Chapter Text
Not all dreams come true.
A sour potion to swallow, but many witches came to learn that fact throughout their lives. Hunter had learned that almost as soon as he was made.
After betraying Belos, Hunter's life, for the most part, had improved. Well… it had improved outside of Flapjack's death. Some dreams he didn't know he even had were fulfilled. Simple things such as not being hit for the smallest of things, not being harshly scolded for any sort of failure, having a roof over his head and never running the risk of being kicked out, being guaranteed three warm meals a day no matter his usefulness, without any chance of being starved, having sick days, and ample time to rest if he ever needed a break. Hunter had learned his basic needs were his right and not a privilege that ran the risk of being taken away.
So, now that Hunter had some stability in his life, he started thinking about dreams he never would've even dared to think of before. Leaving the Emperor's Coven forever, getting rid of that sigil that reminded him of his painful past, studying wild magic in a safe environment, never setting foot in that throne room or castle ever again, and returning to the demon realm and learning how to carve palismen.
However, there was one dream Hunter had since he was still in the Golden Guard. One that he knew if he ever mentioned to Belos, he'd get the scolding of his life. His dream of attending Hexisde as a regular student. Hunter had dreamed of that ever since going there undercover to recruit kids to the Emperor's Coven. Although most of the memories that day were now filled with deep regret, and the embarrassing things he had done still haunted him to this day, it was still the most fun he had ever had in his life at that point, and it was undoubtedly the day that had changed his life forever.
Not only did he meet Gus and Willow, who would become his lifelong friends, the latter becoming a deep crush he had had for months now, but it made him start dreaming about actually attending Hexside—something he never would even dare to think before. After interacting with kids his age, he realized just how lonely he truly was. Hexside was full of kids his age, kids he could befriend and hang out with. Kids who he could learn from and relate to. He just… wanted to be around other kids.
However, when he was still the Golden Guard, Hunter knew that his dream of attending Hexside was impossible. It would never happen, and he had accepted it as soon as he dreamt of it.
But then Hunter's world got turned upside down after getting trapped in Belos' mind. He had no choice but to flee everything he had ever known if he wanted a shot at survival. While he was on the run, the only place he could think of to seek shelter was Hexside. After all, it was the only place that had ever shown him kindness. One of the only places in the entire realm where he felt safe. However, hiding from the government, who wanted him dead while trying to subsist off any scraps of food and drinks he could find, was far more important than dreaming of actually attending Hexisde. With his knowledge at the time, that wouldn't matter anyway since he was going to die on the Day of Unity no matter what.
Although things were peaceful in the human realm, Hunter knew that his dream of one day attending Hexside was far, far out of reach. He was literally trapped in a realm that didn't even know witchkind existed. If they found out, they would probably kidnap them and run inhumane experiments if Vee's experience was anything to go by.
No matter where Hunter was or what his conditions were, Hexside always just seemed like an unachievable dream. Not all dreams come true… Hunter knew that. This was probably another one of those dreams that was going to never happen.
After Belos was finally killed and the Collector had learned his lesson about using mortals as his puppets and an entire realm as their playground, Hunter reunited with Darius and Eberwolf, and they were more than happy to have Hunter stay with them. It was quite a nice surprise, as Hunter wasn't expecting anyone to miss him, let alone be waiting for him. Over the past month, they had a permanent house built for them, and they had finally moved within the past week. Darius even went as far as to legally adopt Hunter as his son and to say Hunter was touched would be an understatement. However, he wasn't exactly ready to call Darius his… father. That would need a lot of time. Hunter trusted him, that was true, but calling him his dad? That was a lot right now. Despite that, Darius had done something that blew Hunter's mind. He had made arrangements with Principal Bump and officially enrolled Hunter in Hexside School of Magic and Demonics. Hunter, by that point, considered attending Hexside a far-gone, withered-up dream. Suddenly, it had become a reality before his eyes. Hunter was overjoyed, to say the least. Words couldn't even begin to describe his excitement that finally, FINALLY, after all of these months of dreaming about being a student, it was within arms reach.
It was actually happening .
Hunter couldn't be happier.
Each day went by since then, with Hunter making preparations and doing research. During his recent sleepover with Willow, he had asked her what she knew about Hexside. What was the average school day like? How many classes do kids have a day? When was lunch? How long was the average school day? All questions Hunter had asked, and Willow answered. After all, she would know all the information he needed. She had attended all her life.
But it wasn't just Willow. Hexside was where all of his friends went five days a week. Gus, Amity, and Luz attended as well. Even with Hunter asking question after question to Willow, he found himself with even more questions even after Willow had left their sleepover, and he texted the Hexsquad group chat with a wall of questions about every little detail about school.
But that was it… just texting. Not face-to-face interaction. Hunter wished he could spend more time with his friends instead of being cooped up at home while Darius and Eberwolf were at work. Despite having been able to have that sleepover with Willow, Hunter hardly had time to see his friends during the week due to how busy they were with school, Flyer Derby, or rebuilding the isles. If Hunter had learned anything, he despised being alone. It made him think too much. Think about his fears, his worries, his past. If Hunter got to go to school, he could be with friends more often, solving his struggle with loneliness while stuck at the Deamonne household.
Plus, going would finally make Hunter able to fully reconnect with people he hadn't seen in ages. Skara and Viney. He hadn't exactly had the chance to talk to them much ever since Adrain Graye invaded Hexside. Hunter had really missed them and couldn't wait to reunite with them.
Hunter was also thrilled to just do something that most kids his age had done. Simply attending school. He had never gone to school in his life, and he was excited to just live out the last two years of his childhood how kids were supposed to.
And the cherry on top of it all was Hunter was finally going to be able to play Flyer Derby with the Emerald Entrails again, something he had longed for for months by now. It was such a fun, thrilling sport, and playing it with his friends made it even better.
However… there was a catch. One major catch. A catch that made Hunter deeply fear that even despite attending school being so close to happening, the dream would still get crushed, and Hunter feared that the old saying that not all dreams come true would be relevant to his life again.
He had to pass an entrance exam.
And he had been given all but a single week to prepare.
Hunter knew from the moment that Darius informed him that he had been enrolled that his anxiety would be on the fritz during the exam, so he came up with a plan to try to ease himself. Hunter carved a mask to hopefully give him a confidence boost while he was presenting on stage. He had gotten the idea when remembering that Luz offered him a mask when they were chasing down Belos, and that helped return his confidence. If that worked for something as dangerous as chasing down his lifelong abuser, then it definitely should work for something as easy as an exam.
But even with the mask, the dread of the looming entrance exam grew as every day passed, and now… the exam was tomorrow morning.