It's a Long Way To Dearest Gravesfield

Chapter 15: Return to Hexside

Luz and Hunter walk to Hexside Academy, Eda accompanying them. Hunter has decided to talk to Principal Bump about starting classes.

Amity, Willow, and Gus wait outside the building for them so they can walk in together. They already have class schedules and have marked which ones they have together. Gus hand Luz an envelope with hers and she tears it open, excited to compare with her friends. They wave their goodbyes to Hunter and Eda and head to class.

Eda walks with Hunter to Principal Bump's office. Hunter is clearly nervous, his breathing quick, hands fidgeting with the hem of his shirt.

"Hey...don't run away on me now, OK?" Eda says.

Hunter nods, "I think I'm more likely to pass out or throw up."

"That I can handle," she replies, "And it wouldn't be the first time I was with someone who threw up in Bump's office."

"Oh?"

"I'll have to tell you that story sometime. I tried to prank Lily and everything went pretty horribly wrong. There was a lot of vomiting involved and several students had to go home due to the smell permeating the hallways."

"Vomit smell?"

"No...the spell had a unique stench that caused the vomiting. It wasn't pretty. But now that I know what went wrong, I also know I can make a pretty good stink bomb and get people in large crowds to throw up simultaneously."

Hunter shakes his head, amused, "Eda, sometimes I wonder about you."

"I always wonder about me – join the club."

They reach the office and Principal Bump meets them at the door, "Please, come in and have a seat." They do and he settles in across the desk, "I didn't expect you to come into the school, Edalyn."

"Well here I am. Figured I'd walk my kids in for the first day back."

He looks at her, puzzled by her statement, but she doesn't explain; he addresses Hunter, "So...I've been told you have an interest in multi-track studies."

He nod, "Yeah. I want to study wild magic."

"We tend to encourage our students to specialize in one or two tracks, but because none of them have coven sigils, no one has their magic sealed away and they're able to explore other areas as they discover their interests."

"Is it a problem if we do have a coven sigil?" Hunter asks, his hand covering his wrist.

Principal Bump raises an eyebrow, "I didn't see yours when you walked in."

Hunter takes off his concealment stone and sets it on the desk, revealing the sigil and his scars, "I keep some things hidden. You can probably figure out why."

He nod and summons his Palisman staff, the demon Palisman on his head hopping over to it, "Frewin covers my scars, so yes, I understand. He helps me see, but I do admit that having him there also avoids some rather intrusive questions." He leans his staff up against his desk. "But for now, I'll leave him be."

Hunter sighs with relief and smiles, "Yeah...you get it."

Principal Bump smiles kindly at him, "This won't be easy work – you'll have a lot of catching up to do, I assume. I'm going to guess your education was likely more tailored to your role in the Emperor's Coven than academic."

Hunter shrugs, "Sort of. I was told my whole life that I came from a long line of magicless witches, but it turns out that's not true." He concentrates and very carefully draws his circle of light in the air, "That's all I know how to do right now. I don't have a Palisman, I don't have the staff Belos made for me that allowed me to do magic. Luz has been showing me glyphs, but I'm having a hard time remembering all the different combinations. Some of them make sense, but others...it's tricky, and I'm not used to it. I'm hoping I can figure out how to use whatever magic comes from me, though, even if it's not much."