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As Camila took in the scenery of the infamous Boiling Isles that Luz and the others had ranted and raved about, she tried to enjoy it.
But of course, now that she was finally here, her mind was elsewhere.
Many places actually; the exhaustion on her daughter's face as she punished herself for even thinking about being happy, Gus, Willow and Amity who seemed to be taking this all a bit too well for kids having just witnessed their friend drown, the upcoming battle they'd have to face against the evil Emperor still somehow at large and the even bigger threat of the Collector — apparent child from the stars.
But maybe most of all, her worries laid with the stern-faced teenager, covered head to toe in scars, that was leading the way at the front of the group.
Well, he'd already been pretty much covered in scars, but not like this.
Branching strips of discoloured flesh were strung across his skin, pulling uncomfortably — and she guessed pretty painfully too — like rubber pulled too tight with every movement he made.
But the boy did not let it show.
He'd just been possessed by a monster who didn't even need the boney form dripping in slime to be considered that, he'd been forced to attack and hurt his friends, something he'd admitted to her that he was afraid of doing on late nights over hot cocoa, he'd dived straight into a lake, knowing he wouldn't see the surface again and when he had, he'd had to see his beloved Palisman die so he could have a second chance.
Yet he didn't let it show.
He didn't cry or break down on the ground, unable to go on like Camila had anticipated, even prepared for. He marched forward with purpose and a bitter frown on his face.
He didn't look like the sweet boy that she'd been living with for the past few months who had shown her every sewing project he completed with giddy excitement and beamed at the slightest praise, who loved wolves and birds and watching documentaries with his friends.
He looked like a soldier.
Camila recalled a conversation she'd had one evening with Luz. She'd been trying to introduce the Demon Realm kids to human movies, seeing it as a good way to introduce them to the subtleties of human culture that would make them easier to discover if they failed to follow along with and also just as a fun bonding activity to get the more shy of the group out of their shells. That evening they'd been watching a superhero movie, the kids using it as an excuse to compare human's view of magic to the very real, everyday magic of the Boiling Isles. Somewhere midway through the movie, Hunter had fallen asleep, face smooshed awkwardly against the arm of the couch and limbs all tucked in tight to his torso as if he were actively trying to be as compact as possible.
She remembered being relieved to finally see the boy asleep, aware from both his deep eyebags and the small sounds of presence downstairs in the middle of the night that he hadn't been sleeping very well.
So they all let him sleep for the remainder of the movie, even if Luz insisted he was missing all the best parts, but once the movie was over, the kids needed to head to bed. Camila didn't want to leave him asleep on the couch in such a position as it would definitely cause some stiff and painful muscles in the morning and even if he was rather short and thin for his age, he was still nearly as tall as her so she doubted she'd be able to carry him all the way down to the basement like she'd carried a young Luz from the couch to her bed so many years ago.
In the end, it was Willow who had volunteered to wake him up, giving his shoulder a light nudge. That small touch was all it took for him to spring to life, grabbing the hand that had touched him and manoeuvring to pull it at an awkward position behind Willow's back that would surely dislocate it if he pulled it much further. He had her on the floor in seconds, before anyone even had a chance to process what was going on, and he dug his knee into her back to keep her firmly in place.
The whole room had been stunned to silence, the only sound was this frightened boy's frantic panting as he held down who he'd assumed to be an attacker of some sort. They could all only exchange glances, daring each other to do something but none at all brave enough to actually step in and risk having their arms dislocated.
It was when Willow whimpered his name, uncharacteristic fear lacing her words, strange coming from such a strong girl, that Hunter's eyes widened as his brain caught up with his body and he realised what he'd done.
He stumbled back in alarm and scanned the room, drawing more and more into himself as he caught each person's horrified expression before he bolted down the basement stairs, the sound of the downstairs bathroom door slamming after him.
"Hunter was a soldier back in the Demon Realm," Luz had explained in a hushed whisper later on, "Someone who he trusted made him do bad things and he didn't have any choice in the matter. He's been through a lot, mamá, and even if we're all safe here... I don't think he feels safe..."
A soldier.
That had sat on her mind in the following weeks as she woke from his screams in the middle of the night or watched him scoff down food as if he had been expecting her to take his bowl the minute it hit the table or saw him flinch when his friends tried to pull him into a hug or when she saw the scars digging into every inch of skin under his gloves or when he had broken down in her arms and told her all the reasons he didn't think he deserved to live.
But the more he grew and blossomed into someone more him, the harder it was to see him as just a soldier. Soldiers were tough and hardened and cold, not cheerful and childish and so full of love like this little boy.
As he had begun to flourish under her care, she'd forgotten about a time when she could have ever looked at him and applied the label of soldier.
Until now.
As she watched him patrol in front of them, standing straight and surveying the area before they proceeded, head snapping around at every snap of a twig or crunch of a leaf that may have needed him to snap into action, she understood where that label had come from and exactly where it fit.
Yet all she could do was watch as that cheerful kid she'd gotten to watch finally find himself faded away into a shell of what he once was.
"We should find somewhere to rest, it's getting late," Willow suggested as the sun began to disappear beyond the horizon.
"What?!" Hunter burst, "It's only like— nine at the most! We can make another hour at the least."
"Hunter..." Willow sighed.
"What?" He snapped.
"We'll be useless if we're all tired out," Amity cut in, "It's best we find someplace to rest so we can cover more ground in the morning."
He scoffed at that. "That's ridiculous, we're already falling behind! Belos has a good fifteen minutes on us and that's if we're quick. If we rest for the night then we'll never catch up to him!"
"Right now, it's not about catching him. Trust me, we all want to, but our main goal is finding others and figuring out what the situation is so we can gather enough people to take down the Collector and Belos. Just the six of us don't stand a chance, especially when we're tired." Willow reasoned.
"I could take him if I had Fl—"
Hunter didn't finish that sentence.
"Hunter," Gus called out weakly drawing Hunter's gaze over to him. "I'm tired..."
Hunter's expression softened for a brief moment before he turned away with a huff. "Fine. Whatever. Let's rest."
Willow nodded. "Luz, do you know the way to the Owl House from here?"
Luz's head snapped up from being addressed, seemingly having been in a daze during the conflict. "Hmm? Oh, yeah. It's this way." She muttered distantly, pointing to their right and off they went.
Camila and Luz at the very back of the group trudged through foliage already trampled by the persistence of the boy at the front who moved with a stiff anxiety, shooting glances back at the group from time to time, urging them to hurry up but still maintaining enough politeness to not say it outright.
If it were any other kid acting this way, she would have found it difficult to not snap back or reprimand them for their attitude. But this was Hunter and it greatly concerned her to see that his immediate reaction to such a horrific event wasn't to cry or seek comfort but to snap back into an old routine.
She wondered how many times he used to have to witness horrors, see people die, receive beatings from his uncle and immediately slip back into the persona of the ruthless soldier without a second of reprieve. She felt nauseous.
Beyond the forest, a tall white building built on sturdy stone came into view. Camila turned to Luz for confirmation and saw her daughter's eyes glisten with distant nostalgia. That's how she knew where they were.
The Owl House stood firm despite the graffiti carelessly scribbled over it and the distinct stone-shaped hole shattered into the grand window that she could only imagine having looked mystical glowing in the daylight. It was exactly the sort of place that had been ripped straight out of one of Luz's Azura books. No wonder she'd been enticed to stay here.
Luz picked up her pace a bit, just enough to surpass Hunter at the front of the group so she could reach the door first.
"Welcome to..." She announced, trying and failing to replicate a grand entrance, "The Owl House..."
As she pressed her palm to the wood grain and turned the handle, the door swung open to reveal the hollow interior of the house.
The group trailed inside and planked themselves down in various places around what Camila assumed to be the living room, although it was difficult to tell due to the complete lack of anything.
Luz had always spoken so fondly of the little cottage out in the woods, the cosy compactness of it all due to the clutter sprinkled in every corner that nobody really thought too much about nevermind bothered to try clean. There were knick-knacks from the Human Realm piled ceiling-high or stuffed into closets, ready to overflow and drown whichever poor soul tried to open it.
It was messy but homely, Luz had described.
This vast aching shell had been sucked dry of all life and comfort it had once held and had been left cold.
"I don't think there's anything left to use to make beds..." Luz muttered, "Eda's nest will probably still be upstairs, I doubt any of those Emperor's Coven guards would have had the guts to dismantle it with all the animal bones stashed away. I'm sure we could squeeze everyone in and then our body heat would hopefully keep us warm enough for tonight."
"It's safer to set up camp right here by the door," Hunter argued, though not the way he would usually playfully bicker with Luz, this was more serious, more strategic, "That way it minimises the chances of anyone sneaking in and surprising us. I can go scout out the woods around the house and bring some stuff back to make bedding, I have experience making shelters."
Camila didn't want to think about a little kid out in the woods having to build his own shelters, hunting his own food, shivering as he pulled his cloak tight around his tiny shoulders, or maybe he hadn't even been allowed that. She did anyway.
"I'm coming with you then." Luz insisted.
Hunter turned to her, ready to argue, but instead, his frown melted into a look of exhaustion and he sighed. "Fine... let's go before it gets too dark to see."
Luz nodded and quickly followed him out the door, trying not to get hit by it as Hunter shoved through it without waiting for Luz to catch up.
When the door swung shut again, the four of them that remained sat still, staring solemnly at the door, going over their own worries for their friends' radical changes in behaviours quietly in their heads.
It was Amity who broke the silence. "He was like that back at Eclipse Lake, when I first met him. All miserable and goal-orientated. I thought he'd been getting better."
"I think he just needs some time." Camila replied, "It's been one hell of a night, and especially for him. This is just his way of dealing with it and for now, we need to be patient."
"It's like he's the Golden Guard again..." Gus mumbled, seeming unsure if he should have even mentioned that.
"He'll be okay pequeño, because he has us now and we're going to be there for him, right?"
Various heads around the room nodded in agreement. Willow remained silent.
Hunter and Luz returned not long later with various armfuls of soft mosses and leaves and the group helped them arrange them on the floor to make it a bit more comfortable. It wasn't the best, but it would do for the night.
With everything set up, they all settled down for the night and tried to get comfortable on their makeshift bedding. All but one.
"I'll keep watch." Hunter announced, hauling himself to his feet though with some difficulty as Camila watched him wince at the pressure on his newly scarred skin.
Willow in comparison was quick on her feet, slightly stumbling over to place a hand on his shoulder. He flinched at the touch.
"You don't have to keep watch, we'll be safe here." Willow said calmly and slowly, like speaking to a nervous animal, "Let's sleep, you more than anyone needs it."
His face twitched with something at that.
But he gave up much easier than expected, letting Willow tug him away from the door and laying down beside her on the moss and leaves they'd spread out.
Yesterday, Hunter would have been a flustered mess at the idea of sleeping beside Willow. Today he looked drained and distant as Willow rubbed a thumb over his hand, carefully avoiding the new sensitive scarring.
Sleep came quick to them all, the events of the day finally catching up now that their aching limbs had a chance to rest. Exhaustion tugged their eyes shut.
But for some, it didn't last very long.
Camila awoke with a small start and reached over to grab her glasses from her nightstand. Upon touching the cold floor and realising her glasses were still in fact on her face, she sat up and scanned her surroundings.
That's right, she was in the Demon Realm and she and the kids were spending the night on the floor of The Owl House before they pressed forward towards Belos and the Collector.
The looming threat of the battle to come made her stomach do flips but for now, she pushed the thought away to focus on the present.
Because upon turning around, she found Hunter also awake, sitting against the far wall, clutching a sharp stick in his shaky hands. The stick wouldn't do much against whatever intruder he was anticipating, he probably knew that too. Camila guessed it was more about the reassurance of having something to swing at a threat than the practicality of it.
Currently, Hunter was too busy watching the door to notice she'd woken up but a soft "Mijo?" Was enough for his head to snap around to face her.
"You should get some sleep." She commented.
His scowl deepened, though it was worn with exhaustion. "I'm fine." He stated firmly.
"Nothing is going to hurt us, you don't have to stay up."
"How do you know that?" He snapped back just as soon as she'd finished her sentence.
And he was right because she didn't know that. She had no clue how the Demon Realm worked, no clue what horrors may be stalking through the forests around them.
"Because I promise I'll keep you safe."
His voice dropped to a murmur. "You promised before, that I would be safe... Then Belos possessed me, and now Flapjack—"
Tears pooled in his eyes and he turned away before Camila could see them fall.
"Just leave me alone..."
"Hunter, please..." She tries to reason but he was up off the floor and heading to the door before she could find the right combination of words to magically convince him to stay and go to sleep.
As he reached the door, he paused, looking down at his hand holding the handle, the mark on his wrist, the sigil she'd seen dripping with blood after he'd tried to cut it out one night.
"It's fine." His voice was broken and defeated, "This is what I was made for anyway."
Camila watched him step out into the night, branch in hand.
She caught a glimpse of wet tears dripping down his face before the door swung shut behind him.