Quit You (HunterXReader[The Owl House])

Chapter XII - Safe Here

"Okay. So, in the Demon Realm, you fought the evil Emperor Belos, who turned into a monster-"

"Well, he started human." Gus cut in.

"He turned into... whatever he was by eating Palismen." I added.

"Right." Mrs. Noceda nodded. "But he was defeated by a newer, smaller bad guy?"

"The Collector," Willow said. "We don't know what he is, or how Belos found him."

"Who knows if we'll ever figure that out." Luz blurted. "But they're creating a lot of chaos."

"We have to do whatever it takes to get back." Amity said.

"And you will." Mrs. Noceda said. "But for now, you should all rest. You're safe here."

Willow, Amity and Luz all slept in Luz's room together. Willow and Amity were given sleeping bags. Me, Hunter and Gus slept in the basement. Gus got the sofa, me and Hunter sleeping bags. We were rolling them out side by side on the floor as Gus went through Luz and her mom's old stuff.

"Guys, at all this awesome human stuff." Gus said excitedly, going through a box. He pulled out a piece of plastic covered in bubbles and started popping them. Something fell and smashed. "Whoops."

"I think that's just stuff here." Hunter said.

Mrs. Noceda came down the stairs with a pile of blankets in her arms. She set them down on the sofa.

"It's not much, but I hope you three will be comfortable."

"We will, Luz's mom." Gus said, still popping the bubble plastic.

Hunter cleared his throat and got to one knee. He shuffled over to Mrs. Noceda.

"Thank you for providing us with shelter, ma'am." He said, ears going red.

I knelt beside him quickly. "Right. What he said, ma'am."

"Please never do that again." Mrs. Noceda backed away. "And you can call me Camilla. Buenos noches."

She walked back up the stairs and closed the door behind her. I sat down and looked at Hunter.

"Do people not bow in the Human Realm?"

He shrugged. Gus gasped and the popping stopped. He had run out of bubbles.

We set up our make shift beds, changed into the pajamas Camilla gave us, and tried to sleep. I hadn't had a good night's sleep in ages, what with the Day Of Unity and the fact my whole life was a lie. I was also exaughted and shaken from earlier, battling Belos and almost dying from the Draining Spell. But, still, I found it hard to sleep.

After going through it all with Camilla, I just kept replaying it all in my head. Everything I'd ever done for Belos, and wondering, knowing what I know now, what would I have done different? Everything, most likely. I would've helped the basilisks escape, I would've encouraged wild magic, I wouldn't have held back that day in the throne room and blasted Belos to bits before running out screaming he was evil and leaving the Emperor's Coven right then and there.

My hand drifted to my other, feeling the scars Belos had left. I traced them, feeling the tight skin under my finger tips. He had ripped my hand open, almost to the bone in one place, I still had trouble doing fiddly thing with that hand. I'd become a lot more ambidextrous since what happened.

For the last four years or so, I'd been sleeping in the barracks. Me and the other scouts were packed in like sardines. It was crowded, loud, stuffy and generally a pain on the ass. And at night, it was hell at first. Almost everyone snored, there was always someone talking instead of sleeping, the night shifts were in and out constantly. It was loud, always. But... I'd gotten used to it. In the barracks, listening to everyone, I never felt alone. I could hear them, and I felt safer because of it.