#Hunter holding Gus to his side while in the rain?

[fandomsandflyingstingrays]

Stepping Stones: Chapter 14

And at last we reach the final chapter! I've had so much fun with this series, and I hope everyone who's read it has too. Every single comment I've gotten on it has, without exaggeration, made my day, so thank you thank you to everyone who left one-- and, of course, anyone who read any of the chapters at all. I hope you enjoy the last one!

“All right, kids,” Eda says, looking at them with a glimmer of malicious glee in her eyes. “Who’s going first?”

“Luz is,” Hunter says immediately. 

Luz shoots him a look.

“This was your idea,” he points out.

And, okay, he’s not wrong. While Hunter was carving his new palisman, Luz had the idea to draw his old one, sketching out a stylized version of Flapjack next to the tattoo she wants to get for her dad. As she looked at it, she had the thought that maybe it could do for Hunter what she hopes the flowers will do for her, allow him to feel like he’s carrying part of Flapjack with him even as he grows. Hunter agreed as soon as she showed him— and then Willow offered to get one too, and the whole thing spiraled, and now everyone is standing in front of Eda ready for her to draw on their skin with magic. Well, everyone except Vee, who’s just here for moral support, since she can just shift the tattoo onto her skin. 

Luz takes a deep, preparatory breath, and thinks of Flapjack. He helped Hunter most of all— but none of them would be where they are without him. Luz might not have entered the emperor’s mind, might not have found out about the draining spell until it was too late. Hunter wouldn’t have caught Willow’s attention with his flying skills, wouldn’t have been there to help Gus fight off the illusionist Coven Head at Hexside. They might have lost the war against Belos— and Gus and Amity wouldn’t have their friend, Willow wouldn’t have her boyfriend, and Vee and Luz wouldn’t have their brother. Flapjack brought them all together; it’s only fair that they honor him together.

So Luz steps forward and nods at Eda. “Okay.”

“I keep telling you, it won’t hurt,” she says, grabbing what looks like a training wand from a shelf beside the couch.

“In my experience, we have slightly different definitions of what hurts,” Luz notes. 

Eda snorts. “Fair enough. But seriously, this won’t feel like anything.”

“Do you want me to hold your hand?” Amity asks, seeing that Luz’s expression hasn’t changed.

“Yes please.”

Amity slips her hand into hers and squeezes. 

Hunter hands Eda the tattoo design, and she waves the wand over it, then turns to Luz. “Where do you want it?”

Luz points out a spot on the side of her left arm, just above her elbow. Eda waves the wand over it, and she tenses, squeezing Amity’s hand, and feels— nothing. She glances over, expecting the wand not to have worked, but no: an image of a red bird stares back at her.

“You were right!” she exclaims, looking up at Eda. “I didn’t feel anything!”

Eda ruffles her hair. “Were you doubting your wise and infinitely talented mentor?”

“Who always taught me to question authority? Yes.”

“That’s my girl.”

“I can go next,” Amity offers, and Luz gets up, the two of them switching places on the couch.

The door opens as Luz sits back down, letting Raine and Darius into the room.

“We heard you were back,” Raine says, “and— are you getting tattoos?”

Luz proudly shows them her arm. “They’re for Flapjack,” she says, and Raine gives her and Hunter a sad smile

Darius reaches out to ruffle Hunter’s hair, only to jerk back as a little blue bird leaps from his shoulder and onto Darius’s arm. He flinches, then stiffens, visibly using all his strength not to pull away as the bird hops along his arm and comes to perch on his head. Raine’s grin widens.

“That’s your palisman, aren’t they?”

Hunter nods, a smile of his own tugging at his lips. “Her name is Waffles,” he says, and Raine actually hops up and down on the spot in delight.

Fiddlesticks comes out of staff form and Waffles flies down to greet them, the two of them circling each other and chittering happily. It’s so cute that Luz does a hop of her own, clasping her hands together to keep herself from gathering them into her arms and cooing over them at a pitch that would break every window in the house. When she manages to tear her eyes from them, her gaze falls on Hunter, who watches the two palismen with tears in his eyes. Luz reaches out to wrap an arm around him, and Amity does the same on his other side, a red bird now visible on her forearm.

It doesn’t take Eda long to do the others, each of whom come to join the little group hug when they’re finished, until finally it’s Hunter's turn. Gus rests his hands on his shoulders when he sits down, and Willow perches on the couch beside him.

“Where would you like it?” Eda asks him, an extra-gentle note in her voice.

“Could you… is there any way of putting it over my sigil?”

Eda claps once, her expression gleeful. “Now there’s good thinking. We might not know how to remove those blasted things yet, but there’s no reason why we can’t cover them up.”

Hunter lets out a breath and nods. He closes his eyes as Eda waves the wand over his sigil, and when he opens them, the emperor’s symbol is replaced by Flapjack. 

Hunter exhales again, only this time, it’s a long, deep sound that seems to echo in the room. When he breathes in again, he straightens, and Luz can see in the set of his shoulders that a weight has been lifted. Willow kisses his cheek, and Hunter smiles, wiping at his eyes.

“Thanks, Eda,” he says, and she ruffles his hair.

“Don’t mention it, kid.”

The door bursts open again, and Hooty comes rocketing through it, sending Luz, Amity, and Vee stumbling backwards to join Willow, Hunter, and Eda on the couch, clinging to each other and making various noises of alarm.

“Hello, Hooty,” Eda says. “Do I want to know where Lily and your backpack are?”

“On the other side of town!” Hooty replies gleefully, and Eda shudders.

“And to what do the people of Bonesborough owe the trauma you’re currently putting them through with your length?”

“The carnival is open for business! And it looks great! Plus I checked on our floats this morning, and they are undisturbed! I even polished mine.”

“Do we really have to have him on our float?” Amity whispers to Luz through gritted teeth.

“Well, he is a savior of the Isles. In his own way.”

It was Raine’s idea to take the idea of the Coven Day Parade and turn it into a way of celebrating the island’s liberation. All of the new institutions put into place over the last year will have floats, including the Council and Eda’s university. And, Raine insisted, they would need to celebrate the people who were responsible for the island’s liberation in the first place, so Luz, her friends, King, Lilith, and Hooty are getting a float of their own. 

Hooty will be driving.

Luz has had more than one nightmare about it.

“Let’s just enjoy the carnival while we can,” Willow says with a pained smile. “Camila’s meeting us there, right?”

Vee nods. “She said she’d be by the dunk tank with the Emperor Belos impersonator at noon.”

“It’s quarter to,” Raine says. “We’d better get moving.”

“If you all hop on my back, I could let you ride through the town on me while I retract into the backpack—“ Hooty starts, but the simultaneous refusals that follow are emphatic enough that they don’t allow him another word.

…

By the time the sun dips below the horizon, Luz’s throat is raw from screaming and laughing and her stomach is bursting with what’s probably half her body weight in fried food. She didn’t think anything could top the carnival that comes to the island every so often, but this knocked it out of the park. King got the Collector to weigh in on the planning, and the result was a mix of every kind of game Luz could imagine with a few death-defying rides thrown in. Nothing like celebrating the time she actually died with a roller coaster wild enogh to make her stomach feel like it was about to repeat the experience.

And she knows the others enjoyed it as much as she did. King walks with a bounce in his step— he never talks about it, but she knows he misses the Collector, and thinks that playing some of their games has been good for him. Camila looks around with bright eyes, the festival so far beyond the realm of anything she's used to. Gus and Vee happily compare the photos they took at various booths, while Willow helps Hunter carry some of the small army of stuffed animals she won him. Eda, at some point, turned into harpy form, and flies above them with Raine in her arms despite their laughing protests. 

Lilith and Hooty are waiting by the floats, having had what appears to be a picnic at the base of them. Luz takes them in for the first time in all their finished glory, grinning. The Council’s float is shaped like the Titan, of course, with one councilor on each of the limbs and Darius, who will be giving the speech, in the middle. Behind it is the float for the University of Wild Magic, bearing the logo on a proud banner, with a place for each of the faculty to stand. And then there’s the float for the rest of the saviors of the Isles, which is modeled after Hooty’s face, despite the fact that he was a puppet the entire time. If he was going to build the float, he argued, he was going to make sure it “reflected his true glory”.

“Do you think it has the teeth?” King whispers to Luz.

“Shhhhhh.”

Raine gives Eda a kiss, and she sets them down. “I’ll see you after this mortifying ordeal,” they mutter.

“You’ll be fine, Rainestorm. You haven’t tripped in front of a crowd since you were elected.”

“There’s a first time for everything.”

“You’ll be great, Raine,” Luz says, pulling them into a hug.

“You’re the parent of a Titan!” King adds, climbing up to their shoulder. “Glory runs in your veins!”

“That’s not how it works—" Lilith starts, but Eda elbows her into silence.

She boards the University float as Raine joins Darius and the other councilors. Lilith walks over to Luz’s group.

“Are you sure you don’t want to ride with us?” she asks Vee. “From what I’ve been told, the others might not have been able to go after Belos without your help. Just because you weren’t part of the final battle, it doesn’t mean you weren’t important.”

Vee shakes her head. “No, thank you. I still don’t really like being stared at. Besides, I’ll enjoy sitting with Masha. You know how fascinated they are by magic; they’ll love this.”

“Well, if you’re sure.”

“I am. But I should probably get a move on if I want to meet up with them before the parade starts.”

She hugs Camila and waves goodbye to the others before setting off into the streets. 

Luz, Camila, Lilith, Hooty, Amity, Hunter, Willow, and Gus climb onto their float and Lilith directs them to their positions. About five minutes into her lecture on how to wave and smile properly— leftover posturing from her Coven Head days— the Council’s float mercifully begins to move.

Luz has been in and out of Bonesborough for almost a year and a half, and she’s never seen it as crowded as it is today. Every inch of the street is packed with witches and demons shoulder-to-shoulder against the barricades, and plenty have stolen Eda’s idea of perching on the roofs as well. They pass Perry, Harvey, and Gilbert on a balcony, all blowing kisses, and Dell and Gwen below, beaming with pride. Steve, who neglected to join the others on the float in order to keep an eye on Matt, jumps up and down and waves as they pass, while Matt stands with his arms crossed and tries to hide his smile. 

And— there’s Vee on the next rooftop over, perched with her siblings and Masha, the latter of who is leaning forward so far Luz is legitimately worried they might fall. Luz lifts a hand to wave— only to find herself flailing it wildly for balance as the float swerves sharply. 

“What—“ she gasps, whirling around and finding herself face-to-face with Terra Snapdragon.

“Sorry, sapling,” she hisses, and flicks Luz over the edge of the float with a vine. 

Luz fumbles for a levitation glyph in her pocket before she remembers, a scream ripping from her throat even as she curses her own stupidity, and crashes face first into… a puddle of goo?

The abomination lifts Luz back up, setting her into Amity’s arms. “Thanks,” she pants, grabbing her staff and whirling around to assess the situation.

The parade has turned into an out-and-out battle with what looks like fifty coven scouts. “Where did they all come from?!” Luz shouts.

A scout swings their fist at her, and she ducks— only for them to disappear before her eyes. She glances around to find Gus swirling his fingers, his face intense with concentration. Another scout disappears, then another, and then one reappears. Luz scans the crowd and her gaze lands on Adrian Graye, ducked behind a float, concentrating just as hard as Gus is. 

“The scouts aren’t real!” she yells. “They’re illusions!”

“Hunter, did you hear that?” Willow asks, and Luz looks over to find her crouched beside Hunter, who had his hands over his ears. He just shakes his head.

“They’re coming to take me away, Belos wants me back…”

“No, they’re not, you’re not part of his coven anymore!” Willow takes his arm in her hands, gently pressing his tattoo. Hunter takes a gasping breath, his expression clearing, and then his eyes fix onto something over Willow’s shoulder and he lets out a warning cry.

Before Willow can turn around, Luz is there, stopping the Construction Coven Head’s hammer with her staff. He lifts it, preparing to strike again, and she stabs at his eye with the back end of her staff, making him reel backwards. Luz draws a spell circle in the air, preparing to blast him with a jet of fire, only to feel something cold wrap around her stomach, squeezing the breath from her lungs as it yanks her backwards.

“No,” she wheezes, “let go—“

The pressure around her middle is relieved so quickly she wonders if the Coven Head actually listened. But no— she looks up to see Eda grabbing the Oracle Coven Head from above and unceremoniously dropping him off the float.

“Stay away from my kid!” she yells.

Another harpy joins her in the sky: Lilith, with Hooty still attached to her and biting as many Coven Heads as he can reach. They give Luz enough breathing room to scan the area again. The Coven Heads shouldn’t be winning, and yet Willow and Hunter are nearly doubled over from the exertion of fighting off the Construction Head, and Gus and Amity lie in a heap at the base of the float, and Raine is firing note after note at Adrian without any of it seeming to touch him, and Camila is punching vine after vine with Terra just creating more and more to take their place. 

Why isn’t this working? Luz thinks, and then, why isn’t anyone doing anything? Where is the crowd that was packed so tightly? Why aren’t they helping? Have they run?

Some of them have, she sees. But enough of them remain, only— they’re frozen. And that, she realizes, is where the Coven Heads’ power is coming from. It’s not that they are powerful; the terror of what they represent is. 

Luz fears it too. And without her glyphs, she can’t bring herself to believe she’s strong enough to defeat it. 

At least: not alone.

She raises her staff and fires a jet of light up into the sky, so brilliant and piercing that for a single second the fighting stops.

“This isn’t their world anymore!” she yells. “This whole night, this whole celebration, the whole reason we’re here is to acknowledge that we are more powerful than them! I know you’re afraid, I know your minds want you to believe this attack means we’re going back to the old way of doing things, but we’re not! This isn’t the start of a war, this is their last stand!”

The Oracle Coven grabs Luz again, but this time, she doesn’t fight it. She’s said her piece. She’s done what she can. She closes her eyes, praying that someone heard-- no, listened.

And oh, thank you, thank you, the hand around her stomach releases. Luz looks up to find a blue mist trailing over her head, and she follows it from the Coven Head to Vee, who’s draining his magic with a defiant light dancing in her eyes. 

A strangled gasp draws Luz’s attention to the Construction Coven Head, who’s frozen above Willow, his magic trailing away from him in a steady stream towards Wynne. Terra falls to Gemini next, then Adrian to Rhee, and then the Potions Coven Head to Ivy.

Eda lets out a piercing cheer. “Those are my students!” she yells. 

And this— this first act of true defiance by the beings Belos used and discarded, the ones the covens mistreated and hid from the world— is enough to empower the people that Luz’s words couldn’t. With a rallying cry, the crowd storms the floats, and in no time at all, the Coven Heads are in chains and being escorted by Eda and Lilith into a cart that will take them to the Conformatorium to await trial. 

Darius folds his arms, shaking his head. “Fools,” he says. “We couldn’t prosecute them without evidence, and now they’ve staged an attack with the whole island as witness.”

“Except for Hettie,” Raine points out. “She was smart enough to stay out of it, and you know she’ll do everything in her power to talk them out of trouble.”

Eda snorts. “She’ll have a pretty tough time of that.”

Darius heaves a long-suffering sigh. “Either way, I should probably get up there and thank the crowd.” He takes a step towards the Council’s newly-righted float, only to stop as Raine puts a hand on his arm.

“I’ll do it.”

And they start up the stairs without a backward glance, summoning a microphone as they go. 

“People of the Isles,” they call. “Could, uh, could I please have your attention?”

Their voice is soft, but it carries power, and a wave of silence falls over the crowd. Raine takes a breath, and Luz can hear how it trembles. They glance back at her, and she beams, giving them two thumbs up. Eda blows them a kiss, and Darius gives them an encouraging nod. Raine turns back to face the crowd with a small smile on their lips.

“Thank you for your help in averting this threat,” they say, their voice still shaking but their words clear. “I know the shadow of the covens still looms over our island. We are still afraid of exploring magic beyond the boxes we were taught to keep it in. We are still weak and drained from the strain of fighting to break free of the confines of what we were taught. But Luz Noceda is right. We planned today’s celebration to acknowledge a year in which we re-shaped our government, our system of learning, our way of being into one that is tolerant, curious, and safe. With every day that passes, we face our fears of the old regime, and we take a step beyond them. Seeing what all of you just did tells me that those steps have taken us very far indeed. This new world would not be possible without the bravery of each and every one of you. I want to thank you for that. I want to thank the last basilisks on the Isles, who showed that bravery to a degree I can't imagine, and to the witches and demons who fought for their— and all of our— freedom in the first place. And—" Raine turns to Luz again and smiles at them, the love in their eyes eroding any leftover fear— “I want to thank the very special human who has, at one point or another, inspired all of us to be more than we thought we could. I— and the Council, and the Isles— thank you, and celebrate you.”

And then, as though it was planned, the fireworks that were meant to be launched after Darius’s speech at the end of the parade burst into the sky, and the crowd erupts into cheers so loud they drown out the crackling. 

Luz feels someone’s hand in hers and turns to see Amity stepping up next to her. She squeezes her hands and looks back at the fireworks, and as she does, a memory comes to her: sitting with Amity on a rooftop during the Coven Day Parade, both of their hands ice cold, trying not to shiver as they watched the crowd cheer for Belos and the sick game he had in motion. It’s hard to believe that was just over a year ago. It feels impossible to be in such a similar position, but with the context so completely different. Not so long ago, it would have been impossible to imagine that change took place because of her.

But it did. She set the draining spell into motion, yes— but she set all of this into motion, too. Eda and Lilith standing with their wings spread, Eda’s hand in Raine’s. Vee with her siblings and her mom and her partner, all of them leaning over each other to point out their favorite fireworks. Hunter with his arms around Willow and Gus, Darius and Eber beaming at him from behind. Amity, her smile unrestrained, her hand in Luz’s. All possible because she loves these people and they love her, and they take what they’ve given each other and paid it forwards, taking steps and pulling each other along. And if this is what they’ve accomplished in a year, who can say what they will in two, three, five?

Luz presses a kiss against Amity’s cheek and leans her head against hers, turning her gaze up to the fireworks and letting the bursts of light make imprints on her vision, and she feels herself glow just as brightly with the possibilities.

[mdhwrites]

What do you think about Huntlow? Was it really supposed to be a canon ship or just there for the fans to be interpret?

So as a couple they're fine. I can see them being happy and cute but also INCREDIBLY boring because you have a girl with not a lot of personality with a boy who struggles to keep a consistent personality. A cardboard cutout for hugs and an angst bucket. That's not all that interesting to me.

That may sound harsh but as far as their interactions go and how they behave with each other, that's what they look to me together as. I find both more interesting separate than together because together they're just... happy. Which again, good for them, it makes the ship fine but there's no narrative hook for me there. Not enough contrast for me to ever imagine them fighting because neither holds enough of an opinion about something to have a fight. Admittedly, that's still better than Lumity where I wouldn't expect Amity to ever stick to a position if Luz told her not to by the end of the series. That doesn't make it interesting though.

As for whether or not they're meant to be canon... Yes. Not just because of the blushing but actually because the show likes to have relationships as part of transformation and who the partner is almost always dictates to some extent the transformation that has/will happen. This isn't even only romantic. Lilith and Matt both befriend comic relief characters (though I suspect Gus and Matt were meant to be the mlm rep which... Your decision on how to feel about that) and thus their characters become comedic and punchlines which brings them narratively closer to their partner. 'Mama Eda' as a term comes from the episode that Raine is introduced where Raine's calm and focus actually reflects how much Eda has given up chaos for responsibility. Though shoutout to this happening in reverse as well as Raine becomes a duplicate of Eda during Them's the Breaks because these writers literally only know one type of relationship to write. And finally, of course, Amity becomes more lighthearted and carefree and stops caring about consequences as much, just like Luz. When she fully is willing to abandon anyone but Luz, they get together. -_-

It's part of what makes the relationships in TOH feel inherently toxic to some extent, at least to me. Rather than highlighting what makes each person unique and those strengths being what each other admires in their partner, it's much more about one conforming to the other. Losing their identity and picking up the one that belongs to the person they like. Which, you know, isn't good. A partner should push you to be the best version of yourself, not a new person for them.

Huntlow... Is both the same and different. The plus side is neither conforms to becoming the other person which is good! This happens because instead of a single arc being capstoned by the two finding each other like the rest, it's actually twin arcs meant to highlight one another. Hunter's arc of becoming pathetic and losing all of his actual skills, control, prestige, etc. like that ends with him becoming small, a failure and really just not much of a fighter at all. Not because he disavows fighting but because he's just bad at it. This all is meant to help Willow look stronger, more competent and more confident as she refuses any side of her that was shy for someone who will make you listen to her: Period. Remember, she does still force Hunter, against his will, onto the Grudgby field because while she talks a big game about being like him with her magical issues, she is still the Titan blessed prodigy while he has an actual disability.

Which... Boy scars from my brother are real sharp on that point and I'll just leave it at that.

Honestly, when described like that, you can see why the two were meant to get together. In a story actually about the two instead of Willow being a character who sat out almost an entire season until her boyfriend showed up, it could have been really interesting to see the two helping each other grow like this. They also would have needed more consistent characterization for this too. As it is, it's just boring because they don't have an actual dynamic between one another, just a meta one I can analyze onto them that is over by the time they get together.

Which makes Huntlow just like any other TOH relationship, for better and more often worse.

======+++++======

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I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

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[lampmanliveblogs]

While the rest of the Hexside students distract Kikimora, our heroes have just enough time to draw up the complicated teleportation circle… with a bit of help from Luz’ palisman, who has yet to take on its true final form.

Kikimora is able to shake off the attacking kids long enough to take one last shot, just as Luz activates the teleportation array and and a brilliant flash of light, their whisked away from danger and into the vast cranium of the Titan.

There they stand now, under The Collector’s Archive House, so close, yet so far away. For I fear that the hardest part is yet to come…

Listen, I don’t know anything about Star Trek, but I do know that ”Beam us up Scotty” is a Star Trek reference. So yeah, shoutout to that, as well as Camila coming out as a fellow Cosmic Frontier fan, which also doubles as a light-hearted reference to the fact that Hunter, like O’Bailey, is a clone.

And let’s not forget Amity and Willow being best friends again, that’s super precious too. You love to see it.

Alright, first things first, I love the guesses the squad had.

Camila guessed a dragon, because dragons are THE fantasy creature, and she knows how much Luz loves her fantasy books.

Hunter guesses a bird, not just because of Flapjack, but because Eda (and the rest of the Clawthorne family) has a bird palisman.

Amity guesses an otter, which is a callback to Enchanting Grom Fright, when Luz wondered if she should go to Grom dressed as an otter… with a dark side!

Willow guesses a bat because…. because… um… Bat-Queen? Maybe? They did have that excursion in the Bat-Queen’s forest back in Escape of the Palisman.

And finally, Gus throws out snake. And I’m going to be honest with you guys, I might’ve maybe had a few hints at what Luz’ palisman was gonna be. Enough to figure out it was a snake, or more accurately, snake-related.

As far as in-show foreshadowing goes… at the top of my head, last episode we had a bunch of snake imagery around Luz. We had her finding the ”snake pajamas” in Camila’s nightmare/flashback, we had Luz wearing that shirt with a staff and a snake on it, and I think she might’ve had a drawing of a snake in her notebook? As far back as episode one of season one, Luz was playing with snakes and I think Camila might’ve even said something about Luz making some friends that weren’t reptiles. That’s not even to mention the fact that Luz’ newly adopted sister is a snake.

So yeah, there’s been plenty of snakes around Luz. But of course, this isn’t just any old snake, it’s a…

A SNAKESHIFTER. You guys know I love a good pun. And just like Vee, this little cutie is a shapeshifter. Which is so perfect for Luz, the child of two worlds, a chaotic being, always on the move.

Her name is Stringbean! Now, David ”Stringbean” Akeman was an American singer-songwriter, musician, comedian, and semi-professional baseball player. String bean is also one alternate name for green beans. You can also call them haricot verts, if you wanna charge extra.

So yeah, I gotta agree with Luz here: she’s perfect! She is Luz' own infinite potential given physical form.

Now that things have calmed down just a little, Willow takes the opportunity to thank Hunter for his words before, he really helped her, and he means a lot to her too. and then they blush and almost hold hands and it’s so cute.

In fact, it’s almost a little too cute, I’m starting to get nervous here. Because surely, they’re gonna end the episode on a cliffhanger, and there’s only just over a minute left of the episode…

But before that, I’m gonna get what might very well be the last cute screenshot of this episode.

Look at the babies! Look at them!

Aaaaaaand there we have it. Good vibes ended. The camera pans upward to The Collector overlooking our heroes, with Raine still possessed by Philip looming behind them, ready to whisper yet more poisonous words into the ear of the Lord of the Fireflies.

”I think I wanna play a new game.”

And with a snap of their fingers, The Collector ends the episode right then and there as everything goes black.

Treat me like I'm evil Freeze me till I'm cold Beat me till I'm feeble Grab me till I'm old

Fry me till I'm tired Push me till I fall Treat me like a criminal Just a shadow on the wall!

[b00knerd1o1]

Crossing the Threshold

Summary:

After crashing through the portal into the Human realm at the end of season 2 the Gang needs to take a second to regroup and prepare for their next steps.

Despite the rain soaking through her clothes, Luz finds herself unable to move or look away from the now useless door in front of her. Gus’ quiet sobs reverberated around and through the group, as the others held back their own.

“Luz”

The soft voice of her girlfriend breaks Luz out of her stupor, and she turns around to look at the rest of the group.

“What are we going to do?” Amity speaks up again, her voice cracking, “Do we even know where we are? Will our magic even work here?” She takes a deep breath and wipes a single tear away, struggling to hold back the rest, before asking the question on everybody's mind, “What about everyone else? What about Ed and Em an…” her voice breaks as her tears finally spill out and mix with the rain on her face.

“It’s Ok, Amity, it’s ok.” Luz rushes over to envelope her girlfriend in a hug. Of course, Luz has her own questions, her own fears, and her own problems, but as always, she is happy to ignore them and focus on those of her friends. “Well get back to them, I promise,” Luz said in an attempt to both reassure herself and everyone around her.

Amity tried to speak again, but her throat was constricted to the point where she struggled to breathe.

“How?” Hunter asks, “How are we supposed to get back the door closed? It probably already broke again!” his voice slowly rises louder and louder until Gus flinches out of his arms. Hunter looks down at the younger boy, and sorrow and guilt join the unshed tears in his eyes. “Gus, I’m sorry…” he looks around and makes fleeting eye contact with the witches and humans around him.

“It’s ok, Hunter. We're all struggling right now.” Willow has Gus in her arms and her chin resting on his head, but her eyes are focused solely on Hunter. “We just need to settle down and work through everything that happened.

“Where?” Amity chokes out, taking a deep breath. She’s able to rush through one final sentence before being overtaken by tears again. “Were stranded who knows where in the human realm with no help or…”

“I do” Luz hated interrupting Amity, but she couldn't bear to see her cry if there was some way, even minuscule, that she could help. “I know where we are,” her eyes drift over to a dim glow in the distance, “that’s… that’s my house. My moms in there. She helped Vee, she’ll help us too.” Luz gave no indication of who Vee was and why her mother's commitment to helping them meant she would help the rag-tag team from the boiling isles, but no one seemed to notice it, or if they did, they opted not to say anything.

Gus wipes the tears from his face and lets a small smile spread across his face. “Then why don’t we go meet her,” he says as he shifts himself to sit on his own for the first time since his tears began to spill.

“I don’t know if I'm ready,” Luz whispers ashamedly. “I Haven’t seen her in so long, and I’ve changed so much. Will she even recognize this version of me?”

“ Of course, she will,” Willow says as she moves over to squeeze Luz’s shoulder while Amity tightens their hug to show her support despite her inability to speak. “I’m sure she will love you and be happy to have you back.”

“Luz looked at Willow, the Hunter, Gus, and finally, Amity. “Ok, let's go” Luz shakily pushed herself to her feet and then helped Amity up to hers. Of course, Luz had her own worries and problems, but she was ready to face them with her friends by her side.

[at-lilbot]

Frogtails

AO3

Title: Frogtails

Rating: Gen (G)

Luz and Camila centric.

Words: 2085

Summary: 

Camila tries to relearn her daughter after she comes back from the Demon Realm, but it is difficult to see someone as a stranger when you knew them like the back of your hand.

But the thing is with frogs and their tails, is that they grow out of them when they’re no longer young.

Or

Luz has trauma from the petrification and Camila tries to help her out.

Based on @ amitylovemail / Luzbian ‘s headcanon

Read below OR Read on AO3:

“Hey Mom. I’m back.”

Camila doesn’t know how to feel when she sees her daughter on her doorstep drenched by the rain after months of not seeing her.

Luz is shivering, both by the cold and something else she can’t quite decipher, but she doesn’t look like her strong, bright girl that she was the beginning of summer.

It’s like time stops in that moment when she sees her, all the raindrops in the sky seem to fall in slow motion, and Camila can trace every line and curve of her face with her mind. But she is here. Luz is here. Her sweet baby girl is here, in front of her. Sure she has a few scratches, blood still oozing from an open cut on her eyebrow, but she is alive.

It doesn’t take long for Camila to wrap her arms around Luz, inhaling with relief as they sob into one another’s arms.

She clutches her tight, afraid that she’ll disappear if she doesn’t.

♡︎

The next few weeks go by in a blur and throughout those weeks, Camila plays the role of detective, somewhat investigating her new guests. She picks up on their personalities quite quickly. Amity is shy and reserved, she likes to help around the house, and she keeps to herself mostly, but she always seems to be stuck to Luz’s side like cleavers on clothing. Gus is extroverted, always full of wonder and energy, curious about all the new things Earth has to offer (Camila admittedly finds charmed amusement whenever he uses an item wrong). Willow is self-assured, the voice of reason within the group, the others rely on her but she never lets herself relax – Camila can relate to that, but she knows that if she continues like this, she will crack. Hunter is mainly a mystery, he is rigid in his movements and eager to please, but he is also cautious, Camila doesn’t want to push any boundaries so she lets him be.

In this time, she finds that she also has to relearn her daughter, Luz has changed, in ways that she isn’t one hundred percent certain how to handle. Her affection is fleeting now, what was once something she gave in abundance, is now something Camila has to actively seek and encourage. Gone are the days where Luz would come into the kitchen and hug her from behind as she washed dishes, or the days she would cuddle up next to her on the sofa, instead Luz would only briefly allow that love before turning her face away, eyebrows riddled with guilt.

Camila doesn’t know why, why exactly Luz is filled with such guilt, but it pains her to see how hurt she is, it tears Camila apart how she cannot help her, mainly because Luz won’t let her.

It’s unfamiliar. The ghost of her daughter walks along the wooden floors of the home she has always known, she is cold and distant, something intangible Camila cannot comprehend.

♡︎

It’s one of those rare days that the house is quiet. It is mainly empty bar herself and Luz who is peacefully sleeping in the living room after a long day at school. The others have decided to explore the neighbourhood, Amity and Vee helping Willow discover the local flora while Gus and Hunter explore the local fauna, leaving Camila with her daughter, alone.

She doesn’t know why but she is somewhat nervous, she doesn’t want to say the wrong thing or do the wrong thing, she wants to show Luz her love but she doesn’t know how. It used to be easy, when Luz was just a baby, Camila would hold her in her arms, she was so tiny that she could fit in the palm of her hands. She would sing her a lullaby and her big brown eyes would flutter close as she lets out a yawn.

But Camila can longer do that, Luz is too big, and her hands are too small.

Relearning to love someone who you used to know so naturally that it was like second breathing, is a difficult concept to grasp.

Camila sighs as she slips another clean plate on the drying rack, warm water droplets trailing down her arms from her yellow rubber gloves. The sun settles on the horizon, stray beams stream through the window, warming her skin. There’s nothing but the sound of the water running from the tap and the incessant tick of the clock that hangs on the wall. She mindlessly washes the dishes, scraping off the food from their lunch, each movement repeated and robotic. It’s an atmosphere of calm, calm to the point that it is almost oppressive. There is no comfort of life besides the sound of her breath on her own lips.

In hindsight she wishes she could relish in that calm a little longer, because no mother should ever hear what she hears only moments later.

“MAMA!”

Camila instantly drops the plate she was holding, the ceramic fragments lying haphazardly on the floor. Her heartbeat rings in her ears, and her feet move without thinking. She is already halfway out the kitchen when she hears it again.

“MAMA!”

It is a tortured wail, her vocal chords are strained agonisingly so, grating against Camila’s ears like nails on a chalkboard. Camila’s heart clenches unbearably in her chest, her tongue heavy in her mouth. Luz is calling for her, she sounds horrified and desperate, and it scares Camila to the core. Her mind goes to the worst possible outcomes, she tries to push it down and ignore them but it is only natural for her to worry.

When she opens the door to the living room, her heart drops.

The image in front of her is seared into her brain, and she cannot forget the way Luz’s face contorts as tears uncontrollably stream down her face.

Luz is sat on the sofa where she had fallen asleep on earlier, her body unmoving on the plush cushioning. Her hands are gripping the armrest, her knuckles completely white from how hard she’s clutching on. Hot tears pour down her redden cheeks as she hyperventilates. She covered by a light blanket, her body obscured beneath the fabric.  All the warmth that has previously resided in her eyes have disappeared, instead, her eyes held such terror, one that Camila can’t fully comprehend.

“My legs,” Luz cries out, “I can’t feel my legs.”

Camila races to Luz’s side, prying her weakened fingers off the sofa and interlacing them with her own. She gently hushes her laboured breaths to no avail; more tears begin to frantically stream out.

“Mama, I can’t feel my legs.” She repeats, each word trembling.

“Que paso?” Camila asks, her eyes wavering with anxiety.

Luz’s lips purse but it is fruitless as she chokes on another sob.

“Que paso mi amor, digame.” Camila says, firmer this time.

Luz looks up at the ceiling. She’s doing that thing where she avoids eye contact to change the subject, and usually it would work, but Camila has grown tired of being helpless to her daughter’s suffering. Luz is the most important thing in her life, and she can’t risk losing her again. Even though she is there next to her, she is a phantom, a fragment of her former self, and Camila wants to bring her back. She wants her sweet loving girl back.

Camila places her hand on Luz’s cheek and gently guides her back to face her. “Luz, por favor. Que paso?”

Luz sniffs, her sobs simmering down to hiccups. “Mami no puedo.”

She rubs her thumb reassuringly on her skin, soothing away all the worry lines. “Luz, estrellita, si puedes, just take your time.”

Luz inhales and her grip tightens around Camila’s fingers, “When I was in the demon realm,” she starts shakily, “there was this spell. This really, really, bad spell. It-it turns people to stone and I-“

She breaks into full sobs, uncontrollable weeps, rattling through her ribs. Camila holds her close, clutching onto her desperately, feeling as if the moment she lets go she will slip through her fingers.

“Shhh, querida, I am here, I am here. Slowly.”

“Mami, that guy that I was telling you about, Belos, he placed that spell on me. It started in my legs, but it reached all the way to my mouth… It felt so numb, I couldn’t feel a thing.”

Camila’s heart drums in her chest, “Luz, estrella.” She doesn’t know what to say.

“I’m afraid Mama. I can’t feel my legs. Mami, it feels the same, I can’t feel my legs.” She chokes out.

“Que estas tratando dicir?”

“I can’t – I don’t want to check Mami. Mami please, check for me. Please Mama, check.”

Camila swallows that peach pit down her throat, it sit there heavy at the bottom of her stomach, weighing her down. Sudden realisation dawns upon her on what Luz is requesting of her and fear begins to fill her fingertips. She slowly nods before clasping the edge of the blanket, tentatively removing it bit by bit.

Anxiety bites at her skin, so half way through, she rips the blanket off like a Band-Aid.

A quick exhale escapes her lips, relief beginning to bubble in her chest. There she sees flesh, beautiful brown skin, not the cold grey of stone.

“Luz, mira mamita, they’re okay, they probably just fell asleep when you were sleeping.”

Luz’s tears mellow out, her eyes widen when she looks at her legs.

“Mira Luz, mira. Estas bien estrellita. They just fell asleep.”

Luz lets out a little whimper, still not being able to find the words to say.

Camila repositions herself by her legs and places her hands on top.

“I’ll help you estrella.” Camila begins massaging Luz’s legs, trying to get the blood to circulate through them again. In the process, she finds herself humming mindlessly, “Sana sana, colita de rana. Si no sanas hoy, sanarás mañana.”

Luz sighs, relief flowing out, all tension rising from her shoulders. Camila continues to hum the little song, remembering all the times she would sing it to her when she was younger, placing Band-Aids on newly scratched knees. These small hands can no longer lift her, but they can soothe and they can heal. It is enough.

Camila keeps asking Luz along the way if she can start to feel her legs, giving her words of assurance every time she says no.

“Sana sana, colita de rana. Si no sanas hoy, sanarás mañana.” Camila repeats, singing softly.

She stops singing when she feels Luz’s hands on her shoulder. When she looks up, Luz’s worried eyes bore into hers. “Mami, what if I don’t heal?”

“Que?”

“The song. Que pasa si no sano?”

“Ay mamita es una cancion, pero si vas a sanar. You will heal.”

“But what if I don’t?” Luz springs up, her legs revolving around. At least they were working again. “What if I don’t heal? What if this doesn’t go away? Ever.”

“Mamita, what are you talking about? Look, your legs are fine now, mira!”

“It’s not just my legs!” Luz snaps, her words becoming frantic. “I’m talking about me. What if I don’t heal. That song, it’s so stupid! ‘Si no sanas hoy, sanarás mañana’, what if I don’t heal tomorrow? What if I’m meant to be broken, because- because I deserve this?”

“Luz you’re not broken,” Camila tries to reassure her with all the sweetness of her soul, but the words fly over Luz’s head. “You don’t deserve any of the pain you feel.”

. “Mama! You don’t know that.” Luz’s eyes are glassy, filled with that ugly guilt that Camila has become accustomed to. Her hair is dishevelled and Camila raises a hand to stroke the hair away from Luz’s face, but Luz slaps it away “Dejame tranquila!”  

Camila’s hand begins to sting from the contact, still floating there aimlessly. Luz’s eyes flitter from Camila’s hand to her own. She bites her lip before getting up, and Camila briefly catches a glimpse of the tears that stray from her eyes.

“I’m – I’m going to my room.” She says, words lost on a heavy tongue.

Camila reaches out to her, she calls out her name, but it is too late. Luz is already gone, and her hands fumble the air for an absent ghost. Instead she is left alone, still trying to decipher the girl who runs deeper than her blood, still grasping on to someone who is slowly becoming a stranger.

[fairytales-and-folklore]

First Lines Tag Game

Thank you for the tag @ash-mcj and @greyhavenisback! <3

Rules: Post the first lines of your last 10 fics posted to AO3

• "So, as you know, Amity and I are coming up on our one year anniversary in exactly one month's time," Luz informs the pair of them, pacing the length of the living room like she's delivering her opening statement in court. (Huntlow | Until You Meet Someone Who Makes The Fall Feel Like Flying) • The first thing Hunter notices when he's thrust out of the portal into the human realm is that the rain here doesn't boil like it does back home. (Huntlow | Being Human) • Hunter can't stop staring at his hands, big goofy grin threatening to leave permanent dimples in the sides of his cheeks, because Willow— Willow is holding his hand. (Huntlow | Advanced Friendship) • He finds the book at a local shop downtown, half price on a Halloween special. (Huntlow | I'll Stare Directly At The Sun But Never In The Mirror) • It's a work in progress, but in the months that follow the revival of wild magic on the Boiling Isles, it's become a lot easier for him to accept what he is, especially now that all the most important people in his life know his biggest, deepest, darkest secret. (Huntlow | The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter) • It wasn't just the fact that he looked incredible in one of her favorite color combos (she's the girl with the bee palisman, of course she's gonna have a thing for black and yellow) but more than that, it was the fact that he looked so proud to be wearing something he'd made by hand, so passionate and enthusiastic about this book series he and Gus love so much, that made her want to be a part of it, to get invested in something he cares about. (Huntlow | The Borg and the Botanist) • Willow finds the camera hidden away amidst a sea of human realm junk late one afternoon while she's down the basement helping the boys set up their new sleeping arrangements. (Huntlow | The Golden Hour) • Willow takes a deep breath as she makes her way down the familiar floral-lined path, hand hovering for a few anxious moments over the peeling green paint of her front door, before rapping her knuckles against it in a steady, three-count knock. (Huntlow | First Impressions) • The six of them stand at the edge of the graveyard, breathless from battle, staffs at the ready, pre-sketched glyphs running low. (Huntlow | You're My Head and You're My Heart) • In the months that follow the Battle of the Boiling Isles, after two great evils have been defeated and the dust starts to settle on their strange little island, Hunter delves further into his studies, into subjects he'd never been allowed to research in the light of day — mindscape magic, palisman magic, grimwalker lore — now more knowledgeable than ever with access to a whole underground archive that Lilith had uncovered in her renovation of the Emperor's old castle as she seeks to turn it into a school for wild magic. (Huntlow | A New Familiar)

[asilcorner]

have you seen king's tide

The kids are just having a sleepover in the human realm, it's fine.

IT'S FINE.

[sunshine-zenith]

I just realized that, in Any Sport, Adrian Graye watches Hunter from the corner of his eye as he walks past him, and besides Raine is the only Coven Head to look at Hunter at all — none of the others look at Hunter when passing him, not even Terra when she redirects Raine’s focus. Another thing I noticed is that Graye seems almost smug as he blows past Hunter — most of the others seem by and large indifferent.

We have a good idea why Raine would look back — they’re a rebel and a good person who seems to care about the well-being of children, and Hunter is the clearly exhausted and visibly scarred ward of the person Raine is rebelling against. Even if, as far as they know, Hunter is completely on Belos’s side, they’re still gonna care about a child soldier.

Adrian, on the other hand, is very much in camp “Nah on Child Safety Laws” — he’s perfectly happy to attack and brand children against their will while also lying to their faces about protecting them, and was even planning on locking away, as far as he knew, the only magic Gus could do as a punishment. But like. He seems to almost have something against Hunter in particular

He’s restraining Gus in a way that, if you’ve ever taken self-defense classes, you know isn’t super comfortable, but isn’t necessarily painful, but he’s stepping on Hunter, using part of his body weight to hold someone smaller than him down. He ordered the coven guards to tie Hunter up, even though Hunter is all their superior. Even if he doesn’t know Belos wants to kill Hunter, the fact that he’s gleefully willing to hand over his superior to their emperor in chains tells us he knows he won’t be tried for treason or anything— he knows Hunter isn’t on Belos’s good side and probably knows that this won’t be good for Hunter. And he doesn’t hesitate.

We saw earlier in Any Sport that the Coven Heads don’t respect Hunter, and that, though he changed his tune and part of it was because of his connection to the previous Golden Guard, Darius didn’t think a blindly obedient child deserved the title he had. Maybe the other Coven Heads felt the same way Darius did — maybe there was resentment at a child being given just a prestigious rank due to what they saw as nepotism. Combine that with Adrian being a unique kind of diva — he doesn’t seem to covent the spotlight, instead preferring to critique from behind the scenes. Maybe he sees Hunter as failing at the the role he meant to play and taking joy in watching him struggle and suffer as a result

[3laxx]

... What now?

But Hunter couldn’t sleep and Luz couldn’t sleep and it seemed a time as good as ever to be putting the question out there when it was just the two of them. --- The Day of Unity is over, and the gang is trapped in the human realm. Some Late Night Conversations are inevitable.

I knowwww, I should be working on all my other projects and AUs but this just came to my mind and before I knew it I had written over 6k words for it. WE'RE ALL SUFFERING OKAY THIS IS MY WAY TO COPE Anyway, suffer with me.

That being said, the new chapter for Built to Last is coming along well and I've started on my Bartender AU! Otherwise, have fun with this first lmao

TRIGGER WARNING: - PANIC ATTACK

Ao3 / FF.net

---

The evening bled into the night before either of them could even blink.

Camila had taken them all in immediately, having Vee ordering in Pizza to feed them all and preparing makeshift beds, mattresses, and mats for them to sleep on in the living room.

It hadn’t taken long for the first to break down. The others followed suit.

It hadn’t come as a surprise for anyone that the first had been Amity. She had swallowed all her concerns about her father and siblings to function in the fight. Gus had been next to break out in tears again, immediately comforted by Willow and Hunter while Luz and Amity had lied down on the couch, tightly cuddled up, as Amity wept.

Camila had taken a chair next to them to listen to Luz quietly explaining the past few months, while she had held her girlfriend in a warm embrace, patiently waiting until her tears had dried.

Willow had managed to hold on the longest and by the time she shed the first tear, it was late at night already.

These were the first few shocks.

Just a while later, the anxiety started.

And the big looming question of “What now?”

Camila had immediately shut down any doubts about going home. She had made sure everyone had new clothes on, was warm and fed and bandaged up, and she wouldn’t hear any fears about the future.

Somehow, her firm denial of any doubts put the children to rest.

Gus had been the first to fall asleep. Curled up into a little ball, he had made himself comfortable on one of the mattresses on the living room floor, the blanket wrapped around him so snuggly only his ear poked out from beneath it. Willow made sure to keep close to him, one of her hands constantly keeping contact with him, and that’s how she fell asleep, too.

She had long given up trying to hold onto him, so her relaxed, half-closed hand merely lay somewhere on the little huddled pile of witchling while she was sleeping tightly.

Hunter had made himself comfortable next to her, even if he couldn’t fall asleep yet. He was the closest to the couch where Luz and Amity stayed since Amity hadn’t been able to move from the spot after her breakdown.

Luz had turned to the side by now, overlooking her friends on the floor, and managed to wrap her girlfriend’s arms around her to spoon her, making sure she was comfortable.

Amity had contently snuggled into Luz’s back, her arm tightly wound around her middle as if she was afraid of losing her once she let go. Luz had only been able to loosen her grip somewhat by interlacing their fingers on her chest, occasionally placing a little kiss on Amity’s curled-up fingers.

But she couldn’t sleep, either.

She had pretended to sleep for the past ten minutes after her mother had shut off the lights and checked on them one last time. She had kissed Luz’s forehead and told her not to worry, they would find a solution, before tucking a strand of hair behind Amity’s ears and making sure the other kids were looked after as well.

Scrunching her face, Luz huffed quietly, listening to Willow’s soft snores because she was lying on her back, then she opened her eyes for just a short moment.

It wasn’t a surprise to her that Hunter stared back at her in the otherwise dark room, only illuminated dimly by the moon outside. It had stopped raining for now and the clouds had broken up to allow a little bit of the night sky to shine in, but the weather forecast had predicted it would begin raining again in a bit.

He was lying with his back to his captain, staring up at Luz unmoving, and she found herself staring back at him. She had meant to close her eyes again, but she supposed the unrest she had felt was partly due to him staring at her.

Amity behind her huffed softly and snuggled tighter into her back, she could feel her girlfriend’s adorable nose getting scrunched up against her shirt.

Pulling her arm a bit higher, Luz adjusted ever so slightly, Amity following her movement to stay close, then she nodded at Hunter.

“… Can’t sleep either?”, she asked in a hushed whisper, not to disturb her friends’ sleep. The boy in front of the couch shook his head softly, not wanting to make too much noise either, before sighing.

“… No.”, he whispered back, equally as quiet. Luz almost couldn’t hear him in the soft rustling of the wind.

They stayed quiet for another little while, none of them wanting to start first. Luz looked out the window across from her and Hunter looked at her. Both couldn’t seem to break the quiet.

Until Gus huffed and turned in his sleep. The silence was broken.

“… What now?”, Hunter asked, causing Luz to look back down at him with the dreaded question out there. The question Camila hadn’t allowed in her presence, not wanting the looming threat of despair to consume the teens quite yet.

But Hunter couldn’t sleep and Luz couldn’t sleep and it seemed a time as good as ever to be putting the question out there when it was just the two of them.

Luz looked at him for a minute that felt like an eternity, her mind only working slowly, as she went over all that had happened in the short time of this day. She didn’t know if Eda and Raine and all the other witches were really okay after the Collector had stopped the draining spell.

Sure, Hunter had stopped feeling the effects, and the magic flow had stopped, but she didn’t know if Eda’s curse had affected her too much.

King was at the mercy of a godchild now, and there was no way back. No Titan’s blood, no portal, no key, nothing. There wasn’t even a point to start at. No plan to follow, no lead to pursue, nothing.

Luz was just about ready to throw herself off a cliff with the uncertainty she was facing now.

Most of all – she felt responsible.

Not only responsible for helping Belos achieve the goals that had been necessary to lead up to this mess, but she also felt responsible for her friends ending up in the human realm along with her.

She was the human. She was the one they knew best, not her mother or Vee.

She was their guide, their anchor, she had to take responsibility to keep them safe.

Herding them, teaching them, educating them, and making sure they’d fit in, that all fell into her responsibility.

And finding a way back home. She knew that if she failed, she would consider herself the reason they were stranded here, away from their home, their families, and their other friends. Any familiarity they had.

And it was her fault, of course.

Philipp, Belos, the portal, the mess. Everything was her fault.

Breathing through, she squinted her eyes, then she looked back down to Hunter who was looking worried by now but didn’t seem to want to get up to comfort her, in the fear of waking Willow or Gus with that. Or Amity.

“… Tomorrow you’ll recharge and rest. I’ll go to the library and see if I can find anything. And to that guy’s museum, the one who captured Vee, to see if he has any other magic stored.”, she whispered, furrowing her eyebrows. She was sure she could find something if she looked hard enough.

Who knew, maybe they could recreate the way Philipp and his brother had ended up in the Boiling Isles. Eda’s mother had said garbage from the human realm got swept through the realms all the time, and that humans slipped through on occasion as well.

And the diary had made it sound like Philipp and his brother hadn’t come through to the Isles out of their own free will.

Whichever way it was, Luz would find it.

“… I’m coming with you.”, Hunter whispered and Luz already began shaking her head, but he wouldn’t let her object, “I want to know my roots.”

She couldn’t argue with that.

He was a grimwalker, which apparently meant he was a clone of Philipp’s brother if she could trust the bits and pieces of info they had gotten from fleeting glances at his memories.

She could understand him wanting to get to know his counterpart, the inspiration for his creator to make another. Especially if he looked the most like him, in Belos’ words.

But if she let Hunter come with, Amity would want to come as well. And with Amity, Willow would insist on coming, as well as Gus. If she was unlucky, Vee would want to help out, too, as well as her mother.

And then she would have a hell of a lot more pressure on her shoulders to find a solution to this.

Shaking her head, Luz huffed.

“No. You guys need to recharge and rest. I will go out to start. Maybe you can join me later.”, she tried but Hunter merely gave her a deadpan.

“Nice try.”, he dryly commented, “But you need rest, too. I won’t let you run off alone again.”

With an indignant pout, Luz nestled deeper into Amity’s embrace to escape his knowing glare, biting the inside of her lip.

“But you guys look like witches, you can’t just-”, she tried but Hunter was having none of it.

“We can wear hats, or use illusions.”, he pointed out, unimpressed by her weak protest, “Don’t try to do this alone.”

Luz hid her face in the pillow for a minute, before breathing through and rubbing her eyes. She had to convince him to leave her alone. It was her fault they were all here. It was her fault she couldn’t get them back to the Isles, that she didn’t know Eda was safe, or where that godchild had taken him. If the collector had enslaved the Isles or killed them all.

She remained quiet for a while, not wanting to move as she felt Amity’s hand curling and uncurling over her heart. She could probably feel her agitation in her sleep and didn’t like it.

Finally, Luz looked back up and out the window.

It was still quite windy, but still not raining. She could see the illuminated outlines of trees outside softly swaying in the wind, leaves rustling with each gust plowing through the crowns.

It was somehow serene, almost calm, as she stared out the window.

“… What now?”, it was now her turn to ask this question and Hunter sighed softly, shrugging as he adjusted to lie on his back, looking outside as well.

“We’ll have to adjust.”, he suggested, and Luz knew that was true. They wouldn’t find a way back within a few days. Maybe not even weeks. They would have to find a way to keep everyone safe here in the human realm. And help out her mom with some money and work around the house.

She supposed she would have to go back to school again.

“… We’ll have to help Mama, somehow.”, she mumbled and Hunter nodded, uncertain what that entailed but he was sure he could do some job to keep the woman that had taken everyone into her house financially stable. He could go bounty hunting or maybe he would be proficient as a soldier.

“Yeah…”, he lamely replied and Luz had the nerve to laugh softly, stifling her giggling as Hunter shot her a glare.

“I really don’t know what job you could be doing here.”, she said, as if she had read his mind, which made him huff indignantly.

“I’ll find something.”, he mumbled and heard her giggle again, before shuffling a bit. A small smile from Amity followed.

“Maybe you could help out on a construction site. Or in a supermarket. Though, I really think we should keep you away from interacting with too many people. You’re not the best actor.”, she mused and while Hunter wanted to protest that, he actually had to agree with her on this one. Interacting with fewer humans meant less stress for him to keep up a façade.

“Amity could help out in the library. She has some experience there, at least. Willow could help out as a gardener. I’m sure she would have an easier time working within her expertise. And Gus could help out in the cinema, maybe.”, she mumbled to herself, and Hunter realized this was more wishful thinking. She followed suit, “But we’ll probably just all end up in fast food anyway.”

He sent her an amused glance, prying his eyes away from the window to look at her briefly, before turning back to the moon.

“What’s fast food?”, he asked and Luz chuckled.

“Like not-dogs, but more of that.”, she decided on the simplest explanation. He could hear the tiredness in her voice. Turning back to her and lying back down on his side, he looked back up at her.

Luz was still looking out of the window, even as she noticed Hunter had returned to his old position of looking at her. The wind was picking up a little and she could see the little drops of the previous rain glistening in the moonlight. It was mesmerizing to see something as normal and bland as leftover raindrops sparkling in the moonlight.

“… You okay?”, he finally asked and Luz sighed, feeling the dread pooling in her stomach again. She was tired and exhausted and overwhelmed and most definitely not okay. But she wouldn’t tell him that.

On the other hand… She really should begin telling the others that she was not okay. She wouldn’t be able to hide it in the long run, especially with her mother and Amity around. Her girlfriend had proven more than once that she was capable of looking right through her, and her mother knew her all her life. Now living together with Willow and Gus would surely make them more sensitive to her actual mindset.

She gave herself until tomorrow when they would start to notice something was seriously wrong.

Biting and chewing on her lip, she contemplated if she should start now with Hunter and risk the wrath of her girlfriend in the morning when she realized she had not been the first to be included in Luz’s wellbeing, or wait until tomorrow and risk not telling anyone at all until they’d inevitably pick up on it.

Finally, she decided against her usual way of trying to keep it a secret for as long as possible. Eda had taught her as much. It was always better to talk about what weighed down on her and to find a solution together. She had been able to look right through her as well. Luz wondered how she was doing right now.

“I-… I feel like… Why we’re here, I mean…”, she gulped and played around with Amity’s fingers, trying to procrastinate actually having to say it. It would mean taking responsibility. Something she knew she had to do but was terrified of.

“Stop blaming yourself.”, she finally heard after a few minutes and looked up to see Hunter still staring at her. He looked sympathetic, and she could tell he’d been through this for himself already.

“… How can I not?”, Luz finally asked, blinking away her tears. She could feel her sleeping girlfriend press a soft kiss to her neck at her sniffles as if to comfort her.

“It’s not your fault.”, Hunter simply stated, narrowing his eyes, “But if you believe helping Belos was your fault, you have to blame me, too. I’ve been helping him all my life. I got him your Titan’s blood.”

Immediately, Luz shook her head.

“I wouldn’t ever blame you-”, she started and he cut her off.

“Then don’t blame yourself either.”, he said, pulling the blanket tighter around him. Suddenly, he looked so mature to Luz, even if he was just sixteen, just two years older than her. The way the moon illuminated the back of his head and the way his expression spoke of a deeply rooted guilt he’d been carrying with him ever since they had left Belos’ mind, made him look older.

He looked back up at her and Luz worried her lip, trying to think of a way to go against his argument. She couldn’t do anything against the feeling of guilt that was weighing heavily on her shoulders. And she didn’t want to work against it either. It felt righteous, justified to be blaming herself.

“You were just following orders. He would hurt you when you didn’t obey. I was helping him out of my own free will.”, she argued and Hunter scoffed at that.

“I still enabled him. And you didn’t know better. At the end of the day, he just exploited us both.”

Luz still wasn’t happy with his reasoning. Grumbling, she once again pushed her nose into the pillow, eyeing him, before facing him.

“Ignorance is no excuse in law.”, she mumbled, which almost caused Hunter to sit up, but after flinching, he thought again and settled back down, not wanting to jostle Willow or Gus, or startle Amity awake. He was about sixty percent sure she would immediately attack him, should he threaten Luz in any way.

“That was no ignorance. You just didn’t know, and Belos deceived you. If you had known who he would turn out to be, you would have done everything to stop him.”, his whispers got a bit more aggressive, though he didn’t raise his voice.

Luz pouted at him trying to reason with her, scrunching her eyebrows, before looking down.

She had been deceived. She hadn’t known.

Still, it did little to alleviate the pressure on her chest, nor did it help her get rid of the blame she felt. Not only for helping him but also for ditching her friends once the Owl House had gone into hiding, for getting herself captured by Kikimora, disguised as Hunter, to be taken to Belos. For trying to fight him alone, for almost getting herself petrified, for being so useless in their fight against him, for-

It took a few attempts for Hunter’s voice to get through to her.

She had in no way intended to ignore him, but her panic had gotten the better of her. So much so that Hunter had in the end sat up to scoot closer to the couch, uncertainly patting her shoulder.

Luz’s eyes finally focused on him, if only to blur over immediately while she tried her hardest to contain herself, then Hunter leaned forward to cradle her head and let her bury her face in his chest.

Amity snuffled and pressed herself tighter into Luz’s back, unwilling to give up even an inch of her girlfriend in her sleep, but Luz was grateful for Hunter’s hug.

It allowed her to stifle her sobs, and muffle whatever she couldn’t suppress.

A moment later, when she had finally managed to match her breathing with his deep, calm breaths, she felt him leaning back and Amity pulling her back into their embrace again. A glance over her shoulder reassured her that her girlfriend was still tightly sleeping, and another over Hunter’s shoulder revealed that neither Willow nor Gus had woken up either.

She breathed through, then she watched as Hunter sat back and pulled his blanket around his shoulders, watching her again as she brought Amity’s hand up to her face to softly kiss her palm. The girl spooning her immediately relaxed at that with the most adorable little huff Luz had ever heard.

Blinking slowly, she settled back into the pillow and looked at Hunter who was still watching her as the first few droplets of rain began tapping against her window once more.

Luz breathed through and tried to focus, nodding to herself. She had to tell someone and Hunter would probably understand the best.

“… You-… You’ve seen his… Appearance.”, she tested the waters and Hunter slowly nodded, his own memories flashing across his face. It was obvious he had seen Belos like this more than once, and it was possible he kind of knew what Belos had done to himself, “He was able to do magic without the staff.”

Hunter nodded again and Luz gulped, worrying her lip before continuing.

“When-… When I fought him alone, he outmatched me by far. I didn’t have a chance… So he, uhm, captured me.”, she mumbled and Hunter sat closer, putting his elbow up on the couch beside Luz’s head. She was glad for the close proximity, the quieter she could say it, the less chance any of her friends had to listen in on them, should they pretend to sleep.

“He wanted to make a deal. That I come home with him, to the human realm, because he didn’t want me-… Staying in the demon realm.”

Hunter slightly recoiled at that, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“Why? Why did he care about you?”, he asked and Luz felt her heart being squeezed by the hurt look on his face. As much as Belos had betrayed him and as much as Hunter had learned in the past few weeks, she figured it would still hurt for him to hear his uncle, as he had thought his entire life, would care for her, who had just been on the Isles for a few months.

“… I’m human… He didn’t want another human hurt by the Isles… It was about his ideology. He’s-… He didn’t care for me. I guess he was just projecting.”, she explained and Hunter visibly relaxed. She couldn’t blame him.

“And I guess you said no?”, he asked with a deadpan after a while, the rain was by now audibly splattering on the window and getting so loud it even droned out Willow’s and Gus’ breathing.

“… I kind of… Maybe… Insulted him instead.”, Luz grimaced and Hunter had to groan at that. She really had no common sense for any safety.

But as she grew quiet again, listening to the soft pattering of the rain, Hunter leaned in again. Luz turned her head back to the pillow, as if attempting to hide, then she sighed into the fabric. He moved his other hand to rest on her shoulder and encouraged her to speak up about it.

“I-… I got him so mad that he-… He wanted to put me out of my misery instead.”, she gulped as Hunter furrowed his eyebrows at that, his grip on her shoulder tightening, “And-… When-…”

Her voice failing, she felt tears welling up in her eyes again and her feet felt as heavy as they had when Belos had raised his hand and made a fist. It felt exactly like that again, the unforgiving cold and stiffness creeping up her legs again.

Rubbing her feet together, she made herself feel that they were not actually turning to stone again but the dread was still pooling in her stomach.

“… What happened then?”, Hunter asked and Luz sniffled, pulling Amity’s hand up to her face again, keeping her gaze down to avoid his looking at him. Her girlfriend gave another little huff and tightened her hug before she could answer.

“… He petrified me.”

The silence that stretched after she had said it grew louder by the second.

The rain and wind from the outside were suddenly droned out at the deafening absence of words, just the rush of blood in her ears was still there. Slowly, Luz looked up and grimaced at the expression on Hunter’s face.

He looked downright furious.

Breathing through his clenched teeth, he stared at the backrest of the couch, trying to contain his rage as he worked through the first few seconds of understanding the horror Luz had gone through.

Gulping, she looked down again, waiting for his response.

Only now that she had said it, told someone else what had happened, it seemed real. Before that, it had happened between Belos and her, and before he had gone berserk when she had branded him.

Now that it was out there, now that Hunter had heard it and now that she would have to tell her girlfriend, her mom, and her friends, it seemed a lot more real.

Breathing faster, she squeezed Amity’s hand and tried breathing through.

When the stone had crept up her legs, when she had understood that she could die right there, with the portal open next to her, with her mom not knowing what had happened, with Eda and Raine and the rebellion so far away. With her friends on the way, only that she hadn’t known that.

Hot tears welled up in her eyes again and she rubbed her feet together to feel them alive and not made of stone. Finally, her tears spilled. Once again, she buried her face in the pillow, and once again, she felt Hunter leaning in and comforting her.

The realization set in now. The shock faded. The feeling that it was a dream, that it had never happened, was gone. The comfort, maybe delusion, that she had dreamed it all up, was gone.

Suddenly, she knew it was real.

How her joints had started working, how Belos had thrown her across the room, how she had watched her legs turning cold and unmoving, how she had already pictured moss spreading on her statue. How it had moved up her body, her hips, how hard it had been to move then. How her hand on the floor, desperately grasping the branding glove, had turned cold, unmoving. How her own arm had started feeling like a cane or a branch merely supporting her chest, how she hadn’t been able to move away or do anything about it. All the while her brain raced a thousand miles an hour, trying to find the right words to persuade Belos, how she had hated to say his name to his face and the smug smirk that had spread on his lips then.

How the stone had moved up her chest, how she had felt her lungs turning, how breathing had gotten hard. How she had spoken the last words on her last breath before her mouth and nose had turned to stone as well. How suffocating it had felt, that her throat had hardened and finally, her breathing had cut out. She had heard her last breath. How scary that had been, how the tears had soaked the stone that her cheeks had turned.

Gasping, she curled up even tighter, not even realizing how she had started curling, around the void that started filling her middle. How the pain had started spreading from her ribcage, how her heart was being squeezed and how she had started breathing faster, tucking her legs in.

Her knees were up to her throat when Hunter’s voice finally broke through to her. He told her to breathe, to open her eyes, and to look at him, otherwise, he’d wake Amity.

She couldn’t say it again. She couldn’t have Hunter tell her girlfriend.

Forcing herself to breathe in through her nose, Luz tried hard to fill her lungs with air to help with the lightheadedness, but it was harder than she thought.

The feeling of her body hardening, of herself turning to a statue, of the pain she had worked around just to keep talking, bargaining, dealing with Belos. Her begs rang in her ear, louder than she had probably spoken.

The cold, unforgiving, unmoving, hard stone reached her head, locking her jaw, working up to her ear, her eye, her brain just before Belos had stopped it.

Functioning, executing her plan, after almost ending up as a statue. And telling nobody about it.

It all came back now.

How horrifying the past few weeks had been, between the anniversary of her father’s passing and her ending up back in the human realm. How she and Hunter had discovered he was a grimwalker, how she had gone into hiding, how helpless and desperate Eda and Lilith had been to keep her and King safe, how they had discovered everything about King’s true heritage, the Titan Trappers, the Day of Unity starting, her friends, her family, the rebellion-

Suddenly, a female voice talked to her.

The hand she had so tightly clasped in hers had disappeared from her grip and when she was turned over and opened her eyes, she was looking into Amity’s golden ones. Hunter was still there as well, talking fast to her girlfriend while she only curled up tighter, struggling to breathe.

She still didn’t know what had happened to Eda. She still didn’t know what happened to King. How the Isles were. If the collector had left with King or if they had decided to enslave the entire population of the Isles into some sick, twisted game to play with him.

Raine, Darius, Eberwolf, she had heard of none of them. All that she had to go by was that Hunter’s sigil hadn’t killed him. But what of Eda’s curse?

Had it harmed her?

Was King safe?

What about everyone who didn’t have a sigil? Were they okay?

Luz tried to breathe, she really did, but she could only squint her eyes more and try not to let the pain inside her chest eat her up alive.

A hand cupped her cheek and Luz opened her eyes back up, looking up to Amity once again. Once her vision stopped being blurred, she could see how disheveled her girlfriend looked. Hunter had probably woken her up while panicking about her state, and Amity had immediately entered the adrenaline rush over her girlfriend not being okay.

Amity was leaning over her, propping herself up above her, so she could look at Luz properly.

She was saying something, but Luz couldn’t hear her. Her own shallow breathing was too loud, the rushing in her ears, the tumult in her head, the concern and worries and everything was getting too much and she couldn’t focus, damnit-

Until a comfortable weight settled on top of her. And the weight was breathing. She only belatedly realized Amity had climbed atop of her and was showing her hand, slowly counting up to four and down again, doing the same movements with her lips as Willow’s breathing technique required.

With the help of being engulfed completely by her girlfriend and the breathing on top of her that she could feel and didn’t have to hear, she slowly managed to get her oxygen intake back under control.

They breathed together until Luz could feel stuff around her again. Hunter’s hand on top of her head, Amity’s hand in her hair, the blanket still draped around them.

Somewhere in between, Amity’s head had dropped next to hers, snuggling into her neck and continuing to breathe slowly as Luz’s vision stabilized and she could slowly find back to herself.

Amity continued breathing on top of her and Hunter still held up his fingers, counting to four and back so Luz wouldn’t forget to breathe.

When she had calmed down enough to talk, Amity leaned back again, looking down at her skeptically.

“… Did you sleep at all?”, she asked and Luz sheepishly shook her head, looking around as she felt Hunter’s hand leaving her hair to discover he was only fetching a glass of water for her. Amity obviously disapproved, but looked understanding. She probably knew why Luz had trouble sleeping.

After allowing Luz to sit up to accept Hunter’s glass of water, Amity slipped from her lap and she gratefully took the glass of water, taking a sip before her girlfriend nudged her.

At her nod, Luz drank half the glass and looked for her approval.

They settled back down on the couch and Amity draped the blanket back over them both, now having switched places after Hunter bid them goodnight, and looked at her.

Luz felt the comforting pressure of the backrest along her body and had her hands linked with Amity’s, resting between them. She smiled at her girlfriend, but Amity was having none of it.

“Luz, what just happened?”, she whispered, just loud enough for her to hear since they were practically nose to nose, so Amity would still have some room on the couch. Luz squinted her eyes and buried her face in the pillow before Amity reached over and brushed some strands of hair out of her face and behind her ear. She would really have to get a haircut.

“… Some… Stuff happened before you guys arrived in the skull…”, she admitted. Her girlfriend merely nodded, leaning in closer and pressing a soft kiss to her cheek, keeping close and parting their fingers so she could hug her.

“… Hunter told me as much…”, she murmured and Luz was glad she didn’t hear anything from the mattress down below. She also couldn’t hear any sort of resentment from her girlfriend, as scared as she had been of that.

Huffing, she turned her face back up and leaned the bridge of her nose against Amity’s to be as close as possible. Their breaths mingled and thankfully, Luz felt herself growing sleepy at that.

“… I-… I fought Belos and, he wanted a deal…”, she began but Amity merely shook her head, her hand wandering up Luz’s back before weaving into her hair, her fingers playing with her locks.

“… Not tonight.”, she mumbled and Luz gratefully snuggled in some more, finding herself smiling. Amity probably just didn’t want her to have another panic attack. She couldn’t express how thankful she was that she didn’t have to repeat the three words that caused her so much pain and fear.

“Okay.”, she mumbled back, snuggling into her embrace and trying not to think too much about what had happened. She had thought about that enough for today. Hunter knew now and Amity knew she had to tell her something. She would tell them all tomorrow and it would feel much better doing so after she had slept a night over it.

And they were safe. As much as it sucked to be away from the Isles and everyone else and as much as it pained Luz not to know what was happening over there, they were safe. Willow and Gus and Hunter and Amity, her girlfriend, were safe.

Before she even knew what she was doing, she had pressed a soft kiss to the corner of Amity’s lips and snuggled closer, wrapping her arms around her girlfriend. Amity gave a soft eep, before snuggling into her warm embrace and settling down again.

Sleep took her faster than her girlfriend this time. After just a few breaths, she was out cold and had quickly fallen into a deep, dreamless slumber. Here, in the arms of her girlfriend, the world on her shoulders seemed lighter, the light brighter, and the solution closer than she thought.

Just a moment later, Amity followed. The last to fall asleep was Hunter, and as much as he tossed and turned, as soon as Luz's hand dropped over the couch’s edge and Willow’s hand had found its way to his mattress as well, he calmed down.

 ---

When Camila entered her living room this morning, disheveled and bleary-eyed from a restless night, she found a smile growing on her lips.

She had sent Luz off to camp mainly to make some friends, not because she had wanted her to actually think inside the box. It had been her last resort to allow her daughter some kind of connection with the rest of her age class.

And now, seeing her all cuddled up with her girlfriend, holding hands with the boy she had come here with – Hunter, as she recalled – she felt that maybe, the Boiling Isles hadn’t only kept her daughter away from her.

She tiptoed past the sleeping horde of teenagers and managed to get herself a nice cup of coffee before sneaking back in and leaning over the backrest to watch her sleeping daughter. She had curled in just enough to hide her face in the crook of Amity’s neck, leaving the witch girl to bury her nose in her hair. They looked so serene, so calm and peaceful, despite what they had been through just yesterday.

Luz’s arm was draped over her girlfriend’s waist and hanging off the couch, where Hunter’s fingers were timidly laced into hers, his elbow propped up just enough to keep his arm upright, while he was softly snoring. His other hand was occupied by the girl sleeping next to him, Willow if Camila remembered her name right.

Gus was curled up on Willow’s side and huffing from time to time, his ears flicking. She suspected the youngest of the group would wake up soon.

Looking back down at her daughter, Camila couldn’t resist the smile she felt growing on her lips, or the hand to reach down and brush some of Luz’s hair out of her eyes while taking care not to wake Amity. She also reached over to brush a strand of lilac hair behind her pointy witch ears, though she wasn’t too sure if witches slept lighter than humans. She didn’t want to wake Amity up.

Without meaning to, she mustered the young witch that her daughter was so cuddled up to. She was pretty. Luz really had chosen well, even if she hadn’t believed her daughter at first when she had told her she had a girlfriend that night she saved Vee.

Chuckling to herself, Camila finally took a sip of her coffee that had cooled down a bit by now and walked back to the kitchen to sit down at the counter and have her cup of coffee to herself, without annoying the children too much.

Without her noticing, a sleepy smile spread on Amity’s lips. She hadn’t woken up, but the timid touch alone had been enough to make her feel entirely at home, with her girlfriend snuggled up to her.

---

I hope you enjoyed it!

[drbtinglecannon]

Ok so my theory for "Darius is also a rebel" is he was one before Raine joined and Raine didn't know until after they got caught.

In Eda's Requiem, Raine was so determined to take out Darius & Eberwolf that they were willing to literally die for the cause until they realized Eda had a family she would've been leaving behind. If Raine had any inkling that Darius was either swayable to the cause or was already a part of it, Raine would've been upfront with Eda about that, so it's far more likely they didn't know.

It's also only after the exact moment when the two of them stopped playing that Darius finally found them. He & Eber figured out the "boots walking by themselves" bit several minutes before the Death Melody started, so I find it hard to believe that he wouldn't have found them sooner but also only found them immediately after the "almost dying" stopped. He must've known the area they were in beforehand and was purposely avoiding it, but after suffering from that type of magic realized he needed to "catch" Raine like Right Now before whatever that was started again and got him killed. He also conveniently only captured Raine despite knowing they weren't alone, leaving Eda behind to escape (the walking boots would've been a good tip off cuz they def weren't Raine's boots, but also when he caught Raine's crew he said quote: "Looks like we missed a few" so he knew there were multiple other witches lose).

He was able to capture Raine's crew and transport them like hundreds of miles away in a snap of his fingers, but while having both Raine & Eda in his goo somehow loses grip on Eda? Feels intentional.

When we factor this together with how Raine was unharmed when captured, how easily they were able to escape, AND how defensive Darius got when he saw Kikimora appear out of nowhere to recapture Raine herself, it all builds up to a convincing enough situation that he was trying to let Raine escape.

Also this line becomes significantly funnier if he was a rebel all along too

In Follies of the Coven Day Parade, Raine seems super chill but also unaware of what has happened a few weeks earlier. Kikimora even comments on how relaxed Raine seems

We were under the impression Raine did forget, but as revealed in the most recent ep they were just acting. Raine famously has stage fright, and while that may not affect acting abilities (especially in the life or death situation they're in), I think a genuine boon to keeping up the facade would be knowing there's someone else on their side, i.e. Darius.

Darius has also been working with the other coven heads for way longer than Raine, and while I have no doubt Raine would be suspicious of Terra under normal circumstances, when Raine was captured they were completely indisposed. Someone had to have helped keep Raine safe from Terra's magic, or at the least warn them of it.

In Any Sport In Any Storm, we see a drastically different side to Darius than before. He not only willingly lets the captured kids go, he was going to personally deliver them back to their school. That's a kind of generosity and flexibility we haven't see in like, any other Coven Head. Even Lilith was more cutthroat towards Willow, Gus, and Luz during 'Agony Of A Witch'. Yeah, he threatened to attack them, but very easily backed down when Hunter asked him to.

He also expressed the importance of Hunter forming bonds outside the coven, gave him a phone to do so, and said he wouldn't tell Belos about this experience nor Hunter's palisman (which is a MASSIVE cover for Hunter's sake seeing as how illegal they are)

Seeing as Raine was the only Coven Head to even acknowledge Hunter when they all left the meeting, and the sympathetic/worried expression on their face, it's possible Raine holds the same concerns for Hunter not having anything outside the coven. I'm sure Hunter is necessary for the Day Of Unity in some really fucked up way, and it's possible Darius and/or Raine know how or at least have suspicions, which goes further with them both showing concern that he's so isolated.

Then finally in Them's The Breaks, Kid, we see this!

It feels redundant to point out how this has to be Darius but.

1. Abomination magic 2. Everyone in covens have been sealed to only their specific magic, so chances of other abomination users aside Darius being around are slim 3. It's got his hair like all of his creations do

Another bit that lends credence to both this being Darius and my earlier theory he intentionally let Eda go is the mini abomination immediately suggests asking Eda for help. If Darius and Raine are working together now, Raine probably told Darius how they did that Death Melody, which is probably why Darius is suggesting getting her involved again.

Anyway, Darius' design fucks and his use of magic is really cool, so I for one am very excited to see the potential full 180 from antagonist to secret good guy. If he stays an antagonist tho I'll still like him.

[avatarmerida]

Just In Case

Now this one might be too fluffy. But I have huntlow brain rot. Let’s fast forward and pretend they’re back in their realm going to battle. Pretend other plot has happened already to get us here. It’s so cheesy pls don’t judge me. Ignore any errors lol

———

“So it’s decided; Hunter will go with Darius to free any additional prisoners in the castle, you kids will go with Lily to the school while Luz, King and I meet up with Raine,” said Eda to the group. Everyone nodded in confirmation, certain of their job as everyone went to make sure they were prepared.

As the crowd dispersed, Hunter’s eyes instantly found Willow across the room talking with Gus. Her face was solemn yet determined and when her locked with his they looked shimmering and sad. She offered him a small smile as she turned to walk over to him and Hunter felt as though all the air had left his lungs. Normally the sight of her made him feel warm lightheaded, but seeing the sadness she was holding made him feel heavy and dull. He knew the situation was serious, but even serious things seemed enjoyable when she was around.

“Well, I guess this is goodbye then, huh?” Willow said softly, trying to smile despite dreading what she was saying.

“I-I guess so,” he replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck as he adjusted his posture to stand straighter as he tried to regain control of his breathing. Look cool, he thought, act cool.

“I uh, hope you and Darius have fun,” said Willow, uncertain of what to say but knowing she wanted to say something.

“You too,” he said, his smile only in his eyes. “I mean, I guess not ‘have fun’ but -.”

“-oh no of course I know this is serious-.”

“-I mean I hope you don’t have a bad time-.”

“-and I don’t what might happen-.”

“-I know you can handle whatever happens-.”

“-but I hope you’re safe,” they finished together. Their eyes, which had drifted along with their words and reunited when their sentences did. Their faces donned a similar shade of crimson as the words they shared made a dark moment bright.

“Heh,” Willow chucked, her smile more sincere now. “Thanks.”

“Yeah, uh you too...”

Silence rested between them, it seemed the words just couldn’t come together. They knew there was so much to do, they really should be going soon, but they didn’t know how to begin the moment much less end it.

“It’s been an honor serving with you Captain,” said Hunter at last, adopting his formal tone and sticking his hand out to shake her hand. Willow couldn’t help but smile, thinking this side of Hunter had faded, but secretly being grateful as she still found it endearing.

“You too, Hunter,” she said, taking his hand as the two shared a firm but respectable handshake.

“I hope our paths will cross again soon,” he continued, his formal manner canceling out his nerves. “There’s no one I’d rather go out with than you.”

Willow’s eyes widened. “What?”

“I mean, most likely the surveillance and recovery missions won’t prove fatal,” Hunter continued, oblivious to her flustered state trying to cover his own. “But you never know, and if the tide turns I’m glad to be fighting by your side.”

“Oh, right yeah of course I- me too.” Willow tried to collect herself, connecting Hunter’s meaning.

“Little prince while I’m still young please!” Darius called from across the field, waving him down with effortless flair. “The sooner we leave the sooner we’ll return.”

“Right! Coming!” Hunter shouted back before he turned back Willow and realized he was still holding her hand. “Uh, so see you later ? Maybe. No, yes well I don’t know how much later but-.”

She pulled his arm toward her and wrapped him in a tight hug, burying her face in his chest. The closeness was surprising but not unwanted. “Be careful Hunter,” she said softly, squeezing him tighter, muffled by his shirt. He timidly return her embrace, resting his chin on top of her head searching for the courage to say what he wanted to.

“You too Captain,” he settled for as a reply. It was a good farewell; he had said true things. But when they finally parted he couldn’t help but feel a nagging in his chest. Telling him to do more, say more, it felt incomplete. They had lingered in the hug for awhile, and he couldn’t help but feel, but hope, that she was waiting for him to say something more. He was waiting for himself to say something more.

But he didn’t.

“What’s got you so down, little prince?” Darius asked as they walked toward their air ship. “That disappointed to spend time with me?”

“No I just...” Hunter struggled to find the words yet again. “I didn’t get to say what I...”

“Ah, hoping to rally the troops are we? I’m sure you’ll have plenty of chances, this hardly seems like the last mission and I hate to admit it but you always did have a knack for public speaking-.”

“No I...” Hunter wasn’t sure if he didn’t want to talk about it just didn’t know how. He knew he would see Willow again, though maybe not for awhile. He knew they’d see each other again but he didn’t know when. And maybe that’s why this goodbye had so much weight on it. The space between them felt heavy, as though it was blocking their words and making them harder to say. He had said what he needed to say, what was expected to say, but not what he wanted to say. But the more it fogged his mind the more it seemed like a necessity.

“Ohhhh, this is about the flyer derby girl isn’t it?” Darius asked with a knowing smirk after Hunter had been quiet for a few moments.

“Her name is Willow!” said Hunter defensively, suddenly flushed. “And she’s not a flyer derby girl, she’s the flyer derby Captain. And no it’s not.”

“I see,” he chuckled. “You know, I remember when you tried to recruit her for the Emperor’s coven, she seemed to be everything you looked for in a candidate.”

“What are you saying Darius?”

“Nothing, I’m just saying she seems like a nice young lady, that’s all,” he said, his tone warm. “She seems fond of you.”

“Really?” Hunter perked up before attempting to hide his enthusiasm. “I mean, maybe. I dunno.”

“Don’t try fooling me,” laughed Darius giving him a playful nudge. “I remember you’d be up all hours of the night talking with her on your scroll. I’m sure you warmed up to being stuck in the human realm all those months when you realized it meant spending time with her.”

Great, thought Hunter, more of this. Truthfully, he didn’t know what this was. The others had done this a lot in the human realm, saying things that were true but in a tone that made him blush as though they were slanderous. Despite the circumstances, he did enjoy his time there and the times he seemed to enjoy the most were all involving Willow.

“Yeah, I guess I did,” Hunter said, fondly looking back to where she stood. Even far away, he could tell she was having a serious conversation by the way she stood and moved her arms. She was probably wrinkling her nose and soon she’d have to push up her glasses as they’d try to move down the bridge.

“I’m sure you had a romantic farewell.”

“Well not exactly,” admitted Hunter, slowly removing her from his gaze. He realized there was no point in trying to dodge Darius’ insinuations. “It wasn’t the right time.”

“What?” asked Darius stopping dead in his tracks, causing Hunter to nearly bump into him. His voice was low and menacing as though he was in trouble but Hunter knew he wasn’t. “How is the timing not right? When is there a better time than right before battle?”

“I dunno I panicked!” Hunter exclaimed. “There’s a lot going on I didn’t wanna add more to her plate or embarrass her!”

“Have I not always taught you to seize your moment?” Darius asked dramatically. “This was your moment! She was waiting for you to say something!”

“She was just saying goodbye!”

“For five minutes?” Darius countered crossing his arms. “Don’t act like I didn’t see you two over there. A goodbye can be over and done with in two seconds, but she was seeing you off. If she only wanted to say goodbye then that’s all she would’ve said but there was more to it than that. I thought she was a bright witch, but perhaps she is as clueless as you are.”

“Don’t say that about-.”

“You go over there right now and tell that girl how you feel,” demanded Darius, pointing to where Willow and the others stood. “You may never get another chance, or at the very least not one as romantic as this.”

“What? I- I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Hunter sputtered, trying to hide his face. “It’s not like that well... is for me but...the Captain doesn’t think of me like that, she knows too much about me to think of me like that.”

“Well how do you know?”

“Well I don’t-.”

“That’s right you don’t!” Exclaimed Darius. “And you never will unless you seize this opportunity!”

“But what if she doesn’t feel the same way?” Hunter asked and then added in a smaller voice. “What if she laughs at me?”

“Does the girl you feel so strongly about seem like the person who would laugh at your heartfelt confession of affection?”

“No, she’s not but-.”

“Then get over there!” Darius said, turning him around by his shoulders. “You tell that girl what she means to you. We’re not leaving until you do.”

“Darius!”

“Do you need me to come with you?”

“No! No, I just don’t know-.”

“Hey! Flyer derby girl!” Darius called across the filed much to Hunter’s horror. He saw Willow look up at them, confused and Darius grinned as Hunter grimaced . “You sure you don’t want me to go with you?” asked Darius with a mischievous grin, Hunter responded by transporting himself over to a Willow.

“Hunter?” She said confused. “Did you... forget something?”

“No, uh no but,” Hunter searched for the words, his nerves slightly calmed by the fact that her voice sounded hopeful. “Actually yes. Yes, I did.”

When he pictures this moment he was taller for some reason. The sky was clear and blue, a slight breeze graced the air and they were surrounded by flowers. Everything was supposed to be perfect, but if he wait until this impossible time he would be waiting forever.

“I just needed to tell you,” what was he supposed to say? Just come out and say how he felt? He didn’t have an explanation or argument prepared. He was sure how he felt but not of the words. Granted, when he thought of this moment it wasn’t the words he thought about. “I just need to tell you...”

“While she’s still young, little prince!” Darius shouted from the distance. Hunter stiffened and suddenly realized there were other eyes on him besides Willow. But he pushed on, he needed to treat it like it was his last chance.

“You were my first real friend and I would never want to do anything that could jeopardize that because you mean so much to me, good things really good things,” he started, speaking faster than he ever had before. His eyes darted to the ground, worried he’d get distracted by hers and lose his rare nerve. “But you’re important and you’re important to me and I just wanted you to know that but I also know these things can be awkward when the feeling isn’t mutual-.”

“Hunter!”

He looked up and saw her face and was shocked to see she looked just as frazzle as he imagined he looked. He could tell by the way she said his name that she had been saying his name this whole time but he was too invested in confessing that he hadn’t noticed.

“Who said it isn’t mutual?” She asked shifting closer to him, subconsciously fiddling with her hair.

“It, huh-?”

“Because I’d be honored to go out with you too,” she said quietly and Hunter forgot how to breath for a moment.

“Woah,” Hunter exhaled shakily before shaking his head to wake him up from what he thought was a mini daydream. “I mean, woah. I mean, oh? I mean really uh, well that’s great!”

“Good.”

“Fantastic,”

“Awesome,”

“Yeah,” Willow and Hunter finished together, and the two were back in another trance. This time the silence wasn’t so awkward and much lighter.

“So, uh, thanks for coming back,” Willow said at last, snapping back first remembering what they were supposed to be focusing on.

“I, uh, didn’t wanna risk not getting another chance,” he laughed nervously. “Just in case. But I-I hope that, you know uh, it-.”

“You can fawn over your girlfriend later little prince,” called Darius as though he sensed Hunter was struggling to leave with pride. “Or should I call her little princess?”

“Coming!” Hunter shouted back, the interruption making him both thankful and mortified but Willow just chuckled lightly into her hand. “Well, I gotta go. And you probably gotta go so...”

Hunter started to leave as he spoke, walking backwards and hoping that if he couldn’t manage to find the end of a sentence he could at least fade away with a shred of his dignity. He didn’t want to leave the moment but he didn’t want to ruin it either. The way Willow looked at him with kind eyes, made him nervous and secure at the same time and he knew his babbling couldn’t ruin this moment. Because she knew him and understood him and she wasn’t judging him. Darius was right, she was fond of him. And he knew it was true for her because it was true for him that distance would not make the heart grown any less fonder.

He turned to really begin walking away, wondering why he just couldn’t teleport already until he realized there was one more thing he needed to do. They had plans to see each other again, but things didn’t always go according to plan. Could he risk it?

“Just in case,” he said turning back around and running back to Willow before his sense could catch up to him. Despite his speed, he gently placed his hands on both sides of her face and closed his eyes as he bent down to kiss her. When he realized the reality of what he was doing he opened his eyes in panic but any thought of regret vanished when she kissed him back. She stood on her toes and brought her hands up over his, holding them in place to show they were meant to stay. He felt as though they stood there for lifetimes, his heart was pounding and melting and he didn’t mind if she knew. In reality the kiss was awkward and lasted only five seconds, but it transported him. He felt like flying, knowing that Willow knew how he felt and was glad! She welcomed and returned his affection and he knew tonight he’d panic that it was all a dream and have Flapjack peck his arm until it was red to prove it was real but right now he knew it wasn’t a dream. It was better.

When he finally pulled away, it was only because he had forgotten how to breath and worried it was the same for her. When their eyes met this time Hunter knew that if he started talking now he would never stop. So he panicked and did the only thing he could think to do.

“Ok byeeeee!” He said, forcing his voice to go higher before he teleported back across the field to Darius. Willow stood there, frozen, her hands still out as though still caressing his face. As she processed what had just happened, a miniature garden of fresh bright yellow flowers sprouted atop her head as she felt herself return to earth as though she had just been levitating.

———

“Shut up shut up shut up shut up,” Hunter mumbled as he trudged on by Darius his face utterly flushed by his own actions. The scene playing over and over in his mind like some out of body experience.

“Well well well,” murmurs Darius with a chuckle. “I didn’t know you had it in you.”

“Shut up shut up shut up!”

“Oh, don’t be embarrassed,” Darius said following behind him with a wide smirk. “And to think you were just gonna let the moment pass. This is why you should always listen to me. So what did she say?”

“She said...” Hunter could barely believe it himself as his face softened at the brightest spot in this darkest time . “She said that she’d love to go out with me.”

“You do know that most teenagers don’t use that phrase to refer to dying alongside someone in battle, right?”

“What? Well then what did she mean??”

[scarasbaby]

Hey! I don't know If you take requests for toh but if you do can I request a Hunter x Fem!clawthorn reader where she tries to help luz with holding onto king and he thanks them both for being his older sisters and after they end up in the human realm and luz is trying to process what happened the reader breaks down cause king was legally her brother and she just lost her hime and hunter comes in and comforts her🙏

°•↱ Not The End ↲•°

Hunter x Clawthorn Reader

Summary: Hunter comforting you after loosing your brother and getting trapped in the human realm

TOH Spoilers

"I think there's a way out!" Willow said pointing at the portal door and motioning everyone to head towards it, You all start running but you and Amity notice Luz still standing. "Luz come on" You try to pull on her arm "Everyone, Eda I-I can't just leave them" she looks back her eyes tearing up "Luz please!" Amity grabs her hand her own tears threatening to fall. You three then run towards the door, Jumping across a broken piece of the bridge.

Once everyone is in front of the portal, Hunter opens the door to rain on the other side "It's human rain, It's ok" Gus says and goes through the portal followed but Hunter and Willow. "Luz?" Amity looks back to see Luz trying to hold the portal with some vines "Luz what are you doing?!" you question ready to run towards her "I-I have to get Eda. We'll find a way back to you" She tries to reassure you but you run towards her "Y/N NO!" Hunter yells for you but you keep running towards luz "Go Y/N! go go go! I-I can't hold the portal much longer!" She yells at you making you stop at your tracks. King then is pulled off of her shoulder by the collector "KING!" you both yell and reach to hold onto him "King! you promised you'd play with me, You pinky swore" the collector started pulling onto king harder "Luz! Y/N!" Amity then started running towards you "We gotta stick together. We gotta stick together" Luz looked between you and king "Just don't let go king alright? We-we're gonna protect you just-" you said, your eyes tearing up.

"I'm sorry, not this time. But I can keep you safe" King said "no!" Luz's tears started to run down her face "King..." Your own tears threatening to fall "Luz, Y/N I'm so happy I had you two as my big sisters" And with that King uses his titan yell, sending you all back into the portal. "NO, KING!" Luz gets up and runs towards the door only for it to close in her face, when she opens it again she's met with the abandoned shack, she tries to close and open the door again in hopes of the portal opening but with no use. She just stands there with a blank expression. Gus then starts crying, falling to the ground as you all process what just happened.

"no" You come back to your senses "No no no no, I-I promised mom I'd protect him" Your tears were falling to the ground as you tried to stand up but stumbled and fell back. Hunter then came up to you "hey it's gonna be ok just calm down" he tried to reach for your hand but you pulled away trying to stand up again "NO! You don't understand, I have to get him back!" He looks at your broken expression then back at Gus who Willow is trying to comfort.

"Hey, Look at me" he gently places his hands on your shoulder, when you look up you see him trying to smile with tears at the corner of his eyes "we'll get them all back don't worry, but for now we have to rest" You choked on your sobs then reached out to wrap your arms around his torso, burying your face in his chest as you cried.

After a while and everyone calmed down a little Luz reached for Amity's hand and started walking "come on, we can't stay under the rain for too long" she then led you to a house which you assumed is her home and knocked on the door. Hunter had his arm wrapped around Gus's shoulder trying to comfort him, while he held onto your hand with the other. Once the door opened it reveled a woman "Hey mom, I'm back" Luz said her voice breaking. they're right, You will get back home. But for now you needed to take a break cause that was not the end.

Honestly I am not satisfied with this but oh well

[marisol-noceda-cheng]

New intro theory

Since in s2a, the intro changed twice, and with new things that happened after the new intro was released.

Harpy Eda

Palismen

King scream

So here is my theory IF there is a new trailer.

1:Luz, instead of just circles that are light ,maybe make them the glyph colors, like red for fire and blue for ice and see through for invisibility. For the Lumity canon, if they can, Put Amity and Luz matching stuff, like rings or bracelets.

2: Eda, Since Eda can now become Harpy Eda, maybe during her sequence, she spins her staff and when she directly puts it to her right side when king enters, they can put in harpy Eda.

3: King, when he comes, since we dont see his mouth like move, make it look liek he screamed and his power can come.

4: Willow, with her new staff, she can like stand with one hand with her staff and the other hand can make her plant magic.

5: Gus. Also with his new staff, he can do his pose and do the same thing as willow but with a different pose.

6: Amity. The thing that I said back in Luz, but with her staff, and her pouch abomination, she can use them in her sequence.

7: Trio group.(Lilith) Since Lilith is like out of the show (Only voice not really her physically) IF she does come back, I like her new clothes so maybe instead of her old form in s1, make her wear a cape in the first pose, and then in the second make her look like she's back.

7: Continued, (Raine) Since we saw Raine in the red coccon thing, maybe it starts with Raine in a pose with their violin or just in their cape from Hunting palismen, and for the second pose, one of the poses could be IF  THEY WERE CONTROLLED MENTALY OR PHYSICLY, to make them look like they are controlled with some of the red veins sticking out, or take of the cape with the red veins sticking out, (Insipired by a fanart) Another pose after is them looking different like a grey eye and them looking like escaped. The last pose can also be them looking terrifired or looking threatened. It can also be Vee and her first form is Luz and her second form is herself as a Bassilik.

8: Hunter/Golden Guard. Since we got their face reveal, the first pose can still be them in golden guard form but in his final pose it can be their entire face showing but with their mask still in their hand.

9: Kikimora: For Kiki, her first pose can be the same but her final it can be one of her bangs/front hairs doing the power that she did to Raine.

10: Belos; Since we saw the curce/thing in hunting palismen and their face, when he looks at us, it can be their acual face and with them having their hand out and the lighing, his mask can be back on.

11: Chasing scene, In the beggining, it can be the same but with Willow and Gus with their palismen. no costume changes. During the chasing scene. instead of Eda being on the staff, shes flying and King is holding on to Harpy Eda while Luz is on the staff. And when the monster comes, Eda is flying faster, king is holding onto eda’s wings and Luz can still be holding onto the staff/

[amethyst-starglitter]

this is such a random self indulgent au you have no idea. so me and @a-model-of-propriety were talking and i came up with a crack au with toh. it started with hunter working at McDonalds and belos being his manager and eda is the manager over the local Wendys food. the plot is basically instead of the day of unity belos really just wants to set the local wendy’s on fire so that they don’t have competition.

look here’s where everyone lies with the other place:

McDonalds actually probably chick fil a because wendy’s also has good chicken

the collector-corperate’s child

belos-manager over the managersm

kikimora-manager

lillith-manager (hates her life and constantly tries to get at eda)

hunter-is trying to be the best like no one ever was. works way too much they have to force hunter on breaks

raine-baby wants to work at a music shop, but they don’t pay as much for the people just starting and they need this job. is in an orchestra on the side though!

darius-manager, makes sure hunter goes on breaks. won’t take anyone’s crap. will yell at the karens and if anyone touches raine darius will have some words for them.

eburr-there for the lols suprisingly good at holding down the register by themselves, very efficient. wins employee of the month everytime.

wendy’s

eda-wants to get even with lillith and the employee appreciation shirts are the bad girl coven shirts.

king-mascot, but hates most children. not allowed within 10 ft of children at work.

luz-just happy to work with such awesome people :). secretly wants to set the mcdonalds or chick fil a on fire.

gus-openly wants to committ arson, but really good with the kids and the guests in general.

matt-has to have this job. won’t admit that he is actually making friends, but he’s happy there especially with someone 👀

edric-gets fired after setting the frostee machine on fire.

emira-left the frostee machine for one minute to go to the bathroom. on thin ice, but didn’t get fired.

cookie place

amity-literally hates how stressful and understaffed they are. for the most part chill with her coworkers, but sometimes her and boscha butt heads. overworks herself to earn lots of extra cash.

boscha- likes working there until a certain human ruins something so they have to remake a 150 cookie order in an hour.

bo-there for the vibes because she doesn’t like chicken

skara-just got the job for the aesthetic and the free cookies.

moon girl-actually really talented at decorating and making the cookies into beautiful window displays.

there are more character and things for this, but i wanted to get this crack au out of the way. and yes there actually is a plot and no i don’t know how i managed to create a plot out of this. and yes i do have designs for the characters already. i probably won’t have digital for a while, but you know it’ll be great.

[sergeantsporks]

Whatever It Takes

Rating: Teen and Up, Gen

TW: Self-harm, attempted suicide, emotional manipulation

“While I’ve got you here, want to hear the complete history of wild magic? I’m sure you’ll find it very interesting, considering that you’re old enough to have lived through it.”

“I am not, you little brat. Shut your mouth, I don’t want to listen to your voice.” “Yeah? What if I don’t want to shut up? What if I feel like singing?"

Hunter is a difficult prisoner to keep, and Lilith and Eda are about to find that out the hard way.

Ao3

Ch 1/4: Assassins

“Eda! King, Willow, Gus, Amity and I are going to the Knee for some training! Be back in a few days, love you!”

“Bye! Watch out for coven scouts!” Eda called back, watching Luz and King walk out the door and down the path. The instant they were gone, she whipped out the scrying potion Lilith had given her, and her crystal ball. “Liliiiiiiii!”

Lilith’s face appeared in the crystal ball. “Edalyn! I finished drawing those maps of the keep. Have you managed to…?”

Eda sighed. “Not one single BAT left. I was hoping maybe there was one or two I never met, but nope. Raine really did decide that they would take down the throne with three teenagers.”

“And you.”

Eda felt her face heat up. “Lot of good that did them. Ugh. You’re sure Belos didn’t tell you anything else?”

“Not a single thing. I think he was always planning on replacing me with the Golden Brat as coven head, he just wanted me to get that portal first.”

“Alright, what do we know? Day of Unity bad, but Belos needs all of the coven heads to do it. So we take one out. Same plan as before, just this time we get one alone. You and I can handle one measly coven head, especially since I’ve learned a few feathery tricks since last time.”

“Which one? The Golden Guard? He goes out on missions alone a lot, it wouldn’t be hard to ambush him.”

Eda’s eyes narrowed. “Hold that thought, Lilith. I can think of another one who I’d really like to get my hands on. We might be able to kill two birds with one stone.”

“What’s that?”

“Darius. He likes to talk, and he’s a prissy coward. Not to mention, he was the last person who I know saw Raine. If we go after him, we might be able to find out where Raine is, and if we can rescue him, then we’ll have a coven leader dead AND more information on the day of unity.”

“I’ve always wanted to kick mud on him and his stupid fancy cape. Watch that scrying potion, and call me the next time Belos sends him out. We’ll have to move fast. Will you be bringing Luz along?”

Eda shook her head. “No. The fight Raine started—it’s my fight. She needs to focus on her schoolwork, and on making her portal home. Plus Luz, she… ah, she has a big heart. And most of the time, that’s a good thing, but when it comes to an assassination… I don’t think this is a part of my life I want to share with her.”

“Alright. The two of us should be able to handle it on our own. Just say the word, sister.”

Xxx

Hunter knelt before Belos’ throne. “You wanted to see me, sir?”

“Ah, yes. It has come to my attention that there will be an attempt on Darius’ life.”

Hunter nodded. “I’ll assign him a protection detail immediately.”

“No.” Belos leaned forward. “I want you to protect him. Personally. And… discreetly. Darius will know that you are protecting him, of course, but I want you to stay hidden, so that the assassins will not know you will be there. Catch them if you can, kill them if you can’t. Above all else, I need Darius alive. Don’t let him die.”

Hunter inclined his head. “Yes, sir.”

Xxx

“Ready?”

Eda nodded, pulling up a scarf over her face. “Watch out. His abomination form can be a real pain.”

Lilith threw a potion to the ground in front of Darius, and it erupted in a haze of smoke. Eda shifted into her harpy form, and Lilith grabbed onto her talons. Eda flew them down, dropping Lilith and dive-bombing Darius, her talons ripping at his skin.

He shifted into his abomination form at the last second, coughing from the smoke. Lilith came up behind him, slapping a glyph paper onto him. It glowed, and the goop he was made of started to freeze, stopping him in his tracks.

“Tell me where Raine is!” Eda demanded.

Darius rolled his eyes. “This is ludicrous. You aren’t going to win.”

“You seem awfully confident for someone who’s about to freeze into a popsicle,” Lilith snarled.

Eda felt, rather than saw, the attack coming, and she yanked Lilith out of the path of a little blur of gold. “Oh, great.”

Darius broke free of the ice by shifting back to his witch form. “Nice of you to turn up.”

The golden guard didn’t respond, instead launching another attack at Eda, singeing one of her wings. She growled, tackling him, but he zipped out of the way, sending another blast of magic that she just barely managed to dodge.

Lilith slapped a glyph combo on the ground, and vines burst out of the ground, surrounding Darius and Hunter in a wide circle, and then lighting on fire. “Nowhere to run.”

Eda dove once again for Darius, snatching his shoulders in her talons and ripping through his cloak and skin, but another blast from Hunter made her flap backwards to avoid getting hit. Lilith froze the ground, turning her ring of fire into an ice rink as well, melted on the edges. Her sister had strapped fire glyphs to her feet, allowing her to melt the ice and create a stable place to stand wherever she stepped. Eda flapped up, then dove again, this time aiming for Hunter. He zipped to the side, but almost immediately slid on the ice, nearly slipping into the fire ring. Eda dove again, smacking him to the side with one of her wings. He skidded across the ice into Darius, who was fending off attacks from Lilith, back in his abomination form.

Lilith tossed a piece of paper up to Eda, and Eda dove back down, slapping it on Darius’ shoulder. It was the ice glyph again, and the coven leader started to freeze.

Lilith whipped out another glyph. “Nowhere to go, Darius,” she taunted.

She activated her glyph, and Eda soared up out of the way as a blast of light and fire shot out of the glyph.

Darius was half frozen, but he shifted back to his witch form. It happened almost too fast for Eda to catch, but as Lilith’s spell raced toward him, Darius grabbed a dazed Hunter as he struggled to get up and whipped the guard around in front of him, using him as a shield.

The spell struck them, hitting Hunter square in the chest and sending both of them flying backwards. They crashed into Lilith’s flaming wall, breaking the vines and skidding into a tree.

“No!” Eda yelped as Darius rolled to his feet, pushing Hunter off of him and racing away. “GET BACK HERE, YOU COWARD!”

Lilith caught her leg as she started to fly after him. “Edalyn! We got what we came for!”

Eda twisted back to look at her sister. “What are you talking about?! He’s getting away!”

Lilith nodded to the limp golden guard on the ground. “He’s the head of the emperor’s coven, Eda. Coven leader. We got what we needed.”

“You didn’t…”

“Kill him? Doubtful, I designed that glyph with the intention to blast Darius’ abomination form apart so he’d be forced to return to his witch form.”

Eda landed next to Hunter’s limp form. His helmet had been cracked hard enough to fall off. Beans. Despite the fact that her wing still stung from his attack, it was hard to remember how dangerous he was when he looked like this. He was just… some kid. If it weren’t for Belos, he might even be one of Luz’s friends.

“Well? Finish it. This is how we stop Belos!”

“He’s just a kid, Lili. I can’t kill him.”

“I can.” Lilith stormed forward, holding an ice spike. She held it pointed right over Hunter’s heart. “Goodbye, Golden Brat.”

Eda waited. Lilith didn’t make another move. Her sister’s hand was shaking on the ice spike. “Soooooo, are you going to do it, or…”

Lilith tossed the spike to the side. “Alright. Fine. I can’t kill a kid either, even a brat like him. But we blew our shot with Darius, what else are we supposed to do?”

Go figure that her sister had no problem trying to kill Luz, but now, when child-killing was a skill she needed, Lilith had decided to be a better person. “Lili, how do they appoint new coven leaders?”

“There’s an initiation—”

“No, like, what about the old coven leaders? What do they do to them? If they specifically need coven leaders, what do they need about them?”

Lilith frowned. “I… I’m not sure. Darius, he can turn into an abomination. Eberwolf has an extra beast form. The leaders before them had the same abilities, if memory served. But they didn’t have them before becoming leaders.”

“Okay, what about the old leaders?”

“After the old leaders retired, they lost those abilities.”

Eda snapped her fingers. “It’s passed on. From leader to leader. Belos never intended to keep you as the coven leader, so there was no need to keep you around to switch coven leaders. Whatever it is that makes the head of the emperor’s coven special… he’d already given it to Hunter, I’m betting.”

Lilith crossed her arms. “Of course.”

“Lilith, can we leave the self-depreciation for later? I think I’m onto something. Belos needs the old coven heads to pass on the powers—I don’t know what happens if one of them dies, but if the old coven leader is alive, they’ll need that coven leader to pass on their power. So if we just keep Hunter…”

“He’s minus a coven head!”

Hunter groaned and stirred on the ground. Lilith yelped and bashed him over the head with her staff. “Stay asleep!”

Hunter went limp again, and Eda grinned. “Yowch, there, Lili.”

Lilith pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’m… not certain that keeping him prisoner is the best idea, Edalyn. It’s a lot harder to hold someone against their will than it is to kill them. Especially the golden guard.”

“From what I’ve seen out of Kikimora this far, it might be just as hard to make him stay dead.” Eda glanced down at Hunter. “And besides, I… I want to ask about Raine.”

Lilith sighed. “Oh, Eda. The emperor… he’s not a merciful man. You might not like the answer.”

“Please, Lili. We can tie him up in the basement, Hooty can hide the door so that Luz won’t find him on accident when she comes back, and if you help me keep an eye on him, he won’t get away.”

“And how long are you planning on keeping him in your basement? Until Belos dies? Until you die? You can’t just keep someone tied up for their whole life, it would be kinder to kill him.”

Eda rolled her eyes. “Fine, if I promise to take him for walks, and buy all of his toys with my own money, and housetrain him really well, can I keep him, Mom?”

“This isn’t a joke, Eda! You are planning on keeping a dangerous individual in your home! He will try to escape! I wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to kill you on his way out!”

“Day of Unity, Lilith. I think… I think it may be a one-time event, a chance that doesn’t come around often. We just have to keep him until then. If Belos ramping up his wild-witch catching is any indication, then it must be coming soon. Help me? Please?”

Lilith sighed. “Fine. But when something goes wrong—”

“When? Geeze, put a little more faith in me, Lili!”

“Yes, when something goes wrong, I am absolutely going to say ‘I told you so.’”

Xxx

Darius knelt before Belos’ throne. “My lord!”

“Darius. Where is the Golden Guard?”

“You were right. There was an attempt on my life. The Golden Guard stayed behind to ensure my escape.” No need to mention that it hadn’t exactly been of his own free will.

“Oh?”

“Yes. I would have stayed, but I know how important it is for the day of unity that all coven heads are present, so I’m afraid that I had to retreat.”

Belos leaned forward. “I’m sorry, what was that last part?”

“I… know that all of the heads of the covens must be present?”

“Interesting. And what, pray tell, is the Golden Guard, other than my right hand?”

A bead of sweat dripped down the back of Darius’ neck. “The… head of the… emperor’s coven?”

Belos stood up, his eyes flashing that terrifying glowing blue. “Exactly. So, what, pray tell, does that say about the Golden Guard?”

“That you… need him to be present on the Day of Unity?”

Darius didn’t see him move, but in an instant, Belos was right in front of him, staring into his eyes with those creepy flaming blue ones. “So you can figure it out.”

“My Lord, I’m sorry—”

Belos put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing just tight enough for it to hurt, and steered him out the throne room door. “You will go out there and correct your mistake. You will go back to where you left him, and you will find out what became of him. Oh, and Darius?”

Darius gulped. “Y-yes, my lord?”

Belos released his shoulder. “Don’t bother coming back without him.”

Ch 2

[the-silver-peahen-residence]

||Through better or worse||

Hi dears, this is a quick drabble  I wanted to give a try but I wanna see how this goes for a first try for writing one for her. Now, I don’t know if many remember but lets say The DBT and the other organizations have beaten most of the hunters and threats but it’s time for the main one: Megan herself. Why? She kidnapped some of the young members like Taz, Gerald, Ping, Timmy, Daniella, and Alex for a experiment so the groups went to find them.

So while they were doing that, some of the members were separated from everyone in each fraction but some explosion,  including Jaron and Melinda. So what is happening now? Read to find out.

||Warning||

*Heavy fighting may be included

*Blood/injury will be seen

*very violent

Jaron Jackal belongs to the wonderful and sweet @demon-blood-youths

Melinda Brooks belongs to me

((Grammar is still horrible but just writing this for fun so just a heads up. Hope demon mun and you dears like it))

During a rainy night, The fractions in NYC have done so much over the last few days. Stopping most of the threats of Hunters and other dangers in their sections. Now, things were calming down for the better..or that is what one would say. Megan has threw one last trick up her sleeve; she’s kidnapped some of the younger members from different fractions. The few were the following:

Taz and Gerald from DBT(Demon Blood Tears)

Ping from the Cursed Vixens

Timmy from the Shallow Butterflies

Daniella frost from The Dark Eclipse Nightshades

and Alex swallow a new member that was taken into the Elite Demon Anthem

When hearing this, the leaders Ink, Jinx, Kali, Yuuka, and Ashley were furious and worried hearing the younger members were kidnapped so they agreed to come as one to rescue the young team members and stop Megan once and for all.

Or that was the plan. Now everyone or some were separated from one another in this crazy mad house of a hide out.

Right now, in a hidden dark lower level of a room that was a warehouse, a pair of running feet and heavy breathing was heard showing a black teenager running with another black skinned teenager who was covered in dirt, mud, and rain. Jaron Jackal was running through the opening space while behind him was Melinda Brooks, a girl that was a member to the Cursed Vixens. The two of them were separated from their factions due to the commotion in the upper levels. They knew the others were fighting off hidden hunters in this place but they were still running before hurrying down to a lower level. The two just kept running, even if their lungs were burning and the demonic blood in their veins full of adrenaline, they couldn’t stop running.

That’s when the two come to a fork in the hallway so what was the choice: Left or right?

“Crap; which way?” he mutters worried trying to find a safe path to take but looks to Melinda who sat up straight looking worried.

“Jaron; we been r..running for a while now. It’s only a matter of time before she finds us. We’ll have to just take a gu..guess and go that way..” she knew it was risky to pick random but they had to before she caught up.

He looks left and right trying to think as Melinda catches her breath feeling really sore from before with some dry blood on her side to rest a hand over it. She was fighting Megan to protect Jaron since she was trying to kill him. Something Melinda wouldn’t have! She even got her arm bitten by her proving the wound she got. He still remembers it since it happened a while ago:

She and him were in a small box area before Megan found them. She fights the two but Melinda was protecting Jaron as she fights her even if she got stabbed in the side and hit like some rag doll, she didn’t give up. Not when it came to protecting him. Even if she was bleeding, Jaron remembers the whole thing after she saved them both from free falling down a broken elevator shaft.

```````````````````````````````

‘Hold o..on Jaron..’ she was holding his wrist as he was wincing seeing some things falling from above them in this elevator. It was broken with some flames seeing down below. She slowly closes her eyes to grab jaron using her Telekensis and pull him up slowly as he was lifted to be beside her. When he got up, he quickly helps pull her up as she was tired.

‘You alright?’ he asked seeing her nod.

‘Y..Yeah, I’m alright..but are you alright?’ she gently touches his cheek but he looks to her about to speak when he saw something coming right at them. ‘Get down!’

He pulls her down hearing her yelp seeing a dagger get stabbed into the wall above them. Both Jaron and Melinda looks seeing Megan glaring at them as she was gripping her blade dashing towards them.

The two move quickly to back up as Megan was hurt but she was showing blood running down her face.

‘You fucking bitch!! You and your little friends don’t know when to quit do you!? I guess once I kill you I’ll kill him and the others!!’ she was furious but Jaron was about to move but Melinda got in front of him while looking to her with her silver eyes.

“I won’t let you hurt him..if you wanna get to him, you’ll h..have to get through me..” was panting heavily while glowing with silver flames standing in front of Jaron. He didn’t want her to get hurt but she didn’t care while seeing Megan that was normal when swiping her blade at her trying to kill Melinda. However, she dodges and pushes her back using her telekinesis. Jaron was watching this wanting to help get Melinda away from this killer but got pushed back by Megan who tries throwing blades at him.

“!!” He was ready to dodge but the blades stop in mid air thanks to Melinda catching them. He sees her change their direction to stab the wall where Megan was but she got angry only to try again but Melinda kept stopping her from getting close. That only ticked her off to scream,

“GET OUT OF MY WAY YOU STUPID REJECT!!’”she rams into Melinda to stab her in the side, as Melinda yelps in pain. That’s when she then gets rammed in the stomach knocking her down hard on the ground but she winces from that as she held her stomach.

“Melinda!!” he goes to help her but Megan tackles Jaron now holding a blade to his throat but he held her blade away from him.

“Damn you....damn you both.....you keep protecting her but she’s nothing but a damn idiot! Why are you going all this way just to protect her!!!!!” she keeps trying to stab Jaron but he keeps the blade away from his throat struggling to look up at her. He could use his silver tongue but she was immune to it from the first try. It was annoying but he just keeps holding the blade away.

“Because she has a meaning to live! Your a monster trying to hurt someone that only wanted to prove she is worth living for!” He saw her get annoyed to hold him by the throat, ready to stab him there hearing enough.

“She ain’t worth shit to me! And I know you won’t be after I kill you!” Before the blade came down, something hits her away from Jaron as she crashes into the wooden crate. Jaron sits up holding his throat but saw Melinda panting with her hand out but she lowers it wincing in pain as her blood was running down her side. He got up quickly to help her as he sees the blood. “Melinda..”

“I..I’m alright...I’m alright but we need to get out of here...b..before she gets up..” she sees Jaron nod helping her up but they begins getting out of the area but when they do, Megan twitches with a dark aura forming around her.

```````````````````````

Which leads to now. As Jaron was about to make a choice, the two tense up hearing a loud inhuman screech from behind them.  They look quickly seeing something running on all fours screeching at the two demons. It was Megan! But she didn’t look human. She looked like some mindless killing beast.She had deadly trendils sprouting from her back. She had a dark shadow like goo body with dangerous teeth and claws as she rushes at the two ready to kill them.

“!!!!!”

“Come on! RUN!” He grabs her hand as they run down the hall to take the left as Megan crashes against the wall in front of her. Melinda was running but she and him looks back seeing the monster shaking her head and continues chasing them. Closing her hand, she tries to push her back while using her physic ability to grab some of the tables around and throws them at Megan that hits her face. She shook it off roaring out in pain but she gives chase trying to stop the two.

Jaron and Melinda kept running down the hallway trying to get away from Megan but she got more and more angry before roaring out to blast a wave of dark trendils to slam the ground hard. It caused the ground to crack as it chases after the two. Jaron and Melinda saw this, running faster till the floor under them gives up as it sends the two down a more lower level. She and him fall together that had them slide down some tube going lower and lower into Megan’s base. The two demons slide down before they crash into a hidden wide lab like area. Jaron groans wincing from the landing then looks around seeing Melinda land near by on her side. He goes to check on her.

“Are you okay?”

“..*Coughs* Y..Yeah, I’m alright.......But w..where are we?” she mutters slowly sitting up to see the lab area. But the two got nervous seeing the area before hearing shouting ahead. Jaron heard familiar ones that he helps Melinda up and heads to the noise. They keep going to show a lower level but their eyes widen seeing who was inside.

It was the younger team members!

Taz was calming a crying Ping down from being scared while Timmy and Gerald worked together trying to break the prison down. Alex was hugging Daniella  scared that the two hurry down to try helping them.

“Taz! Gerald!”

The two of them looks to see Jaron that their eyes widen but shows relief.

“Jaron!! Thank goodness you found us! Can you get us out?? We can’t break this dome thing!” she said seeing Ping crying more that he looks around to see a switch as he had Melinda stay where she was to rest up when going to find something. Melinda wanted to help but she was tired a little waiting for her demon blood to heal her. Jaron kept looking for a switch to get the younger ones out before seeing it. “Aha! found it.” He begins pulling the level as the power hums down to making the dome disappear. The young members were free as they walked from the prison happy to be free. The two were happy to see them safe and sound.

“Come on, lets get out of here before she finds us..” Jaron said getting ready to leave while Melinda slowly stood up getting ready to leave. But she stops sensing something. The young team members was about to speak but gasped seeing something jump down to tackle the groups from one another.

“MOVE!!” Melinda pushes the young team members and Jaron away as Megan misses from slamming down into the ground. She roars out now more angry as Jaron got in front of the younger teens who was afraid seeing Megan now a monster. He wouldn’t let them get hurt by her as she was hissing to them. She now tries attacking only for Melinda to throw some silver balls at her as she shakes it off. She now faces Melinda who was ready to fight but they felt a large tremor from the upper floors. The other fractions must be trying to get to the others but cased the lights to flash red and dark.

Right now, Megan slams Melinda away as she faces Jaron with the other younger teens. He looks to see a door get blasted down showing the leaders of the fractions.

“GUYS!!! COME ON!! RUN OVER HERE!!” Ink waves her arm seeing the younger members running over to her getting out the room as Jaron goes to help Melinda who was trapped by Megan. She blinds her with flames before feeling his hand take hers so they can run to the opening of the door. The leaders shouting for the two to hurry through when Megan screams out in rage, having tendrils form. She was going to kill them!!!! She roars out sending them out to the running teens that Jaron got tripped by Megan. He hits the ground. Melinda gasped and rushes to help him get away from Megan as she screeches at him about to have her tendrils stab him. His eyes widen to shut them holding his arms up as he awaited for the pain, thinking the tendrils stabbed him but he felt nothing. 

“...???....”

He didn’t know what happened but he slowly lowers his arms to opening his eyes that widen in shock and horror. “!!!”

“.........” Melinda was over him but she had her eyes closed with blood dripping down her chin and on him. Tendrils were stabbed into her back and two through her that missed stabbing him. He looks at her as she slowly coughs breathing in pain that some of her blood hits his cheek and runs down it. Her silver eyes open to look at him slowly.

“A...are you..o...okay?” she speaks in a quiet tone but he sees her claw the ground.

“M..Melinda, are you crazy!?”

“..........I g...guess I am..” she sounded like she was really hurt but winces coughing blood up as he sits up more worried.

“Melinda, you...why did you-”

“...Because..I wanted to protect you. I would have used my telekinesis but I would have been too late due to still re..recovering from before......besides, I did say..she had to get through me before getting to you...remember?”

“I know but still....”

“I know..but I don’t want anyone e..else to get killed by h..her again..It would be painful s..seeing my friends killed...and if she killed you..I..I couldn’t bare it...I’m willing to risk my safety and my life..to keep you safe.....”

“...........” He was silent but sees her move her hand to slowly hold his cheek while looking at him crying in pain.

“ Through better or worse...you’ll always have others care about you...and I want to be s..sure..your alright...”  she speaks so weak suddenly but he got worried to quickly sit up that Megan growls about to attack them but the leaders rush in to attack together that Ink cuts the tendrils so Melinda was free. She falls on Jaron that catches her but he sees the blood seeping through her clothes and he knew some got on his own clothing that he sees her closing her eyes bleeding.

“....” He knew she shouldn’t have but she used herself to protect him. Or to say; save him.  Melinda seriously was too good for this world and yet she was risking her life for him? He looks at her seeing Melinda breathing slowly that he sees Ophelia rush over saying they had to get out of here. Seeing the fight with the leaders they heard some things exploding up above meaning it’s true. The hideout was getting ready to blow. In that moment, Vivi had a portal set up ready to get them out as everyone rushes to run through. Jaron picks Melinda up and rushes with Ophelia beside him through but hopes to get Melinda away from Megan. Megan got hit into some rubble as the lab was coming down but everyone got through before the area caved in.

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~Later that early morning~

“So how is she?” Jinx asked Ophelia who was already done checking Melinda.

“She’s alright. After healing most of the life threatening wounds with Hex’s help, she’ll pull through. Just needs a lot of bed rest but that could be a while. But she’s no longer in danger.” she sighed seeing the fractions in a meeting.

The young members were safe again thanks to the mission being completed but the cursed vixens were worried about their team mate. Though, they knew Ophelia was able to help her and the same for Hex. As for Melinda, she was sleeping in a bed while Jaron was in the room with her. She was cleaned up of blood, dirt, and mud and in fresh new clothing. He was sitting in a chair by her bed but held her hand, he was also cleaned of blood but checked for injuries. He didn’t want her to get hurt like that again but he only grips her hand trying not to be too upset. He didn’t know if she’ll get scars but she might just as before. However, he still remembers what she told him last night;

“ Through better or worse...you’ll always have others care about you....and I want to be s..sure..your alright..”

“.......................” with a sigh, he remains by her side till she wakes up after resting up. She and her fraction might stay for a bit till she’s safe to move back home. But at least she was alright and alive. Her demon blood will help with the healing process so that will be a big help. For now, he’ll have to wait as she rests up but he looks down that the upper part of his face was hidden. He hopes he can repay her back for this. He did look up to see her sleeping face but Jaron lowers her hand and was just holding it as the morning sun was rising.

“...Thanks Melinda...seems I owe you one....” he speaks in a soft tone but remains there to help in anyway he can till she felt better.