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Edric and Emira both tried their best to fall asleep, but it was clear that there would not be much rest that night.
Emira's mind was racing with thoughts of doubt, self-deprecation, and fear.
Edric was the same, but he was also occupied with the empty hope that Hunter would show up at their door and take him home. He'd go up on his tiptoes to try and reach Edric's face, but would fall short and kiss him on the chin.
Ed was trying to stay strong for both of the twins, but he couldn't shake the feeling that maybe their mother had fucked up for good this time.
Usually they could get out of any punishment, or withstand her anger. But this was different, it felt permanent. The way that the coven members looked at the twins that night at dinner and described their "overwhelming potential" and "immature, but malleable demeanor" made Ed sick to his stomach.
Maybe there was no way out this time, maybe they were doomed to the Emperor's Coven.
They sat in silence for a few more minutes, desperate for sleep to take over, so they would not dare utter a word about their fears, until they heard a tapping at the window.

The twins shot upright, and Emira stumbled in the dark to the curtain, throwing it open. Edric stood on the bed, ready to cast a spell at any moment.

They were met with the face of a certain blonde, eyebrows pulled together with concern and concentration. Behind him was Luz, clutching his waist.
They climbed through the window and Luz tapped a piece of paper, creating a ball of soft yellow light.
"Hunter, you are the most unhinged flier I've ever met, and I've even flown with Eda." Luz muttered, patting down her windswept hair.
Hunter waved her off and looked the twins up and down. They were still dressed in their clothes from earlier that day, but stood barefoot.

"We're okay. No one hurt us." Emira said immediately to reassure their rescuers, and she watched as an ounce of fear left their faces.

"Yeah. Apparently our mom had an order made to send us to the castle for some kind of reconditioning. That we were a bad influence to Amity, or something. And that we needed to be more like adults." Edric scoffed, then his face fell. "She really just thought we were little kids with nothing to live for but her."
Hunter threw his arms around Edric, sighing loudly at the relief of hugging his boyfriend.
"I'm so sorry."
He looked over at Emira, smiling warmly.
They broke apart, but they still held each other's forearms. "This day has been out to get us, hasn't it?" Edric said, laughing quietly.

Hunter frowned. "Sure. But we don't have a lot of time. The guards are switching shifts right now, so we have exactly 2 minutes left before they walk around this side of the castle again."

He stood back, gathering Luz and Emira into a huddle.

"Em, Ed, make clones of yourselves and make them go to sleep. I'm going to teleport you down to the edge of the grounds, and you need to RUN."

Edric's eyebrows pulled together with concern as he drew a circle with his finger, commanding the illusion to lie down. Emira's clone was already fast asleep.

"Don't worry," Hunter reassured. "Me, Luz, and Rascal will fly over and catch up to you. I'd do this all at once, but I'm not used to magic... I can only teleport 1 other person at once."

Luz straightened her back, grabbing Ed and Em's hands. "That's okay. Em, you first."
Hunter hugged Emira, then grabbed Rascal in their staff form and they disappeared in a flash of bright yellow.
Edric and Luz held their breaths until they saw Hunter reappear, panting.
"Ed, ready?"
He wrapped his arm around Edric's waist, kissing him before they disappeared, leaving Luz for a moment.
This was too easy.

Hunter teleported himself back to the castle tower to find Luz, and Rascal was waiting outside the window to bring Luz and Hunter back into the woods where they came from to catch up with the twins. Luz went first, climbing quickly but carefully onto Rascal, and Hunter was right on her heels, ready to escape.

His heart sank when he felt his body stop in midair and a deep voice bellowed:

"Hunter, welcome home."

The feeling was so familiar: the sickening pull of magic enveloping his body, the loss of autonomy, and the overwhelming fear that he had no idea where he was about to be next.

"LUZ, GO!" He screamed as he felt himself being pulled away from the window, magic immobilizing him. Luz looked terrified, but nodded, mouth agape, and flew away as fast as she could.

Hunter was flung through the doorway of the bedroom, slamming against the hallway, head spinning. He thought he felt a gloved hand tenderly petting his hair as he quickly faded out of consciousness, darkness overtaking him.

--

Hunter awoke in the emperor's throne room, a place he was all too familiar with. It had been months since he sat here, knees on the cold tile. He had knelt before the emperor so many times he thought maybe the cartilage in his kneecaps was flattening into the marble floors.

It was unclear how he'd gotten back into that position, but he raised his head towards the front of the room, where he met the cold blue eyes of a masked Belos.

"I've missed you so dearly, Hunter." Belos cooed, sitting back in his throne. "Have you finished playing your little runaway game?"

Hunter was silent.

"You seem to have been gone so long that you forgot that I know everything that happens in my own castle." Belos said, with such a stinging clarity in his tone. "I was thrilled to hear of your arrival. I knew we just had to be together again."

Hunter swallowed tightly. "I've decided to enroll in school to learn more about magic and become stronger."

Belos wasn't buying that story. His head cocked to the side, playfully, and it made Hunter's stomach plummet to the floor.

"Now, now, I think you've forgotten that I know what's best for you. It seems there's been someone on your mind, someone who's been keeping you from coming home. You seem... distracted, Hunter."

Hunter could feel Belos' eyes roll from behind the mask.

The blonde felt the blood rush from his cheeks. He bowed his head and looked at his feet. The disappointed voice of Belos was enough to pull him right back from his escape, rope him in, keep him trapped once more in the coven.
"Yes, Emperor. I have grown distracted by the Blight boy. I apologize."

Belos nodded in approval.

Hunter stood to leave, but Belos cleared his throat.

"Hunter,"

The blonde turned back. Belos removed his mask and smiled at Hunter, his eyes almost... tender.

It made Hunter want to spit in his face.

"...Do go to school tomorrow. I believe there are some... loose ends you need to tie up. A scout will escort you for a brief visit."

Hunter nodded and turned on his heels, his brain feeling foggy. He had lost everything in a matter of moments, like Belos took him and cleansed him of all essences of love and self-respect.
He marched back to his old room in the tower: it was completely unchanged, nothing had moved since the night he escaped. Even the first-aid kit laid open in the same place on his bed, a bandage wrapper sitting on the ground nearby.
Hunter shuddered and cleaned off the bed, staring blankly at the worn sheets before him.
All of the past happiness he had experienced with Eda and the others left his body, all of his joy slipping out of him like stale, dirty water. Tainted by the coven.

He made a big decision that night while lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. A decision that would keep Edric and the Owl House safe.

--

The next morning, Hunter slicked back his hair, buttoning his uniform hood. He wasn't sure how he acquired one, but there was a spare in the wardrobe of his room at the castle. He assumed that someone had been keeping tabs on him and fully prepared for this to happen.
His stomach sank at the thought, but he pushed the feeling away and made his way to the entrance of the castle, where 2 scouts flew him to Hexside. They didn't leave: they stood eerily on the edge of the school grounds, out of sight.

Edric and Hunter met eyes in the hallway when he arrived. Hunter had not slept. His eyes looked sunken, dying, and Edric ran up to give him a tight hug.

"Hunter... How did you get back? Are you okay?"

Hunter simply shrugged. "I'm fine. Belos took care of me."

Edric's eyebrows furrowed. "No, that's the exact opposite of what Belos does. Seriously, what is going on with you?"
"Nothing, Edric, I'm fine."
Edric hugged him again. "Sweetheart, if you need to talk to me, you can. Are you sure you're alright? You look so tired and--"

Hunter snapped his shoulders to the side to break away from Edric. "Blight, I'm not some prisoner you can interrogate!"

He cleared his throat, straightened his back and pushed more feelings into the back of his cloudy mind.

"Listen, I've realized that I don't have time for all of this."
His voice wavered, but hopefully not enough to let Edric notice. He stood firmly in front of the taller boy, imagining that his feet were bolted to the ground so he wouldn't falter and change his mind.

"All of ...what?" Ed whispered. The word barely left his mouth, tears choking it back. He asked, but he already knew exactly what was happening.

"I hope you're kidding." Ed continued. "We just started dating. Things are going great... at least, I thought so."

Hunter wanted to fucking cry. But he put his hands on his hips, taking a shaky breath in. "Well, I disagree. This was a bad idea. I'm sorry that I dragged you into this, but it's best if we were just friends."

None of his emotions felt in control. He wanted to scream and cry but nothing came out, just a numbness that overpowered.

Edric's face fell. "You're something else, Hunter." He said as a tear rolled down his cheek. But it wasn't in the tone that Hunter knew he deserved from Edric. He deserved something snappy, disgusted, cold. But Edric's words were calm and sweet. They were loving.

Hunter didn't say anything more, even though he had a lot of ideas as to what he would if he could. He simply put his hands in his pockets, nodded, and walked slowly down the front steps, not daring to look back at the heartbroken boy he left.
"WAIT!" Edric yelled.
Hunter hesitated, but turned towards the shouting.

"WAKE UP!" Someone next to him screamed. It was Luz.
Hunter furrowed his brow. "Luz? Stop it! I'm doing something really serious. Leave me alone!"
"PLEASE! Just wake up!" she yelled again.

"Hunter, HUNTER! Wake up, PLEASE!"

The blonde was shaking, or so he thought when he suddenly opened his eyes and saw a familiar human girl grabbing his arm.

"Hunter, oh my Titan... Please tell me you're okay." Luz was sobbing, and she threw her arms around his sweaty figure. He winced at how gross he must feel to her.

He sat up and felt the blood rush to his head, making him dizzy.

"Hunter, you used way too much magic and you passed out," she explained through her cries. "I'm so sorry I made you go get the twins. I shouldn't have made us do that!"

Hunter shook his head, still a little delirious. "I'm...uh... I had a bad dream... " He muttered.
Luz wiped her nose. "Yeah, no shit, you were practically having a seizure. Have you ever used that much magic before?"

Hunter shrugged. "No. I just wanted everyone to get out."

Lilith, Eda, and the Blight siblings tore down the stairs and into the living room at the sound of his voice.

Eda crouched down next to Hunter and Luz and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Well, kid, you're officially a member of the family now because you almost made me shit myself out of fear. Welcome."

This got a chuckle out of the boy. "Ha. Eda... thank you. Please don't shit yourself."

She smiled, then frowned. "You're welcome. But you're a part of the family officially which means you and Luz are OFFICIALLY grounded forever. Nice attempt to sneak out, but I'm not stupid. You two are never leaving my sight again."

Luz groaned. "Seriously?"
Eda waved her hand in Luz's direction and hugged Hunter tightly.
"I love you, tough guy," she whispered. "You really scared me. This house wou;dn't be the same without you."

He nestled into the owl lady's bony collarbone, then looked around. "I need to talk to Edric." he said with a sense of urgency. His nightmare had shaken him up pretty bad, and all he wanted to do was give the green-haired witch a hug.

Edric poked his head from behind Eda. "Hey, Blondie." He said weakly.
Hunter jumped up and threw his arms around Edric, then winced. "Ow, I'm pretty sore. Sorry."
His grip on the boy loosened, but that just made Ed hug tighter.
"Nope, not done. I'm going to hug you for like... a year. Got it? Good."
Edric craned his neck down to rest on Hunter's shoulder while they hugged, and Eda cleared her throat.
"I let Lilith use your bedroom. Hunter, you and Ed can sleep down here. IF you promise to not do anything weird on the couch."

Edric chuckled as he broke away from the hug, but kept his arm loosely around Hunter's shoulders. "Define weird."

Luz made a disgusted hacking noise and Emira glared at him. He gave them a cocky wink and kissed Hunter on the temple, who was practically burning red.

Eda scoffed. "Okay, you think you're funny, huh? Maybe I'll need to have Hooty chaperone your little sleepover."

Hunter's ears twitched. "No, no, that's perfectly fine, no need to do that!"

---

Later, Hunter and Edric sat on opposite ends of the couch, talking mindlessly and looking at each other. Hunter couldn't keep from smiling at the handsome witch in front of him.

"What's got you all smiley, Blondie?"

Hunter blushed a little. "I don't know, really. I just... really like you. And I'm glad you're safe."
Edric moved closer to hold his boyfriend's hand. "Are you kidding? I was scared out of my mind when they carried you back here and you were completely unconscious!"

Hunter looked at their intertwined fingers. "I'm sorry I scared you so badly."

Ed laughed. "Don't apologize. I was more scared of what the hell my mom was up to. Trying to brainwash us into the coven by kidnapping us? Nice try, Odalia."
Hunter shook his head. "Yeah, if I were an abusive parent I'd be a little more creative than that. Sorry, bad joke."

Edric cocked his head and looked straight into Hunter's eyes, then burst out laughing as hard as he could.

"Oh my Titan, Hunter, that is the most out of pocket thing I've ever heard you say. That was fucking FUNNY!"

Hunter's jaw dropped. "Are you saying I'm not funny?!"
Edric wiped a tear from his cheek. "No, not at all. Shut up!"

"Make me."

They fell silent, and Hunter's eyes darted down to Edric's lips, then back to meet his eyes.
He thought Edric was going to kiss him when he reached out to tilt Hunter's chin up, but instead he shook his head.

"In due time, Blondie. Let's get some sleep. You look exhausted."

Hunter blinked in surprise, but then noticed that the clock read about 4 AM. He scoffed at Edric, muttering "tease," but then laid down with his head on Edric's chest.

Edric spent the next few minutes stroking his blonde locks, thinking about what he and Em had discussed in that room.
So you're in love, that's not a bad thing.

It was easy to just think the words "I love you," but when he was faced with the opportunity, like that, lying there after being reunited, he froze.
Perhaps the right time would present itself for Edric.