Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Collector POV

A while ago

The Collector floated off to the side observing their older siblings, the archivists. The Collector was left out like always and so they started to play with one of the little stars around them. They made the star change color from blue to purple to yellow to red. 

"Stop messing with the stars Collector, you're going to confuse the mortals and its annoying." said Moon, not even glancing at The Collector. 

"But i'm boreeeeeeeeeed! Please play with me!" The little kid responded pouting. 

"We're busy Collector." replied Sun. 

"You're always busy!! You never have time to play with me!! You always ignore me!" They said turning the star back to its normal blue color. 

"You're games are childish. We have no interest in them and we have work to do. Go find someone else to play with, you're only a nusense to us." Moon said, still not even looking at the kid. 

"But-But I wanna play with you guys!"

"You heard Moon! We said no, why do you always have to be such a bother! Sometimes I wish we could just get rid of you." Spat Planet, another one of the archivists. 

"Fine!" The Collector was resisting tears as they headed off to find somewhere else to play.

Nobody will ever care about me.

Chapter Text

Collector POV

As The Collector flew away from the boiling isles they felt empty inside. 

I should be happy to return here, shouldn't I?

Even though they belong in the stars, The boiling isles had grown to be more of a home than up here. But they could stay in the Boiling Isles permanently, it was better for their mental health to have some alone time to think things over. Of course they would still visit on the weekends, but it would be better to start making their own choices. Even though they knew they had to stay up here, it still felt like they were leaving themself behind.

They landed on a star and sat there, staring at the universe around the,. The Collector took Francois out of their pocket and looked at the stuffed bunny. They remembered what King had told them when he gave them Francois. 

"You have to protect Francois, WITH YOUR LIFE!!!" King declared dramatically. "With my life? Isn't that a bit extreme?" The Collector replied. "Well the strong have to protect the weak! Not that Francois is weak though, he just needs time to become the mighty warrior that he is and while he becomes that warrior you need to protect him!" King replied. "Ok! I will protect Francois!" They said, then King hugged them.  "Pinky Swear?" King asked. The Collector gave him their pinky and they linked them. "Pinky Swear." 

The Collector missed King already, they missed the fun games, the pizza bagels, they missed Luz, and they missed the feeling of safety and friendship. They also missed knowing who they were. 

They started moving stars around to make different constellations, another thing they had done when they were younger and got bored. They made a little swirl and then quickly got bored again. Their eyes started to droop so they curled up on the star and let themself fall into a deep sleep, holding Francois close. 

The Archivists POV

Star, Moon, Planet, and Sun were doing their normal work. They were moving stars around and organizing their archives of collected species. As Moon was moving a nebula aside they spotted a swirl constellation in the distance. 

"Everyone come over here." They said and their siblings came over. "Did any of you make a new constellation?" Moon asked and they all shook their heads. 

"You know what that means..." Planet replied. 

"The Collector is back."

Chapter Text

*A week after chapter 1*

The Collector POV

The Collector floated around, moving the stars and asteroids. 

I missed this part of living here... The creation of new Constellations and stars. It always gave me peace.

They changed the color of a couple stars and moved them to make a bunny constellation. It reminded them of King, which made them a bit sad. 

Maybe I should visit soon. That would be nice.

They continued moving the little stars around, changing the colors as they moved. The Collector found it beautiful, even though their siblings had not when they were younger. They had said it would "confuse the mortals," but The Collector knew this was false. 

"King?" The Collector asked and King looked over at them from the other bed. "Yeah buddy?" He replied. "Do you find it confusing when the stars change color?" King looked at The Collector with a questioning look. "I don't at all, in fact most people on the isles find it normal. A lot of people like it because it looks like an eclipse or something, but come to think of it I don't think anyone likes eclipses anymore." King laughed sadly. The Collector looked at their bed and their thoughts consumed them. Their mind was hazy and dark. They said it would confuse everyone, but it doesn't. They were wrong. They probably just hated me. I'm probably just a pathetic little kid in their lives. They never cared about the mortals, just what annoyed them or not. And I annoy them. They wanted me gone. They never cared. It would be better if I wasn't even here anymore. "Collector? You good?" The Collector jumped at King's voice and looked around at his friend. He probably just thinks you're annoying like everyone else. He's just pretending to be your friend. He doesn't care. He wants me gone. The Collector looked at King and forced a smile. "Yup! Alllllllll good! Completely fine!"

The Collector looked at the bunny constellation sadly. They tried to push the thoughts away but they always came back, they were always there. To distract themself they started to make another constellation, this time making a little Owl, which reminded them of Eda. Then they made a snake, for Luz.

"Ugggggg why can't I just get everyone out of my head!!" The Collector yelled smashing their hand into a little star, breaking it into smaller pieces. "Oops!!" They quickly fixed the star and then sat down on their big Star, burying their face into their legs. "Why can't I just be normal..."

"Oh I don't know... Why can't you just be 'normal.'" The Collector whipped around startled by the voice of their siblings. 

"Hello Collector... We're just popping in for a visit." Moon said and The Collector froze.

No. No. No No No No No. H-How'd they find me...

The other archivists looked at the small kid and Sun laughed at them. "Just as pathetic as I remember. Not even gonna give us a hello?" They said mocking the kid. The Collector just stood there frozen and shaking violently, gripping Francois close to their body. 

No. I'm not going back. I'm not going back. I'm not going back!!

"No! Stay away from me!" The Collector yelled stepping away from their siblings, almost slipping off the edge of the star.

They just laughed at them. "Oh what? You can't even face your own siblings?" Planet laughed pushing the Collector the rest of the way off the star. The Collector yelped as they fell a bit but Sun caught them with their magic. The Collector struggled but their arms were forced to their sides by the magic and they couldn't move very much. "Awwwwww you're so cute." Sun mocked, spinning the Collector around a bit. 

The Collector struggled but upon figuring out they could barely move they started going into a panic attack, shaking violently and breathing shallowly. 

"Are they gonna cry~" Star said and the rest of the archivists started laughing. The Collector tried to take steady breaths but it was extremely hard for them to do so under the current circumstance. 

Then Moon reached down and picked up Francois. "What's this? A stuffed bunny? Oh come on- don't tell me you still sleep with stuffed animals." Moon remarked. 

The Collector was filled with rage as Moon touched Francois. "Don't touch that!!"

"Or what? You're gonna throw a fit~" Sun mocked. Moon laughed and then started to slowly pull Francois in different directions making a few of the stitches break. 

"You must protect Francois, WITH YOUR LIFE!!!"

The Collector suddenly broke free from the magic and blasted Moon down, quickly grabbing Francois and holding the stuffed bunny close. Then in their panic the Collector used their magic to teleport. 

They fell to the ground in a heap and groaned. Their head felt hazy and they couldn't stand up. The magic Sun had used had weakened them greatly and they felt like they could pass out. Their vision was blurry as they tried to look around. Before they passed out they heard a voice. 

"Collector? Collector!!"

Chapter Text

King POV

King was playing Hexis Holdem with Luz and Eda. 

"Stop!!!! Let me winnnn!!! I wanna be the king of card games!!" King wined. Luz chuckled and pat him on his head. 

"You can't be the king of everything ya know. Eda is always gonna beat us at this game whether you like it or not." The human said to King, giving the titan a big hug. 

"But thats because she cheats!!!" King pouted. 

"True, True. You've got a point there." Luz said, then she looked at Eda. 

"Heeeyyyyy! It's not my fault I'm so good at it!!" Eda chuckled before putting down a wild card. "AND I WIN AGAIN!!! HAHA!" 

King looked at the ground and sighed. Luz noticed this and gave him another big hug. "Hey. You good little buddy?" She asked him. 

"Well... I don't know. I just miss..." 

"The Collector?" Luz asked, finishing his sentence.

"Yeah..." King said giving Luz a hug. 

"Hey! Its ok, I bet they'll visit sometime!"

"Yeah but I doubt that'll be for a while, they need time to unwind." 

"Well yeah..." 

Suddenly Luz phone went off. "Oop! I forgot! I need to go meet up with Lilith and Raine to help organize this freaking island after everything. I gotta go! Stay safe buddy." Luz stood up and ran out the door flying on her staff to get there faster. 

King sighed again and then went up to Luz's bedroom, laying down on the bed and closing his eyes. 

I hope The Collector's doing well... I miss them alot, I haven't really made any other younger friends and even though they almost destroyed the entire boiling isles, our games were kinda fun. The only thing that bothers me is that they never, NEVER spoke much about their past. 

Suddenly there was crash outside the window and King rushed over to it to look outside. There was someone on the ground and they looked familiar. King rushed down the stairs and ran outside where they saw the star child on the ground trembling. 

"Collector? Collector!!"

King rushed over to them and saw that they were unconscious. They had scratches and were missing their head covering, which revealed an abundance of white wavy hair. 

"EDAAA!!!! EDA!!!" King yelled and Eda came running out of the house. "What's wrong kiddo?" King was by the Collector and was frantically making sure they were still alive. Eda saw the kid and quickly picked them up, bringing them inside. Francois dropped from their arms to the ground and King scurried to pick the stuffed bunny up. Upon close inspection he could see some of the stitching was loose. 

The Collector wouldn't have let anyone hurt Francois unless they were unable to stop them and the only people I know that could be more powerful than the Collector are myself or... or their freaking stupid siblings. 

King quickly followed Eda back into the house. Eda laid the star child on the couch and King stood beside them. The Collector was trembling violently and was breathing shallowly. 

"Hey... Hey... Its ok Collector." King said placing his hand on the kids hand. The Collector's breathing seemed to slow but the trembling didn't stop. "Eda?! Why won't they respond?!" 

"They're probably in shock from whatever happened to them and I think they passed out a little." 

King placed Francois in the Collectors hand and they seemed to calm down even more. Then King shook the Collector a bit. "Collector... Please wake up... Please." The Collector stirred and their eyes fluttered a bit before squinting open. They groaned and tried to sit up, but Eda pushed them back down gently. 

"Don't push yourself kiddo... you're gonna be ok."

Collector POV

"Collector... Please wake up... Please." 

K-King?

They tried to sit up but someone gently pushed them back down. 

"Don't push yourself kiddo... you're gonna be ok."

"E-E-Ed-Eda?" They said weakly opening their eyes completely. "W-What h-h-happened... A-Am I-I-I i-in The O-Owl H-House? C-Crap i-if i-i'm h-hallucinating t-t-this m-much I-I-I mus-must h-have p-pushed h-harder t-than I-I-I t-thought a-against S-Sun..." They remarked slowly propping themself on their elbow and squinting at King. "K-King?"

"Yep. I'm here for you buddy, you're ok." King said climbing up onto the couch next to the Collector. 

"As for what happened... I would like to ask you that question." Eda said slowly performing healing spells on the Collector.

"Oh I don't know... Why can't you just be 'normal.'"

"Hello Collector... We're just popping in for a visit."

"Just as pathetic as I remember. Not even gonna give us a hello?"

"Oh what? You can't even face your own siblings?"

"Awwwwww you're so cute." 

"Are they gonna cry~"

"What's this? A stuffed bunny? Oh come on- don't tell me you still sleep with stuffed animals."

"Or what? You're gonna throw a fit~"

The Collector froze and started trembling again, burying their face into their knees. 

"Ok. Touchy subject, I won't ask again if it makes you feel better." Eda said quickly trying to calm the kid down. 

"How'd I get here... One m-moment i'm up there and n-now i'm- Oh wait I probably teleported." The Collector said looking up at Eda. 

Suddenly Luz barged through the door. "Guess what Eda!!!! Were making a isles board of "directors" instead of having one defined ruler! And Lilith plus Raine are gonna- Collector?!?! WHAT THE HECK DID I MISS AGAIN?!?!?!" Luz said putting on a sad face. 

"Not much- Just that the Collector randomly teleported here after something happened up there in starland, passed out, and then went into a panic attack." Eda said not looking at Luz, still healing the Collector. 

Just out me like that, telling everyone I had a panic attack. Gosh I'm so weak for breaking down. How am I supposed to be all-powerful if I have stupid panic attacks? 

Luz walked over to the Collector and sat down next to them and King. "Soooooo how long are you stayin?" Luz asked smiling. The Collector looked down at their lap thinking.

Should I stay for a bit? Wouldn't I just be putting them all in danger? Won't the archivists come looking for me? It would be safer for everyone else if I returned back up there, but I haven't seen them for a while and I wanna stay...

"I'll stay for a day or two if you'll let me..." The Collector sayed heisitantly. 

"Of course you can stay kid. I have plenty of room for you." Eda said sitting down next to Luz. 

"Ok. I'll stay, but only for a little bit."

"YAYYY!!!" King exclaimed giving the Collector a big hug.

You don't deserve to have them as friends after what you did. You don't deserve anything. It would be better for them without you. You're useless. 

The Collector groaned, trying to get the thoughts out of their head, but it seemed the thoughts were being pushed deeper into their brain. They sighed and looked at King.

You don't deserve this.

Chapter Text

Collector POV

The Collector was sitting alone on the roof of The Owl House looking at Francois. They had been mending the stuffed bunny with their magic and now they didn't have anything else to do. They just looked at the stars and thought about what had happened with their siblings. 

"Just as pathetic as I remember. Not even gonna give us a hello?"

"UgGGggG!!! WHY CAN'T I JUST FORGET ABOUT THEM!!!" The Collector yelled  punching the wall beside them. The wall cracked and it broke a little bit. "Crap!! Why do I always mess everything up!!" The Collector cursed themself and then they fixed the wall using their magic. They buried their face into their knees again and mentally kicked themself. Their breathing was getting really fast.

uggggggggggg... Life SUCKS. 

A loud bang interrupted their thoughts and The Collector jolted up startled. They panicked a little bit but then saw it was King. King had accidentally knocked over a can and he chuckled to himself. 

"Sorry about that." King said sitting down next to The Collector. They smiled, glad that King was here. "Hi King..." They said hesitantly. King looked at The Collector and knew immediately that something was wrong. 

King POV 

Something is wrong. They wouldn't tell us what made them fall, they didn't explain anything, they have been secluded since yesterday. They never talked about their past. It has to be about those other "collectors" I saw in those paintings... Wait! Can't my symbol hide me from The Collector? Could I give it to them and would it hide them from these Other Collectors??

King gave The Collector a hug. "I know something is wrong, but I'm not going to force it out of you." King pulled his collar pendant off of the collar. "Here. I want you to have this, to remind you that if you ever need help, you can come to us." The Collector took it and looked up at King in surprise. 

"But... You won't be protected anymore..." They replied. 

"It's ok, I'm just gonna make a new one." King replied, then he gave them a hug. 

"Thank you King... You're awesome." The Collector said, returning the hug. 

"Yep I know I am!! That's me, the amazing King of demons!!" King replied jokingly pushing The Collector a bit. The Collector flinched a bit at the push and then attached the pendant to the front of their clothes, replacing the little moon face pendant. 

Collector POV 

(sry if it's annoying how much I change POVs lol)

The Collector threw the moon face pendant off of the roof. They didn't want that pendant anywhere near them anymore, mainly because it reminded them of their siblings. The Collector looked down at the pendant King had given them

I'm really grateful King gave this to me... I can hide from them better like this, I just hope King makes a new one right away, because if he didn't the Archivists would be able to locate him faster... 

"Pinky promise me you'll make another one as soon as you can?" The Collector said looking at King and holding out their pinky. King smiled and linked his pinky with The Collector's. "Pinky promise." 

Chapter Text

King POV

The Collector had left yesterday and after making the promise with them King had began to make another pendant for himself. He carved the symbol into the new pendant and attached it to his collar.

"There! Good as new!" King exclaimed to himself. Eda walked up to him and looked at the new pendant.

"Ooooooo Shiny! What happened to the old one?" The witch asked plopping down on the couch, letting her feet detatch from her body.

"I gave it to The Collector! They seemed like they needed it..." King replied looking at the table, then sitting down next to Eda, who looked at him questioningly.

"Why would they need it? Is it about what happened a couple days ago?" She asked and King looked up at her.

"Well um, you know those couple months where we were all living in the archives?" King asked Eda. "Yeah how could I forget being taken prisoner by a godly child?" Eda replied snickering to herself.

"Well The Collector never seemed... happy. I assumed they were living their dream, having no boundries and no rules. Me as their best friend, but they just never were..."

This made Eda sit up. "How could they not be happy? I mean, they had everything they've ever wanted, right?"

"Well i'm just scared for them, because... there were a couple moments where I was living with them that just concered me alot. Thats what showed me they wern't just a reckless child, it showed me that they had feelings..." King said, fiddling with his claws.

"I won't make you say anyhting if you don't want to, I kinda just want to know why you're so concerned for them." Eda said, giving King a comforting hug.

"I-Its good I'll tell you..."

(Flashback time!!! Also Self Harm TW)

King was just coming back from visiting Eda and Lilith. He opened the door to his and The Collector's room and walked inside, met with the horrification of purple blood.

What?

King quickly made his way over to the beds to find The Collector passed out on the floor. "Collector!!" King ran over to them and sat them up into a sitting position. King tried shaking The Collector but that didn't work. "C'mon C'mon!!! Wake up Collector!!"

Panic worked into King's heart, he hadn't run into anything like this before. Upon closer inspection King noticed the rugged cuts across their arms and old dark purple scars.

D-Did The Collector... C-Cut themself?! A-And w-what are t-these scars from...

King sat by The Collector and waited there until they woke up. After about an hour, The Collector's eyes started to flutter and then they opened. The Collector groaned and held their head. "Ugggg... W-Why does m-my head h-hurt..." King gave The Collector a big hug. "Collector!! Thank goodness you're ok!!"

The Collector was stunned at the sudden show of affection, they wern't really used to it anyway. King kept hugging them though and didn't stop. "H-Hey King, I g-get you're w-worried and all b-but umm y-you're s-squeezing too tight-"

"Oops! Sorry!" King said pulling away. Then King sat down next to the Collector again, picking up the piece of glass that was lying a couple of feet away. "W-Why w-we're y-you... ummm y-you know..." He asked showing the piece of glass to The Collector.

The Collector immediantly froze and stood up quickly. "Ahahahahahaha... I'm t-tired, w-we can t-talk a-about t-this later ya know!! G-Goodnight!!" The Collector quickly got into bed and faced away from King. King just got up onto the bed and gave The Collector a soft hug.

"Hey... I know you d-don't want t-to talk about it, b-but if you ever w-want to I just want y-you to know I-I will always listen..." The Collector sat up and hugged King back.

"T-Thanks b-buddy..."

(Flashback and TW ending)

As King finished explaining, his voice got a bit shaky and he hugged Eda. "S-Sorry, I'm just a b-bit emotional right now." The little titan said burying his face into Eda.

"Hey Hey its good... Its normal to get emotional when talking about these things." Eda said hugging King back and patting his back. They pulled away and King sat next to Eda cuddling close. "So thats why you're so worried about them..." Eda said.

"Not just that, but those old scars and the fact they never talked about their family. I know they have family too because of the storys I've read and the portraits they had around the archive. Thats why I gave them the pendant, because... because I thought it could help them hide from whoever is hurting them, which I assume is their family of some sort..." King said looking at his claws and fiddling with them again.

"Hey I'm sure they'll be ok... They even said that they were gonna come back on the weekends and if they don't, then we'll know that something happened ok?" Eda said trying to calm King down.

"Yeah, they'll be ok... I hope."

Chapter Text

(Picture above shows what The Collector looks like now)

3 YEARS LATER

Collector POV

The Collector looked out at the stars around them. They had returned every weekend to the boiling isles, but never stayed long in the fear of the archivists finding King. They fingered their pendant that King had given them and looked down into the empty abyss. They sighed and then picked up Francois hugging the bunny close. They didn't like being alone, but having the bunny there kept them sane enough through the weekdays though. 

The Collector floated down from their star and prepared to teleport, pulling all their power inside and then letting it transport them to the Boiling Isles. When the Collector landed in front of The Owl House they stumbled a bit. Whenever they teleport, it takes a lot of energy. King ran out the front door and hugged The Collector. 

"Collector!!! I missed you!" King had grown up quite a bit as well since the day The Collector was freed. 

"It's only been a week King." The Collector replied giggling and hugging King back. Then The Collector felt a string run up their arms making them flinch as King accidentally squeezed their cuts. 

Crap. I forgot. 

The Collector pushed on King a bit. "H-Hey not that tight b-buddy..." 

"Oops! Sorry Collector!!" King said stepping back, then he grabbed their hand and led them inside. "Come on! Everyone else is waiting!!" They stepped inside and saw Luz, Eda, Raine, Hunter, Amity, Willow, Camila, Vee, and Gus standing there. 

"Luz!" The Collector said running to hug her. 

"Long time no see buddy!" She replied hugging them back. "I haven't been able to see you for a while, you always leave so fast." 

"I-I know it's just I have... stuff to do..." The Collector responded still hugging Luz. Then a string ran up their arms and body again making The Collector remember and step back. 

"MY TURN!!" Eda ran up behind The Collector and gave them a big hug. The Collector flinched and pushed away. "O-Ow!" Eda quickly let go stepping away. "Oh Sorry kid. I was just excited." 

"Na its good." The Collector said brushing themself off. 

King suddenly ran into the middle of the room holding up what looked like an old gaming console. 

"MARIOKART TIMMEEEEE!!!" He yelled and plugged it into the TV. Luz looked at King questioningly. "How the titan did you get a Wii and an entire TV King!!" She asked and King giggled in response. "I have... my ways..." 

"I got it from the Human realm for him." Camila interrupted.

With that Luz got the Wii set up and everyone started playing Mariokart. Somehow Eda had used magic so that more than 4 players could play at the same time.  As The Collector was playing their bad thoughts kept sneaking in and it kept making them lose concentration. As they got twelfth place for the tenth time, Hunter began to get worried that something was up. 

"I need to take a breather..." The Collector got up and walked out of the room, going onto the roof. They looked up at the sky and gazed at all the beautiful stars. They sighed and looked down again, burying their face into their knees. It had been a long three years and their mental health had been getting progressively worse. 

Hunter came up onto the roof and sat next to The Collector. "Whatca looking at?" The Collector looked up in surprise and then looked up at the sky. 

"Oh um, just looking at the constellations I've made." They said pointing to a snake in the sky. "I made that one for Luz." Then they pointed to an owl. "That one's for Eda." They pointed to a swirl. "That one I made when I first left the isles." Then they pointed at some kind of hook constellation. "And I made that one for a Titan baby a LONG time ago. They thought it was so cool I moved a nebula to make some room for it!"

The Collector sighed and looked up at the stars happily. "I'm glad I come back on the weekends, the stars on the isles are my favorite." They both sat in silence a bit before Hunter spoke. 

"Hey uh, speaking of which- You never stay for long and I never got to talk to you before you left... Can I ask you something?" 

The Collector looked at him and shrugged. "Sure?"

"... Are you Ok?" 

"Huh?" The Collector said in confusion. 

Hunter sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Look you were wrongfully locked up for who knows how long- Taken advantage by Belos for hundreds of years and then betrayed... Basically we've had similar experiences. Willow helped me through my stuff, and now I can talk to you, I just want to make sure you have someone to talk to... So is there anything you want to talk about?" 

"I..." 

The Archivists abusing and hurting me... Then The Archivists killing and trapping all the titans... Then Papa Titan blaming it on me... Belos' lies... My insecurities with King... These feelings of being alone... These scars I've made... but, would anyone really care? Hunter cared enough to ask... but can I really trust him? 

"I-I'm just glad to be back..." The Collector responded looking away from Hunter. Hunter sighed again and then stood up. 

"Just let me know if you ever want to talk more buddy." Hunter said as he walked back inside. 

"Why am I like this-" The Collector looked back up at the stars twitching a little bit, then they buried their face in their knee's again, trying to silence the voices. 

You don't deserve any of this... YOU DON'T DESERVE TO BE EVERYONE'S FRIEND AFTER WHAT YOU DID! You don't deserve love, you don't deserve care, you don't deserve anything. Come back to us, we'll be the only ones who will ever care about you!

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!" The Collector yelled clutching their head in pain. They then looked back into the house through a window and saw everyone playing Mariokart happily without them. 

See. None of them care that you're not there with them. None of them even heard your cries. You're a NOBODY!

"No! Stop messing with my head!" The Collector curled up into a ball and tried to ward off the thoughts, but they just kept coming. They couldn't deal with it anymore and ran back through the house, grabbing Francois and running out the door. They quickly teleported back to the stars, even though they didn't have enough energy to do so. It hurt a lot to teleport when they were in this mental state, but The Collector didn't care. They just wanted to get away, far away. 

King POV

"HA!! I beat you all! I AM THE KING OF MARIOKART!!" King yelled rubbing it in Eda's face, who had gotten second. 

"I could ground you ya know King..." Eda said smuggly. 

"THATS UNFAIR!!!!" King screamed in his high pitch squeal, making everyone laugh. 

Just then The Collector ran through the room, looking like they had been crying. They ran out the door and before King could process what happened, they were gone. "Collector?" King ran outside panicking. "Collector!!! Why'd they go..." 

Everyone else ran out after King and Hunter looked sorrowful. Luz sat next to King giving him a hug. "Hey it's ok. Hopefully they'll be back next weekend..." 

"yeah, maybe..." 

Archivist's POV

Moon and the others walked around their fortress consulting about what they should do. 

"I've been messing with their thoughts, but still haven't gotten much progress on finding out where they are." Moon said looking out at the abyss with the others. 

"They haven't used their star magic in three years and it's making it hard to locate them." Sun reported. 

"Uggg why is this so complicated!!" Moon yelled making the other three step back. 

"We believe that they were given a cloaking symbol by that titan, which is why it's making it so hard to locate them. Normally we could just track them because of the whole bond thing but it just hasn't been working." Planet responded. 

"If thats the case then we need a different tactic to get them to come to us." Star said, joining the conversation. 

"We need them, because if we don't have them we can't find that darn Titan. That Titan is like it doesn't even exist to us if it has that pendant on, but The Collector can't hide that easily. If we can get Collie, then we can get the Titan. You follow?" Moon said to the others. 

"We just need to flush them out or wait for them to use a huge burst of magic." Sun remarked. 

"Yeah but we don't have all the time in the world before this Titan gets too powerful!" Planet pointed out. 

"Well, lets just see what happens..." Moon said staring out at space. 

"Come on, where are you Collie..."

Chapter Text

Collector POV

The Collector sat on a star and looked at the boiling isles sadly. They wanted to go down and have fun with everyone else, but if they were gonna use their magic they would have to be able to get away from the isles as fast as they could, so they didn't want to go visit. They had sent a note to King saying they would be back next weekend and that they would send a gift for Luz, but that was all. 

They focused all their magic and created a shooting star that traveled across the sky. 

Then they teleported as fast as they could away from the isles, holding Francois close. They floated there wondering if they had made the right decision by using their magic.

King POV

Luz looked up and saw the beautiful shooting star. 

"Woah..." She said looking up at the bright star. "Its beautiful..." Then she looked at King. "Why couldn't the Collector come down again?" 

"Oh they said they had something they had to do, but that they could stop by for one moment and send these stars... To be honest I'm worried about them but they insist that they're fine. Nobodys ever fine!! I just... I miss them." Luz gave King a hug when he was done talking. Then Eda walked up to them and joined the hug. 

"Hey... The Collector's a big kid, I'm sure they can handle themself. Plus they have strong magic! Lets just enjoy the party for now." Eda said, then she walked off. 

Yeah... I'm sure they'll be fine.

Archivist's POV (Shortest POV Eva)

Moon looked out at the stars when they saw a big blast of magic. They smiled and bowed their head, chuckling. 

"Found you Collie~" 

Chapter Text

Collector POV

The Collector held Francois close and looked down at the area around them. They had traveled far enough that the Archivists wouldn't be able to track down King, but they still worried that their siblings would be able to find them. 

Maybe it wouldn't be too bad to confront them... I've been running for years, maybe we just need to talk like Luz taught me. But when I tried to do that with Belos... well that didn't end well. 

Their stomach growled and they looked around, finding a small star. They took the star and popped it into their mouth, biting down on it as if it were a cookie. 

"Meh. I like mortal food better... been awhile since I've had a pizza bagel." The Collector said to themself looking out at the empty darkness around them. 

Wouldn't it be nice to not have any worrys or troubles right now... I could actually enjoy my alone time.

They looked down at Francois and squeezed the little bunny close. The stuffed bunny had been the only thing keeping them going all these years. They smiled and floated around, weaving in and out between all the little stars. They held Francois' arms and spun them round before collapsing on a bigger star and looking at the world around them. 

"Wouldn't it be nice to not worry- right Francois?" The Collector said out loud before remembering that the bunny was a stuffed animal and couldn't talk back to them. They sighed and immediately became sad again. 

Yeah it would be nice- To have friends who actually care about you Collie.

The Collector sat up and held their head before reconizing the presence behind them. "Moon. What do you want." They said turning around to face their sibling with resent in their voice. 

Moon smirked and leaned forward flicking some of The Collector's hair. "Oh I think you know Collie~" 

"We think you know what we need." Said all of the Archivists in unison as the other three came out of nowhere. Sun, Planet, Star, and Moon stared at The Collector with unmoving gazes. 

"I'm n-not going to tell y-you!!" The Collector yelled, knowing that they wanted to know where King is. 

"Oh come on Collie~ If you just tell us where it is we promise we won't hurt it..." Moon said going in a circle around The Collector. 

"I know you aren't going to keep that promise!!! You don't keep anything around that threatens your guys' power!!" The Collector said shaking as the Archivists looked at them. 

"Ok fine- We won't hurt you if you tell us where it is." Sun said with a nasty voice. 

"The anwser's still NO!! I'm never going to tell you where he is, even is you starve or torture me!! He's my friend and I will never betray him!!" The Collector yelled in Sun's face, holding Francois tightly in fear. 

Oh come on~ You don't actually think it's your friend do you? It's just using you for it's own good. The only people who will ever care about you is us. We are the only family or friends you'll ever have. You wanna know why? Because you're pathetic and why would an all powerful titan want a pathetic and useless friend-

"STOP IT!!! I KNOW THATS YOU!!! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!" The Collector yelled gripping their head in pain. 

"Just tell us where it is and we'll stop you little twit!!!" Planet yelled holding out their hand and increasing the pain. 

"Stop it Planet." Moon said grabbing their hand and lowering it. The Collector sighed in relief as the pain subsided, but they still had a headache. 

"Where is it." Moon said into The Collector's face. "If you don't tell us, we'll make sure you suffer forever. You'll never see the light of day again. So what's your decision, pain and suffering or relief and being left alone forever?" 

"T-That's n-not even a c-choice- I choose m-my friends. I-I-I will never b-betray King." The Collector said standing their ground and looking up at their siblings. "I w-would never side w-with my excuse of a s-sibling." They spat. 

"So that's your anwser?! You're against us?!" Sun yelled.

"Yes, after all the strong have to p-protect the weak..." The Collector said looking down at Francois, remembering again the promise they had made to King. They channeled their magic and teleported Francois away, knowing that if the stuffie stayed it would most likely be destroyed. They needed to keep their promise of keeping Fancois safe.

Then the fighting began. Blasta of magic were going all over, smashing stars into pieces. It was hard for The Collector to defend themself however, with the fight being four to one. Plus all of their siblings were older and more expierenced with their magic. The Archivists kept finding openings to blast the smaller kid, making them stumble aside. They quickly recovered and blasted Star aside. The kid was then blasted by both Moon and Planet at once making them fall to their knees grimicing in pain. 

The Collector slowly tried to stand up, flinching and shaking in pain. They had bruises all over them and they were bleeding. Their arm screamed in pain and The Collector quickly went to feel it, realizing it was broken. They tried using their magic, but it felt all drained out.

Sun came up to The Collector and grabbed them by the collar of their jumpsuit. "One last chance- WHERE IS THE TITAN!?!?" They yelled in the kids face making them shake in fear. Moon came up to The Collector and ripped the pendant off their neck, before crushing it in their hands. 

"There, much better. Now you're magic aura ain't so blurry." Moon said brushing the Pendant crumbs off their hands. "Stupid Titan must have given that to you..." 

"I-I-I'm n-never gonna t-tell you w-where he is. NEVER YOU HEAR ME!!!" The Collector screamed in Sun's face, before wincing in pain at Sun's hard grip.

"Then we're gonna have to do this the hard way." 

Chapter Text

Collector POV

The Collector opened their eyes groggily, groaning in pain.  They tried to sit up but it hurt, so they propped themself up on their elbows. When they moved they felt a tug on their legs and arms and realized they were chained inside some kind of bubble. Then they heard Moon's voice. Moon was playing a song on a piano and was singing along. 

"We'll meet again~ Don't know where, don't know when!!!-" Then Moon slammed on the keyboard and looked at The Collector who was looking at Moon with great confusion. "Ha ha just kidding, I'm terrible at singing. Plus this is Bill's evil greeting song, not mine and I don't wanna be a copy cat." 

Moon evaporated the piano with a snap and then came and stood by the small bubble prison. "Although I kinda did copy Bill's bubble prison idea just a little bit. Just minus the evil wonderland. Papa Titan's prison idea also helped." Moon said with a shrug, holding the bubble in their hand. "I can bend this bubble to my will however I want though." Moon put their other hand on the other side of the bubble and began pushing inward, making the bubble shrink even smaller. The Collector began to get squished and they screamed out. 

"Ow!! Ow!! S-Stop!!" The Collector screamed pressing their hands against the shrinking bubble to try and stop it. 

The Collector hated small spaces and bubbles. They had hated them ever since Papa Titan had trapped them in that bubble prison for centuries, and the kid knew that this was the feeling Moon was going for. Their sibling wanted The Collector to relive the worst feeling they had ever had in their life. 

"I'll stop and let you go if you just tell us where the titan is." Moon replied shrinking the bubble a little smaller. The Collector began panicking and tried pushing harder. "No use Collie- The Bubble won't break unless I unweave the magic and I ain't doing that any time soon, I mean unless you tell us where you're good ol friend is of course." 

Soon the Bubble was so small The Collector could barely turn around. They were wimpering, shaking, and hyper ventilating. 

No... NO... NOO!! I don't like this!! I j-just g-got f-free fr-from the other bubble- I-I don't w-want t-to go through t-this again!!

"Just tell me where he is already Collie~ Come on, I know you don't like this- You can end this now." Moon said before thinking of something else. "If you don't tell me i'll have Sun take over~" 

Panic went through The Collector's heart. Sun was the most ruthless of the four siblings. They didn't care what they did to get want they wanted, as long as they got it. When The Collector was younger Sun was the one who hurt them the most. Sun never felt compassion or pity for anyone. 

"N-No!! P-Please!! N-NO!!!" The Collector pleaded with Moon not wanting to have Sun be the one who tortured them. 

"Tell me then- Tell me and we'll let you go. Its easy peasy lemon squeezy- come on just tell me." Moon replied stopping the shrinking and letting the bubble float around. 

"I-I-I..." The Collector didn't know what to do, they didn't want to go through more pain, but they had to protect King. "No. I-I-I- g-give me what you got. Try to force it out of me- I won't b-betray him." 

Moon shrugged and then chuckled a bit. "You're choice- I'll make sure to tell Sun though that you want them to go as hard as they can~" 

The Collector started shaking as Moon teleported away, leaving them in complete darkness except for the glow of the bubble. They pushed on the bubble again trying to get out but it was no use. They figured they were back in the Archivist's strong hold, where they had lived before leaving. 

This must be the prison room... looks like I'm the only prisoner though.

They looked at their hands and clenched them closed. "How did I even get into this mess..." The Collector said to themself as they buried their face into their knees. 

Sun appeared out of nowhere and flicked the bubble making it travel a few feet in the darkness. "Heyo Collie! Moon said that you're all mine for the evening so lets get started- I've been waiting for someone to test new spells on ya know~" Sun came closer and unraveled the bubble, leaving the Collector to float in the air. Sun binded them with their magic to hold them still. "Now remember Collie- You can end this at any time. All you have to do is tell us where the titan is." 

Then the pain came. It was unbearable and The Collector screamed out. They could feel the burning tears flow down their face, even though they were trying to resist crying. They hadn't known what crying was like until Luz had died. 

Sun continued testing different spells on them, ignoring the child's screams. 

"You've had enough yet Collie- Just tell us where the dang titan is!!" Sun yelled in The Collector's face making them shiver and look away. 

"N-Never-" The Collector managed to answer, despite being weak. 

"No food then, you can't die from starvation but it'll make you desperate," Sun said recreating the bubble and making it as small as it could go with The Collector inside. 

"We'll continue in the morning," Sun said as The Collector passed out into darkness.

Chapter Text

King POV

King ran and jumped, clinging onto Luz's legs. 

"HA! I gotcha!!" 

Luz giggled and picked him up.

"Luz Luz Luz Luz Luz Luz Luz Luz Luz Luz-" 

"What-" Luz said laughing. 

"Can I ride on your shoulder..." King asked hesitantly, looking down. Luz smiled and lifted him onto her shoulder. 

"Of course you can King." She said dramatically. "I shall be your mighty chariot!!" She put her staff out in front of her like a sword. She giggled a bit trying to keep it in but then they both erupted into laughter. 

"Aw man, it's good to see you again Luz. Even if you were only gone for a couple weeks completing your finals." King said hugging her neck, still laughing. 

"Yeah I missed you too buddy." Luz said before Hooty came over to them. 

"I also missed you guys!!!" The bird tube said completely butting in on their conversation. He wrapped around the two and they laughed. 

"Yep, you too Hooty." Luz said giggling. 

Eda came over and frowned faking a sad face. "Aww man I'm being left out of the hug?!" She said jokingly.

"I remember when you didn't want to be included in the hugs." Luz chuckled pulling Eda into the group hug. 

"Now I remember why I didn't want to be included." Eda responded, her voice strained because of the tight hug. Luz laughed and hugged Eda harder making her squeak, "Ok ok thats enough Luz!!" Eda said pushing away from Luz, King, and Hooty. 

King smiled and looked at his family. He was happy to be all together again, but he still felt empty inside without his best friend. He had a bad feeling and he didn't know why but suddenly his dinner threatened to come out. 

"Uh-Eda!! I-I-I think I-I'm gonna p-puke..." Then King threw up on the ground. The throw up was bright blue and was splattered all over the place. 

Luz jumped out of the way squeaking and Amity caught her to make sure she didn't fall. "King! You good?" Eda said waving a hand in his face. 

"S-Sorry just felt a bit s-sick... I d-don't know why. I-I-I just f-felt something b-bad c-come up and..." He responded looking at Eda's worried face. 

"Luz you really need to stop hugging so hard." Eda said turning to her and chuckling a bit. The throw up was cleaned up and the party went back to normal. 

King looked around still feeling empty, but then he noticed a familiar stuffie laying on the ground looking abandoned. He felt the color drain out of his face as he picked it up. 

"Collector?"

Chapter Text

Collector POV

The Collector's vision was blurry as they looked out at the black void that surrounded them. It was disorienting not knowing what time of day it was, it was just black, all the time, pressing in on them. 

They felt the bubble press around them and their chains rattled. They tried to get in a more comfortable position, but it was too painful to move. 

If only I could end this... if only this all could just end right now.

They closed their eyes for a second and when they reopened them there was a blurry outline of someone in front of them. They blinked in confusion before rubbing their eyes. 

"King?" The Collector said trying to clear their vision. "You shouldn't be-be h-here..." 

King just looked at them and then scoffed. "Why shouldn't I be here- What you don't want me with you?" 

"W-What?! N-N-No! P-Please S-S-Stay!!" 

King just looked at the Collector with a disappointed and disgusted face. "Why would I stay with a catastrophic failure like you!? You're pathetic if you think I would be friends with the person who RUINED MY LIFE!!!" 

The Collector reached out their hand to King but the titan pulled away. "Why Collector- ꝠԊჄ ꝠⰗⳘⱢƊ ჄⰗⳘ ƊΣꞨⲦⱤⰗჄ ⰗⳘⱤ ԊⰗⰏΣ-" King's figure swirled and turned into Luz, both of their voices swirling together at the last sentence.

"ჄⰗⳘ ⱤⳘƗՈΣƊ ⰏჄ ⱢƗԲΣ- ჄⰗⳘ ⲦⰗⰗҠ ҠƗՈƓ ѦꝠѦჄ ԲⱤⰗⰏ ⰏΣ!! ჄⰗⳘ ⰏѦƊΣ ΣꝞΣⱤჄⰗՈΣ'Ꞩ ⱢƗԲΣ ԊΣⱢⱢ!!" She turned into Raine. 

"ꝠԊჄ ƇⰗⳘⱢƊՈ'Ⲧ ჄⰗⳘ ⲦΣⱢⱢ ɃΣⱢⰗꞨ ꝠѦꞨ ꝒⰗꞨꞨΣꞨꞨƗՈƓ ⰏΣ- ƗⲦ ꝠѦꞨ ꝒⱢѦƗՈ ⲦⰗ ꞨΣΣ ѦՈƊ ჄⰗⳘ ꞨƇⱤΣꝠΣƊ ⳘꝒ!!" 

The figures continued changing into different people the Collector knew, all yelling at them and pointing out everything they've done wrong. 

"P-Ple-Please... S-S-Sto-Stop..." The Collector whimpered curling into a ball and letting a couple of tears out. 

Figures of everyone the Collector knew from the isles gathered around them. King knelt down next to the Collector and played with their hair. Then all at once the figures said quietly all at once, "ꝠԊჄ ꝠⰗⳘⱢƊ ꝠΣ ꝠѦՈⲦ ⲦⰗ ɃΣ ԲⱤƗΣՈƊꞨ ꝠƗⲦԊ ჄⰗⳘ-"

Chapter Text

King POV

King collapsed on the ground holding Francois in his hands. He was panicking, not knowing what was going on. 

Why would The Collector just, leave Francois... They would never unless-

Luz ran over to King and then stopped, a bit confused on what she should do. "King?"

King looked up and held out Francois, the bunny's black bead eye was hanging on by a thread and some of the stitches were loose. Luz took Francois and just stared at the bunny not knowing how to react. 

"The Collector's in trouble... I-I-I just know it-" King said shakily not being able to look Luz in the eyes. 

"But who would-" 

"The Archivists-" King said cutting Luz off. "They did this, I know it-" There was hatred in his voice and he was shaking with anger. Luz stepped forward to try and calm King down, but before she could get closer to him, he cried out sending a blast outward. 

Luz fell to the ground and King widened his eyes. "I'm so sorry Luz!!" He said running over to her and helping her up. Luz looked up to look into King's panicked eyes. "We need to save them-" She said earnestly. "You have some sort of connection with them right? Cause of that whole Titan Trappers incident." 

King nodded slowly. "I forgot about that..." 

Everyone standing nearby was just staring at the two who were in the middle of the whole thing. Eda quickly started shooing everyone away. "Ok, everyone!! Time to go home!! We gotta have some privacy to figure everything out." 

Everyone except for the residents of The Owl House and Luz's friends left, going home with whispers running around. 

King looked up at Luz and then buried his head in her shirt. "I'm scared..." 
"I am too, but we need to put all the cards on the table to figure out what we're gonna do," Luz said picking up King. Everyone headed inside and gathered in a circle. 

King sat by Luz, holding Francois in a tight hug against his chest. Eda came and sat by King, carefully rubbing his back in a comforting gesture. 

"So The Collector's in trouble?" Gus asked randomly, not liking the silence. Luz looked up and nodded before looking back at her hands. 

"I think King still has a connection with The Collector and I think he just felt them in trouble. He says it's their siblings The Archivists, he's sure of it." Luz replied. 

"So what you're saying is there are a bunch of bigger scarier Collectors who are now torturing our little child Collector-" Gus said without a filter. 

"Yeah basically..." Luz said. Silence filled the room again. 

"We need to save them," King said still looking at Francois with a blank expression of numbness. 

"We have to save them."

Chapter Text

Collector POV

Then The Collector woke up. Or did they? They didn't know. Had it been a dream? It didn't feel like a dream, it had felt so real. They rubbed their eyes and looked at the dark abyss that surrounded their bubble. It felt so empty, so alone. They didn't know what to do. 

The Collector sat up from their lying position and immediately felt shocking pain go through their body. They yelped and felt their side and face, there were bruises everywhere. They groaned and rubbed their eyes a bit, wishing everything was just a dream, but even if this was a dream it would be more like a nightmare. As they rubbed their eyes the purple chains on their wrists jangled and clinked, reminding them that they weren't in control at all anymore. 

Suddenly a soft voice made them flinch. "Sleep well?" It was Star, one of the archivists. 

"What do you want?!" The Collector said in a harsh voice, Star didn't flinch but sadly lowered their head. 

"Nothing, I just thought you'd want something to eat." Star held out a small plate of space rocks. The Collector just looked at Star with a distrusting expression. 
"Why? I thought you guys were trying to starve me?" They responded, still feeling skeptical. Their stomach growled though and they knew it wanted food. 

"The others want to starve you. I agreed with them at first that we should find the titan but I didn't think they'd go as far as torturing our sibling. I never wanted to do this to you. Here take the food before they find out I'm feeding you." Star said holding out the plate. 

The Collector still felt skeptical, but in their younger years (before coming to the isles for the first time) Star had been the nicest of the four older siblings. They mainly had stayed quiet throughout their childhood and hadn't taken place in the abuse or anything. Their stomach rumbled again and Star set the rocks inside the bubble. 

They decided they were too hungry to care if they were poisoned to make them sick or anything, so they ate the rocks. The young kid looked up at Star and smiled a little grateful smile. "I-uh- thanks I guess?" 

Star smiled regretfully and put their hand on the bubble. "If your friends ever show up, I'll help them free you. But I don't want the others to know I'm helping you." 

"Well... Most of them are mortals so they wouldn't even be able to get up here without any help." The kid responded, not knowing whether this was a trick or if Star was being genuine. 

"True. I'll try and find them then." Star started to leave. 

"Wait." 

Star stopped. "What?" 

"Boiling Isles, Galaxy 53. That's where Luz and King are. I swear to the deepest pits of dark holes though, that if you have tricked me into trusting you and revealing where my best friend is... I will personally do whatever I can to make sure you pay for it, even if I'm just a kid," The Collector said with a warning tone at the end. 

"I pledge on the stars and with all my being that this is not a trick," Star responded putting their hand up to the sky. 

"Wow... You really made that vow just to prove that to me? Well when you find King, please tell him I'm sorry. And whatever you do don't let King come up here. I don't want him getting captured and killed," The Collector said with regret and guilt. "I don't know what I'd do if he got hurt trying to rescue me..." 

"Ok... But it's his decision ok?" Sun responded.

The Collector nodded and smiled before curling up into a ball. Star started to leave the dark abyss when suddenly the other three archivists appeared. 

"Star. What are you doing down here." Moon asked simply. The other two stood behind them and didn't say anything. 

"I-uh-just-um- making sure the kid was-uh-" Star said fumbling over their words trying to come up with an excuse. 

"You know you're supposed to talk to me if you're to talk to any prisoners," Moon said. "You blatantly ignored me." 

"I-I-I'm s-sorry," Star said looking back at The Collector who was trying not to draw attention to themself. That didn't work however as Moon walked over to the bubble and grabbed the kid by the chain around their neck, lifting them into the air to show off.

"You weren't helping the kid. Were you?" Moon asked maliciously with annoyance in their eyes. 

"N-No!! Of course not!" Star said backing away a bit, trying to act disgusted at the idea of helping The Collector. 

The Collector just looked at Star and immediately felt bad. 

This is my fault. It's my fault Star and King and Luz and Everyone else is hurting. It's my fault they're in danger. My fault. It'd be better if I just didn't exist in the first place.

Moon smiled and threw the Collector to the ground. They fell and felt something snap with excruciating pain in his ribs. Star stepped forward but stopped themself. 

"Ha knew it. You do care for the twerp." Moon said smugly. "And if you care for this useless piece of shit then you aren't trusted anymore." Moon snapped and Star disappeared. The Collector whimpered and tried not to cry. 

"Don't worry kiddo~ They're not dead, just somewhere where we can keep an eye on them so they don't do anything counterproductive," Moon said into The Collector's face with a sly smile. 

"Now where did we leave off?" 

Chapter Text

Art by me :3
(Shows what Star looks like)

King POV

King stood outside wondering how the hell they were going to do this. They had no idea how to get to the stars and had no idea whether they even could. He had been losing hope for days and nobody had found a way to cheer him up. Not even Luz could. 

He squeezed Francois and then flopped down on the ground. He felt dread, pain, and fear was the strongest. Fear that they were already too late. 

Luz walked out of the house and came to sit down next to King. 

"Hey kiddo, are you feeling better?" She asked hesitantly, looking at her hands. 

"No not really," King said as he leaned closer to Luz and buried his head into her shoulder. "I'm worried. I'm afraid it's going to be too late by the time we find out how to get up there. If there even is a way."

Luz hugged King, pulling him close, and didn't say anything. She just comforted him. 

"It's gonna be ok, It has to be ok," Luz said, not fully believing her own words. 

CRASH! 

"What?!" Eda yelled from the house.

"Um, what was that..." Luz stood and started running towards the house, King following behind. She flew open the front door and immediately stopped in her steps. 

"Hey! Hey! What's happening!!" King yelled behind her, too short to see. 

Eda, Raine, Hunter, Willow, Gus, and Amity were surrounding a tall figure, spells ready to fire. 

The figure has wavy white hair and golden yellow eyes, dressed in a black and golden starry robe. Almost identical to The Collector, except more yellow and not purple-blueish. 

One of the Archivists.

"What have you done with The Collector!!!" Eda screamed stepping forward with a spell at the ready. 

"Woah Woah Woah. I'm here to help geez." The mysterious figure said putting their hands up. "Not to fight or anything." 

"But why should we trust you. This is probably a trick." Eda narrowed her eyes at them with a bit of a growl in her voice. 

"The Collector sent me. Well, more of I helped them and then they decided to trust me, then told me to tell you guys they're alright, then I got caught helping them after that, but Moon and the others are idiots so they forgot to use magic where they put me to prevent me from escaping. Like the most idiotic move ever but-" 

"Ok ok geez we get it! Which one of them are you?" Luz said stepping forward, King behind her. 

"Star at your service. Please let me help you, the others are doing terrible things and The Collector is getting weaker. He's going to break eventually..." Star looked up as if mourning their younger sibling. 

King's eyes shot up and he stepped forward.

The Collector had told King a while ago that Star was the only sibling they liked. The only one who had cared. The only one he would even consider wanting to visit someday, just to make sure they were ok. 

"We can trust them, maybe." 

"Huh? Who said that? A... ghost? Hello?" Star was confused, twisting around trying to the source of the voice. 

"Oh sorry." King quickly unclipped his pendant, his sudden appearance making Star jump a little. 

"I forgot you had that..." Star said with a sigh. "So you're the last remaining titan?" 

"Yes..." King said shifting uncomfortably. 

"Wow. So you're the one Moon's wasting all their time on huh?" Star said with an amused expression. 

"Wasting their time? But couldn't I destroy you guys or something?" King was confused, as was everyone else. No one knew what Star meant. 

"I mean if they had just left you and Collie alone, then you guys would've left us alone. That correct?" Star said with a sigh. 

"Uh yeah? I mean I would have no reason to except for you killing my dad but I don't want to start another war so I'd just leave it. Except they threatened my best friend, so not anymore."

"Proves my point exactly. They're setting themselves up for disaster by provoking you, we'd have no change in our power if we had just left you and Collie alone, But NoOoOo they had to erase all threats JuSt To MaKe SuRe." 

Star was obviously annoyed by their siblings' decisions and that was apparent to everyone. So they made a risky decision. 

"Fine, we trust you," King replied. "But we swear if this is a trick-" 

"Yeah yeah I know I'll be thrown into the deepest darkest pit in all the galaxies. I've already been threatened by Collie and I promise I'm here to help." Star put up one hand as if swearing an oath. 

Silence. 

"So uh... How exactly are we uh... supposed to get to the stars???" Gus asked breaking the silence. 

"Oh, easy. All I have to do is create a pathway up there." Star shrugged as if it was something they did on a daily basis. 

"Well, what are we waiting for!?" King said with a bit of aggression in his voice. 

"Let's go save my best friend." 

Chapter Text

Collector POV

"Wakey Wakey!"

The Collector opened their eyes, vision blurring a bit. They blinked before sitting up and groaning, only to be met with the grinning face of their sibling Moon, who was leaning against the prison bubble.

"Ah Finally. I thought it would take forever for you to wake up and grace me with your presence," Moon said with a snicker. The Collector just rolled their eyes at them and scoffed. 

"What. You not happy to see your favorite sibling?" Moon gave the Collector a goofy smile making the little star child roll their eyes again. 

"You are f-far from m-my favorite," The Collector replied with disdain in their voice. 

"Ouch, that hurtttttttttt~" Moon put on a fake sad face. 

"Why are y-you so h-happy? S-Shouldn't you b-be torturing m-me or using other s-shitty ways of t-trying to get me t-to tell you w-what you want?" The Collector asked with another eye roll. 

"Oh I don't need anything from you anymore, I've already won," Moon revealed smugly. 

The Collector was confused. 

What do they mean by "I've already won"? What are they playing at? Is this a trick to get my guard down? 

Moon could see the gears in The Collector's head turning and it made them chuckle. Moon tapped the bubble teasingly to get the younger kid to look at them. 

"We tricked you. We tricked you guys baaaaaaad." Moon smugly smiled as The Collector's expression became furious. 

"Star. You guys used Star to get to me," the kid said ready to murder Moon. 

"Oh no no no no no!! Star wasn't a part of this plan. We just indirectly used them without them knowing. You see, as soon as we 'imprisoned' Star, they escaped because we didn't put magic restraints on purpose. Now that stupid idiot is probably with your friends, planning to come rescue you. Star isn't trying to help us, they're just so stupid that they're accidentally leading the titan right to me," Moon explained with the largest, smuggest, and most annoying grin ever. 

The Collector sat down, feeling defeated. They couldn't believe that they fell for this. They knew Star wasn't at fault, so they funneled all their rage at Moon. They were practically fuming and they glared at that smug grin. 

"You won't get King. Even if you do he's more powerful than you. He'll defeat you," The Collector spat out at Moon. 

"Hmmm, sure. But he'll probably give up once he sees his 'best friend' in danger huh? I bet you anything that he'd give himself up, just to save you."

Moon had a point there and the realization sunk in. 

"And the best thing is, it's all your fault. It's your fault they're coming here in the first place, it's your fault for getting caught, and it'll be your fault once you see your friend dead."

"No no no no no!" The Collector held their head not looking at Moon, but their sibling's words stuck there. 

It was all their fault. 

"Aww, how cute~ You're all shakey. Guess I'll leave you to wallow in your misery." 

With that Moon left the void, leaving The Collector all alone in their little bubble. 

All alone with their regrets, their hatred, and their dread. 

Chapter Text

King POV

King and the others carefully stepped from one star to another, trying not to slip. Star, the archivist, was moving them into place at the front of the group to create the pathway. It had been about an hour since they had started, yet it felt longer. It felt like they were wading in water, even though they were in space. Star had created little air bubbles for them so they could breathe, but it was still hard to move through the atmosphere. 

They continued for a while until they finally reached their destination. The group let out a collective gasp upon seeing the space palace. It looked similar to the one the Collector had made but bigger and more majestic. 

"Welcome to the origin of my terrible childhood." Star waved their hand in a sarcastic gesture, seemingly not happy about being back here. 

Eda walked up to King and held out the pendant he had taken off earlier. "You're gonna need this King."
King nodded and took the pendant, clipping it around his neck. 

"Let's get going." King started to head towards the palace, but Star called out. 

"Stop for a minute! I can't see you but I know you're going to the palace. You need to make sure you guys know what to do before we walk in there blindly," Star pointed out making King stop and turn around. 

"Fine," King replied.

"Magic barriers protect the Castle, thankfully I can get us through those easily. Collie is in the prison depths. It's where we keep the most powerful prisoners however, at the moment it's only Collie. I can break their bubble, but the main thing is we cannot break up," Star informed everyone, "Stay together and follow me, whatever you do don't go in front of me. If you do you won't have protection and you'll set off alarms. Everyone got that?"

Everyone nodded, and then Star started leading the way to the castle. Everyone kept behind them as they walked, keeping their footsteps light. King was impatient, he wanted to rush into that stupid castle and get the Collector out already. But he knew that would be unsafe and it would get everyone caught, so he held back his urges and stayed behind Star. 

They slowly made their way up to the castle gates, masked in an invisibility spell by Star. They opened the gate and motioned for everyone to follow them. After everyone was in they resealed the gate. Walking in a single file line was infuriating. People kept on accidentally walking faster and stepping on others' feet, or someone would try to tiptoe to see in front. It caused some problems, but after a couple of minutes everyone got into the groove of it and they were able to move along smoothly. 

After what seemed like hours, they finally arrived at the prison depths. The doorway looked like a black hole that could swallow anything. Star reached out their hand and placed their first two fingers on the door. The black hole disappeared, showing a room of pitch blackness. Yes, it was more black than the black hole. The only thing visible was a small bubble floating around in the nothingness. King immediately knew that was where the Collector was. 

"Hurry," King whispered impatiently. Star nodded and they all hurried into the room. As soon as everyone set foot in the room, it felt like gravity disappeared. They just floated around and it was hard to get anywhere, except for Star who could move easily through the void. King awkwardly swam through the air to the bubble and when he reached it, he placed his hands on it. 

Inside he could see his best friend and it hurt to see them. The Collector looked like they had taken a beating, with bruises all over and even some scratches here and there. They appeared exhausted, malnourished, and chains kept them from moving much. King hurt knowing that they were going through this just to protect him. 

Star floated on over as well, silently tapping on the bubble. 

"Collie- Collie wake up-" Star silently said, still tapping on the bubble. 

The Collector's eyelids fluttered a bit before they opened them fully. 
"Star? What are you doing here?" Their voice sounded raspy, the effects of being locked up for so long without water. 

"Collector!" King immediately took off his pendant so that the child could see him. As soon as the Collector set eyes on King, panic set into their eyes. 

"You have to leave now. The others know you're here. It's all a trap. Leave now, King!!" The Collector warned with panic set into their voice.

But before King could even process anything the Collector had said, three figures had appeared behind Star and King. The rest of the group were already trapped inside of a large bubble that Planet held in their hand. 

"Thanks, Star for the help, you led the titan right to us," Moon revealed smugly. Star took a step back and looked down at their hands, realizing their dumb mistake. The others had left his cell with no magic protection on purpose. They started to hit themself mentally for being so stupid. 

"As for you titan, you seem to care a lot for our younger sibling. To an extent where you even risked your own life, why is that?" Moon asked skeptically as if it was hard to imagine someone risking their life for others. 

"Because unlike you, I actually care for other's wellbeing, instead of caring for only myself. You guys are such self-centered pricks, you know that? Torturing your own sibling for information on where a threat is? I wasn't even a threat until you decided to mess with me," King growled at Moon. 

"Hmm, whatever. A threat is a threat. We will not risk losing our power just because we overlooked a small runt," Moon spat back, quickly conjuring up a bubble around King, trapping the small titan. Moon took a moment to look back at the Collector with a smug smile. 

"Say goodbye to your little friends..."

Chapter Text

Collector POV

The Collector watched as their siblings walked away with all their friends. Luz, Eda, Willow, Gus, Hunter, Amity, Raine, their sibling Star, and King. They slammed their hands against the bubble frantically. 

"Let them go!! They've done nothing to you!!" The Collector screamed at Sun, Moon, and Planet. Moon turned around to look at their younger sibling with a smug smile. 

"No, but I guess since we finally have the titan we don't need you anymore." Moon flicked their wrist at the Collector's bubble, which started to shrink slowly. With one last smile, Moon and their siblings left the room with everyone important in the Collector's life. 

With a sob, the Collector banged against the bubble again, but it didn't budge. That's when they noticed that it was shrinking which conjured more panic inside of the child. They hated small spaces, they had been trapped in one for most of their life after all, and the fact that this already small space was now shrinking? They didn't know what they could do to hold that panic in. 

The Collector's heavy breaths were the only thing they could hear. Their vision was becoming blurry and they couldn't think. The only things on their mind were the shrinking space and that their friends were in trouble, which was all their fault. 

Their panic, anger, fear, and anxiety just kept increasing more and more, their thoughts were racing. 

It's all my fault.

My friends are dead now because of me.

 I'm gonna die of suffocation.

It's all my fault.

I'm so useless.

I was bait, stupid enough to get caught by Moon.

I hate this.

I need to get out. 

I need to escape. 

I need to help. 

But I can't. 

I'm so useless.

Trapped like a rat. 

The walls, their closing in.

I'm stupid. 

Stupid. 

Stupid. 

Stupid. 

Useless. 

Failure. 

Die. 

I'm gonna die. 

My friends are gonna die. 

So Small. 

Insignificant. 

Bait. 

Help. 

Need to help. 

Get out. 

Get out. 

My Fault. 

Escape. 

Dead. 

Everyone's Dead.

Help. 

Escape.

The thoughts in the child's head were overwhelming and they banged their hands against the shrinking bubble, clawing at the walls trying to get out. 

That's when they felt the magic thining, which confused the Collector. Moon always kept prison cells with high magic security, unless they didn't on purpose but they had always kept the Collectors cell highly powerful. That when the thought came to them, Moon and the others had used so much magic to make bubbles for the Collector's friend, not to mention creating bubbles for Star and King must have been very draining since those two have equally powerful magic. Since they had used so much power, this bubble was becoming weaker. 

With refined effort and determination, the Collector pounded on the bubble harder, weaving bits of magic into their strikes when they had the energy to. Even with the voices screaming in their head, nothing was going to stop them from saving their friends. They had a chance, a slim chance, but a chance of breaking the magic holding them and they were going to take that chance. 

The bubble continued to close in and the Collector could feel the walls pressing on their back and shoulders. They were running out of time. The panic began to set in again but the kid felt determined not to let it replace their hope. They wouldn't, no they couldn't let anything happen to their friends. 

They slammed their fists down harder and harder, not giving up even a tiny bit. 

The bubble kept shrinking, but the Collector could feel the magic getting weaker. They weaved more magic into their efforts. 

The bubble was now so small it was extremely hard to move. So small it was hard to hit the bubble itself since the kid's arms were now pinned down by their body. 

NO!!

I NEED TO ESCAPE. 

NO. 

NO. 

NO. 

HELP. 

I NEED TO HELP THEM. 

The panic was overwhelming, the Collector could feel themself going into an anxiety attack as the bubble shrank tighter and tighter. 

They couldn't handle it, the small space, the voices, the ongoing pressure around them. 

It was overwhelming. 

It was terrible. 

Their panic reached a peak and they could just feel it overflowing. 

It was like waves were crashing over them, pulling them further and further down. 

Making it hard to breathe. 

The pressure was just too much. 

And then the bubble burst into thousands of tiny sparks. 

The Collector could feel their power buzzing, stronger than it had ever been before. 

They were finally free and all the emotions that had been pent up for the past week were set loose. 

The Collector wanted revenge and they knew exactly who deserved it. 

Chapter Text

King POV

King wanted to bash Moon's head in, really bad. He was outraged after seeing how Moon talked to their younger sibling, aka his best friend. As the menace of a sibling carried King away, he tried using magic to break the bubble prison, but it was useless. This bubble seemed impenetrable. 

It seemed like time was going by in slow motion, even though it wasn't long before they got to the main room of this fortress. Maybe time worked differently in space, King didn't know. He could hear the three archivist siblings discussing what to do, but he was dissociating, zoning out into a blank and emotionless state of mind. 

All his friends were trapped. The Collector was going to die. Star and King were powerless and therefore couldn't do anything to help. He knew this was the end. He was never going to see the Boiling Isles ever again. He was never going to see The Owl House again. He would never get to say goodbye to his home. 

Moon walked over to where King's bubble was floating with a sneer. He tapped on the bubble but the little titan didn't look up, he seemed to be lost in thought. 

"Hey, Rat. Look at me." Moon tapped the bubble more aggressively and King looked up this time. The titan glared at Moon, the sibling who had given the Collector so much pain. They were right in front of King and he couldn't kill them which made his rage fuel up even more. 

"Aww look at you getting all riled up." Moon gave King a wide sadistic smile, making the titan ram into the bubble head first, trying to get to the bastard. 

"Baby titan's magic is weaker than a full-grown kiddo, you can't break that bubble no matter how hard you try." Moon sounded so smug, so arrogant, so full of themself, it just made King seeth with even more rage.

Luz noticed this from across the room, where she and the rest of the group were trapped. She tried to think but her mind felt fuzzy. She took out a glyph, wondering if it could counteract the magic bubble since it was titan magic. She touched her finger to the glyph and nothing happened. She tried again and again until she caught Sun's attention. 

"Heh, she thinks it's gonna work," Sun said to Planet who laughed. Luz glared at them and her friends around her did likewise. Luz really didn't like these bitches, she felt sorry that The Collector had to deal with them for almost all of their childhood. 

The three archivists watched in amusement as King continued to ram his head against the bubble. They weren't going to stop him knowing full well he couldn't break it. What they weren't counting on, however, was the arrival of their younger sibling. 

"I didn't expect you to make a mistake in magic Moon. Not like you at all."

"Oh shut up Collie." 

"Wai-" 

Before Moon could fully register that the Collector had escaped, the younger kid punched them with full force in the face. Moon doubled over, clutching his cheek in pain as he shouted and swore loudly. 

"THE FUCK!! HOW DID YOU- YOU LITTle BRAT!! HOW DaRE YOU-" 

Sun and Planet stepped forward quickly, leaving the bubble with everyone inside behind. Star immediately started with some magic, whispering to Luz that it might take a bit to work but while the other Archivists were distracted he could try to weaken the barriers. 

Meanwhile, Moon was swiping at the Collector while the kid dodged easily. King could see power radiating off of them. Damn, they leveled up a lot. They looked more confident and even with the torture they had been through for the past week they were energetic despite their injuries. 

Star and Luz continually used magic together, pushing with all their power. Suddenly the bubble holding everyone shattered and everyone rushed to help the Collector. Star, now at full power, started battling Sun. Everyone else battled Planet and with all their magic combined, they could hold the Archivist off. 

The Collector continued to dodge attack after attack that Moon sent at them, taunting the Archivists as they did so. 

"Is that all you got Moon? Come on I know you can do better!!" 

"Just slow down you LITTLE BRAT!!" Moon screamed, losing control of their magic because of their disorientation and rage. They couldn't use the magic correctly, they fumbled and stumbled, trying to get a hold of themself. 

"Hmmm, I don't think I will. You're looking real tired Moon, what, can't handle a little kid like me?" The Collector replied with a mocking laugh making Moon fume. 

Before Moon could comprehend what the Collector was doing, the kid quickly flew to King's bubble. They tapped the bubble and it shattered immediately. Moon whirled around at the sound and stared in disbelief. 

"Wha- how? What?! OH YOU LITTLE-" 

Before Moon could finish his sentence, King let out a shout sending waves of power towards Moon. It knocked everyone in the room down to the floor. Everyone recovered quickly, except for the three Archivists who were struggling to get up. 

The Collector and King walked up to Moon, who was glaring at them from the floor. 

"You don't deserve mercy. You don't deserve any, but I'm going to let you live. Know that you live, only because I let you," the Collector said into Moon's face," But know this, mess with me or any of my friends again and I will personally come back up here to destroy you."

King smiled smugly at Moon before turning away to walk with the Collector back to their friends. King moved his hand into his best friend's, glad to have them back after all this pain. 

"Ok, let's go home guys-" The Collector started to say, but they suddenly stopped before falling to the floor, blood pooling around them. 

There was a giant gash in their back. 

And Moon was standing far behind them with their hand raised. 

They had fired a blast of magic at the Collector at the last moment. 

Chapter Text

Collector POV

Pain

That's all they felt.

Pain. 

Their back was on fire with pain. 

Their knees buckled and they fell to the floor with a flop. 

They couldn't feel anything. 

Everything was blurry. 

Everything was spinning. 

The only thing they could make out was the dark purple blood pooling around them. 

It soaked their clothes making them thick and heavy, weighing them down. 

It would be so easy, so easy to just slip away right now. 

Nobody would miss me, right?

Nobody would care?

It'd be so easy. 
To just disappear. 
To not have to deal with all the burdens. 
No more Archivists. 
No more voices. 
No more pain. 

Pain. 
Oh, it was so painful. 
Life. 
All Life brought was pain. 
So why should they cherish it? 

Why would you ever want to live, if all it brought was pain?

"C҉o҉l҉l҉e҉c҉t҉o҉r҉? P҉-P҉l҉e҉a҉s҉e҉... D҉-D҉o҉n҉'t҉ l҉e҉a҉v҉e҉ m҉e҉. J҉-J҉u҉s҉t҉ h҉o҉l҉d҉ o҉n҉. Y҉-Y҉o҉u҉'l҉l҉ b҉e҉ o҉k҉, r҉i҉g҉h҉t҉?"

Who was that?
They couldn't tell. 
It was all fuzzy. 
They couldn't think. 
They could barely breathe. 

They could slip away right now, so why didn't they? 
There was nothing for them, right?
Or were they holding on for reasons they couldn't remember? 
Maybe their mind was resisting, knowing they still had a reason to live. 

They felt a warm paw wrap around their hand, the only thing they could feel besides the blood. 
Maybe that was the reason they were fighting. 
Maybe they should hold on, for whoever that paw belonged to. 
Maybe... just maybe...

Despite this, it was hard. 

So hard to not give up. 

King POV

Moon.

Moon. 

That name felt like poison in King's mind as he whipped around to face the archivist.
That bastard had a smug smirk on their face which set King off almost immediately. 

The titan raced forward at top speed, prepared to destroy the archivists, prepared to destroy everything out of anger and morning. 
It was similar to when he witnessed Luz die, he lost all control over everything. 
The only thought in his mind was to destroy the one who had inflicted so much pain on himself and the ones he loved. 

But before he could reach Moon, another figure raced past him at the speed of light. 

Star stopped right in front of Moon, making the dark archivist's smirk stumble away in surprise and a bit of fear. 

"Y̴̧̡̛̛̠̭̤̬̤̘̙̯̳̥̭̯̙͚͚̟͑̽͑̌̎̍́̔̅͌̓̋̂̋͑̊̀̾̚O̷̡̨̳̣͈͇̩̫̳̝͍͖͔̭̤̜̝̪̜̎́͌̀̎̎̂͛̊̓̒͋̔͐͛͋̚Ų̶̨̛̬͍̫̟͓̠̩͕̮̜͙͛͒̂̂̂̀̇͐͊̿̃̆̽̕͝͠ ̶̢̛̦̔̃̓̌̊̈̍̑̃͑̇̑̀̀̍͂̾̈́͗̍̽̈̐̑̆̚̚͝A̶̧̧̧̧̖̦̩͍̰͖̟̦͖̣̥͛͛̉̇͒̅̀̂̊̃͝ͅŔ̷̛̛̞̩̟͍̬̮̼̰̘̺̠͉͓̹͍͚̦͂͛́̈́͐̎͂̽̇́̔̏͌͊̍͘͠͝E̴̛͉͓̟͉̺̿̓͑̈͒̎̿͆̀̓̉̐́̎̏̈́͌͛͑̈́̓̓̆̃͘͝͝͝͝͝ ̴̡̧̧̧̛͉̹͈̼̰̦̺̲̞̩̬̪̳̮͈̣̠̣̳̅̆̽̎́̊̉̓́̿̔̂̊̅̂͗̂̚̚͝͝G̵̢̢̨̲̲̰͕͍̖̗̟̭̭̤̘̤̯̫̝̯̥̈̈́̒̑̉̈́́̉͒́̌́̓̓͆̅̔̓̋̕͘̕̕͠O̷̡̡̨̞̱̫̟͎̝̳̪͉̱̠̤̭̫̘̗̰̾͊̔̑̈͊̔͋̃̀̈̎̉̒̈̊̇̃͂̈́̀̇͆̎̑̚̚͠Į̴̨̻̫̺̥̖̥̱̥̲̘͙̲̣̘͚͇͓̗̥̹͇͉͖̤̀̌͂͒̊̃̇̓̈́̉̀́̊̈̒͐̉͊̾̊̈́͌̚͘̕̕͜͝ͅN̶̡̢̛̗̜͇̭̦̺͇̪̝̒͛̆͐̔̃̏̀͊̈́̎̎͌̃̓̉̏̽̽̏́̕̕͝͝ͅG̸̢͉͉̰̩͙̟͙̳͊̿̇͊́̋̏̃̀̀̆̔͊̌̌́̏̈͐̈́̋́͘͜͜͠͝͠ ̴̘̹͖̬̘̙̯̹̻̙̗̯̑͛̈́̑̋̃͗̎̔̌̅͒̾͋́̀͌̑̅̎̓̄̔̋̈́̕̕̚͝S̵̨̢̛̜̥̪̳̩͓͕͕̲̣̳̩̙̺̘͈͕̹̤̮̬̯̼͉̰̻̬̑̈́́͒̀̌͂́͋̍́̿̀̎̂͂̄͌̉̑̾͌̓̒̑̉͘̚͠ͅT̸̡̡̛͚̖̥̹̙̥̼̟͕̥̼̳͖̙͎̺̣̝͙̠̣̼̠̮̫̰̍͋̑̈́̇̇́͌́̓͊͌͋́̓̃̿͒͋̇̂̚͘͘͜͠͝͝͝͝ͅR̴̢͓͉̖̪͎̳̲̩̜̼͕͔̯͕̞̥̈́͜Â̷̢̨̨̪̱̰̣̯̱̻͕̤̗̟̹̟̺̞͙͓̫͔͈̥̘̼̲̏̆̎̀̾̕͜Ị̷̡̡̧̟̰̟͇̦͎̤̱̲̼͙̗̗̺͕̒̅̂̇͗̑͒͆͛͋̈́͒͗͐̅̚͘͝͝͠G̵̢̧̛̛̝̫͔̞̤̜̪̞̤̦͖̟̫͇͔̜̯͎̜̥̩͙͉͍̣͙̣͕̍̋̓͑̅̊̒̑̈́̓̒̀͑̽̆̎̇̀̽̓̽͝͝Ḣ̷̬͔͓̱̮͉͈͕̘̲̈́͑͗͝Ţ̷̧̞͈̩̤̯̦̤̳̪͖̗̺͓̦̫̩̪̓̂͌͋͌̏̂̇̃͋͊̇͗̄́́̇̔̕̚͝͝ͅͅ ̴̨̨̧̨̡̨̧̢̩̞͍̖̹͉̗̹̼̩̹̫̖̗̣̬͕̲͋͒̇̋̇̎̒̉̀̒̋̏̍̉̎͊̊͗̿͛͌̔̓̆͋̈́̉͜͝͝͠ͅT̷̛̝͚̗̱̠̩̮̾̉̓̌̐̄͋̔͛͑̾͂̽̄̋̑̒̈́̒̆̚͘̕̕͜͜͝͝͠͠Ơ̷̢̧̖̰͖̩̭̭͕̟̤̫͔̬̤̲̥̙̲͉̟̖̬̦͙̬̱̙̹̈̊̅͗̋̉͑͊̀̀͂͑̒̒̇ͅͅ ̴̧̢͈͚̣̭̦̞̰̠̻̥̟̻̰̟͎̥̤͖̟͖̭̬̄̍̈̀̏̀̎̈́̊͗͆͒̿͝͝ͅH̶̲̫͎͕͎̺̯͍͎̱̖͇̞͇̙͗͐̀E̷̛̛̺̤̟͉͎̦̲̤͆͐̃́̄̓̈͠Ļ̵̣͈̻̳͖̺̠̬̫̗̦͆̾̆̑̀̓̿͛̓̆̈́̕̕̕L̴̢̛̹̰̥̩͍̫̗̱͇͕̾̿̓̾̅̄͆̔̄̎̑͜͝͠͝ ̴̡̡̧̩̯̬̠̜͎̲̻͇̲̝̗̜̜̹͕̣̺̣̳̗̯͖̈́̍̈́̈́̑͂̈͗͐́͒͆̓̑̊͋́W̸̲̏H̵̡̜̳͓͚̋̅͒̈́́̔̀̈́̀̓̀̇̆̒̇͊͐͒͂̋̄̔̍͊̎̄̕͜͝͠͝Ȩ̷̼̬̦͖͇̳̙̼͇̗͓̙̥̜͖̯̲̙̻̭̙̣̭̭̼̤́͌̐͋̃̂͌͐̊̐̓̂͂̀̂͗̅̔̏̈́͒̽̈́͘͠͝R̸̘̖͈̀͑̍̿̽̾͗̇͐̃̅͆̿̓̀͛̀̔͒͑̆̚͝ͅE̶̛͈̗͈̮̯̓́͋̈͐̂͆̓̋͌̃͗́̊̒̈́͂̎̃͂̔͋̚͘͘͘̚͝͠͝͠ ̷̨̛̛͖̠̫̝̥̞̦̼̪̻̠̙̂̉̆̑̎̏͐̉͑͋̍͆̎̃̀̍́̿͋͋Y̵̧̡̨̨̧̛͙͈̼̖͈̤ͅƠ̸̡̡̛͉̙͖͕̱͕͕̼̦̦̪͇̪̍̾̈͛̈̌͒̄͗͐̽̒̈̀͑̓̄̌͗̕͘̕̚͠Ǘ̸̝͙͈̠͎̦̤̣̗͔̫̲̳̩̳̘͇̟͇͒̓̑̓͜͜͝ ̸̧̨̯̘͙̳̘͕̩͙̱͇̥̆́̇̅̆̀̈́͂ͅB̵̡̯̮̳͎͙̤̗̥͓͇̭͎̳̼̹͔͈̞̙̹̖̖̩͉̪̍̏̌́̅̏͗́̉͂̅̐̉̓̿͆̍͑̋̕͘̕̕͘͝͝È̶̬͍̩̼̬̣̠̦͖͇̦͐͐͂̍͆̓̈̊̌̀͒͆̐̊̕͜L̶͚̮͐̓̏̔͒̈̉̓̎̽̍͘͘͘̚͝͝͝Ô̸̩͙͍͎͉̮̙̗̠̹̔̂̈́̈̈͂N̶̗̳̜͙̪̺̩̗̰̏̉̈͂̔͑̏̾̚͘͝͝ͅG̷̡̢̭͕̰̜͖͍̠̥̬̟̜͖̰͕̮̩̩̓̉̆͆̈́ͅ.̸͖̥̘̰̱͑͊̐͂́͒̏́͌̒͝"

Star was trembling with rage, anger, hatred, and everything in between. Moon tried to back away from them, pure terror in their eyes. Planet and Sun were right behind Moon, equally as terrified. 

Star started to step forward, closing the gap in between the four archivists. King rushed forward, not wanting to be left out of the fun. Together they fueled their magic with all their power and rage. 

It all happened so quickly. 

King and Star didn't even realize what they were doing. 

Titan magic combined with Archivist magic. 

And before Planet, Sun, and Moon could even attempt to run away, they were obliviated into nothing. 

Nothing remained, they had been completely destroyed. Wiped from the universe completely. 

Everyone stood there in shock, not comprehending what had happened. 

King growled at the empty space where the three archivists had been before turning back to his family. 

That's when he saw The Collector's condition. 

His best friend was crumpled up on the floor, looking completely lifeless. They were surrounded by a large puddle of thick purple blood. More blood was seeping out of the large blast wound in their back. 

King rushed over and the rest of the group backed away to give him room. 

"Collector?" King asked, almost pleading for the child to still be there. "P-Please." His voice cracked with raw emotion and he felt the hot tears already forming. King didn't care about the blood, he didn't care about anything but his friend. 

The Collector groaned and twitched a little bit, making King more frantic. 

"D-Don't leave me. J-Just hold on. Y-You'll be o-ok, right?" His sobs were getting more hiccupy, he couldn't focus at all. He reached out and took his best friend's hand, then felt the Collector lightly squeeze back.

"I-I'm here! I-I'll never l-leave, j-just st-stay with me C-Collector- p-please don't l-leave!" King was frantic now, almost insane as he pleaded. 

Star came up beside the titan and reached out their hand to lightly touch the Collector's back, where blood was pooling. King looked up at the Archivist, surprised to see them crying silently. There was deep pain in their eyes and King knew at that moment that Star truly cared about their younger sibling. King scooted closer to Star and buried his face into the Archivist's side to muffle his tears. 

Star's hand was trembling as they moved their hand across the wound, making it a tiny bit smaller, but they were too distressed to heal them any more than that. This is what finally snapped the rest of the group out of their trance. Eda, Raine, Luz, Hunter, Willow, Gus, and Amity rushed over to Star and King's side, most of them preparing healing magic to aid Star. 

King couldn't do anything but watch. Watch with the smallest sliver of hope as he held onto the Collector's hand with no plan of ever letting go until he knew it would be alright.

With the combined healing of all the witches and Star, the wound on the child's back began to close with more ease. After what seemed like forever it was finally over, but a large dark purple scar lingered where it never should have been. 

It would be there forever, a reminder of all the pain they'd been through. 

Everything was silent until Amity decided to voice what they were all thinking. 

"They've lost so much blood..." Amity stated with hesitation and pain, staring at the thick purple puddle underneath everyone's knees. 

"All we can do is wait, its all up to C-Collie now. B-Blood regeneration potions won't work on them since they're a child of the stars like me, we have different autonomy and blood," Star replied, their hand still lightly touching the scar on their sibling's back. "The best thing to do would be to get them somewhere s-safe. This castle will collapse as soon as C-Collie and I relinquish our titles since Moon, Sun, and Planet are gone," Star spat those names out with disgust and resentment. 

"The Owl House," King said without hesitation. He knew it would be where the Collector would feel safest. Everyone nodded in agreement as they all silently stood up. 

Star picked up the limp child who was barely breathing. King didn't want to let go of the Collector's hand so he climbed up Star's robe in order to keep holding on. Star didn't protest, knowing that King felt the same way they did about Collie. 

Everyone silently stepped outside of the castle, standing on one large star as they stared up at the huge building. Star took a big breath before calming themself. "I reliquesh my title as an Archivist and on the behalf of Collie, I reliquesh their title as the Collector." 

The castle immediantely started collapsing and folding in on itself, before turning into star dust. 

"Its over, I'm not an Archivist anymore and Collie isn't the Collector," Star stated with a sigh as if a huge boulder had just been lifted off their shoulders. King looked down at the Collector- wait no -Collie and noticed that their breathing had had become more even and peaceful. 

King smiled to himself, and settled himself down onto Star's shoulder while the journey back home began.

Chapter Text

Collie POV

How am I still alive?

That was Collie's first thought as they sat up from their position on the couch. They felt different, more free, lighter, as if a large boulder had just been lifted off their shoulders. 

"W-Where... am I?" Collie rubbed at their eyes, hoping their vision would clear. Then the headache hit and their back flared up with immense pain which made them double over with a loud groan. "Ow ow ow ow ow ow," Collie muttered holding their head. 

King stirred, he had been sleeping by Collie's feet but was awakened by the movement. He rubbed his eyes and looked at Collie for a second before realizing his best friend was awake. 

"COLLIE!!" King launched himself at his friend and wrapped himself around Collie tightly. 

"Ow! Ow! King! Stop!" Collie tried to push King away, his back had doubled in pain from the pressured hug. 

"Sorry! Sorry! I'm just really happy that you're alive," King exclaimed letting go and settling himself next to Collie. 

"That I'm a-alive? But how would I die, I'm immortal," Collie stated as if it was obvious giving King a confused look. King looked at the ground nervously and twiddled his thumbs. 

"Well, you kinda, got blasted with an immense amount of magic..." King said hesitantly, not making eye contact. 

Everything came rushing back to Collie. 

Getting captured.

The torture. 

The abuse. 

The trickery. 

Moon.

Sun.

Planet. 

King. 

Defeating Moon. 

At least they thought they had. 

And then, pain... 

Pain.

"Moon?! W-What- P-Pain- T-They're- What?!" Collie's breathing was irregular and they held their head in their hands as their headache doubled in pain. King quickly took Collie's hand in his own to comfort his best friend. 

"Hey. Hey. It's ok. Moon is gone. Sun is gone. Planet is gone. They can't hurt you anymore. You're safe," King said in a soft voice, rubbing Collie's hand. They started to calm down slowly, but not completely, still a bit panicked. 

"Moon, gone?" Collie asked looking into King's eyes with disbelief. 

"Star and I destroyed all three of them. Our combined anger and power was too much I guess," King replied with a chuckle and a small smile as he squeezed Collie's hand. 

"It's all over, they're gone..." Collie let out a sigh of relief before wincing in pain. "Ouch."

King sighed and gave Collie a soft hug, "Star said we barely saved you, they said it'll take a while until you don't feel it anymore." 

"That's ok, as long as I'm with my best friend I'll get through anything," Collie replied, returning the hug. The two stayed like that for a while, just hugging each other, never wanting to let go, never wanting to leave. Collie felt warm, happy even, they hadn't felt like that for a long time. 

Then King pulled away, reached over to a table that sat by the couch, and picked up the stuffed bunny that was resting there. 

"Here, I think Francois missed you," King said setting the bunny in Collie's arms. Collie hugged the bunny tightly and a small tear leaked out of their eye. 

"Are you sure?" Collie asked hesitantly, still clinging to the stuffed animal. 

"Absolutely," King stated with confidence, reaching out and giving Collie another hug. Collie leaned into it and they resumed their hugging in silence. After 20 minutes of comfort, Collie sat up and started scooting to the edge of the couch. 

"Where are you going?" King asked with concern, helping Collie off the couch. 

"I should probably say hi to Star, you know, let them know I'm alive," Collie said limping away from the couch. 

"Everyone's outside," King replied, grabbing onto Collie's hand and helping them out the door. As soon as they emerged into the outside world, Collie felt a wave of calm come over them. They took a big breath as King led them over to the group sitting together on the grass. 

As soon as Star saw Collie, their face lit up with delight. "You're a-alive!!" Star exclaimed, running over and giving Collie a gentle hug. "I was so scared..." That's when Collie realized that Star had some tears in their eyes, which was weird to them since Star never cried. 

"You're... crying..." Collie pointed out, wiping the salty tears from their sibling's eyes. 

"I k-know," Star replied with a chuckle, still holding onto Collie. The child returned the hug and the pair embraced warmly. Collie could feel tears of their own seeping out. 

"Are they really gone?" Collie asked Star, wanting a double confirmation, there was still some doubt in the back of their mind. 

"Yes. Forever. They will never hurt you again," Star said with confidence. 

"They'll never hurt us again," Collie corrected, clinging onto their sibling with more force. Star chuckled, both of them were now crying heavily with emotion. Fear, Sadness, Relief, Joy, Pain, Love. The two siblings felt it all as they embraced. 

They were finally safe. 

Soon Star pulled away from Collie, taking their hand and leading them over to where the others were. 

As they walked, Collie felt peace from seeing all his friends coming to welcome them. 

It felt warm.

It felt safe.

Thats when Collie realized that the voices had disappeared. 

The screaming.

The constant pain in their head. 

The feeling of wanting to die. 

The feeling of wanting to disappear. 

The empty, wasted feeling they had come to know so well. 

It was all gone. 


And for the first time in a long while...


Collie felt happy. 

Chapter Text

Hi There :]

I hope you guys enjoyed this fanfiction!!!

Thank you to everyone who had to live through the torture of my cliffhangers when this story was in the process of being written!!

 Thank you for being (mostly) patient with me for the times I was having writer's block and didn't have the energy to update my fanfictions :3 
(don't kill me please, I promise I'm trying to be better about it)

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!

(No I will still not let you guys out of the basement even though I love you a lot)

If you enjoyed this fanfiction, make sure to check out my other fics!!

Crossposted on Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/story/351729213-to-the-stars-and-back-the-owl-house

To wrap it all up, here are all of the drawings I drew that are for this fic!!

One last thank you, to everyone :]