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sea-creature-things · 9 months ago

Text

Grimwalker things

Chapter 5: Sleep

Having dinosaur lungs can NOT be good for your health lol

For anyone actually following my fic, I'm so sorry this chapter took literal months to make. Life was a bitch and got in the way, but I'm back now and I'm gonna try to get the next chapter out much faster <333

Read here below the cut or on AO3 with this link:

Hunter walked on the soft forest floor. The leaves and moss cushioned his feet. There was no path to follow, but he knew where to go. Through the trees, there was a certain way forward.

Large, winding, blue trees. Everywhere. He’s never seen Palistrom trees this tall before. There was a thick canopy above him, but the forest was exceptionally light. Like the sun had an unbothered reach to the floor.

It must be summer.

Everywhere he looked was teeming with life. Those magnificent winding trees had a bunch of shelf-like mushrooms on them. He saw a small, black and white bird standing on one, while it drilled into the tree bark. There were tiny flowers growing between the roots on the ground. He saw a few butterflies fluttering around them.

He always thought that, even though their bodies were very disturbing, their wings were the prettiest things.

The forest wasn’t just bright, it was noisy. He heard rodents scurrying, insects buzzing, and many more birds chirping. All just out of sight. Hunter knew he probably wouldn’t see any larger creatures, he wasn’t exactly being stealthy.

But he didn’t feel like he should be.

He was just walking. On a path that he knew. He wasn't hunting or tracking anything, he wasn't on a mission. No beast in existence wouldn't notice his approach.

The exact moment when he had that thought, he was proven wrong. There, previously hidden behind the giant tree trunk Hunter walked past, was a Celeritas deer. He was surprised to say the least. The demon was too, its head shot up and it stared at him like, well like a deer in headlights.

Hunter stood still as well, admiring the majestic beast. Its blueish fur was meant for camouflage, its legs were even red to blend in with the grass. The deer broke out of its frozen state, turning and running in a show of that top speed it was famous for.

And Hunter let it go.

Because he didn't have to chase it. Because he could just watch. Because he could relax here. He was sure of it. This forest was a place where people should relax.

As he continued walking, the forest slowly become less bright. He could see the sky beyond the canopy a little, the fluffy clouds had turned into beautiful shades of purple and orange. He’d been here for quite a while.

It must be a really large forest.

Life was slowing down, the flowers were closing and the animals were leaving to sleep. The shadows grew and the sky turned darker and darker. Still, Hunter knew the way forward. When the dusk turned into night, the forest once again came alive.

Hunter could hear more sounds than before, but couldn’t see the nocturnal creatures that came out of hiding. He hoped any large demons were still too shy, because night was the best time to hunt. If there were Celeritas deer in this biome, there were predators who ate them. And Hunter wasn’t exactly thrilled to become a ‘unique dessert’.

The moon and stars made sure it wasn’t entirely pitch black. So he didn’t feel too scared. In fact, he felt just as relaxed as when it was daytime.

Something caught his eye, a light blue glow at the base of a tree he had already passed. Between the roots and the long red grass, sat an ice blue crystalline rock. It emanated a soft but cold light. He was instantly intrigued, but when he turned to get a closer look, a noise made his ears prick up.

“Hunter.”

He felt the hairs on his neck stand upright as a familiar voice whispered behind him. His head quickly shot back again.

But there was no one there.

He scanned the environment in front of him. The trees still looked the same and, most importantly, the forest was still loud. If there was a beast stalking him, the birds and rodents would stay far away. He must’ve imagined it.

“Hunter!”

This time he was certain the voice was real. It came from beyond the trees, as if someone was calling him over. It felt so familiar, but he couldn’t place it.

The chances of a puppeteer demon messing with him were low. And he still didn’t feel the slightest bit worried or afraid. He was only curious. It felt like he was going to see someone important. This was the person he had walked literal hours for.

“HUNTER!”

A sudden pain hit him hard in the chest. Like a violent punch or a blunt object traveling at mach speed.

He could almost feel the electrical current through his back as he shot upright and his eyes flew open. His lungs filled with air in one big gasp. Flailing, his arms searched in front of him, grasping at anything to hold onto. But there was nothing and his arms fell back down immediately.

Where was he?!

It was too bright. It gave him a headache, his eyes were struggling to adjust to the lights. His bedroom was never like this in the morning. Where was his staff? Where was his mask? Where was Flapjack? He heard his palisman somewhere in the room, but the chirping was a little hard to understand. Actually, there were a lot of muffled sounds that he couldn’t hear quite right.

Suddenly, he felt something wrap around his neck. His hands instinctively grabbed onto it. He flinched away as much as he could, searching quickly with blurry vision. The panic went as quickly as it came, when he realised it was just Gus. His friend was hanging around his neck and pressing against his shoulder, hugging tightly. Hunter relaxed, moving his right hand to try and hug him back in this awkward position.

Wait. He hasn’t been at the castle in forever.

Everything came flooding back to him. The disastrous mission at the Night Market, a stressful hideaway at Hexside, the Day of Unity and a portal to the Human Realm- basement!

He’s been sleeping in Luz’s basement for 7 weeks! Hunter groaned from the pain behind his temples. He rubbed the side of his face and tried to move his legs slightly. His limbs were really heavy, like he was wading through molasses. Waking up had never been this difficult before.

There was a soft sniffling sound coming from his right. He looked at Gus, his eyes finally worked properly, and saw the boy’s shoulders shaking. He took uneven, tiny breaths that made his body jolt like a hiccup. His face, which was difficult to see underneath Hunter’s own chin, was all scrunched up and his eyes were shut tight. Any air that escaped his mouth came out in soft sobs and when he sniffed through his nose, there was a loud and pretty gross sound.

He was crying.

“Gus? What happened, what’s wrong?” Hunter asked immediately alarmed, his voice came out a little hoarse. With his free arm he pushed ever so lightly against his friend’s shoulder, trying to get a better look at him.

The hold on his neck loosened a little when Gus looked up. He took a deep breath to try and form words, but it only came out as abrupt coughing. Then his lip trembled and anything he said was impossible to understand. He buried his face back into Hunter’s neck as his shoulders continued to shake and his sobs grew louder.

With his newly restored sight, Hunter looked around the room in search of possible danger. He was extremely surprised to find the girls all gathered around his bed.

Willow was sitting beside Gus on her knees. She was gripping the fabric of his sleeping bag. Amity sat at the foot of his bed. She held her hands together in front of her chest with tense shoulders. Vee was standing behind her. She was in a half-human disguise with yellow piercing eyes and a tail wrapped around her legs. Her hands were clutching a phone.

They all looked mortified.

Alarm bells went off in his head. Something happened and he wasn’t there to protect them.

“What happened?” Hunter asked again, looking back and forth between the three of them. He couldn’t keep his voice from betraying the fear he felt.

Willow was still clutching the edges of his bed, her eyes locked on his. She breathed deep and steady. It looked like she was fighting the urge to cry, but maybe that was just interpretation, he wasn't sure. Vee shivered and her rigid body moved out of the blue. She sat down between the other two girls, her gaze anxiously shifting all over the place. Amity stared at the floor and blinked a few times before she looked back up. Her eyes were the only part of her face where he could see her true feelings.

A harrowing mixture of fear and stress was present on all of their faces. But he also saw a lot of relief in their expressions.

Flapjack, who had been circling above him in a wild storm of chirps that Hunter couldn’t follow, landed in front of him. The cardinal had to catch his breath and hung his wings beside him instead of folding them up. Exhausted, he hopped over to his witch’s left hand and rubbed against the palm. It would’ve been comforting if the state of his palisman hadn’t chilled Hunter to the bone.

“Gus woke us up a few minutes ago.” Amity took up the role of explaining, forever capable in high-stress situations. But the tone of her voice was flooded with unease. “He told us you weren’t breathing.”

What?

“Hunter are you okay?” Amity asked worried when he didn’t respond. He couldn’t respond, he couldn’t think, he could only watch her as his vision slowly hazed over.

What?!

“Does he look okay!?” Willow burst out, gesturing wildly. Hunter’s attention snapped towards her, his vision briefly refocusing.

This wasn’t happening.

“He’s clearly in shock!” Vee yelled. She also moved her hands wildly, her features shifting in distress. Gus’s grip on his neck disappeared and Hunter felt himself sway woozily in the now free space around him.

This was not happening!

“Stop yelling at each other!” The youngest witch shouted at the girls. His outburst definitely worked, because they all went silent and looked at him in surprise.

Hunter’s stomach churned, a rising nauseous feeling morphed to dizziness in his head. The ringing in his ears grew louder. The pain in his head became sharper. He blinked rapidly, straining to focus.

Gus wiped his wet eyes aggressively with his sleeve. This seemed to quiet down the others even more. Willow shrunk out of her fire and, when Gus sniffed in a nasty way again while tears kept pouring from his eyes, she rubbed his back in an effort to soothe him. Vee was breathing heavily, seemingly deliberate, trying to calm herself down and get her magic under control. She was struggling to do so, judging from the way her half-human hands clawed in the air. Hunter watched in a daze as Amity noticed it too and carefully touched Vee’s hand. The basilisk startled, but quickly understood her friend’s comforting gesture. She gratefully interlocked her fingers and squeezed in Amity’s hand. It must’ve worked, because her breathing slowed down and her magic became stable again. Amity gave her a strained smile, then locked eyes with the floor and let out a heavy sigh of her own.

Luz!

Where was Luz? He had found her earlier, right? She was here too, right? She had to be. Why hadn’t she said anything yet?

It felt like his thoughts were trudging through mud. Vee had said something about shock, but that wasn’t quite right. He knew what shock felt like and this definitely wasn't it. Still, his mind wasn't working like it should be. He felt nothing but confusion.

He finally found Luz. She was the only one on his left side, sitting on her knees and hugging her stomach. Her face was pale, almost ashen, and her entire frame was tense. How in Titan’s name could he not find her? She was right next to him!

She was looking at him so intently, as if he would disappear if she didn’t watch him. He silently begged her to say something. To tell him what was going on. To help him out of this mess! But she just kept staring at him. Was she even seeing anything at all?

“Hunter?” Willow broke through his trance. Her voice was so tiny, it didn’t fit her at all. Seeing her scared was unnerving. If Willow of all people was scared, then how the hell was he supposed to feel?

No, how? He seriously couldn’t tell. It felt like his brain was filled to the brim with fog and the more he tried to search through it, the more he got lost.

“I…” His voice was still hoarse. He swallowed to remedy his dry, sandpaper throat, but it barely helped. “I don’t understand.”

Willow looked taken aback slightly, this was clearly not the response she expected. Her pretty features morphed into concern. She squirmed in her seat, trying to form a response, sharing an unsure look with Vee and Amity. The pink-haired witch at least tried, her eyes darting around and her mouth gaping like a fish. An indecisive hum escaped when she snapped it shut, completely at a loss. Vee had long since surrendered, keeping her eyes on her fidgeting hands to avoid any expectations.

In the silence, Gus’ shaky sigh was painfully loud. He’d calmed down a lot, probably thanks to Willow, and had been following the awkward glances of the three girls. He turned to face Hunter again and took a deep breath.

“I had a nightmare.” He began. Emmiline had taken a position on his shoulder, rubbing her face lovingly against his cheek. Flapjack had settled into his lap, likewise trying to comfort the 12 year old. He’s only 12 years old! “It made me really anxious, so I went to wake you up. Cuz you said you wouldn’t mind.”

The last part sounded more like a question, as if he was asking for confirmation. Hunter could only give a few quick nods.

“But-“ Gus’s voice broke. Despite Emmi and Flap’s best efforts, there were new tears forming in his eyes. “But you wouldn’t wake up! You were so still a-and it looked like you weren’t breathing. So I checked!” He added quickly, as though someone would hold it against him if he hadn’t. “I ch-checked your mouth and I-… I couldn’t feel anything!”

A sense of dread came over him as Hunter looked at his friend’s terrified face. He had a theory, a sickening gut feeling that settled down after listening to that story. For what felt like the hundredth time, his vision glazed over only to focus anew when Willow spoke up.

“That’s when he went to get us.” She said as she put her comforting arm back around Gus. The witchling let himself fall against her.

“Everything happened so fast.” Amity added, which Vee supported with a nod, her gaze still very much locked on her claws. The tension in the room was almost visible.

Everyone was on edge because of him. Everyone was afraid because of him.

The overwhelming urge to puke felt more real with every second. He knew what it must’ve looked like. He knew what they must’ve thought.

“And Hunter…” Willow was trying to catch his eyes, but he looked away. “We couldn’t find your pulse.”

Hunter’s head whipped around to Luz so fast it hurt his neck.

You let them check for a pulse?!?

She was still in the same crumbled up pose as before, uncharacteristically motionless. But his sudden and intense glare made her jolt backwards, a nearly unnoticeable amount. She blinked for seemingly the first time and met his eyes apologetically.

No- Stop!

This wasn’t her fault!

It wasn’t her fault that this happened. It wasn’t her fault that they checked for a pulse. And it wasn’t her fault that he doesn’t have one. That he doesn’t have a bloodstream. That he doesn’t have real organs, or a real body… That he isn’t real.

Wait-

He does have a bloodstream, he could bleed! He had bled just a few days ago! This was absurd! Stupid! Of course he has blood, he might be a grimwalker but he is alive! He just… doesn’t have a heart.

Hunter placed a hand on his chest. His Galderstone’s subtle pulsing almost felt like a heartbeat, it was trying its best.

He absentmindedly rubbed his chest, then his sternum. Hard, just like he was taught, the pain helped him tune back in. He was met with Luz’s worried face, this time he gave her an apologetical look. He also realised that Amity had been talking this entire time.

“-veins, so I have no idea if we were doing it right. I mean, obviously not because we couldn’t feel anything. Titan, I should’ve paid more attention in healing class. Or actually listened to Emira when she was talking about these things.” She rattled on. Luz reached over the sleeping bag to hold her girlfriend’s hand. Amity immediately quieted down, letting out a trembling sigh. She gave her a grateful smile that spoke volumes.

Luz really had been in some kind of trance just now. Had she come to the same conclusions as he had?

“I was trying to find…” Vee pointed at her phone as her voice trailed off in disappointment. She dropped her hands to her lap. “Anything that might help.”

She looked just as surprised as the rest that she had suddenly found her voice. Her tail unwrapped from her legs and landed with an agitated sweep behind her. Shifting uncomfortably, she cleared her throat.

“Then Gus slammed your chest.” Vee continued. That was probably the pain he had felt earlier. The punch that had ripped him out of that dream. The basilisk looked at Gus, he was still slumped against the older witch, but his tears had dried. She gave him a worn smile that fell just as quickly. “Luckily that worked.”

The room fell silent. Were they waiting on him? Hunter tried to think of something to say, anything. But the fog, and the mud, and every other mess he was searching through didn’t want to comply.

Maybe things were just moving too fast. Maybe he was still reeling from his rude awakening. Maybe he really was in shock. He didn’t know why, but he wasn't panicking like all the other times. He wasn’t in a cold sweat, breathing rapidly, heart beating fast and loud against his ribcage.

He was numb.

And his head hurt, and he couldn’t think. All he could do was look at their faces, hazily and contrite.

Intense stares drilled into him. They were expecting an explanation. Or a promise that he was okay, however unbelievable it would be. Or at least a reaction. Anything!

But he had nothing. He didn’t know. He genuinely didn’t know.

What if he was wrong? What if this wasn't a grimwalker thing? What if there was actually something wrong with him?

“I’m not saying there is something wrong with you, but maybe it’s a good idea if Camila takes a look?” Vee offered, as if she had been holding her breath and only now let go. He knew how uncomfortable she got in the silence. “I know she’s a vet and not a doctor, but she still knows a lot about health.”

“Not about Witch-health!” Amity yelled, her harsh tone surprised him.

“It’s not that different!” Willow said defensively.

“We don’t know that!”

“Don’t you want to make sure he’s okay?!”

“Of course I do!”

Their bickering made his headache even worse. Maybe in a different situation, or simply at a different time, it would be amusing. He’d interject with a lighthearted joke or an understanding remark. Or something else that in another moment would’ve worked. Or even something that failed but still managed to make them realise what they were doing.

But this wasn’t that moment.

“We-“

“I think that’s a good idea, Vee.” Hunter interjected, pushing through the pain in his throat. Addressing his sister directly, like Willow and Amity weren’t even there, calm and resolute. He was so done with this.

This moment, this situation, this night. He wanted it to end already.

The basement fell silent again. This was basically him admitting that there was something wrong. He decided to play it that way.

He was tired. He couldn’t explain shit. He couldn’t calm them down. He couldn’t reassure anyone.

He looked at Luz. Her eyes locked with his, a sheen of recognition painted her face. She didn’t have the same horrified look in her eyes as the others, but her face was stiff with worry.

I don’t know what else to do. Please help me.

His sister's stare widened. She placed a hand on his shoulder, a forced smile on her face. And, finally, she spoke.

“Okay. I’ll go get her.”

——————

The harsh blue lights gave the kitchen a cold atmosphere. It was definitely the middle of the night. The window was like a pitch black portal, no stars or moon to illuminate the garden, apparently the lights along the road didn't reach that far either. It was uncomfortably different from the warm, inviting kitchen Hunter was used to.

Camila was examining him, she said the kitchen would be better suited because it was bigger and had better lighting. Unfortunately, she was right. She had instructed him to hop on the kitchen island. Then she grabbed the first aid kit and some of her veterinary stuff.

So now Hunter was slouched over, with his legs dangling over the edge. He was vaguely aware of the clump of his friends gathered in the corner. They had stopped just in front of the doorway. Hunter knew they were watching, but he couldn't find the energy to care.

Flapjack was standing on the counter next to him. Every now and then, he chirped some comforting words. Flap was trying his best to soothe his witch, but he was still very worn out. His feathers were ruffled and his beady eyes blinked sluggishly. He looked pretty much like how Hunter felt.

Past nausea and dizziness, he didn't feel much of anything. But the room was already spinning a lot less than before Camila started this investigation. The closest thing he felt to an emotion was confusion. A feeling that had refused to leave ever since that dream.

Most dreams feel real in the moment, but when you wake up they're so obviously ridiculous. This dream wasn't like that. Even now it felt like he had actually walked through that forest. He could remember everything so vividly.

It was disorienting.

It had been so tangible, so authentic, even though he's never in his life seen a palistrom forest like that. In fact, he was sure those didn't exist anymore.

It was a proper forest. Not the sad orchard that he’s visited so many times, where all the trees grew in straight rows and weren’t allowed to get too high. Where not even mice nor insects dared to live, forget about any large beasts!

Besides, it was weird for him to have anything other than a cold-sweat nightmare.

Hunter mentally kicked himself. His dream was hardly the most important thing right now. But he couldn't stop thinking about it. Did it mean something? Was it related to the way he slept that night? Or was it just a stupid dream? More pleasant than his usual, but just as unhelpful.

His eyes searched the floor, but the off-white linoleum didn’t hold any answers. Obviously.

"Honey, I need to put the stethoscope on your skin, do you mind if I slide it under you shirt?" Camila asked carefully, interrupting his train of thought. She tugged softly on the back of his shirt, making sure Hunter knew what she meant.

He did. It would be a lot easier for her if he simply took it off, or held his shirt up to expose his back. But there were a lot of scars there. It’s not that he was ashamed of them, but he he wasn't eager to show them either. This was different from a few scars on his legs, he didn’t know how his friends and Camila would react.

"N-" He tried to answer her, but the air caught in his throat, like his voice was trapped. And when he shook his head, Camila didn't seem to understand what he meant. He sighed and tried again. "No, go ahead."

Hunter was reminded of when he sat on an examination bed in the infirmary. He hated the healing coven, but he really shouldn't. They kept him alive. He was only allowed to go there when he had to, when his newest wounds were too serious to heal on their own.

He just hated when that happened.

The healing coven witches would move around him in much the same way Camila was doing. The cold part of her stethoscope pressed against his back, then his chest. Finally something that felt familiar and it had to be this.

He moved his limbs as she instructed, breathed exactly like she told him to while he stared into the wall ahead. His long hair hanging in sad strands around his face, like a curtain shielding his expression from outsiders. Or rather, from his friends. He didn't want to look at them, and he didn't want them to look at him.

“Let me check… some more things.” Camila said hesitantly, her hand a few inches from his chin. He made no motions to get away from her. So she placed one hand on the side of his face, holding him gently, and the other under his chin. He felt two finger press into his skin.

It would’ve been really nice if he didn’t know she was checking for a pulse. Where he was so sure just a minute ago, he now had no clue. Did he have one or not? He couldn’t remember if he’d ever checked his own pulse.

He’s placed a hand over his heart plenty of times, and his galderstone used to fool him with its fake beats. But why would he ever bother to check his own pulse? Using a technique he specifically learned to check if other people were still alive on himself was absurd.

Against his will, his eyes fluttered up and looked into Camila’s. She then looked into his, as if she could sense it. Maybe she could. She gave him the softest, gentlest, most comforting smile. And he nearly broke.

Please just say there's nothing wrong with me.

Hunter quickly fixed his gaze back on the ground. There was a pressure on his eyes, a kind of pain that meant he was exhausted. A pain he knew very well. Sleepless nights were a constant in his life. At first it was simply from working on countless missions as the golden guard. He didn’t have time to sleep.

In Hexside he was too scared to sleep. And the first few days in the human realm he just wasn’t able to. No matter how much his eyes burned, he stayed awake, thinking too much.

Stone sleeper lungs.

The words kept repeating in his mind. That was his theory, his gut feeling, his explanation. He had read about Stonesleepers, even before his desperate raid of Hexside’s library. He used to think they were cool. Learning about the dinosaurs that used to roam the Boiling Isles in his studies was actually fun.

But now, thinking back to the books he read in his hideout left a bitter taste in his mouth.

The Stonesleeper has a very unique ability. This creature can go into something aptly named ‘the stone sleep’, during which it slows its breathing down to near zero. Subsequently, its metabolism and heartbeat also slow down. The creature then turns its hide to stone using petrification magic.

It this state, the demon is protected from all kinds of threats and has no need to hunt. A perfect hibernation, used in moments of danger but more often in moments of peace. When it feels safe enough to rest.

However, not every Stonesleeper with a rocky hide is actually in a stone sleep. The creature has evolved to use its unique ability as camouflage or even as a decoy, tricking potential prey into a false sense of security. Until the demon strikes.

He had read the same information again and again, in five different books, next to the passages and stories about grimwalkers. Searching for any correlation, any shared traits, any effect on personality or character. He’d been so desperate to learn about himself that the air became harder to breathe, and the edges of vision went dark. Flapjack had to calm him down and forced the books closed with his tiny beak. He’d begged his witch to go somewhere else for a bit.

Hunter could barely call it a theory anymore, part of him knew it was the truth. What happened earlier tonight was the result of his dinosaur lungs. And it was terrifying, he didn’t want to be anything like them.

Stonesleepers were not cool. They were giant, dangerous monsters. Vicious predators that survived a mass extinction during the Hecktaceous period, only to terrorise people of the Deadwardian era.

They were scary, Hunter didn’t want to be scary. He already terrified his friends tonight and he hated it. The look in their eyes after he asked for Camila, the glances they exchange when they thought he couldn’t see, it killed him.

He was a little wobbly on the stairs and they all looked so worried. He already regretted his decision when he watched Luz leave. But a big part of him genuinely and desperately wanted to check it out. Not breathing was very concerning, grimwalker or not.

Then Luz came back to the living room with Camila on her heels.

Amity and Willow had to explain everything again. Hunter couldn’t really follow it, not that he tried very hard. There was no new ground being broken, he had all the information already. Listening to it again, this time with Camila’s reaction right there…

He didn’t want to follow it.

He had made the mistake of looking into her eyes then as well. The horrified expression that formed on Camila's face after they told her... It was so foreign to him. He wanted to cry. He wanted to apologise. He wanted to travel in time and never let Luz wake her up.

She really cared.

He knew that already. But every time she showed it, every time he saw her face full of concern, it was like a fresh new gut punch. As if he never learned his lesson: Camila cared.

She had stayed silent for an unbearable time, then she promised to take a look and led them to the kitchen. And now they were here, under the cold, unnatural lights. A soft pitter patter started to fall on the roof above. It quickly turned into louder, more harsh rainfall. The black portal that was supposed to be a window had streaks of water run down it's surface.

He still had mixed feelings about the non-boiling rains of the human world, but the sound was always comforting.

“Alright cariño,” Camila said as she packed up her work kit. She caressed his hair, clearing his face. He braved to look at her and anxiously awaited her verdict. She put another strand behind his ear and gave him another painfully tender smile. “I am sure you’re okay.”

Hunter was suddenly flooded with so many feelings that he couldn’t distinguish any of them.

“Thank goodness,” Flapjack chirped and hopped closer on the counter. It startled him, he kind of forgot Flap was there. Hunter scratched his palisman on the cheek, he recognise the relief on his little face as one of the feelings in the lively mix of emotions inside him.

But he couldn’t muster a nod.

He couldn’t tell him he agreed, because now it was officially a grimwalker thing. Flap didn’t notice his reluctance however. He gratefully melted into the chin scratches.

Hunter felt terrible for the stress he’d caused his sweet little palisman. He wondered if his condition had effected Flapjack in some way. Palismen were very in tune with their witches emotions, sometimes too much so. Hopefully this wasn’t part of that magical connection, but just Flap being tired.

Hunter did feel more at ease doting on his palisman. He was happy with Camila’s news, and very grateful.

For the first time, Hunter looked back at the doorway. Relief was painted clearly on his friends’ faces. Luz was snug against Amity’s side, her head resting on her girlfriend’s shoulder. Her eyes were shut in an exhausted kind of calm. Amity’s own head rested on top of Luz’s, but her eyes were locked on Hunter. She smiled, strained but genuine.

Luz was holding Vee’s hand. Whose other hand was pressed against her chest, meeting the tip of her tail that spiralled down, wrapped tightly around her. She was smiling as well, but hers was not strained. She beamed at him, looking almost cheerful, and swung the arm attached to her sister back and forth.

The solace his sisters gave each other was difficult to see when it was him they needed comfort from.

Gus was on Vee’s other side, but he was somewhat turned away from her, because of the way he hugged to Willow. Gus’s face was obstructed by Emmiline, who snuggled her witch with a surge of kind words. Willow had her arm over his shoulder, the other one was wrapped around her own stomach. Her beautiful peridot eyes were fixed on Hunter. She took a deep breath while squeezing Gus tighter against her. The ghost of a smile tugged at her lips.

Hunter had difficulty looking anyone it the eyes, let alone smile back.

He focussed back on Flapjack, who was more than happy to receive his attention, and eventually on Camila. She had followed his looks at his friends. She, unlike him, was capable of giving them a reassuring expression.

“I couldn’t really find a pulse either, but I’m pretty sure you’re still alive.” Camila said playfully, still stroking his hair. Her humour fell flat as Hunter was suddenly very busy with keeping his dinner down. The stone that fell onto his stomach may as well have been his heart.

He was right after all, he had no pulse.

Judging from the fraught silence coming from the doorway, the rest couldn’t appreciate the joke either. But eventually a few voices murmured in support.

“Maybe your anatomy is just a little different?” Camila offered somewhat awkwardly, throwing a questioning glance at the witches. Hunter didn’t follow up to see their answer. “Your heart and lungs sound perfect, so a weak pulse is out of the question.”

She said it so matter of factly and she kept patting his head, he wanted to believe her.

“Maybe…” Camila began, as if she was contemplating something. She moved her hand onto his shoulder. Looking from him to the other kids when she decided to go on. "There are different stages of sleep. One of them is called deep sleep. That’s when our brains slow down, our muscles relax, our temperature drops, and our breathing becomes really slow. Now, this is also the stage that’s the most difficult to wake up from.”

Hunter fixed his eyes on the wall again. Camila's explanation was of more use for the other kids. It was nice, it just didn't apply. While she kept talking about ‘brain waves’ and ‘sleep cycles’, he found himself more interested in the wall’s decorations. The green wallpaper had such a different colour at night. The rustic shelf mounted on it was littered with all kinds of knickknacks.

Picture frames, spices, oddly specific kitchen gadgets. And a plant that spilled over the edges of its pot, which Willow had immediately volunteered to take care of. Just like all the other plants in the house, the number of which had steadily increased over the weeks.

In the same way they had done in the basement, his eyes slowly glazed over. His vision became blurry and unfocused, his hearing muffled. Camila's voice seemed to blend into the background.

Then he felt something on his cheek.

"Oh hijo." It was Camila's hand, holding his face. She gently turned his head to face her. Hunter fought desperately to keep himself from breaking. She rubbed her thumb over his cheek. “You’ve had a lot of trouble with sleep, right? Deep sleep could be a little… new to you?"

“Yeah, maybe.” Hunter tried to sound as convincing as possible, but he heard his own voice echo uneasy in his ears. Camila gave him another heart-wrenching smile he was certain he’d never get used to.

"I promise you're okay."

Camila was so good at giving him exactly what he wanted. He really loved that about her. He felt respected and cared for in her house, in her presence.

But it also made him question if she was telling the truth.

He was ashamed of that feeling, but it gnawed on his brain. He knew, logically, that Camila would never do such a thing. She wasn’t the type of person to lie. Not about this. In spite of that, those thoughts wouldn’t go away.

She brushed another long hair strand behind his ear. It had fallen in front of his eyes when he looked down, in an almost dramatically sad way. It was a fine representation of his general state at the moment. He wanted to be happy and relieved and grateful, he really did. He wanted to accept Camila’s explanation and climb back into bed, but the overwhelming sense of dread made him miss the numbness he felt before.

While everyone else was now put at ease, he was the one terrified.

“Hunter, I’d like to give you a hug. Would you…” Camila’s voice trailed off, like she wasn’t sure how to ask the last part. But it was clear enough.

At first his mouth fell slightly open from surprise, but then his lip quivered a little and he pressed them together in an attempt to fight his emotions.

He nodded.

He didn’t trust his voice right now. Camila’s simple offer had felt like yet another gut punch. She opened her arms for him so he hopped off the kitchen island, into her warm embrace. Her arms enveloped him entirely. Her warmth and her scent filled his perception, drowning everything else out, just for a moment.

Hunter couldn’t remember the last time he’s hugged someone taller than him.

If that ever even happened.

His eyes burned with a new kind of pain. A stinging, prickling sensation which he knew meant there were tears forming in his eyes. Titan! Why?! He blinked rapidly to try and deter them. He hoped Camila wouldn’t let go too soon, so he could hide his face against her shoulder.

“You’re okay, hijo.” Camila said again. This time, he believed her.

And he stopped fighting.

He let the tears form and fall. Burying his face in Camila's shoulder, her warmth covered him like a fluffy blanket. He breathed a little staggering. He held his arms tighter around her back, not wanting her to ever let go. At least not for a while.

He suddenly felt extra hands and more weight piling onto him. Slowly moving his face away from the crook of her neck, and blinking the blurriness out of his eyes, he investigated. He saw Vee, Amity and Willow had joined the hug. He checked his assumptions on the other side, finding Gus and Luz.

Yup, they were in the middle of an awkward, but endearing group hug. He unclasped one hand from Camila to slowly ruffle Vee’s hair. He did the same for Gus with his other hand. After which he put his arm around Luz to make the huddle feel more like an actual group hug. The trio had very determined expressions, which was kind of adorable.

Catching Amity’s eye, he tried to show he was thankful and signal he felt guilty about causing trouble. He wasn’t sure if she got all that, but she smiled a lot less strained this time. He even managed a wobbly smile for Willow. Which she instantly returned much brighter.

Flapjack landed on her shoulder, signing a bunch of supportive words. Only then did Hunter notice Emmiline had also found her place on Willow’s shoulder. She squeaked that she hoped he’d feel better soon.

“I’m sorry to worry you all so much.” Hunter sighed.

A cacophony of voices erupted. After ages of excruciating silence, he heard all his friend’s voices like he was used to: completely unintelligible due to them talking over each other. But the overarching message was that it wasn’t his fault.

If nothing else, it was nice to hear.

“Bueno,” Camila leaned back, lovingly putting a hand on his cheek again. She rubbed faces and ruffled hair by the other kids while the group hug disbanded. “I know that it’ll be very difficult right now, but let’s all go back to bed, you need sleep.”

——————

Gus stood like a statue in the middle of the basement. The girls had all lingered when him and Hunter were herded to the stairs by Camila. Gus had been ready to get back to their room and curl up on his couch-bed. But with every step they actually approached the door, he became more reluctant.

How do you move on from a night like this?

The weird feeling settled uncomfortably in his stomach. Luz seemed a little antsy too, swarming around them while Camila bid them goodnight. Vee on the other hand, looked pretty happy. She yawned and bounced over to cling to her mom. Amity seemed content too, but Willow was sporting a more worried expression next to her.

Amity had hooked her arm in Willow’s and the look she gave her screamed ‘I will comfort and support you’. Gus just knew Willow hated that look. He saw in her expression that she really didn’t want to be glued to her in that way. But she didn’t outwardly reject her either.

It was weird seeing them like that after screaming at each other in the basement.

Their friendship had become a lot better since the day of Unity, but it was still rocky at times. Maybe he should talk to Willow about that tomorrow. She still had the tendency to think Amity was treating her like she was weak. But Gus honestly believed she was just trying to be a good friend.

Their minuscule scene was a nice distraction, but it didn’t help Gus’s feelings. He still didn’t know if his anxiety was normal. What made it worse, was Hunter being unreadable as he listened to their caretaker’s good night wishes. His blank expression stayed as Camila sent them off to bed.

And now they were here. Both of them standing in the middle of the room, his friend seemed just as hesitant as Gus felt.

He was absolutely exhausted, but there was a snowball’s chance in the Boiling Sea that he could sleep right now. It was pointless to even try.

He felt horrible.

Uncomfortable and tense and, above all else, filled with regret. His heart squirmed around in his chest. Flashbacks of the incident were already floating to the forefront of his mind. The panic had set in so fast, everything happened so fast.

It was scary.

Hunter must be in the same boat, but a hundred times worse because it all happened to him.

Gus was too tense, too anxious, too riled up to even think about sleeping. A smaller part of him was afraid, scared they would go back to sleep and it happened again. That’s probably what Hunter thought too, and that’s probably why they had been standing like this for what felt like an eternity!

Which had actually barely been a minute.

“I don’t think I can sleep anymore.” Gus said after deciding to just rip the bandaid off. His skin crawled too much in the silence.

 “Me neither.” Hunter admitted like Gus expected. He stared at his sleeping bag like it was one of Eda’s magic traps. Flapjack was perched on his shoulder, rubbing his beak against his witch’s face.

 “Do you wanna try…?” Gus asked carefully, knowing that they probably should. But hoping he would say no.

 “No.” Hunter said in a low voice. Flap chirped and the blonde boy tickled his chest feathers. Then he turned back to his friend and quickly added, “Do you?”

“Not really.” Gus admitted. He also hoped Hunter wouldn’t feel guilty. He had a habit of getting it in his head that everything was his fault.

If anyone should feel guilty it was Gus. He’d started this whole mess. He woke everyone up, scared them, all for some deep sleep and a hard-to-find pulse. Hunter just looked so…

He should’ve known better.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Emmiline squeaked. Gus kind of forgot he was carrying her. She stood up on her back paws, curling her tail around his hands and putting her front paws against his chest.

“All this happened because of me, Emmi.” Gus whispered as imperceptible as he could. He didn’t want his friend to hear.

"No no! Not true!" Emmiline squeaked louder. She glanced at Hunter for a second, before climbing up to his shoulder. She hugged the side of his face. "It was just a big misunderstanding."

Her squeaks were softer this time, probably trying to soothe his racing thoughts. It almost felt like she was telling him a secret this way, mumbling so close to his ears. She continued to shush him and Gus shut his eyes to focus on her words and the scaly-but-gentle paws that rubbed arduously over his temple. Emmiline wasn’t exactly a natural at calming people, but she tried her best and that’s what mattered.

“Yeah…” Gus sighed. “I just feel like I made everything worse. I got so scared so fast. I shouldn’t have assumed…”

He’d opened his eyes again and noticed Hunter kind of drifting away. He landed at the table conquered by sewing supplies. Gus felt his shoulders tense as he worried if Hunter had heard everything after all. But it came as quickly as it went, because that would be impossible. It’s not like grimwalkers had better hearing.

"You had a nightmare." Emmiline whispered. Gus was more focused on Flapjack as he jumped onto the sewing machine. Hunter probably said something because the cardinal chirped happily. His own palisman moved away from his face with one last rub against his cheek. “Hunter would understand!”

Grimwalker.

Hunter raked a hand through his hair. He shot a kind smile his way, but he couldn't hold eye contact. Gus quickly looked away as well.

Maybe it wasn't...

Before Gus could finish that thought, his wandering eyes spotted something that put everything else aside.

A red box with a blue border seemed to scream for his attention. The colourful picture on the front and sudden memories of late game nights culminated in a beautiful idea.

“Oh!” Gus exclaimed, stumbling over his feet as he beelined for the box. He managed to grab it without injury and showed it to Hunter. “We could play a game?”

“Oh,” his friend blurted out after his surprise disappeared. Hunter’s smile for once didn’t look so forced and Gus felt like the room got several tints brighter. “Okay.”

His own smile came easy as he bounced to the specific spot on the floor where they usually played boardgames. Hunter moved to join him, but was stopped in his tracks by Emmiline yawning. Both boys ‘aww’ed at her adorable display.

“Someone’s tired.” Hunter cocked his head to the side, Gus laughed. ‘Exhausted’ was probably a better word, but he didn’t want to ruin the better vibe.

“You should go to sleep Emmi.” Gus said as he put her back in his hands. The chameleon gave him a look, she was sceptical. He giggled and tried to reassure her. “Yes, I’m sure.”

Hunter gestured to the fabric-covered table, Gus knew what he meant and nodded. His buddy knelt down and let Emmiline hop over to his hands. He brought her to the nest that the palisman had made from the fabrics and threads. It was cute and soft and nobody dared to touch it.

Gus started to set up the game, they’ve played it enough to abandon the manual in the box.

“You too Flap, you’re completely drained.” Hunter told the little bird. Flapjack warbled from his perch on the sewing machine, Hunter didn’t translate, but it sounded like a protest. He carefully picked him up anyways, putting him next to Emmi. Flap conceded immediately, chirping softer this time.

“Yeah, we will. Eventually.” Hunter responded. He gently caressed Flap’s feathers on his back. “I promise.”

Gus guessed that was about them going to sleep too. He thought it was fair to try, like Hunter said, eventually.

“I know, love you too” He heard him whisper to the cardinal. Gus couldn’t help the wide smile on his face. He pretended to hear nothing and continued to put the colourful tokens in their assigned squares.

They played for a while.

Neither wanted to make good on their promise to try sleeping. Not yet at least. This made them play worse than normal. They made bad decisions, chose the lower numbers on ambiguous dice rolls, and just generally did the polar opposite of what someone who wanted to win would do.

They also took every opportunity to knock each other’s pieces off, so that it had to start from the beginning. Usually they’d show mercy every so often. This new way of playing was strange, but it was also fun.

It was a good distraction.

Hunter kinda slumped and Gus noticed his eyes were shut. But before he could say something, his friend shot back upright. He focused back on the game like nothing happened, but Gus also noticed his eyes meeting his own for just a second. It was like a look Gus would give his teachers if they caught him zoning out.

"Are you okay?" He asked, knowing full well that he wasn't. He just had no idea what else he could say. It was almost a reflex to ask that question.

"Yeah yeah!" Hunter said in a weird, high pitched voice. He was still really bad at lying. Gus kinda hoped he would never get better at it.

"We can try to sleep if you want?" Gus asked. The distraction stopped working and all the bad stuff was settling back in his stomach. Thoughts raced through his brain at breakneck speeds.

"No. No, I just-" Hunter hung his head, tossing the dice back and forth in his hands. "I don't think I can, even if I wanted to."

Gus looked at his friend, patiently waiting for him to fill the silence. To expand further on his feelings. He wanted so desperately to just blurt out that he knew. He wanted to tell him everything was okay. Grimwalker? So what!

But he wanted Hunter to come to him. To tell him out of his own volition. He wanted to give him the privacy he deserved, the freedom he longed for.

He wanted to be patient.

Gus liked to think he was making slow progress in his personal mission of ‘making Hunter more comfortable’. He believed that in due time, he would open up more.

And he did! He told stories about coven missions and his secret wild magic studies, but never anything serious. Not from a lack of negative experiences, Gus was sure. Hunter just didn’t want to talk about it yet.

So for now, he'd stick with the slow progress. Playing games late at night in the basement, sharing a love for books, learning about the human realm together. He'd show, not tell. He was a freaking illusion witch after all!

That's what he set out to do, but if Hunter would just tell him...

Bonding was nice and all — if someone had told him months ago that he would care this much about a scruffy teen, Gus would call them crazy — but this night was already so different. All the same things they were doing felt so much heavier. Maybe this could be the perfect place to start?

His brain was like a metronome, swinging between wanting to talk or not. Gus had to admit that his eyes held a certain expectation when he looked at his friend in that moment.

But Hunter stayed silent.

That tactic rarely worked on him, because he's used it so many times himself. He had used it on Luz so many times now, they lost count!

It was a simple truth they both knew: people love filling awkward silences, and then they’d just blurt out their secrets. The trick still worked on Gus, knowing what the other person was doing didn't seem to help at all. Hunter though, he was some kind of expert.

So deafening silence it was.

As they played their game. Gus rolled the dice, getting a five and a three. Instead of using the high roll to bring his furthest piece into the finish, he used it for his newest piece on the board. And he used the three to knock off one of Hunter’s pieces. His friend shot him a fake pout and Gus smirked.

The silence was broken by the door to the basement swinging open. Both of them turned their heads, seeing Luz walk down. She was struggling to drag the covers of her bed down the steps. Neither of the boys really reacted, maybe they were shocked. Or maybe they weren’t surprised at all and were just patiently waiting for her to descend.

Gus felt like his second guess was more accurate.

"I'm sleeping here tonight!" Luz proclaimed cheerfully when she finally reached the floor. She had a very big, toothy smile, but her eyes weren’t laughing. She was very obviously trying her best to stay positive when she was actually very tired.

“Okay.” Gus and Hunter said in unison. Luz nodded with vindication, like she was saying ‘yeah that’s what I thought’. Was she worried she’d have to convince them? If Gus wasn’t running on empty he’d welcome her with literal open arms.

She was probably also in that same boat, waterlogged by discomfort.

“Can’t sleep either?” Hunter asked as she shuffled to his bed and dumped her stuff next to it.

“Yeah...” Luz said, looking away awkwardly and shrugging in an exaggerated way. Yup, she definitely felt the same. Gus could appreciate her attempts to stay bubbly and cheerful.

“Sorry about that.” Hunter said quietly, looking at his hands as he fidgeted with the cuffs of his sweater.

“It’s not your fault." Luz told him, beating Gus to the punch. They exchanges looks that Gus couldn’t really read. Luz joined their spot on the ground. "I just wanted to check on you.”

Gus swore those looks between them meant more than the words they said. His exhausted mind couldn’t stop the tiny pang of jealousy that ran through it. But it was only good for Hunter that he was so close with Luz.

Wait.

Could those looks mean she knows? Did Hunter tell her about being a grimwalker?

This time a stronger wave of jealousy washed through his intestines. If Hunter told Luz, why didn’t he tell him? They were best friends.

Gus forcefully stopped his train of thought, shaking his head in what he hoped looked like a ‘trying to stay awake’ way. If all of that was true, he was happy for Hunter. He deserved to have someone like Luz looking out for him. And nobody said he couldn’t have two.

“You wanna play too?” Gus asked Luz, trying to hide the mental gymnastics his brain had just done. He pointed at the colourful board that laid forgotten on the floor.

“Ludo? I haven't seen that game in ages. Sure, I’ll play.”

She continued to wipe the floor with them. But only because Hunter and Gus weren’t trying before. Now it was on!

The trio slowly became more at ease and actually started to have some fun with the game. When Luz won for the second time and celebrated her victory with arms outstretched to the sky, a big yawn interrupted her cheer. Gus laughed at the sight, but then he also yawned, in the middle of his laugh. He tried to fight it but, of course, he couldn’t. Hunter look at them fondly.

“Maybe we should go to bed now?” He asked with a smirk, hanging backwards and folding his arms. Gus suspected that his ‘we’ didn’t actually included himself.

“No way!” Luz objected, Hunter immediately shushing her. Gus didn’t think she was loud enough to wake anyone up, but would never say it. He was kind of happy to see his friend fall back into his normal habits. Luz stuck her tongue out at her brother. “I gotta make it a perfect run with three wins.”  “Absolutely not!” Gus protested, revelling in the shushing he got as well. He was already setting up the board and smacked Luz’s pieces off. She gasped in offence. “I’m not letting you. I wanna win at least once.”

“Alright, it’s settled then.” Luz put her pieces back on the board, in the staring square. “One more round.”

Hunter scoffed, trying hard not to smile. He rolled his eyes, but set up his own pieces too.

Halfway through their third match, they heard the basement door swing open again. Willow and Amity leaned over the railing, smiling as they greeted the trio. Gus and Luz waved happily.

Gus was surprised to see Hunter’s face not light up at the sight of her.

Willow flew down the stairs, dragging her comforter behind her like a cape. She had her pillow under her arm like a grudgby ball. Once she touched down and threw her things onto the couch, she sat down between Gus and Hunter.

She put one arm over each of their shoulders and hugged them close together. Hunter yelped as Willow basically held them in a head lock. Gus couldn’t help the giggles that escaped his mouth. It was exactly the same as the time he was wrestling Hunter and she crashed their match, except this time she released them much faster.

Amity came down a lot calmer. She had her blankets neatly folded, setting them down carefully on the arm rest of the couch. Then, she turned to Luz as fast as possible. Her girlfriend was already waiting for her and they embraced.

Gus didn’t feel the need to witness their pda. They were cute, but he didn’t want to see them get all smoochy. He did still hear Amity’s exasperated sigh, indicating how her and Willow felt under that positive exterior. It was so obvious nobody even pointed it out this time, of course they couldn’t sleep.

They too were in that same boat. If anymore people climbed in it might sink from the weight.

“So… sleepover?” Luz asked sarcastically. She shook out her comforter, arranging it neatly next to Hunter’s sleeping bag on the ground.

“Yeah, I guess that’s what’s happening here.” Willow chuckled. Her hand had lingered on Hunter’s shoulder, and Gus couldn’t wait to tease her about it tomorrow, she gave him another warm smile and stood up. Picking up the stuff she had thrown so haphazardly just a second ago.

Gus was again surprised by his friend’s reaction. Hunter was supposed to be an open book, but he couldn’t read that expression. He wasn’t embarrassed or flustered, he didn’t look sad that Willow was leaving, he didn’t even seem happy that she had been so close.

He could almost see it, what his reaction would normally be. The boy would be blushing and smiling, he’d be mesmerised by her. Was it weird that Gus was this involved with their crush hell? Nah.

He was just a very nearby best friend.

Very nearby, like all the time. Probably because they lived in the same house right now.

The girls were chatting as they set up shop, building what Gus could only describe as a pile. A cozy pile though.

“I’m joining,” Gus said as he pulled his covers from the couch, dropping it on the nest that had engulfed Hunter’s flimsy mattress.

“You’d rather sleep with us on the ground than on your own soft, elevated couch?” Amity deadpanned.

“Yup!” Gus matched her sass and pointedly dropped his pillow as well.

“Awww Gustifer~” Luz draped herself over his shoulders and gave him a noogie. Gus cringed from the weird feeling of her knuckles rubbing over his scalp. He laughed, thrashing until he escaped her.

Willow and Amity burst out laughing at the state of his hair. The plant witch reached out with an unsteady head to try and fix it. Gus swatted it away, much rather doing it himself. He tried and failed to stay mad, rolling his eyes with a sigh.

The girls finally calmed down. Luz’s joke about it turning into a sleepover felt more and more accurate.

“I like how humans can have a moonlight conjuring more than once a year.” He said while fixing the position of his blanket. “And without moonlight.”  “Well, we’re not conjuring anything.” Amity pointed out with a smirk.

“Not yet~” Willow joked in a singsong voice.

Gus looked back at Hunter, expecting a smile at least. But he was still just sitting there, staring off into the distance. He didn’t like not knowing what Hunter was thinking.

“We should move the couch.” Willow said, interrupting his worries. She was arranging all the pillows on one side of the pile. “I don’t think everyone will fit otherwise.”

“Yeah good idea!” Gus said, a bit louder than he intended. He hoped that Hunter would feel better once their weird little fort was done and they could get some sleep.

He must’ve noticed him staring, because Hunter seemed to zone back in from wherever he was and started cleaning the game. After putting it away, he kind of wandered around the room. Like he was suddenly very interested in Camila’s old stuff.

The pile was done, and it was big. But without any mattresses to speak of, it didn’t look that inviting yet.

“I think we need more blankets.” Gus pondered out loud, hand on chin.

“We can gather some stuff from the living room.” Luz offered.

“I’ve got blankets!” Vee announced as she thundered down the stairs. Carrying a stack in her arms higher than her head. She held them up once she reached the bottom, like she was presenting them, beaming a smile at her friends.

They all laughed and greeted her.

“Did we all have the same idea or something?” Gus asked, watching her drop the fluffy blankets on the floor and rush towards Hunter. Vee hugged him tightly and he wrapped his arms around her back.

Gus saw her smile fade just for a moment as she buried her face in her brother’s chest. But when she bounced away, it was back in full force. Gus watched her inspect their pile with great interest. When he turned around again he saw in Hunter’s eyes what he hoped so fervently wouldn’t be, guilt.

His heart sank and he felt a lump in his throat. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know what to say.

“Sort of.” Willow answered his question, looking towards Vee confused. “None of us could sleep, but…”

“Vee said she wasn’t joining.” Amity finished her sentence. She and Luz had picked up the new blankets and were organising them in the nest. None of them seemed to have noticed what he saw.

“I thought I couldn’t fall asleep because of those two.” Vee pointed accusingly between the other girls.

“Yeah, she just kept tossing and turning,” Amity pointed her thumb at Willow. “More than usual I mean.”

The plant witch stuck her tongue out at her friend. A myriad of knowing laughs filled the room.

“It’s not like you were much better.” Vee said in Willow’s defence. “You kept sighing the whole time!”

She demonstrated with a mockingly dramatic sigh. Willow joined in and they started alternating like a broken record. Amity rolled her eyes.

“Should we go to the basement too?~” Vee imitated their pink-haired engineer with an overly soft voice.

“Do you think Luz is coming back?~” Willow imitated her with another dramatic sigh.

“Awww batata!” Luz hugged her girlfriend and planted a kiss on her cheek.

Amity pouted as her face turned red. The other two girls cackled, high-fiving each other for the great performance.

“So I kicked em both out.” Vee continued with the story. “Thought we’d all sleep better if they just joined downstairs like Amity kept moaning about.”

“Willow suggested it too!” Amity fired back.

“But when they were gone, I still couldn’t sleep” Vee ignored the interruption. “So I thought ‘ah heck, why not?’ and grabbed as many blankets as I could find.”

Gus laughed at her story. But by the way she had hugged Hunter when she came down, he knew she felt more strongly about it than she let on. Vee probably felt the same way he felt, the same way they all felt. At least they weren’t alone, right?

That has been their saving grace this entire time; they had each other.

Willow yawned and flopped down onto the pile now covered in layers of blankets. She sprawled out her limbs in an exaggerated way. Gus knew, ironically, that’s how she usually ended up sleeping anyways.

“Leave some room for the rest of us!” Amity jumped down beside her and pushed her playfully.

Gus let himself fall onto them, getting pushed and poked until he rolled to Willow’s other side. Luz claimed a spot next to her girlfriend and Vee curled up next to her sister, shifting to her Basilisk form.

As if they had practised it, they turned their attention to Hunter in unison. Gus was really worried that he would misunderstand. They weren’t here because of him, they were here for him.

Hunter looked really out of it, staring blankly with half-closed eyes. He didn’t even get flustered about Willow basically sleeping in his bed. And Gus really wanted to see that, it would’ve been so funny. Instead, his friend just seemed confused.

“Get in here dude!” Gus exclaimed, getting four different ‘yeah’s as support from beside him. The anxiety that had stuck to the back of his mind acted up, jittery and tense. What if this didn’t work? What if he didn’t like the idea of this nest-thing?

To his relieve, Hunter’s confused expression fell into a smile. His eyes closed and something like an amused scoff escaped his mouth.

He walked over and slowly laid down on his back next to Gus. He let out a long, strained sigh as his body seemed to relax. Amity turned off the lights with a spell circle, sinking the room in near darkness, only the faint glow of the fairy lights remained. Sandwiched between his two best friends, Gus shut his eyes, feeling the anxiety finally leaving his mind for good.

Hunter laid in the darkness and silence. His eyes had long since adjusted to the shadows and the faint glow above him. He could see every detail of the ceiling and it was the only thing he could focus on. Folding his hands over his belly, he tried not to disturb Gus. Who had been sleeping soundly next to him for a while now.

All of them were asleep already, but he couldn’t.

He knew he wouldn’t be able to before even laying down. He was past tired. Past fatigue. Past exhausted. He didn’t feel empty either, just bad. Really really bad.

He sat up, not sure if the uncomfortable feeling in his back was from the blankets or his thoughts. He looked at them. Gus, Willow, Amity, Luz and Vee. Titan, they were all so important to him and he treated them like this.

The least he could do was ensure he wouldn’t wake them up, again. He wanted to toss and turn, worm around until this stupid night finally turned to day. So he crawled away, to preserve their sleep. Not too far away, he faced them sitting with crossed legs.

He summoned Flapjack’s staff form.

If he were awake, the cardinal would have protested egregiously. He would've flapped his wings hard and demanded his witch go to sleep. He would have pecked him on the head and given him some mystic advice or a lecture. He would've chirped up a storm until Hunter resigned to avoid waking everyone else. Again.

But no palisman could ignore this command, especially one as genuine and desperate as Hunter's was in that moment.

He was so grateful for his friends and so happy to be surrounded by them. He had to keep this. He had to protect this. Clutching the wooden staff closer to his chest, he understood what he had to do. He hated it, but he didn’t care. It’s the one thing he’s good at.

He could keep them safe. He could do what he was trained for, was made for. He could guard them.

37 notes · View notes

bicsbec · 9 months ago

Text

The Illusionist (ao3 link)

Augustus Porter had had an uncanny knack for Illusions from a young age. He could reproduce his dad’s broadcast from the crystal ball in almost exact detail as well as produce a broadcast entirely of his own device, making his dad say silly things until Perry was in stitches from laughing.

He’d been a quiet child, mostly lost in his own head, having a careful eye for the things that surrounded him. Illusions spilled out of him like drawings, each one a curious experiment to see how close he could get to the real thing.

Human junk was his favorite thing to observe. His dad had always been amused by how Augustus called them treasures, but he never discouraged his son’s fascination. The materials were so different from that of the Demon Realm. Hard plastics and glossy paper and elaborate metal contraptions with inexplicable lenses. New surfaces and objects to mimic.

As the years in his track went by, Gus realized his heart lay in the Human Realm and its strange and fascinating customs. Illusions were easy and rather useless compared to the stuff his friends could do. Magic could be so much more than the intangible.

But that was before. Before they faced down Belos, before Gus could sort through memories, before they got stuck in the one place he’d always wanted to get lost in. Before his illusions were the only window to the Demon Realm, as artificial as it might’ve been.

Magic was magic, whatever shape it took. He wasn’t going to take it for granted now. Especially seeing how crestfallen Luz was, one of the more impressive witches Gus had ever witnessed, now without the Isles’s power and nothing to fuel her glyphs.

And his dad had always wanted him to be a Master Illusionist, which was easy enough. Perry Porter always thought his son was Head Witch material, always encouraged his strong suits and passions.

And Gus missed him terribly. So, Master Illusionist he would become, in every shape and form he could muster.

Gus was taken with movies. It turned out those silver disks made for terrible cookies, but created incredible projections onto the rectangular crystal ball in Luz’s living room. They were called movies, images that were engraved into the disk and told the same story over and over again. None of them were real, showing stories in the stars and underwater and in fictional lands. But there was one that gripped Gus, one that shook him and told him to pay attention. It was called The Apparitionist. It was about a man that did human illusions, magic “tricks.”

Gus had to learn them.

“Hey, Luz, Hunter,” he said, peering over Luz’s shoulder at the dining table. Hunter sat on the other end, struggling to keep his eyes open. They both snapped to attention at Gus’s presence, Luz slapping her hands over her notebook and Hunter crossing his arms over the book in front of him. Totally not suspicious. Gus rolled his eyes.

After wrangling Belos at the Day of Unity, Gus had a vivid impression of that monster’s worst memories and what he suspected Luz and Hunter were keeping quiet as they researched ways back home: Belos had been human, the human that created the portal door, he’d created Grimwalkers, which seemed like something Hunter didn’t want to talk about, and Luz had helped him unknowingly. They were completely innocent, victims to Belos’s vile plots, yet they seemed completely guilt ridden.

Gus wished they wouldn’t be. But he wasn’t going to pressure them into talking before they were ready.

“Gustonimo!” Luz exclaimed nervously. “Hey! What’s up?”

“Okay, so,” he started, spreading his hands like he was setting the scene, generously ignoring how awkward and obvious they were being, “there’s this movie, and it had magic, like human magic, and I need to learn everything about it, so I need to borrow your library card.”

“Like, close up magic?” Luz asked, rubbing at her eye and relaxing at the sight of Gus’s theatrics. “You could look up videos on MewTube.”

“Really? That’s all it takes?”

“Well, no–actually, there might be paywalls,” Luz said, starting to lift up the covers of books littered on the surface of the table. “Oh, here it is,” she handed Gus her library card, “look up videos, but check out some books, too. Those are free.”

“Yes! Thank you, Luz!” He hugged her head before bolting out of the dining room.

“Take Willow! And look both ways before crossing the street!”

“Got it!”

Willow was outside with Amity, watching Ghost sunbathe. The palisman was belly up, stretching her little arms out on the grass. Amity was visibly enamored. Gus considered Amity lucky to have such a “normal-looking” palisman; apparently Emmiline was too big for Human Realm standards, so she couldn’t just hang around unsupervised.

“Hey, Gus,” Willow greeted warmly. “You headed somewhere?”

“Uh, yeah,” he said, snapping out of his thoughts. “I’m going to the library to check out some books. You guys wanna come?”

“More research?”

“Sort of? I wanna figure out how to do human magic,” he said, wiggling his fingers mysteriously.

“Sounds fun,” Willow said, standing from the porch steps. “I might look into native flowers. I keep trying to conjure different plants, but they come out wrong. Then they die.” She shrugged. “Might help if I understand the stuff that’s from here.”

“Come here, Ghost,” Amity called, dusting herself off. “I’ve been meaning to check out the library. Like, the rest of it. See how the human side lives, y’know. When I go with Luz it’s always strictly business. She’s always so stressed, I don’t have the heart to ask to wander around.”

“Cool,” Gus brightened, “then we better take care of these.” He waved a circle, hiding their ears with an illusion. Amity’s hand hovered over her ear, something sad lingered in the gesture for a moment, but then it was gone.

They made their way over to the library, discussing the things they wanted to look up first and looking both ways before crossing every road, as instructed. They almost got run over only two times, which was less than the first few times they’d been outside.

Plenty of things were different from the library back home. Nothing floated or tried to eat your hand if you had a late fee. But a lot was the same, like the strict rule of silence and the frown on the librarians’ faces when they thought you might be a particularly loud visitor.

Gus presented the librarian on shift Luz’s card. A corner of her mouth tightened.

“Ms. Noceda still has a great number of books on loan,” she said, not bothering to look at the light box on her desk. She usually did that to revise the number of books on loan. They’d become familiar faces, it seemed.

“She’s bringing them by on Friday,” Amity said, which was true. Hunter and Luz went through piles of books by the week, always making sure to circulate out as many books as possible.

“Yeah, okay,” she relented easily, “just–don’t bring out so many. She and the other one usually max out the amount they can take.”

“No problem,” Gus smiled pleasantly. She returned a tired smile and gestured them along so she could deal with the grouchy-looking man behind them.

Gus had seen Luz pull out the drawers that held catalog cards rather carelessly without much consequence, so he braved a handle. And…nothing. He still had his hand, and there were no teeth, just yellowing cards that hadn’t been handled in years. Interesting.

His fingers glided over the Ma- drawer, not really knowing what he was looking for. He went through various drawers, subject, title, author, he was ready to spend the rest of the day hunched over looking for this.

And there it was. A handbook. He assumed it was old, the year of publication started with 19. He memorized the section numbers. 793.8. The rest didn’t seem important, and from what he could tell, similar books seemed to be kept together. The 793.8 section seemed like a promising place to start.

And it was. Card tricks, sleight of hand, juggling, whatever the heck ventriloquism was.

He sat in the corridor and started pulling out books. Introductions and summaries that sounded like what he was looking for. He wasn’t in a hurry, this was a new form of observation. Where Illusion spells needed observation and patience, human magic appeared to need study, practice, and patience. A similar enough endeavor.

He felt himself slip back into the days of his childhood, producing wonderous illusions that lit up his dad’s face.

He took mental notes and mimed instructions as he read them, getting a feel for movements and the flow of misdirection.

“Hey, Gus,” a voice startled him out of a section on forcing cards. He looked up to find Amity. She was wearing a weird smile.

“Hey,” he said, a little cautious. He and Amity weren’t really in the habit of talking. But it wasn’t like she was unpleasant company either.

“Didn’t mean to scare you,” she apologized. “Can I sit with you?”

“Uh, yeah,” he said, watching her sit and pick up a book from his pile. “Interested?”

Her cheeks were suddenly pink. “Uh, kinda?”

“Really?” Gus lit up, ready to fill her in on all he’d gathered. Misdirection and interest and attention and patter and—

“I’d been sort of wondering if you could, uh, teach me. Um, Illusion magic, I mean,” she said quickly. “Just a few spells, nothing too complicated.”

Oh?

He must’ve made a face because she quickly added, “If it’s no bother, obviously. I, um—”

“Why?” It was all he could think to say. “I mean, why now? Why illusions?”

“I…I miss my siblings,” she said with a small shrug. “They were both in the Illusion Track for such a long time. I guess–I never knew what all the fuss was about, I want to understand them better. Maybe feel closer to them? I don’t know. It’s silly…”

Gus smiled. He was familiar with the feeling. Wasn’t that what he was doing in the library in the first place anyway? “It’s not silly. I think it’s sweet.”

Amity returned his smile and flipped open the book in her hand. “So, uh, how do these…conjurings work… Conjurings? Why are they called that? They’re not conjuring anything.”

Gus shrugged with a laugh. “I don’t know. Humans are weird like that. They call the really good ones “masters of illusion” or “wizards” and junk like that.”

Amity chuckled. “Magic really isn’t a thing here, huh?”

“It really isn’t,” Gus said, shaking his head and returning to his place in the book.

“Need help bringing this to a table? Willow found an empty one.”

Gus looked up again. “Uh, yeah,” he smiled, realizing he wasn’t alone. Not like he’d been when he was a kid. He didn’t have to isolate himself and quietly practice because he didn’t have friends his age. He could talk to his friends, show them things he was excited about, and they would listen. “Yeah, that’d be nice.”

“So, how was it again that humans do magic?”

His smile grew wider.

It was past lunch when Gus and Willow walked out of the library with a book each. Amity listened to both of them rave about the things they found out, Willow going on about landscaping Mrs. Noceda’s garden and all the techniques she could try to experiment with. Gus was excited to get home to practice and binge MewTube videos on Luz’s phone.

This time they only almost got run over once. Gus promptly bragged about it as they stepped through the door.

Luz always fussed over them when they went out alone.

“Are you okay? Did you look both ways?”

“Yes and yes,” Gus said, sitting down next to Hunter.

“The carriage screamed when it got close,” Amity said as Luz inspected her and Willow.

“But you’re not hurt?”

“No, we’re fine,” Amity said, squeezing her hand. That seemed to convince Luz. “By the way, the library lady is expecting your books back on Friday.”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Luz said, wandering back to her seat. “We’re almost done anyway.”

“Anything new?” Willow asked, more curious than hopeful.

Hunter did a so-so gesture, but Luz just shook her head.

“That’s too bad,” she said, not particularly disappointed. They’d gotten used to these results.

“So,” Hunter nudged Gus, “find anything useful?”

“You bet I did,” Gus brightened. “Luz, do you have any cards?”

Using Illusions as a crutch, Gus demonstrated the basic idea behind a split deck and the pinky hold. He knew the cards sat awkwardly in his hand and he needed to adjust his grip better, but Hunter and the others could still appreciate the gist of the trick.

Luz had lived in the Demon Realm for months, yet she seemed fascinated by the manipulation. Gus understood why.

Magic in the Demon Realm was easy to accomplish. A bile sack you’re born with. It’s like breathing, it’s something witches are meant to do naturally.

Creating an Illusion took practice, growing a Plant took care, creating an Abomination took craftsmanship, but none of it was beyond grasp. Human magic could be fumbled, was easy to dismantle, was meant to deceive the eyes, creating a veil over what they thought they saw. There was something exciting about being fooled.

They set to clearing the table for a late lunch, but Gus continued practicing. He was too wrapped up to eat. Hunter watched him through a mouthful of fried maduros.

He proved to be good audience practice, following Gus’s patter easily, asking him to repeat the manipulation again to see if he could catch the moment the illusion began. It was good practice. The more he repeated the trick, the easier the cards felt in his hand, the smoother the movement, the less he needed his Illusions to cover his fumbles, the more confident he grew.

As Hunter kept his eyes trained on Gus’s hands, Gus watched Hunter. He couldn’t help but smile at his best friend, grateful for his enthusiastic interest.

Emmiline liked MewTube. She never chirped much, but Gus knew. His bond with her was a silent one, of quiet knowledge and understanding. There was also the fact that both her eyes focused when a video played.

But more than that, Emmiline loved Gus. He knew because one of her eyes would focus on him if he spoke as they watched a video.

His fingers ran idly along her split ridge and her little horns as he took sporadic notes on the video playing. His mind wandered and snagged on words that drove him down different streams of thought as his eyes grew accustomed to spotting sleights and his brain registered old information that could be overlooked.

“Emmiline,” he started absently, then faltered when the meaning of his thoughts registered, “do–do you think— Do you ever think about home?”

She turned away from the screen, tilting her head in a worried manner. One eye tracked his hands, the other watched his mouth. She did this with his Illusions, his close up magic, and his ramblings. His confidant in all matters serious and silly. She listened with an endearing attentiveness that melted Gus’s heart. That alone provided some comfort.

“Like, how do you think everyone’s doing? It can’t be good, right? Are the kids our age alone? Is Matt okay without his brother? Is he—”

His hand slacked around the pencil. Emmiline chirped curiously.

“Well, what if…what if…” Emmiline made her way up his arm and curled her tail around his neck, a small hug, his palisman wrapping around him as best she could. “Do you think they’re okay?”

She gave him a reassuring chirp. His stomach felt funny and warm. An ache that made his leg bounce. He knew it wasn’t any good to dwell and build worst-case scenarios in his head. It gave him nightmares about his dad being…not okay.

Sometimes it felt like time had stopped in the Demon Realm, like everything froze the moment the portal door closed. Not to stop the bad thing, but because it was too much bad. Overloaded, overwhelmed. Like reality couldn’t handle that amount of bad.

He also couldn’t handle that amount of bad.

So he tried not to think about it. Tried not to miss his dad and his friends so much. Tried not to dwell.

He was safe, in the Human Realm. Learning human magic and immersing himself in the culture he so eagerly wanted to understand. It was exciting!

But it also left a warm pit in his stomach, often confusing in its signals.

He sighed.

“I know I’ve said that I want to go home a lot,” he said, running a gentle knuckle under her chin. “It’s almost a catchphrase at this point, but I don’t think I even want that. I just want things to be normal. I want the grass to be red and the moon not to be sucking the life out of everything and I want my dad.” His voice cracked near the end. He hated being so scared.

Emmiline’s head nudged his cheek, understanding, empathy, comfort, and solidarity rolled up into a single gesture.

Gus loved Emmiline, his little piece of home.

It was the weekend, which meant Mrs. Noceda would tear through the house with a loud machine. Gus and Hunter were the first ones up, being so close to that thing’s roar.

“¡Buenos días!” Mrs. Noceda called cheerily as they stumbled into the kitchen. “Sorry for the noise. Saturdays are the only day I have time to get the house in order, with Luz in school and work… Hm…” She turned off the machine, looking at the boys thoughtfully. “Luz isn’t in school yet, Vee is. But she’s always so busy and anxious.”

“Do you need help with chores around the house, Mrs. Noceda?” Hunter asked with some eagerness. He was probably losing his mind with nothing to do, no orders to take, no routine to cling to.

“Camila is fine, mijo. And no, you kids have been through a lot. I don’t want you worrying.”

“There’s six of us now, though,” Hunter insisted. “That must be overwhelming.”

Hunter was right. Mrs. Noceda seemed almost as exhausted as Hunter.

“What can we do to help?” Gus pipped in. Camila softened.

“Well, you could start by putting on some music on the stereo. We always put on Manny’s music when we clean,” Camila mused. Manny, Mr. Noceda. “They’re over by the DVD drawer.”

Hunter walked over, rummaging through the plastic cases. “Any preference?”

“No, no, you boys pick,” she said, hefting up a bucket onto the table and rinsing a rag. “Here, Gus. You can use this to wipe down the counters. No electronics, I’ll get them with the vacuum.”

“You got it, Camila,” Gus said with a smile. He immediately started in the living room, with its decorative tables and the figurines that lived on their surfaces.

Something that sounded like string and horn instruments began to play from the sound boxes. A voice started singing about searching for something and a welcome party and being part of something. Gus wasn’t sure, some words were harder to pick out than others.

“Oh, Mr. Galaxy! Manny loved him!” Camila chimed, humming along with the tune.

Hunter smiled, probably relieved that he’d done a good job.

“What can I do to help, Camila,” he asked again, his nose scrunching at her name. Gus could tell he wanted to be more respectful.

“Have breakfast,” Camila said, starting to fold the blankets on Gus’s mattress. “That means you, too, Gus. You can start cleaning later.”

Gus found Hunter reading through the list of breakfast foods stuck on the fridge, placed there for their benefit. Hunter was a creature of habit, Gus had come to realize, so he just started pulling out his usual picks: eggs, milk, ham, cinnamon, and bread.

“Gus, could you get the eggs?” Hunter was still reading the paper.

“Sure,” he said, cracking an egg over the frying pan.

“And the cinnamon.”

“Yep.” He sprinkled it over the running yolk.

That’s how they moved through preparing breakfast, Gus anticipating Hunter’s request, and Hunter moving through the kitchen cleaning up after Gus.

“So,” Willow’s voice came from the dining room, “what’s for breakfast?”

Gus looked over his shoulder to smile at her. Mornings instantly became brighter when Willow was around. She had her exercising clothes on, sweat running down her temples even though it was getting cold out.

“What’d Luz call them? Sunny-Upside-Down eggs?” Gus said, poking at the white part, still kinda liquid.

“With cinnamon?” Willow perked up.

“That’s right,” Hunter moved to serve her a plate. “Luz doesn’t know what she’s talking about. The ham toast will be done in a bit.”

“Thanks,” Willow smiled warmly, her cheeks turning pink. Gus generously said nothing, as painfully obvious as his friends were about their crushes. “Y’know, Vee was talking about going to the park today.”

“Any lead on getting back?” Hunter asked, rubbing the exhaustion from his eye.

“No, nothing like that. It’s just to get out of the house,” Willow said, taking a seat at the dining table. “You and Luz need to take a break. Get some fresh air.”

“Sounds…”

“Like a good idea,” Gus finished for him. Hunter looked between the two of them, debating in his head a moot point. They were going to the park and taking a break. End of story.

“Yeah, that,” he said with a sigh. He finished lathering the ham in syrup and brought their plates to the table. “So, how’s the human magic going, Gus?”

Gus lit up immediately.

“Spectacular and dazzling,” he said informatively. “I have a few polished tricks, Emmiline gives me a four-point-five star rating.”

“Four-point-five?” Willow asked.

“She’s highly critical. I appreciate it.”

“I’d love to see one.”

“Sure, yeah. Let me go get the deck.”

When he came back with his linoid finish deck, he found Vee inspecting the remains of their cinnamon and eggs in the pan; he hadn’t heard her come down the stairs.

“Alright, Willow,” he said, spreading the cards out in front of her, “pick a card, doesn’t matter which.”

“Okay,” she said, pulling one out from the middle of the pack; he tidied the cards into a stack again.

“I want you to memorize your card and place it wherever you’d like in the deck,” Gus continued with practiced intonation. “Look, I’ll even cover my eyes.”

This was one of his more practiced tricks. It came to him with ease, which meant that it was ready for an audience that consisted of more than his palisman.

He followed through the motions mechanically, remembering to keep his tone bright, with a final (and classic, if he did say so himself), “Is this your card?”

Willow’s eyes widened, obviously surprised. “Yeah, it is.”

Vee picked up her head, pulling away from the fridge and turning towards them, “You did it?”

“Yeah, that’s Willow’s card,” Hunter confirmed.

“That was all you. Zero magic,” Vee said, clearly impressed.

“Human magic, baby,” Gus shot her overly confident finger guns. It was the first time he didn’t use magic as a crutch with an audience of people. Truth was, he was over the moon. Now his sleights had Vee’s seal of approval. It made all the fumbles and skids worth it.

“Gus, that’s awesome!” Willow beamed.

“How’d you do it?” Vee asked him.

Gus grinned. “I promised not to tell.”

“Can you do another?” Hunter asked

“Yep! Okay, here we go,” he fanned the cards in his hand. “Watch closely.”

Luz had started school again. Which meant a significant decline in research. Instead of consuming library books, she was under the tutelage of Vee, trying to catch up to the semester and understand everything Vee had covered for her.

Gus thought that maybe the decrease in work would mean that Hunter would start sneaking out of the house again, but he just seemed tired. He nodded off at the table during dinner and in the middle of conversations. Willow would throw him worried glances, which made Gus worry as well. But beyond odd looks and deeper eyebags, Hunter seemed to be doing an excellent job at ignoring his obvious exhaustion.

Willow spent her time in Mrs. Noceda’s garden, performing small miracles in what used to be a barren dirt bed. Sometimes Hunter went out to help her, sometimes it was Amity.

Vee was learning how to shift into a new face, they couldn’t have two Luzs walking around Gravesfield. It was slow progress, but she was persistent. She was keeping it a secret from Mrs. Noceda, wanting to surprise her.

Amity had already burned through all of Luz’s Good Witch Azura DVDs (which brought about slideshow nights that she and Luz put together, subjecting the rest of them to the intricacies of each convoluted plot point of both books and movies).

Gus had been sitting through the special features, trying to understand how they’d accomplished the visual effects of one of them, when Amity brought it up again.

She peered over Vee’s game on the Swap before sitting down to watch the director’s commentary with Gus.

They did that a lot, quietly hang around each other, sometimes sharing the same space while they did different things. Even though she seemed absorbed in her game, Vee would pipe up with commentary of her own as the movie ran again.

“Everything’s digital now. It doesn’t even look like actual magic. They’re better off using lighting footage,” Vee said, glancing up briefly.

“I think it’s cute how they try,” Gus said, leaning on the couch arm, his cheek squishing against the cushion, Emmiline curled on top of his head.

Gus didn’t need to look over to know that Amity was vibrating with the attempt to not jump to the film’s defense.

“Any thoughts, Amity?” Gus asked teasingly.

“Conn—!” Vee jumped, seemingly holding her tongue. “Concho, this stupid level.”

“I think,” Amity started, overlooking Vee’s outburst, almost biting out the words, “that every film can use a healthy dose of criticism.”

Gus very much enjoyed having more friends to tease beyond Willow and Luz.

The front door opened, Luz stepping inside looking drained. She dragged her feet over to the couch, dropping her bag beside it and collapsing over the back rest cushions.

“Hey,” she greeted them weakly. She poked at Amity’s head. “Hi, sweet potato.”

Vee paused her game and reached over for Luz’s bag, checking excitedly for new assignments. Amity twisted around to face Luz, a big smile already on her lips.

“Hey,” she said blushing. It managed to pull a more genuine smile out of Luz. They were cute. It was gross.

Gus turned his attention back to the screen when he saw them lean in for a kiss.

“Room. Get one,” he said overdramatically. That got Vee’s attention, making her look up.

“Oh, jeez,” she reached over and threw a pillow over at Luz. Gus handed her another, making them giggle.

“Where’s Willow and Hunter?” Luz mumbled through the pillow.

“Baking,” Gus supplied. “Something about a healthy distraction.”

Luz hummed, lowering the pillow to peer at the screen.

“’S that Good Witch Azura?” She asked, already knowing the answer and resting her cheek on top of Amity’s head.

“Nope, because you have two projects due,” Vee said, pulling out rubric sheets from the bag. “Come on.”

Luz pouted with a look that said can’t you do it for me? It was fascinating to see a side to Luz that hated schoolwork. Vee was learning to read Luz’s expressions, because she only said, “Mamá said I’m not allowed to do your homework anymore.”

“Fine.”

They went upstairs, Vee taking the steps two at a time and Luz trailing behind grumbling about burnout and how school is pointless.

“Hey, Gus?” Amity started as Gus got up to put the DVD away. It was no use trying to watch it with Luz home, she’d only use it as an excuse to sneak away from her homework.

“What’s up?”

“Do you remember what I said at the library?”

“Uh, about the catalog system being overly complicated?”

“Well, that too, but no. About, um…”

Illusions.

“Oh, yeah, yeah.”

“Is it still cool? For you to teach me?”

“Yeah, absolutely,” he said brightening. “We can start right away if you want. It’s not like the crystal thing can be running while Luz still has homework.”

“So, where do we start?”

“Light spells,” he said. Amity made a face and Gus could practically read her mind: baby spells. There was a reason people back home didn’t take Illusions seriously. He produced a prism out of light, a visual aid for Amity. “I know, I know. But Illusions are about optics. They’re projections, light that our eyes pick up. Therefore, we go back to baby spells.”

He saw Amity’s face shift, actively changing gears, a new perspective taking place. Like she’d just accepted a new challenge.

“Get the basics right and you’ll be creating hi-def party tricks in no time,” he finished after playing with the light spectrum for a second longer.

When it came to Illusions, Gus had a natural intuition, years of practice guiding him through the motions, but he knew it was hard. He also knew that without a good foundation, Illusions would crumble, become see-through, lose saturation. So, if he was going to teach Amity, he would demand near perfection from her. But Amity was going to meet him right where he was, ever the pupil striving towards overachievement.

Hunter was sleeping, which was frankly a miracle. Willow had insisted they let him be, but Gus knew he slept like a rock. When he was severely sleep deprived that is, which was most of the time these days.

So Gus put it to the test, for the sake of levity. He drew up a mini-Gus, who hopped around Hunter’s head and blew raspberries at him.

“Rude,” Willow giggled. “Don’t wake him.”

Gus snorted. Mini-Gus put his hands on his hips, turning to Willow, his eyebrows dramatically raised. “Wake him?” He whisper-shouted, moving to his ear and shoving his head inside. “Wake him!?” His voice seemed to echo. Hunter didn’t stir, not even a little.

Amity’s expression had gone from amusement to awe as she watched mini-Gus balance on Hunter’s nose.

“How do you do that?” Amity asked, her eyes lighting up as mini-Gus began to hum a Mr. Galaxy song. Hunter had clung to the bard’s music ever since that weekend. Gus knew most of them by heart at this point.

“Patience, young grasshopper,” Gus said mystically, like in the fighting movies Camila fell asleep to. “Resonance comes with practice. You’ll get there.”

“We should really let him rest,” Willow said with a giggle as mini-Gus swung around Hunter’s loose lock of hair. He needed a haircut. “Plus, Vee wanted to show us something today.”

It was something called Tarot, the human version of oracles. Amity wasn’t thrilled, but she listened politely. Gus and Willow bombarded her with questions as Hunter slept soundly on the couch, the coffee table beholding their set-up.

Gus loved how humans created different ways to understand the world around them and retain a sense of control. Control over fate and the smallest inconvenience during the day, an explanation for senseless things. Taking comfort in knowing. Vee just said it was only human to want those things.

“How’d you learn all of this?” Willow asked her, which made her blush slightly.

She waved a bashful hand. “I, uh, have this really cool friend. I met them at camp, we haven’t talked much since Luz–and you guys–arrived back, uh, here. They’re really into all this human witchy stuff.”

“Can you do a reading?” Gus asked, resisting the urge to inspect a card.

“I’m still learning, but Masha taught me about the Past Present Future spread at camp. They called it an ‘overall vibe check’.”

“Sounds fun,” Willow said, looking over at Amity.

“They’re harmless, right?” Amity asked.

“As far as I know,” Vee said, shuffling the cards in her hands. “Alright, let’s see.”

The first card on the table was the Six of Cups.

“Alright, cool. Cups usually revolve around friendship and community. But this one is also like nostalgia, like the joy of being a kid and feelings of togetherness. It’s a good first pull, I think it’s like the history of your friendship.”

“Yeah, I can see that,” Willow said, looking between Gus and Amity. Amity smiled, linking their arms together.

The next card was The Devil.

“Oh, okay,” Vee frowned. “This is one of the important ones. It doesn’t have to be terrible, it’s like an anchor or a tether, the things that make us…vulnerable. But, uh, it’s also stuff like obsession, miscommunication, detachment. I wouldn’t say it's dangerous, just easy to spiral out of control. Slippery slopes, stuff like that. Maybe.”

“Sounds familiar,” Gus said, looking over to Hunter’s sleeping figure.

The last card was the Three of Pentacles.

“Okay…okay, yeah,” Vee nodded to herself. “This one’s also about what keeps us on this plane. Unity, success, collaboration. Projection towards the future. So, if I got this right, everything will be alright, after some trials and tribulation.”

“So, this is the past, present, and future?” Amity asked, pointing at the respective cards.

“More or less.”

“Okay, so the Human Realm is our current trial, right? That’s our present?” Gus asked, somewhat hopeful. If this was the worst of it, it wouldn’t be that bad. And things would be okay soon enough, the next phase would be success.

“Maybe,” Vee shrugged. “It could also be further ahead. These are kinda like impressions. The Six of Cups could be closer than you might think and the Three of Pentacles, further. I couldn’t be sure.”

“So, we have looming trials?”

“Well, that’s ominous,” Amity said.

“Don’t love that,” Gus said, peering over the Devil card. It looked like one of the portraits of principals past at Hexside. The guy before Bump.

“Sounds like our luck,” Hunter grumbled from the couch, startling Vee and Amity who had their backs to him.

“But with a successful outcome,” Vee said, trying to sound optimistic.

“It’s even kinda sweet,” Willow said, picking up the Six of Cups.

“How far in the future was this again?” Gus asked.

Vee just shrugged.

“Well, it’s not like human witchcraft is a thing, right? You said there’s no magic in these cards,” Amity said, negotiating with herself how seriously to take the reading.

“It’s not the kind of magic I can eat, but the Human Realm can be spooky sometimes. I couldn’t tell you for sure.”

“Don’t love that,” Gus said again.

“¡Mira pa'llá!” Camila said, rather astonished. She'd been digging through the basement, looking for a vacuum nozzle, when she found a box labeled “apa uni.”

“Gus! Here, take this upstairs,” she said, handing him the box. “I think I saw the nozzle bag, un segundito.”

“Whatcha got there?” Luz peered over his shoulder, making him and the box jump.

“Open it!” Camila called from downstairs.

They set the box on the living room floor. Luz sat cross-legged, popping open the flaps.

“Holy smokes,” Luz said, holding up a small rectangular box. Gus got closer, inspecting the image on the side. It was something with a close likeness to demons from the Toes, the words Monster of the Dark Lake across the picture.

“What is it?” Gus asked. It looked like a huge cassette, with a solid color casing. He’d never seen one in such great condition, undamaged by the Boiling Sea. He’d never been clear on its function, as none of the teen magazines he had scavenged ever seemed to mention them.

“It’s a VHS,” Luz said, digging through the box and stacking similar cases to the side. “It’s like an old DVD.”

The cases had titles like Modern Prometheus and The Man Wolf.

“They’re my old monster movies,” Camila said, setting the nozzles on the couch and sitting down next to Luz. “Your dad hated them. ‘The effects are so cheap, Cami.’” Camila smiled fondly.

“Do we have a VHS player?”

“I think I saw it on the top shelf down there,” Camila mused, “but there’s no guarantee it’s working.”

“We gotta set it up.”

“You don’t have homework?”

“I’m all caught up, just some math exercises.”

“Finish Math, then we’ll see about the VHS player.”

“Ay, ma.”

“‘Ay, ma’ nada. Homework first.”

“Yeah, okay.”

Gus lived vicariously through Luz in these moments, he suspected Willow and Amity did too. He’d give anything to hear his dad tell him to fold his laundry or to not leave his shoes in the living room.

It was hard not to miss him.

As Luz got up to presumably finish her school work, Camila got Gus’s attention with a nudge.

“Why don’t you fetch the VHS player for me? It looks like a stereo, but with a slot this size in the middle,” she said, holding up one of the plastic cases.

“Sure thing, Camila,” Gus said with the best smile he could manage.

He spotted the machine Camila was talking about easily enough, but he wasn’t good enough at juggling to spell it down unscathed. He peeked outside, finding Willow with her sun hat and gloves, working on Camila’s garden. It was really Willow’s, but she’d never call it that.

“Hey, Gus,” she smiled, wiping her brow with the back of her hand, smearing a streak of dirt across her forehead.

“Hey, Willow. Could you help me with something inside?”

“Sure thing,” she said, dusting herself off.

Willow spelled the random objects that buried the VHS player and Gus was able to spell it down without incident. He really wanted to avoid further damage to the old thing.

“Oh, Titan, wait, help.” Gus hadn’t expected its actual weight, having grabbed it by the edge of one side and his hands dipping to the ground.

“Oh! Here,” Willow quickly scrambled for the other side, narrowly saving it. “That was close. What was this thing again?”

“A VHS player,” Gus said, leading them to the living room. “It shows what’s on those cases, like disc movies. This is a lot older apparently.”

“I think I saw one of these at the Owl House,” Amity said, walking over with her bowl of breakfast in hand. “Eda said she’d seen it in theaters over thirty years ago.”

“I don’t think my dads had met yet by then,” Willow mused.

“Yikes,” Gus said. “Eda’s ancient.”

“Bet you wouldn’t say that to her face,” Willow challenged playfully.

Gus laughed. “No, I wouldn’t. I like being an unmauled child.”

“So, we’re watching thirty year old movies?” Amity asked, peering at the cases.

“I think these are older,” Willow said, inspecting the back of one.

“Only if Luz finishes her school work,” Gus informed Amity.

“I see,” Amity smiled knowingly. “So, does the player work? It’s old, right?”

“Camila said we’d have to check. She didn’t seem too sure.”

“I’m sure I could get it working, if anything,” Amity said. “Dad messed around with a lot of engineering stuff for his Abominations. It can’t be too different from that.”

“Oh, wow, that looks like a dinosaur,” Vee said, leaning against the back of the couch. “Where are the cables?”

“What cables?”

“Y’know, the ones it needs to run electricity through it and for the image to appear on the TV.”

“It was just this.”

“Mom must’ve put it away separately, I’ll ask,” Vee said, looking around the house. The cleaning machine roared from upstairs, giving away Camila’s location. “Be right back.”

“Where’s Hunter?” Willow asked, looking around.

“Bathroom. Something about shaving his head,” Gus said.

“What?!”

“Scout haircut, apparently,” Gus shrugged.

“Someone should stop him,” Amity said, visibly resisting the urge to laugh.

“He’s probably done already,” Gus said, feeling only a little guilty over how hilarious he found Willow’s horror-stricken face.

“Hunter!” Willow rose to her feet and jogged to the bathroom. “Drop the scissors!”

Willow came back with a clean forehead and a red face. “He said he’d be right out.”

It turned out Hunter hadn’t shaved his head, it was shorter on the top than it used to be, but no bald head. They dragged him into their quest for the VHS cables, turning the rest of their late morning into what was feeling like a wild goose chase.

Camila said it should’ve been near the VHS player itself, but no such luck. Their mark was a plastic bag labeled “cables” with magic marker. There was nothing magic about it, but Gus loved the name. While fruitless on the bag front, Gus found it to be a wonderfully bountiful search, with treasures of all kinds. He’d unconsciously made a “keep” pile, much like the ones he did when he sorted through the artifacts that washed up in the Isles.

“Guys?” Luz called from upstairs. “Where is everyone?”

“Down here!” Amity called back.

“Woah, okay,” Luz ducked down to survey her friends, strewn across the cluttered basement. “What are you all doing down here?”

“Looking for the VHS cables. Ma said they were down here.”

“What, the bag that says cables?”

“Yeah.”

Luz picked up something by her foot. “Is it this?” She opened it and sneezed, a layer of dust scattering and hanging in the air. Luz wiped her nose, peeking inside the bag. “I think it’s this. It has the red-yellow-white cables.”

They had a new problem: the cables were too outdated.

Luz and Vee were looking online to see if they could find the adapter they needed.

“Y’know, it would suck if after all this, the VHS player just didn’t work at all,” Vee said as she scrolled through the laptop.

“Don’t speak that into existence,” Luz waved her off. “How about tech places in Gravesfield?”

“Here’s the number,” Vee said.

“Not it!” Luz brought her index to the tip of her nose. Ever since they’d been back in the Human Realm, Luz had exhibited new behaviors, like being back home made her remember human customs she’d neglected in the Demon Realm. Vee narrowed her eyes at Luz.

“Ugh, fine. I’ll call.”

By the time Vee had finished the call, Hunter’d gone to pick up the adapter, and everything was connected, the sun had already set. The player turned on, seemingly functional.

“Imagine the tapes are damaged,” Luz said as she slipped the case into the machine.

“If they don’t work, it’s your fault for manifesting it,” Vee said, taking her place on the couch.

“I’ll get Camila,” Hunter said as the tape rewound.

“This has to be some sort of miracle,” Luz said in awe, sitting next to Amity. The screen displayed the word play on a blue screen and the movie began to play. “MA! HUNTER! Hurry!”

The movie itself was fine, but Gus was intrigued with the illusions used. Camila said it was make-up and prosthetics for the monsters and light effects for the fantastical scenery. Gus was delighted to hear humans also used light to create their special effects, though it looked very different from what he could do.

But he was settling his sights on the next hill to overcome: after he felt he’d mastered his sleights, he was going to look into monster make-up, that being closer to the creativity he was used to with his own illusions.

“Psst, Gus,” Amity whispered as the credits rolled. He looked over to find a small illusion in her hand. A slightly crude recreation of the creature from the film. It couldn’t move and the saturation was a little overdone, but it was an illusion. “I thought I’d give it a try.”

“Amity, that’s awesome! Look at this little guy, you even got the gills!”

Luz looked over, eyes widening at the figure in Amity’s hand. “You made that?”

“It’s just practice,” Amity shrugged, blushing.

“Look at you, multitracking!” Luz threw her arms around her. “I’m so proud of you!”

Amity smiled fondly. “Thanks,” she said, but she was looking at Gus.

He shot her a wink, more than happy to be able to help his friend.

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