Everyone Needs Love, Even a Bad but Sad Boy

Labyrinth Runners

Hunter had been spending the last few days in the C.A.T.T.s secret hideout for the time being or until the Day of Unity came. It wasn't like he didn't like being with Darius, Raine, or Eberwolf, he just misses his uncle. Although he did learn one new thing, Darius was actually married to Alador Blight. Turns out, Alador's family forced him into an arranged marriage with Odelia just for the family business. Even when he told his parents that he was gay, they didn't care, and they didn't want him to be associating with someone like Darius. Darius and Alador were dating all through Hexside but they still kept their relationship a secret after the forced marriage.

After the twins and Amity were born, he couldn't stand being with Odelia; especially with how she treated their children. So, he and Darius were secretly married but Alador couldn't tell his kids since he was also secretly a rebel. Hunter met Alador when he walked in on one of their meetings for their next step. Hunter wanted to help but Darius told him that he should just stay here where it's safe. But Hunter wasn't going to just sit here and hide away while his uncle was in trouble.

"Actually. There is something Hunter can do. According to some scouts, Headwitch Graye is planning to put sigils on every Hexside student before the Day of Unity. Hunter could go there and help the students." Raine suggested.

Hunter begged for Darius to let him go to Hexside to help. Darius reluctantly agreed to let Hunter go then Hunter ran out like grease lightning. "I'm gonna regret this." Darius muttered.

"At least he'll be safe." Alador assured Darius before the two shared a kiss.

Hunter arrived at Hexside but he saw a ship parked outside the school, he realized that Graydin and some scouts were already here. He peeked through the window of the gym to find all the students surrounded by scouts and Graye was there too. He had Gus and he was about to put a sigil on him. Gus freaked out then his eyes started glowing and a giant illusion. Hunter quickly teleported inside, pushed Graye and grabbed Gus and dragged him out of the gym. They ran and ran until the illusion set to Bonesburrow which made things a little confusing.

Hunter turned to Gus to see if he was ok, but he noticed something off; one of Gus's eyes was still glowing. Gus knew that his spell was still active, but he didn't know how to fix it, he never made an illusion this big before. "If we're still in Hexside, then we should find a teacher. Maybe they'll know how to fix it." Hunter stated as they started walking.

"Hunter, thanks for saving me back there. But I thought those guys work for you." Gus said.

"Not anymore. I left the coven. That's all I can..." he got cut off right when he tripped and fell down some real steps.

Gus helped him up, but he was also curious by what Hunter meant by him left the Emperor's Coven. Some scouts spotted them then Hunter attacked them. One of the scouts used their abomination goo to grab Hunter then trap Gus in some vines. When the scouts saw who Hunter really was, they let him go. "The emperor sent out a search party for you. He's been worried sick." One of the scouts explained.

Gus noticed some goo at the bottom of his feet then he got an idea. He started tracing a fire glyph while the scouts weren't paying attention. Gus activated the glyph which made the scouts move out the way, giving Gus and Hunter time to run. Gus and Hunter ran to Gus's secret room and hid there from the scouts. Hunter started having a full-blown panic attack, he was having a hard time breathing. Gus saw that Hunter was panicking so he kneeled down and showed Hunter a breathing technique, inhale for four seconds then exhale for four seconds. Hunter mimicked what Gus was doing for a bit until he calmed down.

Gus asked Hunter why he ran away from the coven in the first place. Hunter ended up telling Gus everything about his uncle, the memories, even about how his uncle and his brother were merged together, and that Caleb had taken complete control over their body. "Please don't tell anybody else." Hunter begged.

"You can trust me. But I still don't get why you saved me from getting a sigil." Gus spoke.

Hunter pulled his glove off to reveal the sigil of the emperor's coven on his wrist. "Is that...?"

"A sigil? Yeah. My uncle didn't want me to have one and after seeing what Caleb plans to do. I now know why. But not everyone was pleased to see the Golden Guard without a sigil."

"So, how did you get it?"

"Graye. He saw that I wasn't wearing one and I told him that the emperor requested that I didn't need a sigil to prove that I was a part of the coven. But he had some scouts pin me and then he branded me with a sigil. I was always afraid to tell my uncle about my sigil, so I kept it hidden."

Gus and Hunter left the room, and they made their way through the illusion completely. Gus spotted Willow who said that she was looking everywhere for Gus, but something threw Hunter off. He took out his staff and aimed it at Willow who was acting scared. "That's not the captain. Have you ever seen her play, Flyer Derby? There's no way she'd be afraid of me." Hunter claimed.

They heard Graye then the illusion fell revealing a scout instead of Willow. Graye looked very pissed; Hunter and Gus tried to get away, but Hunter stopped when he saw Belos facing him. Graye grabbed Gus and pinned him then kicked Hunter to the ground and put his foot on Hunter's back to keep him from getting up. Graye dropped the illusion to reveal two other scouts. The scouts grabbed Hunter, but he fought against them, making it harder for them to grab him. He then charged at Graye and tried to grab Gus, but the scouts held him back.

"I won't let you get away with this Graye!" Hunter shouted.

"And you're supposed to scare me? A powerless witch? I'm sure Caleb will be pleased to know that you survived this long." Graye said with a smug look.

Hunter froze "You... You knew about...?

"Caleb? Who do you think told me to put that sigil on you in the first place? He needed a backup plan in case his brother ever betrayed him. And what do you know? He asked me to put that sigil on you, a sigil where he can control you if he wanted to."

Hunter immediately saw red, he fought against the scout but one of them used bard magic and everything went black. When he woke up, he saw Viney, Skaar, and Flapjack. He looked around and saw more students and teachers being treated for their wounds, including Willow. Viney explained that they were in the Healing Homeroom; she and Skaar found him being dragged away by scouts and they saved him. Though Principal Bump wasn't sure if Hunter could be trusted, thankfully, Willow vouched for him.

Hunter told Principal Bump that Graye would be in the gym with Gus, but they'll be heavily guarded. All the students and teachers charged for the gym taking on all the scouts. Then Hunter ran inside the gym to find Graye cowering on the floor and Gus was just sitting on the floor surrounded by magic. Willow and Amity ran inside too. "Gus is trapped in his head. And the others are being infected too." Willow explained.

Hunter ran to Gus but the second he touched the orb of magic; he saw flashbacks of what happened in his uncle's mindscape. He managed to snap out of it then made it through the magic and reached Gus. Gus kept using his illusions to keep him hidden but that only showed Hunter the number of times he was used or bullied. Hunter found Gus in an illusion of Gus's room then he sat down beside him. He told Gus that he knows what it's like to doubt yourself and hardly trust anyone. But he promised Gus that he wasn't going to do that to him.

He even tried to recreate the breathing technique, but he just ended up wheezing and whistling but it made Gus laugh. He snapped out of it then the illusion disappeared. Garye recovered quickly and almost grabbed Gus, but Hunter punched him right in the face, knocking him out cold. "I've been waiting three years to do that! And it felt good." Hunter claimed.

The scouts left and Gus got to keep Grayes' little magic amplifier. A lot of the students were asking Hunter about the Emperor's coven and the Day of Unity. So, he explained the whole truth to them.