The Owl House Oneshot Collection

Prodigy, Yet Powerless

Word Count: 1,182

Originally Finished: 10/05/2023

Rating: General

Warnings: N/A

Characters: Gus Porter

Relationships: N/A

Other Tags: Broken Bones, Crying, Self-Hatred, Physical Whump, Emotional Whump, Whumptober

Summary: Before all the reconstruction of the isles could begin, there were more simple tasks that had to be handled, such as debris removal so reconstruction could begin. Gus went out to help with debris removal, assuring the temporary authorities that he wouldn't do anything he couldn't handle. And he didn't. But that didn't mean that accidents couldn't happen.

A/N: Yet again, this is a whumptober oneshot. Prompt: Debris, Pinned Down (Also, this is the 50th oneshot posted here. Yay!)

Gus couldn't move.

Even if he could, he wouldn't dare. It was too risky.

Trapped underneath rubble that had fallen as he tried to help.

Tried so hard.

He should have been able to handle it. To not screw up. And he was able to! He did exactly what he was supposed to. He was to scout out some buildings crushed under debris made during the Day of Unity and Belos' possession of the Titan and report back with how bad things were.

But he screwed up.

That was the only explanation, a mistake that he made. Something he overlooked, neglected, simply failed to see as he explored one of the many buildings.

Not only that, but he wouldn't be trapped if he hadn't been so arrogant as to say that a prodigy like him didn't need an escort, even with his young age.

And yet there he was, trapped because he made the mistake of leaning against a wall he should have known was unstable. Not a single person around in such a wide radius. The area was considered dangerous, after all. People weren't supposed to go into Bonesborough or any of the other major cities unless given express permission.

Like he was.

Trying to move as little as possible, Gus still wanted to check to see if he had broken anything. Carefully tensing up various muscles in a slow, painful process, he found that he had broken a leg, sprained an ankle, broken some ribs and probably had one of them puncturing his lungs, and had done something he couldn't pinpoint to mess up his right wrist. He probably had bruising in various places and could barely see from dust in his eyes, but that wasn't nearly as bad as all the broken bones.

He couldn't hope to draw any spell circles with his right hand and his left hand was almost entirely pinned down, only the tips of his fingers able to move.

Gus tried pressing up against the rubble, trying to get at least some of it off of him. It moved up ever so slightly and, for just a moment, Gus had hope.

He could escape.

He could ignore the searing pain that made him scream and cry, cry from agony and all the dust in his eyes and the burning hatred for himself getting into such a preventable situation.

But it wasn't enough.

He wasn't strong enough.

Gus couldn't push up anymore and the rubble fell back down on him, making him yell a sharp, sudden scream as all the broken bones got even more pressure put on them.

He regretted not taking up Willow and Hunter's offers of joining their little workout group with them, Viney, and Amity. He had brushed them off so easily, saying that his brains and illusions made up for his lack of physical strength. He said that he's never been in a situation where he couldn't use cunning to get out of it. Demons and evil-doers could be tricked, after all.

But the cold, unfeeling stone that lay on top of him couldn't be tricked. It couldn't be distracted or deceived or persuaded.

He couldn't give up. He had to do something, anything. He said that he'd be able to do it alone, so he had to save himself alone. He could get help when he wasn't trapped.

For now, he didn't need help. He couldn't need help.

He could still do something, maybe. In exchange for helping Matt with illusions, Matt was showing him some basic construction magic. Now he wasn't actually ever thinking he would need to use that magic, he mostly had just been doing the lessons so he could be with Matt, but he did pay attention to a few things.

Using the tip of one of his fingers, he shakily drew a spell circle to create some pillars to lift up the rubble so he could get out. Even if they were weak, even if they broke after a few seconds, he just needed them to last long enough that he could drag himself out.

To his surprise and delight, it worked. Even if it was ever so slight, he did manage to create two short pillars a little below his shoulders to lift up the rubble on top of him. As fast as he could, Gus used his elbow to push against the ground and towards the cobblestone road behind him and drag himself away. His teeth grit together as he hissed in pain, but he was actually doing it.

Then there was a crack.

And another.

And another.

The pillars broke as he had just gotten halfway out. He screamed again as the rubble crushed pretty much his whole body below his waist. He realized that apparently where he previously lay was dangerously close to a piece of the wall support that was sticking out because now after he moved he felt a sharp, stabbing pain in his leg.

Gus tried to draw another spell circle, but he had become so weak and he could barely focus on any spell to do. Even if he could focus, he had no idea how strong of a spell he'd be able to do.

Why did he have to be an illusionist?

Sure he was a prodigy and yes it had so many uses, he had learned that much when he went to the Looking Glass Graveyard.

But why did he have to be just an illusionist? There were months where he was able to join another track at hexside. After Belos' defeat he could have learned more magic. He could have paid more attention when Matt tried to teach him. Even when he was trapped in the human realm with the others Willow could have taught him plant magic.

But no, he limited himself to just one kind.

Illusions.

The only kind of magic that can't help when you're alone or stuck.

Plant, abomination, construction, bard, healing, beast-keeping, oracle, even people with potion magic can get out of tight spots by themselves. But not illusions. No physical properties meant no way to actually interact with anything. It took skill even Gus barely had to create something tangible and even then it had to be on top of something.

But with just illusions, there's nothing you can do.

With just illusions, there was nothing Gus could do.

He had no way to escape, there was nobody around that could hear, he could barely do any magic, his scroll was broken, and his paliman wasn't around.

Right, he had been so stupid as to not bring his palisman. Apparently he thought some place that was too risky to bring a palisman to was a good idea.

Gus just sighed and silently cried, accepting that he was stuck.

He weakly drew the best spell circle he could manage and created an illusion then shot it off into the distance, hoping that it would find someone and they could come find him. He couldn't do much, he didn't have the strength to do anything else. Just one word.

Help

A/N: For once instead of Hunter or Luz, Gus is my target for whump! I don't write about him a lot, so I had to be fair and put him through...just straight up unnecessary trauma.