#but for both luz and hunter they learn that there was nothing to be fixed (at least not in the ways they thought were needed)

[welcometogrouchland]

[ID: a black and white animatic based on the owl house set to "Letter to an old poet" by Boygenius. End ID]

Not sure when/if I'll finish this (I have the rest planned out!) BUT I liked it too much to just sit on it forever!!! So take this messy work in progress. She's not perfect but she makes me Feel Things

(sorry about the lack of ID, I don't know how to write them for videos! If you have any suggestions/want to give it a go, feel free!)

[creativia10]

Looking out for Hunter

Eda pulls Camila and Darius to the side after Belos' defeat to figure out where Hunter should stay. Since they are his unofficial family now.

Warnings: referenced child abuse (that occurred before the story)

Let me know if I missed anything

Word count: 1454

Notes: Inspired by how I've seen different mentions of who is Hunter's family now.

There was a lot going on after the defeat of Belos. The collector had a lot to fix after his games. But Eda pulled Darius and Luz’s mom to the side for something they needed to discuss.

“Hey, I’m sure we’re all tired from everything that has happened with Belos and the collector. Before we all disperse though, There’s something important we need to figure out.”

Luz’s Mom and Darius glanced at each other and then at Eda in confusion. Which made sense considering they didn’t really know each other. Probably wondering what they could possibly have in common that Eda would need to talk with both of them.

“So, one thing that needs to be taken care of before the end of the day, is that a boy needs a place to stay. Seeing as he no longer has an official guardian now that his evil uncle has been defeated.”

Their eyes widen in realization.

“I don’t know where Hunter went after he fled my house, but I’m going to assume it wasn’t back to the castle. Given his reaction to learning the truth about Belos. Somehow I get the feeling it was not the best living arrangement. Now, from what I’ve heard, you two could both be potential guardians, along with myself. So, what were we thinking?”

They thought for a moment.

“Well,” Luz’s mom said, “He is always welcome at my home, of course.”

Darius huffed, “If I’m being honest, I had already assumed he would be staying with me.”

“Oh really?” Eda asked. “Why’s that?”

Darius shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe because I was the closest to a safe adult he had in the castle. I’m fairly certain I’ve known him longer.”

Eda hmmed.

“I did try to offer him a place to stay before when he first said he couldn’t go back to Belos. But he was still freaking out about what he learned in the emperor’s mind at that point. So I don’t really blame him for not understanding the offer at first, even if I was worried.”

“What he learned in the emperor’s mind?” Luz’s mom asked.

“I also know,” Eda continued, not really acknowledging the question,

“That Hunter stayed with Luz’s mom here when they were stuck in the human realm for a while. It’s also pretty easy to tell all those kids are fond of you.”

“You can call me Camila, and I’m glad to hear that. They’re good kids, even if I don’t always understand some of their eccentricities from this world. They remind me of Luz a lot in some ways.”

Eda nodded, not too surprised by that.

“So,” Eda continued, “Given we all may hold some sort of parental role for this kid, should we like share custody or something? And like, who is best for him to stay with? Not saying you’re not a good fit Darius, I just thought we should discuss this since we all want to look out for him.”

Darius hmmed.

“I hadn’t thought about it in an official sense if I’m being honest. More so just being there for him and making sure he has somewhere safe he can go to.”

Eda nodded. “That’s fair enough. The only reason I even brought it up is because I could tell it was a thought we all considered.”

Camila cleared her throat.

“It’s probably best to ask Hunter where he wants to go,” She said.

Eda paused and nodded.

“You’re right. He gets a say in where he goes. It’s the least he deserves after the way the poor kid grew up.”

She looked to the side, “Hey Hunter!”

Hunter froze, having been talking to some of his friends. Then he turned to face her.

“Can you come over here for a sec? We wanna talk about something with you.”

Hunter’s eyes widen.

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing bad,” Eda said, voice a bit gentler.

Hunter still looked concerned, but he cautiously made his way over to them. Camila and Darius both shoot him encouraging smiles to help reassure him.

“We were just wondering where you would want to stay,” Eda said, “Since your old residence is probably not an option anymore.” She then winced, realizing that may not have been the most sensitive way to put it.

“All three of us are willing to have you stay with us, so it’s up to you where you want to go.”

Hunter pursed his lips and looked between the three of them still seeming nervous.

“Hey,” Eda began, bending down to be more at his level.

“Whatever you chose, none of us are going to be mad at you.” She didn’t actually know that, but she knew they all cared about him, so hopefully it was true.

“Your wants about this are important,” Eda continued.

Hunter didn’t seem entirely sure about that. Which Eda had expected at this point, unfortunately.

“We will also still be there for you no matter what, in any way you need,” Camila added.

Hunter shuffled a bit and bent his head down.

“I uh,” He continued, glancing at each of them often even with his head bowed.

“I want to live in the world I grew up in.”

Camila nodded and also knelt down.

“Oh, that’s alright mijo. That is perfectly understandable. Just know you can always visit as much as you want. You are always welcome.”

Hunter nodded and smiled a little.

“Thank you,” he said a bit quietly.

“Of course. May I hug you?”

Hunter blinked and then nodded slowly.

Camila smiled and then opened her arms. She waited a moment to make sure he was ready before she came forward and wrapped her arms around him

Hunter gasped, seeming just as surprised as the first time he was hugged. He then moved his arms with a slow robotic clumsiness to hug her back. After a moment some tension melted and he leaned into her embrace.

Hunter was probably going to get a lot more hugs now. Good.

Hunter sniffed and wiped his face some when they separated.

“So, who do you want to stay with then?” Eda asked again. Hunter still seemed distraught about answering that, looking between Darius and Eda.

“I-I don’t know.” Hunter fidgeted some.

“I just, I grew up being told and constantly reminded of how Belos saved me and I owed pretty much everything to him. Like it was more of an obligation.”

Sometimes Eda forgot that her rage against that monster Belos could come back. Even when she had curb-stomped him into the ground.

“And now not only one but three of you are offering this and seems like you actually want me there to take care of. Not just to use as a future guard or servant. I don’t want to chance this offer going away at all. And I’m not saying you guys would lie about this or anything. I’m just not used to this care for me as myself. I’m so afraid I’m going to mess this up.”

Camilla cooed at that.

“We’re not going to take away our offers to take care of you,” Eda said.

“And even if we did, for housing, it wouldn’t be because anyone suddenly decided you weren’t worth caring for anymore.”

Darius gave her a look at that.

“Yeah, I could have said that better,” Eda admitted, “but I wanted to make sure he knew that.”

“It’s okay if you don’t know what you want,” Camila said, “I’m sure this can seem like a big decision.”

How was Camila so good at this? That’s what Eda was wondering.

“How about we start with where you’d want to go tonight?” Camila asked. Hunter nodded, relaxing slightly.

“I’m not sure if this is going to make sense, but part of me wants to have as close to normalcy as I can, but without the awful stuff. The Owl house seems cool, and I definitely want to come back sometime, but it’s also wild. Not that there’s anything wrong with that of course! I’m just uh, not used to it? So,” He turned to Darius,

“If you really are offering, I think I’d like to stay with you tonight. You’re the only one I really knew in the castle who eventually treated me better, and not like you had to obey me.”

Darius smiled at him.

“Of course, you can stay with me, Hunter,” He reached over and ruffled Hunter’s hair.

Hunter squawked and half-heartedly pushed at Darius’ hands to get off of his hair. They both ended up laughing though.

It wasn’t a normal unofficial family dynamic by any means. But as long as this great kid got shown the love they all knew he needed, it didn’t really matter.

[rosemaidenvixen]

spooky prompts

Luz and claire scavenge halloween treats for their non-human-food compatible gf/bf.

Gus illusions make it possible for jim to participate in halloween prep.

Hunter uses palisman carving skills to carve jack-o-lanterns.

Hunter or Jim are frankenstein monsters au.

Morganna but she has bloody mary ghost vibes.

Halloween house decorating contest (could be a crossover???)

Vee gets to enjoy a nice autumn walk and nothing bad happens to her

Vee enjoys an autumn walk

Hunter as Frankenstein's monster

Bloody Mary Morgana

Hunter carves jack o lanterns

Gus uses illusions for Jim

Halloween house competition

Luz and Claire scavenging treats for their non human so's answered below

Ao3

Luz followed Claire as they wove their way through the farmer’s market. It really wasn’t a good time to come here, it was the middle of the day and the crowds were at their worst. And the large cooler Claire was hauling didn’t help anything. But half an hour ago she’d made an offhand comment about how hard it was finding treats she could surprise Amity with in the human realm, then Claire had piped up with how she used to have the same problem with Jim, and one thing had led to another and now they were here. Claire with leading the way to score some interspecies eats.

Because Claire wasn’t any ordinary human, she could do magic.

Humans. Doing magic in the humana realm. Every time she thought about it it sent a little thrill of excitement through her. She still hadn’t had the change to properly ask Claire some of the many many questions she had, but she’d have plenty of chances while she and the gang were in Cali–

“Sorry again, for…everything,” Claire spoke up, startling Luz out of her thoughts “I let myself get carried away and took things way too far, and you guys can stay here in Arcadia as long as you need to,”

Luz struggled but couldn’t quite keep the wince off her face as they ducked past shoulders and weaved through the crowd. She was thrilled to meet other human magic users and learn about the way magic in the human realm worked. But she really wished that they’d met under better circumstances.

And she really really wished that part of the reason she and the gang were visiting Arcadia wasn’t because they were waiting for the heat to die down back east.

Shaking her head, Luz forced the grimace away “Hey water under the bridge, and it wasn’t all your fault, there were…mistakes on both sides. And as soon as the fire marshall finishes their investigation we’ll be home free,”

Although even if the buildings were all fixed they’d never be able to get all the abomination goop out of the carpet and off the drywall.

Some stains never came out.

Claire gave her a small smile at her right as she came to a stop at a stand on the far end of the market, turning her grin towards the stall owner “Hola Jorge,”

The stall owner, a man with brown skin and graying black hair dressed in flannel and jeans, stood from the cooler he was stooped over and stepped towards them “Hola Claire great to see you, I’ve got a cooler around back all set up for you,”

“Thanks! You’re the best,”

Claire walked around the tent, Luz following on her heels, until they came to a small semi truck with a large cooler on the ground in front of it.

“So you know the guy who runs this place?” Luz asked.

“Kind of,” Claire got down on her knees and popped open the cooler, rummaging through its contents “Jorge runs a farm just outside of Arcadia, small scale sustainable meat farming kind of thing. He was the first guy I went to about getting some of the discards from butchering. Now we’ve got a regular thing set up,”

Luz glanced to the left and right, kneeled down right next to Claire, and leaned over to whisper in her ear “So does he know about….”

“Magic and trolls? I don’t think so, but I’m pretty sure he suspects, either way I think he’d be cool with it,”

Claire sat back on her haunches, giving Luz a full view of the cooler’s contents “I wasn’t sure what troll food also works as witch food, but I figured discard parts would be a good place to start,”

“What….parts specifically?”

In response Claire lifted out a plastic bag filled to bursting with eyeballs.

“Oooh that looks great!” Luz plucked the bag out of Claire’s hand “Amity loves eyeball pudding, oh man this will be such a great surprise for her–”

It took her a few seconds to remember Claire’s presence “Sorry, yeah, she loves eyeballs,”

Claire giggled “No worries, mind helping me pack up?”

They finished loading up their cooler from Jorge’s, Luz didn’t think that the gang would be able to digest some of the bones Claire was packing up, but she was really looking forward to trying some of the organ meats. And the eyeballs were destined to a big bowl of eyeball pudding with Amity’s name on it.

After giving Jorge a large stack of cash they were back on their way, pulling a much heavier cooler behind them.

“Hey I know this is a bit of a stretch,” Luz asked as they walked away “But I’ve really been wanting to make Amity a fairy pie, but I didn’t think the human realm had fairies, but maybe you know a substitute?”

Claire tapped her chin with her free hand “Pixies might work, do they have those on the Boiling Isles? Here they’re tiny creatures that will fly into your head and make you see your worst fear,”

“Not really but they do have Grometheus the fear bringer who takes the shape of your greatest fear, he lives under the school, and every year the Grom King or Queen has to fight him so he doesn’t escape,”

“Wow, remind me to never complain about the Spring fling royalty challenge again,”

“Wait till I tell you how me and Amity became Grom Queens! So back to pixies, do we catch them ourselves or…”

“I think we might be able to pick them up at our next stop, along with swamp maggots and fungi, I have a feeling your friends will really like those,”

“Next stop?” Luz blinked back at her “Where else are we going?”

Claire just gave her a sly grin.

--

Luz just stared with her jaw hanging open, the sight before her so incredible all she could do was stand there and stare with her jaw on the ground. When Claire had brought her to the underpass of a canal bridge she hadn’t known what to think, then Claire had drawn a door in the concrete and brought her here. To a glowing magical crystal city right underneath Arcadia!

They had told them about Trollmarket, promised to bring them there, but Luz had never imagined it was so close, or so sparkly.

Claire chuckled as Luz tried to figure out how to pick her jaw up off the ground “Yeah it’s pretty cool isn’t it, we all had that reaction the first time,” she picked up the cooler with both handles “Ready to head in?”

Luz finally managed to shut her mouth and struggled to find her voice.

She was absolutely stoked to go explore a human world magical city, but her first day in the Boiling Isles had taught her a lot about taking things at face value.

“So is there any troll etiquette I should know? I don’t want to insult anyone’s mother by using my pinky finger wrong,”

“I don’t think so, most trolls are pretty chill if you leave them alone, sort of a ‘don’t bother me I won’t bother you’ sort of thing. Oh! But when they introduce themselves as ‘Son or daughter of so-and-so’ that’s how they give you their pronouns. And misgendering usually results in being thrown in a sinkhole,”

“Misgendering leads to sinkhole,” Luz gave a solemn nod “Understood,”

Heading into the market, Luz saw it was made up of various stalls and booths carved into the rock themselves. Stone was the most common building material, but here and there were bits of metal and wood, along with the occasional crystals. Pictographic neon signs indicated what each booth sold, some of them were easy to figure out, like the fish or the beer glass, but some of them, like the sock and the dead cat filled her with more questions than answers. Milling around were large stone creatures of every shape and size in every color of the rainbow, trolls. There were also…little men in pointy hats running around?

Claire followed her line of sight “Oh yeah, gnomes, they eat parasites off larger trolls, not overly dangerous but don’t touch their hats, that makes them super aggressive,”

Luz nodded, gingerly stepping around the small cluster of pointed red hats and followed Claire inside a small cave off the main building.

Stepping inside, Luz saw it looked like a fantasy version of a convenience store, with various items seemingly random lining the shelves, and a large curvy troll standing behind the counter.

“Hi Bagdwella,” Claire stepped up to the counter and gestured behind her “This is Luz, I’m showing her around shopping for some interspecies eats,”

“Hi, Luz daughter of Camila here,” Luz gave a small wave and joined Claire at the counter.

“Greetings Luz,” the troll folded their arms in front of them “I am Bagdwella, daughter of Gerdr, and I know this market better than anyone else and would be delighted to give you the inside scoop,”

“Oh that’s gre–”

“Up up up,” Bagdwella held up a hand “You didn’t let me finish, I would be delighted to give you the inside scoop, for the right price,”

Without missing a beat Claire reached into her backpack and pulled out a large plastic bag full of…socks? Ok between this and the neon sign  she was definitely going to have to ask Claire about the socks later. Handing it over to Bagdwella “Half now, half once we’re done. To make sure your intel’s as good as you say it is,”

Bagdwella raised the bag and gave it an sniff before turning an appraising glance towards Claire “Claire you are a devious, cold blooded customer,” she grinned, exposing a mouthful of sharp teeth “I taught you well,”

Tucking the bag underneath the table, Bagdwella stepped forward, both hands on the table “So what are you ladies in the market for today?”

“Do you know anyone who sells pixies?” Luz piped up right away “I have a recipe I really want to try with them,”

“I need to get some swamp maggots,” Claire added “And I want to check out different types of fungi,”

Bagdwella tapped her chin in thought, stone clinking against stone “Do you want fermented or plain swamp maggots?”

“Ideally some of both,”

After a few more seconds Bagdwella pulled a pen out of her hair and started scribbling on a scrap of paper in front of her “Braggis has the best fungus selection, so you’ll want to go to his stand. For swamp maggots you need to go to Til and Rags next to the apothecary, they don’t have a lot of stock but their swamp maggots are the highest quality in the market. Pixies are a bit trickier. No one really stocks them, but Dex down near the armory preserves pixies on the side, ask him about it and he’ll be delighted to sell you some, but he will talk your ear off,”

“Oh wow,” Luz picked up the scrap of paper “This is great, thank you!”

Bagdwella chuckled “You can thank me by never buying from my competitors. Now you’re crowding paying customers out of my shop, so unless you’re going to buy something shoo!”

Luz and Claire retreated as Bagdwella waved them off, Claire hauling the cooler and Luz still clutching the paper.

“Soooo….fermented swamp maggots?”

Claire giggled “Yeah even for trolls those are an acquired taste, but Jim likes them,”

“Well then, let's get shopping!”

[kolapon-art]

To me beside Darius being a more interesting narrative choice there's also the fact they just have an interesting relationship.

Camila and Hunter together is just a bit....boring.

They dont have a shared history and she will take good care of him ofc, listen to him, encourage him and help with his trauma but thats about it.

Camila is already a tip top parent and her interesting relationship is with Luz, cause of their history and they play off each other due to the previous misunderstandings and so on.

But theres nothing like this with Hunter and when you compare it with darius, where both learn to live with each other, to trust after their shaky shared history and for Darius to slowly learn to be a parent, it's all so interesting.

But with Camila and Hunter it's just Camila taking care of Hunter and theres no real back and forth, Hunter develops but Camila really doesn't.

And your whole point about the single parent situation, I agree it will be good for Hunter who has never been anyone's priority before. He won't have to feel like he needs to be the "big brother" or even compete for affection (cause this is Hunter, his habits aren't healthy even if Camila will never be one to have her kids compete in this way). But with Darius, the way the man made an effort to be in his life eventually and to finally step up and fix what he fucked up, he will devote himself to Hunter. And we know Darius is a man of intense loyalty and devotion to his circle of close people.

There’s one thing I am worried about when it comes to Hunter’s parental situation.

And this is not a slight at Camila being his potential parent. It’s about good and bad writing choices which we may see in the next two eps when it comes to this. 

But to me, if he is to be with Camila, they shouldn’t put him with her cause she is the resident good parent. We need scenes, development, how they interact, is Hunter compatible with her beside her being the good parent. Cause in TTT we got something but we do not know much about their dynamic, at all. 

Cause writing-wise, Camila is the easy choice. You can put Hunter with her and no one will say ‘oh but she needs to work on this, she needs to be better’. The problem is that it’s not satisfying and it ties Hunter’s parental question too neatly, too easily. It feels like a cop out, especially if they spend no time telling us why is Camila the best choice according to the narative. What does it bring to the table for Hunter and Camila’s arcs beside ‘this kid needs a parent and oh look, a good mom’?

But Darius on the other hand, is the hard choice. It requires careful and good writing to make it work and it will be hard but the payoff will be so good after the show spend its second season building foil after foil between Darius and Belos, having Darius and Hunter bond and understand each other better. After including the whole bit about Darius’ mentor and how that influenced any of Darius’ behaviors with Hunter. And showing us that Darius is fundamentally a good person stuck for years in a very bad situation that has clouded much of his judgement.

At the end of the day, we want a good parent for Hunter but this is also not irl. Narrative cohesion and reasoning need to be taken into account as well as previous settup and any other foils, and parallels that were done. Cause otherwise you can give Hunter to every other good parent, Dell and Gwen, Willow’s dads, Gus’ dad but what would that do for the narrative?

[hxney-lemcn]

No One Like You — Hunter x gn! reader

Summery: Reader joins Luz on a sea adventure and meets someone who seems oddly familiar.

tw: Season 2 episode 1 spoilers.

a/n: This chapter starts where I follow the timeline of the show. So pretty much spoilers for season 2 after this.

wc: 2.4k

Chapter Six

Master List | Chapter One

I was walking down the docks of Bonesborough. I was looking for some fish to treat Cinder to when I saw someone familiar run down the docks to a large ship. My eyes widened and I quickly followed the human to see what she was up to. 

Walking up behind her I heard her say, “Selkidomus hunt. I want in.” I frowned slightly.

“Luz?” I called out. She turned around in surprise. “(Y/n)!” She exclaimed excitedly. “You should join me!”

I looked between Luz, King, and what I presume to be the captain of the ship. I know Luz is strong and all, but I decided that I’d join her just in case something goes wrong. After all, I have a staff we could make a quick get away on. So I nodded.

Turning back to the captain, Luz fixed her sentence, “We want in.”

The captain squinted at us, definitely judging us and finally said, “You think you can handle this, squirts?”

“We can handle anything,” Luz said confidently, hands on her hips. 

Captain handed us both a uniform and we boarded the ship after changing. I honestly felt ridiculous wearing this sailor uniform. But Luz seemed excited. The ship took off quickly after we boarded. Standing at the bow of the ship, salty and may I say excruciatingly hot air blew through our hair. I groaned inwardly knowing this was not going to be fun due to how hot the boiling sea is.

“When we defeat the Selkidomus, and get a boatload of snails,” Luz started, looking back at King on her shoulder and me behind them. “Eda won’t have to worry about money for a long time.”

‘So that’s why she’s doing this,’ I thought with a slight frown. Eda definitely didn’t approve of this.

“King want a cracker!” King said…speaking in third person like he was a parrot.

“All hands on deck!” The captain shouted, gaining our attention. Quickly, Luz and I sprinted over to join the line. “All right, crew. The Selkidomus has been ravaging the coastline.”

I frowned once more. I’ve learned in my beast keeping classes that Selkidomus are actually gentle creatures and don’t attack unless provoked. So that must mean this demon is just defending themself. Honestly, I didn’t want to participate in the death of such a sweet creature. But I came on this bounty mission to keep an eye on Luz. So that’s just what I’ll do. 

The captain continued on about its whereabouts and how we can’t just be sitting around. He then specifically pointed out Luz and I and handed me a broom. 

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about me,” Luz said with a determined grin. I, on the other hand, did not want to do chores. So I helped out Luz do tasks on the boat. Well she kinda took the show with how she used her glyph magic to do tasks in a more efficient way. 

“Well,” The captain said with a giant grin, patting Luz’s back. “Ye had me confront my own biases, and I got nothing but respect for ya now, squirt. I mean sailor.”

“Thanks salty,” Luz replied with a salute. “You make me feel like a real part of the crew.”

“Well, that’s because you arrrrr,” Captain Salty said, with a pirate pun. I joined the others in laughing and cheering as I faintly heard King boo.

With all the hard chores done, Salty let Luz take a break. I decided I could join her since well…there isn’t much I can do anyways.

“Isn’t this super cool (n/n)?” Luz asked me excitedly. “It’s like straight from a movie!”

“It’s…alright,” I replied. “I’m not too much of a fan for the humidity.” Let me tell you it's terrible. I feel like I’m baking. The heat attacked from all angles and I couldn’t stand the stickiness of salt on my skin.

“It’s not that bad,” Luz grinned. “Not when the thought of taking down a raging beast and saving the coastline is about to happen!”

Once again I felt discomfort settle in the pit of my stomach, “Luz, about the Selkidomus…”

But before I could explain to her about the demon, our attention was caught by the piles of wrecked ships we were passing. Some still were on fire. I started to feel nervous as the situation finally caught up to me.

“She’s close,” The captain warned. When suddenly a tail hit the side of the ship.

“She’s here,” I replied, watching as the creature swam by. 

The other members threw harpoons, when I noticed the Selkidomus inflate. I pulled Luz down with me to duck. Just in time too when one of its defensive spines hit a fellow crew mate, taking their head. Luz quickly stood on top of the railing of the boat and cut the demon's path off with ice glyphs. I felt helpless as the Selkidomus tried to escape, only to be caught up in Luz’s vines. 

An explosion rocked the boat, allowing the Selkidomus to escape. But I wasn’t able to breathe easily just yet as I fell onto the ground. When I finally got up I didn’t have time to think as Luz started to speed away one top of an iceberg she created. So I called Cinder in her staff form and flew after her. I gently landed when I noticed that Luz and Eda were having an argument. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that Eda is involved in this. 

Then the ground started shaking, and was that the Golden Guard? Very flashy entrance with being raised out of the sea and all. I didn’t really know anything about the Golden Guard. Just that he was the new head of the Emperor’s coven. And what he looked like from the posters.

“That can still be arranged,” Said…no this isn’t…it can’t be. I shook my head at the thought, it was just silly. But I also realized that I wasn’t paying attention to the previous conversation. “Hello criminals,” The Golden Guard spoke in that eerily similar voice, straightening up his stance. “What’s about to happen should be relatively painless, if you just do as I say.”

This definitely wasn’t Hunter. He wasn’t so arrogant and rude. I mean okay fair, Eda did steal and was technically a criminal, but Luz hadn’t done anything wrong, and neither have I. 

“And why would we do that?” Luz asked.

“Because none of you can use real magic,” The Golden Guard replied snarkily. Did…he not notice me here or something? I could literally summon a beast right now. Though going against someone so high up in authority was not my thing.

“You don’t know that,” Eda pointed defensively.

“Maybe not,” The Golden Guard shrugged. “But I do know that you’re standing on a plant that eats flesh.”

Luz and Eda screamed out in fear and quickly stepped off. I would have laughed if it weren’t for the gravity of the situation. But the Golden Guard chuckled anyway. 

“Okay,” He continued, pointing at us. “The human will remain a sailor to repay all the money she lost, while the owl lady will be arrested, again, for attacking one of the Emperor’s ships.”

“What about the other kid?” Eda said pointing towards me.

“They’ll be brought home safely,” He waved off like it was a dumb question. But that only confused me, I mean I’m…shouldn’t I be grouped with them?

“Emperor’s ship?” Luz asked, confused, changing the subject. 

“They’re the only ones worth robbing,” Eda said gravely. “Why are you guys hunting the Selkidomus? It’s a peaceful creature and you’re provoking it!”

“The emperor ordered me to slay one,” The Golden Guard shrugged. “I’m just following orders.”

“Well I’m just going to smack you around a bit,” Eda said, taking off her hand and proceeded to try and do…just that. But the Golden Guard tripped her. In which Luz started to attack him with fire glyphs. In which he knocked her down next to Eda. Before I could move in to defend them, the Golden Guard used the magic staff to grab them and said, “How about…I leave you dangling above the boiling sea?”

Sand held them slightly above the water as he said, “Around these parts, just the steam is enough to cause third degree burns.”

With his back turned, I casted an orange spell circle that summoned a giant demon bird. I commanded it to grab my friends. Swooping down, the Golden Guard ducked as it brought my friends back towards me safely.

“Not on my watch,” I said lowly with a glare. The demon vanished as its task was done, and I couldn’t help but notice how the Golden Guard seemed to falter.

“Now now,” He said with his hands up. “I don’t have to be that mean. No one will have to be a sailor or get arrested, if one of you follows those Selkidomus tracks and slays the beast.” Creating a sword that started as flesh and turned into metal he said cheerily, “Here, I’ll help.”

Luz whined softly and the Golden Guard sighed and pinched his mask where his nose should be, “You’re making this difficult. Go or I drown the bird.” He held up a cage and used his staff to reveal that King was hidden under the cloth in the cage. 

King awoke with a gasp. And when the Golden Guard let the cloth cover him once more he fell back asleep. 

“Fine,” Luz said in a defeated tone, grabbing the sword. “I’ll do it.”

“Luz wait!” Eda called out, scrambling up quickly to follow her. 

I went to follow but I felt my body be encased by sand wrapping around my middle. Looking back I saw the Golden Guards staff glow red, along with the sand he was controlling. I felt confusion wash over me. He seemed to be harsh towards Eda and Luz, but he was…I wouldn’t exactly want to say caring about me, but it sort of seemed like it.

“What are you doing?” I asked in confusion. 

Hesitating he spoke out slowly, almost like he was making up an excuse, “You do…beast keeping magic. It would be unwise for me to let you get the Selkidomus to attack me.” It sounded like an excuse but it also made sense, so I let my suspicion slide. 

It was awkwardly quiet as we waited for any sign of Eda or Luz. Hearing a soft ‘weh’, I turned to the noise, only to see the Golden Guard uncovering and covering King. I blinked, slight confusion but amusement also filled me. 

Laughing softly, the Golden Guard muttered, “You’re actually weirdly endearing.”

Once again that familiar pang hit my chest. He sounded exactly like Hunter at that moment. I stared at him, not being able to shake off this strange feeling. Was Hunter the Golden Guard? That…might actually make sense. The times he came to me hurt, and spoke of these…missions. The pieces were solving themselves. Which means the person who took him in…had to be someone at the Emperor’s coven. I shook the thoughts from my head…I don’t know for sure that this was Hunter. I mean…maybe it was just a coincidence. Maybe they were related? Who knows.  

“Are…the restraints too tight?” The Golden Guard asked me. He sounded so soft I almost thought it was my imagination, but his mask was aimed at me, and I knew he was staring at me.

I opened my mouth to reply, but the sounds of fighting distracted me. Looking towards the cave opening, I saw the silhouettes of Luz and Eda fighting the Selkidomus. Once it was dead, Luz picked it up and started to drag it.

“Ugh that thing smells awful,” The Golden Guard groaned, turning away slightly in disgust. “Why are you touching it with your hands? Gross.”

“You’re gross!” Luz retaliated. “Now give us King, and hey! Let (n/n) go, they didn’t do anything wrong!”

“Actually, he smells pretty bad, take him,” The Golden Guard said. He released me and tossed King’s cage and I carefully caught him. “Thank you for your service. You can find your own way home. And try to stay out of trouble. The emperor is not a merciful man.” Walking away, the Golden Guard turned back towards us for the last bit. Then he hopped onto his staff, waving at us cheerfully and said, “Byeeeeee!” Before flying off. 

I…if that is Hunter, and…that part about the Emperor not being merciful…does that mean? 

Luz blew a raspberry towards where the Golden Guard once was and I let King out of the cage. We walked back towards Eda. She was creating light glyphs next to a giant pile of vines. So they didn’t kill the selkidomus. I felt a small grin crawl on my lips.

“My first glyph,” Eda said smiling. “Did I do good?”

“Yeah,” Luz said with a giant grin. “You did great!”

The Selkidomus and its baby came out of hiding. Wait baby? So she was a mother. Why on Titan would the emperor even need the Selkidomus killed?

“Wait, what is that thing?” King questioned as the baby and Luz embraced. 

“Don’t worry King,” I replied, patting his head lightly.

“Once the mother saw we weren’t a threat to her baby, she calmed down,” Eda explained. 

“This area is dangerous,” I spoke up, looking towards the Selkidomus. “You need to move further out into the sea.”

Nodding in understanding, the Selkidomus barfed up selkigris which Eda gleefully wrapped an arm around Luz, “Hot dang! It gave you the treasure of the sea!”

“Gold?” Luz questioned. “Tuna?”

“Selkigris,” I said. “It’s a rare and valuable substance.”

“Big money from the night market,” Eda agreed. “Feel that money Luz.”

Eda took some Selkigris and rubbed it into Luz’s cheeks as Luz laughed, “No, Eda!”

As the two goofed off, I patted the both Selkidomus’ on the heads as they made their exit. Then Luz and Eda gathered the selkigris, before realizing they needed to get home somehow. 

“Lucky for you guys,” I spoke up proudly. “I have my palismen.” I called Cinder and she transformed into a staff in my hands. 

“Wooo!” Eda shouted. “Good call kid.”

Hopping onto my staff, I made sure everyone was on it securely. Then we took off. It took a bit, but we finally ended up at the Owl House and I dropped everyone off.

“Thanks (y/n)!” Luz shouted. “I’ll make sure you get your share.” She winked before running off into the house.

With that crazy day, I made my way home. Ready for a nice shower, clean clothes, and just laying in bed.

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[breadhoe420]

Tbh when I first herd the ship huntlow I thought it was just another crazy fandom ship, similar to goldric or something. Just a pair that people would like in theory because the two characters look good together. My thoughts were along the lines of "they've never even interacted, plus they've got nothing in common!"

But, after watching Any Sport in a Storm, I think I've changed my views a bit. Seeing Willow and Hunter interact was interesting. They both had high expectations placed on them as well as the path chosen for them, but Willows the only one who got to break free. She made her own path through the storm, despite people taunting and not believing in her. She's happier now because she took a chance.

Hunter, on the other hand, is so brainwashed that he believes things we see as cruel and unfair are normal. He's never had a chance to change himself because he's being watched closely by Belos.

By going to Hexide and meeting people his own age, Hunter is staring to change. He's slowly creating his own path. Befriending Willow and the team was a small step in the right direction.

But what does this have to do with Huntlow? Well, my original thought was that they would never get along, and I was wrong. They seem to have a connection that doesn't work well for others. Hunters brash personality clashes with Willows easygoing one. Unlike Hunter and Luz, who's personalities also collide, Willow is patient. She sees someone lonely and knows how that feels. Hunter sees somebody smart and driven and who isn't afraid to be herself. He sees how he wants to be: free.

I don't think Huntlow could happen soon though. With how long steady relationships take and accounting for how much longer we have in the series, I don't think the crew will have them be together. Hunter has a lot of issues and it's not Willows job to fix him. I think at least they could be close friends with Willow sharing her own experiences and Hunter learning from them, but a romantic relationship will be a while.

Don't give up shippers! This is just a theory post and we'll need you to write the fanfiction when the end comes.

[lollytea]

What if red string au but only witches “have” a red string.

Witches can see their own string, usually they’re long, so long it’s almost impossible seeing who could be attached to it on the other side.

Willow’s and Amity’s strings tho, they’re not that long, they can see the end of it just floating in the air with no one attached to it.

When they meet Luz and Hunter they can feel the string pull slightly, is if getting them closer to them for some reason.

I personally don't like soulmate/red string AUs for a bunch of reasons but I'm really interested in this AU you've presented here cuz the pairs in question don't even have the conventional red string setup. It's a really cool idea!!

(I know 'red string' is an inherently romantic trope but I like to believe that there are different colours for aro people. Platonic soulmates and the like.)

Because like. It would be so fitting for Amity and Willow's characters. Like Imagine it from their perspective. Everybody in the Boiling Isles has a string. Everybody has somebody out there. Except for those two. And its not even like its a fluke. They each have a red string but it's attached to nothing at all.

Like both girls would be led to believe that there's something deeply wrong with them, as the universe itself tried to locate a single person in the entire world who would be able to love them and failed. It would take a toll on their confidence for sure. Maybe the similarity is how they became friends in first place. Because at least they weren't entirely alone with their weird defect. So you can imagine how much that little comfort was completely destroyed once Amity’s parents split them apart.

It's really sad cuz like. We know Amity is a hopeless romantic. And she and Willow were known to read YA romance when they were little, so it's possible both of them hoped for a love of their own in the future. But now they believe that they just. Aren't good enough for it.

They both have different methods of coping. Willow believes it's because she's half a witch. She has accepted it as her unfortunate reality but has repressed how much it hurts too much to think about. She tries to remain upbeat but with the stress of school and the bullying and her lack of friends and her teachers' disappointment, it is just one of many problems that chips away at her self esteem.

While Amity believes, for the sake of preserving her self esteem, that she just has to justify her existence. If she were to take the Willow route and accept it, she would shut down completely. She needs to believe theres hope for her. So she convinces herself that she can fix this. If she just works herself to exhaustion, becomes top student, joins the Emperor's Coven, proves that she's actually a person worth loving, her string will finally latch on to somebody.

It's also quite interesting from Hunter's perspective. Not so much Luz cuz she knows she simply doesn't have one because she's human so it probably wouldnt bother her much. (Knowing what a romantic she is, she would probably sorta wish she did. If she even learns what red strings are. Maybe its a personal (somewhat intimate and embarrassing) topic so its literally never been mentioned to Luz so she remains oblivious.)

But Hunter? He was born and raised here. He also thinks he's a witch so he has no idea why he doesn't have a string. Like he's not really interested in all that stuff at this point but still. It's weird that he's the only person who doesn't have one, right? He's asked Belos about it when he was younger, only to be told "It is the will of the Titan." So Hunter is just like "oh..."

It reinforces his belief that his existence belongs entirely to the Titan and, by extension, Belos, making his desire to choose a life for himself much stronger. Of course, he never dares act on it and instead accepts his fate. Like Willow and Amity, Hunter has believed from a young age that there is nobody in the world who is destined to love him but he has a much easier time dealing with that than the girls. However, it is an isolating life he leads. I don't think he could recognize when he's lonely because he's never known anything different.

I like to believe that red strings have a hivemind network and can sense the personalities/compatibility potential of every single witch on the Boiling Isles. But when it comes to humans/grimwalkers? They're completely blind. They don't have jurisdiction to see through Luz and Hunter, yknow? So in order to work, Amity and Willow's strings need to rely solely on the subconscious feelings of their witches to pass judgement. It's a fun kind of irony because for every other witch, its the other way around.

So like. They don't start to pull when they first meet Luz and Hunter respectively. But maybe Amity feels the slightest tug when she and Luz have their little moment on the floor at the Covention. But it's so feeble that Amity doesn't quite know what happened so she just shrugs it off. But then the library incident happened, then Luz gave her that Azura book, then grom happened, and then and then and THEN

At this point Amity is straining against the pull of her own string.

But then Looking Glass Ruins happens and Amity compulsively kisses her cheek and a stunned Luz turns her eyes on her. Amity panics and makes to run back to her house but when she turns on her heel, something snags. She looks over her shoulder to find, with shock, horror and something else she doesn't have time to analyse right now, that her string has finally tied itself to someone. But the weird part is that Amity has no idea when it did that. However it is simply TOO MUCH right now so she still bolts in her door, leaving Luz to stare after her, slack-jawed.

This is when Luz learns what red strings are cuz there's now one attached to her and Eda has to tell her what the fuck it is. So now it is equally nerve wracking new territory for both Luz and Amity and they're both so afraid for it to snap. (Luz because of her insecurities, Amity because she's been wanting this her whole life and now she feels like it's the most fragile thing in the world.) It adds a whole other LAYER to Knockin on Hooty's Door.

But yada yada you know how it plays out from this point.

There isn't actually a lot to say about Huntlow in this case cuz Willow has not yet reached the Wing It Like Witches and onward!Amity era. Willow's string is not yet straining to the point its nearly knocking her off her feet. But like. It's definitely active.

Little tugs that she finds kinda weird but doesnt quite understand why its happening. When she sees Hunter flying for the first time. When they link hands while passing flags. It gives a real firm pull when he stands in front of the Entrails and Darius and then a while later when he saves Gus. So at this point Willow can't even deny that it's doing something and it has to do with Hunter, she's just not exactly sure what.

[sergeantsporks]

I hc that Hunter gets jealous, like, insanely jealous, even away from Belos, at the Owl House.

He doesn’t know why. One day Eda will compliment Luz on a new spell she learned, and Hunter will feel overwhelmingly hurt and angry at Luz. And he just sort of has to stop himself because why??? Does it matter??? Luz didn’t BEAT him at anything to get the compliment, he wasn’t even trying to get a compliment at the same time, he was literally reading a book on the couch while Luz showed Eda a spell, why does he feel like this?

And it keeps going, every time someone gets a compliment, Hunter feels hurt and jealous. Now, he gets compliments, too, when he does something well, or even just TRIES to do things, it’s not like he’s starved for positive attention when he’s at the Owl House. But still, Luz will say Amity looks pretty, and he feels outrageously jealous, and he doesn’t know why because he doesn’t??? Want Luz to think he’s pretty??? Why would he want that??? She’s complimenting her girlfriend, and it has nothing to do with him???

He’s really good at hiding it, he doesn’t burst out, or try to turn complimenting someone else into complimenting him, but he still feels hurt, for some reason, whenever someone else gets a compliment.

But eventually, they notice that he gets really quiet every time someone else gets a compliment, they notice the little flashes of hurt that cross his face, and they all sit down with him and talk it out, and he’s upset because he doesn’t know! Okay?! He doesn’t KNOW why he can’t stand it when other people get complimented! He knows it’s irrational, and that them getting complimented doesn’t mean anything bad about him, he just... can’t stop feeling this way.

And they figure out (with Lilith’s help) that it’s because at the coven, compliments were part of the game, part of the struggle between the top members. It didn’t matter if you were competing for that particular mission, there was a general, long-game competition of “Belos’ Favorite” that was measured in affection and compliments and missions given. AND because Belos would mainly give out compliments AS a punishment to someone else. Saying that Kikimora did well but not saying anything to Hunter meant that Hunter had done badly-- if Hunter was doing well, he would have said both of them were doing well, so the absence of a compliment for Hunter meant he was doing poorly, and Belos was disappointed. So now, if Hunter hears someone else get a compliment, he has an unconscious, knee-jerk reaction that he’s doing badly, which makes him feel hurt and also mad at the person who’s doing better than him. Obviously that’s not something you can fix overnight, so they have to work on talking himself out of his cognitive distortions, usually by saying self-affirming things to himself, or at the very least, taking a deep breath and reminding himself that someone else getting a compliment does not mean he’s doing badly. In fact, it’s a good thing everyone is doing so well.

[drabbles-of-writing]

on the upside liltih and hunter's relationship no matter what is, walp, bad. since lilith treats him as if he cant take care of himself, like eda cant take care of him, and that his lack of magic is something belos could 'fix'. when season two comes about lily has some serious apologies to make if she wants to try to be a good auntie thats for sure cmdmsmsm though.... wouldn't be surprised if hunter was a menace to her, always pranking her and annoying her as payback. or he hend a serious grudge for kidnapping and endangering luz, fighting eda at her worst, cursing eda in the first place, actually capturing her and getting her nearly petrified, etc. luz and king forgave liltih but i have a feeling like he wouldn't for awhile.....

Hunter is full of nothing but spite and takes out his revenge by annoying the hell out of Lilith via pranks or blasting the sounds of clown shoes squeaking when she walks. he holds one killer of a grudge and will go out of his way to make sure Lilith isn't in a room alone with anybody, either he or his cardinal palisman are watching her if shes within like 10 feet of anyone else in the family. especially Luz. he knows Eda could probably handle herself when not in an extreme situation, especially with Both of them losing magic, but Luz was someone Lilith was almost ready to Kill if it meant getting Eda back and he'd maul Lilith before that happened.

Lilith was already kind of nervous and out of place with everyone else, but it doubles with Hunter. she's both extremely annoyed by his presence and Extra anxious because 1) he's still one of Eda's kids, 2) she has no doubt he could make her life So Much worse if he wanted and 3) what the fuck this is the nephew of Emperor Belos. she mostly just avoids him as she ends up bonding with Hooty, which makes Hunter lessen up on keeping an eye on her, since he knows Hooty can and would beat her up if something went wrong.

Luz bonds with both Eda and Lilith through teaching them glyphs, since they're all magicless now. Hunter agrees to help Eda where he can with glyphs and wild magic, but refuses to do anything with Lilith. every once in a while Lilith will be nearby or in the same area as him as hes nerding about glyphs with Luz or Eda and Lilith is one of those people who loved to learn and know everything, she already showed excitement in excelling at glyphs in canon, she she'd end up asking questions and showing genuine interest. Hunter would almost always respond with a legit answer and start going off on an info-dump before he realized he was talking to and immediately shut down and leave. though they do end up bonding via Hunter going off on small info-dumps and Lilith doing her Absolute Best to be better for the Owl House residents.

remember how Amity and Hunter have 'recognition of self through another' (derogatory)? same thing with him and Lilith. but this time its in the sense of "Belos fucked us over with lies and also we crave recognition for our accomplishments" and this means that when Gwen showed up and Hunter was busy recoiling form her, he noticed Lilith trying to get her attention and. felt a little bad. because Gwen visited Eda and him all the time and she knew about Hunter well before Lilith did. course thats the same day Lilith leaves so they never truly get a 'i dont forgive you but that doesnt mean im holding a mean grudge anymore' moment until later on

[ordinaryschmuck]

What I Thought About “The Second Temple”/”Barrel’s Warhammer” from Amphibia

Salutations random people of the internet! I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.

As some of you might know, I wrote a review called "Why I (Want to) Love Amphibia." The short version is that while I enjoy parts of it, I won't go so far as to say I'm obsessed with Amphibia as I am with other Disney hits like Gravity Falls or The Owl House. However, the two latest episodes, "The Second Temple" and "Barrel's Warhammer," do a lot to fix two issues I have with the series: Anne's character and Sasha's road to redemption. 

(Spoilers Ahead)

My biggest issue with Anne is that I cannot pinpoint what her character is. Sometimes she's selfish, and other times, she's selfless; sometimes she wants to relax, and other times, Anne wants to go on an adventure; sometimes Anne needs a voice of reason, and other times, she is the voice of reason. It always felt inconsistent to me, and her personality is dependent on what the writers need for an episode. This is why I like "The Second Temple," because it at least offers some pinpoint explanation of who Anne is.

To put it bluntly, Anne is a selfish person who learns from her mistakes to become more selfless. Looking back, it is a tad bit more noticeable that Anne stops finding shortcuts or causing mischief the more and more the series goes on. There are times when she slips up, like ditching the cart with Sprig in "Fort in the Road" or being impatient in "Anne Hunter." However, these add to her development and having her learn to take responsibility for her actions. As much as I love a character like Luz, who is selfless from the get-go, I will admit that a character's journey from selfishness to selflessness is still an interesting one to take.

I also love the fact that she takes away the stone before it's fully charged. For one, it gives narrative purpose to a joke that, while not that funny, was pretty chuckle-worthy. On top of that, it adds more to Anne's imperfection, as her impatience got the better of her due to being worried about the Plantars and her girlfriend--I mean--Marcy. Whether this brief act of impatience could result in good luck or bad luck remains to be seen, and I'm honestly excited to see what happens next.

But not as excited as I am to see how Sasha continues to develop. The main thing that interests me with "Barrel's Warhammer" is Sasha's reaction to Anne and Marcy doing well without her. Time and time again, Sasha comes across as an abusive friend. And many abusers often feel anger over the idea that the people they abuse end up doing well for themselves, what with all the time and effort put into belittling them and building the abuser up. The thing is, I don't think that applies to Sasha. At least, not in the way it would. She's upset, but more for the selfish reason of hating that her "friends" don't need her anymore. The first scene in "Reunion" and a few bits from the season 2B trailer hints that Sasha acts as a leader who protects Anne and Marcy. So if they don't need her protection anymore, that means they really are better off without her. And that idea upsets Sasha down to her very core. You see a bit of it when Grime tells her to leave and how she isn't needed in "Toadcatcher." She thrives on power, and it eats her up, knowing she can no longer have it, meaning she'll do anything it takes to get more. And I adore the fact that she realizes the consequences of that after losing Percy and Braddock. After trying so hard to gain respect from the toad army, Sasha ends up losing two of the closest things she has as friends. Again.

It's especially an intriguing development since it leaves Sasha with Grime, a character who acts as a mirror for what Sasha could be. They both share a desire for power but diverge in how they see others that help them get it. Sasha sees friends that she genuinely cares about but fails to effectively express her adoration. Grime sees nothing but soldiers that can be lost and quickly replaced with others who are better. And something tells me he'll barely think twice about abandoning Sasha the second it benefits him. I won't deny that Sasha cares deeply about Anne and Marcy, but if she doesn't shape up, she will become just as slimy and emotionless as Grime is on the daily.

So, yeah, these are two great episodes with fantastic episodes with great character exploration, some pretty cool action, and a few jokes that gain a chuckle from me...there's just one issue: Pacing. Both of these episodes feel like they're on fast-forward and would benefit better as double-lengthed. Moreso with "Barrel's Warhammer," as I feel like a couple more scenes showing the bond between Sasha, Percy, and Braddock would make Percy and Braddock's departure all the more heartbreaking.

Other than that, these are still B+ episodes, in my opinion, and I can't wait to see what happens next.

Also, I hope you enjoyed this new format for What I Thought About. Because Amphibia works on an eleven-minute runtime, I can't really go as in-depth with each episode as I can for The Owl House, which operates on twenty-two. Meaning that I have to be a bit more general on my thoughts when regarding each episode.

(Also, also, I won't be reviewing every episode of Amphibia from now on. Just the ones that are worth talking about. Because I can't review every episode of Amphibia AND The Owl House, especially if both shows start airing together again. Trying to do both at the same time requires the mental stamina that I do not have.)

[myriad-mage]

Two Sides of the Same Coin

(Just a little something I have been imagining for Owl House AU Alex. Will go under cut since of the length. @disastertrifecta )

Alex and Hunter arrive at the single door in that leads to a seperate vein of Titan’s blood. The Golden Guard’s magenta eyes fixed on the young man that was taken on as his student. Though neither him nor his uncle who had made the arrangement had any belief that the Hexside student be capable of learning any of the magic that Hunter was capable of. The decision was made to keep Amity, Luz, Gus, and Willow from gaining a potentially powerful ally. Discovered since of his tactical approach to fighting, his decision to traverse along the Oracle Path in conjunction made him worth keeping an eye on. 

Alex, however was unaware of the truth about the arrangement. Having directed his ambitious and dedicated practice to the art associated with his desired coven, he quickly learned how to foresee some distance into the future as well as could summon a spirit from the crystal ball. To utilize both means at the moment in support of Belos and his directive, Alex kept the orb close by. 

Alex would focus on the orb, much to a mixture of curiosity, distaste, and annoyance from Hunter who would simply watch. “Hunter, go inside the cave and start searching for the vein. I shall stay here and guard the door.” Alex says standing up. Hunter knew that it involved Amity, Luz, Eda, King, Gus, Willow, or some combination. The group were nothing less than annoyances to his uncle’s plans, but that didn’t make it any less pleasant to be directed by someone below him. In contrast, Hunter knew that this task wasn’t something he should leave to someone like Alex, so he would vehemently abide by the instructions presented. Opening the door that lead to the cavern with the vein. 

Alex didn’t like the position that he stood at, but he wasn’t going to let his feelings interfere with his task. His right hand would glow a golden yellow as a wall of stone rises from the ground and blocks the door after Hunter closes it behind himself. Examining the crystal ball, he would just wait in front of the door, focusing one the upcoming sequence of events. 

Luz, Amity, Gus, and Willow would race toward the vein once they got wind of where it was located. There was no telling how much of a headstart Kikimora or Hunter had gotten and they couldn’t risk giving them any more time. 

The four sets of feet would skid to a halt when the saw Alex standing by the door. There wasn’t any bad blood among the Hexside students present, especially between Luz and Alex. Alex was much like Gus who welcomed a human attending class, though the two differed in how they presented their welcoming. Despite his high ranking among students in the school, Alex never took to gloating or bullying, a welcome change compared to how Boscha treated Gus and Willow, though he was rather aloof and hard to talk to.

“Wait, we have to fight Alex?” Luz was the first to vocalize the conflicting emotions that was almost present in the four. They didn’t want to hurt Alex but they had to get by him to get inside. Gus and Willow had the additional worry of the fact that their opponent was almost like fighting Amity in terms of ability. 

“Alex, let us get by please.” Luz wanted to settle this without resorting to violence afraid that it might draw to turning against the four back in Hexside. 

“I cannot do that Luz. Nothing personal, but I am here working with the Golden Guard.” Alex would retort, though the sullen tone of his voice spoke tons about how he wished this scene could never come to pass. Hearing the title, which amounted to the same as just saying Hunter’s name drew a groan from Amity.

“Alex, it’s four against one. You cannot beat all of us.” Amity spoke up, hoping to dissuade the combat if necessary but wouldn’t hesitate to go all out against the Elementalist should he stay in their way. 

Alex would laugh lightly to himself as he looks at the crystal ball. “Amity, you, Gus, and Willow know more about my ability than Luz. Normally, I wouldn’t be afraid of being outnumbered. However between your abilities and Luz’s unknown potential, it will feel like fighting more than four. 

((Had a lot more but computer crashed while I was adding on to it and I don’t want to put it down again. x.x))