Everything Changes So Quickly... [DISCONTINUED]

Chapter 6: the Look in Her Eyes (Hunter's POV)

"What?" He asked quietly, "I- I, uh, didn't notice- but that- that doesn't matter! I still need to- I need to find-"

Hunter spotted Flapjack flying toward him.

"FLAPJACK!!! Oh my Titan, Flapjack, you don't know how worried I was!" Hunter exclaimed, hugging Flapjack carefully as his legs gave out beneath him, "I thought you- I thought they found you- I don't- I don't know what I would've done if you-"

Hunter was so preoccupied with worrying over Flapjack, that he didn't even notice that the Owl Lady had walked up to him. Eda put a hand on Hunter's shoulder, causing Hunter to involuntarily flinch away violently.

"Nerd..." Eda muttered.

"Can we, um, not talk about this right now? I just- I'm not in the mood," Hunter mumbled, looking to the side.

"Look nerd, I've learned from personal experience, that it's bad to be pushy in this kind of situation," Eda said, sitting down next to Hunter, "But I've also learned that bottled up feelings aren't the way to go, so I won't force you to tell me what's going on, but I want you to know that we're all here for you when you decide to talk. Luz, King, and I will be right over there, if you want, you can join us. See you soon, nerd!"

And with that, Eda walked back to Luz and King. Hunter sighed, in the Emporer's coven, you're taught that you can't show weakness, it's seen as a sign of vulnerability and needs to be stomped out, but Hunter had just had a whole mental breakdown in front of his former enemies.

This wasn't the Emperor's coven though, he wasn't there anymore, he was free. He was free from stupid rules, from dumb expectations, he didn't need to hide his feelings anymore.

Hunter wiped his tears as flapjack perched on his shoulder once more and walked over to his new family of some sort, "Hey, is there room for one more?"

"So, according to Phillip's instructions, the hardest part of making a portal was finding someone who knew how to build it. But a lot of the ingredients are pretty easy to find, "Luz turned to Eda, "Your crazy apocalypse supplies finally came in handy Eda!"

"Don't forget this," King reminded her, handing her the key.

"Titan blood," Luz stated, looking at the key, "I can't believe something this powerful was in the old key this whole time."

"Well, now you're going to have to break it to get the blood," Hunter shrugged.

"King, hand me... The shovel," Luz demanded dramatically.

"Um, a shov-" Hunter began.

"Here it is, Luz," King interrupted, handing an old shovel that was rusted in some places.

"How are you going to use that to break the key carefully?" Hunter asked.

"Watch and learn, pretty boy," Luz replied.

Luz laid the key on a tree stump and held the shovel above it as if she was going to stab the key. 

"Wait-" Hunter called, but it was too late.

Luz lowered the shovel rapidly but stopped it from striking the key right before it touched it, or so he thought. Hunter looked closer at the key to spot one, large crack.

"King, the bottle," Luz requested dramatically.

King then handed her a tiny bottle with an even tinier corkscrew cap. Luz took the bottle, opened it, and poured the Titan's blood inside before pushing the cap back on. She then tied a string onto it, wore it around her neck, and tucked it into her hoodie.