Hunter woke up shortly after the memories had all been fixed, and sat up, with a glare towards Luz. He was silent.
"Uh- Hunter? Hey- its okay- we just wanted to help you." Willow smiled slightly as she said this, sitting next to the scarred boy. "You're going to be alright." She said, gently patting him on the shoulder.
Hunter sighed, and nodded. "Yeah.. I certainly hope so." He looked to the side, unsure of how to feel in the situation. "Please- don't tell anyone about this, okay?" He requested, finally looking at willow, making eye contact. "I trust you not to tell."
Willow was surprised at this, but nodded. "Yeah, of course. I wont tell a soul. And I'm sure Luz wont either, right, Luz?"
"Yeah- I definitely know what its like to hide bad memories, even if its not the same as yours." Luz gave a small reassuring smile. "We'll be here for you."
Hunter smiled ever so slightly, and gave a faint chuckle. "Alright. Thank you. I should probably head home before it gets late." He stood up, starting to leave. "I'll see you guys tomorrow at school."
Luz and Willow just waved, and once Hunter had left, they looked at each other.
"I feel really bad for him, the poor guy." Said Luz, sighing. "Its just like in 'The Flaming Soul' when the antagonist, Tonita, revealed her backstory."
"I have no idea what that is- but yeah, he really needs help."
Once Hunter had returned to the castle, he reported to Emperor Belos.
"Have you acquired any information to be of use to us, Hunter?"
"N..No, I haven't. Not yet at least. They still need time before they can trust me enough to tell me."
....The next day, everyone had arrived at school. Luz had just finished telling Amity why they had to leave early the day before, without mentioning what the memories actually were. Hunter arrived and approached his locker, seeing the others all chatting together. He decided to go over to them, smiling slightly. "Uh- Hey, guys." He said, waving before scratching the back of his neck.
"Oh! Hey, Hunter!" Luz grinned. Willow chuckled slightly.
"Do you have anything- planned for today?" Hunter asked, curious.
"Not really, why do you ask?" Questioned Willow, but before Hunter could answer, Luz giggled.
"Aww- do you wanna hang out with us or something?" She teased, being answered with a nervous grin from Hunter.
"Actually, yeah. If you don't mind, that is."
"Of course! It'd be great for you to spend time with friends." Luz grinned widely. "We could all hang out at the owl house- Im sure Eda wont mind. Oh! We could have a sleepover!"
"A what?" Hunter seemed confused.
"A sleepover- have you not had one before?" Luz frowned, starting to realise just how sheltered the boy really was.
"No- i havent." Hunter shrugged. "This can be my first then." He said, with a smile.
Once the school day had ended, Hunter had arrived to the owl house along with everyone else. Luz let them in happily, and they all settled in. Hunter sat on the far side of the couch, as everyone began to chat. He felt kind of awkward- only joining in for a few sentences.
"You doing alright, Hunter?" Asked Gus, noticing hunters fidgety attitude.
"Oh- uh, yeah. Im fine. Just- don't really have normal conversations often, is all." Hunter sighed.
"Ah, well then- how about we talk about things that you like? Hobbies, interests?" Gus suggested, attempting to make hunter feel less out pf place.
"I uh, I like researching? And combat? Thats pretty much it." Hunter shrugged, really not thinking of anything else.
Luz joined in, talking about some books- which interested Hunter slightly, so they chatted about that for awhile.
After a few hours of talking, (and convincing hunter to let them braid his hair), it was time for them to go to sleep. Hunter was the last to fall asleep, and sighed as everyone else was peaceful in their slumber. Eventually, hunter laid down, closing his eyes- and beginning to sleep.
Hunter seemingly woke up in his old room, back at the castle. He seemed confused at first, but couldn't realise why. He got up, getting dressed into his uniform. He stepped out of his room, only to enter a void of darkness, the door behind him vanishing.
"Huh-?"
He was only more confused, before soon he heard someone- crying? It sounded like just a little kid, too. Hunter looked around, trying to find the source of the noise, before noticing a small child with his head buried into his knees. It looked like himself, but strangely, it was clear that it was another person.
'why did he leave me..?'
'why does he hate me..?'
These words echoed throughout the darkness, only concerning hunter further. However, before he could get closer, bright vivid lights flashed across the dark void, and a loud scream followed. The next thing hunter knew, he was awake, breathing heavily as he looked around the room, sighing. He couldn't sleep for the rest of the night, and soon, morning came, and hunter was left confused, wondering what that little boy was talking about- wondering why he was there.
