled, the beast inside her hooting its agreement.
“Safe.” The Collector corrected. “Unharmed by the passing of time. Protected from extinction or persecution.” She walked over to the pod. “Though this one will require some study first. I have never been able to observe a completed grimwalker before, much less one of this quality.” She stroked the magic prison possessively. “Made from the best parts, I suspect.”
Eda looked at the pod, at the humanoid shape she could make out in it.
“No.” She decided. Feathers started to cover her body again but this time she was in control of them. “You’re not taking them.” In a flash of light she was in harpy mode.
The Collector recoiled at the light but leaned forward in interest as she saw Eda. “Curious.” She started to draw a spell circle but Eda pounced before she had a chance.
“King,” Eda yelled, forcing the struggling Collector down against the deck. “Get Goldie out of there.”
“On it!” King saluted her before scampering over to the pod.
The Collector released a wave of magic, throwing Eda off. Eda caught herself in the air and dived back. The Collector summoned a magic net and tossed it at her. Eda dodged but was caught by a second net. It wrapped around her wings and she fell the short distance to the deck. The Collector was in front of her in a flash.
“Enough of this.” She aimed a magic blast at Eda’s face. Unthinking, Eda drew a spell circle. A shield sprung up in front of her, the blast bouncing off it and back at it’s maker. The shield dissipated and Eda stared at the place it’d been, stunned. The blast had knocked over the Collector but she was quickly getting back to her feet.
Eda focused and, taking a risk, drew another circle. Her own magic blast flew at the other witch. She dodged in a flash of light. Eda spread her wings wide and the net snapped into pieces. She jumped into the air just in time to avoid another attack.
King struggled with the strange magic keeping Hunter hostage. It was thick and plantlike. He could make a dent with his claws but tearing into it was taking up valuable time. Making up his mind, King took a deep breath and let out a long sonic shout. The magic binding flew apart layer by layer, eventually revealing the teen underneath.
Hunter gasped as soon as he was able, looking around in alarm. His eyes were drawn to the battle, particularly the transformed Owl Lady.
“What?” He muttered to himself in disbelief.
“Escape now, explain later!” King insisted, pulling at the remaining strands still trapping him.
Hunter shook his head and brought his attention back to the problem at hand.
In the sky above them the two witches seemed to be evenly matched. They danced around each other, trying to land a blow that the other ultimately dodged or blocked.
Hunter got the last of the stringy trap off and stumbled away from what remained.
He looked at King like he was about to say something but the loud fighting overhead drew both boys’ attention.
“They’re in a stalemate.” Hunter stated as he watched. “We need to break it.”
“I could shout but I can’t tell which one’s Eda.” King cried. “They’re moving too fast.”
Hunter looked down at him and then back to the fight above. “I can.” He knelt next to King and guided his head, keeping his eyes on the battle. “I’m going to aim for you, okay? When I say now, shout!”
Eda flew backwards to get away from tendrils of some sort. The Collector zapped in front of her, readying a large spell.
“Now!”
King’s sonic wave hit the witch dead on, knocking her to the side and stopping her spell. Eda jumped while she had the chance, going behind the other and whacking the back of her neck with her wing.
The Collector slumped and dropped, plummeting to the deck of the ship and smashing the boat she’d summoned earlier.
“Okay,” Eda tried to catch her breath after she swooped back down to the ship. “I think she’s out.” The Collector didn’t so much as twitch. Eda smiled at the boys. “Nice work, King.”
“I just shouted,” The small demon admitted, and then pointed at Hunter. “He aimed!”
Eda looked at the teen with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. He shrugged his shoulders and avoided her gaze.
“Mutually beneficial escape plan.” He said, the bashful nature of his posture making his claim unconvincing.
“Uh-huh.” Eda smiled. “Well we’ve still got to do the escape part.” She scooped up an excited King and offered a hand to Hunter. “You coming?”
He looked at her in confusion for a moment before almost hesitantly reaching forward to take her clawed hand. Eda pulled him towards her and grabbed him around the waist. Hunter yelped in alarm and grabbed at her wrist but a moment later they were in the air and he really didn’t want her to let go.
The ship shrank beneath them as the Owl Lady flew skywards. Hunter looked at her transformed face and then hastily away.
“Told you I could turn into a harpy.” Eda remarked, smirking at him.
Hunter nodded slightly with an affirmative hum, looking close to terrified.
“The Collector expected you to bail, you know.” She told him. “Said something about you not having to fear the boiling sea.”
His grip tightened on her arm but he didn’t respond.
“You looked out for King.” Eda stated. “I appreciate that.”
“We bonded about our lives being lies!” King exclaimed. “Right, Hunter?”
Said teen looked at him with wide eyes, his pupils quickly shrinking as it sunk in. “Oh, yeah, right. Our lives are lies. My life is a lie. I’m not a witch.” He looked down at the water passing beneath them. “I’m not a witch.” He repeated significantly more hysteric.
They landed on the cliff by the Owl House. King immediately jumped from Eda’s shoulders and bounded to the house to find Luz. Hunter took a few steps on shaking legs and promptly dropped to the ground. Eda winced, he still wasn’t taking the news well.
“Eda!” Said witch’s attention was grabbed by the sight of her teary eyed apprentice running at her full speed. Eda caught her with a hug and a smile.
“Hey, kid. Missed me?”
“You were gone for days!” Luz exclaimed holding her tight. “I didn’t know what happened.”
“Well, we did get kidnapped but it’s taken care of.” Eda ruffled the girl’s hair. “What’d we miss?”
Luz backed up and looked at her with wide eyes. “You would not believe who showed up the other day.”
Loud joyful tweeting drew their attention to the side where a small cardinal palisman was happily greeting his witch. Hunter actually smiled at the bird’s antics.
“Hunter?” Luz gasped. He looked up at her, expression returning to something despondent.
“Hello.” He flopped face first onto the ground, his palisman tweeting worriedly as it roosted on his head.
“Goldie got kidnapped too.” Eda explained, leaning in to whisper to Luz. “Would you believe that he actually helped? King said they bonded even. Who knew.”
Luz didn’t look even slightly entertained by Eda’s quip. In fact, she bit her lip and stared at the guard with worry.
“Hey, I’m sure he’ll be fine.” Eda assured, elbowing her. “Just got a bomb dropped on him, though, so give it a bit.”
Luz looked at her with wide eyes. “That’s not, uh,” Her gaze flicked to Hunter. “exactly what I’m worried about.”
Eda frowned. “Well what is it then?”
Luz gulped and leaned in close so only Eda could hear. “The, uh, Golden Guard hasn’t exactly gone missing.”
Far away, deep in the Emperor’s castle, a boy stood in front of a mirror, painstakingly touching up the fake scar on his cheek. He stared into his own eyes as he finished, almost glaring at the pale magenta of his irises before dismissing his reflection. He adjusted his cloak, making sure the emperor’s sigil was straight and picked up a golden mask from the counter. He gave his reflection a small smile before putting the facade in place.
“I- But who? What?” Hunter wasn’t being very cohesive as he looked in at the image of his double in the crystal ball.
“I ran into him when I was looking for Eda and King.” Luz explained. “He acts like you and everything. I would have thought he was you if Rascal hadn’t attacked him.”
“Well he’s not me!” Hunter pointed out needlessly. “He’s some kind of shapeshifter or doppelganger or,” His breath caught. He knew what the Collector had said about him. He was a grimwalker, made from the best parts. Made.
“I know!” Luz threw her hands in the air. “But all the Isles think he is you. If you show up at the castle now, they’ll think you’re the impostor.”
“Well maybe I am!” He hiccuped on a giggle. “I’m certainly not who I thought I was, maybe I’m not me at all.”
“Uh-oh.” Eda said as Hunter started to unravel again. She placed a hand on his back as he curled in on himself “Hey, remember kid, deep breaths. It’ll be okay.”
Luz bit her lip. “Has this been, uh, happening?”
“Yeah.” Eda replied grimly. “To be expected really. Kid just found out he’s not a witch in the worst way possible.”
“He’s not a witch?”
“Our kidnapper collects rare creatures.” Eda explained, absently rubbing Hunter’s back. “Which apparently includes him. Good news though, we found out what King is!”
“I’m a stonesleeper!” The small demon exclaimed happily.
“Oh cool,” Luz smiled at him. “What’s that?”
“No idea.” King replied just as cheerily. “But at least I know what I’m called!”
“And,” Luz trailed off, looking at Hunter.
“The Collector said he’s a grimwalker.” Eda revealed with a sigh. “And no, we don’t know what that is either. She was after me because of the Owl Beast.” She smirked. “Speaking of which.” The Owl Lady drew a spell circle with her free hand, summoning a ball of light.
Luz gasped. “Your magic!”
“It’s not back completely but I can preform some spells now. I think something changed because I protected the Owl Beast.”
“That’s great!”
“Yeah, everyone’s having a great time!” Hunter put in hysterically, lifting his head just enough to see them. “You got your magic back. You know what you are. I know what I am too and I’ve been replaced by another me! Probably literally! It’s fine. It’s great. Everything’s fine.”
“Literally?” Luz asked timidly.
“Oh, I was apparently made.” Hunter explained with an unhinged giggle. “Who wants to bet they didn’t bother with a shapeshifter and just made another one!”
Rascal tweeted something at him and rubbed against his cheek. Hunter hiccuped a sob into his knees. The rest of the group looked at him and then each other with concern.
“You haven’t been replaced.” Luz winced when she realized the lack of truth in her assurance. “Not really. Whoever that guy is, he’s not you.”
“Might as well be.”
“Rascal didn’t think so and I don’t either.” the human pointed out. “He didn’t accept that guy for even a moment. He flew all over the place trying to find you.”
The palisman tweeted what was likely a confirmation. Hunter picked up his head to look at him. Rascal bunted his forehead with his own. It didn’t assure him completely but he did seem to feel a bit better.
“You can stay here for now.” Eda offered. He looked up at her in surprise. “And maybe later we can take down that phony and get you your life back.”
“Why would you do that?” Hunter mumbled. “I’m your enemy. Shouldn’t you keep me prisoner or something.”
“Well I’d rather be fighting the golden brat I know than some bozo that looks like you.” The old witch offered, elbowing his side. “Besides, I think I owe you one.”
Hunter grunted and dropped his head to his knees again, too worn out to argue.