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Eda decides right now, scraped and bruised and throughly out of breath, that she hates Titan Trappers. The damn things are everywhere.
They close in from all sides, forcing her group to retreat further and further back until they’re practically up against the wall. A burly witch at the front of the pack swings his staff at her and she darts away, flinching when her back hits the smooth marble of the Collector’s palace. Oh, she thinks. Oh, shit.
Eda scans this side of the room for any escape route besides the doors they came in from, which are decidedly not an option. The only way to retrace their steps is to bust through a horde of angry psychopaths and risk losing some of their own, which is just - nope. Not happening.
A few paces to her left, Raine swipes their bow across their violin and throws the first line of Trappers back with a wave of energy. In the corner of her eye, Lily sends a ball of fire hurtling through the crowd, her eyes narrowed behind the cracked lenses of her glasses. She focuses on them, and not on the Trappers or the gut-wrenchingly familiar skulls they’ve got strapped to their heads.
Eda isn’t losing anyone else.
(She can’t)
Raine kicks out a leg and nails a Trapper who had gotten too close in the eye. Their assailant crumples to the ground, and they turn to face her.
“Eda!” they shout to be heard over the din of the battle, looking guilty, “I’m sorry, but… we can’t-“
“Yeah,” she calls back, voice flat and defeated, “I know.”
They aren’t going to reach him today, and they probably won’t reach him tomorrow. They haven’t reached him in any of the twelve rescue missions they’ve attempted over the last five months. She swings Owlbert, hard , and the Trapper who made the stupid decision to target her doubles over, clutching their chest and wheezing. Eda grits her teach and her grip on her staff becomes white-knuckled.
She thought she’d eventually get used to this, the bitter sting of failure , but it’s like an ever-present noose around her neck.
(And it tightens with every day she spends away from her kids)
She failed, yet again, but she can throw herself a pity party later. Right now, the mob is closing in and she can tell from Lily’s frantic rifling through her pockets that she’s just about out of glyphs. Eda’s not any better off and Raine is maybe one frantic note away from snapping their violin strings and Trappers just keep pouring through the open door across the room and they need to get out of here.
And it’s in that moment, when they’re cornered and panicked and desperately wracking their brains for an escape, that Hunter finds them.
The Trappers are prowling towards them, grinning behind their skulls and raising their weapons for a killing blow. She clutches an ice glyph in one hand and raises Owlbert in the other. Raine lifts their violin to their chin, their bow hand shaking. Lily clenches her fists and readies herself to come down to blows if she has to, and wow if that doesn’t speak miles of how fucked they are.
She’s never been one to believe in divine intervention, usually scoffed at those who do, but she’s willing to toss all of that out of the Titan-damned window because some otherworldly assistance would actually be real nice right about now.
Eda takes a deep breath and thinks, this might be it.
There’s a flash of yellow light from above, in her peripheral vision. She barely has time to glance up before a fucking comet of energy slams into the mob.
And the world explodes .
***
When she lowers her arm from her face and opens her eyes, the Trappers that had been swarming in and ready to kill them only a few moments ago are sprawled across the ground in heaps. Some twitch and groan and attempt to right themselves. Others lay completely still.
Eda’s breath catches in her throat. The whole damned army is decimated.
And the culprit stands rigid, their back to her, taking in the carnage they’d caused.
And Eda feels a grin stretch their face because holy shit. Whatever that comet-thing is was a whole other level of powerful and if they’re friendly, if they’re willing to join the fight-
They might actually have a shot of winning this thing.
(She might actually see her kids again)
But then that blinding yellow energy fades away, leaving their savior in clear view, and any ideas jumping around in her head come to a grinding, staggering halt.
Because it’s not a weird comet of energy, or some crazily powerful demon, that saved them.
It’s a kid.
A very familiar kid.
Eda stumbles to her feet, eyes never leaving his back. He slowly, ever so slowly, turns to face her.
“Oh my Titan,” she breathes, reaching out a hand to the former Golden Guard, the traumatized child soldier who everyone was so sure had died .
“ Hunter?”
He doesn’t speak, doesn’t acknowledge her at all. He just stares.
His eyes are brown now.
And they are alarmingly blank.
***
The kid has changed a lot in the months since she last saw him.
Eda just stands there for a while, taking him in, her heart fluttering with hope because he was meant to be with Luz’s group on the Day of Unity, and they disappeared together, and if he’s here now then maybe-
(Maybe, maybe, maybe)
But that hope takes an immediate backseat when she looks at him, properly looks, and notices the scars.
Holy Titan, the scars.
They cover his arms and neck and snake up his face. They’re definitely fresh and whatever caused them must have been painful as hell and what the fuck happened to him?
“What the fuck happened to you?”
She’s already kicking herself before the words have fully left her mouth. Way to start the conversation, Owl Lady.
She expects him to reel back, affronted, but his expression doesn’t change. His mouth twitches, just the tiniest bit, but that horrible dead-eyed stare doesn’t falter. A distant sense of dread creeps up her spine.
Without a word, he spins on his heel and stalks off towards the door.
“Wha- Wait!” she calls, scrambling to catch up with him. She can hear Raine and Lily staggering to their feet behind her, but they sure are taking their time and the kid is moving away too fast and she’d really prefer it if they all stuck together, thank you very much.
He pays her no mind as she comes up behind him, focused on picking his way through the horde of unconscious soldiers he left in the wake of that blinding attack, and - woah. Since when could he do shit like that?
Eda chalks it up as something to ask about later and reaches out, grabbing his arm.
She immediately wishes she didn’t.
That blank expression disappears and he flinches , hard , darting away from her when she lets her hand drop. He glares at her, silently, his posture rigid and defensive and distrust radiating off him in waves. She raises her hands in surrender. Lowers her voice into something gentle, hopefully less threatening.
“Easy, kid. I not gonna hurt you, alright?”
He doesn’t relax in the slightest, but he doesn’t move away either, so she takes it as a win. She doesn’t want to push him - he’s obviously been put through enough - but she can’t afford to lose him either.
(He’s her only hope, is the depressing gist of it. If this kid knows something, anything , about where Luz is-
-Holy Titan, if he can tell Eda how to find her-
-She can’t afford to lose that)
“I’m not really sure what you did back there, but, uh, thanks,” she says, trying for a smile, “You really saved our asses, blondie.”
Hunter still doesn’t say anything. He nods once, curt, and then turns to leave again.
“Wait! Wait, wait, just- hold on a minute, okay? Hear me out.”
He raises an eyebrow. Still doesn’t speak.
(She remembers meeting this kid, so long ago, when his face was obscured by a golden mask and he wore his cloak with pride. Remembers when he was boisterous and bratty and self-assured, standing poised and professional and dropping witty remarks as easily as he spun that mechanical staff.
The difference is frightening)
“Look,” she starts, lowering herself slightly so she can look him in the eye, “You’ve clearly… been through a lot recently. And I’m not gonna pry!” she adds when he narrows his eyes, “You have a right to privacy, it’s none of my business, blah blah blah,”
“But, but! No one’s seen or heard from you - from any of you - in months. And I just have one teeny tiny question before you disappear again,” Her tone is pleading, desperate. She knows that, and for once isn’t embarrassed about it.
(Screw her pride. She just might find her kid today)
He doesn’t say anything. Just waits.
“Do you know where Luz is?” she rushes out.
And she knows, from the way Hunter straightens just a bit, something akin to fear flashing in his eyes, that he does.
Holy shit.
“Is she okay?” she presses, “Is she here? Are you with her?”
He shrinks back at the sudden questioning, eyes still narrowed in distrust, and Eda checks herself. Okay, okay. She wants to find Luz, needs to find Luz. But she won’t scare this kid into making that happen.
Hunter clenches his fists and she can’t deny that it hurts, that he thinks he needs to protect Luz from her. But there’s relief there, too.
(She had someone looking out for her, at least)
She takes a deep breath, and tries again.
“I just want to know where she is, okay, blondie?” she tries, looking him dead in the eye so that he can see how sincere she is, “That’s it. I just want- I just need to know she’s okay.”
She really hopes this is working. She really hopes he can see that she means it, that she’s not going to hurt his friend, that she cares.
(That she’s not like the world-class asshole adults he’s dealt with in the past)
He seems to soften, just the tiniest bit, at her words. He looks at her, really looks, scanning her posture up and down while seemingly lost in thought. Then he signs, heavily.
Eda holds her breath. He’s made up his mind.
Hunter speaks, for the first time today, “Okay.”
And the relief just about bowls her over.
“I’ll take you to her,” he continues, eyeing her reaction, “…She’s missed you.”
Eda nods frantically and gestures towards the door, “Lead the way, blondie,” she grins.
He turns and starts walking towards the door without another word. When Raine and Lily catch up to them, twin expressions of confusion on their face, she’s too excited to even mock them.
“Let’s move, guys,” she says, still grinning from ear to ear.
***
Hunter knows he made the right choice the second he and the Owl Lady step through the door. Luz jumps up from the couch they found in the middle of their temporary shelter, that angry kind of worry taking over her posture.
“Dios mío, Hunter, where the hell did you go-“
Then she glances behind him and freezes.
The Old Lady’s eyes fill with tears, worry and joy and relief all bleeding into her tone.
“Kid?”
He doesn’t catch the rest after that, choosing to lean against the wall with his arms crossed and give their tearful reunion some privacy. He can feel Lilith’s eyes on him from the other side of the room, and elects to ignore her.
Whispers types out a message on their scroll and vanishes it, turning to his friends and Camila - who had been drawn out by the noise earlier - with a smile, “We’ve contacted your families,” they say gently, “They’ll be here soon.”
The sounds of feet jumping off palisman staffs come from outside and his friends all jump up and rush for the door. Hunter doesn’t move. There’s no point, really.
(There’s no one coming to see him. He has Camila, and he had the genocidal maniac who called himself his uncle and then possessed him and murdered Fla-
Fury bubbles in his throat before he shoves it back down. Ah, no. Best not to go there)
His friends all collapse in relief and excitement and embrace their families. Hunter stays alert and on guard, waiting for any signs of a threat. He knows it’s irrational. His mind tells him that these people are his friends’ families , that they love them, that they would never try to hurt them, but-
His body says otherwise. He’s a soldier, always has been.
(He had family once, too. Look how that turned out)
Camila turns to him from where she’d been talking to Eda and her brow furrows in concern. He tries for smile, something confident and reassuring. It doesn’t work.
Hunter’s watching her start towards him when the door slams open again. It hits the wall with a resounding bang.
The room goes quiet. All eyes swivel to where Darius is now panting in the doorway. He ignores all of them.
His wide eyes never leave Hunter’s face.
***
Darius likes to consider himself a calm person. Measured and composed. He carefully chooses his words and actions and the only thing that really rattles him is when someone has the audacity to muddy his clothes.
But that composure goes flying out the window, now.
When he sees Hunter, leaning against the wall, scarred and battered and looking more like a soldier than a child but alive, something inside of him just collapses.
There are other people in the room, he knows that, children reuniting with their loved ones, but he pays them no mind. They don’t matter, not right now.
The child steps back when Darius starts towards him, confusion clear on his face, but freezes when he seizes his arms. He stays rooted to the spot as Darius scans him up and down, worry building and building in his throat the more he sees. When he speaks, it’s almost at a shout.
“Where in the Titan’s name have you been?! We searched that whole damn head and there was no sign of you! Not one! Where did you go? How did you survive? How-“ Darius takes in all the new scars and his breath catches, “These scars, oh my god, what happened?”
Hunter hasn’t moved, not once, since Darius opened his mouth. He stares at him, jaw slack, as if Darius has successfully rendered him immobile. His eyes are wide and unmoving.
It only scares Darius more.
“Did someone do this too you? Are they burns? How fresh are they, oh, do you need a healer? And these clothes , little Prince, what in the world-“
Hunter stops him right there. He finally speaks.
“What did you say?“
The words are so quiet they’re barely breathed out, but Darius catches them and stops. His gaze moves from those horrible scars on Hunters arms to his face. Those eyes - and they’re not red anymore, they’re brown now, when did that happen - stare unflinchingly into his own. The child is lax in his grip , just staring at him, shocked and so, so confused.
That won’t do, he decides.
Slowly, ever so slowly, his hand moves from Hunter’s wrist to gently cup his cheek. He really doesn’t know what he’s doing at this point, just… following an instinct.
(How his instincts led him to this, he ha s no idea , but he certainly isn’t to going to stop now)
“Little prince?”
And somehow, it’s that stupid old nickname that seems to break the dam. A single tear traces its way down Hunter’s cheek and his face just crumples.
Darius barely has time to reach out before the child is diving into his arms, bringing them both down to kneel on the ground. Without thinking, he wraps his arms around the boy’s thin frame and draws him close, until his face is pressed into Darius’ shoulder. The sobbing starts, muffled slightly by his cloak but still loud, loud and grief-stricken and heartbreaking .
His own vision blurs with tears. This poor fucking kid.
He clings desperately to the folds of his purple cloak, likes he’s worried he’ll let go if he doesn’t. Darius just holds him tighter.
“That’s it, let it out,” he whispers, running a hand up and down Hunter’s back, “I’ve got you, little prince.”
The child screams , raw and torn apart, and Darius vows right then and there that whoever hurt his kid so deeply, so irrevocably, is going to pay.
But that can come later. Hunter clearly needs a good, long breakdown, and he’ll be damned if he doesn’t get it.
So he sits there. He sits on the floor until his tailbone aches, with his arms wrapped tightly around shaking shoulders in a fierce, protective grip, and he lets Hunter cry.