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Hunter felt numb.
It was raining, he realised distantly: human rain, liquid that didn't cause skin to blister and burn. It fell onto his hair and clothes, quickly chilling him as he stared at Luz unblinkingly. She was opening and closing the door with a sort of desperation that Hunter was all too familiar with, eventually turning to them all with hollow brown eyes.
Hollow. Hollow, like Hunter felt just then. Was everyone dead? Was Darius dead? It seemed impossible to consider, but then he'd seen Un- Belos die, so the Day of Unity had clearly resulted in some deaths–
Gus was crying, Hunter realised, being reminded once more of the fact that the other boy was twelve . Any words of comfort the teenager might have had died instantly in his throat as he continued to sit uncomprehendingly alongside Willow and Amity, the rain pouring down on them all as Gus sobbed.
It just didn't seem real . As much as people had spoken about the human realm, even as his uncle had built the portal, it had seemed almost like a fantasy; somewhere to dream of visiting, but never really go to. Hunter had been to many places in his lifetime when on missions, but another realm was something far beyond what he was used to.
He felt detached from his body as he shakily got to his feet. Hunter was used to ridding his mind of emotion, storing feelings away for later as he performed his role with perfectly practised confidence. He refused to cry, not when all of the others were there, not at all if he could help it.
Belos was dead.
The fact hit him at full force once more, that splat echoing through his brain as Hunter flinched instinctively. Belos was dead, Hunter had watched him die and done nothing. Did that make his uncle's death his fault? It had been preventable, if Hunter could have gotten over the stupid pain in his arm and just… Just….
What could he have done? Bargained with the 'Collector'? Acted as a shield like he'd done so many times before? He could have done anything else, but instead, he'd just watched. Watched, and heard, and felt his heart drop in its chest.
Hunter shook his head in an attempt to bring himself back into reality, clutching at his chest as it ached. His breaths were short and erratic, and he did his best to control them as he walked towards Gus.
No words were needed– no words could possibly have been said in that moment. Everything was quiet and it felt so wrong in comparison to the overwhelming noise from a few minutes before, but one sound Hunter could hear was Gus's sobs.
He sank to his knees beside the boy, wordlessly pulling him into a tight hug, shutting his eyes tightly as Gus cried into his chest. The rain had already soaked his shirt, and what did a few tears matter anyway when everyone in the Boiling Isles could be dead ?
Hunter did not voice these thoughts, nor did he say anything when Willow joined the hug, then Luz, then Amity. They clung to each other like their lives depended on it, simply breathing and listening and staying with one another as they tried to process the end of the world.
Time blurred together as Hunter remained in the embrace; it could have lasted minutes or hours, he didn't know. The only thing that mattered was that they were with him , and he had to keep them safe .
At some point, they rose to their feet, all as one as Luz led them away from the old shack. Hunter's feet ached from all the walking he'd been doing that day, but it was nothing in comparison to the pain in his chest. He was used to exhaustion, but didn't know how to deal with the sharp throb in his heart.
He didn't get to feel upset, not when the others had all lost far more than him. Belos was gone, yes, but he was one man- a man who had tried to kill him, no less. And Darius had only been forced to endure his presence and Lilith and Kikimora had always hated him and he didn't deserve the Flyer Derby team and- and the others had parents. Adults who cared, who could be dead, who they had no way of contacting.
They could be stuck in the human realm forever, and that was something that Hunter was far too scared to consider just then. Human houses all looked the same, painted bland colors and lined in neat rows next to each other. Luz's had a dark, wooden front door that reminded Hunter some of the ones at the castle.
Luz knocked three times, the sound seeming far too loud even as it was drowned out slightly by droplets of water hitting the ground. Hunter wrapped his arm around Gus's shoulders in a mixture of protection and comfort as the door creaked open and a woman gasped.
The woman looked a little like Luz did, having the same tan skin and short brown hair, though her brown eyes were framed by red glasses. Her eyes were wide as she stared at them all, and Hunter's grip on Gus tightened slightly.
"Hey, mom," Luz said, her voice hoarse and quiet as she raised her head. "I'm back."
The four simple words were enough to send a rush of tears to the woman's eyes as she rushed forwards. Hunter stepped back at the sudden movement, though all that the lady did was envelop Luz in a hug. He simply stood awkwardly as both Luz and the woman (Luz's mother?) wept together, the fourteen-year-old making no sound while her maybe-mother hiccupped between her mumbles.
The woman sounded like she was speaking another language, muttering rapidly into Luz's hair before calling behind her for someone named 'Vee'. Willow was clutching her arm with a haunted look in her eyes, Amity clasping her hands and Gus wrapping his arms around himself while Hunter merely watched. The weight of all that had happened was heavy on his shoulders, and he felt his throat tighten at the idea of everything that those back in the Boiling Isles could be going through just then.
A basilisk girl stepped into the doorway (and that was something else that Hunter wasn't sure he wanted to ask about), her eyebrows raising and a smile splitting across her face at the sight of Luz before she spotted the others and they were tinged with fear. Huh , Hunter thought as he stared at her closely, wondering how she was there when basilisks were supposed to be extinct.
"I'll- I'll get the first aid kit!" The basilisk (presumably Vee) told them quickly, her voice high.
Everything passed quickly after that, far too rapidly for Hunter to truly process it all. He just remembered staying in close proximity to Gus while the woman (who introduced herself as Camila) and Vee tended to each of their injuries, and being surprised when Vee reached him and placed a bandaid on his forehead. He supposed that with the adrenaline of all that had been going on, he hadn't felt the injuries– it wouldn't be the first time, after all.
Usually, he addressed his own wounds, but just then, he was too tired to protest. He was looking forward to drifting into unconsciousness again and having a small break from everything. Maybe he'd even be allowed to stay in past five, if he was lucky.
Even as Hunter kept watch on all of his friends(?), he couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing. It wasn’t quite the same as the sense of hollowness, but rather a sudden absence that he wanted to fix.
Luz introduced them all, she and Amity blushing when Luz told her mother about them dating (even more so when Camila called them 'adorable' and talked about how 'her baby was growing up'), and all of them were offered food. However, nobody had all that much of an appetite after everything that had gone on that day, so just headed to the lounge to set up a place to sleep.
Camila, clearly seeing that they were all exhausted, left the group alone to sleep, none of them wanting to leave each other be. She told them that if they needed anything, they could go straight to her, but Hunter knew that he wouldn't. Camila was a new face; he was too weary and had had too little time to gauge her trustworthiness just yet.
"Night, guys," Willow said softly, settling onto a blanket on the floor with an unreadable look on her face.
"Yep, night," Luz chimed in, her voice lacking its usual cheerfulness. She was laid right beside Amity, the two practically touching noses with how close they were. It was clear that neither of them wanted to leave the other's sight.
Hunter said his own weak 'goodnight', yet even as his eyes prickled with a need to sleep, his mind refused to let him. Paranoia nagged at him, Hunter's role as the golden guard insisting that he keep watch. This was somewhere new and potentially dangerous- he couldn't afford to let his guard down. He was responsible for the others, and they couldn't get hurt. They couldn't.
And so, Hunter sat up in his makeshift bed, his gaze focusing on nothing in particular as he continued to think. Gus had seemed horrified after forcing Belos to relive some of his worst memories, so it was very likely that he'd seen exactly the same thing that Hunter's unc- that Belos had. Hunter really hoped that he didn't know about the whole grimwalker thing, though he knew that he couldn't keep the matter hidden forever.
He ran through all the ways he could have done more to help, all the faces and names of people who could be dead at that moment, and felt a sickening sensation start in his stomach. Hunter tried to focus on something, anything else, but his head always led him right back to splats and screams and slumped bodies.
Bile rose in Hunter's throat as he was reminded of Darius's passed-out form, the man's eyebrows knitted and his mouth turned in a pained grimace. No matter how much Hunter had shaken him, Darius had not awoken, and the thought of him remaining that way forever made Hunter feel sick.
Sick as in actually sick. His stomach twisted with nausea as he stumbled to his feet, practically sprinting out of the lounge and reaching a kitchen sink. He threw up into it, the taste of vomit foul on his tongue as his chin rested on the basin.
Hunter knew that he had to clean it up, but couldn't find the strength to. He reached out blindly for some sort of cup, not wanting to turn the lights on in case it alerted someone to him being in the kitchen. He wasn't supposed to be there, and shuddered as the memory of what had happened when Belos caught him in his study a few years ago popped into his head.
His uncle had been furious, a stinging sensation had erupted on Hunter's cheek, and Belos had very nearly gone into his curse form. Hunter had been terrified, quickly obliging when Belos demanded that he fetch a palisman through gritted teeth. He'd been locked in his room for a week after that, the only contact he had being when the coven guards delivered his meals.
Needless to say, Hunter did not want a repeat of that, and the fact that he'd been sick would only make the situation worse. So, once he finally reached a glass, he filled it with water (keeping the tap on a quiet trickle that sounded deafening in the quiet of the night) and downed it all hurriedly, washing out his mouth and settling his stomach slightly.
He closed his eyes, exhaled deeply, and placed the glass on the side, turning around to see the face of the basilisk girl. He let out a tiny squeak before he could stop himself, jumping harshly as Vee looked at him with those large eyes of hers.
"Are you okay?" She'd asked softly, closing the kitchen door.
Hunter thought of a million different responses yet none escaped his lips, shrugging as he averted his eyes. Vee flicked the lightswitch, and Hunter found himself squinting at the sudden onslaught of brightness.
"Okay," Vee's voice was sweet and her expression open, a clear invitation to talk. "I guess that this is a lot, huh?"
"Yeah," Hunter agreed, sighing. "It is."
Neither of them spoke for a few seconds before Vee told him hesitantly, "I'm technically not meant to exist, you know."
Hunter's brow furrowed as he faced her entirely, drumming his fingers against his arm. "What… What do you mean?"
"I'm a basilisk," Vee began to explain, the words tumbling out of her mouth. "I was created. My kind were supposed to have died out– did die out– hundreds of years ago. But the emperor had his… His experiments, so here I am. I'm not even really a person."
Hunter chewed conflictedly on his lip, the pace of his fingers tapping growing as he debated how to respond before…
"Me neither."
Vee looked surprised, but said nothing, that openness still on her face, and she looked so sincere that Hunter broke.
"I'm a grimwalker," he forced out before he could change his mind. "I was- I was created by Belos too. I'm a clone, and I'm not the first one. I was– Titan, I'm meant to be dead right now. All the others are, and there were so many , and I just… Am I even my own person? I'm hollow, I have someone else's body and- and I don't even know if I have my own soul."
He was still trying to process the fact that he was a grimwalker– a vessel, a clone, a thing– and hadn't exactly had the most time to come to terms with it when the Day of Unity had been so soon and Belos had been hunting him down. It was ironic, he thought, that the Hunter had become the hunted so easily.
"...Can we be clone buddies?" Vee asked him hopefully after a few seconds, and it was so out of the blue that Hunter couldn't help but laugh. It was small, and incredulous, but it was a laugh nonetheless.
"Okay," he nodded, a tiny smile pulling at his lips. "Clone buddies."
He and Vee cleaned up the sink together, Hunter's face flushing red when she first spotted the mess. She assured him that it was fine, the two clearing away the vomit sooner than Hunter had expected. It was somewhat relieving to have help, and Hunter made a mental promise to protect Vee too.
"You know, Belos may have created your parts, but he didn't make you, Hunter," Vee met his eyes knowingly. "You can choose who you get to be."
"I guess so," Hunter said, gripping his arm tightly.
He understood what Vee meant, but didn't know how to be who he wanted. He'd spent so long following orders, fitting into Belos's ideal, that he had no clue who 'Hunter' really was.
But maybe he didn't have to know.
"We should probably get some sleep," Vee yawned, stretching her arms out as she smiled warmly at him.
"I've been trying to, I just-" Hunter's brain ground to a halt as he realised just what he was missing.
"Hey, are you alright?" Vee queried worriedly at the way Hunter's mouth had dropped open.
"Oh no, oh Titan , I left Flapjack in the Boiling Isles!" Hunter panicked, terror clawing at his veins as his breaths sped up. "What if he's hurt? What if I've lost him forever and all because I left him?!"
The world began to spin as Hunter's alarm only grew and he couldn't breathe.
"I'm, um, I'm sure that he's okay!" Vee hastily tried to calm him. "This isn't your fault, you just-"
"I forgot about him," Hunter wheezed, wild magenta eyes full of remorse and horror.
"Oh no, I, um, do you want me to get mom?" Vee enquired, her tone full of concern, but that only worsened Hunter's panic as he shook his head frantically.
"Just- need to- to breathe ," he said, voice nearly inaudible as he tried to do the breathing exercise Gus had taught him.
Vee quickly caught onto what he was doing, repeating the actions herself in an attempt to assist him. Hunter didn't know how she could just be so genuinely nice – it was like with Willow, and Gus, and Luz. None of them would have lasted in the long run in the Emperor's Coven: they didn't lack skill, but rather had far too much compassion. In a place like that, you had to prioritise yourself, and that was something that they were seemingly incapable of doing.
The tendrils of dread wrapped around his lungs slowly receded, Hunter's panting becoming steadier as it came to his attention that he was on the floor. He hated how he got the attacks so quickly, usually having no forewarning and having to just deal with them as they came. They'd gotten so much worse after being in Belos's mind.
He brushed himself off, standing up once more and saying with a hint of embarrassment, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lost control like that."
"No, it's fine!" Vee assured him, holding onto his hand with one that felt the same size as Luz's yet far gentler. "Do you want some warm milk? I find that it's really good for helping you sleep."
"...Sure," Hunter said, staying out of Vee's way as she sorted out two mugs full of the so-called 'warm milk'. He had no clue where anything in the kitchen was, nor what the drink he was about to have was, but as Vee had made the exact same for herself, Hunter thought it was safe to assume that she wasn't trying to poison him.
He took a sip, eyebrows raising at the taste. "Hey, this is pretty good!"
"I told you it would be!" Vee giggled, drinking some of her own. "I think I'm going to like this place even more with you here, Hunter."
"Thank you," he replied, and they both knee it wasn't just for the comment.
Hunter was still scared- heck, he was terrified, but he knew that he had people there to help. And there in the kitchen, rain pattering rhythmically outside the house, that was enough.