Hunter was flipping through the Good Witch Azura book, smiling at the stickers and notes Luz had made on the sides and corner of the pages. King watched from the other end of the couch in the living room.

He's been flipping through that thing for hours. King thought. I guess I shouldn't blame him though. It's been 10 years since he's last seen her.

Hooty swung the door open. "Ding dong! Hoot hoot!"

Hunter looked up from the book for the first time in hours, closing it. He got up, heading over to the door. There was a basket on the ground, addressed to Eda. So, he carried it to the kitchen (and King followed, curious).

"Eda, you've got a package." Hunter said. "It looks like a gift basket."

"Probably an offering. Ah! Being the most powerful witch in the Boiling Isles has its perks." Eda said. King pulled the blanket off the basket to reveal a snoring baby bat-head thing.

"Mm, fresh meat." King said, rubbing his paws together.

"No, not eating that." Hunter said, taking a step back and shaking his head.

"Witches eating babies is so 1693. What is this?" Eda said. King noticed a piece of paper in the basket.

"Hold on, there's a note." He said, picking it up. "'Take care of my child till morning. Yi yi'?"

Eda groaned. "Nope. Babies are awful. Not happening."

"'You will be handsomely rewarded. X-O-X-O-X-O-X, Bat Queen'." King finished.

Eda's ear perked up. "Bat Queen?"

King pulled a few snails out of the basket - shiny gold coins with a snail shell pattern on them.

"Reward?" She said, eyes lighting up.

"Who's the Bat Queen?" Hunter asked.

"She's the wealthiest demon in the Boiling Isles. Get with her and you're set for life." Eda said, picking up a snail. "So, we keep this thing alive for a few hours and we get paid. Pfft. Easy."

"You say that now, but I've had experience with babysitting. It was the worst." Hunter said, backing away from the basket with his hands up in a surrendering position.

Hunter remembered the baby he'd been babysitting had vomited on his face, and a few moments started peeing all over the carpet.

"Todavía tengo pesadillas al respecto." He said with a shiver.

"Well, you have to go return the books I checked out to the library anyway." Eda said, summoning a stack of books that landed in Hunter's arms. She turned to the basket. "Now, let's take a look at this thing."

She peered over the basket, and suddenly the baby woke up, screeching.

"On second thought, maybe we need your help!" Eda said, covering her ears.

"No thanks! I gotta return those books!" Hunter said, walking out the door quickly. "See ya!"

+.*.+

Walking through the streets of Bonesborough, Hunter wandered the streets, careful to keep the stack of books in his hands balanced. He looked to the side and saw the front steps of the library, and headed up the stairs and inside.

Once he entered, the book pile turned green and floated forward, towards the librarian. Hunter was a little surprised, but managed to keep from letting the books fall. The books flew through a red circle with a beep each time.

"Late." The librarian said, floating the next book through. "Late. Late." The librarian grabbed the last book as Hunter walked over. "Coffee, grass, and bloodstains? These are Eda's, aren't they?"

"Yup." Hunter said. The librarian sighed.

"I'll put them on her tab." He said, summoning a scroll and writing something on it. "By the way, we're closing early for the Wailing Star meteor shower."

"What's that?" Hunter asked.

"You're in a library. Read a book." The librarian said, his scroll rolling up and disappearing. Hunter rolled his eyes but walked away.

I like reading about the Boiling Isles - as well as reading in general - but did he really have to say it like that? He thought to himself, looking through the bookshelves for a book about the Wailing Star meteor shower. Eventually, he found one, and opened it up.

"'The Wailing Star is a periodic meteor shower that occurs over the Boiling Isles. The passage of the Wailing Star, which actually wails, causes an unpredictable manifestation of magic along its path.'" Hunter mumbled to himself. "Huh. Interesting."

"'What do you think you're doing?'" Hunter heard Amity's voice, and jumped a little, closing the book. He looked around, but didn't see her anywhere, before walking towards a room and noticing her reading a book to some children.

"'We're your friends and we wanna help,' said the Tin Boy with a yelp. Otabin smiled and paced the floor. 'I've never had real friends before.'" Amity read.

"Huh. That's... actually pretty cool of her." Hunter muttered to himself.

"'Then we'll be your first,' the Chicken Witch clucked. Otabin couldn't believe his luck. So, Bookmaker Otabin surrounded by friends, bound a book of friendship and thats the end.'" Amity said, closing the book with a warm smile.

The kids surrounding her applauded.

She seems really happy in the library. Usually she's cold and rude, He thought to himself.

As the kids left the room, Amity stood up, but she noticed Hunter peeking around the corner. She glared, and Hunter chuckled nervously before stepping into the room fully.

"Ugh! You." She said.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. You don't like me." Hunter said. "But who knew you liked reading to kids?"

"It's for extra credit." Amity said, crossing her arms. "Don't get your leggings in a bunch." She walked past him to the end of the room.

Hunter looked down at his jeans, then back at Amity. "But I'm not even wearing leggings."

Amity stopped and turned to him, glowering. "Look! Do you see me going to the Owl House and bugging you while you... fry up owls?" She said. After a few moments she sighed. "Okay, I don't really know what you do there, but every time you come near me, I get in trouble. Just leave me alone."

"Alright, fine." Hunter said, walking away.

He sighed, walking through the bookshelves. "To be fair, I did embarrass her in front of an entire audience." He muttered.

"You gonna let her get to you like that?"

Hunter looked up to see a girl and boy standing in front of him, with green hair and the same golden eyes as Amity. They looked like twins.

"Uh, who are you?" He asked.

"Well-wishers on a mission." The boy said.

"A noble quest." The girl added.

"Watch this. Hey Mittens!" The boy called to Amity, who was behind Hunter a little ways away. She turned with a scoff, her face completely red.

The boy held up a rabbit lunchbag. "Mom says stop forgetting your lunch. And stop being a jerk to your friend." He said. Amity stomped over and grabbed the lunchbag.

"He is not my friend." Amity said.

"Glad the feeling is mutual." Hunter said under his breath.

"Yeah, makes sense. He seems too cool for you." The girl said.

"You can leave now. All of you." Amity growled, walking back into the kids room. The twins chuckled, and the girl gave a wink to Hunter. Hunter was just confused why they were being so nice to him after only just meeting him.

The three of them walked around the library together. "So, you're the powerless witch we've heard so much about." The boy said.

"I'm Emira. And this is Edric." The girl said, gesturing to the boy. "We're Amity's older siblings. We heard how you embarrassed her at the witch covention last week. No wonder she hates you."

"Uh, yeah. I didn't actually mean to do that, though." Hunter said. "I don't like her, but embarrassing her in front of such a big crowd was harsh."

"Don't waste your time with Mittens. Me and Ed, we're way more fun. Follow us." Emira said. Hunter, not really having anything better to do, decided to do so.

They looked up to see a sign reading "<- FICTION : NON-FICTION ->". Edric wiped away the part that said 'NON' and hid as a second librarian walked over, leading patrons.

"And here we go towards our non-fiction section." He gasped when he saw the sign. "Fiction, fiction? Is our world but fiction? Then what in my life is real anymore?" The librarian got on his knees and sobbed.

Later, the same librarian was re-shelving books. As he put one on the shelf, it glowed blue and flew back onto the re-shelving cart. This happened multiple times before Emira and Edric laughed, and switched the librarian's place with another librarian. Hunter laughed too, finding it a little funny, but not as much as the other two.

"Huh? No! Not again!" The librarian said, sobbing. They fell off the ladder they'd been switched onto.

A little bit later, Edric held a dusty book, blowing the dust off the book and into the demon decimal system, which all sneezed, sending notecards flying everywhere.

The twins high-fived, laughing, and Hunter just looked confused, chuckling nervously.

"Hey!"

The three of them turned to see Amity standing next to another librarian, both of them with their arms crossed. The librarian looked around.

"Wait, where's Gary?" He asked.

The sobbing librarian from earlier (who was still sobbing) ran over. "Coming!"

+.*.+

The librarian shoved the three of them out the front doors.

"You've made reading far too fun. Now, stay out." The door slammed shut.

The three of them looked at it for a second before the twins started laughing. Hunter didn't even bother to pretend this time.

"Amity's even madder at me now. Didn't think that was possible." He said.

"No, when Mittens gets made, she looks like this." Edric said. He inhaled sharply, grunting as his entire face turned red, before exhaling. "Woo, almost passed out."

"So, hey, we're coming back tonight. There's a certain book we forgot to... check out." Emira explained.

"And bonus, rumor has it the Wailing Star's supposed to unlock some rare, magical event. You in, friend?" Edric added.

"Uh... sure, I guess." Hunter said. "I'm curious to see what the Wailing Star's gonna do."

"Great. Meet back here at midnight. See you, Hunter." Emira said with a wave, as she and Edric headed down the stairs and walked away.

Hunter sighed. "Why do I get the feeling this is a bad idea...?"

As he walked away, Amity stood around the corner, having seen the whole thing. She held her breath until her entire face turned red. She quickly exhaled.

"Phew! Almost passed out." She said to herself.

+.*.+

Hunter entered the house, to see Eda and King in the living room, the bat baby in Eda's hands, being rocked.

"Sorry I'm late, got distracting with reading." Hunter said. He paused, staring at Eda, then a cheeky grin formed on his face. "Aw. Eda, you look so motherly."

"Say that again and I steal your tongue." Eda retorted.

Hunter just chuckled and sat down on the couch next to them. Suddenly the bat woke up and barfed out a smaller version of itself, and so does that version. They all chirped and flapped their wings.

One of them breathed out fire, and Hunter flinched away, getting up and running for the door.

"Well, parenting sure looks rewarding. Have fun!" He yelled, slamming the door behind him.

+.*.+

At night, Hunter arrived at the front steps of the library, leaning against a pillar, waiting.

"You ready to head inside?"

Hunter looked up to see Edric and Emira walking over to him.

"Uh, yeah." Hunter said. The three of them walked closer to the door.

"It says no trespassing but I'm allergic to the rules." Edric said, getting out a piece of paper and handing it to Emira.

"And dairy." She added.

"Wow, okay. Just - expose me." Edric said. Hunter chuckled.

The paper in Emira's hand glowed, and she put it against the door. It crumbled, enlarging the lock until it was big enough for them to walk through.

"Come on." Edric said, heading inside, and Hunter followed.

"There - the Wailing Star!" Emira said, pointing upwards. Hunter looked up to see the Wailing Star pass by a stained glass window, sobbing.

"Woah." Hunter said. The three of them looked around for a second before noticing the books in the library glowed green.

"Hmm. Nothing happened." Edric said.

"Wait." Hunter said, grabbing a book titled Extinct Birds of the Boiling Isles. "The books are glowing."

He opened the book, and almost immediately something screeched as the birds in the book came to life, flying out of the pages and around the lobby.

"Wow! The Wailing Star magicked the books to life." Emira said, amazed.

Hunter closed the book, and noted how the birds disappeared once he'd done so. The three of them shared a look, then grinned.

Edric, Emira and Hunter played around with the bound pages in the library - opening magazines to get fancy clothes and armor - flipping open comics and watching what they say appear in speech bubbles - and opening books and launching snowballs at each other.

Laughing, Edric and Emira ran past the kid's corner, while Hunter stopped chasing after them and headed inside. He noticed the book that Amity had been reading to the kids earlier that day, glowing green and titled Otabin the Bookmaker. He picked it up and flipped to a random page, watching as Otabin rose out of the pages. He smiled, before reading the text on the page he opened.

"'Otabin spent his days alone amongst the many books he'd sewn. With needle and thread the pages he'd mend. But all the while he'd longed for a friend.'" Hunter read aloud. He glanced back at Otabin.

"Friend?" Otabin said, threading a needle.

"Hunter, check this out." Hunter turned to Edric and Emira at the doorway.

"Look what we discovered." Emira said, and opened a book called Quacks Eats Snacks. A duck swam out of the pages and around the floor, quacking happily.

"Aw." Hunter said with a smile.

Emira held out the book to Edric, who held a pencil. He drew legs on the duck in the book, and suddenly the duck got matching human legs. It quacked hysterically, and Hunter frowned, taking a step back. The twins laughed.

"Your turn, Hunter." Edric said, holding out the pen.

"Uh, I don't know about this, guys." Hunter said.

"Come on, don't stop the fun." Edric said, and Hunter hesitantly took it. After a few seconds of staring at the page, he sighed, handing the pen to Edric.

"I'm not doing it." He said. Edric shrugged.

"Fine, I'll do it." He drew big angry eyebrows and claws over Otabin, but Hunter quickly closed the book before anything came out of it.

"Yeah, I'm not looking at that." Hunter said.

"Whatever. We didn't come here just to doodle." Emira said. Hunter dropped the book face-down, and they headed out of the kid's corner. Edric pulled a book out of a shelf titled The Lone Witch & Secret Room.

Something clicked, and the bookshelf slid away to reveal a secret hidden room.

"Wow! Your hideaway is pretty cool." Hunter said, entering and looking around.

"We don't hang out in a library. 'Uh, teacher, I'm in love with a dictionary.'" Edric said, mocking Amity.

"'I'm studying the dork arts.' This is Amity's hideaway." Emira said, also mocking her. Hunter frowned.

"Mittens has gotten too... full of herself. She keeps tattling on us when we cut class." Edric said.

"She needs to learn not to mess with people like that. So, we're going to find her diary." Emira continued.

"And then post the pages all around school for everyone to see." Edric finished, and the twins laughed. Hunter's frown grew deeper.

"What? That's harsh, isn't it?" Hunter said. "Diaries are meant to be private."

"No. See, we're her family. It's tough love. She needs to learn to lighten up." Emira said. The twins looked around the place, searching through the shelves for her diary.

Hunter thought of Luz, and if she wrote a diary. He'd never post it around school.

"Hm. Well, don't see any diaries here. Let's just leave." Hunter said, only glancing over a shelf before turning away. But he spotted something out of the corner of his eye, and noticed the first four books of the Good Witch Azura series.

"Huh?" He said, looking through them. He found a book with a hand-drawn Azura cover, with Amity in Azura's clothing, and opened it. He gasped when a small version of Amity rose from the pages.

"I saw that... powerless witch boy again." The mini-Amity said. "I may have overreacted. I don't want to come off as cruel. I just can't show weakness."

Hunter immediately closed the book, wanting to keep her entry away from him.

"What have you got there, Hunter?" Edric asked, walking closer with Emira. Hunter quickly hid the book behind him.

"Nothing, just another addition to this series here." Hunter said quickly. Suddenly the book glowed blue and flew out of his hand. "Hey!"

Emira caught the diary and handed it to Edric, who opened it.

"It's not fair. I'm the only one who knows Ed and Em aren't perfect. Why do they keep getting away with things?" The mini-Amity said.

"Yes, this is it." Edric said triumphantly.

"Hunter, were you hiding this from us?" Emira asked.

"You see how she treats people. How she treats you." Edric said.

"Well yeah - she is a jerk - but these are private thoughts. No one should have them be publicly displayed." Hunter said. "Let's just put it back."

Hunter grabbed the diary and pulled, but Edric didn't let go. The two of them fought over the book, Emira helping Edric pry it out of Hunter's hands.

"She needs this! It's for her own good!" Emira said. Suddenly, some loose pages fell out of the book and onto the floor.

"I wish I had somewhere to go. Luz seems to be the only one that understands, but I've only chatted with her on pennstagram."

"Why won't this powerless witch leave me alone?"

"Called my teacher mom again."

"Sorry I haven't written for a while. Wait, why am I apologizing?"

Hunter froze at the name 'Luz'. Surely he heard wrong, right?

Never mind that right now! Focus! He thought, scrambling to gather the pages. However, a shadow is cast over him as Amity appears in the doorway. Hunter looked up.

"Really?" Amity said angrily.

"I swear this wasn't my idea." Hunter said quickly.

Edric and Emira giggled behind him.

"You two are the worst." Amity said, pointing at the twins. She looked down at Hunter, taking the diary from him. "But you... I've been trying to figure out what your deal is. I know. You're a bully, Hunter."

She ran off. Hunter stood up and called after her. "Amity, wait!"

"Mittens killed the fun." Emira said.

"Again." Edric added. "Oh, well. We're headed out to go goblin-tipping. Wanna come?"

"No thanks." He said. "Look, you guys seem nice and all, but I've gotta go apologize to Amity. As much as I hate the sentence I said just now."

"All right. See you around!" Emira said, and the twins walked away. Hunter ran off to find Amity, and found her somewhere in a random aisle.

"Amity, wait." He said.

"First you embarrass me. Then you wanna be civil to me? I don't get you. Pick a side." Amity said.

"Please listen." Hunter said. "Me embarrassing you was an accident. I didn't mean to do that. Even if you're a jerk to Willow."

"Your point?"

"The diary thing wasn't my idea either. When I found out that's what the twins were here for, I tried to hide it from them, but they got it anyway." Hunter said. Amity sighed.

"Just... go away before things somehow get worse." She said. Hunter looked to the ground, turning away.

"Alright." He said.

However, the two heard loud footsteps. Amity and Hunter turned to see a monstrous form of Otabin snarling as it stepped into the aisle. His heart beat loudly, his book pulsing with it.

"Otabin?" Amity said.

"With claws and fangs and breaking bones, I found a friend to make my own." Otabin said, grabbing Amity.

"Hunter!" Amity screamed, Otabin walking away.

"Amity!" Hunter yelled, running after her but tripping on Amity's diary, which had dropped from Amity's hands when she got picked up. He looked down at it, and idea forming.

+.*.+

Otabin slammed Amity against a giant book. She grunted, but then gasps as Otabin holds a large needles and a giant ball of thread. He raised the needles and lowered it in Amity's direction. She yelped, as Otabin began to sew her into the book, and she watched as her arm went from 3D to 2D.

"Why are you doing this? I've been reading you since I was a kid. I know you're not like this. Someone changed you." Amity said.

"But friends are what I've always sought." Otabin said. "And now a friend my claws have caught."

A rumbling sound caught both of their attentions. A purple cloud rolled in, and Hunter walked out of it, holding Amity's diary in one hand and a sword in the other.

Amity gasped. "Hunter!"

Hunter pointed his sword at Otabin. "Alright Otabin - let go of her."

He charged forward, swinging his blade, but Otabin snatched it out of his hands and threw it aside before he even got close enough to hit him with it. He grabbed the diary and gently closed it, the sword poofing away.

Hunter laughed nervously, taking a few steps back. "Uh... didn't exactly think this through, did I...?" He said.

Hunter grunted as he got slammed on the page opposite to Amity's, and Otabin sewed one of his arms in like he did Amity.

"Making friends, taking friends, never be without my friends." Otabin said.

"You can't rhyme friends with friends, you fiend!" Hunter said.

"Great work, Hunter." Amity said, glaring at him.

"Hey! I was trying to save you!" He snapped back.

"Well, it doesn't matter. We're gonna be stuck here forever." Amity said.

Hunter looked back at his sewn hand, and managed to turn the page slightly by moving it. His eyes lit up.

"No, we aren't. I have a plan." He said. "Follow my lead."

"What are you doing?" Amity asked, as Hunter began swinging back and forth and slamming his feet against the book.

"One..." He said. "Two... Three!"

Amity and Hunter both yelled as the book fell down, hitting Otabin in the head, and leaving Amity and Hunter's feet on the ground. They ran away, Otabin chasing after them.

"Come back!" He yelled.

Hunter and Amity ran through the library aisles, still sewn to the book. They ducked behind a small shelf.

"Now what?" Amity panted.

"I don't know. I only came up with something to get us out of there." Hunter said. Suddenly a needle stabbed pierced through the page next to Hunter's head and he screamed.

"Friends." Otabin growled. He used the needle and thread like a fishing line, pulling the book towards him. The two yelled as the book was tugged over the shelf and onto the floor. Hunter tried to tear at the thread tying his arm down, while Amity climbed a ladder and hooked her legs around it, pulling her arm free and launching her into a return cart.

"Hunter!" She yelled.

Otabin grabbed the book and pulled it completely towards him. Hunter tried to kick at his chest. Otabin grabbed the needle and pulled it through.

"You squirm and fight, and scream and shout. But friendship always will win out." Otabin said.

Hunter looked down with wide eyes as the rest of his limbs got tied down. Slowly, thread began tying his head to the book, and he closed his eyes, bracing himself.

Amity rode in on the book return cart, screaming and launching Otabin into a bookshelf - which fell on him. He struggled under it. Amity pulled the string tying Hunter to the book, and he quickly scrambled away from the book with a sigh of relief.

"Thanks." He said.

"Don't mention it." Amity said.

Otabin shoved the bookshelf off him. "We must stay friends until the end. There is no tear I cannot mend." He rhymed.

Hunter backed away, but Otabin grabbed him and he yelped. As he was picked up, Luz's book fell out from him onto the floor. Amity noticed and grabbed it, before quickly grabbing a pencil and her diary.

"'Hunter has to right a wrong.'" She said, writing it down. An eraser rose out of the book, and she tossed it towards Hunter. Thankfully he managed to catch it, and erased Edric's drawings on the page of the book. Otabin returned to normal, everything falling to the floor.

Hunter caught Otabin in his hands.

"I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me." He said. Amity walked over.

"Hey, it's okay. We're still friends." She said. She nodded to Hunter, who closed the book, and Otabin disappeared. Amity frowned.

+.*.+

"Thanks for helping me clean that mess up. What a night." Hunter said, rubbing his eyes as the sun rose.

"This never happened." Amity said, walking away. However, she paused and turned back to him, taking out Luz's book. "You dropped this, earlier. I didn't know you read Azura too."

Hunter quickly tensed and grabbed the book from her. "Um, it isn't mine. It's my sister's." He said. Amity raised an eyebrow.

"She went missing ten years ago. Never found out what happened to her, but I did find this book in the Boiling Isles." Hunter continued. After a few moments, Amity spoke.

"What was her name?" She asked. He sighed.

"Luz Noceda." He said, with a wisftul smile. Amity's eyes widened, but she didn't say anything. "She was really goofy, and loved the series. She'd make me pretend to be Villainous Lucy while she played as Azura."

"I'm... sorry, about her." Amity said.

"Thanks. And I'm sorry for looking at your diary. I really did try to stop them." Hunter said.

"I accept your apology." She paused. "Look, maybe you aren't a bully. I haven't been the friendliest witch either. I'll think on it. Truce?"

She held out a hand. Hunter hesitated before taking it. "Truce."

Hunter waved Amity goodbye as she walked away, back to her home.

+.*.+

Hunter opened the door to the Owl House, rubbing his eye-bag ridden eyes with a yawn.

"Hi guys, I'm..." He started, but noticed Eda and King sleeping with the three bat babies. He smiled.

The front door opened, and a giant woman's head with bat wings crawled into the living room.

"You must be their mom." Hunter said, gesturing to the babies.

"Yi, yi! Mama is I. And I is the Bat Queen." She said, before whistling. The babies woke up and flew over to the Bat Queen. "Aah! Snuggle dumplings."

She threw up a treasure chest, which opened to reveal hundreds of snails. She also spit out an Aztec death whistle. "For troubles. Eda is owed one."

She squeezed back out the doorway and flew away. Hunter closed the door, just as Eda and King stirred.

"Babies? Where are the babies?" Eda asked, sitting up.

"The Bat Queen came and took them back." Hunter said with a yawn, sitting on the couch next to her. "She left you this chest."

"Oh. And I just taught Junior how to pick locks, too." Eda said.

"Your night looks very successful. Look at all that money you made." Hunter said. "And look at that cool whistle you got. But I'd wash that if I were you." Spit dropped from the whistle.

"Yeah. We did it all for the money." Eda said.

"I miss my babies!" King sobbed, hugging Eda.

"How was your night?" Eda asked Hunter. "From your eye bags, you stayed up all night, didn't you?"

"Yup." Hunter said, his eyes closing slightly. "Didn't get a chance to... head back and sleep..."

His eyes closed, mumbling the last part, before he fell asleep. Eda smiled, grabbing a blanket and putting it over him.

"Yeesh, that kid looked so tired." King said.

+.*.+

Amity sat on her bed in her room, scrolling through pennstagram on her scroll, looking at her contact list. She tapped on one of them, then started typing:

Messages between WITCHCHICK128 and LUZURA_THE_GREAT

WITCHCHICK128: Hey Luz?

LUZURA_THE_GREAT: Yea?

WITCHCHICK128: You know that powerless witch I told you about?

LUZURA_THE_GREAT: Go on...?

WITCHCHICK128: His name is Hunter, and I think he's your brother.