The Owl House One-Shots (Revising)

Bad memory

TW: PTSD reactions, insomnic (I hope that's a word) episodes, abusive parental figures, an abusive ex wife mentions of a near death experience (which was kinda indirect su¡c¡de?)

(scroll so unread text is off of screen ° U ° can't have ya reading ahead, also this actually happened to me and my friends where we'd do this often, mostly to bet on who would fall asleep first but that's beside the point)

Alador shifted out of the bed he shared with Darius, who was in deep sleep, an unnatural thing for him. He walked to the living room to find Hunter walking around, completely awake and alert, but unaware of the presence behind him.

He put a hand on Hunter's shoulder, making him flinch and move from the hand, now realizing it belonged to his father. "Can't sleep?" He muttered.

"I-No." 

"Me either kid." He said with a reassuring smile.

"Yeah." 

Alador's smile faded.

"Would you like to talk about it?"

"About what?" Hunter stuttered a bit, confused by the sudden question, as he felt a bit targeted.

"Oh. My apologies, I assumed something was wrong." He shrugged, not wanting to intrude.

"Well, you're not wrong." He admitted, looking down at the ground slightly.

"Here, sit." He said, gesturing to the couch where they usually sat as a family.

Both sat, and Alador allowed Hunter to talk whenever he was ready.

"Do you ever feel like there's this person's memory haunting you?" Hunter asked with a rather hopeful tone.

"Actually, I do."

"Hm. Well, do you remember the first time we actually 'met' ?"

"Vividly. That day lives horribly in my mind. You had less scars, and I could've sworn you didn't have brown eyes." He was desperately trying to think about the incidental day that had happened almost a year ago.

"Well, that's actually a funny story." 

"Oh?"

"Well, when I was the golden guard, I was sent on a mission to capture some of the last Palismen from Hexside, the mission went horribly when Luz crashed the airship. From there, I was trying to get my catch from Kikimora, but one of the Palisman had imprinted on me. It had bonded with me." He paused, tears daring to fall, his breathing becoming uneven and shallow.

"Take your time, Hunter. It's ok if you aren't ready to tell."

He took a few deep breaths like Gus had shown him back when Adrian Gaye had infiltrated Hexside.

"Well, After a few missions, I was able to wield Flapjack properly, and he was my best friend. But, when we made it to the human realm, I don't know how it happened, the goop must've dropped onto my shoulder as we crossed the threshold to the portal room (it did check King's tide istg it's true) and he must've gotten in that way, because one day I cut my finger on this sewing contraption Camila showed me, and I don't even know, he had to have entered through there, because he-he" tears flooded down Hunter's face. "He was under my skin. He was eating away at my flesh, like a plague. An-and when flapjack tried to save me, -he laughed a bit.- that son of a b***h cracked his fragile body open like a Goreberry." *A manic smile grew on Hunter's face, Alador looked at his son with deep concern, "And, I tried to kill him, I tried to drown that bastard in the lake, but I almost drowned myself in the process! -he was still laughing a bit, like that was the only way he could fight the pain-

"Camila dragged me out of the lake, and Flapjack gave his life so I could live. But-" the tears came back. "His voice still haunts me, he haunts my dreams, and it feels like he's still there, still under my skin. If you could even call it that" his voice was uneven, and his hands talked a lot with the story.

"I see. Funny thing, My ex wife Odalia haunts my nightmares too."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Titan, she was horrible. She would work me for hours, even days on end, and, might I say, I didn't have a weekend for 5 years! Now, that's nothing compared to your treatment, but it was hard working for hours on end without sleep! She once had me stay up for nearly a week just to make a beta design for a product we wouldn't make for until 2 years later!" His hands shot up, he was visibly pissed off.

"That's horrible."

"I passed out to sleep on our anniversary once. And then again on Amity's 13th birthday. The worst thing was, I loved her so much, I couldn't fail her! But as time grew on, it dwindled and, divorcing her was the hardest decision I'd made, yet the best ever."

"I get it. Leaving the coven hurt terribly, but I carried on and, if I'm honest?"

"Both Belos and Odalia can go **** themselves." Alador finished, knowing exactly how Hunter felt.

Hunter was startled by the sudden swearing. He was a calm and collected man, he'd never heard him swear once. He couldn't help but let out a laugh.

"What?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I just never thought I'd hear you swear like that" he snickered.

"Oh." Alador began to laugh as well. These kinds of nights continued for days on end, where neither would sleep, and they'd mostly talk the night to morning. 

One night however, was one of regret. 

Hunter and Alador, as usual had made their way to the living area, and they went off on the most random things. Darius hadn't been sound asleep this time, he was having a nightmare of his own. He shot up and looked over to find Alador's spot on the bed empty and for some reason, the pillows were perfectly in tact, as well at the sheets. Suspicious as to where Alador was, he walked out to see Amity suspicious to the noise coming from The two as well.

"What's going on?" Her light voice rang out.

"Oh! Mittens! Sorry to wake you up, we were just" Alador was trying to find an excuse but gave up quickly 

"Darling, what is going on?" Darius groaned, his head pounding.

Hunter sighed, a sigh that could easily be interpreted as 'well, we're screwed' without words being spoken.

With a hint of shame, the two explained they'd been talking late at night to avoid memories they hated. Both were extremely tired and exhausted from staying awake for so long Amity's expression grew cold and shameful as well, and she admitted herself she'd been staying up to avoid nightmares of Odalia and the day of unity and such. Darius sat there, horrified at how much these 3 people carried on their shoulders. Amity was 15, Hunter 17, and both had escaped death once or twice in the past years. He knew Alador wasn't all okay himself, but he'd never expected this from any of them. He was on the verge of tears, lost in his mind when he heard something that broke all three of them from Amity.

"Y'know, I'd always seen fantasy as an outlet to my problems, but I'd need a trilogy to explain how messed up my childhood was, Haha." She tried her best to laugh it off, but she couldn't take it. They were all crying at this point, and they ended up falling asleep where they sat, not a single dream touched any of them.

"You really care about this family, Huh?"

*chirp chrip chirp chirp chirp*

"I understand. I'd do anything as well to help keep nightmares from King's mind."

*chirp chirp*

"18, 19, 20! Ready or not, here I come!"

"Oh goodness. He's coming."

End :D that's 1250 words of story+warnings  right there folks. Anyways Byeeeeeee