A/N: I hate how im only 6 minutes into the trauma–

also just take this little doodle to refer to Georgia's scars and the whole fluff because it's sorely needed.

–––

"𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘳'𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥?"

Hunter hissed at Luz, helping Georgia up while looking at the human incredulously. The witch beside him hummed, looking around in slight fear and confusion.

"That gallery–"

"Was what he made of all the lies he tells," Luz interrupted, Hunter, frowning as he looked up above.

"He's not who you think he is!"

Hunter frowned, walking ahead as he spotted an item on the ground, gently picking it up as he realised that it was a hollow, cracked palisman. The item then disintegrated in his hand, smoke appearing out of it as Hunter's hand began to tremble.

He held his other hand, steadying his shaking one as he noticed another hand placed on top of both of his own.

He looked up, seeing Georgia's soft gaze on his, comfortingly. He smiled a weak smile, eyes trying not to dart to the scars that peaked under her sleeve.

He took in a deep breath, standing up before frowning over at Luz. 

"We're probably being punished because you provoked his inner self," Hunter huffed. 

"Well, his inner self had a thousand glowing eyeballs!" Luz exclaimed in horror, waving her fingers around.

"Oh no!" Hunter copied sarcastically, holding his chest. "Eyeballs! You're so easy to scare."

Hunter crossed his arms, Georgia frowning as she placed a hand on his shoulder, Luz's eyes furrowed.

"Uh-huh... I saw the eyeballs too," Georgia raised her eyebrow. Hunter sighed, taking her hand in his.

"I don't mean to make this sound condescending, Wolfie, but that sounds extremely unlikely," He huffed.

"Boo!" King's voice called out through the walkie-talkie, Hunter jolting as he waved his arms in the air, screaming, Luz's eyes widening.

Georgia burst into laughter at Hunter's reaction, the boy developing a blush as Luz grinned, pulling her walkie out. He lightly slapped her arm, his blush increasing as Georgia's laughter eventually died down, finally ending with a smile.

He hadn't realised that a small smile had rested on his own face.

"Luz, where are you?" Eda called out, Luz smiling at the walkie. "Oh wait. Hey Blondie, your friend wants to talk to you. He brought his friend along too."

"Uh..." Hunter narrowed his eyes, thinking of who Eda could possibly talk about.

Two birds chirping from the other end soon cut his thoughts off, Luz holding the walkie up as Hunter grabbed it, his eyes wide.

"Flapjack!" He cried out. "Are you okay? Have they hurt you?"

"Talon?" Georgia's eyes widened, looking over at the walkie.

"Gimme that!" Luz grabbed the walkie back. "So, Eda... we may kinda sorta be trapped in, uh... the Emperor's mind."

Eda gasped, Georgia nearing the walkie-talkie as she looked over at Luz in confusion, the Latina shrugging.

"How in the world did you– No, we don't have time for that. Has the Inner Belos spotted you yet?"

"Yes, but we were able to get away... with help," Luz walked away, raising an eyebrow. "Can there be two inner selves?"

"No," Eda hummed. "But I have heard of strong emotions materialising. Just stay safe. If you're devoured in his mindscape–"

"We'll be trapped!" Hunter interrupted. "Dragged down into his subconscious forever."

Luz and Georgia listened to what he said in horror, Hunter frowning back at them before looking away.

"I told you I read about this stuff," He looked back at them.

"Well, we're gonna get you out!" King replied. "We'll make a return spell as fast as we can."

Luz smiled softly at the demon, Georgia listening in as well as she got over her initial horror, placing her hand on her chin in thought.

"Just don't lose the walkie-talkie," Eda warned. "It's our only connection to you."

"You got it, Owl Lady," Luz smiled. "Over and out–"

"Wait!" Hunter grabbed the walkie from Luz's hands, the Latina glaring at him as he whispered into the little device.

"I'll be home soon, Flapjack. Stay safe," He told his palisman, Flapjack chirping in return. 

"I love you. Over and out!" Hunter whispered into the walkie, Flapjack chirping as Eda and King swooned at the cute moment, Hunter looking back, surprised before frowning.

"Awe!"

Luz smiled cheekily over at Hunter as Georgia grinned at the boy, Luz catching the walkie as Hunter tossed it. Luz pocketed the small item as she smiled smugly at Hunter, the boy glaring at her as Georgia poked his side.

"So, it seems I have competition," Georgia joked, Hunter, smiling playfully back at her.

"Seems you do," He grins. "But you're currently number one."

He pecks her cheek, the girl blushing as Luz smiled smugly over at Hunter. Unfortunately, a rustling not far from the group interrupted the moment.

Appearing from a paled tree root, the purple-masked boy reappeared, surprise visible on Luz's features as Georgia sighed slightly, relaxing a little.

"It's you! Kid Belos!" Luz cried out, Hunter's own eyes were wide.

"What?" Hunter and Georgia exclaimed simultaneously, Georgia's breathing picking up slightly, fear beginning to take hold.

"Thank you, for helping us before," Luz kneeled down, smiling at the small boy. "You don't seem as scary as your inner self."

Right at that moment, a terrifying roar tore the silence, the child holding his ears shut as Georgia did the same, shutting her eyes tight. The child ran over to Luz, clinging onto her as Hunter protectively hugged Georgia, noticing a faint glow from one of the scars near her wrist.

As soon as the roar died down, Hunter pulled away, looking at Georgia in concern as she slowly looked around, finding that the creature was nowhere near. She was still on edge, and he could tell.

"If strong emotions can take form, maybe he's the Emperor's..." Luz shrugged. "I don't know, sense of guilt?"

Hunter chuckled, disbelieving what Luz said with a small smile and a raised eyebrow.

"What? Belos has done so little of anything worthy of feeling guilt," He smirked. "It's obviously his, uh, sense of innocence! His pure intentions!"

"Well, whichever it is, I think he can help us stay safe," Luz smiles over to the kid. "And maybe you can show us who Belos really is."

The kid slowly nodded, Hunter, frowning as he heard Luz's whispers.

"What was that?" He raised an eyebrow.

Another roar was cried out, the group gasping as the child grabbed Luz's forearm, Hunter grabbing Georgia's hand as the child led the way.

"No time!" Luz cried out. "Let's go, go, go!"

At that moment, a tapestry came into view, the one of Belos guiding the people away from their burning city as the child jumped in, Luz looking back in worry as Hunter halted, gripping onto Georgia's hand a little tighter.

"Wait! You're just going to invade his memories?" Hunter glared. "That's sacrilege!"

Another roar interrupted the moment, the three teens looking in its direction in horror as Luz grabbed Hunter's free hand.

"It's a way to survive!" Luz pulled the boy as this dragged him and Georgia into the memory, Luz soon following after.

–––

Eda sped back to the Owl House on her staff, slamming the door open as a determined look was set on her face.

"Hooty, I need you to lock down the house!" 

She called out instructions, placing her staff by the door frame as King rummaged through a chest. Flapjack flew in Eda's direction as he grabbed a skull encased in ember, Talon helped King rummage through a few things as Eda grabbed bottles and vials off of her mantle place.

"Windows shut, curtains drawn, absolutely zero distractions!" Eda frowned. "King, go grab all the textbooks you can find!"

King nodded, frowning with worry as he ran off to get the books, Talon placing a vial of purple liquid on the table before sitting on the surface, Flapjack hovering above him.

"Ugh," Eda groaned, placing her hand on her chin as she picked up the vial with the liquid. "This is going to be tough without magic. Hooty! Chop-chop!"

"Ma'am!" Hooty replied, locking down all the windows of the Owl House with metallic blinds, spiked trees appearing not too far from the radius just outside the house.

Locks and bolts were chained shut to lock the small group in, Hooty placed a small sign on the door of the place, one that Luz might've created as it had a few stickers, the letters 'BRB' in bold yellow font.

The three cloaked figures waited just outside the building, the first figure's glasses glinting as the second figure's gloved hand landed on their shoulder, shaking their head as the third figure popped up from a bush not too far away.

"Oh hey, you're buddies are trapped too, right?" Hooty's voice rang throughout the area. "The angry blond kid and the brunette demon-witch?"

The second cloaked figure shoved the first aside, listening into Hooty's conversation with the two bird-themed palismen as he continued speaking.

"Eda's smart, but without magic, I'm afraid she can't do much," Hooty shook his head in dismay, Talon looking over to Flapjack in concern.

The second figure then pulled themself away, the first crossing their arms with a frown as the second scratched the side of his head, the third popping up in a bush beside the two.

The first figure then picked up a branch that lay on the ground, scribbling words into the dirt as the other two looked at what they were writing so rapidly. They finally placed the branch down, tapping the side of their head with their pointer as the others read the message.

'I know how to get past the bird', was scribbled on the ground, followed by, 'Owl?', 'Tube??' and 'HIM!!!', the first two suggestions cancelled out as the last description was supported by a small doodle of Hooty with various arrows pointing at it.

–––

"WOAH!" Hunter and Luz cried out as they hit the ground, Georgia letting out a soft 'oof' as they were finally through the memory.

Not far in front of the group, the child reappeared, running ahead of them as he turned a corner, giggling. Hunter, Luz and Georgia peered around the edge, the kid disappearing as he ran through a crowd.

The three then ran ahead, stopping before a stage as they looked up in curiosity, a witch beside them placing his hands on his hips.

"He says he can talk to the Titan," The witch raised an eyebrow. 

"The Titan is dead," A second witch responded, crossing her arms. "How is that possible?"

A heavy footstep on the stage interrupted the two witch's interaction, Luz, Georgia and Hunter looked up to spot Belos' familiar mask, greying locks behind it.

"Fellow citizens!" Belos called out, Georgia shuddering. "We are born into chaos. Our lives anger the Titan."

He clenched his fist, frowning, as the crowd watched on, the man soon bending forwards.

"My own family has been hurt by the darkness of wild magic," His staff sparked before smoking, Hunter smiling at the display. 

"I have been shown the healing light!" Belos exclaimed, spinning his staff. "It shines in nine hues!"

The crowd watched in awe, all smiling as the rainbow light soon dissipated. 

"See?" Hunter smiled down at Luz, nudging her side. "He's always been helping people."

Georgia watched with a small frown, unknowingly gripping herself as Luz raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

Right at that moment, an explosion rang out, the crowd gasping as Hunter held a hand out in front of Georgia in slight protectiveness, the ground shaking slightly beneath them.

"The wild witches!" Belos cried out, explosions fired nearby. "They have found me. Run!"

Explosions continued to ring out as the trio ran in a different direction, appearing in front of the painting again as their eyes widened, spotting something else.

"You incompetent fool," Belos hissed. "You nearly took my head off with that blast!"

A figure, that was dressed in what looked almost exactly like Hunter's uniform, held his arm out in defence, looking away as he had a purple ruff collar around his neck.

"I'm sorry... Lord Belos," He mumbled.

"I'm off to the next town," Belos huffed, walking around the figure.

"W-What about... the rest of these?" The Golden Guard questioned, pulling a cloth away to reveal heaps upon heaps of explosives, each covered in a tape labelled 'caution'. The door creaked as the said man opened the entrance.

"Put on a bigger show," Belos replied, Hunter's eyes widening in disbelief.

The Golden Guard then struck a match, lighting up the fuse as he followed after his master, shutting the door behind him.

From the wall behind the door, the small child reappeared, grabbing a nearby sack of bottles before hopping into the portrait, and out of the memory, the three teenagers following after.