Chapter Text
The sigil on his wrist is no longer draining his magic, but he can still feel the phantom pain run through his arm and into his entire body. It leaves him shaky and hesitant to be making big decisions like jumping through an unstable portal.
The puddle of goop on the wall and the floor is all that is left of the emperor; of Belos, his uncle. Hunter stares at it almost longingly and there is a moment that he thinks perhaps his sludge of an uncle is staring back.
“Hunter!”
He doesn’t have time to think. He tumbles in after the others, just as the portal collapses.
The first thing he notices is the rain and he is prepared for the rain to burn into his already bruised skin. Except it never comes, instead it is wet and cold, and he is surprised that Belos hadn’t lied to him about everything.
His first truth:
“Rain doesn’t boil in the human realm.”
It feels like an eternity before he can find his voice.
“Is your home nearby?”
The traumatic trance that holds the teens where they are breaks, and Luz opens and shuts the shack door one more time before she leads the pack to her house.
He watches as Luz hesitates with the house door. Eventually she knocks, but she keeps her eyes to the floor beside her.
A woman, her mother he assumes opens the door. He expects that and isn’t surprised. He's too tired and all he can feel is the sigil throbbing to the beat of his heart, but his eyes still widen when he sees the basilisk behind the door.
Instincts have him buzzing, Belos told him how dangerous they can be, he’s a witness of one firsthand.
“Basilisks have the ability to siphon our magic Hunter, you must be wary if you ever get close to one uncaged.”
He wonders if that was true too.
He’s watched from beneath his mask and cloak, the draining experiments that Belos and the scouts have tested on those serpent demons, he’s seen their abilities firsthand. Instincts tell him to fight, except he’s too tired, more tired than climbing mountains, digging for titans’ blood at eclipse lake, even more tired than running from Belos and his mind hollow.
Belos has lied about so much, like the Day of Unity to be precise. Except now, Hunter would reconsider how dangerous their species could be, that perhaps Belos lied about them too, but he hasn’t lied about the rain, and he was there when the experimented Basilisks escaped the coven, saw the claw marks on the Coven Guards Uniform, he even has the scar along his jawline as proof of how dangerous a basilisk can be.
Hunter shivers.
The young witches are welcomed into Camila’s home, they follow Luz but Hunter resists. Gus, stares at him with big eyes, and eventually he finds the courage to enter. He is skeptical and doesn’t let his guard down, so he stays as far away as possible without seeming suspicious. Camila says that they should rest, he can feel his own adrenaline wearing off, he thanks Luz for keeping the knowledge of being a grim walker, and he bows down to Camila and thanks her for giving them a place to stay. Camila accepts his gratitude but demands he never do it again.
It’s a confusing demand, one that is unclear to Hunter, who is usually so good at following directions, but he doesn’t worry too much, because the fatigue settles into his bones, he watches tirelessly as Gus explains human artifacts that he’s rummaged through in the basement, but Hunter can barely keep his eyes open.
In the morning, Hunter is the first person up. He doesn’t feel well slept, he’s tired, and the sigil on his wrist itches under his gloves.
He thinks about closing his eyes again, that no one would harm him or tattle on him for getting extra sleep, but his body is tuned to wake up at this time, and even with the obvious knowledge that he’s safe, the guilt of considering sleeping in eats at him.
He quietly makes his way out of the basement. The 1st floor is still dark, the sun is still asleep, not even Camila is awake currently. He wanders aimlessly until he finds himself in the living room. There are so many photos of Luz and her mother, there are even some with her father. Another photo sits on a shelf at his eye level, it looks recent, and it looks like Luz, but he can tell that it isn’t…the eyes…
“What are you doing here?” The voice is soft, accusing, but it holds a bite that makes Hunter jump.
When he turns to see who it is, it's Luz, but it’s also not.
“Luz…?”
Vee huffs and shifts into her natural form.
“Why are you here, Golden Guard!” She shouts. It pierces through the calm and quiet, and he wonders if anyone is awake now.
“I. I’m…” I’m not the Golden guard he thinks. There is nothing golden about being the emperor’s right-hand man, and he’s not a guard to anything now that the covens are disbanded, now that Belos is dead.
“You're a murderer!”
“I didn’t kill anyone!?
“You didn’t have too! You captured witches, and demons, for a murderer, you let my kind die, you let thousands of Palismans die!”
Instinctively he reaches for his shoulder, his hands shake, as he remembers that Flapjack is not with him. None of their palismans are with them. He doesn’t even know if any of them are still alive.
“Vee!” Luz is panting at the foot of the stairs.
“Enough!”
Hunter watches as Luz puts herself between him at the Basilisk. Vee looks identical to the ones that Belos experimented on, but through her fear and her anger, her eyes are much softer, they don’t look venomous like the ones that were at the castle.
“He’s good Vee, it’s a long story, but I promise he’s on our side.”
Vee stares in disbelief and it makes him feel small.
It isn’t until Camila, and the girls come down that things have finally settled, even Gus is awake and staring longingly at the commotion. No words are spoken, and for hunter that makes him feel worse. Belos would have punished him, even the Coven heads would heckle him for silly mistakes and failed missions. Camila does none of it, she’s speechless.
It’s been less than 24 hours since Camila has met these witches and opened her home to them, so when Hunter watches Camila put a comforting hand on Vee Shoulders and walk off with her into the kitchen, Hunter feels jealousy?
A longing to belong somewhere again.
Hunter watches as Luz, Amity, and Willow follow in her footsteps.
Even Gus, who hardly has a clue of what’s happened, follows Camila, their only adult figure, into the kitchen.
Sensibly he knows he should just follow, but Belos has ingrained life lessons into him, so he chooses to wait in the living room until he’s told otherwise.
In less than a day, Hunter admits that the human realm is exhausting, complicated, and there are no clear instructions.
He wonders if this is what Darius implied.
“You’re very good at doing exactly what you're told.”
He had been desperate to show his worth, it was naive for him to believe that Darius was complimenting him then.
Hunter was as useless as an uncarved Palistrom wood. He had been a puppet to an evil ruler, and now he stood there, aimlessly waiting for instructions, because he didn’t know what to do otherwise.
No one comes looking for him. He doesn’t know how much time has passed, but the sun is up now so he finds a seat on the sofa. He will wait for as long as it takes.
“Hunter?”
“Yes Ma’am, I mean Camila. Yes Camila?” He rises from the sofa to give Camila his fullest attention.
“Breakfast is ready, I know things are… complicated, with Vee, and the demon realm, and I don’t know if I understand it all, but you're safe here. Vee just needs space and time, Luz says you're a good boy, and I trust my daughter.”
“Thank you…”
Food called breakfast in the human realm is sweet, and soft, pancakes, and waffles melt in their mouth, and the meats are savory, not at all bitter or gamey like the foods on the Isle. Although it all taste good, it leaves Hunter feeling nauseous, he hasn’t eaten so much food at once, since…
Well, if he was being honest, he’s never eaten so much food in one sitting. Belos would never allow it, and “The Golden Guard” was far too busy to eat leisurely.
He helps Camila with the dishes because he must show her, he’s worthy of staying in her home, and she shows her appreciation but nothing else. When he’s finished, he attempts to continue looking through the photos around the house, but when he sees Vee in the living room with Amity and Willow, he makes a mad dash to the basement.
It’s a good decision because now that he’s alone again, he can feel the food trying to settle in his stomach as it leaves him feeling nauseous, and he’s almost relieved that he is alone in his misery.
He settles into the couch, curled as close as he can with his head resting on the arm. He uses one arm as a pillow, the other protecting his stomach.
He must have dozed off again, because the next thing he sees is Gus, carefully examining more human relics. Hunter is painfully exhausted. He’s confused why the others don’t seem nearly as affected.
He doesn’t want to make any sudden movements, but he rolls his gloves down to stare at his sigil. He remembers the Coven heads collapsed at the center platform, none of them were responding, maybe he’s still feeling the effects.
“You're awake! I didn’t wake you, did I?”
“No, I just woke up.”
“Are you okay? The girls went back to the shack to look for clues, but I said I would hang back and wait with you. I don’t know how to tell you this, but you look a little peaky?” Gus rambles.
Hunter doesn’t know how to answer, was he alright?
To be frank, No.
His uncle, the only family he has ever known was dead, the Coven; the Castle his home was destroyed by the collector, the food in the human realm made him sick, Camila instructions made no sense to him, and now he was uncomfortably hot.
“Hunter?”
Hunter thinks he’s going to be sick.
“Hunter, remember your breathing.” Gus tries.
Gus helped him with his breathing last time too, but this time feels different. He scans the basement and can confirm there isn’t a bathroom. He makes a beeline for the 1st floor bathroom instead.
Slamming the door behind him, he kneels in front of the porcelain god.
“Hunter?”
“Hunter? Sweetheart? Are you okay?”
No, no he is not okay.