Chapter Text
“Are we there yet?” a small voice asked from behind a wooden mask, tiny feet struggling to keep up with the older child in front of him. He padded along, shuffling dirt and smushing grass, until he stumbled and almost fell over. The mask slipped off, and he reached out, picking it up.
The older brother turned around, reaching a hand out, clasping the younger boy’s hand in his own. “Almost. A little longer to our new home, I promise.” His blond hair shone bright in the sun. “There should be a village on the other side of those hills.”
“Okay.” The boy responded quietly. A pause. “Caleb… Do you think this village will accept us?”
Caleb didn’t face his brother. He didn’t have a truthful answer, considering the past five towns they’d passed didn’t help them. Sometimes, as the older one, he had to lie. “I’m sure of it. This next one is lucky! I can feel it!” He grinned, tugging the younger along. “We’re going to have a new home, Philip.”
“Really?” Philip looked up at him, eyes shining with child-like hope. He put the mask in his bag, strapped to his small back.
Caleb nodded, pointing to the hills. “Just beyond the horizon lies a place where we can get some food, a bed, and new toys.” A story, a tale to keep his brother happy. From the truth. Ever since their village had burned down, with their parents inside, Philip had suffered the most. Caleb knew he had to take care of him.
Philip smiled at his brother, his tiny steps speeding up so he wasn’t being dragged anymore. “Yay! New toys! Does this mean we can sword fight and be heroes?”
“Of course we can. We’ll be the greatest heroes in the whole world.” Caleb could play along with his world of make-believe and fun for as long as possible.
And the rest of the journey to Gravesfield became one story after another. Of fun, and games, and happy times just around the corner.
—
Hunter blinked, sitting up, checking his surroundings. The Owl House… in bed. He’d been asleep. And dreaming of… his past? Well, it wasn’t his past, exactly. Caleb’s. But that didn’t make any sense. They defeated Belos a few months ago. He was dead. There was nothing left but rebuilding their home. Nothing but a happy ending.
“You’re supposed to be resting in peace, now that he’s gone,” Hunter hummed quietly to himself. “Why show this to me now?” He hadn’t seen, heard or felt Caleb since the possession incident. Maybe his soul had become one with Hunter’s in death? There were no clear answers, and nothing he could do.
“Caleb?” Hunter tried again, standing in front of the mirror. He stared into his own face, expecting a slight transformation, a voice, anything.
Nothing.
“Oh well…” Hunter shrugged, and turned away, heading out to start the new day.
—
“Boy come here!” An older gentleman called to Caleb, waving his hand. “Aren’t you supposed to be the trial scribe?”
Caleb headed over quickly, trying not to embarrass himself any further by getting yelled at by the judge or jury. “Ah, yes. I am, sir.” He took out his feathered quill. “I can read and write, sir.”
“Good. Sit here. We’ll be starting the witch trial soon.”
Caleb took a seat in the uncomfortable wooden desk he was told to, finding the official paper and bottle of ink already there. He shifted in his seat, staring at the woman they’d dragged in. If she could even be called a woman.
She was a girl, a teenager maybe just a handful of years older than himself. She struggled in the chains, and was hit several times by the guard to shut up or stop crying. Caleb winced, trying to look away.
This is what he had to do. For their survival, acceptance. Since Gravesfield was a small town, he’d volunteered to be a court scribe when they needed one. Philip had been on lookout duty for witches, especially during church, when it was said the devil would possess these girls. Both of them… had become a part of the town’s witch hunters. If they saw anything, they had to report to the adults, they had to round up the mob and join them in brutally capturing these teens.
But it was fake. Caleb could see that. There was nothing magical about these teenagers. Nothing evil. Nothing indicating the devil or spirits or possession. He stared at the wood, the feathers of the quill crumpling in his sweaty palm. It was all an excuse to be violent to girls. To murder them.
The people in this village had gone insane. Hysterical over something that didn’t exist. Caleb wasn’t sure why. Maybe it had to do with the town being so small that drama happened all the time. Or maybe the food was spoiled. Or maybe their religious fantasies had gotten to them, being all isolated out here in the middle of nowhere. Whatever it was, Caleb couldn’t do anything.
He had to sit here. He had to write down all the words, no matter how much it hurt. No matter how awful the things said in the court were. And… no matter the outcome of the poor girls’ fates.
Caleb wanted to leave. But Philip… his brother, did not. His brother was happy. His brother had a home. He had a village to feed and clothe and care for him. He couldn’t ruin his brother’s childhood again.
Even if it meant… murdering innocents…
Caleb couldn’t sleep that night. The words, screams, and pain in that courtroom replayed over and over again. Every time he shut his eyes, it’s all he saw. The girls screaming and crying, the men yelling, violence and arguments ensuing. He stared at the rotting wood beams above and sighed, putting his hands on his face.
Philip slept next to him on the straw, out cold. He glanced at his brother, shifting around him, getting up. A few loose straws clung to his coat, but he didn’t bother to brush them off. After making sure Philip still had his mask and wooden sword near him, Caleb left the shack they were allowed to stay in, and headed out into the fresh night air.
The wind blew through his hair and coat, and he shivered a bit at the chilliness. He hoped it would get warmer soon as summer approached. Caleb narrowly avoided the men on night watch, spotting their lanterns. He dove quietly behind a barrel, waiting for the coast to be clear. Once their footsteps passed him, he turned his head to check and kept walking.
Originally he wanted to go for a walk into the forest, where nobody would bother looking for him. Even if it was dangerous, it was more free than this town was. But his feet had taken him on another path. Towards the county jail. Towards the locked up girls.
Something caught the corner of his eye. Caleb glanced in the direction of the movement. A flash of dark-red hair, and a gray hood. He blinked and headed closer, trying to be as silent as he could.
Until there was a press of something long and hard against his neck. Some sort of wooden staff?
“Don’t even think about escaping. I won’t let you run off to your friends or call for the guards.” A girl’s voice, dark and threatening, said lowly into his ear.
Caleb gulped, unsure how to respond in this situation. He wasn’t going to do either of those things. “Please… I won’t. Just… let me go. I’m not like them,” he admitted. He wasn’t a guard, and he didn’t want to be a witch hunter. Something in his gut told him, whoever this was, felt similarly about this village and its practices.
“Them?” The voice echoed, softer than before but still on edge. “You’re not a Puritan?”
Well, he was, but in theory only. He didn’t actually believe any of the shit they taught. He only pretended to be faithful to not get into any trouble. “No, not really…” he admitted quietly.
The pressure of the staff removed from his neck and the figure stepped out in front of him. She took off her hood, revealing wild dark-red hair, bright gold eyes and… pointed ears. He’d never seen this girl before. She seemed to be his age, by her height and size of her body. The gray hood was more like a cape of sorts, to hide her clothes and ears. And the wooden staff had a blue bird carved into the top of it.
“You’re weird.” She stated and then turned around, heading back towards the county jail. “Well, are you coming?” She asked when he didn’t follow her right away.
“Coming?” Caleb echoed with a frown. What was going on? “Wait, but who are you? And what are we doing?”
“Freeing the girls, of course. I’m taking them with me to go somewhere safe, to spare their lives. They’re only human, after all.” She said, her tone on the word human almost suggesting that she wasn’t. “Quite sad that your people have been killing them over nothing,” she hummed, pulling her hood on and picking up her pace.
Caleb jogged to keep up with her, still confused, but knew she was right. “You still haven’t answered my–” He trailed off.
The girl had rushed ahead, pulling out some plant and drawing a circle in the air. Wind rushed forward and the two guards on watch of the county jail fell asleep. Their bodies crumpled forward, resting in heaps on the ground. “Don’t worry, they’ll wake up in a bit. We have to hurry.”
Caleb blinked. He’d never seen this before in his life. The plant or the… drawing method? What was that? What did it mean? “Okay.” He shook his head, getting the sense of urgency as they entered.
Mystery girl drew another glowing circle in the air with her staff, larger, and an orb of light floated up, shining light on the locked cells of girls. It didn’t flicker like a lantern, and wasn’t as bright as the sun. But it did its job. All of the younger girls turned to stare at her. “We’re here to help you escape. Come, there’s not much time.”
Another circle, this time, ice forming around all the locks and chains, bursting them open. Cells swung open, and she motioned for the prisoners to follow her. They seemed scared, hesitant, and one younger one started to cry.
Caleb moved forward, slowly heading to the younger girl who was crying. He knelt before her, careful not to startle her or touch her. “Hey.. look at me,” he whispered softly, as calmly as he could. He waited for her head to raise, eyes meeting his, and she sniffled. “This young lady will take care of you, okay? She’s going to take you home. Somewhere safe,” Caleb reassured. He used the same voice and mannerisms he always did for his brother.
It took the young girl a moment, but she nodded and got to her feet, following all of them out. Caleb smiled, glad that it had worked out. He ran to keep up with them, the mysterious teen already out of sight. He scanned for her cloak and staff, finding her waving the girls into the tree-line, trying to get out of sight.
“Hey you!” A deep male voice shouted at them. “Come back here!” Footsteps crunched towards them, and a group of dogs barked. Men running with lanterns and torches headed straight for them. “Don’t let the witches get away. Hurry!”
Someone grabbed Caleb’s wrist and he jumped, expecting a guard or another Puritan village member. But it was the mystery girl with her staff. “Come on, we have to go through.” She pointed at a door with an eye. It seemed to glow in the dark.
“Where does it lead? What about my brother?” Caleb was hesitant to go anywhere else without his brother. Philip struggled on his own. He needed him.
The running and shouting got closer, dogs barking and bounding after them got louder. There was no time to think about it, no time to get his brother.
“If we don’t go now you’ll be caught! At least this way, you’ll be a free man to care for your brother!” She opened the door and pulled him through. Right before the door shut, Caleb saw the drooling, nipping jaws of one of the hounds.
But now… he had no clue where he was… or who he was with.
Mystery girl pulled off her hood, twirling her staff in her hand. “Welcome to the Boiling Isles! I’m Evelyn Clawthorne. And you are?”
“Caleb… Caleb Wittebane.”
—
Hunter gasped awake. For the second night in a row, he’d been dreaming of the past. Of memories that weren’t quite his, and he couldn’t explain it. He stared at his hands, frowning as he recalled details from the memory.
Evelyn. She was an ancestor of Eda’s. And her palisman looked so similar to Flapjack, but blue. Hunter clutched at his chest, missing his own palisman. He knew Flapjack had previously been carved by Evelyn and Caleb, for Caleb as his palisman.
Hunter needed to learn to carve a new one. And… he should make Flapjack a sister. A bluebird that matched Evelyn’s, in her honor.
He jumped out of bed, throwing on his favorite wolf shirt he’d made, and ran to find Eda. He had to tell her. He owed her for letting him stay here, and go to Hexide with the rest of his friends.
“Hey, King, have you seen Eda?” Hunter anxiously tapped his foot against the wood floor. The small titan had been resting, likely after doing so much to help rebuild the Isles, like the rest of them.
“You’re waking me up for that?” King peaked open an eye. “I don’t know. Did you try the nest? Or in town?”
“You looking for me, kid? What for?” Eda yawned, rubbing her eyes as she entered the room in her PJs.
Hunter ran a hand through his hair. He started to pace back and forth. “So I’ve been having these dreams–well, they’re more like memories–from Caleb. He’s basically me, or ah, I’m him? I’m a grimwalker copy of him. Anyways, that doesn’t matter.” He shook his head. “These memories, I saw him meet Evelyn for the first time. She’s your ancestor. Evelyn Clawthorne. I thought you should know. And your dad, I need to see him, because I need to learn to carve palismen.”
“Woah, woah, kid, that’s a lot. Take a deep breath, and sit down.” Eda patted a spot next to her on the couch. King had taken residence on her lap for his nap.
Hunter did as he was told, sitting down and taking deep breaths, counting on his fingers. He thought of Gus and Willow, and his shoulders sagged, his heart rate slowing. “As you know, I am a copy of Caleb Wittebane. His story… is connected to your family.” He said slowly.
“I’ve never heard of this.” Eda hummed. “I wonder why nobody passed it down in our family.”
“I.. I don’t know. But Evelyn was your ancestor. As Caleb was mine,” Hunter replied. “I wonder what other secrets he’ll show me…”
Eda looked at him. “You mentioned something about my dad?”
“Oh! Yeah. Ever since uh… Flap died… I wanted to carve a new palisman. But I also wanted to carve more, for other kids who need them at Hexide,” Hunter explained with a soft smile. It made his chest warm talking about this. “I wanted to help carry on your father’s business. And make up for all the palismen Belos killed.”
Eda’s eyes lit up, and she smiled, reaching over and ruffling his hair. “Oh kiddo, you’re too kind ya know that?” She teased and held King in her arms as she stood up. “Come on then, let’s go have a visit with my Pops!”