Chapter Text
It was done. Eda, King, and Raine turned back to Luz, having just stomped the last remains of Belos’s withering form into the dirt. The acid rain had ceased and the lowering sun glowed a golden yellow behind them, casting everything with a golden hue, almost as if the weather too was celebrating the defeat of Belos. The last of the titan’s magic left Luz with a roar, a blazing inferno that swirled in the sky as it left. Eda and King caught Luz on the way down, the pile giggling happily as they basked in the glow of victory. It was all finally over.
The Archives crown crashed onto the head of the titan with a loud boom, jolting the group to sit up. Maybe it all wasn’t over.
“The archives, everyone is still in the archives!” Luz jumped up, summoning her staff.
Eda transformed into her harpy form, grabbing Raine and King before taking to the sky. Luz followed after her, bee-lining for the fallen ring. Luz could easily pick out her friends standing in the courtyard, waving at her as she made her way over.
“Guys!” Luz leaped off her staff to grab them into a dog pile of a hug, “You’re all okay!”
“Us?” Willow exclaimed, “We’ve been so worried about you! We’re glad you’re okay!”
“What happened to Belos,” Hunter cut in, “Is he?”
“Gone,” Eda said, resting a hand on his shoulder, “For good this time.”
Hunter let out a sigh of relief, only to be tackled as his friends pulled him in for a second group hug.
“Now we have to figure out how to get everyone out of the Archive,” Eda hummed, “Getting down from the titan’s skull will not be easy.”
“I think I can help with that,” The Collector spun in a circle, twinkling blue stars spraying out in every direction.
They landed in a line, growing to build steps all the way down from the skull. Soon, monsters, demons, and witches were all filing down the stairs, eager to escape the tower. King watched as families rejoiced as they were reunited, rushing into each other’s arms. But he could also see The Collector, standing by himself, given a wide berth by all of the inhabitants of The Boiling Isle. Seemed no one was willing to get too near. King was going to change that.
“Collector,” King called out to them, getting their attention.
The celestial smiled at him, floating up in the air to get above the crowds and to him. Even though they were above them, the crowd parted as if they were walking through them.
“Heya, King,” The Collector greeted him, landing in the grass beside him, “Everyone’s all free! And since we’re all here, wanna play Owl House?”
“Uhh, sorry, Collector,” King replied, “I don’t think now is the time. Everyone’s a little busy.”
The Collector turned to look around, eyes wandering over the crowds of individuals. King was sure The Collector was going to insist he pinky promised, but instead, the star child gave him a smile and said, “I’m sure we will be able to play some other time.”
With that, they drifted away, their smile fading as the crowd moved as if it was repelled by them.
“I’m leaving.”
Back at the Owl House, everyone was back together. Eda was meeting Camilla and Hooty was curled around Lilith. No one seemed to hear them.
“I’m going back to the stars.”
Eda flopped down into the Owl Nest, King and Raine cuddled up besides her. The Collector stood by the doorway, just watching. They were always just watching. They plastered a smile on their face, trying to make it as wide as a crescent moon.
“King!” The Collector walked up the nest, holding something behind their back, “Look!”
They pulled Francois out from behind their pack and presented it to King.
“Weh? Francois!” King leaped up and took the stuffed bunny from them, cuddling it to his chest.
“Well, I guess this is goodbye, friends,” The Collector tried to keep the smile on their face, “I’ve got a lot of growing up to do. And to do that, I’m going back to the stars.”
There was a moment of silence as everyone looked at each other before King stepped up to them. He grabbed their hand before placing Francois in it, pulling the Collector into a big hug.
“I hope I see you again,” King whispered, hugging them tighter.
“No, you never will,” The Collector thought, blinking back tears, but it was a nice sentiment.
They took a couple steps back, taking a deep breath before grabbing onto the doorknob. Home. It was time to go home.
(Over a year later)
King hauled a cauldron out of the door, holding it as far away from him as possible. It stunk like no other; whatever failed spell Eda had dumped into it needed to be removed before it ended up making the whole house smell the same. He dragged it through the woods before finding some poor, unsuspecting tree to dump it on. Said tree immediately dropped all its leaves on him.
“Hey!” King cried as they all landed on him.
Although, now he could see the sky through the opening made in the forest. It was dark and the stars could easily be seen from there. The same stars The Collector had sailed off into. It had been over a year since they had left. Every once in a while, he’d look up at the stars as he did now and wonder what happened to his friend. All the stars would do was wink tauntingly back at him, ever silent.
However, while looking up at the stars, King managed to catch a glimpse of a shooting star. It streaked across the sky in a blazing trail of white, flying over him before fading just before the Boiling Isle’s raised hand.
“I wish I could see the Collector, just to know how he’s doing,” King thought, clasping both his claws together.
With the star gone and the cauldron emptied, King headed back inside.
“Goodnight, Eda,” King mumbled, tucking himself into bed.
“Goodnight, King,” Eda came over and gave him a kiss on the head, causing him to squeal.
King instinctively reached over only to meet empty air. Oh, the Collector had Francois. He still hadn’t gotten used to it. He turned over, ignoring the emptiness on Francois’s side of the bed.
When King opened his eyes, he was falling.
“Weh?!” King struggled to right himself, but the winds kept him spinning in circles.
“I’m not going to make it. I’m not going to make it!” The voice was filled with panic.
King managed to spin around only to find no one was there. Where was he going? How did he get here? Below him, the Boiling Isles was getting closer. And closer.
“I’m back. I’m finally back!” There was that voice again. It sounded…familiar.
Not that King really had the time to think about it. As they spoke, he was getting closer and closer to the titan’s raised left hand. King braced for impact, before slamming into the forearm. It…didn’t hurt? King tried to sit up, but he found that he couldn’t. He raised his hand up to-
“Ah! Hands! I have hands!” King exclaimed, holding them in front of him.
What was happening? This was wild. This was… a dream. King let out a sigh of relief.
“Let’s play one last game, hide and seek.”
King woke up with a jolt. The shock must have been evident on his face because Eda came over.
“Woah, King, you okay there? That must have been one hell of a dream,” Eda picked him up, “I’ve got breakfast ready on the table for you.”
“Ya, it was one weird dream,” King hummed, thinking about it.
That voice. He knew that voice. It was the Collector. Why was he dreaming about the Collector? Unless he and The Collector still have that dream bond between them.
“Eda,” King climbed out of her arms to perch on her shoulder, something that was very hard now with his increased size, “Can we go to the Titan’s arm today?”
“Are we talking about the armpit? Or the elbow?” Eda smirked, “Cause it’s gonna make a difference. One’s fun, the other’s boring. And it’s not the one you think. Also, why do you want to go?”
“I think it has something to do with my weird dream,” King jumped down, taking a seat at the table.
“A weird dream, huh?” Eda responded, snatching a rat and slurping it up, “Sure, why not. It’s either that or a cleaning day. Which is even more boring than the armpit.”
Eda snorted as she laughed, picking up another rat.
“Should we invite Luz to investigate your weird dream?” Eda asked.
“What if there’s nothing there?” King worried.
“She’d still appreciate hanging out with us, either way,” Eda ruffled the fur on his head, “Now eat up and tell me about this weird dream of yours.”