Seconds later, Luz and Hunter were both violently spat out, landing painfully on a wooden floor. The portal hissed before rapidly vanishing, leaving them in the darkness.

Luz groaned, shifting into a sitting position, her eyes struggling to adjust in the dim room.

"I remember that being a much smoother ride the last time."

Beside her, a very shocked and displeased witch pushed himself up from the floor, spluttering,

"Wh-why– what– why did you do that?!"

Luz raised a brow as he pulled his mask off, glaring at her indignantly. She answered,

"Uhh, because it didn't seem like you had a lot of options there. Those guards were like three seconds away from reaching us. What exactly were you gonna do?"

He stared at her, clearly trying to think of a response, but frustrated he didn't have one.

"I ... I don't know! I hadn't figured it out yet. But that doesn't mean–"

He glanced around them with a wild, anxious look and waved his hands, shouting,

"That doesn't mean you should drag me into the Human Realm! What am I even gonna do here?!"

Luz got to her feet and reached down, offering him a hand. Gently, she said,

"Hey, it's ok. This is just temporary. We'll get back to the Demon Realm soon."

He stared at her a moment, then heaved a disgusted sigh. However, he then reached out and allowed her to help him to his feet.

He still seemed upset but his voice was a lot less hostile as he asked,

"How? The second we step back through the portal, they're going to be all over us."

Luz absently gazed around the abandoned house they were in while she considered that point.

"Yeah ... I'm not sure yet. But we'll figure something out, right?"

She looked at him and gave him an encouraging smile. He grumbled, rubbing his face.

"I guess we don't have a choice."

Luz crossed her arms.

"C'mon, have a little optimism. We're both smart, talented young witches, we'll think of something!"

He looked at her, commenting wryly,

"I feel like you'd be optimistic even if you were swallowed by a slitherbeast."

Luz shrugged.

"Yeah? And how's that a bad thing?"

Her eye fell on something shiny on the floor. She picked it up and held it out.

"In any case, we have this. At least they won't be sending anyone after us anytime soon, right?"

He took the portal key from her and gazed at it a moment. Quietly, he admitted,

"I guess that's a good point."

Luz smiled, glad he was coming around. She assured him,

"It might take us a while, but we'll come up with a plan. And in the meantime, we can stay at my house and I'll finally get to visit mom."

His eyes widened, and he stammered out,

"W-wait, what? Why would ... you're not gonna want me there, you should go do that stuff on your own."

She frowned.

"But where would you stay? You wanna sleep in this derelict old house?"

He looked around and said,

"It's not so bad, I'm fine with that. I'm sure you already have plenty of things to worry about without bringing me in the middle of your family stuff."

Luz's eyes lit up in understanding.

"Oh, are you worried about mom? It's ok, she's super nice and welcoming, she'd be totally cool with you, I promise."

He shook his head,

"That's not what I meant– urgghh. Look, just don't worry about me, you don't need to let me into your home."

Luz studied him, still unsure why he was so reluctant to go along with her, but figured she'd have to respect his wishes. She sighed.

"Well, ok ... but I still feel kinda bad just leaving you here in this dump. Could you at least walk with me over to the house? It's actually really close. You don't have to go in, but you could hang out in the yard at least?"

He frowned, looking conflicted. After some internal deliberation, he finally agreed,

"All right, fine– I'll walk with you, but I'm staying outside."

Luz nodded.

"Ok, deal."

Gingerly, Luz stepped through the dim room, avoiding the trash, newspapers and loose boards as she went. Hunter carefully pocketed the portal key and then followed after her into the cool night outside.

As Luz stepped out, her eye moved quickly over the familiar trees of the forest that bordered her neighborhood. She pulled in a slow breath, savoring the air. It had been a long time since she last stood here. It felt both strange and exciting to actually be back.

She noticed that beside her, Hunter was looking around the forest curiously. After some quiet contemplation, he commented,

"It smells ... different."

Luz chuckled.

"Yeah. I'd gotten used to the stench of decay on the Boiling Isles, but this is what it smells like when the land isn't a giant corpse."

They fell quiet again. After a few beats, Hunter said,

"It's nice."

Luz smiled softly. They lingered a few moments longer there and then Luz led the way through the forest.

The walk was peaceful, dirt and gravel crunching under their shoes as they traversed the dim woods. It didn't take long for them to immerge and reach the sidewalks of her neighborhood. The hour was late enough that everyone had definitely all gone to bed by now, and they passed by the silent houses, their way illuminated by the glow of the yellow streetlights. Hunter remained quiet, but Luz could see he was taking it all in, fascinated by everything around them. Luz thought back to when she first stumbled into the Demon Realm. Did it feel the same for him now? Everything here seemed so ... normal, mundane even, that she had a hard time imagining anybody finding the Human Realm strange or interesting. But maybe it really was all a matter of perspective.

They reached Luz's house way too fast. She'd actually been enjoying their walk, finding it very relaxing and peaceful, but now all of a sudden she was here, standing right in front of her home again. As she looked, she felt her throat squeeze and an anxious weight press down on her chest. She was here. She was actually here now.

She realized the light was on upstairs, glowing softly from the window of her mother's bedroom.

Luz swallowed, her heart hammering even harder then when they were sneaking into Belos' castle.

"Hey," a voice came beside her, surprisingly gentle.

"You ok?"

Luz turned, catching Hunter's concerned gaze. She smiled weakly at him.

"Uhm, y-yeah. Just a little ... overwhelmed, I guess."

He watched her for a few moments. Slowly, he said,

"You know ... if you'd rather not talk to her, you don't have to."

She shook her head.

"Oh, it's not like that, I do want to talk to her, definitely. It's just ... ugh, it's complicated."

He nodded, accepting her vague answer. Luz stared at the upstairs window, trying to see if she could spot any movement. She started to ramble.

"And I ... I dunno, is she even awake? Her light's on, but I can't tell if she's in there. Maybe I should come back in the morning. I'm sure she'd be happy to see me either way, but. I dunno."

They stood there, gazing at the glowing window above them. The moments lapsed into a minute, and then another.

Luz had been lost in thought, so she was startled when Hunter turned to her and spoke.

"Well, would you like to go up there and look into the window? Just to see if she's home?"

She gave him a puzzled look.

"What? You mean go on the roof?"

He nodded. Was this a Demon Realm thing? Did they think it was normal to just hang out on roofs? Luz gestured at the house, saying,

"I don't have a way to get up there, that's not really a thing people normally do."

Hunter's lips curved into a pleased little smile, for reasons Luz could not begin guess.

Then he reached into the folds of his cloak, pulling out a bright red little bird.

"Oh," Luz said, as the little bird chirped happily at her. Wow, she'd forgotten about that completely. The bird shifted into staff form in Hunter's hand, and he gave her a questioning look.

Well, heck. Why not? She nodded at him, and he climbed aboard the staff, waiting for her to join him.

They floated the few feet up to the second story, settling down on the wooden shingles of the roof. Careful to be as quiet as possible, Luz edged along the roof and peeked into the bedroom window.

She quickly spotted her mom, dressed in her PJs and sitting in her easychair, reading a book. A cup of tea sat close beside her. Luz guessed her mother was having trouble sleeping; she always made a cup of tea on those nights.

Luz shuffled back from the window, sitting down on the roof, her thoughts rushing.

Sitting beside her, Hunter asked,

"So is she home?"

Luz nodded. She leaned her elbows on her legs and settled her chin into her hands, sighing.

"I talked to her a few weeks ago," she said quietly.

"Back when we were able to create a portal. It wasn't a very strong portal, I could only see her through a reflection for a short amount of time. Our conversation was cut short, and, um ... she was pretty upset."

Luz was quiet for a while, mulling it over in her mind. Eventually, she said,

"She thinks I hated her and ran away to the Demon Realm just to get away from her."

Luz squeezed her eyes shut.

"It's not true. I didn't. I just ... ugh, she just doesn't understand. Everyone here always tells me to stop being so weird, to get my head out of the clouds. Focus on something important. But why? Why do that when the stuff they want me to focus on is so boring? What if it's not important to me?"

Luz sat up, gesturing as she ranted,

"I want to be able to choose what matters to me, live the kind of life I want to. Even if people think it's weird or it's impractical or it's childish or ridiculous. When I found the Demon Realm, I found people who were happy with just letting me be who I am. And it was nice. I could finally just be myself."

She sighed, looking out over the neighborhood.

"I love mom so much. It's not that I don't want to live with her. I just ... wish I could make her understand why this stuff matters to me. That it's not just some fantasy I need to let go of."

She fell quiet again, frowning. After a few minutes, she glanced to Hunter and asked in a defeated tone,

"I dunno, what do you think I should do?"

He looked at her with surprised magenta eyes. Awkwardly, he said,

"You want my advice? You seem to keep forgetting we're still enemies."

Luz raised a brow at him. Mildly, she pointed out,

"I seem to remember you standing on my roof and telling me all about your woes not too long ago."

Embarrassment flashed on his face and he glanced away, muttering,

"Yeah, but that was just ..."

Luz continued,

"And then you proceeded to take multiple enormous risks just so I could get here."

"Hey," he said,

"Just because I wanted to allow you the dignity of saying goodbye to your family before you get annihilated doesn't mean we're suddenly ... friends."

Luz stared at him, bemused.

"Ok. Thennnnn, as the arch-nemesis I've had several personal conversations with, what do you think I should do?"

He gave a huff of irritation and turned away again, but he didn't leave. She remained quiet, idly watching the stars. It felt different, looking at them in the Human Realm. They seemed more distant somehow.

Eventually, Hunter spoke. His voice was a gentle murmur in the night.

"I really am the wrong person to ask. I didn't even know my parents."

Luz felt guilt shoot through her.

"Oh, jeez. I didn't realize, I'm sorry . . ."

He shook his head.

"It's fine."

She looked at him. She was curious, but she didn't want to pry.

"Anyway," he said, fiddling with the staff in his hands as if wanting a distraction.

"All I can really think of is, if your mom's anything like you, then ... you should try talking to her. She'll probably at least try to understand."

Luz took a moment to process that, realizing it actually made her feel a lot better. Then she perked up, shooting him a grin.

"Hold on, was that a compliment? Are you saying nice things about me now in a roundabout way?"

He scowled, grumbling,

"Whatever."

This only amused Luz further. His grumpy act wasn't fooling anybody. They fell quiet again for a little while. After a few minutes, Luz drew in a breath and smiled.

"All right, I think I'm ready now."

She glanced to the window and then the yard below them.

"Although I should probably go through the front door. I don't need to freak her out by popping in on her here."

Wordlessly, Hunter stood and let her back onto his staff, and they floated back down to the ground. Luz mentally braced herself and started to climb the front stoop.

"I'll, uh, I'll be waiting over here, I guess."

She turned to see Hunter starting to head away from the front path. She said,

"Oh, yeah. You could wait in the backyard if you wanted to?"

He hesitated and then shook his head.

"That's all right, I really don't need to."

Luz couldn't help the concern she automatically felt.

"You sure? It's kinda late, we could just–"

She stopped short and jerked in surprise when suddenly, the front door swung open, a light spilling out into the night. Her mother stood before her, wide-eyed and dressed in her fuzzy green PJs.

Standing absolutely frozen to the spot, Luz blinked at her.

Her voice soft and strained with emotion, Camila said,

"I ... I thought I heard voices ... is it really you, mija?"

Luz gave her mother a tiny nod, smiling faintly.

"Si, mamá ... realmente soy yo."

Her mother's eyes began to water and she reached her hands out only part-way, looking almost scared.

"A-and you're really here this time? Not some reflection or a dream?"

Luz nodded again.

"I'm really here."

At that, her mother dropped down and pulled her into a hug, sobbing,

"Oh, Luz."

As her mother squeezed her, Luz felt her own tears falling. Camila choked out,

"Not an hour would pass when I wasn't sitting and wondering how you were, what you were doing, if you were ok. Gracias a Dios, thank you, Luz, thank you for coming back to me."

Luz held to her mother tight, the guilt and sorrow burning in her throat.

"I'm sorry I worried you, mamá ... I'm so sorry."

Her mother soothed her,

"Shh, shh, baby, it's ok. Everything is ok now. You're back now, that's all that matters."

They stood like that for some time, crying and hugging, until Luz's mom made an effort to pull herself back together. She straightened back up, drying her eyes and wiping her tear-smudged glasses.

"You're dressed so strangely. You'll have to tell me all about what's happened and your trip back. Oh, and him–"

She gestured somewhere over Luz's shoulder, saying,

"Is he your friend? You came here together? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ignore you like that."

Luz turned to see Hunter standing like a deer caught in headlights, eyes wide and panicked. It looked as though he'd been slowly trying to edge his way away from her yard and sneak off unnoticed, but Camila had spotted him anyway.

Hunter uttered an awkward, "Uhhh."

Luz looked at him a moment. She smiled, keeping eye contact with him as she confirmed,

"Yeah. That's my friend Hunter."

Hunter made an undecipherable squawk, his face reddening. Camila was looking at him with sincere curiosity. Carefully, she asked,

"And is he from ... the Demon Realm?"

Luz nodded.

"Yeah, he's a witch from the Demon Realm."

Hunter had given up on trying to edge away now that he'd been caught, but he was left looking entirely uncertain about what to do next. Luz added thoughtfully,

"Actually ... he's the reason I was able to get back to the Human Realm."

Something shifted in Camila's eyes, and she immediately strode across to reach the wary young witch standing in the gravel path of her front yard. She smiled warmly at him, saying,

"Then I owe a priceless debt to you, Hunter. It's nice to meet you."

Poor Hunter looked absolutely not thrilled about ending up in the current social situation, but Luz wasn't going to just fib to her mom about him. She's done enough fibbing already, and her mom deserved the truth. Luz watched as Hunter floundered,

"I-I– thank you ma'am but that's not– you don't owe me anything–"

Camila chuckled.

"Such a buen joven. Let's get you both inside, the neighbors will start to wonder why we're all talking out here at this hour."

Hunter's eyes widened as Camila ushered him to the house.

"You really don't need to, I'd just be in the way–"

Camila laughed as though he'd told a great joke.

"Nonsense, you're our guest. Come on, before we all catch cold out here, hm?"

Camila guided him to the house with a hand on his shoulders, putting her other hand on Luz's shoulders. Once they were safely inside, she spoke eagerly.

"So, was the journey from the Demon Realm a long one? You both must be so tired. Oh, and are you hungry? I could make you something. I hope you've been eating well in the Demon Realm, Luz. They do have food you can eat there, don't they?"

Luz laughed, saying,

"Yeah, it takes a little getting used to, but they do."

Thinking about food, Luz felt her stomach lurch a little. When was the last time she ate? She admitted,

"Actually, now that you mention it, I could definitely eat something."

She glanced to Hunter. She was surprised when he quietly agreed,

"I probably could too."

Luz figured he must be starving if he was actually willing to admit it. Camila beamed at them both, saying,

"All right, how does breakfast sound? It's a little early for that, but it's probably closer to breakfast than dinner at this point."

Luz nodded.

"That sounds perfect."

And so the three of them gathered in Luz's kitchen, while Camila went to work cooking a very early breakfast. There was something almost overwhelming about it for Luz; after living in the Demon Realm for so long, it was weird to suddenly be back here doing something so terribly normal. It was nice, though; nostalgic and comforting. It made her realize just how much she'd missed it.

As Luz helped her mom cook, something popped into her head that she'd been meaning to ask.

"Hey so, I guess Vee's sleeping up in my room right now? How's she doing?"

Her mother smiled kindly at the mention of Vee.

"Actually, she's at a friend's house. She came to the decision that she didn't want to stay in your room any longer."

Luz felt a stab of concern

"Why? Are you two ... okay? Was there a problem?"

Camila smiled, reassuring her,

"No problem. But, after your visit a few weeks ago, well, we got to talking quite a bit. I got to know her as Vee instead of Luz. Such a strong, amazing girl. She was worried, though. She didn't want me to feel like she was trying to replace you."

Camila flipped an egg and continued,

"I still help to look after her and she's here a lot, but we agreed to some boundaries. I think it worked best for the both of us. Vee could spend some time deciding who she really was, and I ..."

She trailed off, Luz watching her closely. There was a distant, sad look in her eye.

"I needed some time to think."

Luz's heart wrenched. As she chopped plantains she tried to figure out how to even start addressing such a thorny subject.

Her voice almost forcibly pleasant, Camila finally said,

"It all worked out in the end though, didn't it? Here you are now, back where you belong."

Luz forced herself to keep a straight face, eyes glued on her task, dropping fruit into a pot to boil, despite the awful feeling pressing down on her.

"Y-yeah ..." she said, voice strained.

When they'd finished with preparing breakfast, they all sat down to the table to eat. Camila peppered them both with questions about the Demon Realm, jumping all over the place as if she couldn't decide what questions should be first. Was the Demon Realm really full of demons? Did Luz meet any? What did she learn in this school for witches she went to? What did witches do with these magical powers of theirs? Did Luz have a place to stay? Who was this Owl Lady she mentioned? Did they ever run into the very bad people that Vee had described? Luz tried her best to give answers, but she never got to go into too much detail before her mother had moved on to the next question. After a while, Luz started to feel like it was less a conversation and more like an interrogation, even though her mother kept a bright smile and a pleasant tone, acting as though she was curious. On occasion she would address questions and comments to Hunter as well. His responses were polite but short, and for the most part he kept himself out of the conversation, focused on inhaling food as quickly as possible without appearing rude. At some point Camila noticed this and laughed, asking if he'd liked it and encouraging him to have seconds.

"Seems they're not getting you enough to eat in the Demon Realm, hm? I'm glad you enjoy my cooking."

Hunter answered awkwardly as he sat down with seconds.

"Y-yes, thank you. It's ... not really that, I'm just usually very busy. There isn't much time to stop and eat."

Camila clicked her tongue, giving them both a mildly disapproving look.

"That's a very unhealthy habit to get into. I know far too many adults who live like that, and then they pass it on to the new generation. Trust me, if you don't want to burn out at 23 or something, you should take care of yourself, because your body isn't gonna take that kind of abuse forever."

Ah, mom lectures. Luz smiled– even those made her feel kind of nostalgic. Truthfully, those lectures would probably do Hunter some good. She glanced to him and teased,

"She's right, you know."

Camila laughed.

"Atta girl. Be sure to hound him to not skip his meals, Luz, that's what a good friend does. Although I guess you won't be able to anymore when he goes home. Well, best to get all the hounding in now then so it can last him a lifetime."

Luz glanced down at her empty plate, an uncomfortable feeling creeping over her. Before she could think better of it, she muttered,

"I mean ... it's not like I'm never seeing my Demon Realm friends again."

Camila stared at her a moment, looking as though she was trying to decide how to react. After an awkward pause, she smiled, saying,

"Ooh, you mean if your friends come here to visit? I didn't think of that, but I guess if there's a working portal again that makes sense. Well, your friends are very welcome to visit, although they might have to avoid magical demony activities. I wouldn't want us to have to deal with any more awful people who are obsessed with cryptids and conspiracy theories."

Luz smiled at her faintly and nodded. It was great of her mom to be so welcoming of her friends, of course. She'd been so cool about Vee and was still being very open-minded now. But something still rubbed Luz the wrong way.

She should just let it go for now.

"Anyway, Luz, I think you were telling me something about your little witch school lessons?"

The troubled look on Luz's face vanished, and she seized on the opportunity to prove how much she'd learned in the Demon Realm.

"Yeah! So I explained how they started letting students enroll in multiple tracks, right? Well, just a few days ago, Willow started to play around with the idea of combining Plant and Healing magic. It's sort of like, enhancing the natural healing properties some plants already have, and finding new ways of using them? And I've been helping her out with it. There's a lot of potential to help a ton of people out that way!"

To Luz's surprise, Hunter seemed to light up at this, interest sparking in his eyes.

"There's actually a pretty long history of combining those two magic types, but the old texts are missing from most libraries. Did you know about any of that, or are you working from scratch?"

Luz looked to him.

"No, we had no idea. We were just sort of messing around. That would be super helpful to know about, though. We've been trying to use silverwort, but the samples kinda keep shriveling up."

He nodded as if he'd expected it.

"Trying to use them for their anti-hex and anti-inflammatory properties, right? There used to be a special cultivar for that. It was bred to produce a sturdier stem system and a much higher tolerance for magic enhancement."

Luz's eyes widened.

"Oh, that's just what Willow said needed to be done! Do you know where we could get some of that kind?"

He sighed, answering in a wistful tone.

"Sadly, the cultivar was lost over time. It would need to be reinvented, basically. There aren't a lot of records left about it, but I do have one book that holds some clues on the process they used. If your friend's willing to invest the time in it ... well, it would be an incredible breakthrough to restore it."

Luz mulled that over, feeling excited. Her mother chuckled, commenting,

"This is all sort of going over my head, but it sounds very impressive."

Eagerly, Luz asked,

"Do you think we could take a look at that text? Willow was brainstorming some ideas, but I think information like that could really help a lot."

He looked tempted, but uncertain.

"Well, it's technically from the Coven's private library, but ..."

He hesitated, but not for long, his excitement winning out.

"Ehh, they probably won't miss it anyway. Sure, I could do that."

Luz grinned, cheering,

"Yes, thank you!! Oh man, Willow's gonna be so happy when I tell her. Next week, after class, we're gonna ..."

Luz paused, realizing what she was about to say. She glanced to her mom, faltering.

"I-I mean, um ... maybe not next week, but . . . at some point when I ... uh."

Camila looked at her with narrowed eyes.

"At some point?"

Ah, crap. Luz stammered,

"W-well, I mean, maybe..."

Her mother sighed. In a stern voice, she said,

"Luz, you're starting to worry me a little. I'm glad you've been having fun with your witch school things, but that has to come to an end now, remember?"

Luz prickled in irritation.

"You talk about what I've been doing like they're still all just silly games of mine. The Demon Realm isn't a fantasy, mom."

Camila's gaze darkened, bringing the full weight of the parental glare.

"That's exactly the reason I asked you to never return, Luz. Because I know the horrible dangers are all too real."

Desperately, Luz tried to explain.

"Yes, there are some dangers, but I'm not alone there! I have friends! And I know you might not believe me, but I'm actually pretty strong. I can protect myself when I need to."

"Oh, I know you're strong, sweetheart," Camila told her,

"I don't doubt it for a second. But all these demons and fighting and magic ... I know it must seem so exciting to you, like your books come to life. But Luz, when something goes wrong, you might not get your happy ending."

Her eyes were pleading.

"Please, let's leave the Demon Realm to the demons and witches. Let's leave the Human Realm to us humans. Okay?"

Luz didn't want to fight. She didn't want to make her mom unhappy like this. It felt horrible. If she just agreed, then everything would be fine between them.

But she couldn't.

Keeping her gaze downward, Luz asked quietly,

"Shouldn't I get to choose where I belong?"

The room was silent for a few moments. When Luz looked back up, her mother seemed gutted. In a shaky tone, she said,

"So you really would rather move away and live in your land of magic then live with me."

Luz's eyes widened.

"No," she said,

"That's not what I meant! I just mean– ugh, why can't I care about both things? They're both important to me."

"Luz," her mother said, looking at her intensely. Luz watched as her mom's expression seemed to pass through a miserable mix of emotions.

"Luz. I ..."

She closed her eyes, letting out a slow breath. With measured calm, she said,

"I think we should stop talking about this for now. It's very late and we're all very tired. I wouldn't want anyone to say anything they might regret."

She stood, giving them both a strained smile.

"Let's sleep on it for now. I'm sure once we're refreshed, we'll have a better perspective. Hunter, I apologize for arguing in front of you like that. I'm going to gather the extra bed linens so we can set you up for tonight."

"I-it's all right," he muttered as Camila left them.

Luz talked to Hunter for a few minutes, then went to help her mother. She tried to ignore the ache in her heart as she helped Camila set the extra bed up. Her mom was efficient and thorough, also finding an extra towel and toothbrush for Hunter, asking him if he needed anything else. He tried to protest the arrangements, saying it wasn't necessary for her to go through all this trouble, but Camila was stubborn, and he seemed to decide it would be easier to just yield to her wishes. After that had been all sorted, she bid them both goodnight.

Getting ready for bed gave Luz some time to contemplate. She stared at the water swirling down the drain as she showered, running events and conversations over in her mind. No matter how she looked at things, turned them over in her head, she couldn't see how she could have done them differently. Not without giving up something she knew in her heart to be right. Hopefully her mother would eventually understand.

By the time Hunter had immerged from his own shower, Luz was starting to feel a little better. Although that possibly was just the drowsiness that had started to settle on her brain. Whichever was the case, she was able to register the humor in seeing her nemesis/friend/frenemy standing there in her hallway, dressed in one of her oversized t-shirts and plaid pajama bottoms, looking lost. It was such an extreme contrast with how he normally looked that she could hardly even wrap her head around it. The intimidating Golden Guard was nowhere to be seen, and in his place was just a sleepy teen with hair that was fluffed wildly from being towel-dried.

Giving him an amused smile, Luz told him,

"Hey, so, the bed's in my room. I have bunk beds! Dibs on the top bunk, though. Sorry, house rules."

Looking confused, he simply said,

"Ok ...?"

She led him to her room and awkwardly gestured to the bottom bunk, which was covered in a menagerie of plushies.

"Tadaa!"

From within the pile of felt critters, a little red head popped up and chirped. Luz smiled at the adorable sight.

"Oh, looks like your 'lil rascal has already staked his claim!"

Hunter moved to sit on the mattress, letting the bird hop onto his hand. He stroked the bird's crest while the bird twittered happily at him. Luz was glad to see the palisman was apparently doing well. She figured it must be quite an extraordinary palisman to be undaunted by the inherent dangers of partnering with its witch. She hoped that her palisman would build a bond with her that was just as strong.

To her surprise, Hunter pressed a few little kisses on the cardinal's head, which caused her to squeal,

"Awww!"

He immediately looked embarrassed, as if he'd done it without thinking, which only made it cuter. She giggled.

"So I guess you two are doing well? Does your palisman– hm, I've been calling him Rascal, but what's his actual name? And does he need anything?"

Hunter let the bird perch on his shoulder and looked shyly to the ground.

"Erm, no, he's fine. And he, uh. He told me I could name him, and. Well. I just have been calling him by the name you used."

Luz's brows bounced upwards.

"Wait, really?"

He gave her an annoyed look, responding defensively,

"I'm bad with names, ok?"

She grinned.

"Fair enough."

They fell quiet, the stillness of the room helping to settle Luz's thoughts. After a bit, she sighed.

"So ... uh, I wanted to say sorry about all that stuff before. I understand now why you didn't wanna get in the middle of all that mother-daughter drama."

He shrugged.

"It's all right. To be honest, it's still way more comfortable then if I'd stayed in that broken down house."

Luz chuckled.

"That's true."

Absent-mindedly, Hunter picked up one of Luz's plushies, the orange cuttlefish, toying with it. After a bit, he said quietly,

"Besides, I realized you might have had a good reason for me to be there."

Luz frowned, feeling puzzled.

"What do you mean?"

He looked at her warily.

"Well ... if I was there, there'd be less chance for your mom to ... y'know. Hurt you."

Luz was still very confused and was about to ask again what he meant, but something in the way he said it made her brain finally click.

"W-wait, you mean, like, hit me? Oh, no, no. It's not like that at all, mom would never do that!"

He blinked at her.

"Oh. Well, good. Nevermind then."

Luz struggled to figure out how on earth Hunter could have gotten such an impression. She couldn't think of a single instance that could seem that way. It didn't seem like a thing anyone would normally think of. Unless ... hm. She furtively eyed Hunter, and the additional scars that were now visible when he was wearing the PJs. She'd assumed they were battle scars, but maybe they'd come from a very different kind of monster.

She winced at the thought. She hoped not.

In any case, it wasn't something she was just going to ask outright; not at the moment, although perhaps later. For now, she didn't want to make him any more uncomfortable than he already probably was, stranded in the Human Realm and all that.

Without another obvious topic, Luz decided to fill the silence by babbling more about her mother.

"Yeah, no, things have been really good between me and mom. Honestly, she's an amazing person. I don't know how she does it all. Between work and cooking and all the house stuff and sometimes volunteering with school things. And dealing with the, uhh, chaos I leave behind, I guess, heh. I see how tired she gets sometimes, but she never complains. She takes everything with a smile and a positive attitude."

Luz smiled softly as she recalled.

"And we have a lot of fun together. She might not always get the stuff I'm into but she tries anyway. One year, I wanted an Azura-themed birthday party. She sewed me an entire little costume I could wear, and baked this huge dragon cake, and we had all these decorations, it was awesome."

Hunter had moved on to fiddling with the plushie boa constrictor, and Luz suspected he liked her collection of toys, but she didn't point it out so he wouldn't be self-conscious.

"If you don't mind me asking," he said,

"If you had all that in the Human Realm, why did you decide leave?"

Luz sighed. She plunked down on her computer chair. She answered vaguely,

"Because ... as great as things were, things were also ... not-great?"

She tried to think of how to explain.

"I ... wasn't exactly doing well in school. Got in trouble a lot and was constantly being scolded for not focusing or whatever. Sitting through classes was kinda torture for me. And, um, I basically had no friends. Mostly the kids teased and picked on me or just avoided me. It kinda sucked. Mom tried to help me make friends. Signed me up for clubs or extracurricular things the other kids liked to do. But those just made things worse."

She turned her computer chair in a slow circle.

"Basically, I didn't fit in and I didn't want to. Eventually, mom decided to sign me up for some summer camp that was supposed to make kids like me, y'know ... normal. And when I stumbled across the portal, it was like fate had stepped in to save me. How could I let go of a chance like that?"

She sighed again.

"For the first time in my life, I felt like I didn't have to worry about fitting in. I could ... just be my own weird self? Honestly, I don't even know yet what I mean when I say 'be myself.' I think I'm still figuring out what that means. But I think the Demon Realm gave me the room to actually start figuring that out, if that makes sense."

She glanced up at Hunter, suddenly feeling self-conscious about her rambling.

"I dunno, this probably all sounds silly to you."

He shook his head.

"Nah, not really. I think I kinda get it, actually."

Luz watched him in surprise. He glanced away and admitted,

"I mean, it's not as though I exactly fit in either. A magicless witch. People treated me like a freak. I thought they were right."

When he looked back at her, she felt a warm feeling of camaraderie. Of course, he was a fellow freak, just like her. Not just like her, of course— but weird in his own ways.

He continued calmly,

"I was miserable. When Belos found me, I thought I'd finally been given a purpose. It felt like my salvation."

He slipped into silence. Rascal gave a somber chirp from his shoulder. Eventually, he muttered, almost to himself;

"Now I'm not so sure. I don't know."

Luz knew he hadn't been receptive before when she'd tried to convince him to leave the Coven, but she had to keep trying anyway. Gently, she said,

"You get to choose, you know. It's your life– you get to decide what your purpose is."

He chuckled humorlessly.

"It isn't that simple for me. I can't just walk away."

She persisted in a kind tone.

"Well, I didn't mean that it was simple. I just meant that no one can take that right away from you. You get to decide what being Hunter means."

He sighed, shaking his head, but he had the slightest twitch of a smile.

"You never give up, do you?"

Luz grinned at him.

"Nope!"

He told her seriously,

"You should learn when to quit."

She beamed,

"I never will!"

He grumbled, but somehow that didn't seem very threatening as he currently had Luz's bunny plush in his lap. Clearly unaware of how adorable he looked, he told her gravely,

"In any case, we still need to figure out how we're getting back to the Demon Realm. I've been doing some thinking."

Luz nodded, stamping down on the urge to giggle. He continued,

"I think our best shot is the guard change that takes place at 2:30am. Assuming they don't change their usual rotation– which isn't a guarantee, of course– we'd have a very small window of opportunity to slip through. Very small, in fact . . . but I'm not sure what else we could do."

"Oh, I actually had an idea for this!" Luz exclaimed, suddenly remembering. She turned and took one of the slips of paper she'd left on her desk, then showed it to Hunter. Proudly, she said,

"Invisibility glyphs!"

His grave expression fell away. In an intrigued tone, he asked,

"Really? That glyph will make us invisible?"

Luz nodded.

"I can't demonstrate it now 'cos glyphs don't work in the Human Realm, but yeah, these work for as long as you can hold your breath. It's not a ton of time but it should be enough to help out. Especially if we make a whole bunch of them!"

He looked genuinely uplifted at this news.

"That's ... that's incredible, actually. That should help a ton. If we time our arrival during the guard change and use those glyphs, while riding on my staff ... we might just have an actual chance at getting through."

Happy that their plan was coming together, Luz exclaimed,

"Awesome! Once I'm done visiting and I can convince mom that I still need to do some things in the Demon Realm, we can head back."

He fell quiet for a bit, as if sinking back into a grim, contemplative state. Eventually, he said,

"You know ... your mom's right to be worried about you. Returning to the Demon Realm could be a death sentence for you."

Luz sighed. She glanced away. Quietly, she answered,

"I know."

She looked at him again.

"But I have to. I'm not abandoning my friends when they need me."

He stared at her, perhaps trying to decide how firm her convictions were. She stared back. He must have concluded that Luz's stance was unshakable, because he eventually sighed and relented,

"All right. I think it's a terrible idea, but it's your choice to make."

"That's the spirit," Luz commented sarcastically. He acknowledged her with a displeased grunt and leaned back against the pillows on the bed. He seemed tense, despite the fluffy pillows and plushies. Well, Luz couldn't exactly blame him. They were discussing some pretty serious topics. Not to mention this whole staying over at her house thing probably felt awkward and weird for him. What they needed was some kind of distraction.

A smile appeared on Luz's face as an idea occurred to her.

"Hey, you don't seem ready to sleep just yet, so ... would you like to enjoy some excellent human literature with me?"

He looked at her warily and raised a brow. Cautiously, as if worried it might be a trap, he said,

"... maybe?"

Luz moved to her bookcase where she kept one of her most prized possessions, a neat row of Azura books with fancy collector's edition covers. She hummed in thought a moment as she touched the spines of the books, wondering which to grab. Starting from the first book had its advantages, but sometimes it was better to start somebody off with a different volume, with an example of when the author truly hit her stride. After careful consideration she plucked volume 5 from the shelf.

"Ever heard of The Good Witch Azura?"

He shook his head as Luz sat back down in her chair. She beamed.

"Then you're in for a treat. This is a few books into the series but I can catch you up with the basic context first. Then I can read some for you! What do you think?"

He pet his palisman as he considered it, looking a little puzzled.

"Read it for me?"

"Yeah," Luz enthused, "It'll be fun! I like reading it out loud, it feels so much cooler that way. And that way we can both enjoy it."

He fluffed Rascal's little crest and then gave Luz a shrug.

"I guess. Go ahead."

Although his response sounded rather lukewarm, that was actually pretty enthusiastic by Hunter standards. Luz took it as a good sign and launched into her (hopefully brief) back-story about her favorite book series.