The Owl House Oneshot Collection

Home Among the Stars

Word Count: 789

Originally Finished: 10/05/2022

Rating: General

Warnings: N/A

Characters: King, The Collector

Relationships: The Collector & King

Other Tags: Sad and Happy

Summary: The Collector and King take a break from playing to talk about the Collector's family

The Collector undid the restraints they used from keeping King from escaping and walked over to him.

"W-what do you want?" King nervously asked.

"Oh it's nothing, now come on!"

The Collector took King by the hand and led him out of the base he had made. They walked for a while until they reached the top of a tall hill.

"Why are we here? What about the game?"

"Don't worry about that, King. We can take a quick break. I just figured my new best friend should meet my family!"

King was suddenly filled with terror at the thought of more beings like the Collector, ones that are older and smarter and more powerful.

"Your...family? Like, the people you're related to?" King asked, just to be sure.

"Of course silly! Now lay down." The Collector said, sitting on the ground and patting the grass beside him.

King did as he was told and waited for some powerful beings to come or something, but nothing happened. They were basically just stargazing.

"So, uh, where are they?"

"Up there, silly!" The Collector said, pointing to the sky.

"The stars?"

"Yep! Those are all my brothers and sisters. Well, at least those are some of my brothers and sisters. Some of them you can't see. Either they're on the other side of the world, or too far away, or are busy flying around."

"Flying around? Like, shooting stars?"

"Yeah! You know the Wailing Star, right? That's one of my sisters! She...was the saddest when I left."

King saw the Collector's happy and carefree demeanor start to falter. He didn't know anything about their past, and was now more curious than ever.

"What do you mean left? You moved from the sky to here?"

"Yeah. I was just playing around one day and then..." he paused and even started to tear up a little, "I didn't mean to hurt him. She was just in the way. He wasn't supposed to..."

The Collector trailed off. King felt like he should back off because they were clearly sensitive about this subject, but he just had to know more.

"Who are you talking about?"

"You ever wonder why the moon looks like a skull?" The Collector chuckled as he wiped away a tear, "Yeah, mom wasn't pleased, so she sent me here. I thought that, just maybe, if I could get a game to go right, mom would let me come home. I tried to play but then I was captured. Phillip was my best chance, then he betrayed me. You're kinda my last hope at getting back to my family."

King stared at them as they stayed looking up to the sky. He felt bad for them. Even after everything he's done, it was still sad.

King looked back up to the sky, thinking of what he could say that might give them some solace.

"I don't know anything about my mom, or if I even have one. I never got to meet my dad. You're lucky, in a way. You know who and where your family is. You're just...away."

The Collector took a few shaky breaths then starts sobbing. They curled up into a fetal position, facing away from King. King had no idea what to do. This being that is basically a god and is the reason all these horrible things are happening, is just laying down and crying. Hesitantly, King sat up and reached over, lightly running his paw through their hair. He knew that getting head pats soothed him, so it was worth a shot.

The Collector suddenly turned over and pulled King into a tight hug. He was taken aback, but still hugged him back, letting them cry into his fur.

They eventually calmed down and set King back down then wiped away the tear streaks on his face. King just sat and watched as they tried to steady their breathing.

"That girl. The one who tried to stay with you." The Collector softly said, picking at the grass, "She's like your family. And you're like hers. And now, she's far away and you have no way to get to her."

They sighed and stood up. King was a bit confused but stood up as well.

"This...isn't a fun game anymore. Can you help me?" The Collector asked, holding out a hand.

"Help you with what?"

"I need to fix all of this. Put it all back. And I need some of your blood. Even if I can't go home, I can get you back with your family."

King took their hand and they went back to where the Titan's head used to be, ready to get everything back to how he remembered his home.

A/N: In case anyone is confused, The Collector uses He/They, the sun uses She/Her, and the moon uses She/His. I decided to make the moon use She/Her and He/His pronouns because within mythology and such, the moon is portrayed as male and female depending on the culture.