Chapter Text
(after mindscape chapters)
“I could… I could hide out on the knee. I don’t have to go back!” [large, wild hand gestures] “I have survival and wilderness training! I can survive on the knee!” [moment of pride, before face falls] Without supplies, I’ll die on the knee within a week. “U-until I figure out a… more, uh, permanent situation. —But, no matter. I know the knee like the back of my hand!”
[flapjack trying to convince Hunter to go home meaning the owl house] “Well, I mean, Belos is going to kill me if I go back to the castle.” I’m… afraid to go back to the castle.
[flapjack rephrasing] “No. No. I can’t go back to the— the owl whats-it. Shack. House. Whatever. They probably hate me. They saw… they saw everything. My secrets. My treason. My missions. My mistakes. My….” […] [flapjack trying to reassure Hunter] “They probably hate me for my devotion to Belos. They know everything. Everything. I— there was— there were things I—. No one was supposed to—.”
“They had no right— no… no right to invade my privacy like that!” [yelling]
[self-deprecating, manic laughter] “If they did that… if they did that, who knows what else they’re willing to do? What they WILL do?!” [flapjack reminding Hunter they were trying to help]
[crumbling] “I shouldn’t— I shouldn’t be mad at them! They did it to help me! If I weren’t so useless— If I weren’t so… so… so incompetent and worthless and… and incapable. I’m— I’m worth less than the dirt we walk on, aren’t I?”
Titan, you’re miserable. Can’t do anything right. Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid. ““I shouldn’t— I shouldn’t be mad at them! They did it to help me! If I weren’t so useless— If I weren’t so… so… so incompetent and worthless and… and incapable. I’m— I’m worth less than the dirt we walk on, aren’t I?”
[looking at Flapjack] “I… I have nowhere to go….”
[Flapjack screeches, pulling Hunter’s forelock and pecking at him. Hunter shoos Flap away and ignores the protests]
[Hunter walks out to the cliffside.]
[Flapjack frantically looks for the others.]
Darius arrives at the cliffside, finding Hunter standing on the edge.
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(after mindscape chapters)
[Hunter wakes up, groggy. Slowly pieces together what happened.]
[Hunter panics]
[Darius runs forward and hugs Hunter tightly]
“Shhh, it’s okay. You’re okay.”
“He— he—“
“You’re safe. He can’t hurt you now.”
[after some time passes, still hugging]
“Do… do you….”
“Hmm?”
“Sorry, it’s nothing.”
“It’s okay, Little Prince. You’re not in trouble. It’s okay.”
“Do… you hate me now?”
“What?!” [Darius pulls back]
[Hunter shrinks in on himself]
“It was a stupid question. You don’t need need to answer. It’s totally fine if you do! I understand! I’m a total failure and Belos was right to get rid of me!”
“No! No, no, no. Hunter, no. I do not hate you.” [Darius fumbling]. “I know… I know I haven’t been the best to you. I’m… sorry. But I’m going to be better.”
“You don’t have to lie to spare my feelings, Darius.” [Hunter rubs arm]. “You can just say you pity me.”
[Darius sighs]. “Hunter. You’re not a failure, or useless, or stupid, or whatever else you’re thinking. What happened to you…. A lot of bad things happened to you that shouldn’t have.”
[Hunter shrugs half-heartedly]. “I deserved it.”
[Darius opens his arms welcomingly.] [Hunter looks confused / conflicted for a moment.] [Darius gently pulls Hunter back into a hug]. [Hunter lets himself be hugged.]
“You did not deserve any of that.”
[Hunter mumbles incoherently].
“None of it.”
[Darius lightly strokes Hunter’s hair.]
[Flapjack pecks Darius’ hand before perching on Hunter’s head and tussling his hair].
“This your palisman?”
[More incoherent mumbling].
“He seems to really like you, Little Prince. I think it’s a good thing.”
“Just wood.” [Hunter lifts his head slightly to mumble it out].
“Well, does this ‘just wood’ have a name?”
[Hunter rubs eyes.]
[Flapjack tweets his name.]
[Hunter frowns, confused.]
“What’d’you say?”
[Flapjack twitters again, more excitedly.]
“Flapjack?”
[Darius raises an eyebrow.]
“Don’t ask me, ask the bird. Flapjack. Weird.”
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(chapter 32 / post owl beast attack chapter attempts)
The Owl Beast had been… something. That was for sure. Terrifying. Unpredictable. Violent. Just like Uncle’s. Eda had apologized after. There was… an outburst on his part, and baseless claims and rebuttals from them. About how Uncle could “take care of himself” and Hunter “shouldn’t be burdened with that responsibility” —or something stupid like that. Of course Belos could handle himself. He was the emperor, for Titan’s sake! But Hunter was family. Uncle already had so many things on his plate. He could take care of himself, but he shouldn’t have to. He was running an empire.
Unfortunately, Hunter had been too… preoccupied with… memories and useless feelings to have responded with the very sound aforementioned reasons.
However… Hunter had to admit that it was… nice. Even if they were lying out of pity, having someone tell him he wasn’t at fault, that they were proud of him, was really, really nice. Even though he knew they were lying. Because of course they were. He knows how useless he is. —But still.
Darius ended up being the one to tend to Hunter’s wound. He’d insisted that it was fine. Because it was. What was another scar anyway? It’d fade with time anyway. …He was really, really glad Darius used a healer’s coven patch. He… didn’t want another scar. Another reminder of how horrible he was at his job, as a person. And… okay… the hug was nice.
Darius keeps…. They keep ending up hugging. It was weird. It— it wasn’t wholly unpleasant. Once he shoved down the immediate unwarranted memory of, um, caring for Belos, the hug was actually nice. And Darius kindly ignored when Hunter inevitably cried.
—He didn’t want to cry! He didn’t mean to. It was stupid. There was nothing to cry about. Crying was useless and unproductive. It demonstrated weakness and fragility. The Golden Guard did not cry. …But apparently Hunter did.
And apparently he fell asleep again. Because one moment Darius was hugging him, he was crying, and then the next he was waking up to the sound of Hooty screaming that Eda was home.
One peak into the living room —he’d made sure to be quiet so they wouldn’t notice him— and he decided to nope right out of there and back to his room. Hunter did not want to get in the middle of the sob-fest that was Luz and Eda. And Hooty.
To be perfectly frank, he did not know what Hooty’s status in the house was. From his —albeit minimal— observations, the house demon is, well, the house and the guard. The Owl Lady disapproves of some of his actions, but there are no outright repercussions. Yet the household seems to treat him with ire. Even though, again, he is the house. And, while often overlooked, guards and look-outs are imperative for the safety, security, and power of a structure, hideout, fortress, you name it.
Honestly, his list kept changing. Obviously Eda ranked number one. Were Luz and King after her but before Darius and Raine? And where was Hooty? Where was Hunter? Were Darius, Raine, and himself separate of the household rankings? Was their status visitors, intruders, or captives?
Hunter knew where he stood as far as power dynamic go. Eda and Darius were, obviously, above him. He and Raine were begrudging equals. Who held more power over the other shifted from day-to-day, but as far as Hunter could tell, they leveled out about the same. He was higher ranking that Luz, King, and Hooty, for sure. But he had to be careful with how he interacted with them; he didn’t want Eda to kick him out. Or punish him. Or— whatever wild witches do.
…Would she kill him? —No, no, no, no. There was no evidence suggesting that. On the contrary, actually, the was plenty of evidence supporting that she wanted to keep him alive. Again, he wasn’t sure what the motive was. Pity? Information? Hostage? —Ha, if hostage was the case, she was in sore luck. Emperor Belos wouldn’t give her a single snail to get him back.
Putting aside the fact that uncle Belos had tried to kill him just that morning—which, Eda knew that, right? They had a conversation about that? For some reason… it was sort of fuzzy—, Hunter was replaceable. The golden guard wore a mask and a cloak for a reason. The posters never had to change. The public never had to be made aware. It didn’t matter who was under the Golden Guard. It just mattered that there was a Golden Guard. —And Hunter just so happened to be honored with that because of how much his uncle trusted him and right no, he actually didn’t trust him, because why would he? He had every right not to trust Hunter! Right! Belos had tried to kill him that morning!
“Ghrnnnn.”
Hunter whipped around to Darius as the man groggily awoke from his nap. In Hunter’s room. From where they’d apparently fallen asleep together. And why Hunter hadn’t woken the man up and shoed him away was beyond him and was illogical and he really should work on his priorities and—
“Little prince, you are pacing.”
Hunter stopped. He hadn’t realized he was pacing. And now that he was aware, it felt weird to continue. So, instead, he took his practiced position which… didn’t work very well without his cloak. So instead it was obvious how stiff and tense he was. Great.
“You didn’t have to stop.” Darius sounded irritated.
“You have slime crust on you.” Because that’s what his brain decided to spit out of his dumb mouth instead of anything else.
Darius’ face wrinkled in disgust as he flicked a piece off his shoulder. “So I do.”
Hunter started fidgeting with his gloves. He didn’t know what he was supposed to say. He was supposed to be mad at Darius, right? Or was he supposed to be thankful? He wasn’t really sure what they expected from him. He wasn’t even sure how he felt. He was so emotionally exhausted and he felt like his opinions kept changing every five seconds, and that the same three trains of thought kept bouncing around his brain.
He needed a mission or a job or just. Something.
“Does it still hurt?”
Hunter blinked. “What?” Too late did he realize Darius meant his wounds. —Which, being aware of them made his skin crawl, not because of any pain, but because he was now also aware of the sensation of the bandages which were different than what he normally used and he also had mixed feelings about that too because it would have at least been familiar and grounding to stitch himself up, but everyone else bandaged him and he was thankful but also upset about it and— and he still hadn’t answered Darius’ question.
“No. I feel sufficiently fine.”
Darius groaned again. “Pre-mission or post-mission fine?”
Hunter paused. That was… a different way of asking it. He wasn’t even sure if he really understood the question. He wasn’t currently bleeding out in his room. “Pre-mission?”
This, apparently, was not the answer Darius was looking for.
“You’re practically covered head-to-toe in bandages.”
… “And?”
“Do you normally go on missions completely injured?”
Hunter frowned. Was this a trick question? “I always have one injury or another, but what does that have to do with anything?”
The conversation didn’t last very long. He, apparently, continued to upset Darius. Again, the term “abuse” was brought up, just like with Raine. Which was stupid. They didn’t understand his relationship with Belos. It was complicated and loving, even if it was strict and painful sometimes.
Dinner was weird. He wasn’t used to eating with others, and he wasn’t used to attending a dinner and actually eating. Normally if he was ever brought along, he just stood beside Belos. Fortunately, however, the Owl Lady didn’t potion him this time, and he didn’t make a whole scene of forgetting how to breathe.
The tense air was quickly broken by Luz prying for details surrounding the Owl Lady and Raine’s past relationship. Which was actually interesting. Apparently they used to date. He wasn’t sure if he’d known that before or not.
----------- (chapter 32 attempt 2)
Blondie’s behavior was… concerning. To say the least. Which, honestly, was obvious from the moment he entered her house. He’s had panic attacks, ran away, almost called her “emperor” multiple times, tried to gather everyone to patrol the house, was constantly minimizing his trauma, was lost in his head half the time, and avoided everyone even though he was clearly trying —and failing— to be subtle about it.
Raine had noticed it too, which led to this moment.
“Raine, I didn’t even know I had cleaning supplies. How did Blondie not only find cleaning supplies that work, but also clean the fucking bathroom before anyone woke up?”
Raine groaned. “I don’t know. He woke me up at five. Five. Said Darius shooed him away when he tried to ‘report’.”
“Why was he up at five in the morning?” Eda half-cried.
“I don’t know Eda. My shift doesn’t even start until eight normally!”
“Where is Darius? Why isn’t he down here?”
“Apparently he’s meeting an old friend, or something sketchy like that.”
“He should be here. I’m this close to punching him, Raine. This. Close.”
“That would make too of us.”
Eda cocked an eyebrow. “What? You?”
“What!” Raine’s cute face flushed red. “I get mad too!”
“Pfft, well you used to be much more clever than ‘punching.’ Mindless acts of violence is my thing, Rainestorm.”
“W-well, I’ll have you know, sometimes punching is the fastest way to get a point across.”
Hunter poked his head into the room.
“Permission to enter?”
Eda squeezed her eyes shut and forced the groan to die in her throat before it could reach reality. “You don’t need to ask permission,” she instead managed.
Blondie strode over to the table where she and Rainestorm were.
“Hooty has… eaten? A coven scout who was likely gathering data on our current position. King is currently ‘making strides’ in his progress of his book writing. Owlbert is in his perch. Darius has yet to return to the Owl House and is still unaccounted for.”
“Tell Hooty not to digest that coven scout. And you can use the crystal ball, you know. You don’t got to be wandering around.”
“I will relay your command to Hooty. I appreciate your offer, Eda. If I may….”
Eda raised an eyebrow again. “Shoot. What’s up?”
Blondie shifted where he was standing. “Might I be granted permission to patrol the forest? There’s more ground to cover, and it’d be more efficient to go out myself.”
“Denied. Kid, last time you left this house, you darted straight for the castle and almost got yourself killed.”
He looked like he desperately wanted to protest. Instead, he kneeled. “Ma’am. Thank you. I will continue my task of patrolling the house if there are no other duties you’d like me to assume?”
“Raine,” Eda stressed. She didn’t know how to deal with this. She kept telling him not to kneel and he kept doing it and it was weird and stiff and she didn’t like it. What happened to the brat she met when he was still the Golden Guard?
“Uh… Hunter. You really don’t need to kneel. I promise.”
Blondie fidgeted in his kneel. “Um… what would you prefer I do? Is this not satisfactory?”
Stand. Sit. Lean against a wall. Brood. Eda listed, because literally anything would be better. But she didn’t want to scare the kid. He… seemed stiffer than before. Which made sense. She mauled him. This was supposed to be a safe place and she attacked him. She attacked the abused kid who clearly has ptsd.
“I’d prefer if you just did what felt comfortable. This is a safe place, Hunter. You can be yourself and do what you want. —Er, within reason.”
“But I can’t kneel.”
“Um… no.”
With upmost awkwardness, the kid stood up. He stuffed his hands in his pocket, then pulled them out and had them at his sides, then shifted his weight between his feet. Titan, this kid really couldn’t loosen up, could he?
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(chapters 28/29 draft/scraps)
Eda walked down the stairs, stretching. Today was going to be another good day of swindling. Swirling her left hand through the air, she used her right to cup her mouth and holler up to King.
“Food! Get it while it’d hot! Or I’ll eat it all!”
She closed her hand around the cup of apple blood, taking a sniff to make sure it wasn’t old before, well, who really cares? She drank it, that’s for damn sure.
Sure enough, the little clicks of King’s claws on the floor hit her ears, and the little guy scampered down. “Weh!”
“It’s not story time, bud,” she pushed the Azura book away. “It’s food time.”
Pausing, Eda took the book gently. “Let me see this, actually. Why’s this so familiar?”
The crystal ball chimed, and Eda tossed the crusty book somewhere onto her crusty floor. Some lame-o news broadcast was invading her morning, so she might as well make fun of it.
“Coven tryouts will be held” blah blah blah “Wild witches are on the rise” blah blah blah “Now, to introduce you all to the new head of the Emperor’s Coven!” Eda quirked an eyebrow. Lily was fired? Now that was a piece of news.
“Hello Boiling Isles!” Eda frowned. Why did that voice scratch her brain? Maybe it’s someone I knew in my Hexside days. Pfft, what a doormat. Who’d wanna join that lame-ass coven? “I am honored to join the ranks of my fellow Coven Heads in preparation for the Day of Unity. My name is Luz Noceda.” The kid on the crystal ball took her dorky golden mask off. “I’d like to ensure you all that my being human will not be a hinderance in my leading the emperor’s coven.”
Luz kept talking, but. It clicked. That was Luz. Ed’s Luz. Luz was on the crystal ball. And fuck no. Not. Happening.
---
Darius groaned. Kids.
He maneuvered around all of Eda’s junk and to the kitchen. He needed a cup of coffee to compensate for… all of this. He was not going to be happy if this aged him prematurely. He was not going to get botoxin. He would not go Odalia-low.
And yet, no matter how much he looked, there was no. Fucking. Coffee.
He half-near translocated home, catching himself half-way into a puddle of abomination goop so he didn’t appear right in the middle of a hoard of coven scouts. Even the incompetent ones could pose a problem if there were enough of them. And Darius was tired.
His bile-sac was starting to ache, his eyes stung, his back hurt, and he was tired. Titan-itself would prescribe him sleep. Honestly, maybe he should take a cat-nap. Raine had the golden bra—boy… that isn’t much better, is it? Golden… golden…. Fuck it. “Little prince” it is until I figure something nicer out.
Unfortunately for Darius, he decided to take a shower before his nap.
—
Hunter looked at himself in the mirror. The hoodie… wasn’t bad. Of course, it wouldn’t be up to uniform standard, by any means. The tunic was far too loose and the hood didn’t pull as far forward as his cloak. Not to mention that blue … was a choice. The pants were close enough to standard that they didn’t bother him too much and the gloves were a titan-send. And they were soft inside! Just like the hoodie! Maybe he could talk with uncle Belos about implementing—… right. Never mind. Totally fine. Not going to think about that.
His ears twitched when he heard screaming. Without a second thought, Hunter flung open the bathroom door and sprinted past Raine in the direction of the screaming.
He realized too-late that he didn’t have his staff, but he could make do. He was good enough at improvised combat and hand-to-hand. Whatever the threat was, he’d be able to handle it. Of course, the situation could vary based on what the threat was. If it was an intruder, he might be in a bit of a pinch without a weapon.
“EDALYN?!”
Hutner decided to forgo trying the handle, instead breaking the door off its hinges with a solid kick.
“What in Titan’s name—?!”
“Darius! What’s the situation?! Where’s the intruder?”
He couldn’t see any signs of fighting. The window wasn’t open or broken. The only destruction was Hunter’s work on the door.
“Little prince?! Why are you in here?!”
“I heard screaming and came as fast as I could, Darius,” Hunter replied automatically, still tense and coiled to fight.
“Oh for fuck’s sake… I am taking a shower.”
Hunter furrowed his brow. What did that have to do with anything? “Darius, I don’t think clothes are really important right now.”
Darius was still clutching the shower-curtain like a life-line. He was covered in… globs of slime? Part of Hunter wanted to reach out and try to examine it. The other part of Hunter was completely revolted that he was even considering it.
“Hunter. Darius. Is everything okay?” It was Raine. They sounded confused and concerned.
“I don’t see any—“
Hunter was cut off by Darius. “Would everyone please get out?!”
“Why are we yelling?” The Owl Lady joined in, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. She appeared disheveled, but otherwise relaxed. It did little to comfort Hunter.
“Edalyn! You’re damned shower spat mucus on me. MUCUS. Why?!”
“Oh, don’t get your panties in a watt. It’s probably just Hooty’s stupidity again.”
Eda moved past Raine and Hunter, over to Darius. She reached into the shower, turned the knob, and steaming water began flowing out. Darius let out a shrill shriek.
“I am naked!”
“Pfft, I can see that. Not interested, mucus-boy. I’m way out of your league.”
Hunter began fidgeting. He couldn’t help it. He had all of this energy and tension and adrenaline and no one was addressing the threat.
“Darius, report. I can’t take proper action without a situation report.”
“Oh my Titan. Get out!”
“But—“
“Out!”
“Darius, I—“
“OUT!”
Hunter opened his mouth to protest again when a burst of abomination goo forcefully pushed him out of the bathroom before filling the space where the door used to be.
He stood there dumbfounded. Was no one going to take this seriously?!
He looked to Eda. “Owl Lady, I—“
“Sorry kid, I really need this nap. I’m tired. As funny as that was, I might go owl-beast if I stay up any longer.”
Great. Perfect. Darius was being difficult and not giving a situation report. Eda wasn’t giving him orders or taking the obvious threat seriously. That left himself, Raine, King, Luz, and Hooty. Five able-bodies. Or… four, but Hunter was able-enough. Not even a problem.
“Raine, I’m calling an emergency meeting to assess the situation and take appropriate action. My current plan is to monitor the situation and patrol the area to make sure the premise is clear. I don’t have a clear idea of what happened, but I think we can—“
Raine put their hand up, and Hunter stopped. “Hunter, it’s okay. It sounds like Hooty played a prank of Darius, and everything’s fine.”
[Hunter hear’s Darius screaming and rushes over thinking something is wrong]
[maybe Darius accidentally attacks Hunter? Yells a “get out!” Thrusts him out with abomination goo and slams the door on him? Idk. Darius is butt-naked and obviously does not want anyone walking in on him, and he’s extremely revolted and angry w/ the mucus shower, and just tired / cranky]
[I like the idea of reinforcing Hunter’s belief’s in the beginning, him having horrible misunderstandings, and the adults trying to fix it but idk]
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