When they arrive, Darius and Eberwolf greet them at the door, ushering them in with offers of warm drinks and snacks. They return the borrowed Palisman staffs and settle around the large table where Willow, Gus, Amity, and their parents already sit, Emira and Edric on either side of their sister. Also present are the rest of the CATs and Principal Bump. They settle in, Camila and Luz staying protectively close to Hunter.
Raine calls the meeting to order, "So we have some catching up to do. We need to tell you what we've been doing since you left and you need to tell us about the Day of Unity and whatever's happened since that could help us."
Darius starts off, "After the Day of Unity, we've had to try to piece back together some kind of government. It didn't go well. The coven heads couldn't agree on how to keep the peace, the Collector kept changing the rules and drawing people to play with them, and there were other faction that tried to carve out their own territories. None of it worked out very well. The immediate days after were terrible. Looting, burning, all the things you'd expect from people whose entire lives were turned up-side-down as they realized their 'benevolent' Emperor just tried to drain their magic and kill them. So we've been trying to intervene in the chaos, when we can. Bonesborough hasn't fared well, but it's been better than some places. We've mostly got Warden Wrath under control, especially since the Conformatorium burned," he shoots Eda a look, "mysteriously. But mostly, we've been trying to figure out what the Collector is and what they want, other than to play. We'd also heard that Belos still has followers and they've been adamant that since his body wasn't found, he's still alive. They seem to think the Day of Unity was a spell with good intentions that went wrong, or there was tampering from wild witches."
Amity nods, "And we can confirm he's not dead. But let's start with the Day of Unity. Luz went to confront Belos and we followed. Hunter was being drained, thanks to his coven sigil, but we were able to fight back. Belos transformed...he's not a witch anymore, not like us. He's a monster. Once King freed the Collector, they were pretty mad at Belos. Apparently he promised to free the Collector and didn't. So...he flung him into the wall so hard that Belos splattered. I think this is how he came through to the human realm. He dripped on one of us...or something. We had to step through a puddle of..... We were just trying to get out of there after the Collector ended the draining spell and decided to make their own Owl House. We were in danger of falling into an abyss and the only way we could escape was to go through Belos' portal to the human realm. We did, and we stayed with Camila the entire time we were gone."
"We discovered a hidden rebus in the cabin we'd taken over as our own headquarters," Luz continued, "it was an abandoned shack in the woods that used to lead to Eda's portal door. Since Belos made his out of the remains of hers, that made sense we came through there. But we were trapped. The portal collapsed. We tried to build a new one, but it didn't go so well. When we found the rebus under the floor, the others decided to decode it while I was at school. They were going to surprise me with what they found, because it indicated it led to Titan's blood."
"I kinda messed that up," Hunter interjects. "I was nervous. I'd thought I'd seen Belos, or heard him, and it was terrifying...so I stole the rebus and Luz and I sneaked out to Old Gravesfield. I saw something in the woods and took off. When I got there, Belos took over my body. I couldn't stop him. It was...bad. He fought my friends, crushed my Palisman, and I nearly died. Flapjack saved me...he...he used whatever strength was left in him to bring me back. But he's gone."
"We know more about who Belos was before he was Emperor, though," Luz continues. "We know some stuff that's pretty dark about the Golden Guards. And we know Belos was human before whatever he did to turn into a monster. His name was Phillip Wittebane and he came from Old Gravesfield in the 1600s when people suspected of being witches were being burned alive. His goal was to become the Witch Hunter General - that's still his goal. He and his brother disappeared from there and were never seen again. But they came here. And Caleb met a witch he fell in love with, so Philip killed him. Hunter and I were in Belos' memories and we saw paintings...they were pretty awful."
"Everything Belos told me about my family was a lie," Hunter says, "Even where I came from." All his friends' eyes are on him as he hesitates. He looks to Willow, "Should I tell them, Captain?"
"I only just found out," Willow replies, "Are you ready to tell them?"
"No, but I feel like I never will be," he answers.
"Then it's up to you. You don't have to."
"Can you give us a general idea?" Darius asks, "Especially if it'll help us in this fight?"
"I don't think it will," Hunter says, "But...well...." Camila takes his hand and gives it a squeeze, "Thanks," he says to her. He turns to the others, "Belos made us. All the Golden Guards. He killed the others when he said they betrayed him. That's what he raised me to be, and I was, until I ended up in his mindscape. He tried to trap me there. I wasn't meant to survive the Day of Unity, either." Everyone at the table is silent for a few seconds before Hunter continues, "It's been pretty bad trying to wrap my head around it."
Raine sets down their mugs and looks him in the eye, "Hunter, what do you mean he made you?" Hunter doesn't answer.
Camila looks around the table at the kids. Amity reaches around Edric to rest hand on Luz's shoulder. Luz fidgets with a pencil. Gus leans on Willow; he looks sad and she looks exhausted. And Hunter stares at the table, downcast, clearly struggling with his emotions.
"Let's let the kids take a break," she softly suggests, "You've asked a lot of them and they all look like they need it."
Raine nods, "I think that's a good idea."
The teens stand and head for the door, but Camila calls to them, "Come here, for just a minute." They do, though somewhat reluctantly. She stands and offers them each a hug, "I'm so proud of each and every one of you. You're so brave and strong, and I'm so happy you're part of my family. Take care of each other. I'll check to see if you need anything in a little bit." Gus sniffles when it's his turn for a hug and Hunter barely holds back tears, his breath shuddering as he rests his chin on her shoulder.
"Thanks, Camila," he whispers.
He steps back, turns abruptly around, and hurries out of the room. Gus quickly follows him.
Willow looks around the room at the adults, "Just...don't treat Hunter like there's something wrong because he's been the Golden Guard and all Belos did to him, please?" she asks. "He's just a kid."
Alador nods, "It's probably going to take a bit for some of the others to get used to this. He was Belos' closest-"
"And you built him weapons, Dad," Amity interrupts, "But they're willing to give you a chance. So do the same for Hunter. He's a big reason we were able to plan for the Day of Unity." She looks to Bump, "I know you were skeptical when Graye came to the school, but I think Hunter more than earned his place among us with everything he's done since."
Willow looks toward the door, "I'm going to go check on him."
Amity nods, "I'm not done yet. I'll be there in a minute." She turns back to the adults as Willow leaves, "Look...we lived together for months. He's got a lot to deal with, but he's a sweet guy. He's trying hard to unlearn the way he was raised and to be a better person. Let him."
Camila pats her arm, "Go take a rest, Amity, Luz. I'll be here to make sure they behave." She winks at the girls.
Luz smiles, "Thanks, Mom." She turns to Amity, "Come on. We should go figure out if there's anything we can do for the others."
After the teens are out of the room, Camila returns her attention to the table, "So...what else do you need to know?"
"With all this, what do we do?" Lilith asks. "I mean, clearly Hunter has been through things we can't imagine. Between whatever happened when Belos was raising him to his work as the Golden Guard...and what does he mean he was made?"
"He's not ready to talk about that," Camila replies, "I thought that was made fairly clear when he wouldn't answer." Lilith opens her mouth to protest, but a glare from both Camila and Eda closes it.
Darius nods, "He's had more to wrangle with than anybody should have to deal with...let alone a child."
"Just remember...all he wants is to be a normal kid, go to school, leave the Emperor's coven, and study wild magic. Whatever we do about Belos, it's going to feel really complicated to Hunter," Camila adds.
***
When Willow hurries out of the room, she searches the headquarters, quietly calling Hunter's name. She hears a reply from a large closet.
"We're in here, Willow," Gus says.
She stops at the closed door, "Can I come in?"
"Yeah," Hunter answers, "It's OK, Captain."
She smiles and opens the door, "Hi guys. Everybody OK?"
She sits down across from Hunter and Gus. There is a miniature illusion on the floor in front of them, a little snow storm in the woods with small creatures in it that peek out every so often. Hunter pokes the trees so he can watch the wolves Gus has made frolic in the snow. He smiles to himself.
Gus answers, "I'm OK. Hunter...well, he needed a distraction."
"Did anybody tell them I'm a...a Grimwalker?"
"No," Willow says, "Not while I was in there. But Darius looks really sad."
Hunter sighs, "Yeah...I need to talk to him about everything sometime. About what happened to all the Golden Guards. He deserves the truth."
"And you deserve to feel safe," Gus says, "So if you don't want to tell him yet, don't. You keep acting like the adults need to know everything right now and you're not allowed to keep things to yourself. Luz told us you talked to Raine and Darius last night. I overheard Eda mention she talked to you about some big stuff this morning. But you don't have to do that."
Hunter shakes his head, "That's not what I was taught. When an adult with power over you asks for information you give it, and you give it without hesitation. Otherwise...it just brings trouble."
Willow touches his hand as he reaches for the wolves, "Hunter...that was Belos. Nobody's going to hurt you if you need to wait to talk about something. Not Darius, not Raine, not Eda, or Lilith, or Steve. None of our parents. And you know Camila's gonna stand up for you if you need an adult to step in - she never pushed you to say anything you didn't want to."
He nods, "Yeah, I do. I just...being back here feels like I've got to act more like I used to. I know it won't happen, but I keep thinking Belos is going to find out. Raine and Darius are coven heads and they're going to say something and I'm going to get in trouble."
Gus gives Hunter a one-armed hug, "Hey...it's OK. Just remember...Camila's still here. She's like...your mom now, right? So just think about it this way - even if you're at another house, she's still making the place home. So you can relax and be yourself, even if you have a hard time doing that around the others."
Hunter smiles at him and then at Willow, "Thanks, guys. I got lucky finding you."
"We got lucky you found us," she says, "Flier derby brings people together."
He laughs, "It sure did."
Gus' stomach grumbles, "So...you want to go raid the kitchen for some snacks? We could smuggle some in for Amity and Luz."
"I don't know that I want to go back in there," Hunter says.
"Then I guess we just need to get Amity and Luz to come out. But I have a feeling Edric and Emira are going to want to stick to their sis. You OK with that?"
"Sure. If they're Amity's family, maybe they're OK."
"They'd better be cool," Willow says, "Or somebody's gonna get tangled up in plants real fast."
Gus laughs, "Or I could make the world disappear and stick 'em somewhere really weird. Show 'em a giraffe and scare them!"
Hunter grins, "Oh, that's not fair - you don't want to make them never want to visit the human realm."
Willow stands and offers both boys her hands. She helps them up at the same time. They collide, shoulder to shoulder, as they stand, all of them giggling together as the little illusion on the floor vanishes and they stumble out of the closet. They head to the kitchen and run into Amity and Luz gathering snacks with Edric and Emira.
Meanwhile, in the meeting, Eda turns to the others, "So...the kids have abandoned us. Think it's time for a break?"
"Just a few more minutes, then we will," Raine replies, "Let's just finish writing down everything we know about Belos...or Philip...and his brother. After that, we'll take a break and come back to trying to figure out how to defeat him. He seems like he can pretty easily handle a number of attacks at once. This is going to be more complicated than just going in all at once. And we still don't know how the Collector's going to fit in to all this."
Darius sighs, "Well...let's get to work. No sense in drawing it out. Then we most definitely need a break." He smiles, "Seems the kids had the right idea."
***
After their work is done, they adults file to the kitchen for snacks. They hear giggles coming from the closet.
Raine smiles, "It sounds like they've made a little hideout."
Eberwolf sniffs near the door, "And they have snacks."
Darius glances toward the kitchen, "I hope they left some for us...five teenagers can sure eat a lot."
Camila laughs to herself, "Tell me about it...these past few months, I've had six."
Alador nods, "I have three, so I can guess."
"I think it goes up exponentially, the more of them you have," Camila says, "Not just by the factor of how many there are."
He nods, "I'll believe that."
"So what I'm hearing," Raine says, "is we're going to need to stock up if we want to keep food in the kitchen when they're here."
Eda grins, "Oh, you have no idea, Raine, no idea...these kids, they're growing, they need all the snacks...but you're going to love it."
"I'm sure I will," they reply, "but right now...maybe we need to do a little organizing and tell them what they can or can't grab when they're hungry...we want to make sure we still have things on hand for making dinner!"
Eda turns to Lilith, "Well...you've got a better head for that than I do. Time to get organizing, sister."
Lilith sighs, takes a look around her, and starts directing the organizing of the kitchen.