Da Goobers :3

Da goobers :3

Day 11 June of Doom: I'm not okay (alternative prompt) (mentions of death and abuse)

Luz took Hunter's hand in hers, dragging him out of the house. "H-hey! I don't wanna-" he squeeked, but was cut off by Luz rolling her eyes.

"You've been hiding inside all day Hunter, you need to touch some grass." She said with a hint of sarcasm, but her intent was genuine.

Hunter groaned, running a hand down his scarred face as Luz yanked him out the door and shut it with her foot behind them.

"And, there's a pretty place I've been meaning to show you near the lake anyways." Luz rambled, holding on firmly to Hunter's wrist, him stumbling to keep up.

It had been a week since everything ended. Since they got back to the demon realm, since they finished off Belos for good. And it had been... hectic, to say the least.

Camila had given Luz the weak off from school to help out with fixing the Boiling Isles, Vee easily filling in for her while she got her bearings and tried to fix things up. It would be a lot of work with the condition the place is in...

Hunter had been helping too obviously. Using the newly made portal, curtly of King, he had been switching between staying with Darius and Camila. He loved his friends and the Boiling Isles, just... too many memories for him to process at the moment.

He tried to keep up as Luz scampered down the diety path towards the lake hidden in the forest behind the shed. Hunter remembered him and his friends came down here while they were stuck in the human realm, playing around in the water and having a picnic by the side.

The thought of being remotely near water sent a shiver up his spine. Thankfully Luz took to a different route which included climbing up a steep slope. Thankfully, due to Hunter's experience and Luz's adventurous nature they both managed fine getting up the slope.

Luz gently pulled him over to an overlook of the lake. The view was beautiful, the view of the forest and lake below them.

"It's... beautiful." Hunter murmered, his eyes shinning slightly. Luz glanced over at him with a small smile. He hadn't shown much positive emotion since he was possessed and...

Luz sat down in the soft green grass, brushing a hand through the small wild flowers and ground cover. Hunter copied her, sitting down pressing his back gently against hers.

Both looked out at the scenery, birds twittering to one another, the wind brushing through the trees. Both Luz and her brother were just wearing socks, having run out of the house without another thought.

Hunter had been acting really disconnected since the Halloween hayride, since Belos took him over, since he killed Flapjack. Of course he was happy, Belos was gone! It was finally over, him and his friends, they could live peacefully now!

So why was that pit of guilt gnawing at his heart feeling worse than before? Why did he just want to sleep all day, yet he never slept because of the nightmares that plagued him.

"Hunter... you've been acting odd lately. I-... I know it's been hard... I just, are you doing alright?" Luz murmered, glancing back at him a bit worriedly.

There was a long period of silence where neither spoke. Hunter contemplated the question. Was he alright? He should be. Everything was far better than before, the Boiling Isles was saved! So why did he feel so terrible, like something was missing?

Luz nudged him in the back gently. "Hunter?" She questioned, leaning her head back a bit to look at him better.

Hunter dug his nails into his palms. He should keep it hidden. She shouldn't have to worry, she's already been through so much. But Camila's words rang in his head, "Refusing help may hurt them more in the end".

"I-... I'm not okay..." he murmered. Another pause.

"So much has happened... i- I should be happy, shouldn't I? We finally defeated Belos, we're safe now... but somethings eating at my heart a-and it hurts and I know it shouldn't but-" Hunter cut himself off when Luz took his hand in her own, giving it a gentle squeeze of reassurance.

"Take it easy Hunter. I get it, it's alright." She said gently. "You... didn't get much time to process Flapjack's death... it makes sense that it hurts..." she said gently, resting her head against his.

"It'll take a while to feel alright again... losing someone hurts, and the grief won't go away... but with time, it'll be easier." She said, shutting her eyes.

Hunter sighed quietly, tearing up a bit. "I don't want to burden you all... w-we have to fix the Boiling Isles, and I just-" Luz cut him off with a gentle squeeze to his hand.

"Don't worry Hunter..." she said gently, opening her eyes and gazing out at the view.

"We have all the time in the world"

@juneofdoom

Day 9 June of Doom: I made a mistake (blame) (mild blood, self blaming, live experimentation)

Hunter couldn't sleep. He never really did. In the emperors coven he got back late, woke up early, and would spend all night researching on wild magic, or palisman, or anything really that caught his interest at the time. And now, even in the human realm, he can never seem to get much rest, though more from horrific nightmares and sleep paralysis than from not having the time for his own interests.

He didn't expect anyone else to be up at two in the morning, maybe Luz but no one else. So when he quietly padded up the stairs into the kitchen he was suprised to see Vee in there. It had been a week or two since the group got stuck in the human realm, and he distinctly remembered Vee's kindness towards everyone until she got to him. She wasn't directly rude, more of just ignored him.

And she had every right to. Belos had personally made Vee's life a living hell for her entire life, keeping her locked in cages, doing terrible experiments on the poor basalisk and her other counterparts. And as Belos's right hand man at the time, he had went along with it. Hunter couldn't recall ever directly hurting the basalisks, but sitting back and watching and not lifting a single finger to help was enough to give her all the reasons to hate him.

Due to not expecting Vee to be up the sight of her frightened him a bit, prompting him to squeek quietly before covering his mouth. Vee quickly turned around with a frightened look, before a more annoyed one took over. She was in basalisk form in the moment, which she seemed much more comfortable with since being in Vee doppelganger form took magic which they had limited sources of.

They both stared at each other silently for a moment, Hunter's bright magenta eyes glowing faintly in the dark, a trait of being a grimwalker. He opened his mouth to say something, but Vee got to it before he could utter a single word.

"...what are you doing here"

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Vee tossed and turned, but couldn't figure out how to get comfortable tonight, which was odd since she normally slept like a baby. Her stomach growled hungrily, prompting a frown from Vee. While she ate human food since it tasted good, for sustenance she really needed magic. She had limited hexes holdem cards left but since she was feeling particularly famished tonight she decided to creep down the stairs to grab a couple. She reached up to grab them when she heard a squeek behind her.

The basalisk immediately wiped around, a bit spooked. Who would be up at this time in the morning? Who she was met with, however, made sense considering the prominence of the boys eyebags and his constant tiredness. Her gaze quickly turned to a glare as she recognizes the Golden Guard in the darkness, his eyes glowing faintly and that odd palisman-like magic scent clinging to him.

Vee had to admit she hated "Hunter" as the others called him. No matter his name, it didn't change his status. The Golden Guard. No matter if Belos was gone, he would always be the Golden Guard in her eyes. The things Belos had done, the torture he had put her and her comrades through, driving them to insanity, experimenting until they were husks of their former selves. And he had watched. He had just, *watched* with those eery magenta eyes, stared as guards beat them.

How did he expect her to just, let him stroll on into *her* house and take away *her* space and break into *her* life!? Why was he even here? Why did the others trust this monster!? "What are you doing here" Vee snarled coldly. She watched as the Golden Guard hesitated, glancing down at the floor than back. "I-... I couldn't sleep-" he murmered. Vee cut him off before he could finish.

"No. Why are you *here*? You trying to gain our trust than kill us in the middle of the night? Betray us? Well jokes on you. I'm not falling for it. Try and hurt *any* of my friends and ill-" it was Hunter's turn to cut her off. "I w-wouldnt hurt any of our friends, I swear! I'm not here for that, i..." he trailed off.

Vee's eyes narrowed into snake-like slits. "What. Basalisks got your tongue?" She hissed. Hunter fidgetted with his hands, keeping his stupid magenta gaze on the floor. "...I'm sorry" he murmered. Vee froze. Sorry? Sorry!? He thought a simple sorry could fix the hurt she endured?! Hunter took a step forward closer to her, causing her to bristle.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry I didn't do anything... I never meant to hurt you, a-and if I could give back and-" he was cut off by Vee yet again. "You *can't* go back and fix it. You hurt me. You hurt *us*. You worked for that snake of an emperor and you never lifted a finger to help!" She snapped, slithering towards him do he shrunk back a bit. She wasn't sure why, but him, here, alone, thinking he could just apologize, made all of her suppressed anger and hatred bubble up.

"V-Vee I didn't know better, i-i-" Hunter's sentence cut off into a yelp of fear when Vee lunged forward and pinned him against the wall, baring her sharp basilisk teeth at him. "I don't want your excuses! You hurt me, y-you hurt everyone! You don't deserve this" she snarled, her sharp claws digging into his arms. For some reason he didn't fight back, just let himself be hurt like this. "I could drain your magic right now, I could claw you bit to bit, so give me one good reason I shouldn't Golden Guard!" She hissed, feeling his warm blood on her claws as her nails broke through his skin.

The Golden Guard stared up at her, his gaze filled with guilt and sadness. "...I have none" he responded quietly. "There is no reason not to. I hurt you... I hurt everyone... I have no reason to deserve your pity..." she listened as he muttered. Something about his tone, about the way he was just, letting her hurt him. She glared at him, before punching him square in the face and letting him go, slithering back a pace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hunter squeeked quietly in suprise as Vee's fist made contact with his nose and he could immediately feel blood start to leak from his nose, his cheek aching where she had initially made contact. He put a hand to his cheek, before moving it to his nose to try and catch the blood, not wanting to get blood on the floor in fear of punishment.

"Your a monster" Vee hissed, but her tone had lowered and it seemed her anger was fading. "I know." He responded quietly. Hunter knew what he did was cruel, borderline evil, even if he didn't have much choice. He knew he deserved the punch to the face, the blood her could feel slowly running down the side of his arm. "...you should be glad I'm not like you. If I were some... some *killer*, like you and Belos and all those freaks, I would have drained your magic clean, right there." Vee said, hatred in her voice.

Hunter simply looked up at her. For what he had done, this was a very tame punishment. He had hurt people. Killed people. Tortured, maimed, he deserved to be cut limb for limb and hung to die. Vee's gaze faltered slightly. "...I'm done with this... just leave me alone!" She huffed, grabbing the couple cards she needed from the fridge before quickly slithering back up the stairs to her and the girls room.

He waited until she was completely gone to sight heavily, his eyes tearing up slightly. Hunter quickly wiped them away. He didn't deserve to cry. Hunter walked over and grabbed some tissues to stop his bloody nose, putting bandages over the small puncture wounds on his arms where Vee had dug her claws into his skin. He took a shaky breathe, trying to calm the guilt clawing at his heart, the regret berating his mind with every thought.

With that he went back down to the basement, glad to find Gus still asleep as Hunter curled up back in his sleeping bag, trying not to cry. He deserved worse than this. Every word Vee had said was true. Even if he didn't know better, even if he was still a child, even if he was severely misled and manipulated. He shouldn't have hurt her. Them. Everyone.

Hunter swore to not tell the others about last night, making up the excuse he fell as to why his nose was bruised and his arms were scraped up.

@juneofdoom

Thanks for le tag :3

No pressure tags <3 @wallofmoth @acearcane @mymelodyisme @aspenonpawzzz @cheeriofluff @blella anyone else :3

Not me having some kinda type... Who shall I tag? I think I wanna tagggggg... @mybugsmybugsmybugs @mexicangela @lunar-years @biscuitboxpink but no pressure!! I just thought it would be fun!

Day 8 June of Doom: This is your last chance (drowning) (tw death, drowning, body horror, sUicide(?))

No, no no no! Hunter frantically tried to claw his way through the mounds of mud eating away at his mind, but no matter what he couldn't free himself. Like he was trapped in how own mind, forced to watch as he hurts his friends. He felt the pain throughout his body like a thousand fire bees stinging him all at once, like a slitherbeast tearing him open and eating him from the inside. Hunter could feel the mucky trendels digging their way under his skin, slithering through his veins and wrapping their way around his galdorstone heart.

But he could say nothing. Do nothing. Just suffer in this husk of himself, watching in horror and Belos's control forced him to launch Vee backwards with one of his now terribly distorted arms. He watched through a lens of blue as Flapjack allowed Luz to use him, and his sister launched herself at Hunter before wrapping the boy in a tight hug.

"I know you can hear me! Fight, him, off!" Luz pleaded. Hunter tried to struggle against the goop again but it just tightened its grip amount his skin, around his mitchmatched organs from being a grimwalker. Posessed Hunter threw Luz off him almost into the water, causing Hunter to try even harder to regain control of his mind again and escape this mucky prison of horror and pain.

Then he saw Flapjack. Pecking around the twisted horns on his head that dug into his skull, tweeting frantically in a frail attempt to help. Hunter pleaded the stupid bird would get away, before Belos could do anything with Hunter's body to hurt the bird. But it was too late. He watched in utter horror through those tinted blue eyes as he grabbed Flapjack tightly, prompting a pained squeek from the poor bird.

"You wouldn't want me hurting your precious palisman, would you?" He hissed in that demented half Belos half Hunter voice. "Oh wait. I don't care, what you want. Goodbye Evelyn." He said coldly, before his fist tightened around the palisman and a terrible cracking sound of Palistrome wood cracking and snapping echoed across the clearing.

No. He just... Belos just... with an extra strong push through the muck Hunter regained partial control, fighting against himself and letting the poor bird go who weakly glided over to Luz. Hunter could feel the goop eating at his skin like acid, any part the terrible muck claimed burning like a thousand fairy bites.

Hunter fought ferociously against Belos's control, run by sorrow and fury at Belos for everything he's done, all the *people* he has hurt. He needed to end this, once and for all. This was his last chance. Once the boy had regained control, it took more willpower than he normally had. But he persisted. He had to end this. Even if it killed himself in the process.

"You know what I'd like Belos?" Hunter hissed through gritted teeth, taking a shuddering step forward towards the edge of the water. "I'd like to leave the Emperor's coven, a-and never step foot in that throne room again! I'd like to study wild magic and carve palisman. I'd like to attend Hexside, as a regular student, and play flyer derby with my friends!" Hunter shouted, stumbling forward and falling to his knees at the edge of the water, his control over his own body starting to flicker again. He grabbed the titans blood vial in his trembling hand.

"But most of all, I'd like to make sure you never, hurt anyone, again!" He snarled, hurling the titans blood into the water in front of him. Hunter was immediately shoved out of control painfully, Belos's rage easily taking back over as he bellowed "No!"

Hunter knew he couldn't swim. That was proven when Luz had tried to bring the hexsquad to the "pool" and Hunter had almost drowned, thank Titan Willow was there. Hunter also knew Belos would go after the titans blood, no matter what. This was the only way he could finish this, once and for all. Kill Belos, and take himself out in the process.

Belos, still in full control of Hunter's body, lunged forward and dove into the water. Then he sunk. Then he felt water fill his stonesleeper lungs. His vision darkened at the edges, and if he did regain any control at all it didn't matter. Hunter only had one thought before everything plunged into darkness, and he finished his final mission.

Im ready.

@juneofdoom

Not gonna be able to finish Day 11 June of Doom today so I'll post it tomorrow, long story, but here's a sneak peak of the art :3