#jade lanson

[sergeantsporks]

I know you’re in Gilded ask ocean rn but with that human exchange program we saw at the end of the finale I wonder how many humans they told about the demon realm also surprise this is now a Camila is Hunter’s Mom Now ask do you think Jade or Thomas would be part of it?

Jade would for SURE. She is the first on that boat, she is READY. She is gonna see ALL the cool stuff. And then she's going to help Hunter rediscover how AWESOME everything is without his uncle there.

I think Thomas would be a little more hesitant, just because he's more hesitant by nature, but then, well. You know. It's like a fresh new start with people who don't know his brother so won't make that snap judgement about him, so why not?

[theblitzboysoutoftime]

@dcxrogues (ooc stuff)

I was in a chat on a friend and somehow it got showed that

Jason Todd Defends The Lanson Ship(Jade Lance-Joe Wilson)

As much as Jade defends Denllevue(James-Arabella)

[sergeantsporks]

Full Circle

Rating: Teen, Gen

Part 17 of  Camila is Hunter's Mom Now

Chapter 4/5: Regrouping

Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3

Hunter never planned to tell his friends about his past.

But since when has anything ever gone the way he planned?

Ao3

Hunter stared at the ceiling of Jade’s guestroom, willing the throbbing of his head to go away. But his head, apparently, did not care how many deep breaths he took or how tired the rest of his body was.

Go figure.

Can’t feel my right hand at all, but that couldn’t spread to my head.

Maybe another ice pack?

Hunter rolled out of bed, landing lightly on his feet.

And almost immediately bucked, all of his muscles immediately screaming at him for the movement. Flapjack woke up at the thump he made hitting the ground, circling around him and then nestling in his hair with a chiding chirp to never ever separate ever again.

“I know, I know,” he whispered, “I was just going downstairs—it shouldn’t have been long.”

Flapjack shifted to its staff form, and he held on gratefully, using the stick to prop himself up.

“Who knew intense combat for twelve hours straight after months of no practice would hurt so much?”

He almost started to warp down the stairs, then stopped, biting his lip and rubbing his coven patch. Better not to risk it.

Hunter hobbled down the stairs to see Thomas sitting on the bottom few, arms resting on his knees. Hunter slowly lowered himself down next to his friend with a wince. Hope I can get back up.

“Can’t sleep?” he asked softly.

“Sleep?! How could I sleep?!” Thomas’ voice cracked. “He’s still out there, and I don’t know where! He could come again at any moment and…” Thomas put his head in his hands. “How am I supposed to sleep with THAT hanging over my head?” he whispered.

“I…” Hunter leaned back against the stairs. “I don’t know. Vee would walk me through it, we’d check all the doors and windows in the house to make sure they were locked. Would that help?”

“Would that stop him? The locks?”

Now that he said it out loud, the whole thing sounded silly, even though it had worked to help him sleep before. Hunter shook his head. “I’m sorry. If you want to… stop hanging around me, I’d understand.”

Thomas snorted. “Little late for that idea, don’t you think? Even if I decided that I hated your guts and wanted to stop being your friend this instant, he’s already got me marked. I wouldn’t be safe anyway. So thanks, but no thanks, I think I’ll just stay awake for forever.”

“Oh. Sure. Sounds feasible. After a couple days of that you may or may not be seeing him everywhere anyway, but all in all, a pretty solid plan.”

“Mmmmhm.”

Jade shuffled over. “Can’t sleep?”

“You, too?”

She shrugged. “Nah, I’m an early riser.”

Thomas rubbed his eyes. “Early riser?”

“It’s like. Five AM. Have you been awake this whole time?”

“Mrgh.”

“Okay. Alright. I’m going to make breakfast. Oh, and, uh… Hunter?”

“Yeah?”

Jade pulled his artificial staff out from the side of the stairs, expanding it to its full size. “Can I keep this, or do you want it back?”

Hunter rested his arms on his knees with a wince. “You can smash it to pieces for all I care,” he mumbled, “I don’t—” his still-numb arm tingled, and he rubbed the area with the patch, his breath starting to hitch in his chest. “I don’t want it.”

Jade immediately collapsed it again, putting it out of sight. “Hey—it’s okay, it’s okay, breathe, Hunter. Deep breaths.”

Hunter inhaled deeply, letting it out slowly.

“Okay. Thomas, c’mon and help me with breakfast.”

“You sure? I thought you hated people trying to cook with you?”

“You need something to distract you. I’ll deal.” Jade darted off to the kitchen and returned with an ice pack wrapped in a towel, handing it to Hunter. “For your head.”

“Thanks,” he mumbled, holding it to the lump of bandages. He didn’t even want to check under them. The pulsing, throbbing from his head was enough to tell him that it was a mess. His hand drifted to the scar on his cheek.

Have to look sooner or later.

Camila thumped down the stairs, rubbing her eyes. “Heey, mijo. How’s your head?”

He shrugged, and she helped him to the bathroom, sitting him down, and unwrapping the bandages. “Ay.”

“Is it bad?” he croaked.

Her lips puckered. “It’s just… still swollen. And the cut is deep. I want to take you to a doctor, but—” she shook her head. “I’m going back to the house. To get some fresh clothes for everyone.”

Hunter’s heart pounded in his chest, and he clutched her arm. “You can’t! He’s still out there, he’s still—”

“Hey—hey.” Camila’s hand rested against the uninjured side of his face. “I’ve met him twice and I’ve already lit him on fire and hit him with a car. If he knows what’s good for him, he’ll avoid me.”

Hunter’s gut twisted and squirmed. “But…”

“I’ll take a long way back round to get here. He’s not going to find us, I promise.”

“But if he sees you—I’m okay, I don’t need fresh clothes, not if it means you have to go back for them, I’ll be fine—”

Camila tugged on a rip in his hoodie. “There are a few other things I need to pick up, too. I’ll bring something to defend myself with, okay?” she kissed the top of his head. “I’ll be back soon.”

Camila gently tugged her arm out of his grip, reapplying antibacterial cream to his head and bandaging it back up.

“Try to go back to sleep, you look exhausted, mijo.”

And then she was gone.

She’ll be okay.

She’ll be fine, she’s right, she’s managed to catch Uncle by surprise before, he’s never hurt her.

But what if…

The words cycled over and over, no finishing thought, just an impending dread roiling in his stomach. Hunter curled his knees to his chest, burying his head in his arms.

What if…

Xxx

The door was open when Camila got home. She hissed in a deep breath, picking up a pair of garden shears and creeping inside. It was eerily silent, and… normal. Despite the door hanging open, the house looked just like she’d left it. She checked the whole downstairs, ceiling, every cabinet and closet, then went into the living room and clicked the portal key she’d picked up from next to Luz’s sleeping bag. The glowing curtain of light opened up, and she took a deep breath.

“Let’s see what you’re like, Boiling Isles.”

Camila stepped through, closing the portal with another click.

“Luz is—” King stopped, mid run, and frowned. “You’re not Luz. Is she okay?”

“Luz is fine.”

Eda poked her head down the stairs. “Camila? What are you doing here? Are the kids safe? Did you find Hunter?”

“I found him. I found him, and his friend, and they’re both safe, so are Luz and Vee. All of them are safe.”

One eyebrow rose. “So what’s going on?”

“Luz was right. It was Belos who had him, he’s in the human realm.”

“Oh, that’s…”

“I came here to see if any of you had a way to kill him.”

“Whoa,” King yelped, “I did not pin you as the killing type! Beat to a senseless bloody pulp, sure, but…”

Camila rubbed her arms. “He’s in the human realm, and he’s not going to stop. He’s going to keep coming after my children until they give up, or until they’re killed, and I can’t let that happen. As long as he’s alive, they’re not safe, Hunter is not safe, and I don’t think Vee is, either. I will protect them however I can, and if that means killing Belos, I will. Because I don’t think he’ll stop until he’s dead.”

Her tongue felt heavy and clunky saying the word “kill.” But… she had to, right? It wasn’t just about protecting Hunter from him, she would rescue him as many times as it took, throw herself in front of a blade meant for him as many times as Belos could threaten him, but even if Hunter was never taken by Belos again, even if she successfully kept him away, Hunter wouldn’t ever have a peaceful moment. Even if they ran to the ends of the earth, or locked Belos in another realm, he wouldn’t feel safe.

No. He wouldn’t feel safe until Belos was completely gone.

Eda tugged on her hair. “Ah, geeze. Look, if you need a safe place for you and the kids to go, the owl house is open. He doesn’t have a working portal, he can’t get in. I know it’s not… the most ideal situation… to uproot and move to the boiling isles, but—”

“I can’t just move, Eda, Vee and Hunter have a life, they have friends, and I can’t just make them leave that! Not to mention, Belos went after Hunter’s friends once, I can’t guarantee that he won’t do it again, and I can’t just leave them in that situation. No. Belos has to go, and he has to go fast.”

“Alright, alright. It just hasn’t exactly proven easy to get ahead of Belos. But that might be because we’re witches, and he already distrusts us and is watching us. You might have more luck as a human.” Eda hissed out. “Look, I don’t know of a surefire way to kill him, buuuuut… I might know someone who does. C’mon.”

Eda summoned her staff, and before Camila could protest, shoved her on it and took off. She clung tightly to Eda, yelping as the ground fell away.

“Haha, you’re just like Luz. Don’t worry, I won’t let you fall.”

The staff swooped downwards, and they landed in front of a huge fortress. “Welcome to the ex conformatorium. Now we’re just sorta keeping a few of Belos’ worst lackeys locked up here until we can figure out what to do with them. Now, the person we’re going to see might tell you how to beat Belos. But, uh… don’t mention that it’s to help Hunter. Or that you’re his mother. Just don’t mention Hunter, okay?”

“Okay?”

Eda led Camila to a cell containing one tiny red woman with what looked like a hand for hair. “Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyy, Kiki!”

“What do you want?”

“Don’t go spreading this around, but, well, seems your old boss is still kicking somewhere. Any tips on how to kill him? Or how long, hypothetically speaking, before he collapses into a puddle of goop and fails to get up?”

“Belos will live as long as he needs to in order to carry out his plans. You can’t outwait him, Owl Lady, he’ll just sink back to wait for a good time to return.”

“How about killing him, then?” Camila demanded. The word was still heavy and clunky on her tongue, but…

The woman’s eyes lit up. “There was only one person Belos was ever scared of…”

Xxx

…and you’ll find him at the end of a staircase on the titan’s head.

“Are you sure about this?”

Camila clutched at her purse, but squared her shoulders, starting the march down the stairs. “Strange star deity? Why not, just another thing on the list, right?” She paused as she got closer to the end of the stairs. “Do you hear… crying?”

“Camila—” Eda started.

It was too late. Camila’s feet flew over ground, mounds of white and gold blurring past. She only stopped when she heard a yelp from Eda, and took a closer look at her surroundings.

Skulls leered up at her, surrounded by broken gold masks. Camila twisted around, but they were everywhere as she backed away. “What is this place?” she whispered, her voice echoing in the cavern.

What is this place?

What is this place?

Eda’s face was even paler than usual, and she picked up one of the masks with shaking hands. “Camila…?”

“What?”

“When Hunter first came to your world, what was he wearing?”

“A cloak, a tunic, pants, some boots, gloves. Why?”

Eda nodded. “Ah. Usually… a mask like these went with that outfit.”

Camila felt her gut churn. “What is this place?!” she demanded.

“I don’t know. I don’t… all I know is that Hunter wasn’t the first golden guard. And from the looks of it... Belos didn’t tend to hold onto them for very long.”

If he hadn’t come to the human realm…

Camila pushed that thought away. “We are finding that disc.”

She ran back towards the crying. “Hello?” she called, “Hello? Who’s there?”

“Huh?!”

Camila spotted the disc, and then a shadow opened its eyes at her feet.

“Who are you? Did the draining spell work?”

Camila took a step back. “I’m—ah—my name is Camila. And no. It didn’t work.”

“Good. I hope Phillip is livid.” The shadow circled around her. “Hey, any chance you wanna play a game?”

Camila crouched down next to the shadow. “How… old are you?”

“I don’t know.”

“What’s your name?”

“Everyone calls me Collector, so I guess that’s it!”

“Kikimora said Belos is… scared of you?” a kid?

“He should be! One day, I’m going to get out, and he is going to be so sorry he threw me down here like one of his Grimwalker playthings!” The shadow tilted its head. “Hey, do you want to let me out? You have titan’s blood, you can use it to set me free!”

Camila clutched the key. “I—my daughter needs this. Look, where are you? Are you in this disc?”

“Nnnnnnnnnnnnno. Not exactly.”

“Ay… Eda, he’s a kid. I can’t use a kid to fight Belos!”

“Creepy kid,” Eda muttered

“Wait! Wait, wait, wait, don’t leave! Don’t leave, I’ll fight Belos for you, just don’t leave me here!”

Camila scooped the disc up, tucking it into her bag. “I’m not leaving you behind.” She pinched the bridge of her nose with a sigh, her shoulders slumping. “I’ll just… have to think of something else. Maybe I should send them here. Just until… I can figure it out.”

“The Owl House is open to any of Luz’s friends or family. Especially if they’re hiding out from that creep. I mean, if you don’t mind a giant feathery bird woman bursting into the human realm, I could—”

“No. Thank you, Eda. But enough people have found out as it is, I… I don’t want to draw too much attention to the kids.”

“Low profile. Gotcha. If you need any help…”

“I’ll let you know.”

The house was still silent when she got back. Camila slowly climbed the stairs. Her room looked just as she’d left it, and she packed a few changes of clothes, lugging the suitcase to the kids’ room.

The bag fell out of her hand.

Luz and Vee’s bunk bed was untouched, their clothes still neatly in drawers and hanging up in the closet, Vee’s schoolbag leaning gently against the bag.

But Hunter’s clothes were thrown around on the floor, some of them ripped apart. His school bag had been dumped out, his notes torn to shreds. His mattress was off of the bedframe, flipped over.

“Oh, he’s mad, mad,” the shadow child’s voice chuckled, “Hate to be the guy who lives here, when Belos catches him, it’s over.”

Camila’s knees wobbled, and she collapsed to her knees. “I can’t,” she whispered.

“Let me out, then,” the child whined, “I can do it for you!”

Camila shook her head. “I’ll get you out eventually when I can find a way to do it that won’t destroy Luz’s key, but you don’t have to fight my battles for me.”

The shadow darted from destroyed item to destroyed item. “What? Why not? Wouldn’t that be easier for everyone?”

“You’re just a kid, right? There are enough children in this fight as it is. I’m not making it one more.”

“Why? I mean.” The shadow darted back to its disc. “That’s how everyone plays, right? I do something for you, and then we can play a game?”

Camila pushed herself back to her feet, gathering up untorn clothes from the floor, and then packing some of Luz and Vee’s as well. “Well, I’m not going to make you fight for me. I’ll get you out when I can, but you don’t have to fight Belos. We can play a game, though, uhhhh, what do you like? Go Fish? Hide and go seek?”

“TREASURE HUNT!” they howled, sliding across all of the torn things on the ground. “Look!”

Camila knelt down next to the shadow, gingerly picking up an old leatherbound journal. A slip of paper fell out, a curly hand scrawled across it.

In case you want to know the true nature of what it is you’ve invited into your home.

The same curly script read Phillip Wittebane on the inside cover of the journal. “What the…?” Wittebane. Why does that sound familiar?

“That’s Belos’,” the shadow child said cheerfully, “He keeps track of all his experiments in there.”

Camila frowned. “Why does he think he could turn me against Vee?”

“What’s Vee?”

“My daughter, a basilisk.”

“Oh. Yeah, I don’t think this book is about her.”

Camila flipped through the pages. “Then what would it be—” a pair of magenta eyes stared at her from the paper, and she dropped the book with a yelp. “What is that?” she said shakily.

“You mean you haven’t seen it?”

“Seen what?!”

“One of Belos’ Grimwalkers. It ran off to the human realm, he thought maybe he could get it back.” The shadow child tapped their chin. “Come to think of it, maybe he did get it, and that’s why you haven’t seen it! He didn’t tell me, though, boo. He’s such a liar.”

Camila delicately picked the book back up. “And a Grimwalker is…?”

“Well, they all kind of look something like this!”

The shadow child shifted to a very familiar profile, with an aquiline nose and a strand of hair that refused to go back with the rest. Pieces started clicking in Camila’s mind, and she shook her head. What is going on?!

“You might have also seen it looking like this?”

The profile shifted to a long cloak with a hood, and the nose melted into one of those masks from the pit.

“Belos likes to make and break them. He’s not very careful with his toys, I think he likes destroying them.”

Camila felt sick to her stomach. “What are they, though?”

“Copies. Better versions of an old friend, he kept saying. He grew them in a pit!” He turned into a silhouette of the ground and a hand punched its way out. “He had all these creepy bones and skin and lungs and rocks and stuff he used to build them, but he started running out because he was making too many.”

Camila tucked the book back into her bag. Her legs were shaking, but she forced herself to keep standing, to stumble towards the door. “We have to go.”

“Why?”

“I have to get back to my kids, I—”

“Why? They’ll be okay on their own.”

“Because that’s what parents do.”

“What about me?”

Camila bent down to pick up the suitcase handle, dragging it down the stairs. “Well, you’re coming too, aren’t you?”

“I am?”

“If you want. Hey, I said I wasn’t leaving you behind, right?”

“If I want?”

“If you’d rather stay here, I can set the disc somewhere.”

“No! I want to go with you and hunt more treasure!”

“Alright, then.” Camila dragged the suitcase towards the stairs. “But there’s somewhere else we need to go first.”

Xxx

Camila still wasn’t back. Hunter checked the time. Then checked it again.

“Where is she?! Do we… go after her?”

His legs wouldn’t take the step towards the door, locked in place. Come on, what if she needs you?! What if Belos caught her?

His legs wobbled at the thought, and he clutched the counter for support, head spinning.

What if…

Crunch.

Hunter jumped at the sound, then peered out the kitchen window to see what had made it. Jade was standing in her backyard with his old staff, trying to hit a target she’d drawn on the fence. She was missing, based on the smoking, damaged part of the fence that was NOT the target. He shook his head.

“She’ll never hit it with that stance,” he told Flapjack, “Should I give her a few tips?”

The palisman chirped in agreement, and he stepped onto the porch, inhaling the fresh air deeply. The sun was just a little bit too bright, but the air didn’t smell like decay, and the temperature was perfect, and the porch was solid and firm beneath his feet, even though he swayed. He padded over to Jade.

“Practicing?”

She yipped, nearly dropping the staff. “Oh! Hey, don’t scare me like that, I could take your head off!”

“How long have you been out here?”

“Couple of hours.” She glowered at the target. “I can’t hit it.”

“But hey, you’re consistently generating the magic, right? That’s good.”

“Not much good if I can’t hit anything with it.” Her hands trembled on the staff, and he turned them over. Blisters were starting to form on her hands, and he winced, his own hands aching in sympathy.

“Time to take a break.”

“What?”

“Time to take a break. If you rub your hands raw doing drills, it makes it really, really, really hard to pick anything up the next day, trust me. Gloves help with the chafing. Or wrapping your hands up beforehand. Or both if you plan to be practicing all day.” He held up his own scarred, calloused hands. “At least until the skin on your hands hardens a little more. Still should probably wear gloves, though.”

“Just a little longer. Until I can hit it at least once or twice.”

Her voice hitched, and she bit her lip as she took aim again, hands trembling.

“…Jade? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

Uh oh.

“Are you? Really?”

Jade fired again. Another miss. “Yeah. I’m fine, I have to be.”

“…Jade?”

She twisted the staff around in her hands. “I’m—you and Thomas, you… you went through something awful, you got hurt, you’re—and I—I’m supposed to be there for you, that’s who I am, right? I’m the one who bounces back from things, and who keeps smiling and is cheerful, and that’s how I help, I’m the one who keeps going so I can be there for you, and—and—” her eyes filled with tears.

“But one of my best friends is from another dimension, and he was some kind of child soldier, and two of my friends got kidnapped, and I didn’t even notice, and… And your uncle is terrifying, Hunter, I only met him for a few minutes, but he nearly killed me, and he hurt you, and he made me feel all sick and twisted and upset with myself in moments, with just a few sentences, and I thought I could handle it! I thought I would be okay going in there, but… I mean, I know you, I know how he made you feel, I don’t know why I thought I could handle it, I don’t know, maybe I was just stupid, or prideful to think that I could take him when he hurt you so badly, that I would be different, somehow.”

She ran a hand through her hair, clutching at it. “And I know that what happened to me isn’t nearly as bad as what you and Thomas went through, I mean, Thomas can’t even sleep, he’s so messed up about this, and you’re all banged up and can’t even move without wincing, and you look like you’re going to collapse at any moment, and meanwhile, what, I’m scared about a few minutes? I can’t be all out of whack right now, because you guys went through something so much worse, and—”

Hunter tugged the staff out of Jade’s hands, collapsing it and tucking it away. He bit his lower lip, then opened up his arms. She just stared at him for a moment, and a oh this was NOT the right thing to do thought flashed through his mind before she fell forward into his shoulder, wrapping her arms around him.

Ow.

His muscles ached and shook, but he wrapped his arms around her anyway. It felt… weird to be on this side of the hug.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled.

“I’m… used to this, to him. You and Thomas… aren’t.”

“That’s not better.” She pulled back. “Are you really that desensitized?”

“No,” he admitted. “I’m… trying not to think about the fact that he’s still out there or that I don’t know if he knows where I am, or that my mom is out and I don’t know…” He twisted his hands around, tucking them into his hoodie pocket, his thumb wiggling into a new hole from his time with Belos. “There’s a lot I’m trying not to think about it, there’s always a lot that I’m trying not to think about all the time, because I think if I do, it’ll be too much and I’ll be drowning again, and…” he shook his head. “It’s better to just not think about it.”

She tilted her head. “You know, my dad sees a really good therapist, I could—”

Hunter heard the beep of a car locking, and Jade frowned, walking back inside. “That’s odd. No one’s… supposed… to be…”

Jade’s father and mother blinked at them from the front door. “Jade? What’s…?”

“Uuuuuummmmmm, sooooooooo…”

Vee hopped up. “Hi, Mr. and Dr. Lanson! We’re so sorry for intruding, but uhhhh, our living situation has sort have been…”

“Compromised,” Hunter piped up.

“Jade let us stay here. We’ll get out of here if you need us to—”

Mr. Lanson’s eyes drifted over to Hunter, fixing on the bandages around his head. His eyebrows moved into an angry v, twisting his face into a scowl. “Where are they?” he rumbled.

Jade bounced from one foot to another. “Dad, I—”

“Where. Are. They.”

“We don’t know,” Luz piped up, “We just… weren’t sure it would be safe to stay at home.”

“Where’s Camila?”

“Picking up clothes and stuff from home. Like we said, we can leave if—”

“No,” Dr. Lanson piped up, “It’s alright, if you need a few days to figure things out.” She crossed the room to Hunter. “Have you been to a doctor?”

He shook his head.

“Let me take a look, head wounds aren’t a joke.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Jade whispered, her voice wobbly.

Her mother wrinkled her nose at her. “I’m not upset, but I wish you’d asked. Or at least warned me. Phone’s working, right?”

“Yeah. Sorry.”

“Mmm.” Dr. Lanson sat Hunter down in the kitchen. “Now, let’s have a look at that head.”

Xxx

Camila surveyed the Gravesfield museum, shaking her head. “Whoof. Haven’t been here since I attacked and locked up the curator.”

“Hey, Camila, look!”

Camila whirled around to see Collector sliding across a stone statue. “Hey!” she hissed, “Someone might see you!”

“Whoops.” He slithered back to the purse. “Didn’t know we were playing hide and seek, sorry.”

“Not everything is a game. There are people here who would take you away if they saw you, and I need you to understand that, okay? If you want to be safe, you have to hide from most humans.”

“Boy, you sound an awful lot like Belos. He wanted me to hide because he didn’t want anyone else getting my power, though. Anyway, just look at the statue, though!”

Camila tilted her head up at the stone faces she must have walked past a million times. A jolt ran down her spine. “Who is he?” she asked in a whisper.

The Brothers Wittebane, the plaque at the base of the statue answered.

Wittebane.

Camila pulled the journal out. “Wittebane,” she murmured, “Collector?”

“Belos, Phillip Wittebane, same guy. Glad we’re on the same page. We don’t like him, want him dead as quickly as possible, that guy?”

Camila marched to the museum. Closed, a sign on the door read. She pounded on the door. “JACOB!”

“Don’t come in!” his voice yelped, footsteps pounding towards the door, “Don’t open that door, it’s—AUGH!”

Camila shoved open the door, smacking something big with it.

“OW!”

Jacob was dangling from the ceiling, a rope wrapped around his ankle. Camila rolled her eyes, squeezing past and lowering him down.

“Did you just get caught in your own trap?”

“I was trying to keep you from stepping in it!” He pulled his ankle out. “Is everything good? Thomas is safe?”

“Thomas is safe. What do you know about the brothers Wittebane?”

“Huh? Why the sudden interest?”

Camila crossed her arms. “Try because my son looks exactly like one of them?”

Jacob jabbed a finger at her. “Yes! Exactly! Finally, someone else has said it! He does!”

“Okay, yes, yes, now who are they?!”

“The town founders, or at least that’s how the story goes. Got lured into a hellish realm, never returned.”

“And their names? Do you know their names?”

“No one really knows, but the popular tellings call them Phillip and Caleb.”

“That was the name!” Collector cried from her purse.

Jacob’s head whipped around. “What was that?!”

Camila put a hand over her purse. “Nothing! Nothing. Thanks, Jacob, bye!”

She dashed out, going around the side of the building and pulling out the disc. “Alright, alright. So… Phillip is Belos.”

“Yeah.”

“Phillip had a brother called Caleb.”

“Never met him.”

“And he…” Camila tugged the book out, staring again at those magenta eyes. “And Hunter is…”

“A copy. A magic imitation. So you have seen him!” Collector tilted his head at her. “How come you called him your son?”

“Because he is.”

No matter how he came into this world.

Really, does this change anything? So he was made in a pit somewhere by Belos. What’s the big deal? It’s not any weirder than where baby humans come from. It’s not like it changes anything about him.

“Uh, no he’s not. He’s not anybody’s son, unless you count Caleb, I guess. He doesn’t have parents.”

“Well, he’s my son now.”

“You can just do that? But—but Belos kept saying that the Grimwalkers were his!”

“They’re not,” Camila growled, “They’re their own people. They can make their own decisions, and live their own lives without him. Just like me. Just like you.”

“I can’t make my own decisions. I’m stuck, I have to go wherever people take my disc.”

“I’m going to get you out. I promise.”

“That’s what Phillip said, too.”

Camila stood back up, tucking the journal and the disc back into her bag. “Well. I’m not Phillip.”

[sergeantsporks]

Full Circle

Rating: Teen, Gen

Part 17 of  Camila is Hunter's Mom Now

Chapter 2/4: Damned

Ch 1

Hunter never planned to tell his friends about his past.

But since when has anything ever gone the way he planned?

Ao3

CW: Physical and Mental Abuse

Hunter balked as Belos steered he and Thomas towards the old house, digging his heels into the ground. “No,” he whispered, “I d-don’t want—”

Belos’ grip tightened, and Hunter was pushed up the stairs into the house. He shook his head as they got closer to the motion detectors, where he knew the door was. Blind panic swept over Hunter, and he wrenched out of Belos’ grip, grabbing Thomas’ wrist in one fluid move and yanking him away, pushing his friend behind him. “I’m not going back!”

Belos’ eyes lit up with a strange glow. “You don’t want to go back to the demon realm? You want to stay here, in the human realm?”

“Y-yes!”

Belos’ face split into a small smile. “Ah, how wonderful to hear. That’s all I’ve ever wanted, Caleb, I’m glad you finally agree.”

“Wh-what?”

Who’s Caleb?!

Out of the corner of his eye, Hunter saw his old staff, his artificial staff, propped up in the corner. He started edging Thomas and himself towards it as Belos came closer.

Belos shook his head. “The human realm is perfect, Hunter, and the demon realm is a threat to it. You understand this, you wish to protect this realm from the other.”

“What?!” Thomas hissed.

“Uh…”

“Why else would you steal the key from me? Why else would you work so diligently to protect the humans who took you in? That’s why you attacked me, isn’t it? You feared I would hurt the humans, because you know.” Belos jabbed a finger at Hunter. “You know, like I do, that witches are a scourge, a disease. They need to be destroyed.”

“What?! But we’re—you’re—”

Belos spread his arms out. “I’m human, Hunter. There’s no need to be afraid. I’ve had to hide who I am for years, had to lie even to you, but this realm is my home, just like you’ve made it yours. I would never hurt it. You don’t have to worry about me harming the humans, I want to save them. You thought you had to protect that pretend family of yours, but they have nothing to fear from witchcraft. Not anymore.”

What’s that supposed to mean?

“I wasn’t protecting them from witches, I was trying to protect them from you!”

Hunter lunged for the staff, snatching it up and grabbing Thomas’ arm, starting to teleport away.

His coven sigil flared up, burning, and Hunter stumbled, losing the warp and crashing to the ground, clutching his arm. “Hrngh—”

“Hunter?!” He felt Thomas’ hand touch his back. “Hunter! What is—what are you doing to him?!”

“Showing him the dangers of magic.”

Thomas was ripped backwards, and Belos knelt down next to him, tilting his face up. “Drop the staff,” he said gently, “You don’t need it anymore. Not here.”

Hunter shook his head, gritting his teeth and forcing himself to try another warp.

Have to… get to…

He collapsed halfway through, curling into a ball as veins of gold crept up his arm. “Ah—hah—”

“Caleb,” Belos snarled, the gentleness gone in an instant, “just give magic up!”

“Hngh…” Hunter scratched at the seal frantically, as if he could tear it off.

“You want to live here! You want to be here, you want to be like the humans, if you want to be human so badly, why do you keep clinging to magic?!”

“I don’t want to be human,” Hunter whispered, his head thumping to the ground. Tears sprang to his eyes, and he blinked them away. “I just… want to be… a Noceda…”

Belos waved a hand, and Hunter floated up, dragged up the stairs, Thomas in tow. “You aren’t a Noceda,” he snarled, “I’m your family, not them, Caleb!”

He stormed away, slamming the door behind him.

“Hunter? Or… is it Caleb?”

“I don’t—know who Caleb is.”

Thomas collapsed to his knees next to Hunter with a whump. “Oh my god,” he whispered, running a hand through his hair, “I can’t believe—witches are real, you’re a witch, it’s all real, my brother was…”

“Kind of right,” Hunter choked, pressing his arm to his chest, “S-sorry… I should have told you…”

Thomas let out a half-hysterical laugh. “Oh, yeah, because I totally would have believed you. God. That’s your un—this is crazy. All of this is crazy, I can’t…” He shook his head. “I can’t…”

Hunter dragged himself towards the window. “You… need to run.” He peered out. Too far for Thomas to safely drop. But… “Mom?!”

Thomas scooted to the window, peering at the figure running up the path. “It is!”

Belos reappeared, grasping them both and putting his hands over their mouths. “Shhhhhh.”

Hunter struggled as he heard the door downstairs open, prying at Belos’ fingers.

Mom! Mom, we’re up here!

Belos hand turned to goop, slithering over Hunter’s face to cover his mouth and nose more firmly. Hunter bucked and thrashed, his hope turning to blind panic at the feel of it.

Sinking

Falling into blackness.

He could see Thomas giving him a horrified look as he tore at it, frantic, while his lungs screamed for air.

“Hunter? Hunter, mijo, are you in here?” Camila’s voice called from downstairs.

I’m here,” he thought as his eyes started to droop shut. He lashed out desperately, kicking the floor with a thump. I’m right…

Hunter?!

Hunter, man, please wake up!

Hunter felt someone shaking him, then realized he could breathe. He swiped at his face, clawing, and a hand grabbed his wrist.

“It’s okay, it’s not on you anymore.”

Hunter gasped in frantic gulps of air. His coven patch wasn’t burning anymore, and he sat up, immediately almost falling back over at a wave of dizziness. “…Thomas?”

Thomas shuddered, hugging himself tightly. “She was right there,” he whispered, “She was right there, but…” He gagged, drawing his knees up to his chest.

“…Thomas?” Hunter repeated.

Thomas buried his head in his arms. “He was a monster,” he whispered, his shoulders shaking, “He just dragged us up to the ceiling, and… oh god. You weren’t moving, and he wasn’t letting you breathe, and…” Thomas gagged again, hugging himself tighter.

I have to get him out of here.

Hunter slowly picked up his artificial staff. “I can’t… he won’t let me use this to get out of here. My arm…” his fingers twitched, and he put his other hand on top to steady them. “…I can’t. But you…”

“I don’t know how to use that thing!”

“I can teach you. You can get help, I can tea—”

“Hunter.”

Hunter stiffened as Belos glided in, his heart pounding in his chest. How much did he hear?!

Belos took Thomas’ arm, and Thomas retched, his fingers trembling.

“L-leave him al—”

Hunter lunged forward, staff in hand, only to be driven back by a strange demon, like a smaller, even more beastlike version of Belos’ cursed form. Belos tugged Thomas away.

“I won’t let you corrupt another human with magic. Really. After what it’s done to us?! I expected more from you.”

“Hunter!” Thomas yelped, reaching towards him as Belos tugged him away.

Hunter tried to warp around the beast to him only for his patch to burn and the warp to fizzle out. He smacked back the demon, blasting it with his staff. It exploded into a puddle of goop, and Hunter sighed in relief, taking a step forward towards the door.

The goop tugged on him, grasping his feet, holding him in place. Hunter tugged, and finally blasted it again, only to turn around and see the monster had reformed in the doorway, snarling.

“No!” Hunter ran for the window, but it was there, too—no, there were two of them now. The one in the window leapt at him, and Hunter stumbled backwards, falling over his own feet and crashing to the ground. He pushed his staff upwards, throwing it off of him, and rolled to his feet. He blasted the one in the door, then ran out, only to see another one in the hallway. He backed up to give himself space, but it leapt forward, closing the gap. Hunter took two steps back to avoid it, and then there was nothing under his feet.

He flailed out for something to grab ahold of, snatching the handrail of the old stairs only for it to snap under his weight. He tumbled backwards, rolling down the stairs. There was a crunch, and one of the stairs broke, sending him crashing to the floor below. He blinked upwards, dazed.

The demon’s face appeared in the gap above him, snarling, and started to ooze down the underside of the staircase. Hunter rolled to his feet, limping for the door. His breath caught in his chest, each one seeming to press against his ribcage

Get outside. Figure out which room Thomas is in. Break a window?

The one from upstairs leapt over his head, blocking the door and snapping at him, a heavy paw batting him to the side. Hunter blasted it to pieces, but it reformed even faster, and he backed away, panting.

How many times do I have to destroy them?!

Xxx

“Please, please, please, please, please, please, please—”

Darius covered his ears as Luz followed him around, repeating the request. “Oh, mother of titan, alright, Eber will take a look, just quit pestering me!”

“Now?”

“I’m sure you’re very worried about your… brother… but there’s a lot of cleaning up to do around here, a lot of loyalists to round up and a lot of research about potentially getting the seals off, and tracking down a runaway is not exactly our top priority!”

“He didn’t run away! Belos has him, I know it! We can’t just let him wander around unchecked!”

“Belos doesn’t have any palisman in the human realm. He’ll croak eventually. Hopefully.”

“Hunter could die in that time!”

“Alright! Alright, I’m getting him, good gracious, where do you think we’ve been walking towards?!”

“Then be less ‘mleh’ about it!”

Darius nodded to Eberwolf, who was in the middle of directing a pack of ratworms. “How would you like to put your tracking skills to use?”

Eber tilted his head questioningly.

“This time, we’re hunting bigger game than a bard.”

Xxx

Vee sat down next to Jade. “How are you doing?”

“Well, uh. There appears to be a large man with living goop for hair and a small dog man coming through a glowing curtain of light in your living room, so. Confused would probably be a pretty good descriptor.” Jade tapped the table. “Are all of you from… there? Or just Hunter? Or…”

Vee sighed, transforming back into her snake form. “I’m not from Earth.”

Jade’s eyes just about bugged out of her head. “Mmm. Okay. Hmmm. Yep. Alright, guess the ‘Luz suddenly has a younger sister’ thing was a little weird.”

Vee transformed back. “You’re handling this pretty well, all things considered.”

Jade laughed, slightly strained. “Well, you know. I’d hate to be that guy.”

She jabbed a thumb at Jacob, who was watching Darius and Eberwolf with narrowed eyes, hand on a sword that he’d apparently run home to get.

“That’s fair.”

Jade’s fingers kept drumming on the table. “It’s… a lot to take in. And… I’m kind of maybe a little bit freaking out on the inside, because I kiiiiiiiiiiinda just thought that maybe you guys rescued Hunter from a government human experimentation lab or something and this, uh, this is.” She chuckled. “Not that. And it’s weird, and I don’t… I don’t know what to think. I don’t even know what’s on the other side of that curtain of light, but apparently two of my friends came from there?!”

“I could help with that.”

Jade jumped as Luz plunked her elbows down on the table. “Hunter doesn’t want to go back there, but I’d be happy to show you around. If you wanted me to.”

“Huh. So… You’ve been…”

“Hanging out in the demon realm studying to be a witch.”

“Right. Of course. I bet it looks great on college applications.”

Eberwolf’s eyes glowed as he held onto one of Hunter’s hoodies, and he ran out the door, bounding on all fours, following some trail only he could see. Vee chased after, and after a few feet, he stopped, pointing to the old house. Darius pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Did we come out all of this way just to find out he’s literally ten feet away?!”

“No!” Camila protested, “I looked in there, he was nowhere, I…”

“Eberwolf’s magic doesn’t lie. Mostly. He’s in there. Belos could be using magic to hide him, or maybe there’s a secret door, but whatever the case, that’s where he is.” Darius waved a hand. “We need to get back to the team trying to track down Terra. Let us know if you find anything else out.”

He and Eberwolf trekked back inside, and Vee frowned at the old house. “It doesn’t make sense. You checked.”

“Maybe he hid Hunter because he saw Ms. Noceda coming?” Jade suggested, coming up behind her.

“Maybe.”

“If we just rush in there, Hunter and Thomas could get hurt,” Luz piped up, “We need to be sneaky about this. Maybe I should get Eda?”

Camila shook her head. “He’ll recognize her.” Her fists clenched. “I just don’t know a way to get to him that won’t get Hunter hurt,” she said helplessly, “If he was really in there when I went looking… what if…”

Vee grabbed her hand. “He’s okay,” she said firmly, “He has to be.” She led them all back to the house. “What if… what if we got someone in there, someone who could get eyes on Belos? We could set up an alert for when Belos isn’t away from the two of them, and the rest of us could come rushing in.”

Flapjack fluttered in front of them, chirping.

“No, not you, little guy,” Luz murmured, “Belos would try to eat you if he saw you.”

“I could shapeshift into something small,” Vee suggested, hating how her voice wobbled, “I could turn into something small, look around…”

“Me,” Jade suggested.

“Absolutely not,” Camila said immediately, “I’m not putting you in danger like that.”

“No, she’s got a point,” Jacob piped up.

“What?!” Camila growled.

Jacob held his hands up. “From what I’ve heard out of Luz so far, Belos doesn’t really want to hurt or kill humans. And he doesn’t know Jade. So if she goes, even if she gets caught, she’ll probably be pretty safe.”

“Probably be pretty safe?!” Camila crossed her arms. “So why don’t you volunteer, tough guy? I see you’re all for putting the teenager in danger. Again.”

“Hey, I think you’re forgetting that I’ve been to the demon realm. Your little snake monster tricked me in there, and that guy saw me. I’m not exactly unknown, here. Plus, while I’m sure Thomas would be happy to see me, probably, I doubt Hunter would. I don’t think he’d exactly trust me long enough for you guys to bust in. Jade’s just the best option we’ve got.”

Camila sputtered. “I—no! I’m sorry, I can’t just endanger you like that, Jade.” Her voice shook, and she closed her eyes. “We’ll just have to think of something else.”

“We don’t have time to think of something else!” Luz protested, “Hunter and Thomas are in danger now! Maybe Thomas will be okay, he’s human, but Hunter isn’t!”

“I know!” Camila shouted, opening her eyes. Tears were blooming in the corners of them. “I know that! I know he’s in danger, I know he could be hurt, or—or—” She shook her head, clearing her throat. “I know,” she whispered, “But I can’t put someone else’s child in danger to save mine. That wouldn’t be right.”

“It doesn’t MATTER if it’s the right thing to do!” Luz protested, “It’s the only thing to do! Mom, Eda tried so, so hard to keep King and I out of danger. She even sent us away. But we ended up coming for her anyway. And… we’re going to keep going for Hunter. We’re stuck, we have no good options left, and we have to make our move before Hunter gets hurt.”

“I can do this,” Jade insisted, “I’ll be careful.”

Camila squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, turning back to Luz. “You’re absolutely certain he won’t harm another human, as long as Jade doesn’t attack him?”

“Positive, Mami.”

“I’ll be alright,” Jade said confidently, “And if it looks too dangerous, I’ll go, okay? I’ll run.”

“Mrgh. Fine! Fine. But for now, you need to go home.”

“What?!” Vee, Luz, and Jade all protested at the same time.

“It’s getting late! Your parents will wonder where you are!” Camila pushed up her glasses, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “Ayiyiyiyi. I can’t believe we’re going behind their backs like this.”

“Tomorrow morning?”

“You can’t just suddenly disappear from school. Hunter and Thomas already did, if you do, they’ll start poking around. It’s a half day tomorrow, right? I’ll pick you up and we’ll drive right over.”

“That’s a whole day since he got captured!” Luz protested, “Mom—”

“Luz, I don’t even want to begin to think about what happens if someone else finds out about all of this.” She jabbed a finger at Jacob. “He is the best-case scenario, because at least we can beat him up!”

“Hey! I am right here!”

“Worst case scenario, someone walks in at the wrong time, the police are called, and someone comes in and takes all of you! I can’t—I can’t lose you. Believe me, Luz, if I thought this problem could be solved by charging in headlong, if I thought I could march on Belos right now, then I would. I would in a heartbeat. But this isn’t happening in the demon realm, it is happening here. And maybe the demon realm has plants that eat you, and giant horrifying monsters, but there are just as many threats here that we have to watch out for. There are different rules we have to play by if we want to keep everyone safe.” She shook her head. “Go home, Jade.”

“My parents are leaving tomorrow,” Jade said quietly, “My mom has to attend a company thing, and my dad is going with her. If we need somewhere to run…”

“Thank you, Jade.”

Jade left, and Camila collapsed in a kitchen seat, putting her face in her hands. “God,” she murmured, “If only I’d checked more carefully—oh, this is my fault.”

“No, Mami,” Luz said gently, “It’s not your fault, no one could have seen this coming.”

She shook her head. “No, the motion detectors went off! They went off, and I went to check, and I thought it was just a rabbit! If I’d looked more carefully…”

“Belos just would have hidden from you, like he did with Hunter.” Luz hugged her mom. “We’re going to get them back.”

“At what cost? I’m involving Jade, I’m involving Jacob of all people—”

“Still here.”

“Ugh, why? Go home.” Camila leaned into Luz’s hug. “I don’t know what I’m doing. It feels like every choice I have is a bad one with no good outcomes.”

“It’s okay,” Luz murmured, “He’ll be okay. He always is.”

“He’s not, though!” she burst out, “He always tries to pretend he’s okay when he’s hurting, but he’s not, he’s not okay! And I don’t even want to think what this is doing to him, I know he’ll hold on, I know he’ll push through it until we get there, but I… I don’t think he’s going to be okay.”

The words hit Vee like a punch to the gut.

Whatever state we get him back in, whatever time we get him back…

He’s not going to be okay.

“Well—then we’ll be there for him,” Vee piped up, joining in on the hug, “Just like we always are.”

Xxx

Hunter swung.

And swung again.

And destroyed another goop monster.

And another.

It was almost routine, except for how his limbs were getting heavier and heavier. How he barely had time to catch his breath.

Too slow.

The creature batted him to the side, and Hunter skidded across the floor, barely rolling away as another one pounced.

“That’s enough,” Belos’ voice said, and the creatures backed away, melting back into him. “Hunter.”

Hunter staggered to his feet, leaning on his staff. It fizzed with red magic, and he pointed it at Belos. “St-stay back.”

Belos collapsed, then reformed behind Hunter, putting his arm around Hunter’s shoulders and gripping so tightly that Hunter dropped the staff with a cry of pain, his fingers numbing. “Stop playing pretend, Hunter. You’re only half a witch, you’re powerless. You don’t have to be like them. You don’t have to die like them.”

Hunter gagged on the smell of decay, Belos’ rot seeming to creep into his nostrils and suffocate him. “Wh-what did you…” he whispered, tears springing to his eyes.

“They’re gone, Hunter. The whole isles. Every last witch. Do you really want to be part of a dying breed?”

He let go, and Hunter fell down to his knees, his legs too weak to hold him up. “I—” He reached with a shaking hand for his staff, but the weapon skittered away across the floor as Belos kicked it. The beasts started to form again, snarling and snapping at Hunter.

“This is a lesson you will learn. Magic will only ever get you hurt. And the sooner you realize that, the better off you will be. Magic can’t save you. There’s not a single witch to do so. Your pretend family doesn’t know where you are, and they won’t find you. Only you have the power to make this stop, Hunter. It’s your decision. I don’t want to do this, but you’re not giving me much of a choice.”

Hunter lunged for the staff, stumbling away as the beasts fully formed. Not again.

“No one is coming for you, or your friend, Hunter. I’m the only one who can save you. Let me save you. From magic. From yourself.”

Hunter blasted one of the beasts to bits, but his staff trembled in his grip.

No one knows where I am.

Camila already checked, she doesn’t think I’m here.

Belos disappeared, and Hunter backed away from the beasts, almost dropping the staff.

Maybe I should… just…

[sergeantsporks]

Full Circle

Rating: Teen, Gen

Part 17 of Camila is Hunter's Mom Now

Chapter 1/4: Family Reunion

Hunter never planned to tell his friends about his past.

But since when has anything ever gone the way he planned?

Ao3

Drowning

Falling

Dark

Cold

Hunter’s coven sigil burned like a wildfire, piercing through the darkness with a beacon of light. It glowed on his wrist like a mini sun, shooting rays outwards.

Mine.

Mine, mine, mine.

It burned, like it had when he’d first gotten it, but the burning didn’t stop, it consumed his skin, his flesh, burning away his bone until—

Beep

Beep

Beep

Hunter rolled over in bed, smacking the alarm clock and then peering at the coven patch on his arm.

No glowing. He scratched at it absentmindedly, getting changed for school and then gently shook Vee’s shoulder. “Time to wake up.”

“No,” she grumbled, “Go ‘way.”

Hunter grabbed the blanket underneath her, bundling her up, then dumped her on the floor.

“Hey!”

“We’re gonna be late.”

Hunter scratched at his patch again—why was it so itchy today—and went downstairs, catching Camila just as she went out the door. “Have a good day at work!”

“Thanks, mijo.” She kissed the top of his head, sending a warm glow pulsing through him. “You have a good day at school.”

“Where’s Luz?” Her bunk had been suspiciously empty when he’d gone to bed last night, and if she’d gotten home after, then she’d left before she woke up.

“Apparently Amity’s parents have locked her up in her room. Luz is going to rescue her, isn’t that sweet?”

“Huh. Yeah.” Hunter kept scratching at his sigil as he wandered into the kitchen, scarfing down a bowl of cereal. Vee thumped down the stairs, grumbling, and got her own bowl of cereal.

“Hey.”

“Mrgh.”

“Do you have drama practice today?”

“Yep.” Vee stretched her hand out, resting it on Hunter’s and quelling his scratching. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, it’s just… itchy. It’s probably fine, had a weird dream about it. It’s probably… just… in… my…” A chill ran down Hunter’s spine, and he ran for the calendar. “What day is it?!”

“Oh—I don’t know—Hunter—”

Hunter gripped the counter, blood roaring in his ears. “It’s today,” he whispered.

“What? What’s today?”

“The day of—” Hunter swallowed. “The day of unity. It was supposed to be t—” his fingers curled, and he leaned his head against the wall.

“Hey.” Vee came up next to him, pressing her shoulder to his. “Belos doesn’t have titan’s blood. He doesn’t have you. Whatever his day of unity plans are… they’re shot. Done. Finished. Even if they weren’t, Luz would stop him.” She put her hand over his. “Do you need to stay home today?”

He can’t carry out his plans.

It’s impossible, we took the key from him.

Hunter took a deep breath, slowly uncurling his fingers. “No. No, I’m okay. Let’s go.”

The day of unity can’t happen.

Hunter tucked Flapjack into his school bag, still scratching at his sigil through his hoodie. Vee grabbed her own backpack, and Hunter locked the door behind them.

Xxx

Camila ran up the path to the old abandoned house. Usually she would have waited for the kids to go before leaving herself, but…

She glanced again at her phone as she stood on the porch.

Portal House Motion Detected.

Camila took out her pepper spray, slowly opening the door.

No portal. Camila walked a circle around the area, examining the motion detectors.

“What… set… you…”

She heard a rustle in the corner and whirled around to face it, holding her pepper spray out.

It was pointed at a rabbit, which squeaked when it saw her, then bounded away. Camila let out a sigh of relief, picking up the motion detectors. “Man. Guess I need to reset the sensitivity on these things, huh?”

Xxx

Thomas grabbed Hunter’s arms as he came in the school doors, staring him in the eyes. “I have. A huge problem.”

“What? Did someone toss your whole backpack on the school roof this time? I can’t climb up, my arm is still all kinds of weak from—”

“No, no, not that kind of problem. Plus, dude, last time you broke your arm, I really, really, really don’t want you climbing on the roof for my stuff again. Anyway, so, the problem is, my parents are going to be out of town. My aunt is pregnant, and they’re going to go help her with the kids while she’s giving birth and stuff, but you know, it’s the middle of the school year, so I can’t just go with them.”

“Ooookay?”

“They’re leaving me with my brother,” Thomas groaned, “I’d be better off by myself!”

“Can’t argue there,” Vee agreed, “So, what, you wanna come over to our house or something?”

“Please? Even just for a couple of days, I just don’t want to be alone with him for a whole week, I’ll go insane.”

Jade leaned one elbow on Thomas’ shoulder, coming up from the hallway. “Trying to find someone to adopt you for the week?”

Thomas heaved a sigh. “Yeah.”

“Ah, I’ll ask my parents. They might let you stay over for a few days.”

“Thanks, Jade,” Thomas mumbled gloomily, trudging with Hunter towards the chemistry classroom, “Man, you are so lucky.”

“Yes, because my siblings are the peak of normality,” Hunter remarked as they sat down.

“Yeah, but you’re equally weird.”

“Gee. Thanks.”

“In a good way, dude. Not… whatever my brother’s got going on.” Thomas sighed. “He’s just… so convinced he’s right, you know? And he won’t let it go!”

Well. He’s actually not completely wrong about there being witches.

“I don’t know, I guess I wish he’d just quit clinging to this whole…” Thomas waved his hands. “…thing… so tightly. Or at the least leave people alone instead of harassing them. He was actually fun to hang out with at one point. Now he’s just… obsessed.” Thomas polished his glasses. “Sorry. Shouldn’t dump all of that on you.”

Hunter’s nose crinkled. “You kept the fact that I broke my arm and stole my mom’s deer tranquilizer secret, I think it’s fair to dump a few frustrations.”

“Ha. Yeah, okay, when you put it like that.”

The bell rang, and Hunter turned his attention on their teacher, still scratching at his sigil.

Ugh.

Hunter glanced around the class, then pulled his sleeve up just enough to check on the sigil.

No glowing. Just angry red around the area from all of the scratching. Hunter tucked both of his hands in his lap to keep himself from scratching it more, chewing the inside of his lip.

It’s just in your head.

Just like that, the itching stopped.

Huh.

English.

Math.

Physics.

The intercom crackled on with a screech that made everyone cover their ears. “Hunter, please come to the front office.”

“Ooooooo,” Jade whispered, nudging him with a grin, “What’s up?”

Hunter shuddered. For a second, the voice had sounded like… but that was ridiculous. “I don’t know,” he whispered back, getting up and trudging through the hallways. He couldn’t think of any reason they’d be calling him up. He hadn’t gotten in any trouble. He hadn’t done anything particularly good either. Maybe Vee had gotten sick?

“Hi?” he ventured, putting his hands on the front desk, “You—”

The smell hit him just before the sight did.

Like rotting flesh, and decay.

The receptionist was slumped over her desk (a sleep spell? Or something more sinister?), and Belos was leaning against the table, dressed in clothes that looked like they’d been taken straight out of Jacob’s museum.

Hunter jerked backwards with a squeak, his heart pounding so hard he thought it might break his ribs. “Y-you can’t—”

“And here I thought you’d be pleased to see me.”

Hunter fumbled for his hoodie pocket, for Flapjack, but the familiar lump wasn’t there—put it in my backpack. He managed to grab his phone, but Belos lashed out, knocking the device from his hands.

“Let’s not.”

Hunter backed up, beelining for the door.

This isn’t happening, this is not happening, wake up, wake up, wake up!

“I wouldn’t do that.”

Belos reached to the side, yanking over…

“Hunter?”

Belos put one arm around Thomas, putting his hand on his shoulder. “Come now, Hunter. Why don’t you come along and you can introduce me to your new friend?”

Hunter’s legs wobbled, and he nearly fell on the spot. Thomas was trembling, staring at Hunter with wide, terrified eyes. Hunter’s hand went to his own shoulder. He knew that uncomfortably tight grip.

He has Thomas.

He’ll hurt him if I don’t, if I…

I can’t let him get hurt, not because of me, not again.

“Okay,” he managed in a strangled whisper while his mind screamed RUN! RUN WHILE YOU STILL CAN!, “Okay, I’m coming.”

Xxx

“Luz, slow down,” Amity called, “We took out the coven heads, we stopped the day of unity. It’s over.”

Luz shook her head, her feet pounding on the stone floor of the Titan’s skull. “We have to find him, he can’t get away! He’ll just start plotting again, or—or—I don’t know, activate some backup plan!” She skidded to a halt in the stonesleeper room, the portal door in pieces. “Where is he?!”

She paced around, looking for a footprint, anything that would tell her where Phillip had gone. “He can’t have opened the door, he didn’t have… any… titan’s…” She spotted a single brown glove on the floor, and she scooped it up. Part of it was ripped away, but she could still recognize it.

“Luz?” Willow asked softly, coming up behind her, “What is it?”

Luz’s hands trembled, clutching the glove tightly. “It’s Hunter’s,” she said in a strangled whisper.

“What?! But how would he be here? He’s in the human realm with your mom, right?!”

“Belos took—he was worried about—but we thought it would be okay, we thought Belos wouldn’t use it without a way to get back, we—” Luz’s legs wobbled and gave back, sending her crashing to her knees. “We told him it would be okay,” she whispered.

Amity knelt down next to her. “What is it?!”

“It had titan’s blood on it,” Kikimora’s voice echoed from the side. She glared at them from the corner, rubbing her wrist. “Belos confiscated it from him when he ran away. He used the titan’s blood to activate the portal and then… disappeared.”

“We said it would be okay, we told him not to worry!” Luz burst out, “We thought—I thought—but now he’s there, he’s in the human realm, and—and—I have to warn Hunter!” She bounded to her feet. “Amity, we have to fly there as fast as we can—or maybe Eda can—we have to get there!”

Amity steadied her. “Luz, don’t you have the key? Can’t you just summon our door?”

“No, I left it behind at your house because I didn’t want Belos to be able to get it from me when we came here! I didn’t think about—” Luz ran a hand through her hair. “Let’s go!”

Before we’re too late.

Xxx

“Oh, hey, can you take Hunter’s stuff home for him?”

Vee blinked at Jade. “What?”

“He got called down to the office, he never came back for his stuff. I put his bag in his locker, I just assumed he had to go to a doctor’s appointment or something.”

“Not that I know of.” Vee shrugged. “He wasn’t feeling well earlier. Maybe he went home sick.” Bit off more than he could chew, I guess. At least he went home. Not like him to leave his stuff, though.

She followed Jade to his locker, frowning as she heard a banging from inside. “That’s weird, what—”

Jade shook her head, frowning. “I don’t know.” She opened the locker, immediately jumping back, and a bullet of red feathers shot out, twittering and shrieking.

Vee caught the tiny palisman, cupping it gently in her hands. “Flapjack?!”

“How did a living cardinal-?” Jade yelped.

Vee’s heart sank down to her feet. “Something’s wrong,” she whispered. No matter how anxious he was feeling, there was no way Hunter would leave Flapjack behind. She set Flapjack on her shoulder. “I gotta get home. I gotta—I’m sorry, I’ve got to go.”

She bolted for the door, dashing across campus and across the street, not even waiting for the walk signal. It wasn’t until she was halfway home that she realized Jade was on her heels. “Jade, go to drama, go—”

“Is Hunter in trouble?”

“Yes—Maybe—I don’t know, but you should go back.”

Jade shook her head, following Vee all the way back to her house. Vee slammed the door open. “HUNTER?!” she yelled, “HUNTER, ARE YOU HOME?! LUZ?!” She tore through the house, checking every room. “HUNTER?!”

“Oh, hi, Ms. Noceda,” she heard Jade saying from downstairs, “You didn’t happen to pick Hunter up from school early, did you?”

Vee tore down the stairs. “Hunter’s missing,” she said in a rush. Flapjack was frantically chirping as well, as if trying to reiterate the point, “He left—when did he leave?!”

“They called him down to the office at the beginning of fourth.”

“And he never came back, and he’s not here, Mom, and he left Flapjack, and—”

“Left Flapjack?” Jade echoed.

Camila nodded, her jaw set in a steel line. “I’m going to check the old house. Vee, stay here in case he comes back. Jade, could you call the shelter, just in case he went there?”

“On it.”

Camila put a hand on Vee’s shoulder. “We’re going to find him,” she promised.

And then she was out the door.

Jade went to the other room, talking for a minute, thanking the person on the other end of the line, then coming back, shaking her head. “He’s not there.”

“Yeah,” Vee said softly, “I figured.”

Jade rubbed her arms. “Vee?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s his uncle, isn’t it.”

The mention made a chill run down Vee’s spine. “We—we don’t know that. I—” How do I explain that there isn’t really much of a way for him to get here because he’s trapped in another dimension?

“But… it might be?”

If today’s the day of unity… it would have been today if any day.

“Yeah,” Vee replied softly, tugging on her hoodie, “It might be.”

Xxx

Camila raced up the path.

Hunter’s missing, Hunter’s missing, Hunter’s missing.

What if the motion detected this morning had been…?

No. No, that was… she’d been there almost immediately after the alarm had gone off.

But still…

Camila slammed the door open.

No portal.

Nothing had been disturbed with the motion detectors.

“Hunter?” she called, pushing further in, “Hunter, mijo, are you in here?”

She heard a thump, and she creaked her way up the stairs, pushing open doors. “Hunter?”

Nothing.

Camila went back down the stairs, heading back towards her house.

Please have come home.

But she knew that he hadn’t. “Anything?” she asked the two girls.

They shook their heads.

“Okay. Jade, thank you, but I think you should go home now. I’ll let you know if we find him.”

Jade shook her head. “I want to help. He’s my friend, and if he’s in danger, or—I want to help him. Even if it’s his uncle. Especially if it’s his uncle.”

“Jade, I appreciate it, I do, but there’s just… it’s complicated.”

Jade’s fists clenched. “I know there’s something weird about Hunter,” she announced.

“What?”

“I know…” Jade ran a hand through her hair, getting it stuck and clutching her curls. “I’m not stupid, okay?! I know… I know he’s not normal. I know he’s not actually from New York. I know he’s got a weird tattoo on his arm, I saw it when he was washing the dog. I know that when I put his bag in his locker, there was probably a wooden cardinal that Thomas has seen poking out before, and when I got back in the afternoon, there was a live cardinal in his locker, and I don’t—I can’t even START to explain that one without thinking maybe I’ve gone bannanas, but I know the two are connected, and—he doesn’t even look normal, I’ve never met anyone with those ears or that eye color!”

She looked up at Camila with big brown eyes. “I’m not… I notice all of that, I see it, and I’m purposely ignoring it, I’m not putting it together because I know he doesn’t want to talk about it, but I know there’s something off about him, okay? So whatever it is about this disappearance that you think is going to scare me off… it won’t. I want to help. Please let me help.”

Camila sighed. “Oh, Jade, I…”

She was saved from having to think of an answer by a knock on the door. She almost immediately threw it open.

“Hunter?!”

“Uh—nope.” Jacob Hopkins winced. “Uh… hello again.”

“YOU!” Camila reached into her purse for her shoe. “It was you wasn’t it?! If you’ve hurt one hair on Hunter’s head—”

“Wha- What?! Calm down, I’m not here to—look, I just wanted to ask if Thomas was here.”

“What?”

“Guess not.” Jacob sighed. “He wasn’t there when I went to pick him up, and I know he wasn’t ecstatic about spending the week with me, so I figured I’d check with his friend, see if he decided to have a sleepover without telling me, but, uh… he’s obviously not here.” He blinked. “Wait, did something happen to his buddy?”

“Thomas is missing?” Camila echoed.

“Huh. Maaaaaybeeeee they’re just playing hooky?”

“Hunter wouldn’t.”

Jacob drooped. “Yeah, Thomas wouldn’t either. If your freak kid has hurt my little brother—”

“My children aren’t freaks,” Camila snapped, “and Hunter would never hurt Thomas.” Well. Not again. I think. She groaned. “I guess… ugh. Look, if—when we find him—”

Jacob pointed behind her. “Mayyyyyybe he went through there? Just a thought.”

Camila whirled around to see Luz’s portal door opening up. Jade was staring at it, jaw practically dropped to the ground.

“Okay,” Hunter’s friend squeaked, “So the cardinal in the locker theory is no longer looking so bananas.”

Luz stumbled through the portal. “Mom!”

“Mija! Mija, we—”

“Mom, where’s Hunter? Something just…” Luz searched her face, eyes flicking back and forth. “Oh. Oh no. No, no, no! I’m too late.”

“Luz. Tell me what’s going on.”

“It’s Belos, Mom. He got through, he used Hunter’s glove, I don’t think he was ever planning on going back to the Isles. He’s here.”

Camila sagged, struggling to breathe. “And he has Hunter and Thomas,” she whispered.

[sergeantsporks]

A Palisman by Any Other Name

Rating: Gen, General Audience

Part 16 of Camila is Hunter’s Mom Now

In which Hunter introduces his palisman to his friends, and he gets to try pancakes

Ao3

“What are you going to name him when you can finally adopt him?” Jade reached out and tousled the scarred dog’s ears. It let her. After enough bath assists, the dog finally let Jade near it without snarling or biting.

Hunter shrugged, clipping the dog’s leash onto its collar after a brief struggle to wrap his casted fingers around the collar. It shook water all over him to inform him of its displeasure at getting a bath. “I don’t know.”

“Well, how’d you name Red?” Vee asked. She was perched on top of an empty cage—small animals made her nervous, but she’d come along to see Hunter’s dog. She made a face. “Wait, never mind, I figured it out.”

“Well—hey, that’s not even its real name.”

Vee smacked her forehead. “And you’ve just been letting me call it that this whole time? Wait, I remember you saying it was a nickname. Why didn’t you tell us its real name?”

“Because I didn’t trust you.”

“Ow.”

Jade held open the door. “When do I get to meet Red? Or whatever its real name is.”

When you get real okay real fast about a lot of things, Hunter thought, wrinkling his nose, The magic bird is a little hard to explain, even just saying it’s a pet. “It’s Flapjack,” he answered instead, “It’s a word that means pancake.” Whatever that is.

Jade’s eyes wrinkled as she grinned. “I know what a flapjack is. That’s so cute!”

Hunter stopped, and the dog stopped with him. “You do?”

“I do what?”

“Know what a pancake is!”

Jade stopped to face him, grabbing him by the shoulders. “Hunter, look at me. This is very important. You’ve never had a pancake before?!”

“No?”

Jade turned to look at Vee. “Have you?”

She nodded. “We had them at camp all the time. They weren’t that great.”

“Camp pancakes come from a box,” Jade remarked vindictively, “Those aren’t real pancakes. You two need real pancakes. Now. Also, why did you name your pet flapjack if you didn’t know what a flapjack was?”

“The name sort of came with it.”

“Aaaaaalrighty.” Jade pulled out her phone, dialing as they continued their walk, the scarred dog tugging at his leash.

What do I name you?

“Thomas! Thomas, Hunter and Vee! Have never had a real pancake!” A pause. “So?! What do you mean, so, it’s tragic! I’m picking you up and we’re going to make pancakes together! And have pancakes for dinner! Yes, I know it’s not Mardi Gras, Thomas, but why regulate eating breakfast foods all day to one day a year? Are you doing anything, anyway?” Jade covered the mouth of the phone with her hand, turning to Vee. “He wants to know if you’re okay with him being there.”

Vee gave her a thumbs up. “As long as he doesn’t invite his brother!”

“Ouch. But fair.” Jade moved her hand away. “Yeah, she’s okay with it. Okay, see you soon!” she hung up. “I’m very good at making pancakes. Do you guys want blueberries in them, or no?”

Hunter and Vee exchanged glances. “Sure?” Hunter ventured.

“Cool! We can do some without, though. In case you don’t like it.”

They finished the walk around the block, and Hunter released his dog back to its kennel, giving its ears one last tousle. “What do you think, Vee?”

Vee gave the dog a smile. It panted happily—Hunter wondered if it could smell or sense somehow that she wasn’t human, and that was why it was comfortable with her. “Seems like a good dog. I won’t mind having him around.”

Jade sighed. “You two have got to share your dog whispering secrets with me.” She gave Hunter a sly look. “And… maybe your bird whispering secrets?”

She wasn’t going to give that up, was she. “Fine, we’ll go meet R-Flapjack.” Saying the name out loud again after so long hiding it felt weird in his mouth. It felt… good, though, too. He didn’t have to hide it. Not from them.

They piled into Jade’s car, and she drove them to Hunter’s house first. He hopped out. “Mom? Jade wants to have Vee and I over to make pancakes, is that okay?”

Camila nodded. “Sure, just be back before it gets dark, okay?”

“Okay. Flapjack?” he called.

“Yes, that’s another word for pancake,” Camila said, bemused, then raised one eyebrow as Hunter’s palisman fluttered down to his shoulder. “Ah. Red’s real name?”

Hunter shuffled his feet. “I should have told you sooner. I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry about. Go. Shoo. Have fun with your friends.”

Hunter raced back out the door. He could almost swear that Jade’s pupils expanded to about three times their usual size when she saw the palisman on his shoulder.

“Ohmygod that is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen,” she breathed, “Look at you, you’re so handsome!”

Flapjack chirped that finally someone got it, snuggling against Hunter’s face.

“He won’t flap around in the car, will he?”

“No, no, it’s ridden in the car before.”

“Awesome.”

She drove them to Thomas’ house first, and he climbed in the backseat, one eyebrow quirking up at the sight of Flapjack. “Nice bird. You’re not worried it’ll fly away?”

“Nope.”

“Alrighty, I’ll add ‘bird whisperer’ to the list of ‘things you apparently can do.’”

Vee twisted around to look in the backseat at him as Jade backed the car out and started towards her house. “There’s a list?”

“Have you met your brother?”

Vee’s nose crinkled. “Fair enough. Do I have a list.”

Thomas rolled his eyes. “What, do I look like my brother?”

“Wait, so I have a list, but she doesn’t? How come?” Hunter demanded.

“You eat lemons and parkour up the sides of buildings. She doesn’t. I think.”

Jade glanced at him in the rearview mirror. “You can parkour?”

“Yeah.”

“Cool!”

They pulled into Jade’s driveway, and Jade unlocked the door to her house. “DAD, IT’S ME,” she yelled, “I BROUGHT FRIENDS!”

He appeared in the doorway of his office, turning on his hearing aide. “Hey, guys.”

“Hi,” they chorused.

“Dad, we’re going to make pancakes, is that okay?”

“In the middle of the day?”

“Yep.”

Her father chuckled. “Alright, just clean up your mess.”

“Thanks!”

Jade tugged them to the kitchen, clattering around pulling out ingredients and bowls and a griddle. Hunter watched her mix and pour effortlessly, humming. “Don’t touch!” she yelped as Thomas reached for a mixing bowl, swatting his hands away.

Thomas yanked his hand back. “What?!”

“Jade’s a selfish cooker,” her dad called with a laugh, “You can’t touch or interfere with anything when she’s at it.”

“Exactly,” Jade said fervently, “My kitchen.”

Thomas shook his head, then his eyes caught on Flapjack again. “Does it have a name?”

“Flapjack.”

Thomas glanced at the bird, then at the griddle, then back at the bird, then to Jade. “Jade,” he asked exasperatedly, “Did you decide to spontaneously make pancakes in the middle of the day because you found out Hunter’s bird’s name?”

“Yep!”

Thomas shook his head, then looked back at Flapjack. “Wow, you really like cardinals.”

Hunter blinked. “What do you mean?”

“Oh, just that wooden one you keep around—sorry, I just saw it poking out of your hoodie pocket a couple of times in class, didn’t mean to poke.”

Hunter reached up to pat his palisman. He saw Flapjack?

The bird chirped that it was fine, so what if Thomas just thought he really liked cardinals? He could add it to the list.

“Guess I do.”

Jade grinned. “Awwwww, is that why your favorite color’s red?”

“Yeah.”

Flapjack fluttered down to the counter, pecking at one of the finished pancakes. Jade shooed it away. “Hey! Get away from there!”

The palisman dodged her hand, flapping up to perch on Thomas’ shoulder, trilling angrily and fluttering its wings.

Thomas froze. “Uh—”

Vee laughed. “Relax, Red—uh, Flapjack—isn’t going to hurt you.” She scooped the bird off of his shoulder, setting it on her own. “I think he wants a pancake, though.”

Jade poured a tiny amount of batter on the griddle, making a little circle. “Alright, alright. A special one, just for him. I think I know how he got his name now.”

The griddle hissed and spit, making a loud popping sound.

“GET DOWN,”

Hunter heard the roar, and then he and Jade were being tackled. He threw his good arm out over Jade’s back to protect her as they fell, grunting as they hit the ground. He almost threw an elbow backwards, but stopped as he recognized the shirt on the arm snaked around him, and the heavy man pinning them down.

Jade reached out, patting her father’s arm. “It’s okay, Dad,” she said in a low voice, “It’s okay. We’re okay.” She nudged Hunter with her shoulder. “It’s okay, Hunter. We’re not under attack.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I got that,” he mumbled, sitting back on his knees as her father slowly pushed himself up. The bigger man stood up, pulling Jade to her feet, then Hunter. Thomas and Vee were half crouched on the other side of the counter, peering over at them.

Jade’s father rubbed the back of his head. “I’m… sorry about that.”

Jade snaked one arm around her father’s waist, and the other around Hunter’s shoulders, giving both of them a squeeze. “Ahhhh nah, good to know that if I’m ever in danger, there are TWO big strong guys who’ll jump to protect me. I’m practically the safest person on the planet!” She let the two of them go, running back to the griddle. “Augh! Flapjack’s flapjack!” She shoveled the burnt one into the trash. “It’s okay, buddy,” she said as Flapjack warbled sadly, “I’ll get you a new one.” She shoved the spatula at Thomas as her dad left the room. “You may flip the pancakes for a moment.

He wrinkled his nose at her as he took the handle. “How gracious of you.”

“You can thank me by not burning them,” she joked, leaving the room the same way her father had gone.

Vee nudged Hunter while Thomas laser focused on the tiny pancake, gingerly poking at the edges to make sure it wasn’t burning. “You okay?” she said in a low voice.

“Yeah. Fine.” Hunter rubbed his arm. “It’s just… weird, you know?”

“What is?”

“I don’t know.” He forced a grin on his face. “Seeing someone with a condition that makes them act out not hurt their kid? Protect them instead? Apologize after?” He laughed. “Just weird.”

Vee wrapped her arms around his waist, leaning her head on his shoulder. “I’m sorry,” she murmured.

Hunter put his arm around her shoulder, leaning into the touch.

“Done!” Thomas announced, holding up the tiny pancake triumphantly, “Ow, that’s hot!”

Flapjack fluttered down to his hand, pecking at the pancake held between his fingers. Thomas held stock still, watching the bird.

“He landed on me!”

Flapjack tugged the tiny pancake out of Thomas’ fingers, and fluttered up to his head, snapping it up. Thomas went cross-eyed looking up at the bird, reaching up towards him.

“Can I…”

Flapjack nuzzled his fingers, chirping cheerfully around his mouthful of pancake. Thomas’s face split into a goofy grin, and he scratched the bird’s head.

“Awwwwwwwwwww,” Jade cooed from behind Hunter. She took the spatula back, flipping pancakes gracefully. “Someone get a picture of him, quick.”

Vee waved her phone. “Got it.”

“That stays between us,” Thomas warned, “I am not losing any dignity I still had.”

He didn’t make a move to remove Flapjack, though.

Jade removed the last of the pancakes and set the plate on the table, grabbing more plates, forks, knives, and glasses. She rattled around the kitchen getting syrup and butter, beaming at Hunter, Thomas, and Vee. “Come on, guys, don’t just stare at them.”

The three exchanged a glance, then shrugged and started grabbing pancakes. Hunter tore off a piece of a blueberry one, holding it up. Flapjack fluttered from Thomas’ head to Hunter’s shoulder, gobbling up the pancake.

I like them.

“The pancakes, or my friends?” Hunter whispered as Thomas and Vee reached for the syrup at the same time, glanced at each other, then started insisting that the other take it first.

Yes.

Hunter chuckled, sawing up the rest of the pancake and waiting his turn for the syrup.

The blueberries were just the right amount of tart, and the batter had cooked fluffy, still steaming hot. Hunter scarfed down the rest of the pancake and took another one, glancing at Jade. She pushed the plate towards him. “What, you think I’m going to be able to eat all of these on my own?”

“Knowing you? You’d find a way. You always do.”

She barked a laugh. “Ha! Sure thing, mister.” Jade plunked her elbows down on the table, resting her chin in her hands. “So! What do you think?”

“Send me the recipe? I want to try.”

“Don’t feed them all to your bird,” she laughed.

“I’ll share one or two with Vee. Promise.”

Vee grinned at both him and the pancakes in a very sharptoothed way. “I think you will share more.” She nodded to Jade. “Better than a box,” she pronounced, tossing a piece up for Flapjack.

“Judge’s opinions in! One request for recipe! One declaration of superiority! Thomas, what say you? Worth having breakfast in the afternoon for?”

“Yeah, okay, worth having breakfast in the afternoon for. You win.”

“Yessssssssssss!” Jade sighed in content, settling down in her seat. “We should do this more.”

“Make pancakes?” Hunter puzzled.

“No. I mean, yes, absolutely. But just… the four of us. Hanging out. It’s nice having all my friends in one place.”

Hunter winced.

Oh, yeah.

I forgot her old friends moved.

“Yeah,” he echoed, “Maybe we should.”

[sergeantsporks]

Full Circle

Rating: Teen, Gen

Part 17 of  Camila is Hunter's Mom Now

Chapter 5/5: No Right Answer

Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4

Hunter never planned to tell his friends about his past.

But since when has anything ever gone the way he planned?

Ao3

Camila balked as she reached Jade’s house. There was a car parked out front, and Jade’s father was waiting on the porch.

“Hello, Camila.”

“Oh. Hello.”

“Don’t worry, we’re not kicking you and your children out. I just want to know what’s going on.”

Camila’s arms wobbled, and she nearly dropped the suitcase. “How… much do you know about Hunter?”

How much have you seen?

“I know he’s adopted. And it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the situation he was adopted from was a bad one.”

“His uncle’s shown back up,” Camila whispered, “I don’t know exactly where he is at the moment, but I know he’ll keep trying to come for Hunter. To take him away from me, to hurt him, maybe even…”

Jade’s father nodded. “I’m guessing getting any outside help isn’t an option?”

Camila shook her head. What to say…? “One of the reasons I was able to adopt him so easily was because no one could find his bio family. I don’t want to run the risk that the state will take him away and return him to his uncle,” she half lied.

“After what he’s clearly been through?”

Camila rubbed her arms. “His uncle is manipulative, he’s a smooth talker and a good liar. He kept Hunter under his control for years and made him believe he actually cared. And… I’m a single, first-generation immigrant mother. If it comes down to me or his uncle, I’m not sure anyone will believe me.”

“I see.”

“The most important thing to me right now is keeping the kids safe. Figuring out how to get rid of him comes after.”

“Of course. I’ll help however I can, I want this scumbag gone, too.” His voice trembled, and he looked away, fists clenched. “Sarah cleaned out the wound,” he murmured, “Gave him a full checkup, stitches… I understand now why you couldn’t take him to a hospital, he’d probably show up there to claim custody, but whoever did that to him—his uncle… and Thomas, too. I’ve met enough people whose injuries you can’t see to know that he’s hurt. Hunter’s uncle got him, too?”

Camila clutched at her hair. “Ay. Yeah. I know, I…”

He put his hand over hers. “You don’t have to do this alone, Camila. We’ll help. Jade loves your kids, and I can tell why. If you need help protecting them, you just have to ask.”

“Thanks,” she said in a wobbly voice, “It means a lot.”

He picked up the suitcase and steered her inside. Thomas was curled up in a sleeping bag, breathing softly, and Hunter was dozing on the couch, his head freshly bandaged. Jade’s mother beckoned from the kitchen, putting a finger to her lips.

“That’s amazing, they weren’t sleeping before!”

Dr. Lanson shook a bottle of melatonin gummies at her. “In case they have trouble sleeping again. Hunter went to sleep just after pain meds, he seems pretty worn out, but I don’t think Thomas is going to go to sleep without help. Thomas is physically fine, except for a couple of bruises and scrapes. Hunter’s head wound will heal, I stitched up the cut, but it needs to be watched for an infection, and he’s showing signs of a concussion. Aversion to bright lights, unsteadiness on his feet, dizziness… keep an eye on him, if the symptoms don’t go away, I don’t care what the situation is, take him to the hospital.”

“Okay. Yes. Of course.”

“Bruised ribs, too.”

“Yes. Okay. Yes.”

“Hey.” Dr. Lanson took Camila’s hands in her own. “Are you okay? You look beat.”

“I’ll be fine, I just…”

“Take a nap. Isaiah and I will watch over them.”

“I…”

“Go. You can’t take care of them if you’re running yourself ragged. Use the guest room, no one is in there right now.”

“Okay. Okay, thank you.”

Camila trudged up the stairs, closing the door behind her. The Collector slithered out of her purse. “Who are they? Not your kids, right?”

“Jade’s parents. And no, they’re not my kids. This is their house.”

“Haha, and you’re just going to keep Belos’ grimwalker here? Ooooo are they fodder? Like, when Belos shows up to take his grimwalker back, you’ll use them as a distraction and run away?”

“What?! No, that would be AWFUL! And Hunter isn’t Belos’ grimwalker, stop calling him that.”

“Or what?”

“Or I’ll be very disappointed in you.”

“Pfffffffft, like that means anything.” But Collector shrank back to their disc, pensive. “Why are they helping you?”

“Because they’re kind people. Because they care about their daughter, and their daughter cares about Hunter.” Camila pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’m going to take a nap, now. Please try to stay out of sight until I wake up. You can meet the others once you’re out of there, okay?”

The Collector disappeared, and Camila lay down with a sigh.

How do I tell Hunter about the journal?

She drifted off to sleep, and by the time she woke up, it was already evening. Oh, great, good luck sleeping tonight, Noceda.

There was a knock on the door, and Hunter slowly shuffled in, finally dressed in fresh clothes. “Nothing bad happened at the house?”

How do I…

Camila sighed, tugging the journal out of her purse. Her hand brushed against the Collector’s disk as she took it out. One more thing to tell them.

Hunter’s eyes flicked from the book to her face, hands trembling. “That’s…”

“I didn’t run into him. He left behind a… present.” Camila turned the book over in her hands. “It… has information about where you came from. And I want to go over it with you, I want to show you what’s inside, but… I want to wait until we get this settled and Belos is no longer a threat.”

Hunter twisted his thumbs against each other. “I… wouldn’t leave you for my biological family. Even if I wanted to meet them, I’d still stay with you. I just… I need to know, are they…”

Camila shook her head. “From what I can tell, your only living relative is… him. It’s… it’s complicated. And I think you have enough on your plate at the moment without adding trying to figure this out, I just… want you to know that we’ll talk about it, and I’ll be here for you, no matter what Belos might say to you.”

“Okay,” he whispered, “Okay, I… okay. Yeah. We can wait.”

Camila opened up her arms, and he shuffled over, plunking his head on her shoulder. “Okay. Hey. Are you doing okay?”

“Dr. Lanson took a look. She thinks everything will heal up.”

“And…”

“I don’t know. What are we going to do if he figures out where we are?”

“By then, I hope we’ll have a plan for getting rid of him. Most of the witches think… he won’t make it too long without palisman.”

Hunter’s hand went up to his shoulder. “What if he comes after Flapjack?!”

“We’ll stop him. Hunter, I promise we will. I don’t have a plan yet, but I’ll think of something. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Camila sighed, wandering down the stairs. “Sarah’s got night shift,” Jade’s father explained from the stove, “That’s why we had to come back early. Feeling better?”

“Much. Sarah didn’t slip ME one of those gummies, did she?”

He chuckled. “Not as far as I know.”

After dinner, the kids all settled down into their sleeping bags. Jade insisted that Hunter go back to the guest room bed, and that Thomas go into her bed. Which Thomas vehemently protested, curling up in a sleeping bag and refusing to move. Camila shook her head.

He’s starting to come out of the shock of it all. Good.

She gave him another one of the gummies Jade’s mother had left, then walked around the house for a check. Doors locked. Windows locked. No one outside. She roamed the block, just in case, but nothing looked out of place, not one suspicious sign. By the time she made it back, Vee, Luz, and Jade were all firmly asleep, chests rising and falling evenly.

Thomas was awake, pawing at his nose. “Ms. Noceda?” he asked in a wavering voice, “Something smells.”

Camila sniffed the air. “What do you mean?”

He scrambled out of the sleeping bag. “It smells like decay, and rotting… like… like…”

Camila checked the sleeping bag, and found just a tiny amount of green slime at the head. Her blood chilled.

He knows where we are.

It’s a calling card.

Camila got a napkin and wiped the mud away. “Go back to sleep,” she murmured, forcing her voice to remain steady, “I’ll wake you up if there’s a problem.”

She walked up the stairs slowly, heart thumping in her chest and blood roaring in her ears, louder and louder at each step. The door to the guest room creaked open at her touch, and the air left her lungs as her eyes adjusted.

Belos was sitting at the head of Hunter’s bed, Flapjack clutched in one of his hands, his fingers wrapped around the bird’s beak. Belos put a finger to his lips with a small smile. “Shhh. You’ll wake him up.”

Camila slid inside and slowly shut the door, eyes fixed on Hunter, curled up in a ball on his bed, breathing slow and even. “If you’ve hurt him—”

“He’s merely asleep.” Belos’ free hand shifted between a blade and his regular fingers, tapping on the pillow next to Hunter’s head. “Let’s try to keep it that way, shall we? No more cars, or fire. Just a talk. You and I.”

Camila took a deep breath. “Let Flapjack go.”

“No, I don’t think I will. It’s a tiresome creature, and will likely alert the whole house.” Belos gave the bird a squeeze. “We can negotiate like civilized people, can’t we?”

“You can’t have Hunter. And you can’t have Flapjack. I won’t let you, I will keep coming for them.”

“Oh, I know. Keeping ahold of him has proved to be quite more difficult than I’d imagined. As long as you’re alive, he will want to return to you, and you will not let him go. But then, if I kill you, he’ll become unreasonable and ornery, if he doesn’t simply shut down entirely, and I’d like to avoid spilling any unnecessary human blood.”

“Then give up. Just let him go.”

“No. You don’t want to let him go. I don’t want to let him go. I don’t want to kill you, if possible, and it’s not possible for you to kill me. So it appears that we are at an impasse.”

Camila crossed her arms. “And I suppose you have some solution? A compromise? I can tell you right here, right now, I will NEVER agree to your suggestions, so stop wasting your breath.”

“Without even hearing me out?” Belos shook his head. “You intrigue me, Camila. In only a few weeks with him, you undid years and years of careful guidance, meticulous nudging and pushing to where he needed to be. And yet, at the same time, you managed to accomplish what I have failed so many times to do; to create one who wanted to stay in the human realm, who prized the company of humans over the company of his fellow witch.”

Camila shook her head. “I didn’t convince him to put humans over witches, I just convinced him he deserved better than you. But I guess it would seem that way to you. After all, you ARE more witch then human now, aren’t you, Phillip.”

Belos gave her a smile. “You say that name as if it should hurt, coming from the mouth of another human. But fine. Here are the cards that I have on the table. You have succeeded where I have failed. I can acknowledge that. He trusts you perhaps even more than he trusted me, as short a time as you’ve known him compared to I.” He brushed Hunter’s hair out of his face, and Camila resisted the urge to scream don’t touch him! “So finish the job. Do what I could not. You say he does not prize humans over witches, only your company over mine? Change that. Ensure he loathes witches with every ounce of his being. And I will keep my distance while you do. That’s what you want, isn’t it? For Hunter to be free of me? Do this for me, and he will be. If not, well, he’ll follow the fate of the others.”

The bones in the pit.

No.

“The basilisk will be your first warning if you don’t. It doesn’t belong here, but I’ll tolerate its presence so long as you uphold your end. If I think you aren’t, then you’ll know. Then the palisman. And after that? No more chances for Hunter.”

A chance to make him go away. Or at least a way to buy some time, some breathing room. Not much I can do with him hovering over Hunter like that.

“You’ll leave him alone?”

“You have my word.”

“LIAR,” came the shriek, a black shadow erupting from Camila’s bag, “He’s a LIAR, LIAR, LIAR! Don’t TRUST him!”

Belos stumbled back in surprise, his hand loosening on Flapjack. “Collector?!”

Flapjack burst free, shrieking a shrill alarm, and Hunter woke with a start. Camila dove, tackling Hunter off of the bed and away from Belos, cradling his head in her hand. “Get away,” she spat. Flapjack turned into a staff, and she snatched it out of the air, pointing the tip at Belos. Please lend me your help. “Stay back.”

He lifted his chin. “Think about my offer. I’ll give you until tomorrow to consider. You know where to find me.” He seemed to slither out the window, and the staff fell out of Camila’s hand, her whole body wobbly. She clutched Hunter tightly as she heard thumps up the stairs. “I’ve got you. I’ve got you, I’ve…”

He clung to her, trembling. “What’s going on?!”

“He got in. He snuck in—it’s not safe here, we need to move again, I’m…”

Vee burst in the door. “I smell him,” she yelped, “He got in?!”

Jade, Luz, and Thomas crowded in behind her. Thomas put a hand to his mouth. “He was here?!”

“Yeah—yeah, I…” Camila pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’m sorry, Jade, we’ll go, we can’t put your family in danger any longer.”

“I’ll go too, I want to help, I—”

“No. You stay here, you and Thomas both. Protect each other. You’ve done enough and more than I could ever ask. Now I need you to stay safe. No arguments.” She turned towards her daughters. “Luz, we have until tomorrow before Belos comes after us again. I need you to go back to the demon realm. Get Eda. That purple man. Any adult who is willing to help us take him down. Adult, do you hear me, Luz?”

“Got it.”

“Okay. Thank you, mija.”

“What offer, Mom?” Hunter asked, “What did he tell you?”

Camila shook her head. “He wants you to hate witches as much as he does. He thinks I can convince you to do that. He said if I did, then… he’d leave us alone.”

“He’s lying,” Luz said automatically, “He won’t leave Hunter and Vee alone, even if he thinks Hunter has decided to hate witches, Hunter is still a witch, he won’t be satisfied.”

Camila winced. Is he willing to let Hunter live because he’s not technically a witch? Or will he want to kill him even more for what he is?

“Yeah, he really hates witches” Collector agreed. Everyone jumped, and they popped up onto the wall. “Hey, everybody!”

“What is that?!” Thomas demanded.

“That’s… Collector.”

“Mom?” Luz half thundered, “What did you do?”

“I may have taken a small trip to the demon realm to try to find something to defeat Belos,” Camila admitted, “Instead, I found… him. He needs titan’s blood to get free, but it’ll have to wait until we can safely get back and forth between the demon and human realms. Anyway, start packing up.”

Luz waved a hand at the Collector. “No! Hold on! You can’t just move on! The Collector?! His creepy cult tried to kill King!”

“King?” Collector echoed, “Cult? I have a cult? Haha, neat!”

“No!” Camila yelped, “Not neat! Very bad! You do NOT want a cult! Especially not one in the business of trying to kill eight-year-olds!”

“Mmmmmmmmmmmmm if you say so.”

Camila shook her head. “We don’t have time to discuss this. As much as I think I need to hear a little more about what you do in the demon realm that involves cults, we’re on a time limit. We can talk about Collector later, right now, we need to focus on the problem at hand. Vee, you and Hunter are going to go to the library. Oh, and take Collector with you, they don’t need to see all of this.”

Vee started. “What? Why?!”

“Yeah, HEY!” Collector protested.

“It’s a public enough space that I don’t think Belos will risk an attack and showing a lot of humans his magic, so the three of you should be safe there. Luz is going to join you after she gets some help.”

“What?! Why?!” Luz threw her arms up. “Mama, Eda already TRIED this, she TRIED keeping me out of this fight, but—”

“And now it’s my turn to try. Please, Luz. I need to know that the three of you are safe and protecting each other. Please.”

Luz sighed. “To protect Vee and Hunter. But if things start getting bad, Mom—”

“I’ll get out, I’ll come back to you. I’m coming back, Luz. I promise.”

Xxx

“I’m sorry.”

Vee jumped at Hunter’s voice—he’d been quiet the whole way to the library. “Sorry?” she echoed.

He curled his knees to his chest, his fingers clutching at the fabric of his hoodie sleeves. “All of this is my fault.”

Oh. “No it’s not, it’s Belos’.”

“Yeah, I know, I know that, but… he still wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for me. He wouldn’t be trying to track us down, and Mom wouldn’t be…” tears bloomed in the corners of Hunter’s eyes, and he squeezed his eyes shut, blinking them away. “You keep having to do this for me. And I know you keep saying that it’s okay, and that you’ll keep coming from me, but I just…” his hands clenched and opened repeatedly. “I…”

“Hunter?”

“I want you to keep coming for me, I don’t WANT to be left with him, and I want to stay with you, but I don’t want to put you in danger! And I hate that you have to keep coming for me, I hate that I’m the reason you and my friends are going through so much, even if it is Belos’ fault, it’s still me he’s coming for, and… I don’t know, Vee, it’s just confusing, it’s… I don’t want to go back, but I feel like if I don’t, he’ll just keep coming, but I know if I DO go back, you’ll just come for me, which puts you in even MORE danger, so maybe I should just run away from all of it, but…”

“There’s not a right answer,” Vee said softly.

“I—huh?”

“When we were trying to figure out a way to rescue you, there weren’t any right answers. We didn’t want to involve Jade, but without her, the plan wouldn’t work, and you’d be lost, and we didn’t want to leave you with Belos, but if we moved too quickly, he’d get to you first, and if we stayed away from school to help, they might start poking into why we were all gone, but we couldn’t just leave you. There were no good options, there was no right answer.”

Hunter heaved a sigh. “Sounds about right.”

“Actually, there’s a super right answer,” the Collector’s voice muttered, muffled by the bag the disc was in, “It’s the one where I go free right now and I solve all the problems and then Camila finally teaches me how to play the going fish game she mentioned.”

Vee traced her finger in a circle on the library table. “There’s not a lot we can do except wait.”

Hunter’s fist clenched again. “She’s going in practically alone,” he whispered, “And I’m too much of a coward to do anything about it!”

“What?! Hunter—”

“I fought him to protect you all once. I can do it, I did. So why can’t I do it again?!”

“Stuff’s happened since then,” Vee said softly, “Hunter, no one expects you to face him. In fact, we’d all like for you to never have to face him again. That’s why you’re here. That’s why Camila is meeting up with Eda, and why they’re going to figure out a plan. To make sure you DON’T have to fight him again. Ever. You already did, you already had to, to protect Thomas, to protect Jade, and you’re still half concussed from that! You’re not a coward, Hunter.”

“I’m sorry, who was saying Hunter was a coward?” Luz asked, plunking down next to them, “Was it the Collector?”

“HEY!”

Luz nudged the bag with her foot. “Hey, hush, you’re supposed to be quiet in there. Point being, you’re not. You’ve come face to face with Belos too many times to count, and barely made it out each time. The fact that you’re even CONSIDERING that you should be going in there is… well, it’s either really brave, or really stupid.”

“Gee, thanks.” Hunter rubbed the fabric of his hoodie sleeves, wrinkling and smoothing it. “I just wish there was something…”

“Yeah,” Luz said softly, “Yeah, me too.”

Xxx

“Ah, hello, Camila. Since you’re here, I imagine you have a positive answer for me?”

Camila took a deep breath, closing the door of the house before facing Belos. “So, your idea of a deal is that if I go against everything I believe in, and teach my son to hate an entire race, you might, maybe leave us alone?”

“Given that your other option is for me to wipe out half of your family and ridding this realm of magic forever, I think it’s a rather fair deal.”

Camila crossed her arms. “What if I release the Collector? That evens the playing field a bit, now doesn’t it?”

Belos seemed to lean slightly further back from her. “It wouldn’t. The collector answers only to themselves. Freeing him is utter madness, you would not be able to control him.”

Camila took another step forward. “See, here’s the thing. You want to know how I got Hunter to trust me in just a few weeks? Why he abandoned you so quickly for me? It’s because I don’t see people as something I need to control. My family stays with me because they trust me. Because I love them. Because I give them the choice, not the illusion of one. That’s why I’m succeeding where you’re failing.”

Belos sighed. “Are you done yet? You won’t release the Collector, because despite your championing for trust and choice, if you gave him the choice, he’d wipe out this planet with a smile and a laugh, so you really don’t have a single bargaining chip in the balance except for the hold you have over my nephew. Do we have a deal, or not?”

Camila glowered. “Not.”

“Oh, well. That is a shame. I’d really hoped the last one would be a success.”

Camila spread her arms out. “We’re not letting you leave.”

“We?”

In a splintering of wood, Eda crashed down through the roof, her talons slashing at Belos. “Camila’s kids aren’t the only ones you’re threatening. Mess with one of them, and you’re picking a fight with me, too.”

Belos dodged to the side, only to nearly get hit by a scythe, sweeping through the air. That got his eyes to widen. “How?! You’re supposed to be…”

“Dead?” Darius asked grimly, “Seems the golden guard isn’t your only failure.”

Camila took a step forward. “Your draining spell failed. Hunter will never belong to you, and we’re not going to let you out of here to hurt him. Just give it up already.”

Belos sighed. “Do you really think I’d meet a friend of witches alone without a bargaining chip? As if I’d make a creature like him without a way to get rid of it.”

Camila’s blood chilled. “What did you do?” she growled.

“Oh, just a simple adjustment to Hunter’s coven seal. Turns out, if it’s only one witch, you don’t need a full eclipse to activate it, as I’m sure Darius knows full well from his encounter with a certain Raine Whispers.”

Camila’s eyes flicked to Darius. “What’s he talking about?!”

Darius glanced at her for only a moment. “It’s a bluff. One demon could do it, and she had to be in sight of her target. Don’t break position. Don’t let him escape.”

Belos shrugged. “If you say so. But don’t blame me if your ‘son’ spends his final moments alone, wondering why you failed to save him.”

Camila lunged towards him with a scream, grabbing for his neck.

“Ohp, guess we’re attacking,” Eda yelped, flapping into the air, “Get your slimy behind moving, Darius, it’s go time!”

Xxx

Vee nudged Hunter as he started scratching at his arm. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, it’s just…” Hunter scratched more furiously, then ripped his sleeve down, hissing out.

Vee yelped, then slapped a hand over her mouth, looking around the library. “Your arm!” she hissed.

Hunter clutched his arm to his chest, jaw clenching. “Why is it…?” he whispered.

Luz peered over, and her face dropped. “Oh, no,” she whispered, “Hunter…”

He managed a smile. “It’s fine! It’s fine, it barely even—ah—” he nearly fell sideways out of his chair as the glowing gold shot up his arm, squeezing his eyes shut.

Vee caught him, looping her arm around him and under one of his arms, hustling him up and away from the table. “We need to get him out of here before someone sees,” she hissed. She helped him out the door and around the back of the building, laying him down in the grass. “Hold on. You’re going to be okay.”

Flapjack fluttered out of his pocket and into his hair, warbling softly and reassuringly.

“Something’s gone wrong,” Luz said in a low voice, her hand on her mother’s bag. “Stay here with him. I’m going to help Mom.”

“But she said—”

“She could be in danger, Vee!”

Vee crossed her arms. “Then I should go. You don’t have magic here, and I have the ability to eat it. If anyone—”

A weak hand latched onto Vee’s wrist. “N-no…” Hunter murmured weakly, his eyes already unfocused as the gold veins crept up his neck and face. “Vee… no… can’t… protect…”

Vee gripped his hand. “Maybe I can… sorry about this, Hunter.” She bit the seal on his wrist, pulling on the magic. Come on. Work. Work!

The world went dizzying, and Vee felt Luz pull her away, shaking her. “Vee! Vee!”

“Unh?” Vee mumbled, putting a hand to her head, “Wha…?”

“Maybe… don’t try that again? You started transforming back, I think the draining spell took a lot of your magic stores.” Luz stood up. “I’m going to go. I can help. You two stay here, stay safe.” She ran off, back towards home.

Hunter curled up into a ball, gasping as the veins hit his right eye and his iris started burning gold. “V-Vee, it hu—it…”

Vee reached out and took his hand, squeezing it tight. No response. It was like his whole arm had gone numb, and she shuddered to think what would happen when the veins reached his heart.

Hurry, Luz. Please.

Xxx

“I can help! I can help you, just let me oooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuut, I can heeeeeeeeeeeelp!”

Luz skidded to a halt, yanking the Collector’s disc out of the purse. “Yeah? What’s the trick?”

“There isn’t a trick. If you let me out, I’ll stop Belos, which should stop the spell. I mean, I don’t really care about your brother, but I do want to get Belos, and I do want to get out, so it all works out in everyone’s favor, right?”

“Do you promise you won’t go after King?”

The Collector heaved an exasperated sigh. “I don’t even know who that is! Yeah, fine, whatever, I won’t go after King, pinky swear, happy now?”

Running out of options, here. Hunter’s sigil is working a lot faster than the other’s, and Vee’s right. I don’t have magic, I don’t even know if I’ll make it to Mom in time. Luz hopped from one foot to the other, growling.

No good options.

No right answer.

“Alright. How do I get you out?”

“HAHA, yes! You don’t happen to have a titan handy, do you? Or some blood?”

Luz slowly reached into her pocket and pulled her key out. “But… if I use this, I won’t be able to get back to the demon realm.”

“Gosh, I don’t need all of that, what, are you going to be all selfish like Phillip was, and keep all of the blood? I just need a little bit!”

Luz growled again, and pushed her thumb against the glass of the key, cracking it. Just a little bit of the blood trickled out on her fingers, and she held them up. “Now what?”

“Just… follow my lead.”

Xxx

Camila slammed into a wall, and Eda landed in front of her. “Stay back, Camila, you were only supposed to block off his escape, not attack hi—”

She was swept to the side by Belos. “Alright, human, if that’s how you want it, I hope you’re alright with your real daughter losing her whole family today because of all the demons you invited into your home!”

He raised a scythe, and Camila winced. But the blow never fell. She looked up to see a child dressed in stars holding the scythe.

“Collector?” Belos yipped.

“Heya,” the child chirped in a familiar voice—the voice of the child in the mirror. “Time out! Calling in a sub! I’ll be swapping for Camila!”

Camila felt herself floating up, and then sort of twisting, and suddenly, she was behind the library. Vee and Luz were kneeling next to Hunter, who was curled up in a miserable ball, golden veins creeping across his face. She ran to them, examining the veins emanating from his seal and grasping at them. Flapjack chirped a low, desperate chirp, staring up at her with frantic eyes that she didn’t know how to answer.

Hunter’s eyes opened just a slit, and she brushed a hand against his face as a whine came from his throat, too strangled to say anything. “Heeeey, mijo,” she murmured shakily, “Hey, I’m here. I’m here.”

His chest was rising and falling in irregular pants, and his irises were so small in his eyes that she could barely even find them. “M-mo—”

“Hey, shhhhh. Shhhhh. Save your breath.”

Vee squeezed one of his hands, and Luz took the other. “The collector showed up?”

“He did.”

“Yep!”

Camila jumped as the Collector appeared at her shoulder. “AH!”

“Huh, looks like it didn’t work.” Collector held up one hand. Floating in a hovering ball was a bit of slime. “That doesn’t make much sense. Belos doesn’t have the power at the moment, to make this spell keep going, so it must be like. A one time set off thing. I don’t know, obviously Belos switched things up a bit from my idea. Guess he’s toast. Bummer.”

Camila caught his wrist. “Can you do anything? Please?”

Collector startled at the touch, frowning down at her hand, but then shrugging. “Well…. Since you asked nicely… I guess I could try ripping his arm off, that might stop it.”

“NO!” Camila, Vee, and Luz chorused.

“Geeze, alright, alright, you’re so picky. Lemme see, lemme see.” Collector sighed, looking at the veins, and twisting Hunter’s forearm back and forth a bit. “Uhhhhh, yeah, okay, let’sssssss…” He put one finger on the seal, and it started to glow “Bye-bye, seal!”

Hunter howled, his back arching, and then the Collector stepped back. The veins faded, and Hunter slumped against Camila. His chest started to rise and fall more evenly, and Camila hugged him tightly. “Thank you,” she whispered, “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“Uhhhh. Yeah. Okay.” Collector plopped down next to her. “You gonna teach me that fish game now or what?”

“I will teach you any game you want. But first…” Camila nodded to the ball. “Is that…”

The collector shook it violently, sloshing the contents. “All that’s left of our good buddy Belos. He makes a lovely musical instrument.”

Vee shuddered. “What are you going to…?”

“Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm, oh, I have a GREAT idea of like, this prison pit at the bottom of the head of the titan where he’s forced to sludge around forever and keeps getting poked by all of the bones and broken masks down there.” Collector spun the ball again. “He’s not long, though. I give him two more hours without a palisman, tops, he used up most of his stored magic in the last few days, and there’s not much less. Why, do you want him? He’s not that fun of a toy, I guess I can share. If you ask nicely.”

Luz held her hands out. “Could I keep an eye on it? Please?”

“Yeah, okay.” The Collector tossed it to her, then hopped into the air, floating upside down. “So, what next? Not that playing witch hunter hunter wasn’t fun and all. Oh, yeah.” He held up a hand, and Luz’s key floated up, a new crack in the surface leaking blood. The Collector ran a finger over the crack, and it sealed up as he passed. “There you go, see, told you I wouldn’t take all of the blood, you’ve still got some. Cool? Cool. Okay, what next?”

“Next, we rest,” Camila said softly, “Bandage up wounds.” She gingerly touched the new burn scar on Hunter’s wrist, and he groaned, his eyes sliding slightly open. “Recover.”

“Ooooo, so, playing house? I can do that! Look, I can even blend in!” In a little puff, the Collector’s face went from blue and orange to a brown tone, and his hair shifted to match Camila’s own. His clothes were the same strange kind, but he looked like he could be Luz’s younger brother. “There we go! Ready to play!”

“No. Not playing anything.” Camila cupped Hunter’s cheek in her hand. “This… wasn’t a game. When people get hurt… it’s not a game anymore. Mijo?”

He leaned into the touch, eyes desperate. “I want… to go home…” he whispered, “Mom, I…”

“Okay. Okay, sweetheart.” Camila surveyed her kids. Vee looked wiped as well, and Luz was turning the energy ball over and over in her hands. “Yeah. Let’s go home.”

Xxx

Camila helped Hunter up the steps of the house and through the door, one of his arms slung over her shoulder. “You got it?”

“Can you help me upstairs?” he whispered, face flushing red.

“Yeah. Of course.”

Moving was slow going, but they made it up, and through the door of the kid’s room. Camilla hissed in. I forgot…

Hunter stared at the mess that had been his belongings. He slipped out of Camila’s grasp wordlessly, and wobbled towards his backpack, crashing to his knees and picking up ruined notebooks, fingers poking into the gashes and tears.

Camila saw tears trickling down his cheeks, and she knelt next to him. Flapjack fluttered to perch on his shoulder, pressing against his face. “I’m sorry, mijo. I know it’s… we’ll get some new things to replace them, but… I’m sorry.”

He sniffed in, pressing his good arm to his stomach. “Can I just… have a minute?”

Camila backed up. “Yes. Of course. Take all the time you need.” She backed out of the room, and Vee wrapped her arms around her. “He can take my bed.”

“No, that’s alright, thank you, Vee. I think it’d be good if he stays in my room. So I can keep an eye on him.”

Vee hummed. “Mom?”

“Mhm?”

“Can… I stay with you, too?”

Camila’s heart twinged, and she put one arm around Vee’s shoulders. “You know what? I have a better idea.”

Xxx

“Here we go.”

The sludge inside of the ball moved slightly as Luz set it down on a rock, back at the pool with the titan’s blood leak. She clutched Hunter’s old artificial staff in her hand. Jade had raised an eyebrow at the request to borrow it, but had handed it over anyway, explaining how to use it, and what she’d figured out about aiming the blasts.

“Oh, the honor and glory of killing me circles back to you, Luz Noceda. I suppose that’s fitting, as the other human trapped in the Boiling Isles. But in the end, I suppose we both made it back home, didn’t we?”

Luz shook her head, pointing the staff towards the ball. “There’s no honor and glory in hurting people. Even if they’re as horrible as you. I know that’s not a lesson you’ll ever learn, but…” she shook her head. “I wish you had.”

“Then do it.”

“I don’t need to,” Luz said softly, “Your own bad decisions are going to do it for me. I’m just… going to make sure it happens. If I’m not here, I can’t be sure you won’t come back to hurt my family.” The staff shook in her hands. “This is just… to make sure.”

There was a rush of wind, and Eda landed next to her. “Hey, kiddo.”

Luz leaned against her, still pointing the staff. “It’s almost over,” she whispered, tears blooming in her eyes, “All of it, is… it’s almost over.”

One wing wrapped around her. “It’s not over. Not until all the damage he’s done is fixed. But it’s a start. The start of things getting better.”

The Collector had been awfully precise. Two hours later, Luz was walking home, Eda at her side. Darius was waiting at the door, arms crossed. “Is he gone?”

“Finished,” Eda answered, “I don’t think he’s going to slime his way back.”

“Good. Now could we please go back to the isles, I do not trust Eber to be running things for this long. There are probably moths in all of my clothes as we speak.”

“Okay. Yeah, okay.” Luz pushed open the door, wandering into the living room to see a huge pile of blankets and pillows. Hunter was already buried in a pile of plushies, fast asleep with Flapjack nestled on top. Vee and Camila waved from the floor, lifting up mugs. “There’s hot chocolate for you in the kitchen,” Camila whispered, “Would you two like to stay any longer?”

“No,” Darius answered shortly, grabbing the key from Luz and clicking it. He tossed it back, and marched through the portal.

Luz shook her head, and looked up at Eda. “You?”

“You know what? I think I deserve a little hot chocolate, yeah! Let me just get King first, I do NOT trust Lilith with him this long any more than Darius trusts Eber to be in charge.”

Luz wandered into the kitchen to see the Collector drinking her cocoa, and she stared for a minute. “Why are you still here?”

“Because this drink is tasty, and you can’t make me leave!” The Collector stuck out their tongue, then floated into the living room. “Hey, what are we doing next?”

“Next, you’re going to make Luz some more hot cocoa, because it was very rude of you to steal hers. And after that… we’re going to see about finding your parents.”

“My what now.”

“Your parents. I’m sure you have some somewhere. And I’m sure they’re worried about you.”

“Yeah? And what if I don’t?”

Camila shrugged. “We’ll figure it out. In the meantime, you can stay here.”

“Uh—I can stay anywhere I want. I don’t need you give me somewhere.”

“Okay. Well, you have my permission to stay here. If that’s what you want. With rules, though.”

“Ruuuuuuuules?!”

“Yes, Collector. Real life has rules, just like games. And you have to follow them. Like no yelling when people are sleeping.”

“Ugh. Maybe I will leave, then.” The collector fell with a whump down to the pile of blankets, just barely missing landing on top of Hunter. “But you have to teach me how to play that fish game, first.”

Luz shook her head, rubbing her temples. “Okay. That is going to take some getting used to.”

Xxx

Vee trudged towards school alone, sighing.

Back to normal, I guess.

Jade was waiting outside, sitting on a bench, and Vee plopped down next to her. “Hey,” she said softly.

“Hey,” Jade murmured, fiddling with her backpack straps.

“Hunter’s staying home for a bit. To recover. Mom called to say he’s sick.”

“Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense.” Jade sighed. “Thomas is home, too. Apparently he had a full mental breakdown when his parents got back. They don’t know what happened, they just assumed the bullying amped up when he was living with Jacob, so… they’re keeping him home. And looking for a therapist. Which is nice, I guess.” She heaved another sigh.

“And you?”

Jade shrugged. “I think my dad suspects that I was involved in more than just offering a place to stay. But he hasn’t confronted me about it yet, so.” She drew her knees up to her chest, resting her chin on them. “Am I supposed to just go back to normal? After all of this? I mean…” she waved a hand in front of her. “School. Going to drama after. Volunteering at the shelter. Like all of that just never happened?!”

“It’s… hard,” Vee admitted, “But… at least now you know? Oh, sorry, that was awful. That was not good.” She sighed. “I guess… we just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Keep moving forward.”

“How?!”

“I don’t know. But… we’ll figure it out.”

We always do.

[sergeantsporks]

it's usually pretty hard for me to get into fics with OCs as part of the main plot/cast, but by the time i reached the end of your Hunter Noceda series, Thomas had somehow become my favorite character. I'm really just a sucker for the irony of the Town Crackpot's little brother being the primary voice of reason in his friend group. (not to say the others are stupid, by any means, but if, say, Hunter offered to give Jade parkour "lessons" (i.e, how he learned in the EC) I doubt she would say no)

Oh, she would NOT say no. But she'd give up pretty fast when step one was "do a lot of pushups and situps so that you have the baseline muscle necessary to safely do this"

Thanks! Thomas was really fun to make up, always a sucker for MORE Wittebane parallel sibling pairs.

[sergeantsporks]

Full Circle

Rating: Teen, Gen

Part 17 of  Camila is Hunter's Mom Now

Chapter 3/5: Saved

Ch 1, Ch 2

Hunter never planned to tell his friends about his past.

But since when has anything ever gone the way he planned?

Ao3

CW: Physical and Mental Abuse/Manipulation, Blood

“Any of you guys get sleep?” Jade whispered as everyone loaded up in Jacob’s van.

Vee shook her head. “Didn’t hear a thing in school, either. School. As if I could focus.”

“Yeah,” Jade murmured, “Me either.”

Luz grabbed Jade’s hands. “Remember. Find Belos. Make sure he’s not with Hunter. Trip the alarms. Don’t try to fight Belos, don’t try to talk to him, don’t let him know you’re there if possible.”

“Got it.”

“I’m serious, Jade, he’s dangerous.”

“I got it, Luz.”

Jade hopped out, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. She took a deep breath. “Okay. Okay, we can do this.”

The house was… eerily silent as she approached it. Her heart thudded in her chest. Why is it so quiet?

And then, all of a sudden, she took a step and could suddenly hear a hissing sound, and growling.

Something to keep the sound in. Smart.

Jade skipped the door, opting to crawl in through the window instead. She landed with a small thump, and froze, waiting to see if anyone had heard before making her way towards the growling noises, wincing every time she stepped on a creaky floorboard that seemed to scream I’M HERE! I’M RIGHT HERE!!!

Something rushed past her with a whoosh, and she barely caught a glimpse of glowing blue eyes before it was gone. Jade shuddered, moving more quickly now. She pushed open the door the thing with the eyes had come from.

“Hunter?” she whispered.

He whirled to face her, his shoulders heaving, and his hands wrapped tightly around some staff thing. His magenta eyes were… dull. Blank.

It’s like he’s staring right through me.

“Hunter, it’s okay,” she said softly, moving towards him with her hands raised, “I’m here to help you.”

She swayed sideways in time to dodge a cackling bolt of red electricity that roared towards her from his staff, tears springing to her eyes

“Hunter, it’s me,” she pleaded, coming closer. “It’s Jade. Your friend!”

Recognition flickered in those dull eyes, and he lowered the staff. “Jade?” he whispered, voice cracking.

“Yeah. It’s me. You can put it down, Hunter. It’s okay.”

His hands remained clenched on the staff, his shoulders shaking. “I’m so tired,” he whispered, his voice laced with the same desperation that filled his eyes.

Hunter held out the staff, and Jade put her hands over his. “You can let go. I’ve got you.”

“I c-can’t,” he whispered, hands trembling, “I can’t let go!”

Jade gently pried at his fingers. “Okay. It’s okay, I’ll help you. I’ve got you.”

Xxx

Hunter slumped forward as Jade took the staff, and she caught him, lowering him to the floor and letting his head rest against her shoulder. Her arms circled around him. “Okay,” she said quietly, “Okay, I’ve got you. Okay.”

His whole body kept shaking, and his eyes almost closed as he clung to her.

You’re here.

You came for me.

You found me.

The smell of decay hit Hunter’s nostrils, and he let out a cry of despair, burying his head in Jade’s shoulder.

No

No, no, no, no

“I can’t,” he whispered. “I can’t!”

Xxx

“How strange.”

Jade extracted herself from Hunter’s grip, picking up his staff and moving to stand in front of him, facing the man in the door. “So much for not being seen,” she murmured.

The man—Hunter’s uncle, she assumed—tilted his head. “He surrendered the staff to you.”

“Back off,” Jade snapped, “I’m not letting you hurt him.”

He seemed to… melt, reforming behind her. “Me? Hurt my nephew?”

Jade whirled around, swinging the staff at him. He disappeared again as a blast of energy shot out, the staff seeming to reverberate in her hands. “Whoa,” she whispered.

“Put that down before you hurt yourself, young lady.”

The disappointed tone almost made her drop it before Jade shook herself. Eyes on Belos. Okay. She kicked her shoe off, throwing it at him. Belos leaned to the left to dodge, giving her an unimpressed look.

“I’m not going to hurt you. But that staff will.” Belos gestured to Hunter. “Don’t you see how it’s hurt him? Look, he can’t even stand because of the toll it took on him, because he was too stubborn to let it go. Magic will leave you an empty husk, a shell of your former self.”

Xxx

Hunter pressed his hands to his ears as Belos’ voice seemed to slither into his head.

“Oh, for the love of God,” Jade’s voice snapped in the same way she’d yelled at their classmates, breaking into Belos’ spell, “Shut up. The staff didn’t do this to him, magic didn’t do this to him, you did this to him. You. Own up to your own stupid actions.”

Hunter felt like he could barely breathe, looking up at Jade. She glared at Belos, several feet shorter, but somehow seeming much, much bigger.

“You can try to blame magic, or the staff, or—or you can try to blame Hunter, but it is your fault.”

Belos’ eyes flashed a glowing blue, and Hunter shook his head. “Jade,” he whispered, “You’re making him angry—”

“You’re the reason he’s hurt.”

Hunter saw the attack coming just before Belos released it, and he leapt forward, tackling Jade. “LOOK OUT!”

Belos’ arm blade caught him in the face, the blow sending him backwards. Jade screamed as Hunter curled onto his side, pressing his hands to his face as his head erupted in agony.

“Hngh—ah—”

“Hunter! Hunter, oh my god, oh my god, I’m sorry, Hunter, I’m sorry—” a hand tugged at his. “Can you see?!”

Hunter tried to open his eye, but his whole face screamed in pain, and he groaned in response, clamping his hand down tighter, squinting through his good eye.

“Agh,” Belos groaned, “Why—you set off the curse, I could have killed him!”

“I’m sorry,” Jade whispered, “I’m sorry, Hunter, I’m sorry, please be okay, please be okay—” her hands added to the pressure. “Please be okay… You have to let him go!” she cried, “You have to let him get help!”

“Hmmm…”

Before Belos could respond, Hunter heard an engine roaring, a splintering, crunching noise from the house, and then a white van slammed into Belos, throwing him over the hood and all the way over the top before screeching to a halt.

The door opened, and suddenly Jacob was there, shaking him by the shoulders. “Where’s Thomas?!”

“Got… separated…” Hunter managed, and then Camila was climbing out of the driver’s seat, pushing Jacob away, holding Hunter’s face gently in her hands while Flapjack fluttered around her head, chirping frantically.

Camila swatted at Jacob. “Leave him alone, can’t you see he’s hurt?! It’s not a huge house, go find your brother!”

Xxx

Jacob ran off, and Camila tilted Hunter’s head, her heart pounding in her chest. “Madre de dios,” she murmured, “Lo siento, mi carino, I should have been here faster.”

“Mom,” he whimpered, trembling, “I th-thought you weren’t c-coming…”

Camila let him lean forward on her shoulder, picking him up. “I’ll always come for you,” she murmured, “Always, always, always.”

Camila heard a groan from behind the van, and then it went into reverse, presumedly ramming into Belos again. “Let’s go!” Vee yelped from the driver’s seat.

Luz helped Jade up. “You okay?”

“I almost died,” she said in a daze.

“Haha… welcome to the club.” Luz retrieved Jade’s shoe from the circle of motion detectors. “Wouldn’t want to leave that behind. JACOB,” she yelled, “HAVE YOU FOUND HIM?!”

Jacob appeared at the top of the stairs, arm around Thomas. He hopped over the gap in the stairs, then held his arms out, helping Thomas over. “Coming!”

Camila carried Hunter to the back of the van, and Vee helped Thomas and Jade in. Jacob clambered into the driver’s seat, and Luz into the passenger, and then the van backed out of the giant hole it had made in the house, screeching onto the road.

Camila tugged out the first aid kit she’d packed in the morning, pressing a gauze patch to Hunter’s forehead. She could see a flash of white bone, and her stomach roiled. Hunter yelped, and she loosened her grip just a little. “Sorry! I’m sorry.”

“That’s… a lot of blood,” Jade said quietly.

“It’s a head wound. They bleed a lot.” Camila checked. The bleeding had slowed down, so she dabbed some alcohol on another gauze pad, cleaning the wound.

Hunter cringed away, his good eye filled with fear.

“Oh… shshshshshhhh, it’s okay, mijo. It’s me. It’s okay. Shshshshhhhhhhhhhh…” He slowly relaxed, bracing himself and biting his lip as Camila cleaned the wound. With the blood gone, she could see that the gash extended from his left eyebrow out across a small section of his forehead and stopped at his hairline. She heaved a sigh of relief. At least his eye is okay. She winced, gingerly pushing the edges of the gap together and securing them with butterfly bandages. Or at least it will be when the swelling goes down.

“Any other injuries, do you know?”

He opened his mouth, then shrugged, burying his face in her shoulder again. Flapjack settled into his hands, and he clutched the bird tightly (but not too tight), stroking it gently.

“Okay. Okay, we’ll check once we get safe.” She turned to Thomas. “Are you hurt?”

“Just a couple of bruises,” he whispered, voice hoarse, “And…” he rubbed his wrists, and Vee gently took his hands.

“Oh, ow,” she murmured, scrambling in the first aid kit for an antibacterial ointment, “Those hurt, I know. Here, let me see.”

Even in the dim light of the van, Camila could see sores on Thomas’ wrist, and she hugged Hunter just a little closer. “I’m sorry,” she murmured, “You never should have been dragged into this.”

Thomas sniffed, drawing his knees up to his chest and burying his head in his arms, shivering. Vee draped a blanket around his shoulders. Luz’s head poked back. “Jacob needs to know if we’re going to the museum or Jade’s house. And if it’s Jade’s house, he doesn’t know how to get there.”

“My house,” Jade said immediately, climbing in the front seat.

Luz scrambled into the backseat. Usually, Camila would have scolded the two for moving around in a moving vehicle.

Picking battles today, she thought blearily, giving Hunter a squeeze. He didn’t respond to the pressure except to snuggle closer, shoulders hunched.

“How’s he doing?” Luz murmured.

“I think he’s asleep? Or possibly unconscious. He’s not awake.” Camila winced as they screeched to a stop. “That man does not know how to drive.”

“In his defense, we may have wrecked his car just a bit.”

Camila scooped Hunter up, carrying him inside the house. “Thank you, Jade,” she sighed again, “We’ll be out of here before your parents get back.”

“Jade?” Thomas said in a small voice, “Ms. Noceda? Can I… stay here?”

Camila twisted to look at Jacob, who suddenly got very interested in polishing his glasses. “I’m… taking the van away back to my place,” he mumbled, “So that he won’t track it here to you guys. So… it’s probably safer for him to be here. If that’s alright with you.”

“Oh.”

Jade slung an arm around Thomas’ shoulders. “Yeah! Of course you can.” She grinned, but it looked a little forced compared to her usual smile. “You know, when I said we should hang out more, this isn’t quite what I had in mind.”

Jacob reached out, gently whacking the top of Thomas’ head. “Hey, not to say I told you so, but…”

A tiny smile crossed Thomas’ face. “Okay, okay, yeah. Witches are real and my friend is one of them.” Thomas rubbed his arm. “Thanks for… coming for me.”

“Yeah. Of course I was going to come for you.” Jacob ruffled his hair, then swung his keys around his finger. “I’ll come back later, probably. Please don’t immediately clock me with a shoe.”

He left, and Jade tapped Camila’s arm. “Hunter can go in the guest bedroom until he wakes up, I’ll show you.”

Camila followed her upstairs, settling Hunter in bed. He curled up in a ball, and she pulled the blankets over him, gently brushing hair out of his face. Flapjack settled on the bedpost, watching over its witch.

“Are you okay, Jade?”

Jade sat down on the bed next to her with a whump. “I’m sorry,” she said in a wobbly voice, “You guys said not to engage, not to try to fight Belos, or talk to him, but I… I don’t know, I saw Hunter, and he was scared, and exhausted, and Belos started talking, and I lost it, I just couldn’t stand the way he was talking, blaming magic, and Hunter, and everything but himself, and…” she swiped at her eyes. “I set him off, I made him hurt Hunter—well, he was trying to hurt me, but Hunter jumped in the way, and… I got him hurt. I wanted to help, but… I just hurt him.”

“Oh—Jade—look at me. Look at me, sweetheart.” Camila put one hand on her cheek, brushing away a tear with her thumb. “Belos is the one who hurt him. Not you. Yes, you may have… exacerbated… the situation, but Belos…” She sighed. “It isn’t the first time he’s hurt Hunter. And he would have hurt him again.”

“But not like this! I set his—his whatever it was off!”

“That’s a lie.” Luz stood in the doorway, a bag of ice wrapped in a towel clutched in her hands. “He controls that, Jade, he uses it to fight, to scare people like Hunter, like you.” Her fists clenched. “He’s a manipulative tyrant who will play any card he can to get people to feel sorry for him. He knew Hunter would jump to save you, he knew when he lashed out that it was Hunter who would get hurt. He wanted to make you doubt yourself, or, I don’t know, make Hunter hate you, or maybe he just wanted an excuse to hurt him more. Hurt him worse. He was always going to hurt Hunter, whether you were there or not, you just… gave him an excuse.”

“Thanks,” Jade said softly, rubbing her arms, “I… thanks, Luz.” She rubbed her eyes. “Okay. I should… get everyone else settled in. Yeah. I’m going to do that. Okay.”

She thumped down the stairs, and Camila took the ice from Luz. “Thanks, mija. Go help? I’ll take care of him.”

Luz nodded, closing the door behind her. Camila gingerly put the ice to the swelling on Hunter’s face. He flinched at the contact, shivering.

“Ay, poor baby,” Camila murmured. She looked up at Flapjack. “Could you make sure the ice stays on for about ten minutes? I’m going to see about getting something to eat, he and Thomas are both probably starving.”

Flapjack chirped an affirmation, fluttering down and landing on the ice bundle.

“Thank you.”

Camila headed back down the stairs. The girls had already set up sleeping bags in the living room, and Thomas was curled up on the couch wrapped in a blanket, watching them. Camila sat down next to him.

“Hey. How’re you holding up?”

Thomas scratched at his bandaged wrists. “Okay,” he mumbled, “Looking a whole lot better than Hunter, anyway.”

“Hey. I don’t just mean physically.”

Thomas shook his head wordlessly, burying his head in the blanket. “I don’t know,” he mumbled, “How am I supposed to be holding up?”

Camila put a hand on his back. “It’s okay to be scared. I’m scared. Do you need something to do, or do you just need to sit?”

“Just sit.”

“Okay. I’m going to see if I can make something to eat, are you hungry?”

“Little bit. But… also no.”

Sounds about right. “Okay.”

Camila wandered into the kitchen. “Jade, is it okay if I…”

“Oh, yeah, go ahead, if you need to know where something is, just ask.”

Camila opened all of the cabinets to check where everything was. Something simple. Pasta? There was a jar of sauce in the pantry, and a couple boxes of pasta on the shelves. She set the ingredients on the counter and started filling the pot with water. She heard a shuffling noise, and turned around to see Hunter in the doorway to the kitchen. He took the pot and put it on the stove, turning it on high.

“Oh—mijo—you don’t have to—”

Hunter leaned against the counter, pressing his arms close to himself. “S-so, uh. My day was… pretty bad. I uh…” his shoulders started to shake, and he bit his lip. “I…”

Camila opened her arms, and he launched himself into them, clinging tightly to her. “Oooookay. Okay. Okay.”

“I couldn’t stop fighting,” he whispered, “He wouldn’t let me stop fighting, and it just kept going and going and going, and I didn’t know where Thomas was, or if he was okay, and I was so, so tired—”

Camila squeezed him tight. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I should have come sooner, I’m so, so sorry.”

“He’s here,” Hunter whispered.

“I know. I know, mijo. But we know now, and I’m not letting him get to you. Never, ever again.”

“He killed everyone,” Hunter whispered.

“What?”

“Everyone on the isles, Mom, he… I helped him, I helped him find wild witches, I—”

“They’re okay.” Luz grabbed Hunter’s hand. “Hunter, they’re okay, he didn’t succeed. They’re all okay.”

“They’re all okay?” he whispered.

“We stopped it. The day of unity failed, Belos failed, they’re okay.”

Hunter sagged against Camila, and she kissed the top of his head, giving him another squeeze. “No more fighting. You can rest now.”

He let her sit him down on the couch next to Thomas, and she gave the top of his head one more kiss before going back to the kitchen.

Aye, these poor kids.

What am I going to do?

[sergeantsporks]

Jade and Thomas for 5, 6, 15, and 41 for the OC ask game

5: Biggest fear?

After recent events, they have acquired Hunter's fear of Belos, but, that aside! Thomas' greatest fear is that his brother's [gestures to Jacob] is going to follow him his whole life, and he'll ALWAYS have difficulty because of it. Like irrationally somehow he'll go away to college and people will be there who Know and look down on him over it.

Jade's is losing her friends and family and being alone. She's a social creature. She and Edric should bond, lol. She's also scared that for some reason, her dad will get called back to the military and he won't come back the next time

6: Special Skill?

Thomas is really good at research. Sounds boring, I know, but he's really good at tracking down facts, finding just the right book, etc. If you put him in his public library, he is in his element. He can find anything, if librarians are busy, they'll point patrons looking for a book to him. Stems from a) no one wanting to be his friend and b) the need to fact check anything before he says it and gets embarassed

Jade is really talented with knots. Comes from untangling all the dogs at the shelter when they get their leashes tangled, but she's really good at tying and picking apart knots. It's a weirdly niche skill, but her shoelaces STAY tied, as well as anything else she strings up.

15: Biggest weakness

Thomas' is his crippling inability to confront people. Does pretty much anything to keep people from getting upset at him, he just wants to stay OUT of the spotlight, and it's a biiiiit of a problem when he really needs to stand up for himself.

Jade's is that she's a little too protective of her friends, to the point where, while she's usually pretty chill, she'll probably bite your head off if you insult her friends. It does make it a liiiiiittle hard for her to see her friend's flaws. Not that she can't, but she's not always willing to LISTEN.

41: Favorite type of music?

Thomas just listens to whatever is on the radio. He leans a little more towards rockish stuff, but light. Like, Imagine Dragons style.

Jade likes synth-y music, stuff like Owl City. Those lofi beats for studying kind of stuff. Etc.

[sergeantsporks]

camila is hunter's mom now rambles? 👀

I've talked about Thomas and his family dynamics a lot, but I'm realizing I've never really dumped much info on Jade, other than random stuff in universe, so, anyway, Jade stuff!

She does have 2 other close friends, as mentioned, and she FULLY intends to introduce them to Hunter someday, she just... hasn't had a good opportunity

She's generally well liked at school and seen as kind of a sweetheart, and everyone still expects her to quit being nice to Hunter one day, but they seem to be missing the fact that she actually likes hanging out with him.

Theatre Kid

Her dad was in the military, a roadside bomb left him scarred and partially deaf/hard of hearing. He mostly relies on hearing aids, but everyone in the family knows a bit of sign language. He struggles with a lot of PTSD, and the bomb killed most of everyone with him, so there's a bit of survivors guilt there, too.

Her dad just kinda... Knows that somehow Hunter is a soldier. He can just... tell. He's got a really good therapist, and he sort of wants to recommend them to Camila for Hunter, but he's worried about overstepping his bounds as "your kid's friend's dad"

Her mom is a doctor! She pulls in most of the money for the family. She works a lot, and the dad cooks. His specialty is the chicken cutlets that are Jade's favorite food! He teaches her some cooking skills.

Jade has a summer job as a camp counselor at a drama camp for middle schoolers

Jade's demi, but god, no, not for Hunter.

Loves animals. She wants to be a vet someday, she thinks Camila is the coolest person on the planet (after her own parents)

[sergeantsporks]

🌲 jade & thomas?

🌲 What would your OC do in a Minecraft world/server?

Jade is in survival mode. She digs herself a nice cave, defends it from monsters, and makes the inside all cozy. Lot of screaming when shes sees a monster, but she charges in and kills it. She also totally would strip mine. She's down there for HOURS, only surfacing to get food. She WANTS the RESOURCES and she does not CARE how long it takes to get them. Probably has a horse. Always looking for nametags so that she can name her pets.

Thomas is a creative mode kind of guy. He wants to build something big and beautiful, but he doesn't always finish. Plus, he gets discouraged when he builds something he thinks is neat and took him a while, but then he sees someone else's build and it's cooler than his.

[sergeantsporks]

Hunter Noceda au: How do you see things going down, if/when Jade finds out about the whole Demon-Realm-Exists/Hunter-Isn’t-Human/Neither-is-Vee stuff?

If she does find out, it's going to be in the midst of Day of Unity stuff going down, so she has bigger things to worry about. Yeah, she's shocked, but she's mostly focused on getting everyone safe, and she DID say she didn't need for Hunter to tell her his past, so she figures this is fair. It does explain a lot, though, like the sudden adoption, his weird bird, the EARS, how his uncle got away with all this for so long...

Speaking of which, she can finally kick the ass of the person who gave her friend(s, she's finding out) trauma, and that's really the most important thing, isn't it?

Jade, watching Belos collapse into goop: Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh things make a lot more sense now.

[sergeantsporks]

Has Jade ever met Red/Flapjack in your Hunter Noceda au? I thought she had but now that I think about it Hunter didn't tell her why his favorite color was red and I don't remember her ever meeting Red . . . so now I'm confused and I can't remember

She has not! That was actually a point in the comfort fic that's currently sitting on the back burner, she asks when she gets to meet "Red" (still deciding whether or not she will in that fic). She knows he HAS a "pet" bird, but she's never actually seen it.

[sergeantsporks]

OC asks!! About Jade, does she have specific jewelry she likes? Thomas too! I love them so much, they're such amazing people with detailed personalities

-Froggy chair anon

Thank you! I loved making them, trying to figure out exactly what kind of people would make friends with Hunter in a human realm setting was so fun

Jade likes pins, mostly cute little generic ones, like cartoon sun or moon smiley faces, or stars, or flowers, that kind of thing. They're all over her backpack, and she usually has one or two on her overalls. Her favorite is the cartoon sun smiley face

Thomas doesn't have any as of currently, but I think that after the events of Full Circle he'd get a fidget necklace, or a bracelet of worry beads to help with all of his nervous energy/keep him grounded.

[sergeantsporks]

Tiny Shards of Glass

Rating: Teen, Gen

Part 15 of Camila is Hunter’s Mom Now

Ch 1/4: Fractured

Hunter always knew his life with the Nocedas was too good to last

He just wasn't expecting it to end like this

Ao3

The portal door was opening early.

Why was Luz coming home this soon? Had something gone wrong?

A hundred scenarios raced through Hunter’s head, ranging from a simple ‘she felt like coming home early’ to ‘Belos killed them all and he’s coming through.’

The last one was ridiculous.

Right?

But then the door opened, and Luz staggered through, her eyes wild and frantic, and—oh, titan.

The world tilted and swayed beneath Hunter, and he couldn’t seem to reach her. The world was like jello, and she was infinitely far away despite only being a few feet away, and Hunter couldn’t reach her as she fell to the living room floor, blood and cursed mud dripping from a wound Hunter couldn’t see.

Hunter blinked blearily at the wall, vaguely aware of the blanket over him and the pillow under his head. He could hear Luz’s soft snores, and he started to drift back asleep.

She’s right there.

Amity wouldn’t let anything in the portal.

It’s fine.

“Hun-ter?”

Luz gasped, looking at him with big, betrayed eyes.

His hands were covered in her blood, his body dissolving into mud.

Hunter rolled out of bed. He carefully opened the door to his room, creeping out into the hallway. Red fluttered after him as he went down the stairs. No portal in the living room.

It’s fine.

Hunter curled up on the couch.

Someone should keep watch—we’d have no warning.

“Hunter?”

Hunter snapped awake, falling off of the couch with a thump. “I didn’t fall asleep!” he yelped.

Vee gave him an odd look. “You were supposed to be asleep. C’mon, get up, it’s time for school.”

Hunter rubbed his eyes, trudging back upstairs to get changed. At least falling asleep downstairs, he’d been relatively nightmare free.

Camila nudged his shoulder. “You doing okay?”

Hunter yawned. “Fine. Thanks. Just a bit of trouble falling asleep.”

“Breakfast, mijo,” Camila called as he started towards the door, and he grabbed a protein bar.

“Bye, have a good day at work!”

“Good luck on your algebra test, and Vee, have fun at drama!”

Vee waved. “Bye, mom, love you!”

Hunter trudged out the door, biting into the protein bar. It shouldn’t be so easy to lie to her. But it was so much simpler than telling her about the nightmares, and admitting that having the portal bothered him.

She was always so understanding whenever he brought up Belos, always accommodating. What if she decided to limit the portal usage to make him less nervous? That would either be unfair to Luz, being separated from her friends, or unfair to Camila, being separated from Luz.

And of course, she might decide that it didn’t matter if he felt that way, that he should just deal with it. Which would be the fairest and most correct option. He was wrong for wanting to keep the portal closed—and that was that. If Camila decided to keep the portal open despite knowing how he felt, nothing would CHANGE, except that he’d know her position. And he didn’t want to know.

Vee caught his collar as he nearly walked across a busy street, yanking him back. “Whoa! Earth to Hunter?”

Hunter shook himself. Pay attention to your surroundings. “Sorry—and thanks.”

“Tired?” Vee guessed.

“Yeah. And just… thinking.”

“About your test? Don’t worry about it, you’re like the smartest person in your class, you’ll breeze through it.”

Hunter managed a smile. If only it were that simple. “Thanks.” He shifted his bag on his back. “Hey, are you still worried about the p-o-r-t-a-l?”

“I guess a little. Not as much as I was at first though—if nothing went wrong in the first few weeks, then we’re probably fine. Are you still worried?”

“No,” Hunter lied. Too easy, too many easy lies to keep them from worrying. “I mean, obviously, it’s always a threat, but… you’re right, if nothing went wrong in the first few weeks when we were still figuring it out, then there probably won’t be any more problems.” Titan, I hope you’re right.

Hunter trudged into the chemistry classroom. “Hey.”

Thomas nodded back. He looked as tired as Hunter felt, the skin under his eyes dark. “Hey.”

Another student walked by, kicking Thomas’ backpack across the room.

“Would you quit that?!” Thomas yelped.

“Oops. Sorry.”

Thomas pinched the bridge of his nose. “Yeah. Yeah, whatever, it’s fine.” He retrieved his backpack.

“Rough night?” Hunter guessed.

“Yeah. I don’t… usually snap like that. I just… had a lot of homework to catch up on, and a test I had to study for, so I just…” Thomas rubbed his eyes. “Augh. Anyway.”

“Fighting back? That’s not like you.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like I said, I’m tired and grumpy. You don’t exactly look like you got up on the right side of the bed, either.”

“Guess not,” Hunter admitted. He shoved his chair back as someone geared up to punt Thomas’ bag across the room again, the edge of the chair biting into their leg.

“Ow!”

“Sorry, didn’t realize you were so close to our desk,” Hunter said, sickly sweet.

They glared at him, limping to their seat without a second glance at Thomas. Hunter scooted back in. Mr. Dawson entered just moments before the bell—as usual—and class started. Hunter propped his chin on his hands, trying to look like he was paying attention. But he was starting to fall asleep, the toll of his restless night finally catching up with him. Hunter shook himself, forcing his eyes open. Now would not be a good time. It didn’t matter how droning Mr. Dawson’s voice was, he couldn’t fall asleep.

The bell rang, and Hunter made his way to English class, wishing he had a free period to take a nap in.

82%

The grade blinked up at him from the essay he’d turned in last week. He groaned, putting his head down on the desk.

Low B.

Jade extracted the paper from under his head. “Oh, this isn’t a bad grade, Hunter, most of the class would kill to get this.”

“Yeah? What’s yours?”

“Ninety-three.”

“Yeah, so, easy for you to say.”

“You’re such an overachiever. It’s one B, it’s not going to kill you.”

“It might.”

“Oh, please, I barely even passed the last two physics quizzes, and you’re upset over one B? You’re still a straight-A student.”

“Yeah, but… it’s not my best.”

“Overachiever,” Jade sang as the bell rang. Hunter tucked the offending essay into his bag as class began.

“Alright, classical crazies, we’re about to start our section on Hamlet! The theatre class will be putting on a performance, and if you go and show me your ticket as proof, I’ll give you extra credit. Shakespeare isn’t really meant to be read, it’s meant to be watched and performed, so instead of having you read the play as an assignment, we’ll be reading here, in class. Do I have any volunteers for any particular parts?”

Jade’s hand shot up. “Can I do Horatio? I want to practice.”

“Sure. Anyone else?”

“I’ll doooooo Ophelia?” Brianna ventured cautiously.

“Excellent!” No one else spoke up, and Mrs. McKeon shook her head in mock exasperation. “Who knew all of you could be so shy? Alright, alright. Hunter?”

Oh, boy. “Yes, ma’am?”

“You want to do Hamlet?”

Do I get a choice? “Sure?”

“Indecisive answer! Perfect for Hamlet!”

Brianna raised her hand, wrinkling her nose. “Actually, can I change? I don’t want to be Ophelia anymore.”

Hunter’s ears burned, and Mrs. McKeon glanced back and forth between the two of them. “No takebacks!” she replied cheerfully, “Besides, Ophelia is a wonderful role.”

“I’ll be Laertes,” Adam called with a grin.

“Hamlet’s rival! Bold choice!”

Hunter tugged on his hoodie strings. Great. This is suddenly another attack Hunter spectacle.

Jade leaned in. “Whoa, I didn’t know Adam could read,” she remarked quietly with a grin. Hunter felt a small smile tug at him.

“I kind of want to do Hamlet, actually,” someone else piped up, “Hunter, you want to do Claudius?”

A snicker spread through the room.

“No,” Mrs. McKeon said firmly, “You should have volunteered earlier.” She was close—Hunter hadn’t even realized she’d been edging towards he and Jade’s desks, but she was standing behind them now. “Any other volunteers?”

The rest of the roles got taken, and they started to read—not that Hunter was biased or anything, but Jade sounded the best out of all of them, her voice clear and loud. They only made it through a scene and a half before the bell rang, and they all rushed the door. As he walked down the hallway, Hunter saw Mrs. McKeon tug Brianna and the one who’d asked him to switch for Claudius to the side as they exited the classroom. He tugged his hood up as his ears started to burn again.

Jade nudged his arm. “Are we disconnecting again?”

“I’m not disconnecting.”

“Mmm. Hey, I’m just gonna peek over at your answers for today’s test, okay?”

“Absolutely not.”

Jade stuck her tongue out at him as she shoved open the algebra room door.

“Good luck.”

Xxx

Hunter stared up at the ceiling, the room around him dark. His coven patch itched and burned, like it was covered in ants biting at his skin.

Which was ridiculous.

Your coven patch is fine, it’s all in your head.

It’s always in your head.

He rolled over, closing his eyes and scratching at crawling skin that had nothing really wrong with it.

It’s just in your head.

Next Chapter