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A bright ray of light rests on Hunter's face. Their first morning in the Human Realm. He carefully opens his eyes and sees that nobody is asleep anymore; surely, he is the last one to wake up. The silence after the horror of yesterday, is truly, equally frightening. Almost no one among them wants to look at the future of everything. All remains so painful.
Still skeptical on whether he is dreaming or not, he stares at the wall for a while, and touches the tiny mattress beside him where Gus had slept on. "Human realm," he whispers unconsciously. He then finds his way to the bathroom which Camila showed them last night. She toured the kids their way in the entire house yesterday so that if ever they wanted to do something by themselves, they could.
He turns the faucet on, and a cool rush of water pours on his hand. He tries to make sense of what happened but his thoughts float like bubbles, and then it disappears as quickly as it materializes. His train of thought has no destination, no purpose, no meaning.
Hunter then scoops the water and splashes it onto his face. He does it again. And again. And again. Gripping the sink with both of his hands, he looks in the mirror. The scar is the most prominent part of his face, making him feel awkward to his own reflection. It is as if the scar knows more than what he knows about himself. The color of his eyes too, these piercing magenta eyes, it looks strange. Not the good kind of strange. It looks evil. The kind of evil that can't be forgiven. "Grimwalker," he says with utter disgust.
When he goes downstairs, Willow is by the window, watering Camila's houseplants. Hunter freezes for a bit, then manages to say, "Hello?" He coughs. "Where.. is everybody?"
"Oh.. Hi, Hunter! They went outside..." She greets him with a big smile. "I think Camila went to her job."
"Oh.."
"Luz thought that Gus might want to explore this world more, so she and Amity accompanied him... You know, just to get his mind off of things.. even just for a little while."
"That's thoughtful.." He walks toward her.
"You know Luz.." Her voice shakes, for Willow herself, is still finding it hard to accept all that is happening. She misses her dads. She hasn't had any assurance that they were okay. And as far as she can tell by the looks in her friends' faces, no one is doing fine. Sure they are smiling, and being brave about it, but she knows deep inside that everyone is hurt, and broken.
"Vee is in Luz's room. Upstairs." Willow adds. "She refuses to talk to anyone at the moment. After, what... we told about the Boiling Isles."
Hunter sighs. Leaning against the window sill, he glances at a distance. "I helped him, you know?" He pauses. "Belos." Willow looks at him with sympathy. "Part of this, is my fault."
"No, Hunter.."
"Yes it is, Willow!"
"You did not know. How can you say you're responsible for this if you had no idea that he was evil? That he was–"
"Just using me to kill everyone?" Hunter stares back at her. "I should've known better."
"The important thing is you do know better now, right?"
"Luz had been telling me this when I was still the golden guard, and I didn't listen." So much guilt inside him that he cannot even look at his sigil anymore.
"It's okay, Hunter." She places her hand on top of his. "It is not your fault. Nothing is your fault." She then touches his scar. "We will be alright. Eventually."
He holds her hand that is on his face. "Thank you, Willow." He tears up. He tries to stop it from falling but he can't. This may also be the first time he has ever cried in front of someone.
"You're fine here, Hunter. You're fine here.." She embraces him, rubbing his back. Then, she wipes his tears. "We can be your family now. I promise I will be with you, when you need me, okay?"
He nods with a smile. There is this something definite, something steadfast, like an anchor, that Willow makes him feel whenever she's around. It is as if in the middle of a tempest, seeing Willow is a signal that everything will work out. That the storm will pass. For him, Willow is the embodiment of light and hope and strength and bravery, against the confusion and chaos around him. But he can't say this. "Of course, I cannot." He thinks to himself.
"Well then, I, too, will come right away when you need me. That too, is a promise," Hunter says, leaning against the window sill once more, sighing heavily. He wipes his face with his shirt. Then he winks at Willow, and looks around the house. Trying to figure out human stuff.
"What's this, vertical coffin thing?" Hunter asks.
"What????"
"This.." He points at it.
"Ahh, Luz calls that a fridge. It's for human food."
He opens it and the cool air makes him shiver. "Have you tried their food?"
"Yep, just the human sandwich. And apple blood — jeez, I mean apple juice." She laughs. "It tastes just like the apple blood back home."
Hunter picks up a carton of chocolate milk, a bowl of strawberries, a jar of roasted peanuts, and a block of cheese from the refrigerator. "Come here, Captain, let's try these! Are you sure these are all food?"
"Yeah, but I don't like the idea of trying all that out..."
"Come on! It'll be fun!"
Hunter examines the carton of chocolate milk and takes a ceramic bowl on the table and pours it in. He drinks it like soup. While in pure delight, he says, "Oh my Titan! Willow, this is so good! Go try it!" He gives her the bowl.
"Soooo good!" She gives a wide grin, and a thumbs up.
Next, he looks at the strawberries and eats the entire thing, with its top leaves. He touches his chin, trying to rate the taste in his head. Willow anticipates. "Hmmm.. I think I like it."
She takes one and eats it too like the way Hunter ate it. "I mean— it tastes okay. It is tolerable. The chocolate milk is still way better though." He smiles at her.
"Here, this... whatever this is. Maybe these are little eggs from whichever... being," he struggles to find the right words while munching the peanuts. "Well, it tastes... salty? I don't know, try it.."
Willow bites a couple of pieces. "Yeah, yeah, it's salty, right?" She laughs. "Again, I find it okay to eat... but I can't really pinpoint the texture when you chew it."
The last one is a block of cheddar cheese, Hunter grabs it and immediately bites a portion of the entire thing. His eyes widen. "I don't know what it is but I definitely like it." He hands the cheese to Willow, which she bites as well.
"Uh huh, very strange.." Squinting her eyes and blinking more than usual. "Like.... I have not tasted anything quite like this in the Boiling Isles," she comments.
"Yeah, I know!" He laughs in astonishment. "But, what do you think?"
"Oh, I like it.... It just tastes, new and unfamiliar. I think," she chuckles.
The two drink the chocolate milk again, and then talk about anything under the sun. They both know how much energy is currently being dragged from them because of the situation back in the Demon realm. But this morning, this moment, feels so oddly blissful. It feels like sipping chocolate milk for the first time.