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Chapter Text

Hunter was on his way home from school, he was purposefully walking slow, despite the heavy snowing. It gave him more time to think of way to explain his F in biology to his father. How could he explain that he was daydreaming during test, and by the time he realised, he had no time left, not that he knew any of the answers. He didn't study at all, how could he, his favorite paranormal podcast just dropped a new four-hour-long episode.

He kicked a rock in his way, "This is stupid" he whispered to himself, his father is going to be furious, he's probably going to take away his eletronics and books until he gets better grades. "My grades aren't even that bad, some subjects are just bullshit" He always aced history for example

Hunter reached their front porch and sighed, he couldn't delay this any longer, and he was terrible at keeping secrets. He pushed open the door to step inside, his father, Caleb was working on his computer, he was a marketing mananger, Hunter had no clue what that means, but this was definitely not the time to ask. "Hi Dad" he said trying not to sound suspicious, unfortunately, his voice raised an octave above normal, making it sound like a squeak, rather than normal words. "Hi Hunter, I'm kinda busy right know, We'll talk later, okay? Oh and your grandparents are coming over for dinner at six, so get ready" His father didn't notice that he was hiding someting, or if he did, he didn't mention it. Hunter let out a relieved sigh "okay" He grabbed a pack a chips and headed up the stairs to his room. The inside of his room represented his mind pretty well, messy for an outsider, perfectly organised for his eyes. He flopped onto the bed, opened his laptop and ate his food while watching paranormal videos, and scoffing at how obviously fake they were, these type of videos are the reason why no one took his hobby seriously, he can't even remember how many times he's been made fun of when all he was trying to do is tell other people about his passion. Hunter sighed, "I wonder if there's a place where weirdos like me fit in"

At five-thirty he headed downstairs only to be met by a horrid smell, which could only mean one thing: his father was cooking again. "Oh god" Hunter mumbled under his breath. He glanced down at the cause of the odor, namely, a meat pie. "I swear it tastes better than it looks" His father called out from the kitchen where he was loading in the dishwasher. One thing to know about Caleb Wittebane's meals, is that they always tasted even worse than they looked and smelled, Hunter tried really hard not to gag. "Sure it does" He said as he slid onto one of the dining chairs. "So how was school today? You excited for last day before Christmas break tomorrow?" Caleb said while cleaning up the mess in the kitchen "Um... It was good I guess, I can't wait for winter break to finally begin" Only half of that sentence was a lie, he had a terrible day, but he was really happy about the upcoming Christmas break. "Well I'm happy to hear that, I assume this means that the biology test went well". Shit, he forgot that the he told is father about it, there's no denying it now. "About that... I kinda zoned out and forgot to actually write anything..." Hunter said as quiet as possible "YOU WHAT? Does that mean you get an F?" His father said jerking his head towards him "I... I... I'm sorry, it won't happen again" "You said that the last three times Hunter" Caleb said now looking eye to eye with his son "I know... But this time..."

Caleb never found out what Hunter wanted to say because the door bell suddenly rang "Get the door" His father said looking rather unhappy. As Hunter went to greet Caleb's parents he made a few last minute touches to the table, like placing the utensils. He didn't mean to be so hard on Hunter, he just doesn't want him to end up like Philip, but the older Hunter got the more he resembled his younger brother. Caleb wondered what he was up to... No, he needs to keep him away from Hunter, just like the idea of that horrible place.

"Caleb dear are you alright?" A voice pulled him back to reality, he looked up to meet his mother's gaze "Yeah yeah I'm fine, just zoned out a bit" "What did you make for us?" His mother said with fake enthusiasm "Well... i i it was supposed to be a meat pie..." He replied a little ashamed "Sure sweetie" His mother took seat still eyeing his meat pie. Caleb always felt like a fool in front of his parents, he couldn't help it, it's like everything he did was just not good enough for them, his dad thought his job was too easy, and that he got the money for doing basically nothing. His mother always criticized his house, saying the interior looked ugly. Before Philip died, or they belived he did, Caleb was always the golden child, they always told Philip "Why can't you be more like your brother" but since he's not around to be his famliy's puncing bag anymore, all insults are aimed towards him, and since Evelyn is not around anymore to stand up to them he just kinda let's them.

They all sat around the table and started eating Caleb's sad excuse for a meat pie, they ate in a rather awkward silence before William, Hunter's grandfather spoke "So Hunter how are you doing in school?" Hunter flinched at the mention of his name, he had no idea how to answer, should he lie and tell them he's doing amazing or should he just admit to failing his last exam, he shot a questioning look towards his father, but his expression was unreadable. "I'm doing good" vague enough to not be lie "That's not what you told me" His father looked at him with a fake confused look. He suddenly felt his whole family's gaze on himself "I...uhh, the last biology exam... I kinda messed up" "Oh, one exam doesn't matter, it happens to the best of us" Hope, his grandmother said with a warm tone, he felt his body become a bit less tense, but only for a moment before Caleb spoke again "And the physics test last week, and that essay you forgot to turn in, oh and don't forget about your algebra exam" Hunter felt extremly overwhelmed and his stomach curled up into a ball. "I don't know what's happening to me! I... I just zone out during test and I only realize it when it's too late already I... I don't know why" The truth just spilled out of him like a tsunami.

"Oh you remind me of Philip... he always had his head in the clouds" Hope said with sorrow in her voice, but it seemed like she was taling to someone who wasn't there "Let's not bring him into this coversation" His father replied with suprising venom in his voice "Hunter needs to focus on his studies instead of fantasies"."Oh about that, I just remembered something, you know how we volunteering at that animal shelter" Caleb's father spoke up. Hunter was wondering where he was going with this one, why did he bring it up in the middle of this coversation? Sure he liked to brag about doing good but this was odd timing. "And the owners son is like Hunter, a little caught up in fantasies, and he spoke about this club where they help young minds who have difficulties with fitting in and acting normal, I think this is a great opportunity for Hunter to meet like minded peers and change for the better" William finished with a smile shot towards his grandson. Hunter needed a second to catch up with what they just told him, the last thing he wants is adults teaching him how to be 'normal', he never thought there was anything seriously wrong with him, and if there is then a stupid club is not going to fix that, he was about to protest but Caleb spoke before him. "I think this is a wonderful idea that will benefit Hunter, where can we apply?" "I took a pamphlet with all the information" He handed his father a flyer with the words "Reality-check club" "This seems perfect, thanks for the tipp" His father said looking genuinely grateful. This was the last straw for Hunter, he lashed out "I'm not going to some stupid club where they turn me into someone I'm not, I don't want to be like everyone else, and if that mean that I'll never fit in, then so be it"

He got up and went into his room, slamming the door. He lay onto his bed and tears started burning his eyes, after a while he gave up un fighting them, and just let his tears run down his cheeks. Did Hunter's whole family think that he was a freak who needs to be changed, is that what they saw him as? Is he going to end up like that mysterious uncle of his, dead, and never talked about, because they rather forget what a weirdo he was? After about tweny minutes of crying and floppping around in his bed he fell asleep, despite it only being seven in the evening.

An hour later, when his parents left, Caleb went up to Hunter's room and knocked, and since nobody answered, and he heard faint snoring, he opened in. Hunter was laying on his bed, still wearing the same clothes he did when they last spoke. Caleb sighed and layed the blanket on him. This club is in his best interest, he just doesn't see it yet. If only there were opportunites like this back when they were children, maybe Philip wouldn't have ended up they way he did, and maybe Caleb wouldn't have to carry the burden of keeping such a secret from his family. Still, doubt lurked in his mind, what if the club doesn't just teach Hunter how to act normal, but also kills off of his peronality? No, this was a risk he had to take, and a sacrifice Hunter had to make in order to have a place in the world, even if he hates him for it right now, he will thank him later, when he has a stabil, normal life. While thinking, Caleb was wondering around the house, when suddenly the touch of parchment pulled him back to reality, he looked around to see himself standing in his office, in front of a cabinet. In his hand he was holding a sheet of black paper, but not the type you get at the store, no, this was way more similar to the parchment they used in ancient times. Inside the cabinet he took it out of was also a vial of white ink with a feather in it for writing, next to it a stash of black paper and a lighter. Caleb sighted, he really shouldn't, he hasn't done it for the last fourteen years, but then why did it looked soo tempting right now? Using all the willpower he could muster up, he placed the parchment on top of the others, and closed the cabinet door. Now was not the time for nostalgia, not when Hunter's future has to be his top priority.

Hunter woke up with a terrible headache, it was splitting his skull in half. He looked at the alarmclock on his desk, five am. He decided to shower and leave early, so he doesn't have to meet his father. At six thirty, he was already out the door, only one issue, he had nowhere to go now, and it was freezing cold outside "peachy Hunter, what a great plan" he mumbled, deciding to sit in a bakery with a cup of hot chocolate, to avoid hypothermia. His phone buzzed, a text from his father saying the first club meeting is today a four pm, in the basement of the community center. Great, what could be a better way to spend your last afternoon before winter break than sitting in a basement learing a bunch if boring bullshit. A plan begin to form in Hunter, what if instead of going to the club meeting he goes to the book shop or cinema and just lies about attending, but what if his father asks the teachers there if he actually came... He still has time to work out a way to skip it without getting into trouble, because one thing is sure as hell, there is no way he is going.

Hunter arrived just before the bell rang, he took the far back seat as the homeroom teacher began telling details about the Christmas dance this afternoon, Hunter mostly spent his time doodling into his notebook. He didn't have a partner, no one wanted to go with him, so why bother listening? As class ended he headed to the next classroom, only to be stoped by a voice "Hey freak, I see you still don't have a partner for the dance" His bully's, Cooper's, voice made him freeze in place as the boy walked over, towards him. "What, cat got your tounge?" He laughed at his own unfunny joke. Hunter couldn't just let him win, no, not that easy, but he had no time to make up a good comeback "Actually, I have a date and we're going to the dance" Hunter was suprised to hear himself say that, he did not have a partner, nor anyone in mind he could ask out last second. Cooper didn't seem to buy his lie "You, having a date? That's the joke of the century, but we'll see at the dance" He laughed and walked away, turning back last minute "Oh and freak,you better not be lying"

Oh fuck Oh fuck Oh fuck, that's all Hunter could think, what did he got himself into? If he can't find a person to go with 'till the end of the school day, he's gonna be embarrassed publicly, and probably beaten really hard by Cooper. Hunter spent the rest of the day trying to think of way to escape the consequences of his lies, he knew there was no way anyone would go with him, so he needed an escape, and he needed it quick. He thought about simply hiding at home, but he eventually had to go back to school, where he would have to face the same punishment, or should he just tell Cooper that he doesn't actually have a date, and just get the over with the beating quickly? Yes, that's the best call right now, he's going to find Cooper after school and come clean about the situation.

Hunter hasn't seen Cooper all day, panick stared to rise within him, he didn't prepare a backup plan! As he was looking around on the school yard he gave up, he headed home not knowing what to do. He was so caught up in this situation that he completly forgot that he was supposed to be workshoping a plan on how to avoid the club meeting. Hunter only realized this when it was already too late, as he stepped inside the house his father shot him a questioning look from the living room "Aren't you supposed to be on your way to the meeting? It's already three fourty-five" He asked "Shit" Hunter said half-audible, he totally forgot "I just came home to put down my bacpack" "Okay, but hurry, you don't wanna be late" "Yeah yeah I'll hurry" Hunter said and strated walking towards the community center.

In the community center he spent two wonderful hours "learning to appriciate public radio" Hunter never thought this level of boredom is even possible, but he was also really anxious, because every second that passed brought him closer to six pm when he would have to meet Cooper at the dance, without a partner of course. The people he was surrounded with was a problem of it's own, unlike him most these people actually wanted to 'learn how to act normal', and even enjoyed the meeting, like what? He decided on one final plan as he was heading over to the school, He's going to catch Cooper outside and tell him the truth, sure he will still get beaten up, but at least he wouldn't be humiliated too

In the parking lot he found just who he was looking for, he was standing by himself when Hunter approached him "Uhh Cooper I just wanted to come clean that I don't actually have a date, yeah I lied, so let's just get this over with" He stood in front of his bully, his voice shaking way less than he anticipated "If you think I'll go easy on you just because you admitted, then you are god damn wrong" Cooper said as he raised his fist and punched Hunter in the nose. Blood exploded out of his nose and pain filled his whole body, he wanted to scream but suddenly felt a hand over his mouth. The boy then pushed him onto the floor and kicked his ribcage, Hunter felt like all oxygen was sucked out of his lungs as he just layed there helplessly as the bully kicked his side over and over again. Hunter's eyes filled with tears as his whole body was throbbing with pain. Finaly after what felt like an eternety the boy stopped kicking him only for him to grab onto Hunter' neck, the world began to fade away for Hunter as he was split between the pain in his ribs, the blood still flowing out of his nose and the suffocating felling of being choked. Suddenly a rush of adrenalin made him kick the man holding him in the chest just hard enough so that he will let go of Hunter. Without thinking for a second Hunter started running towards the forest, hoping he can lose Cooper there

When Hunter reached the forest he took a breather behind one of the trees, but he couldn't linger much longer, as he heard Cooper approaching. He ran deeper and deeper into the forest, he knew running towards the crowded city would have been a better choice, but the adrenalin clouded his judgement. Hunter was running as fast as he could, jumping over bushes, the brances scraching him bloody, but despite his best efforts the footsteps kept getting louder and louder, signaling that Cooper was catching up. His strength and stamina was running out, but he couldn't just let himslef get hurt by him even more. Hunter's hope had started fading, Cooper was getting dangerously close, and he became slower and slower, he was just about to give up and lie down, when he heard a strange noise. It was an owl, but it sounded kinda... fake? Like a human pretending to be an owl, he immediately turned and started running towards the sound. Luckly it seemed like the quick turn caught Cooper off guard, so he fell behind a little. Hunter suddenly saw a slither of light coming from the same direction as the noises. He found himself at a clearing, in the middle was... a door. It was opened and sunhine crept trough it, he then heard the noise and saw an owl dragging a bag with him. The creature went trough the door and vanished. Hunter jumped out from behind the bush where he hid, and stood on the clearing vacillating between going trough the door and running even deeper into the forest. If he kept running, Cooper would probably catch him, and even if he didn't he had no idea how to get out, he was lost for good, but if he went trough the door, into the unknown, he would most likely find himself at a place he is not ready to handle. He was just about to keep runing when Cooper jumped out of a bush, with the expression of a maniac on his face, he launched himself at Hunter, at the same time Hunter jumped towards the still open door, which Cooper didn't even seemed to notice. Hunter jumped trough the door and landed on his stomach with full force, he looked up to see Cooper land on all fours, still unaware of the door, which close, just as Hunter's bully started to look around, the door disapeared from the Human Realm.

He was trapped, Hunter began to realise as he finally managed to regulate his breathing, he was trapped here, but where exactly was "here"? Hunter tried to stand up only for him to fall onto his knees again, now that adrenalin was leaving his body, the pain caught up with him, he touched his nose, dried up blood was covering it just like his face, coat and hands, at least it wasn't broken. His ribs on the other hand... he touched them but instantly jerked his hand back, it hurt like crazy, he never felt more pain in his life, tears started falling on his face uncontrollably. Minutes later he tried getting up again, this time, sucessfully, he looked around, checking his surroundings, he was in a tent of some kind. In front of him, Hunter heard chattering, he made his way over to the front where he saw a counter full of human garbage, like dried out slimes, plushes with missing arms and legs and children books, most of them soaking wet. Behind the counter stood a tall woman with long white hair, she was wearing a long read dress and golden earrings, speaking of her ears, Hunter almost gasped out loud when he saw her ears, they were POINTY, she had ears like elfs did in that fantasy movie he saw a while back. The woman suddenly turned towards him, she had an unreadable expression "Who are you?" She said suspiciously "Uhh... I... My name is Hunter, I I kinda just walked trough that door of your's and I ended up here... bu.. but don't worry, I'll be out of here in a second" Hunter turned to leave the tent, but this is when he registered his surronding fully.

The streets were full of strange creature beyond count, some looked like the woman, similar to humans, just with pointy ears, some looked terrifying and grotesque, the market he was in looked like a Hieronymus Bosch painting. He felt scared, no not just scared, he felt utterly terrified. He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder, he flinched away and turn to look ath the woman from before. She had a much warmer expression now "Ah, so a human, I see. You're not going anywhere with injuries like that, I can help you kiddo" Hunter was thorn between the rule of not trusting strangers, and wanting to trust this lady, he decided that she was right, he wouldn't get far with injuries like this, he could barley walk "So what do 'ya say?" The woman asked looking much friendlier than before "O... okay thank you for helping" "Ah, no sweat kid, let me just pack this up and we'll get going" And just like that she drew a circle in the air and the human garbage basically packed itself up. She then pulled out a staff with the owl Hunter saw earlier on top of it, only, this looked like it was carved from wood. She sat onto it as the staff started floating and extended her hand towards Hunter. He hesitated, but then took it, the woman pulled him onto the staff and they started flying

Hunter squeezed his eyes shut, but then felt a reassuring hand on his shoulders "You can open you eyes now kid" and as Hunter did so he was baffled at the view, they flew over a town that looked it was built in a ribcage, which was of course a ridiculous idea. As they were flying a swarm of hawk-looking birds flew by them, only they had octopus-like tentacles, Hunter gasped as he realized what they were "Hawktopuses" He yelled out "Yeah, they are, how do you know them?" The woman asked "I saw a video of them back home, I always knew they were real" He was soo happy about his discovery that he temporarily forgot about the fact that he was stitting on a flying sticks whith a person whom he assumed to be a witch, riding trough a realm that looked like a fever-dream. They landed next to a house that had a decorative owl on the front, man this lady really likes owls Hunter thought "Hooty let us in" she said talking to... the door? To Hunters biggest suprise the door actually answered, more specifically the owl on the door, presumably named Hooty "Okay Eda, wait, who's your little frieeend?" "A: none of your business, and B: his name is Hunter and his hurt" "Okay, get well soon Hunter" The door said looking at him, and then opened his mouth to reveal the inside of the house. Both him and the woman, probably named Eda, walked in

The inside of this house was nothing like the modern and minimalist style of his home, this living room was full of life and smells "Okay kiddo lay down on the couch, I'll put you to sleep so I can heal you" The woman said gesturing at a worn-out brown couch. Hunter started to second guess his decision to follow a random woman into her house where she is now asking him to lay down so she can heal him. Nonetheless he obeyed and took up a comfortable position on the couch, the last thing he saw was the woman drawing a circle in the air like she did before, and before drifting into sleep.

Chapter Text

Caleb was walking around in his house, worried sick. It was already eight pm, Hunter should be home by now, he phoned the club, Hunter did attend, but the meeting ended at six. He also spoke to the school, where they confirmed that they haven't seen him since the last bell rang. Where on earth is he then? Caleb called him at least twenty times already, the call always goes to voicemail straight. "Alright, if he doesn't come home 'till midnight, then I'll call the police and report him as a missing person.

Meanwhile Hunter was laying on the strange woman's couch, fast asleep, unbothered by the rather loud conversation taking place in the kitchen. "Why can't we just eat him?" A short, dog like demon asked looking at the unconscious Hunter "For the last time King, we're not going to eat him, he's just a random human, once he's awake and fully healed I'll send him right back where he came from" the woman said in a serious tone, which was uncharacteristic for her. "But, at least we could use him for something, you know in return for healing him" The furry creature argued "No King, we won't..." She started but was interupted by a loud voice "Eda! Look who I found in the forest, it's your sister Eda, isn't that sweet, she came to visit" It was the creature from the door, holding a black haired woman, trowing her onto the carpet. "Lilith, let me guess, you came to convince me to join the coven right?" Eda asked, already knowing what's about to happen "Come on Edalyn, the Emperor doesn't want to force you into his coven, but if you joined he would take care of your curse, and we could be in the coven together, like we wanted to when we were litttle" Her sister begin her usual speech, awfully unaware of how little her sister cared. Eda usually just told her a simple no and led her out the house, but it was getting really annoying "Yeah Lily, there's the key phrase, 'when we were little' , I grew up, my life goal is no longer to serve some tyrant. So for the last time, no, I don't want to join the coven, and no, I don't care that he would heal my curse, I don't want to owe him anything" She finally said what had been building up in her for ages "Bu- But Edalyn, I'm only trying to help you" Her sister looked devastated, she felt a little guilty for being so harsh "I know Lilith, but there's no need to help me, I want to heal the curse myself. But if you ever want to just chat, then my door is always open" Eda said with a smile, she knew her sister was trying her best. "Thank you Edalyn, if you ever need help, I'm always here for you, and I promise not to bring up the coven or your curse again" Lilith said and headed for the door, despite what she said she was still determinded to help her sister out of the situation she threw her into, because fixing the mistake is a lot easier than just telling her the truth and apologizing, right?

Hunter was still laying on the couch, but he was just pretending to be asleep, he was woken up by the door-creature, and overheard the conversation, between the woman and her sister. His head was now filled with millions of new questions: What kind of place still had a monarchy? Did they even know what democracy was? What is a coven, and why is this woman so against it? And most importantly, what curse where they talking about? Is it contagious? Can you 'catch' a curse? Hunter was too busy with the millions of questions running around in his head to notice that the pain was all gone, and there were no visible injuries or scars on his skin, this lady really was an excellent healer. "Good morning sleepyhead" Hunter was pulled back to reality by the woman's words aimed towards him "Morning, um I- thank you for healing me, also mind if I ask like a couple billion questions?" "No, kid, you don't belong in this world, by rules you should never have ended up here, the best thing for you is to go back to your world, and try to forget this hole mess, the only reason I didn't sent you back instantly is because you were injured" The lady said, looking grave. Eda wasn't normally like this, and she liked the human boy, but posessing a portal, if it wasn't issued out by the Emperor, was higly illegal, too illegal even for Eda, especially with her sister around so often, it's already a miracle she didn't notice the boy laying on her couch. It was too risky, her priority had to be her and more importantly King's safety.

Hunter was taken aback, he came to this strange world just hours ago, and now he has to leave already? What if he could learn how to do magic? And there was also a thought he would never have said out loud: What if this is the place where he could finally fit in? This place was weird, really weird, much weirder than Hunter, perhaps in this place he would just be a mundane person? He needed to convince that woman to let him stay, just for a couple of months, just until he learns to do magic "But what if I don't want to go back? To home I mean, not yet at least, please let me stay, just a little while?" "But why would you wan to to stay here? This place is soo different from the Human Realm, I thought most of you would be terrified" Eda replied, truly suprised "The truth is, I don't really fit in at home, and I was hoping that since place is nothing like back home, maybe I woud finally find my people you know? Plus I'm dying to learn magic" "Belive it or not kid, I know what you mean, I'm a bit of a weirdo here, both me and King are, that's why we gotta stick together, and if you wanna stick with us, you are welcome to" She said with a warm smile, Eda knew what she did was extremely dangerous, but she also knew she was doing the right thing, besides, this human could be pretty useful "Wait really?" Hunter expected it to be harder to convince the lady. He wondered who that "King" might be, maybe he's the king of an other nation, who is hiding here?, or is it just a goofy nickname, the latter seemed to be a more realistic option

"Yeah kid, you can stay, provided you make urself useful, okay?" "Yeah yeah, tottaly, I will make myself soo useful... Oh and by the way, can you teach me how to do magic, pleeease" He asked as politely as he could, while also exploding with exctiement. "Whoa whoa, slow down kid, humans can't do magic" "And you know this for sure? Or have they just never tried?" "I don't know kiddo, but I promise you we'll gonna try, but you are killing me with all these questions" She laid a hand on Hunter's shoulder "Oh okay, just one, no, two more question" Eda groaned "If you must" she said as she garbbed a bottle from the fridge and poured it into a cup, she gestured at Hunter to continue "Your name is Eda right, just cause you never introtuced yourself" "I'm Eda the Owl Lady, the most wanted criminal on the Boiling Isles" she declared proudly "You're a criminal? A criminal witch, neat!" "Was that your second question?" "What? NO, no no no, who is this King you spoke of?" "Did the little furrball not introduced themself? KING where are you?" She yelled out the last part, making Hunter jump "Eda you already beat me at schnapsen six times in a row I don't wanna lose agai.." Said the furry demon creature apperaing in the doorway, only to be cut of by Hunter "OH MY GOOD GOD, what an adorable little fella, come here" And he ran over and scooped up the demon "Ahh the human, it's alive, Eda help meeee" King cried out from within Hunter's grasp. Finally the boy let him go and chuckled littly "Are you King? What are you the King of buddy?" "Don't you dare call the king of demons 'buddy', I'm not some pet, I'm a feared ruler, or at least I was before they stole my crown and shrunk me" He added the last part quietly, but Hunter still caught it "Who stole your crown?" He asked, having serious doubts about this story "I don't know for sure, but it was probably one of my arch enemies" "Yeah yeah King" the Owl Lady interupted "So this is how we are, just King Hooty, yes, the door, and me. We're like a weird family, just tell anyone I said this" She chuckled a bit

*Somewhere in the Emperor's castle*

The Emperor and the heads of the nine covens were sitting in a conference room, having the monthly financial meeting. Plant coven head Terra Snapdragon and potion coven head Vitimir Petrov where in a middle of a heated discussion about whether the greenhouses or the laboratorys should get the donation from the Emperor's coven, they were arguing for a good twenty minutes now, and the Emperor was running out of patience, considering he had already told them he was going to give the donation to the hospitals of the healing coven, but that didn't seem to matter for them. He appreciates having the coven heads around, they know their field of magic better than anyone, helping him make good desicions, but the downside is that they tend to only focuse on what's good for their coven, and not the Boiling Isles as a whole. He was about to speak up when the doors opened up and someone stepped inside. Everyone turned towards the arriving person, who was wearing a white cloak and had golden mask covering their face, they were grasping a scroll and a small white fox, who was covered in a green liquid. As they walked closer to the table they were limping slightly.

"Golden Guard?" Belos said as he hurried towards the soldier. The guard bowed and handed the scroll to the Emperor "I found the prophecy, my lord" Belos took the scroll, but didn't look at it yet, he was more concerned about the state of his Golden Guard, close up he could see that he had multiple bloody cuts, his mask was broken and his leg stood at an unnatural angle. Guilt stabbed into him, what did he make this boy do? "thank you for your service Golden Guard, report to the infirmary please, and take your palisman too, you'll tell me the details later" He gave the boy an encouraging smile and squeezed his shoulder slightly. The soldier bowed again and headed for the door, only to be stopped by the Emperor's voice, he sounded... scared? He never heard him talk like this before "Is-Is this real?" "Ye-yes my lord, this scroll matches the description of the one you requested" The guard answered "All right, dismissed" He gained back his usual speaking tone. The Golden Guard left the room, leaving only the Emperor and the coven heads inside, all of them were on the edge of their seat, what could possibly be soo important that they interupt a meeting because of it? Belos slowly walked back to his seat, reading the scroll multiple times, despite it being straightforward, if you know what you're looking for in it, he just couldn't belive his eyes. He cleared his throat and spoke, his voice filling the noiseless room, bouncing back from the walls "This is a grave day, the Day of Unity is much closer than we anticipated, and with it, the return of the Beast"

Hunter was walking around in the town of Bonesborough, he was delivering potions to the Owl Lady's customers with King alongside him, to make sure he doesn't get kidnapped, eaten, or both "Oh woow look at this King, this place is much more interesting than the boring human city I came from" Hunter said shaking awake his furry friend who was napping in his birdnest-like blond hair "Let me remind you that this place is only new to you, I've seen it tousand time already, it's loud, stinky and dangerous, so mind your footing" King said grumpily, he hated being woken up, and this human boy never stayed quiet for more than three consecutive seconds, it started to get on his nerves. "pft, come on King this place is amazing, I seriously never wanna leave" Hunter then stopped to admire a "beautiful building" as he put it, it looked just like the ones next to it, and the ones next to those "Aargh, more walkie, less stopy, let's just deliver these things quickly and go home, I'm tired" King whined "Okay, Okay fine, but tomorrow you guys give me a full tour of this town, right?" Hunter asked as he headed trough an alley and stopped in font of a small door, it was surrounded by bags of trash, womit- and piss-stains, and other indescribable horrors. The boy gagged and tried to keep his lunch down "Told ya, this place is stinky" King knocked on the door.

It was opened up by a man wearing a stained shirt and sweatpants he smelled even worse than they alley "Hi, my name is Hunter, the Owl Lady's student and I'm here to deliver your potions" He said as he tried to fake smile "Wait, you're not the Owl Lady, I thought she will deliver the package" The man said looking at Hunter dumbfounded "Are you deaf, he just said that he is the Owl Lady's apprentice, and he is here to deliver the potions, just take 'em and pay up, it will be fifteen snails" King demanded as he climed back onto the boy's shoulder "Fifteen? I ain't payin' fifteen snails for these hot garbage potions, they were just ten snails last time" The man claimed "Look buddy, the price of fairy tears is trough the roof, so either pay up or you're not getting your potions" King said with uncharacteristic stuborness "How about I don't?" he said as he snatched the bag of potions from Hunter's grasp, who was caught off guard, before he could do anything the man closed the door and locked it. "Well, that's about that, who's the next buyer on the list?" King asked seemingly unbothered by the fact that they just got robbed in daylight. "What? No way we're leaving, that dude took our potions without paying for them" Hunter was determined to get them back, even if it meant going inside that house. "And what's your plan to get them back? Neither of us can do magic" "Oh, I have a plan, I just need your help too, okay, so first..."

Hunter and King were knocking once again, the same man opened up, but just as he did so King jumped off from Hunter's shoulder and onto the man's arm, and bit him really hard. The stranger yelped in pain, and while he was distracted with trying to get King off of him, the boy rushed inside, and looked for the potions. "Where are they?" He whispered to himself, the kitchen maybe? He looked around the piles of dirty dishes and... Jackpot! He found the bag of potions, they were untouched, but just as he grabbed them he heard the front door close and lock. He was trapped inside the man's house! Panic started to creep up within Hunter, he backed out of the kitchen, and jumped into a closet in the living room, he closed the door just before the man appered in the room "Little bastard" The man mutured "But at least I have the medicine for Anny, oh that poor thing" Hunter looked into the bag, all the potions were labeled 'medicine', he felt guilty, sure man the man did steal from them, but he did it to save someone close to him, his daughter maybe? When Hunter heard the man leave to the bathroom, he climbed out of his hiding spot, he heard knocking on the window, he rushed over to see King waveing for him to climb out. the boy was thorn between taking the bag and leaving it here. King gave him a puzzled look, and urged him to hurry . Hunter heard the man opening the door, he decided, he threw the bag onto the floor, and climed out of the open window. When the man saw him he assuemed that the boy was here to rob him, so he shut the window, the inpact knocked Hunter backwards, causing him to fall, he fell onto his back with full impact, pain rushed trough his spine, he cried out "What the sweet mother of Titan were you doing?, why didn't you take the bag?" King jumped next to him, he just groaned as an answer and tried to get up.

By the time they got back to the Owl House, Hunter had told his friend why he let the man keep the medicine, they both agreed to keep this secret from Eda, or she will never let them go anywhere. "Heey Hunter and King, back already? Eda isn't here, but someone left you a letter Hunter" Hooty greeted them, and then started gagging agressively, the others stared in disgust, finally, he managed to throw up the piece of paper, along with like twenty other things. It was a simple paper with the words "For Hunter" on the back. The addressee picked up the letter and started reading it out loud "Thank you for your kindness, you have no idea how much you helped me. I'm truly sorry about stealing and injuring you" the boy felt a paw on his leg "Hey, Hunter, what you did was a great thing, and I'm sorry for doubting you" King said looking at him. He picked up the creature and carried him inside and layed him onto a pillow, king fell asleep almost instantly. Hunter was all alone in the house, and suddenly the weight of his decision to stay fell onto him, his father pobably thinks he's gone missing, or that he ran away, which he technically did. Should he go back to tell him that he's okay, just staying somewhere else? No way that his father would let him stay if he knew the truth, Hunter hated to worry him, but the last thing he wanted was to go back to the Human Realm, where no one understands him. He was laying on the couch staring at the owl art on the ceiling, slowly, he felt his eyelids becoming heavier, he drifted off.

If someone walked trough that one hallway in the Emperor's castle, they would have heard a beautiful violin song. This tune beloned to the sixteen year old boy who was standing in his room, practicing, he hated how hard using a violin to cast was for him. He was really good at bard magic, but using the lyre or the flute was always much easier for him, but if he wanted to be good at his job he needed to master the violin and all the other kind of bard magic as well. Also plant magic, potion making, illusion casting, not to mention abomination creation, realisticly he needed to be good at all kinds of magic, no not just good, he needed to excellent. Sure it was a lot of work, but that's the least he could do after getting an opportunity that many would kill to have. He was playing perfectly for minutes when he made a mistake, causing him to mess up the whole tune. He groaned and wanted to smash the violin, he looked at his clock, four more hours before the Night Market started, and with it, his shift, he knew he needs to get some sleep, but he couldn't stop unless he got the tune right at least once. He decided to take a ten-minute break before continuing, he sat down at his table which was filled with books, mostly about the Beast these days, he wanted to help more than anything, but no one told him anything. Philip said that he was too young to bear the burden of these informations, which was ironic coming from the man who made him Golden Guard when he was only fourteen years old, but really how do they except him to help if he knows nothing? He got up from the desk, this topic only made him even more frustrated. He walked over to a cabinet, on top of it was a big stack of letters, stabbed trough it was a knife, the only thing his family left him after they died, other than the cripling pressure to keep their legacy alive, he does a pretty good job at it...right? He pulled out the knife to take a look at the letters, what he was doing was wrong and he knew it, the whole situation was terribly wrong, usually knowing something is not the right thing to do is enough to keep him from doing it, not when it comes to this. He sighed and went back to playing, his future needs to be first, then comes everything and everyone else.

Chapter Text

Caleb was sitting at the town police station, waiting for the officers to get back to him so they can go over the last time he saw Hunter. Caleb imagined his parents going trough the same procces when he and his brother went missing, they were gone for two months, and Philip never returned, only he did. But this was nothing like this, Hunter isn't in some other world, he probably ran away, or he got lost in the woods. "Good evening Mr. Wittebane" A police officer greated him "My name is detective Solace and I will take the case of your son's disappearance, tell me Mr Wittebane, has Hunter ever done something like this?" "No no, definetly not, never" "Has anything happened recently that may have caused him to run away?" " I recently signed him up for this 'reality check club' I don't know if you're familiar" "Yes yes, I am, so I assume your son didn't take it well, so we might be dealing with a case of the the old runnin' away" "Yes, I suppose this might be the case" Caleb sighed, he would never have sent him to this club if he knew this will happen, he never meant to push Hunter away, he would give up anything and everything to have him back.

During all this Hunter was knee-deep in a pile of garbage, looking for so called treasures, as Eda put it. Hunter reached down to the bottom, only to pull out a clay statue of a hippo, with it's head missing. "Eww, what on good earth are theses things? Also, why exactly are we doing this?" "One, we need stuff to sell, and two, this is a lot of fun, isn't it?" Eda said with a wide smile on her face "Wow, people here have wildly different ideas of fun" "No, not all of us, only Eda" King spoke up while laying out in the sun. "Come oooon Edaaa, when will you start teaching me magic? You promised" Hunter whined, he was getting sick of trash-collecting "Hold there kid, that's exactly what I'm doing, the first and most important lesson is, a good witch is resorseful" "Ugh, that's not what I meant, I want to learn spells and curses" "Kid, we don't even know if you can do magic, we'll figure it out I promise, but first you need to learn the basics"

"But I wanna learn how to do real magic already, like make stuff float and shoot magic beam" "Geez, you sound like those dorks at magic school" she said dismissively. Hunter needed a moment to realize what her mentor said "Magic. School?" He said with awe in his voice "Should never have said anything..." Eda groaned "Can I go to magic school?" "No kid there's no way I'm lettin' you anywhere near that place" "Oww come on Eda, why not?" "Cause you don't need it, I never finished school, and I turned out just fine, she said while pulling out a busted record player and putting it into a bag "You sure did, um hey how about I go back to the Owl House, it looks like you're managing without me just fine" Hunter was a bit deflated, he could be learning real magic at a real school, instead he's stuck being trash-collector.

As Hunter was heading home he heard crying, he looked around and went towards the sound, he reached a clearing, on one of the rocks sat a boy, about twelve, his face was burried into his hand and was crying softly. "I'm supposed to be the smart one, then why do I keep acting soo dumb?" The boy said out loud, but to no one in praticular, he was unaware that Hunter was looking at him from behind a bush, he left bad for the boy, but also couldn't ignore the strange clothes he wore, light blue sleeves and black tunic. "You did it again Agustus, you made a fool of yourself, of course those boys were using you, why else would they be friendly?" Hunter had to help him, he's been there, on time a girl made him do her history essay because 'that's what friends do'. He slowly approached the boy, making sure his footsteps are audible so he wouldn't startdle him, but not loud enough to scare him away

"Hey, sorry I didn't mean to spook you" Hunter said as he saw the boy flinch, despite his best efforts to announce his position "you're Agustus right? I heard what you said about yourself, and I just wanted to say that your not dumb, and you shouldn't say stuff like that" Hunter sat next to the boy, he didn't moved away so he took that as a sign that he was welcome to stay beside him "You just met me, how could you possibly know that?" Agustus looked at him, his eyes red and puffy "You're right, I don't know you, but what I do know is that being tricked doesn't mean that you are stupid, it just means that you have a big hearth, that assholes take advantage of" He laid a hand onto the boys shoulder, Agustus smiled at him, it was a slight, faint smile, but a smile nontheless "You think so? But if I'm not dumb then why didn't I see trough them?" "Because you don't assume the worst of people, that makes you a good person, not a fool, my name is Hunter by the way, can I call you Gus? I knew an Agustus, everyone called him Gus" "Thank you Hunter, sure you can call me Gus, Agustus is too long anyway... WAIT! You're a Huuuumaaaan? A real human, in The Boiling Isles, pintch me" The boy screamed as he took a better look at Hunter "Yeah, I am, but people don't normally have such a positive reaction when they see me, it's usually more along the lines of 'What's a human doing here?'" Hunter giggled "Well yeah, witches can be distant towards humans, but I love them, their culture is soo interesting, I'm the president of the Human Appreciation Society at Hexside" Hunter realized what this all means: kids his age using him, the uniform, a 'society' "Hexside? Is that a magic school? And you go there?" Now it was his turn to be excited, could this kid take him to his school, only to look around of course "Yeah, it's in the city center, you haven't heard of it yet?" Hunter cursed her mentor for not showing him around town "No, I've only been here a day or two" "I can take you in and show you around if you'd like" Gus offered with a simle. Was it that obvious that Hunter would give anything to see a magic school, real one. "You would do that?" "Sure, we're friends now, right?" Despite what just happened this moring, trusting this boy came easy to Gus, not just because he was a human, he had this calming and natural energy.

The Golden Guard was walking around in the market, he was dressed as a civilian. No armour, no cape and no mask covering his scar streching from the bottom of his neck all the way to his eyebrows, it was huge and earned him quite a few side-eyes. He got it a few years back, when he was starting out as the Golden Guard, he was on a mission and they were fighting wild witches, when one of them shot one of the scouts, who was unaware of the attack, he jumped in front of him, pushing the scout out of the deady spell's range, it hit him in the face with full impact. He was in agony for days, and the scar can't be erased, no matter how much healing magic they use, he has quite the collection of scars but this is by far the most conspicuous of them all. He hated being out of uniform, it made him feel vulnerable, and made him feel sort of detached from himself. He only needed a few things, lyre strings, paper and ink for writing letters, he also needs new gloves for beastkeeping lessons and finally some incense for those spirit conjurings. He first walked into an oracle shop, it was a half-lit tent filled with strong smelles "Good afternoon, I'm looking for some incense" "You'll need to be a bit more exact my boy" An old woman with an oracle sigil called out from behind the counter "Umm, I don't really know the difference to be honest" He said standing in front of the shopkeeper "Well, what do you want to use it for?" "Conjuring?" The boy asked a little unsure "Still too vauge, my dear, is it a high skill one?" "No no definietly not" He at least knew the answer to that, oracle magic was pretty hard for him "Well then it's either cinamon, oak wood, black tea, or boiling ocean" She said taking different boxes off a shelf "Uhhh, I'll take on of each?" "So be it, it will be eighty snails" He payed and took the boxes, they smelled nice, especially the oak wood one.

He was in a good mood, the sun was finally out and the temperature began to rise, his palisman was sitting on his shoulder, they finally let him out of the infirmary, the little creature basically saved his life on their last mission. He turned a corner only to spot some familiar faces sitting at a cafe, and not familiar in a good way, like seeing some of those scouts in public he was actually close to. They were familiar in the worst wasy possible, old classmates of his, from Hexside. He was taken in by the Emperor's coven when he was ten, before that, when his parents were still alive, he went to school just like any normal kid. He hoped and prayed to the Titan himself for them not to recognize him. He hurried as fast as he could, trying to get lost in the crowd, his prayers were not answered, as he heard them call out his name "Scott". FUCK! He could still make a run for it... jump onto those eaves, hide behind that building. No, it was too late for that now, he had to take a deep breath and turn around

"Hehe... hey" "Woow fancy seeing you here, come sit with us" A girl named Jannet spoke up. Scott silently obeyed, when he was in school, he hung out with these people, but calling them friends would be quite the sterch, the second he joined the coven he stopped taling to them, they never reached out to him, so why now? He sat by the table, there were four of them, all he knew from before "What's up man, long time no see, still in the coven?" A guy named Jack spoke, what kind of question was that? It's not like you can just leave a coven "Well yes, you can't just leave, but how have you been? Still going to Hexside?" He asked, they were nicer to him than they were ever before, did they want something, or did they just wanted to catch up? "Pretty good, but we have a situation... we could use some help from you" Jennet said, straight to the point. Scott sighed, of course, what a fool he was, why else would they talk to him? "Umm, I don't like the sound of this 'situation' " "Oh, it's nothing big, we're just in a bit of trouble, you see there's this abadoned building and we decided to explore it, turned out, it wasn't aboned at all, we accidently broke into a secret base of the Emperor's coven... yeah, and they are after our ass now" He knew exactly which base were they talking about, he even heard about the story, they had to empty it and move somewhere else, but he had no idea that it was a couple of teenagers who broke in. "And what exactly you want me to do about that?" He asked getting annoyed, there's no way he's gonna abuse his position for them. "Well, you know just tell the other scouts to stop coming after us" An other girl requested, and then the third girl "Or maybe frame someone else" This was the last straw for Scott, did they really except him to do something that could cost him his job, or better yet, his life, for people who haven't cared about him for years? "You guys have no idea how the coven-hierarchy works, I'm in no position to do such things" That was tecnically a lie, as Golden Gurard he could do almost anything, he was second after the Emperor, even above the coven heads, but they thought he was just a scout. "I'm sure you could do at least something... come on, we're friends after all" Jennet had the audacity to tell him that they were friends "You're right, I could do something, but I'm not going to risk my job for you, because we're not friends, we never really were, so goodbye" Scott got up to leave "No, wait, please help us, we don't wanna end up in the conformatorium, my parents would kill me" Jennet was in tears, he felt a bit of pity for the girl "A word of advice, give yourselfs up and confess, they will be easier on you, especially cause you're teenagers" And with that he walked away, not looking back. He felt tears in his eyes, he was stupid for thinking they didn't have an ulterior motive when they were nice to him. Will he ever find his people, people who liked him for he is, or is he doomed to be alone forever? With these gloomy thoughts, he finsied shopping and went home.

"So, okay, just one more question, why do humans like plastic soo much?" Gus was asking Hunter about the human realm, it was his hundredth question, but it was fine, he was happy Gus will show him around "Ummm, I don't really know, it's convenient I guess, my father was a big environmentalist, so we didn't use much." They approched an impressive building, "Welcome to Hexside, school of magic and demonics" Gus said, leading his guest inside "School's over already, so there are few people left, my friend Willow is probably still here, she'll be at the greenhouse, she's on plant track you know" "Uhh... plant what?" "Oh right I totally forgot to tell you, we split magic into nine tracks, I'm on illusion track, Williow is on plant now, but used to be on abomination" They began walking towards the greenhouse, inside there was only one girl, she turned towards them.

"Oh hi Gus, who is this with you?" Willow greeted them "His name is Hunter and he is a human, can you belive it Willow? A real human" "Hehe, excuse my friend, he loves humans, I'm Willow" She extended a hand towards Hunter, he took it "It's nice to meet you, what exactly are you doing in here?" "I came to check on my plants..." Her sentence was cut short by a huge roar echoing through the school, making the walls shake. Hunter heard a laugh inside his ears, it felt like his brain itself was laughing. The three kids jumped and stood close to each other, the fact that the other two were scared as well assured Hunter that this wasn't just normal Boiling Isles screaming "What was this noise?" he said looking at Willow "I don't know, but you stay here, Gus and I are gonna look around" "No way, I'm going with you" Hunter said without thinking, these people are the closest things to friends he's ever had, there's no way he's letting them get eaten by some creepy monster "Fine, but you stay behind us" Willow said as she crept out the greenhouse door. "Clear" she waved for the other two to follow

They slowly moved closer to the source of the noise, they turned a corner, the cause of the howls was revealed to be a huge monster with goblin like face, only it was much bigger and had fangs the size of a persons's arm. "Gremloblin" Hunter whispered to his friends "A what now?" Gus said, Willow looking equally confused "I've read about them, in the Human realm they're considered a myth, I always had the gut feeling they are real, okay so if we assume that the paranormal podcasts had the right information, the best thing to use against it is water" Willow pulled out a sprayer filled with water "Will this do?" "Yes yes, just pour the whole thing onto it" Willow did so. The moster wiggled around a bit before doing the exact opposite of what Hunter was hoping for, instead of fleeing or dying it just turned into an even bigger and scarier monster. It picked Hunter up and started flying away with it's new wings, the boy was scared to death in the claws of the monster, but he still noticed the laughing returning into his ears, it was loud and annoying. The other two were yelling his name as the tried to catch up with the moster, suddenly the creature changed direcions and flew upwards, breaking the roof and landing Hunter a few bloody injuries in the process. They were ouside now, his friends far behind them, he felt hopeless, and cursed Eda for not teaching him real magic so he can defend himself. "A good witch is resourceful" he remembered. Hunter freed one of his arms so he can reach into his pocket where he found the headless hippo staue from earlier that day, he groaned "This is useless, that's it, I'm gonna be monster snack". He looked at the creature, it was looking foward so Hunter didn't see his face, but what he did see was it's temple, the thinnest part of the skull. He swung the statue and with all the power he had he hit the monster's temple, it was out cold a moment later, one thing Hunter didn't think through was the fact that they were like twenty meters in the air. The boy began to fall, the ground was getting closer and closer, there's no way he survives this fall, he braced himself for the impact. Only, he never reached to ground, he was instead caught by a flower, giving him a soft landing, thanks to which he suffered no new injuries.

The Gremlobin crused into the ground next to him. In the distance he could see his friends rushing towards him, they pulled him into a hug "I'm soo glad you're okay man" Gus was still panthing from running "How did you take it down?" "My mentor always said that a good witch is resourceful, oh and thanks for catching me Willow" Hunter smiled at the girl "Oh, it was nothing really, but you should go now before our principal finds out about this" "Yeah, that's probably right, what about you, will you get in a lot of trouble for this?" "No, we'll probably just get detention, destroying the roof happens more often than you'd think around here" Gus said, laughing "I'm not even suprised anymore, but yeah, I'm gonna get going, we'll talk later, right?" "By all means" The other two said in union.

Hunter was walking towards the Owl House, feeling better than he did ever since he arrived here, he had friends, real friends who actually wanted to hang out with him! He was right, he did found his people, and it only took about three days, whereas in the Human realm he's been trying for fourteen years now. He was glad to have such a mentor, even if she's a criminal, and even if she doesn't teach Hunter much, who knows maybe one day she'll let him go to Hexside. Just as he stepped inside the rain started to pour from the sky, he laid down onto the couch. For once, when he was alone, he didn't think about his father and how worried he must be.

Hunter's father was indeed worried, an uneasy feeling grew within him, a boy, his son's bully, confessed to attacking Hunter and chasing him into the forest. He then broke down into tears saying he never meant to drive him away, and that he took his anger out on him and was terribly sorry. The police brought him in for questioning, he will probably get jail time for assault. Caleb had the feeling that Hunter wasn't dead nor dying somewhere in the woods. He deep down knew what the answer was, but he just wasn't ready do admit it yet, he tried his best to keep him away from that place, he even broke contact with his brother. He sighed, he'll wait a little longer, maybe he did just run away and is in the neighboring town, but if not, he will have to take measures into his own hand.

Chapter Text

Hunter was shaken awake by someone, he opened his eyes to find his mentor standing above him "Have you seen King?" "What time is it Eda?" he groaned, he was exausted still "It's six, King went to the playground hours ago! and of course the rain started too" "Well then let's go find him" Hunter got up and was about to walk out the door when Eda pulled him back "Not so fast kid, it's raining" he was super confused "It's just water it's harmless, if we want to find King we have no time to lose" "Maybe in your world, here the rain boils, so if you go out there you will not return" "The rain... boils? And here I thought this place couldn't get any weirder, but then how are we gonna find King if we can't even go outside?" Hunter was panicking a bit, so King is out in a boiling rainstorm, and they are stuck inside the Owl House "I can cast a forcefield that will protect you, but if I want to keep the house safe I'll only have enough energy to cast it onto you, can you find King and bring him home?" Hunter took a deep breath, his first ever serious mission, he won't let his mentor down. "Of course, just cast that spell and I'll be on my way" "thank you kiddo, he'll probably be at one of the shelters" "Okay, got it" Eda drew a circle into the air and Hunter felt a strange feeling, like being wraped in bubble wrap. He then went outside, the drops of the boiling rain sild down the surface of the force field, he headed towards the town center, that's where the shelters were probably.

King was sitting under the playground slide, he saw raindrops fall beside him, burning up any surface they came in contact with. He was safe under the slide, but not for long, the cheap wood it was made out of started thinning, he felt scared, usually the meteorologists of the oracle coven are able to predict when the next rainstorm is gonna hit, but this one came as a suprise. Hunter and Eda were not with him, they are probably in the Owl House, so there's not much chance they'll find him. King knew he needed to find a place where he can outlast the storm, but where? He remembered Eda talking about these shelters the Emperor's coven sets up during boiling rains for people whose house is not storm-proof, but where could he find one? And would they even help him? Eda and King are wanted criminals, they'd probably threw him in the Conformatorium, and then catch Eda when she tries to rescue him. Where should he go then? He's running out of time, the streets are empty, all the other kids were taken home by their parents. Suddenly he saw a woman run trough the street, trying to cover her head with a piece of fabric. "HEEEY I'm over here help me please" King yelled from his hiding spot, the woman turned towards him and temporarily hesitating, she then turned away from the small demon, and continued running. Tears crept into King's eyes, that lady left him here, she had the chance to help him and chose not to, he laid sideways under the ever-thining slide.

A rule King wasn't aware of was the reason the Golden Guard was frustrated, he was standing, arms crossed, in the biggest shelter of Bonesborough, and right in front of him sat the most wanted palisman thief, but he couldn't do anything. During boiling-rainstorms arresting someone is strictly prohibited, so he had to just let all criminals be here, better yet he was legally required to help them, is that not insane? "Sir?" He was pulled out of his thoughts by one of the scouts "This woman claims that she saw a child on the playground while on her way here" The soldier reported, these places didn't just serve as shelters from the rain, but also a way to make sure no one is stranded outside, if you saw somebody, you report it and someone will go out and get them, in the case of this shelter this "someone" is the Golden Guard, he wasn't even supposed to be here, but one of the captains got injured, so he had to take over her job. "Elliot" he called his palisman who was napping on one of the high shelfs, the fox woke up and looked at his witch "Keep an eye out while I'm gone okay?" The palisman replied "Okay, I'll keep an eye on him I promise" "Thank you" Scott then turned towards the woman "Which playground are we talking about?"

Hunter barely saw anything as he was running around the town in the heavy rainstorm, he was looking for the shelters Eda mentioned but he couldn't find them, and there was no one on the street that could help him. The forcefield had a harder time keeping the raindrops away since they got farther from the Owl House. He was completely lost, he's never even been to this part of the town, beside him was a huge property, on a small hill stood a manor, he went up to the sign that read "Blight Manor, headquarters of Blight Industries" Hunter groaned, not even this world is safe from greedy people. He was about to leave when he heard a voice behind him "Are you lost, or trying to rob us?" Hunter spinned around to find a middle age man with brown hair, his clothes were stained with something purple, he didn't want to know what it was, he was wearing a black cloak that rain seemed to slide off of. "Wha-what, no no no, I'm just looking for my friend, and I got lost in the town" "I see, so you're no robber, if you are looking for your friend in a weather like this then take my cloak, it keeps the rain away" The man smiled at him and then took of his cloak, just as he did so, some kind of purple stuff covered him. He handed the fabric to Hunter "No, I can't take this" "Why not? That forcefield of your's seems to be wearing off" The man was right, if he wants to find King then he has to take the cloak "I'll bring it back as soon as I can, thank you sir" "Anytime, just make sure you find your demon friend" Hunter walked away and the man went inside, he realised, he never mentioned his freind being a demon. Did the man just guess? Probably, his priority needs to be King's safety.

The Golden Guard was walking down the street, towards a playground, grumbling. He's way to important to be doing this, running after some kid who's not even smart enough to get to a shelter on their own. He was supposed to have the day off, it would have been perfect since everyone is preoccupied with the storm he could finally sneak into the restricted area of the castle's library to get some books about the Beast. But of course not, of course the captain had to get herself injured and of course he had to be the one to cover for her. He arrived at the playground and spotted a demon child/dog laying under the slide, he slowly approcahed the boy, not wanting to scare him. As he knelt down he recognized the creature, how could he not? he's been trying to capture him and the Owl Lady for months, since they recently transferred the case to him from Lilith.

King was still hiding under the slide, starting to lose hope, just as he was about to close his eyes and give up, he saw a person in a black rainproof cloak approach him. Initially, he was happy to see that someone came to rescue him, but this joy quickly faded into panic as got a better look at the figure. The person wore gold armour under their cloack and had a golden mask covering their face, the Golden Guard was slowly getting closer, giving King very little time to figure out what to do, should he run or just let himself get taken. On one hand the guard has only been working their case for a couple of months, so he might not even recognize him, and running off into the storm was suicide, but if he lets himself get taken he might be brought into the Conformatorium, and Eda might get captured too. Shit, he spent so much time deciding what to do that the man reached him and scooped him up. King tried to fight the Golden Guard, but he had an iron grip on him. He lifted King up and stared at him for a couple seconds before saying "You're the Owl Lady's pet, no doubt" despite the mask King could tell the guard was smiling. He started walking with King under his cloack that shieled him form the rain "Ugh, just arrest me already" "You see that's the problem, I can't, it's against the law" The man said with frustration in his voice "Wait really?" King wasn't sure about the story, it was unusal for the Emperor's laws to be so fair, but again, why would the Golden Guard lie about it? "Yeah, I'm legally required to take you to a shelter and help you" If he wouldn't have still been scared for his life, King would have laughed for sure, coven scouts helping criminals because they have to?

Hunter finally reached the town center, he's been here once before, when he first arrived to the Boiling Isles, now he just needed to find the shelter his friend was in. He spotted a sign on a building "Boiling Rainstorm Shelter by: The Emperor's Coven" he heard chatter from inside so he stepped in. The interrior was loud and bright, it hurt Hunter's ears and eyes in contrast to the dark and quiet streets, there were about fifty civilians inside and an other ten person dressed in white unifroms, Hunter assumed them to be some kind of guards, their faces were covered with a bird-like masks making them seem rather intimidating. Hunter approached one of them "Um, hi excuse me, is there a demon named King here?" "We don't keep a list of people, but you're free to look around" Hunter walked around the room, but didn't see his friend. He left and went looking for the next shelter.

The Golden Guard stepped inside the shelter, but didn't let the furry creature go yet, he took off his black cloak, revealing his usual white one under it and went up to his palisman, who immediatly jumped onto his shoulder and reported everything that happened during his absence. Seeing how the man was distracted, King tried to break free from his grasp "Oh you're not going anywhere, I can't arrest you, but I can keep an eye on you so you don't cause trouble". The soldier said as he put King onto high enough shelf that he couldn't safely jump down and leaned against the wall, keeping an eye on the whole shelter. King was about to lay down and take a nap when a white fox jumped next to him and sat down, staring directly at King, his tail wagging slowly and menacingly, as he took a closer look King discovered small patches where the fox's furr was missing or burnt. The door opned up and a figure wearing a black cloak came in, he took the hood off to reveal himself to be "Hunter" King yelled in happiness as the boy turned and ran towards him, only to be stopped by someone pointing a staff at him. Hunter looked up to the man wearing a golden mask "Who are you?" The man said "I-I'm Hunter... uhh I came for my friend I'm just gonna pick him up and get out of your hair" he chuckled awkwardly "This friend of your's is a wanted person, so before you take him anywhere you're gonna answer my questions, criminal" The way he said 'criminal' sent a shiver down Hunter's spine "Uhh uh, okay"

"What's your relationship with the Owl Lady?" Hunter considered lying, but the man would probably see trough him, as he was terrible at it, he sighed and spit out the truth "She's my mentor, teaching me how to use magic" "And do you reside at the so called Owl House?" The soldier was no longer pointing his staff at Hunter "Uhh yeah" "And do you associate with her in crime?" "No no no, she never makes me do illegal stuff" he didn't see any point in trying to deny that Eda often commited crimes " See that wasn't so hard, was it? Thank you for your cooperation, you may take your friend now" King jumped off the shelf, into Hunter's arms "One more thing, try to stay out of trouble, the Emperor is not a merciful man" The guard said, then dismissively waved his hand "You may leave now". Hunter and left the building holding King close to him.

On top of the heavy raining, it was also getting darker and darker, and by the time to two friends reached the forest beside the Owl House it was already pitch black. "Uhhh Hunter, are you sure this is the right way?" King grew increasingly panicked "Yeah yeah, I'm sure, just gotta turn left at this treeline aaand... I have no idea where we are" "We need some light so we can find our way" "If only Eda taught me any spells" the boy sighed, he looked up onto the sky, trying to find the moon, suddenly a huge lightning stuck, running trough the sky, Hunter was staring directly at it. The light burned into his retina, he groaned and squeezed his eyes shut, with his eyes closed he could see a picture, it looked like a bird that a toddler drew. Suddenly the rune began to pulse with light. Hunter opened his eyes, the drawing burend into his memory he knelt down and drew the rune into the dirt with a stick, nothing happened, he stood up and stepped onto the glyph which turned into a ball of light, flooding it's surroundings with it. "Woow, how did you even do that?" King looked at the boy "I don't know, I sort of just saw it in the lightning" "You know what that means, you did magic Hunter" his friend yelled out excitedly and the boy felt good about it too, he did magic all by himself, everyone told him humans can't do magic, but here he is, doing it!

With the help of their newfound light spell they reached home safe and sound. At the Owl House Eda praised Hunter for finding King all by himself, and was amazed by the alternative casting the boy did, but seemed really tense when they mentioned the soldier the other two referred to as Golden Guard, she told them that they need to be careful, because the minute the rain stops, the authorities will be after her. Hunter fell asleep at his usual place, on the couch. In his dreams he saw the light glyph and heard the same laughter from the time he was captured by that monster.

Caleb was pacing up and down in his house, pulling his hair out, the investigation gave no results yet, and with every passing second he got closer to the inevitable. He was holding a piece of black parchment in his hand, contemplating wheter or not he should go trough with it. Ideally, nothing should have changed between them, but it has been fourteen years now, and Caleb was keeping a massive secret, a secret he would have to tell if he was to ask for his help. He'll wait one more week, and if they still haven't found his son, he will resort to plan B. He picked up his phone and set an alarm exactly one week away from that moment, the reminder said "Talk to Philip" the words stared back at him. He couldn't belive he was actually doing this, after swearing not to, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Chapter Text

It's been two weeks since Hunter arrived in the Boiling Isles, and while he learned and experienced many thing, there are still a couple unanswered questions. And his mentor could answer all of them, if only she wasn't so secretive, it's not like the questions are personal! He only wants to know about her sister and whole family, her curse and what are covens and why is she so against them? But Hunter knew that today was his chance to get his anwers, because every second day Eda sets up her human collectibles stand, and this is the first day she allowed Hunter to come along. Mostly because it's not going too well, and what better way to sell human stuff than to advertise it with a human? "Hey kid, give me a hand with this please" Eda called out from outside the house "I'm coming"

The alarm on Caleb's phone that he had set a week ago went off, he picked it up and momentarily thought about ignoring it, but the words "Talk to Philip" stared at him...disapprovingly? He shook his head, how could the pixels on his phone have emotions? He's surely losing his mind in the absence of Hunter. He opened the cabinet in his home office and took out a piece of black parchment and the vial of white ink. He sat down at his desk, and dipped the pen into the bottle. Caleb wrote the words "Meet me at the usual spot, as soon as you can, it's an emergency" he wanted to write more, like apologise about vanishing for over a decade, but he didn't see a point, he will tell him eveything in person. Caleb folded the letter and held it into the flame of a candle, while the paper was buring he uttered the name of the person it was meant for three times: "Philip Wittebane, Philip Wittebane, Philip Wittebane". The parchment burnt away, leaving only ash behind. Caleb sighed, now he just needs to wait for the answer, if his brother hasn't changed he will come as soon as he can.

The Emperor of the Boiling Isles was sitting in his office looking over the financial plan for the coven day parade, he sighed, since when do fireworks cost a hundred snails a piece? Suddenly a piece of black paper manifested in front of him "Meet me at the usual spot, as soon as you can, it's an emergency" the letter read. Philip didn't belive his eyes at first, the message was from Caleb, no doubt, there are only three people he uses this communication form with, and two of them were inside the castle. But why did he want to meet him all of the sudden, what emergency was so bad he would call him from another realm? They haven't spoken in fourteen years, Belos tried reaching out to his older brother many times, but his messages never got answered. A hopeful part of him thought that maybe ther is no 'emergency' and Caleb just wanted to talk to him, his pessimistic part panicked that maybe something happened to Evelyn, Philip's only human friend. Nonetheless, he took out an identical piece of parchment and wrote "I'll be there at four pm" then burned the paper while saying his brother's name three times. He wished he could go sooner, but he had many things to do still.

"Come ooon Eda please, just tell me how you got your curse, I mean... who hates you that much?" Hunter whined for the fifth time since they set up the stand an hour ago, he hoped to annoy his mentor enough that she will eventually tell him what he wants. "For the last time, one , I don't know, two, even if I did I'd never tell you becasue it's none of your bussines" Eda groaned "Also, your annoying voice is driving away all our serious customers" "Umm, Eda, are the customers in the room with us? There aren't even any stands up" Hunter repiled "This is a bad omen, something horrible is happening today" his mentor said ominously "Heeey Hunter, something amazing is happening today" The boy turned at sound of his name, he saw his friends, Willow and Gus approach the stand holding a flyer of a covention. "Hey guys, what's up?" "Today is the covention, where you can see the covens in action" "Wooow, really? Eda can we go?" "Yes, but only if you stop asking questions for the whole day" his mentor added "I haven't been to one since we were girls" "WE??? You're talking about your sister now we gotta go"

The covention hall was nothing like anything Hunter had seen before. It was huge, along the sides were nine bigger pavilions, in the middle there were hundreds of smaller ones, at the far back stood the bigest one by far, it seemed to be the most popular too. "Why are those ones bigger than the others?" Hunter asked pointing to the side of the room "That's because they are the panels of the main nine covens, there thousand of others, but they are not as influential" Willow answered like a true expert "Yeah, and the tracks at schools are modelling the covens" Gus added "Why would anyone join smaller ones, if they don't have as many resources as the big ones?" Hunter was genuinely confused "Well, not all people can take the pressure and responsibility of being in a big coven, and some witches have such specific experties that it makes sense for them to be in smaller comunity... oorrr, the truth is that not everyone can fit into the main covens, if your magic is not potent enough, they'll make you choose a less important one..." "WHAT? That is such an unfair system" "Yeah kid, bunch of elitist hypocrites" Eda spoke for the first time since they arrived, she was wearing a hood over her head so she wouldn't be arrested. The fact that his mentor was willing to risk getting thrown into prison for him made Hunter feel really special... in way his father never did. "Yeah, it's not the most fair system, but who are we to argue with the Titan right?" "Sure kid, the Titan's will, you really belive this fairy tale?" Eda laughed, Willow looked around nervously, hoping nobody heard what the Owl Lady just said. One thing Hunter has learned during his time spent at the Boiling Isles was that the isle itself was basically just the skeleton of a Titan, an ancient beast with such strong magical power that everyone on the isles evolved to be able to use magic. Because of that, they worshiped this creature the way humans did with different gods in the Human Realm. The other reason for this was the ruler of the isles, the Emperor, who claimed that he could speak to the Titan, and that every big desicion he made, including the coven system, was because that was the Titan's will. Hunter only half belived this whole story, like how could the dude speak to a big skeleton? It felt pretty far-fetched for him, but again, this place was filled strange stuff, so, why not this too? "Why, don't we check out the panels of the main nine? I know a few people at the illusion coven" Gus said trying to lighten the mood while they walked towards the edges of the room, pushing their way trough the crowd.

"Oh wow, that panel looks really popular" Hunter pointed towards the far back of the hall "Yeah, that's the Emperor's coven, they are the the most elite coven, only the best of the best can join, and the show starts in a few minutes, we gotta see that" Gus sounded really enthusiastic. The pavilion was gold colored and guards dressed in the same uniforms as the ones Hunter saw during the rainstorm stood alongside the enterance to an arena. The grandstand was full of people, excited coversation filled the place, Hunter, Willow, Gus and Eda all took a seat, and awaited the show. A man appeared on stage, Hunter recognised him to be the principal of Hexside "Welcome Bonesborough! Students ask me all the time, what is the hight of magical achievement, it is to join the best of the best, the Emperor's coven" while he spoke, three guards in unifrom appeared on the stage beside the man "Each member is hand-picked to help guide us towards a happier, more-peacful Boiling Isle. Emperor's coven scouts have acess to all kinds of magic, which is why only the brightest witches can have the honor of joining this coven" During the speech, the scouts performed a variety of spells, each showcasing a different form of magic. Hunter couldn't help but feel amazed by not just the skill of these witches, but also by the synergy between them. "This year's covention is extra special, because a mystery guest will be joining us, you know her, you love her, give it up for Lilith" The man dissapeared off the stage, his place was taken by a woman with a long black hair wearing a white cloak over her black dress. The crowd cheered for her more than Hunter seen humans do for football teams. Eda's expression changed when the woman took the stage, before that she was telling one bad joke after the other about the coven system to anyone that would listen, now she was silent, giving a death-stare to Lilith. "You know her?" Hunter asked, this woman could be Eda's sister, after all she was trying to convince his mentor to join a coven, and again, they looked really alike, but Hunter thought Eda would be happier at the sight of her sister.

"Thank you, it wasn't easy for me to rise to the top, I too started from humble beginings, but now I have the highest honor of enforcing the Emperor's will. So be ready, the Emperor's coven awaits you" She casted a spectecular spell, a raven made out of light, it was beautiful "And some might ask what it takes to join the Emperor's coven, so we prepared a little presentation, a duel between two of our most promising studets, please welcome Luz Noceda and Amity Blight!" "Blight? I've heard that name before" Hunter thought out loud "They run one of the most important busniesses in all the isles" Gus helped him out. Busniess owners... that mansion! Of course, that man gave him a cloak in front of that manor, finally he has a chance to return it! He's been looking for that house since that night, but couldn't find it "Yeah, and she's a real bully" Willow added under her breath "Wait, she goes to Hexside too?" "Yes, and she's one of the reasons I left abomination track, she was always mean because she was top sutdent and I was struggling" "I'm sorry Willow... what about the other girl? You know her too?" "No, I think she goes to a different school, maybe Glandus?" Gus answered. Their coversation was interrupted by the words coming from invisible speakers "Let the duel begin" The two girls started casting, a girl with green hair wearing a Hexside uniform summoned a huge purple monster, while the other girl shot icicle at it, they pierced it, but the creature quickly healed itslef and continued towards the other contestant. But the girl, Luz probably, wasn't so easily bested, she summoned wines and caught the abomination from all directions, blocking it's movement.

Hunter got so lost in watching the duel that he almost didn't realize it was over, the green-haired girl beat the other one, but just barely. Lilith made a microphone appear "Thank you for this lovely display girls, and now onto the questions" but Hunter didn't stick around fot the Q and A, he slipped away when he saw the girls leave because he wanted to finally return the cloak, it wasn't hard get out unnoticed, Eda was napping on the chair and his freinds were to busy asking questions to notice his absence. When he left the room he was suprised by the sudden contrast between the noisy arena and the now empty covention hall, well, almost empty. The two girls were walking beside eachother, talking, it seemed to Hunter that they were close friends, or maybe even more. He approached them "Um, hey, you're Amity right?" "And who are you?" Huntet felt his whole face turn red, he's never been good at interacting face to face with people his age. "Oh, I'm Hunter, I just came to return the cloak, someone at your house gave me this" "Uhh, probably my dad, always helping the pathetic" she rolled her eyes and took the cloak "Why are you being so mean Amity" the other girl asked "Because he's giving witches in training a bad name. For Titan's sake he's just some human who can't even do magic" Hunter felt more humilated than ever, what a fool he was for thinking there's a place where he'll fit in and won't be bullied by his peers. No matter where he goes, he'll always be the odd one out "Hey, lay off him" He was suprised to hear Willow's voice and feel her hand on his shoulder a moment later "Oh wow, magicless human and half-a-witch Willow, what a friendship" "Amity please stop that, don't be so mean" Luz tried calming her friend "I'll do what I want, they bring this whole covention to shame" she said and stormed off, leaving the tree in an awkward slinece. Willow was still suspiciously eyeing Luz, but her grasp on Hunter's shoulder loosened. "Sorry about her" Luz looked ashamed "she just gets like this sometimes" and then walked away too

"Thanks for standing up for me" "Anytime, Amity can bully me at shool, but I draw the line at hurting my friends" "There you are, I've looked all around for you, Eda and Lilith are kinda in a fight in the arena right now" "They're WHAT?" Hunter couldn't belive it, her mentor who was all about "keeping a low profile" got into a fight with a coven head? They rushed over to the arena instantly, Gus was right, Eda and her sister were fighting, King was still off collecting offerings like he did all morning. The Clawthorn sisters were really at each other's troat, finally it seemed that Eda has the upper hand, only for the battle to get turned around by Lilith last second. The head of the Emperor's coven was about to deliver the last hit when Eda said something the made her stop, they chated for a few second, but Eda suddenly threw a Hex-mix at her and ran out the back door shouting "Good match, let's call it a tie" Lilith seemed furious, but Hunter and his friends didn't stick around to see the aftermath, they went looking for the Owl Lady and King. Soon enough they bumped into each other "Let's hurry before my sister finds out I tied her pointy shoes together" Eda chuckled "So Lilith really is your sister? Now, that's a misterious past, but you seemed just fine the other day, what happened?" Hunter asked his mentor while leaving the covention hall "Eh, you know how it is with siblings"

The clock in Caleb's home just hit six in the evening, tough owner of said clock was already out, sitting on a tree trunk in forest, he hasn't moved a muscle for ten minutes now, he was listening closely so he hear the subtle noise the door makes before appearing. Soon enough he heard the familiar humming he hasn't heard for may years now. A door manifested out of thin air in the clearing, flooding trough it was the light of candles and light spells. A few seconds passed before a elderly, blond-haired man appeared in the doorway, he was wearing a long white cloack with a golden medal on it. Caleb saw his brother, but couldn't look him in the eye, Philip changed so much yet so little in these fourteen years, it was still strange to see his younger brother look twice his age because time moved faster in the Boiling Isles. At the same time the Titan's blessing made him age way slower than avarage. "Hello Caleb, good to see you" Philip was the one to break the silence but despite the friendly words, there was no warmth in his voice, in fact he seemed colder than ever, Caleb shivered at his brother's distant tone. "Hi, I... we have a lot to talk about, and I have a lot to apologise for" he felt deeply ashamed "Then we better get started" If a stranger walked by they would never had guessed that these two were brothers, brothers who grew up together. They walked towards Caleb's house in an awkward silence. Belos hated that silence, and he hated himself for resenting Caleb, but he couldn't imagine one single good excuse for what he did. Inside they sat down with some tea and Caleb cleared his troat, but Philip spoke first "Where's Evelyn? I'd really liked to speak with her" His brother's question hit him in the stomach like a gut-punch, how on earth could he explain what happned to his only ever human friend "I'm sorry... but Evelyn is... gone" He couldn't meet his sibling's gaze "She's what? How? When? Why, for Titan's sake didn't you tell me?" "I'm sorry, it all happned so fast" Belos felt his hand pulse with magic, the raw magic was about to burst out of him, small sparkles escaped, burning holes into Caleb's table, he tried to get his temper under controll, last thing he wants is to acidently burn down the house. His anger quickly turned into sadness, she was gone, the only human, other than his brother who he kept contact with, she was gone, and he never even had the chance to say goodbye. Despite how mad he was with his brother, Philip couldn't help but feel bad for him, he lost his wife after all, and maybe that's the reason he didn't contact him. "What did you want to tak about?" he asked. This question caught Caleb off guard so much he almost forgot what he did want to ask his brother of, he didn't think he wanted to help him even after all that, maybe Philip was the better person out of the two of them. "I, well... I have a son... and" Caleb was cut off by a very confused question "Uhh, isn't fifty a little too old for humans to you know...?" Despite the circumstances, that almost made Caleb laugh, his brother was so oblivious and he loved him for that, for just one moment things felt a way they haven't for a really long time now, but this moment had to pass by, as Caleb had to admit another harsh truth. "Well... I've had a son for more than fourteen years now... and that's the reason why I haven't reached out recently" Once again he couldn't meet Belos's gaze, but he still felt the mix of shock and anger coming from him "I don't even know what to say..." Philip felt more betrayed and defeated than ever, even more than he did when Caleb dropped the news that he was going back to the Human realm. How could his own brother do this to him? A part of him wanted to just get up and never look back, but an other part of him, a part he couldn't really explain wanted to stick around and hear him out. "And why are you telling me this now, you clearly don't want me in your life anymore?" The cold tone once again sent a shiver down Caleb's spine "My son... Hunter, he's been missing for a week now, and..." Caleb stopped to fight his tears, this is the first time he said these words out loud and they felt heavy, heavier than he imagined them to be "And the way he disapeared was similar to the way we did back then, and I just... well I just wanted to ask if you had seen him or hear from him?" Seeing his brother this way was heartbreaking for Belos, but he couldn't forgive him, not yet, and not his easy, not to mention he also had no infomation about a human in the Isles, but again, even he doesn't know about everything "I didn't hear anything like this, but I'll look into it and try to find him" As he got up but couldn't resist one last spiteful comment "And then we can go back to not speaking again" and with that he opened the door and left, leaving no time for Caleb to apologise.

Caleb sat in silence for an hour now, he knew he should be happy that his brother agreed to helping him, but he just couldn't bring himself to feel joy. The gravity of the whole situation just hit him, and it was too much to handle. And this wasn't just the reality of his son's disappearance, or maybe even death, but also the situation of losing his brother, the only person he's ever been close to, other than Evelyn of course, who is also gone. Caleb wanted to cry but couldn't, he's kept all these emotions bottled up in himself for so long that it seemed impossible to let them out now. He is alone. He pushed everyone away, his son ran away because he tried to change him, his brother doesn't want to talk to him, and he can't blame him, Caleb has been a terrible brother lately, maybe he always has been... And Evelyn... she didn't leave him did she? She died, it was quick but painful for her, and her passing is painful and eternal for Caleb. He would give up anything to see her one last time, or to get his son back, or to have a second chance with Philip. He would give up anything to make things right with the people he loves.