Hunter Noceda had fuzzy memories regarding when he first met Camila and Manny. All he remembered was feeling scared, running through a door and being confused when he looked back and saw an old house, and the feeling of cold rain showering down upon him.

For years he hadn't really focused on those memories, though - but weirdly, the day after his school year officially ended, he suddenly remembered it.

He was still so confused about it, though - why had he been so scared back then? Why had he been running away? Unfortunately, he didn't have the answers to those questions, and that made him frustrated - despite the fact that him being five years old at the time might have been something to do with it.

"Mijo! Breakfast's ready!" Camila called from downstairs.

"Coming Mama!" He responded, getting out of his room and walking down the stairs.

Hunter had a little sister. Two years younger than him, named Luz. She went missing a year after the Noceda family had taken him in, and two years after that, Manny had died from an illness.

Saying that Hunter and Camila had been having a rough time would be an understatement.

From what he remembered of Luz, she'd been sweet, enthusiastic, and creative. She'd never failed to brighten a room. Manny had been the same.

And now they were both gone.

He sat down at the table, two plates of french toast laid on it. Hunter took a bite, as Camila sat down beside him.

"So, excited for summer break?" She asked, taking her own bite of french toast. Hunter swallowed.

"I guess." He responded. "I'm not sure I have anything to fill the time with, though."

"Don't worry, mijo. We can go out and have fun together - maybe you could make friends with the neighbors' kids?" Camila said reassuringly. Hunter just nodded, taking another bite.

After breakfast, Hunter helped Camila wash the dishes, and Hunter said he was going to go for a walk.

"Alright, but you better be back before I arrive back home." She said, heading outside with him in her veterinarian uniform. "Make sure to lock up the house, too. Cuídate mucho, mijo!"

"I will!" He said, waving as Camila got in her car and drove to work.

Hunter sighed, checking his phone. His contact's list was barren and empty, save for a few names from family members.

Scrolling through reddit, he looked up from his phone after a few minutes and found he'd walked to that old house nearby. The one he remembered running from. When he met Camila, Manny and Luz.

"Why do I always go here?" He groaned, putting away his phone. He stared at the door of the old house for a moments, then sighed. Maybe if he went inside, he'd stop subconsciously walking to this house and bring back bad memories. There wasn't anything special about this place anyway - from what Camila had told him about it, it was just some abandoned house from centuries ago.

So, he walked towards the door, twisting the rusty doorknob and opening it - expecting to find the rubble of an abandoned home, but instead finding a whole new world behind it. Shocked, he widened his eyes and took a step back, but something knocked into him, hard.

He yelped and fell through the door, watching as a small owl carried a bag full of human junk. He turned around to see the door back to where he was before, but it had a weird yellow eye on it, and just overall looked different.

He turned back to see the small owl had brought the bag to an old woman.

"Finally, you're back." She said.

The owl landed on the woman's staff, and as it turned around it became a wooden fixture to the staff. Hunter's eyes widened. Did she just...?

It reminded him of the Good Witch Azura books - Luz had been a big fan of them when she was little.

He quickly hid behind some stuff, suddenly feeling like he shouldn't be seen, not sure why.

"Now let's see what we've got here." She said, digging through the bag.

He wasn't really paying attention to the woman anymore, noticing that he was in some sort of... demon/witch marketplace?

"What the...?" He muttered, confused. He couldn't see more than a few stalls from this view though, since he was still pretty far inside the tent.

"Now this... This will make me rich." The woman said, wearing some glasses with eyes on springs.

Hunter bended over to get a closer look outside, but accidentally knocked over something and face-planted onto the floor.

"Who's there?" The woman asked, turning around and taking off the glasses. Her eyes landed on Hunter as he pushed himself up from the ground.

"Uh... bye!" He said, quickly getting up and running straight towards the door. However, it folded up and disappeared right in front of him. He turned around to see the woman was holding a key, with that same yellow eye on it.

"You're not going anywhere." She said, putting the key away and walking closer.

He backed up against the tent. "Look, I just wound up here by accident! Your wooden - bird - thing - knocked into me and I fell through that door in here!" He explained. The woman's eyebrow raised.

"I was gonna sell you something, but now you've got me intrigued. A witch, in the human realm...?" The woman asked. "What on earth where do you doing there?"

Hunter was confused. "'Witch'? But I'm human." He said, getting and brushing himself off.

"Uh-huh. Sure, pointy ears and magenta eyes." She said, pointing at his eyes and ears.

"Well, I was raised there, so whatever." Hunter retorted.

"How did you even get there?" She asked, looking him up and down.

Hunter tensed up, those fuzzy memories coming to mind like flashbacks. "Don't remember, and it doesn't matter." He said quickly and defensively.

After a few moments of silence, the woman spoke once more. "Well, might as well introduce ourselves. You're very... interesting. Never heard of a witch raised in the human realm before." She said.

Hunter sighed. "I'm Hunter. Hunter Noceda."

"Nice to meet you, Hunter. The name's Eda the Owl Lady - the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles! I am respected, feared-"

"Busted!" A person said outside, wearing what looked to be a guard uniform.

Eda turned around and walked over, rolling her eyes. Hunter decided to just walk up next to her to see what was going on - and because Eda was the only person from here that he'd talked to. So.

The guard held up a wanted poster, showing Eda and some... skull-dog-thing... in the bottom-left corner.

"Eda the Owl Lady, you are wanted for misuse of magic and demonic misdemeanors." The guard said, grabbing Eda's arm. "You are hereby ordered to come with me to the Conformatorium."

Eda pulled away her arm. "Would you guys quit following me around? I haven't done squat."

"And you're coming too." The guard said, grabbing Hunter's arm. "For fraternizing with a criminal."

"Let go of me!" He yelled, trying to pull his arm away.

"Oh, all right, all right, you win. Just let me get my stuff." Eda said. Hunter frowned. From his first impressions of Eda, she didn't seem the type to easily give up... unless she had a plan.

And he was right - Eda reached under the table and grabbed her staff, swishing it at the guard - making him let go of Hunter's arm and fall to the ground with a grunt. She spun her staff and all her stuff floated in mid-air. The tablecloth wrapped itself over her stuff, and she stuck her staff through the bundle.

"Follow me, if you don't want to get imprisoned!" She yelled, running. Hunter immediately followed after her, catching up and matching her speed.

"Tonterías, if my mom finds out about this she's gonna kill me!" He said to himself, but it was loud enough for Eda to hear.

"Ah, relax. I'm sure your human mom isn't gonna believe you anyway." She said. Hunter gave her a look that said 'How the heck is that supposed to help'.

Before he could say anything, though, Eda pulled Hunter onto her staff and they took off into the air, Hunter holding on to the staff for dear life and squeezing his eyes shut.

After a few moments, Hunter heard Eda speak. "You can open you eyes now, y'know."

He risked opening one eye, and when he saw that everything was fine, he opened the other. But his eyes did widen at the vast space between them and the ground.

"I - what even is this place?" He asked, deciding now was a perfect time for the question-asking.

"This is the Boiling Isles. Every myth the humans have is caused by a little of our world leaking into theirs." Eda explained.

"Well, then why was I in the human realm when I'm clearly not human?" He asked. Eda shrugged.

"How am I supposed to know? That's what I was asking you earlier, and you didn't know either." She said. After a pause, she spoke again. "How'd you get that scar on your face, anyway? Surely the human realm isn't that dangerous."

Hunter risked removing one hand form the staff to touch his right cheek, where his scar was. "I don't know. I've always had it, I guess."

"Wait, you don't remember ever getting a scar?" She asked, surprised. "That seems like something pretty important to remember."

"Well I was really young when it happened, so maybe that's why." He replied quickly. He didn't like talking about his scar, especially with strangers. "Anyway, so... witches, and magic, are all... real...?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Gosh, it's so easy to tell you've been living in the human realm." She said. "You act just as dumb as a human."

"Hey!" He started, but they suddenly start descending and he gripped the staff tightly. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

Eda jumped off, but Hunter didn't react quite as fast and collapsed onto the ground with a groan. Eda grabbed her staff from the ground, while Hunter got up and dusted himself off for the third time that day.

"Why does this keep happening? It hasn't even been twenty minutes yet..." He muttered, looking around. He noticed a house with a big stained glass window, resembling an eye. It had white walls and a blue roof, with a tower - and a door with a tube-owl-thing?

Hunter turned to Eda. "Welp, I've had enough adventure for one day. Can you open up that door again so I can go through?" He asked.

"Sure - but, I'd like your help first. Although it might be a little tricky considering you're not human..." Eda said, walking towards the door. Hunter followed behind.

"Hoot-hoot! Password, please!" The tube-owl said. Eda poked both of his eyes in response.

"We got no time for this, Hooty. Let us in." She said.

"Alright, alright! You never want to have any fun! Ow! Hoot!" The now named Hooty said, widening his mouth to completely cover the door and allow them to step through.

"Welcome to, the Owl House!" Eda said, snapping her fingers, allowing the lights to turn on. Hunter gazed around - the room was more interesting and full of life than all the buildings he'd seen in the human realm combined.

"Wow. Impressive." He said, trying to hold back his excitement, but he was sure Eda wasn't buying the act. "So, you live here all alone?"

"Actually, I have a roommate." She said.

"Who dares intrude upon I, the king of demons?" A voice called, and that small skull-dog-thing from Eda's wanted poster walked out from the hallway, squeaking a rubber duck. That small creature was adorable.

"Uh, hi." He said. The creature squinted.

"Hm... A scar, eh? A mark of heroics! You would make a great warrior in my army of demons!" The small little guy said, trying to sound threatening, but just sounding adorable. "Eda, who is he?"

"Oh, uh, this is Hunter - he's a witch who was raised in the human realm. Don't ask how, though - neither of us know." She said, sitting down on the couch. "And he's here to help with our situation. Even though he's not human."

"Wait, wait, wait. I don't like the sound of this 'situation'." Hunter said, crossing his arms.

(After Eda explains because I'm too lazy to type it out lmao-)

+.*.+

"...If you help us retrive King's crown, we'll send you back to the human realm. So whaddya say?" Eda said. "I mean, we're kinda your only way home."

"Alright, fine. But only because I have no choice." He said.

"Great! Now, we've got no time to lose." Eda said, getting up. King set his rubber ducky away.

"Soon, Mr. Ducky, we shall drink the fear of those who mocked us!" He said dramatically, before following Eda.

"Where are we going?" Hunter asked, getting on the staff with Eda and King.

+.*.+

After a half-an-hour of silence at Hunter's unanswered question, they finally arrived at their destination, landing on the ground.

"The Conformatorium, a place for those considered unsuitable for society." Eda said.

"You really had to wait half-an-hour until we got here to answer my question?" Hunter asked.

"Yup." She said.

King pointed at a tower, looking at Hunter. "You and I will sneak up to the top of the tower, where they're holding my crown." He said.

"And I'm gonna make sure the warden's distracted." Eda said.

"Wait, but how am I gonna help if I'm not a human? What am I supposed to do once we get to the crown?" Hunter asked.

"Eh, we'll figure it out when we get there. I'm sure you can think of something to surprise us." Eda said. She tapped the end of her staff to the ground, creating a platform that extended up to a window. However, it suddenly disappeared, forcing Hunter and King to quickly garb on the windowsill and pull themselves inside.

"Meet you at the top of the tower." Eda said, hovering on her staff, and then floating upwards out of sight.

Hunter looked around and saw a bunch of prison cells, all occupied by a bunch of shadowy beasts of varying sizes.

"Hey, how'd you get out of your cell?" A girl asked.

"Oh, I'm not a criminal." Hunter said.

"Neither are we. The stupid warden likes to lock people up who don't fit in." She said. "Like, I like writing fanfiction of food falling in love."

"I like eating my own eyeballs." A monster with a lot of eyeballs said.

"The world is a simulation! We are but playthings for a higher being!" A small nose-thing with a squeaky voice said.

"But - you guys didn't actually do anything wrong." Hunter asked. "Is it really that bad in the Boiling Isles?"

They sort of reminded of Luz. She loved the Good Witch Azura series, and unfortunately didn't fit in with others because of her enthusiastic nature.

Dang it, Hunter thought. Why am I suddenly thinking of her so much?! It wasn't exactly nice to keep having reminders of your missing sister everywhere around here.

Suddenly, Hunter and King heard footsteps.

"It's the warden! Hide!" King said quickly, and the two of them run into an empty cell. Hunter made sure to close it most of the way but not completely, so that he and King wouldn't get trapped.

The warden walked in front of their cell, looking around at the other cells. "I can hear you. Just what are you fools whispering about?" He said. When none of them answered, he opened up the nose-thing's cell and grabbed it in his fist.

"Let this be a lesson to all of you. There's no place in society for you if you can't fit in." The warden said, stomping away. Hunter waited until the footsteps were completely gone before opening the cell again and stepping out.

"What a jerk." Hunter said. He eyed the levers next to each cell, and thought about Luz for a second, before sighing. "You guys don't deserve to be here. So that's why I'm getting you out."

He pulled and tugged on one of the levers, but unfortunately nothing happened. He tried again, but no such luck.

"Ugh, stupid noodle arms!" Hunter grunted.

"Just get out of here while you still can. Enjoy freedom for us." That girl said again, walking deeper into her cell.

After some glances between him and King, Hunter reluctantly sighed and walked away.

As Hunter and King walked in a hallway, Eda swooped in from the window and hopped off her staff. "Hey, I just checked. The warden is distracted, tormenting some tiny creature. He won't be coming around here anytime soon."

Hunter nodded, and the three of them were confronted with a towering door labelled 'CONTRABAND'.

"My crown! It's close! I can sense its power!" King said, and they pushed open the door, seeing a mostly empty room - save from the glowing pillar in the center.

"Alright, now it's your job, Hunter." Eda said. Hunter just looked at Eda.

"You still haven't told me how I'm supposed to get past the pillar." He said, King launching himself at the pillar in the background.

"Just use that brain of yours and it'll kick in. I'll keep look-out." Eda said. Hunter sighed, heading towards the pillar.

He poked it with his finger as a test and immediately pulled back when it zapped him. "Ow..."

Well, at least he had that as confirmation that he wasn't human - in case he still had any lingering doubts...

He looked around the room, searching for something to use as a sort of hook to reel the crown in. He noticed a random, lone wooden cane in the corner, and headed over to grab it.

"Why's this here?" He asked, heading back towards the pillar with the cane in hand.

"Oh, last time we came in here I left behind a cane I stole from someone. The warden must've been too lazy to put the cane with the other contraband." Eda said with a shrug.

Whatever. At least Hunter had something to get King's crown.

He poked the cane against the pillar, and sighed in relief when it passed right through. He carefully pushed it inside, making sure to hold it at the very end without letting go of his tight grip. He realized he'd hooked onto something and tugged, reeling in... a small paper kids-meal crown from Burger Queen?

Hunter threw the cane aside while King ran over and grabbed the small crown.

"My crown!" He yelled with glee, jumping up and down as he placed it on his head. "Yes. Yes! I can feel my powers returning! You, there. Nightmare critter." He pointed at a small stuffed bunny. "I shall call you Francois, and you shall be a minion in my army of darkness. Haha!" He picked up the stuffed animal.

"That crown doesn't give him any powers, does it?" Hunter asked Eda when she walked up to him and patted him on the back for getting the crown.

"Uh, no, it doesn't." Eda. "But, if this dumb crown is important to King, then it's important to me."

Hunter looked away from Eda and at King, and he let a small smile form on his lips.

"Now, let's get out of here before the warden finds us and loses his head." Eda said.

"Too late."

Hunter and Eda spun around to see the warden stood there, his hand turned into a blade, and decapitated Eda. Her head flew in the air and landed in Hunter's arms.

Not expecting that, Hunter shrieked.

"Ow! Oh, I wasn't expecting that." Eda said.

"Tonterías, are you okay?!" Hunter yelled.

"Yeah. This just happens when you get older." She replied.

"Finally." Warden Wrath said, his blade-hand forming back into a hand. "I have you cornered, Eda the Owl Lady." He took King's crown from his head.

"My guards could never get you, but I knew that if I took your pet's toy, you'd come running." The Warden said, crumpling the crown in his hands and throwing it away. Hunter gave the warden a withering glare when he saw King's heartbroken face. He'd barely met King and he was already protective of him.

"What do you want with me?" Eda asked, just as angry. "I've never actually broken any of your stupid laws... in front of you."

"I want you..." He pulled out a bouquet of flowers. "To go out with me."

Hunter gagged.

"Wha...?" Eda asked, dumbfounded.

"You've always eluded our capture. You've always been the one that got away. I found that quite alluring."

"I hate everything you're saying right now." Hunter said, disgusted.

"You stay out of this!" The warden yelled, tossing the bouquet over his shoulder and turned his hand into tentacles, grabbing Hunter and holding him in the air. While doing so, Hunter dropped Eda's head, trying to struggle out of the warden's grasp.

"So how about it, Owl Lady?" Warden Wrath asked, holding Eda's head by the hair.

"Okay, fine, you win. I just have something to say first. Come closer." Eda said. "No, just a little bit closer. Just... yeah, that's good." And then she blew a raspberry in his face.

Warden Wrath yelled and dropped Hunter in surprise, letting him drop to the floor with a thud. Hunter quickly got to his feet though, dusting himself off for the fourth time that day.

"Impudent wench! Don't you know how many germs are in your mouth? Blegh!" The warden said, and Hunter snickered - thankfully the warden didn't hear.

While the warden and Eda were arguing, Hunter snuck around to Eda's staff. He grabbed it, snuck behind the warden, and smacked his head as hard as he could.

"Nice!" Eda said, as the warden fell to the ground. Hunter grabbed Eda's head and plopped it in her body's hands.

"Okay, time to leave!" Hunter said, running and grabbing King as he and Eda ran and sat on her staff.

Warden Wrath grunted, starting to get up.

"Gun it, magic stick!" Eda yelled, and her staff zoomed out of the room through the corridors, the warden chasing after them, past the cells. Hunter felt guilty again, but looked at Eda and back at the levers.

"Eda, lend me a hand!" He said.

While they flew past, Eda and Hunter managed to flick all of the levers, setting the prisoners free. With excited faces, they ran out and jumped away.

However, the warden front-flipped in their path, hitting the staff with an outstretched tentacle hand and knocking the three of them off of it. The warden stepped in front of the three of them, his tentacle hand shifting into a blade.

"Ow, my bones!" King yelled.

"Hunter, go back to the human world." Eda said, tossing him the key and getting up. She charged at the warden.

"What about you guys?" Hunter asked, as King ran alongside Eda.

Eda grabbed King and jumped back, avoiding the warden's blade-hands. "Go, go!" She yelled, pushing Hunter onto her staff and sending him on his way.

"WOAHH-" He yelled, the staff sending him flying and holding on with a tight grip.

The staff stopped in mid-air, and Hunter noticed that the prisoners were still there - just scared and hiding.

"What are you guys doing? You're free!" He said.

"The warden always catches us. There's no point." The eyeball-eating monster said. The other three murmured in agreement, frowning at the floor in disappointment and sadness.

He couldn't just leave these three like this. He had to find some way to convince them to flee, or do something other than hide in fear.

What would Luz do?

The question popped into his mind automatically, and he tensed a little thinking of her, but took a breath and tried it out.

"So, you have a different way of doing things, a different way of seeing things. That might make you weird, but that also makes you awesome." Hunter said.

"Why are you helping us?" The girl asked.

"Because nobody should be punished for who they are." Hunter said, in what he hoped sounded like a triumphant voice. It got the other three prisoners pumped, though, and they started cheering.

"Now, let's get them!" He yelled, changing the staff's direction to head back and help Eda and King.

They charged, attacking the warden with brute strength, Hunter following behind on Eda's staff.

"Hunter?" Eda said.

Soon enough, the three of them tie the warden's hands behind his back, leaving him on his stomach.

"You! Who do you think you are?!" He asked, when Hunter descended from Eda's staff.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Hunter said with a grin, getting off the staff. "But frankly, I don't feel bothered to tell you."

"Now feel the wrath of CHILI SAUCE!" The girl yelled, getting some from her pocket and squirting it all over the warden's exposed face. The three prisoners stopped holding him to the ground, and the warden ran in humiliation, eyes tearing up from the chili sauce.

"We are victorious!" The tiny nose thing said, jumping up and down with glee.

The three prisoners cheered, before walking off together.

"Alright, let's bounce before any more monsters can fall in love with me." Eda said. King, Eda and Hunter hopped on her staff and flew off into the distance.

+.*.+

Soon, they arrived back home, inside the Owl House, Eda, King and Hunter sitting on the couch.

"Well, a deal's a deal. Let's get you home." Eda said, snapping her fingers. The key flew out of Hunter's pocket and into Eda's hand, and she presses the eye to open up the door again.

Hunter got up reluctantly, walking over to the door, but paused before stepping through. He looked back at Eda and King, then at the door again, before finally turning towards them fully.

"Y'know what? I... I think I'll stay." Hunter said. "Just until I figure out some... stuff." Like my past, or if Luz is here, He thought. The thought of Luz still being alive and somewhere in this fantastical world gave him a glimmer of hope.

"Alright, not ominous at all." Eda said. "Fine. As long as you help out around here, then you can stay."

She pressed the key's eye again, and the door folded and disappeared like it had when Hunter first came through the portal.

King led Hunter to a storage room, and he unrolled a sleeping bag inside. While Hunter was getting his stuff set up, King cleared his throat, holding Francois in his hand.

"Your sleep cocoon looks fluffy." King said, as Hunter was nestling into it.Hunter just gave him a small smile and patted his leg, and King curled up on him and cuddled Francois.

Hunter sat up, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his phone. He scrolled through some pictures before seeing a selfie of him and his Mom sitting on a bench at a park.

Right. What would his mom think? With Manny gone and Luz missing, how would Camila react when Hunter went missing too? He hadn't thought about that...

"No te preocupes, mamá. Estaré bien." Hunter said, hesitating on the picture for a few seconds before closing his phone and stuffing it away.

He'd get some answers here. It was the only opportunity he had.