𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙡 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙪𝙢𝙣.
Within Gravesfield high, Luz sat at her desk as she stared at the egg-shaped palisman in her arms, beneath her desk. A glum look was painted across her features, and her teacher's voice drowned out in her mind.
"Foes vanquished, he trod the shores of his fatherland, family by his side, finally at peace," He read aloud. "This epic ends with the homecoming of not just a man, but a hero."
Mr Sandoval shut the book, smiling as he sat on the edge of his desk. Luz smiled cynically, scoffing as she didn't meet his gaze.
"Hero?" She smiled sadly. "Everywhere he went, people ended up suffering."
"It does get a little bleak, but no one said his mission would be easy," Mr Sandoval smiled. "And when you take into account the ripple effects of his actions..."
"Who cares about the ripple effects!" Luz slammed her fist on her desk with a frown, her actions causing some of her classmates to look back at her in surprise.
"He was just a pawn in someone else's game!"
The Latina placed her foot on her chair, rage and regret filling her as she clenched her fists, a glare forming. She huffed, standing on top of her table.
"A-And he was never smart enough to realise it! If his friends and family knew about his mission, they'd know that their lives would never have been in danger if it weren't for him!
"They sure hate his guts, and it would be better if he literally never existed!"
Luz hissed her words out before halting, glancing as she noticed that all eyes were on her, Mr Sandoval's smile gone and now into a surprised frown.
–––
The bell rang as students would flood out of their classrooms. Along the hallways were banners strewn with the words 'Go Wolves!', and bat decorations hung from the ceiling to get students into the Halloween spirit.
Luz walked out of her classroom with her head hung low, a frown on her face as she tucked her book under her arm. She walked by the art room, peering into the class as she spotted a new set of rules along the wall.
No taxidermy.
No spiders.
No snakes.
No animal parts.
No fireworks.
The elderly art teacher who stood by the doorframe wearily watched the girl as she held her mug shakily. She narrowed her eyes before taking a long sip of her drink, Luz frowning before letting out a sigh.
The Latina walked off, reaching her locker as she entered her combination. She pulled the door open, revealing all sorts of creations of King and Eda, ranging from doodles to a paper mache mask of King's skull.
She frowned at the sight, missing the two very much before placing her book in her locker. As she closed the locker door, she was met with the smiling faces of two people, the Latina gasping in shock.
"Hey, you're Luz, right?" The first spoke, their hair in a ponytail as they held flyers in their hand, leaning against the locker next to Luz's.
"Uhm..." Luz hummed in confusion.
"Nice to meet cha!" They grinned. "You were right in class, we read about too many crusty old dudes. Gimme books about crusty old women!"
"I used to know one," Luz smiled in reminiscence before turning her attention back to the two other students.
"I've never seen you two around."
"We're new, but we've heard all about you!" The first grinned.
"Are you gonna make another crazy costume for Halloween this year?" The boy beside him asked, a glint of excitement in his eyes.
"Cuz if you are," The first added. "We're volunteering at the Haunted Hayride!"
Their friend held the flyer out, the illustration showing a puritan couple screaming in horror as a witch flew above them on her broom, her hand aflame as she cackled.
"Old Gravesfield is the most haunted place in the state!" The boy chimed.
"Yeah, you gotta come," His friend chuckled.
Luz took the flyer in her hands staring at it uneasily, pondering as she clutched the flyer in the car as her mother picked up food for the other kids, the two driving home.
"Do you think this food is okay?" Camila fretted, Luz, glancing out the car window with a dazed look as the takeout sat in her lap.
"Ah, I wish I knew how to make demon food for your friends," Camila clicked her tongue in frustration. "Would they, uhm... prefer to drink blood?"
"Mom," Luz frowned, Camila, sighing.
"Ay, I'm sorry. I'm just saying, if we need to find a way, we'll find a way."
"NO! LOOK OUT–" Luz placed her hand on her mother's shoulder, eyes wide in fear as they both gasped.
Camila slammed her foot on the brakes, a policewoman holding her hand out to stop the car as she looked over to her colleague, the man taking notes from a woman that had crashed her car, her daughter's hand in hers.
"Oh, it was so scary," She exclaimed with a frown. "It just came out of nowhere. That deer really spooked us. Will my insurance cover this?"
Luz frowned in pity as their car drove past the duo, a skeleton of a deer covered by a thin sheet of cloth on the other side of the road as they passed.
"But Mommy, it wasn't a deer!" Her daughter huffed. "It was a monster!"
Neither party seemed to notice the small blotch of green goo that leaked down the deer's horn and onto the grass, slithering away.
–––
Hunter sat in the basement of the small house, holding a sweater close to him as Camila spoke to Gus above, the blonde boy placing the piece of cloth into the sewing machine, his tongue stuck out in concentration.
"Thanks for helping, Gus!" Camila smiled.
"Anytime!" Gus smiled back. "Good night!"
The illusionist switched the room light off, hopping down the stairs and swinging himself from the stair's bannister and down onto the couch below him.
"Whoo-hoo-hoo!" He grinned, pulling the blankets over himself. "We've got a big day ahead of us! So I'm gonna Buenas this noche!"
"Mhm– OW!"
Gus looked back at Hunter in worry as the boy sucked his teeth in pain, hissing. He shook his hand as he whimpered, Flapjack watching him in pity. The ex-guard squinted his eyes at the sewing machine in annoyance while clutching his hand.
"You good?" Gus smiled worriedly. "That sounded... painful."
Hunter scoffed, returning back to the machine as it sprung back to life. He continued to sew his clothes, his focus on the machine, but on Gus as Flapjack watched his handiwork.
"I've been in the Emperor's Coven for as long as I can remember," Hunter smiled. "I think I can hand a little– ACK!"
Hunter froze, groaning as Flapjack jumped at the noise. The boy squeaked out his next words as Flapjack winced for him.
"Pain..."
"D'oh..." Gus winced. "That went clean through..."
The illusionist cast a spell, a roll of bandages wrapping itself around Hunter's wound as the blonde boy excitedly spoke about the new machine Camila had introduced to him.
"Camila taught me how to use this sewing contraption!" He grinned. "Even Darius' stitches have never been this neat! Oh and look at what I made!"
The boy held up a shirt, a pack of wolves sewn on the shirt as Hunter smiled proudly to himself, hugging the piece of clothing close.
"These, are mystical beasts called wolves! But they're different from the ones at home, they don't have wings, and they can't change their forms, unlike Wolfie," He rambled. "And I love them!"
"That looks great!" Gus encouraged. "Are you sure that you love wolves cause your girlfriend's one?"
"What?! No! I–"
"I'm teasing, don't worry, I know you love them both," Gus grinned cheekily, Hunter's face turning pink.
Hunter looked down at the shirt, trying to hide his blush before smiling at the wolves on his shirt, gently touching the head of one as though he was touching Georgia's cheek.
"You know, you've been smiling a lot more since we've been here."
Hunter turned to Gus, his eyes widening as he shook his head in protest.
"It's not like I don't want to return!" He frowned, blushing from embarrassment. "I just need a way to pass the time. That's all."
"No! It's good to see you happy!" Gus smiled, resting his head on his pillow. "One of us might as well be."
Hunter frowned at Gus in pity, taking note that his brother-figure's smile was now gone, now replaced with a face of longing.
"What was it like to be in the Emperor's Coven for so long?" The illusionist asked softly, scared to trigger any bad memories.
Hunter folded up his shirt, tucking himself into the sleeping bag as Flapjack sat beside him. The boy held a finger to his chin in thought as he lay his head on his pillow.
"I trained a lot. I studied a lot," He frowned. "I wasn't really allowed to be around the other scouts. But the weekends were nice! I got to leave the castle for missions!"
"Do you miss it?" Gus asked in concern.
"...I miss... knowing who I'm supposed to be," Hunter glanced down.
Gus looked away guiltily, the two boys laying in silence until Gus turned around, now facing the ceiling. Hunter copied his actions, the two resting in silence.
"I miss my dad," Gus sighed.
Gus tugged his blanket closer, Hunter frowning as he turned to face the illusionist.
"We'll find a way back. We have to," Hunter frowned in determination.
"Oh my, Titan!" Gus' eyes widened. "That's a line from this book I found!"
Gus pushed his blankets down, picking up a book from a desk beside the couch.
"Cosmic frontier!" Gus grinned, holding the book out to Hunter. "It's a story that takes place in... the stars!"
"Why would anyone want to go up there?" Hunter raised an eyebrow.
"I don't know. Humans like spreading their junk everywhere. But it's a story of people trying to get home, like us!"
Hunter examined the book's cover before flipping it around, reading the blurb along with the cover illustrations, spotting a character that had said his line from not long before.
"We got Captain Avery, Security Officer Quando, and Chief Engineer O'Bailey who's hiding as a clone from the enemy planet!" Gus grinned.
Hunter flinched as Gus' words sunk in, the younger boy running over to a closet as Hunter raised an eyebrow to face the boy behind him.
"What, uh... happens to him?" The ex-guard questioned.
"I guess you'll have to find out!" Gus grinned, pushing the closet door open as the lights within were on.
Costumes stood on a stand along with star-shaped lights and different labelled boxes, one reading 'Manny's "circuit" cosplay, V 3.0", lying among many other things such as branded lunchboxes and more.
Hunter raised his eyebrows, a small smile growing as he chuckled to himself.
"Wow... I guess I better start reading."