Chapter Text
Hunter snapped awake, choking down a scream as he flailed his way off his bed, getting tangled in his blanket and getting the breath knocked out of him when his back impacted the floor, snapping him out of his panic.
He sat there with wide eyes, doing his best to breathe as steadily as his rising panic would allow, looking all around the room he'd woken up in.
A room he hadn't seen in what felt like forever.
The cluttered mess of papers and books, the sewn together pillow he hadn't felt in forever, the window, the Emperor's Coven papers above his bed-
Hunter shuddered, his gaze drawn to his arm, and the symbol underneath it. "Oh no. Ohnononono-" He muttered frantically, clawing at the sleeve that covered his arm, tearing and scratching at the fabric until he'd ripped it, and stared at the mark underneath.
He stared at it, a horrible sense of wrongness filling him and making his stomach churn to the point that he felt bile on the back of his throat.
He forced his gaze away from the Coven Mark, looking around the small room in confusion, before he swallowed and opened his suddenly dry mouth.
"L-luz?" He croaked, eyes wide as they desperately saught out anyone who he could have sworn was right next to him. "Willow? Gus? Amity?"
His voice cracked on the last name, but instead of embarassment all he felt was panic clawing at his chest, because- because if they weren't here, and he was back in his room, then-
-then Belos- The Collector- King-
-Luz, I'm so happy I had you as a big sister!-
Hunter choked on the air as the last thing he'd seen echoed in his mind, a profound sense of failure running through him and rocking him hard enough that he fell to his knees, clutching his chest as tears built in his eyes.
"No..." He whispered desperately, lurching to his feet and stumbling over to the door. "No please- please don't be-" He froze.
His head slowly turned to the side, and for a moment all he could hear was the sound of his heart in his ears.
There it lay, his artificial staff, the one he'd tossed aside in favor of his Palisman Flapjack.
Almost absentmindedly he reached over and picked it up, the familiar hum of artificial magic pulsing under his hand as he brought it up to his face, staring at the crystal on the end of it.
He furrowed his brow, stepping away from the door and looking around his room for a moment, confusion building as he calmed down.
"What..." He muttered confusedly. "What's going on? I haven't been here in forever."
Hunter walked over and ran his hand over the familiar books laying on his desk, hundreds of days of research playing out in his head as he stared out the window at the darkened sky.
He blinked, furrowing his brow. "Rain?" He scoffed. "How long have I been out that it started raining?"
He walked back over to the door, stopping in front of the cloak and mask that he'd been ignoring till now.
He swallowed from his suddenly dry throat, reaching out a shaking hand to run it across the cloth, and the familiar emblem stitched into it.
"I..." He hesitated, before narrowing his eyes. "I know I threw these in the trash."
Suspicions building, he grabbed the Cloak and Mask, throwing them on and ignoring the backflip his stomach threatened as he did.
He exited his room, turning to a nearby Emperor's Coven Scout and swallowing down his anxiety as he raised a hand to halt them in their tracks.
He swallowed nervously, before speaking up. "You. Tell me the exact date and time." He commanded, pretending if only for a moment that he was still the Golden Guard instead of a wanted fugitive.
The Scout looked at him for a moment, before snapping off a salute and answering. "Sir Golden Guard! It's around 7! The date is the 9th day of the 6th Month! 224 AE!"
Hunter blinked, absentmindedly nodding and sending the Scout on his way as his mind raced a mile a minute.
"Okay." He muttered to himself as he walked down the halls. "So, my Wild Magic senses are tingling, and they're telling me two things."
He stayed silent as he passed by a Troupe of Scouts led by, much to his silent panic, Lilith Clawthorn, who scoffed in his direction when she spotted him, but otherwise ignored him.
He let out a shaky breath once they were far enough away not to hear. "E-either I was unconscious for a couple weeks, and everything went back to the way it was, with Lilith leading the Guard."
He snorted at the thought of Emperor Belos letting a traitor back into the Coven. "The next option is that The Collector or Belos trapped me in my own memories, which doesn't really seem like them, or-"
He swallowed, turning a corner and bracing himself against the wall as he clutched his Artificial Staff close to his chest, it's familiar hum grounding him.
"Or..." He whispered. "I managed to somehow wake up in the past."
He let that thought sink in for a moment, before he sighed.
Hunter clutched his staff tighter, desperate for Flapjack to tweet in his ear or bump into his head or nip at his ear at this point, but instead he had to take a moment to keep himself from falling to pieces.
He took a deep breath, before nodding firmly. "Okay, let's bet on that last one." He decided to himself. "It's what Luz would do." He hesitated. "... I think."
He'd never really been good at planning things out, but if he was right, and he really was back in time, then he needed a plan.
"Luz would know what to do, why can't you?" He reprimanded himself quietly. "Heck, even Eda would..."
He paused, taking a moment to try and put himself in the shoes of the Owl Lady.
"What would Eda do?"
'She would... change everything,' He realized. 'right off the bat. How things had turned out were unacceptable, so she would... flip the board. Play a different game, make her own rules.'
He mused over the thought for a moment, before he firmed his will and stood up straighter, once more entering the mindset he'd used when on missions as the Golden Guard.
"Alright." He stated quietly, eyes narrowed under his mask. "Let's do this the Miss Eda way."
He resumed walking as he turned over options in his head, debating on what, exactly, he could do to make the biggest changes in the shortest amount of time possible.
"Okay..." He mused, turning down a hallway as he made up his mind. "The first thing? Eda needs to keep her magic." He decided. "Which means either halving or getting rid of her curse entirely, as early as possible."
He turned another corner, following the familiar steps towards the Library of the Castle.
"The second?" He eyed the Coven Scouts as he passed by them, keeping his muttering under his breath as he carefully watched for any suspicious looks.
"Rebellion." He whispered, a mad grin tugging at his lips. "More preparations, more members, more gear more everything!" He froze, bringing his gloved hands up to his mask and covering his mouth.
He looked around warily, before he realized what he was doing and scoffing. "What does it matter." He muttered vindictively. "I'm not staying here another second past getting those spells I need."
He stopped, staring at the library door in front of him with embers smoldering in the depths of his chest. "I'm gonna take that little secret club that Belos was afraid of, that little act of desperation..."
He grinned, gaptoothed and desperate and only a little broken. "And I'm gonna turn it into a war." He promised quietly.
He eyed the lock on the door with hesitation for a moment while mentally mapping how long it would take before Belos or anyone important like Lilith would arive once he broke in.
He narrowed his eyes under his mask. "What was it again? The... Pain Sharing spell?" He muttered questioningly to himself.
Hunter shuddered as he imagined himself covered in feathers, drowning in elixirs every day just in order to stay himself.
The thought made him drag his feet as he destroyed the lock with his staff's magic and half-ran into the library.
The thought of an Eda Clawthorn, one of the most scary and kind witches he'd ever met, who took in and cared for a demon, human, and-
-Kid? Just breathe, okay?-
Her not being crippled by her curse?
That thought drove him to run faster.
Either way, he'd already busted open the door, so he was on a time limit. An absentminded wave of his staff had the entrance sealing itself off with behind him, a dozen chairs and tables bracing against the door while he quickly traced out the words of the books.
"C'mon, c'mon! Pacer Spell, Padding Spell, Page Duplicating Spell? Yoink." Hunter quickly grabbed that book and shoved it under his cloak, before returning to reading. "Pageantry... Pain!"
He grinned, bringing a finger up to trace the titles.
"Pain Giving, Pain Killing, Pain Sharing!" He cheered, snatching the book and shoving it in his cloak with the other one, and he turned to leave, only to freeze as he caught sight of the next book.
He walked back over to the bookshelf, tracing the name of the book with a shaking finger. "Pain Stealing." He muttered. Taking the book and thumbing open the first page.
He hesitated as he read, realizing that it was a stronger version of the Pain Sharing Spell. He should have felt ecstatic, but oddly enough all he felt was a cold pit forming in his stomach.
The Pain Sharing Spell had worked just fine, right? Would a stronger spell get rid of more of Eda's curse? Would it just not work at all? Did... did he even need a stronger spell?
He stood there for a moment, torn on if he should take the book on the off chance it could work for Eda, and hating himself for being so much of a coward at the thought of what it would mean if it did.
*SMASH*
His gaze snapped over to the door, and the hole that hadn't been there a few moments ago, dust billowing out from the wreck of what he'd thought would buy him at least a few seconds.
He hissed. "Dangit!" He cursed, sending a blind blast of magic through the cloud of dust, before turning and running towards the window.
"Knew it wouldn't take long, but couldn't they just be a bit more incompetent like they usually are outside the castle?" He complained, stuffing the book in his cloak and jumping onto his staff and riding it towards the window.
"QUICK! After the Golden Guard!" A familiar voice shouted.
'Lilith.' He groaned, grabbing a book as he passed by and chucking it behind him, grinning at the proceeding thud and yelp as he dove out of the window, only to be greeted by dark thunderclouds covering the sky and the sound of water.
He cursed as he realized that it had started to rain, using his staff to throw up a quick shield so that his flesh didn't melt off his bones from the Boiling rain.
Hunter snorted. "Heh. Luz woulda laughed at that one." He said to himself, angling his staff down and weaving through the trees as he navigated.
"Wonder if they remember?" He mused. "Heck, maybe this is all just some dream, and The Collector just knocked us all out."
He eyed the rain around him as he flew, reaching out and poking a finger through the shield, only to hiss and pull it back when a raindrop touched it, burning his hand even through his gloves.
"Sure feels real." He grumbled, swerving around trees and slowly bringing himself in for a landing.
He eyed his artificial staff as he got off it. "Tsk, just isn't the same." He tsked, starting on the slog towards the Owl House where Eda and Luz was.
"Come to think of it," He muttered to himself, scratching at his neck as he walked. "Just how long has Luz actually been in the Isle? I mean, can't be that long, right?"
He did a quick bit of math in his head, before shrugging. "Eh. Calendars usually a bit off, but I'm willing to bet she's still here, ey Flap-" He stopped, before shaking his head.
"Right." He muttered. "No Palisman, but that's fine, because it means he's safe."
He nodded firmly at the thought, forcing a grin under his mask as he reached up and took off his mask, eyeing it with disgust for a moment, before sighing and clipping it onto his waist.
"Thing better come in handy later." He grumbled.
Things were quiet after that, and it let him question everything that had happened as he made his way towards the Owl House.
Maybe... he'd been a bit hasty?
"Nah." He muttered. "This... This was the right play, right? I mean, I'm gonna help Eda and Luz and stuff, and they almost won when I was against them! With me, it'll be easier... probably."
He swallowed as another thought came to mind. "This... wasn't like, me just being brought back to the coven, right? And a bunch of my stuff was gone."
He forced down the panic attack he could feel building in his chest, forcing his breaths to be even and slow.
"I... It doesn't matter." He finally decided. "Either this was some prank or something, or some misunderstanding. Or I've traveled back in time."
He groaned. "Aw man. Now it sound stupid since I said it out loud."
Hunter shook himself and huffed. "The Owl House will have the answer. I mean it's just around the corner, maybe I can figure out what-"
He choked on air as he turned a tree, nearly losing control of the magic that kept the rain off him.
The Owl House was in front of him, surrounded by a shield, but what chilled him to his bones was the fact that the front door had been broken down.
He waited for a moment, before seamlessly clipping his mask on and twirling his staff into a combat stance, narrowing his eyes as he watched the house for any signs of movement.
A shadow darted around the house, and he tracked it by watching the windows, though it wasn't perfect, since whatever it was moved really quickly.
A sparkle drew his eye to the roof, where he saw a ball of light wink out.
He blinked. "What the..." Another ball of light appeared, and he narrowed his eyes, using his staff to float towards it as quietly as he could.
"-emons with black eyes are usually really sensitive to light!"
Hunter blinked, a grin unknowingly spreading across his face as he poked his head over the edge of the roof, and suddenly he froze.
There they were, Luz Noceda and King Clawthorn, sitting there discussing something with that sense of... of whatever it was she had.
'Heh, just like always.' He mused sort-of fondly. She'd usually been scheming against him after all.
The two of them flinched, their gazes snapping to him as he realized he's spoken his thoughts aloud.
Luz's eyes narrowed, lifting up her weird human Scroll and brandishing it like she was about to throw it. "Who are you!" She demanded, pushing King behind her.
The lack of recognition in their eyes at his uniform had him grasping at straws for an answer they would find believable. "I'm, uh..." He thought frantically, before he remembered the books in his cloak.
"I'm a friend of Eda's!" He blurted out, happy for his mask in the fact they didn't see the immediate grimace that followed the lie.
Luz stopped, surprised, while King poked his head out from behind Luz and blinked at him.
There was an awkward silence for a moment, before Luz hastily shoved her human Scroll away, smiling cheerfully at him as she waved a hand. "Eda's friend? So you know what she's... Sick from?" She asked innocently.
Hunter eyed the human nervously, confusion filling him. "Sick? I've never even heard of her getting..." His eyes widened. "OH! You mean the Curse?"
Luz deflated in obvious relief. "Ohthankgod!" She gasped breathlessly. "Me and King have no idea what we're supposed to do and the best we could come up with was flashing a really big light in her face to stun her then shovingastrawinanelixirandputting-"
Hunter suddenly found himself in front of the human, finger pushed to her lips to get her to stop.
He sighed. "Stop, deep breaths, tell me what's actuall- ARE YOU BITING MY FINGER EW!" Halfway through talking Luz had taken his finger into her mouth, gnawing on it despite how dirty the gloves he was wearing must have been.
Hunter ripped his hand away from the gross human, and wiped it on his cloak, any sense of seriousness he'd had thoroughly broken by Luz. 'As usual.' He noted with a fond sense of amusement. Past the disgust, anyway.
King stepped forward, drawing Hunter's attention as he ignored Luz sticking her tongue out at him. "Okay, so listen, you know about her curse, right?" King asked.
Hunter side-eyed Luz for any more potential human shenanigans, but nodded towards King nonetheless. "Uh... yeah?" Hunter answered, confused. "Didn't we just... kinda discuss that?"
King continued in his squeaky voice, ignoring the snickering of the human next to them. "So you know how to turn her back right? Because while we can capture her, me and Luz are..." King hesitated, before looking down and kicking the dirty floor below him.
"We're... Notexactlysurehowtoturnherback." King admitted quickly, shame coloring his tone, and once more Hunter felt his chest twinge like it had when he'd woken up.
-So happy I had you as a big sister!-
"Uh... What are you doing?" Luz's confused voice brought Hunter back to reality, and he quickly realized that he'd wrapped an arm around Luz and King, bringing them into a hug that had him shaking as how much his heart hurt.
"Y-yeah." Hunter croaked, before letting the two of them go and coughing as he straightened out his cloak. "Uh. Sorry. Yeah King, I know how to get Ow- your mom back to normal." He quickly corrected his term from Owl Lady to King's mother in his head, she was going to be more than just The Owl Lady soon.
The books that weighed down his cloak guaranteed that.
Hunter lifted his mask enough to smile at the two of them before replacing it, ignoring the weird look King was sending him as he turned to Luz. "So what's the plan boss?" He sassed at the human, sarcasm evident in his voice.
Luz puffed out her cheeks, huffing. "Whatever." She grumbled, before leaning forward, a grin on her lips that seemed to lighten up the situation like she always tended to.
Hunter only half listened as he traced the books in his cloak, only paying enough attention to realize that he would come in last, turning Eda back into her human form after King lured her and Luz stunned her with a Light Glyph.
"Got it." Hunter confirmed. "Just gimme a second to refresh my memory on the spell while you guys go ahead." He said, bringing out the books that he'd bet everything on.
Luz and King nodded, hurrying back into the house to prepare, only for Luz to stop before she went in, turning back to look at him with her brow furrowed, King skidding to a halt next to her.
"Oh yeah! Almost forgot!" Luz palmed her face and giggled, walking back over and sticking out a hand to Hunter, much to his confusion.
"I'm Luz!" She stated, like he hadn't already catalogued every scar she hadn't gotten yet and swore she never would. "What's your name?"
Hunter hesitated for a moment, before reaching out and shaking her hand. "I'm Hunter." He introduced.
Luz beamed at him, before turning and running back into the house, King staring at Hunter for a moment before following suite.
Hunter sat there in confusion for a moment, before throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation, turning back to the books.
"Okay..." He licked his dry lips as he opened the Pain Sharing Spellbook. "First thing's first, can I even use this? Needs... a bond of blood... a pure feeling of love yada-yada, physical contact as a stabilizer... aaand an internal source of magic." He sighed. "Dangit. Knew it wouldn't be that easy." He muttered.
He turned to the other book, opening it and skimming through the pages. "Okay, Pain Stealing, needs... Soul Deep Bond? Uh, maybe. Having made love?"
He boggled. "Uh. Yeah no. A pure heart?" He scoffed. "Definitely not. And finally an outside source of Magic."
He leaned back, scratching at the scar on his chin under his mask as he thought. "Okay, so, neither are usable right now for me as they are." He admitted to himself. "But individually they have all the pieces I need."
He'd been called a prodigy by Belos, and as he went about piecing together two similar but very different spells into something he could use, he really, really hoped that those hadn't been empty words.
"Let's see." He muttered to himself as he arranged the spell in his head. "Blood Bond can be switched out for the Soul Deep bond, whatever that means, probably curse stuff, second part should be the pure feeling of love, not too hard."
He scribbled down his notes into the dust on the ground, chewing on his lip to the point of drawing blood as he rushed himself to be as quick and thorough as possible.
"The physical contact is still gonna be the stabilizer since the Pain Stealing is more like a ritual than a spell, but I'll have to use my staff as a source for the magic, so it'll be tough." He mumbled rapidly.
Soon enough the spell drawn in the dirt was drawn, and as he looked at it, he felt a sense of pride bloom in his chest. "I did it..." He whispered, amazed. "I actually did it."
He felt tears build up in his eyes as he stared down at the spell, burning it into his memory as thoroughly as he could.
There was a flash of light from the house, and Hunter's gaze snapped over to the door, and he was already through the door before Luz could call his name.
His heart thundered in his ears at the scene he came across. Eda form was terrifying, but the grinning duo of children that grinned at him, all but glowing with pride overwrote any sense of danger he felt.
Luz grinned at him. "Heh! Not so tough." She boasted, swiping some nonexistent dust off her shoulder.
King snorted next to her. "Yup. Only screamed a little bit." King yelped as Luz chopped her hand onto his head, glaring at him with burning cheeks.
Hunter smiled at the sight, before turning his attention to the proverbial monster in the room.
Luz and King quieted down as he walked over towards Eda's insensate cursed form, and without even thinking about it Hunter reached down and gently brushed a strand of feathers and fur behind her ears.
He knelt down so that he was sitting right in front of her, reaching up and taking off his mask before setting it to the side as he pulled down his hood, ignoring the gasp from Luz next to him and King's confused 'Hyeh!?'
He leaned forward, the weight of what he was doing, and the sense that everything was about to change only making him more sure of his decision.
He gently laid his forehead against Eda's and closed his eyes, the spell he'd cobbled together springing to the forefront of his mind.
He lit up his staff as he sat there, the artificial magic charging the air with energy as Hunter took a deep breath, the words he'd planned out when he'd made his spell spilling from his lips.
"Heart and soul, body and mind." Hunter started, the artificial magic sparking around his staff as it powered the spell, Luz's gasp of awe behind him making the corner of his mouth twitch before he returned to the spell.
"Feelings laid bare, our souls intertwined." His staff was struggling at this point, but all he had left was the last piece of his spell, so he swallowed his hesitation and finished the spell.
"From here and now, until the end of time, I'll take your pain and make it MINE!"
The spell finished.
The world went black.
Hunter blinked as he found himself in a nondescript room, and he looked around only to flinch when he caught sight of what could only be a younger Eda curled up in her bed, a smile spread across her sleeping face.
The door to the room opened and Hunter yelped, whirling around only to find a shadowed, smoke-like figure standing there.
He swallowed. "So this is how she was cursed." He muttered, doing his best to suppress his panic, before he suddenly realized that he couldn't move.
The figure stalked towards him, slowly reaching out, and Hunter closed his eyes, bracing himself even as a shaky grin slowly spread across his face. "Do your worst." He told the figure, ignoring how his voice warbled. "I've already cast the spell."
Hunter blinked, before his grin widened, sharp and gaptoothed and only a little bit broken. "That's right." He whispered as the figure's hand obscured his vision. "I cast the spell."
Darkness clouded his vision, and suddenly he was back in the Owl House, a grin spread across his face despite the smattering of feathers that sprouted across his arms and face.
His bones felt like cracking sticks, his joints were rusted stuck, his skull felt like it was cracking open his head hurt so bad, and his muscles felt like they were on fire.
But all he could focus on was the sight of Eda shrinking back down into her human form in front of him, groaning and bringing a hand up to rub at her forehead.
He ignored the calls from Luz and King behind him as he fell forward, the last thing he saw being Eda's face scrunched up in confusion, before everything went black.
'I win.'