Chapter Text
“Stuck?” Luz repeated, her lips tugged into a frown. She glanced at her own palm, then at the boy just in front of her. “So this has something to do with how long you’re on the train?”
“Something like that, I guess,” Hunter mumbled. He bit at his own lips, chapped and thin. “I’ve seen so many people. The ones that get their number down to zero… a door opens up, then poof, they’re gone.”
“Oh,” the shorter of the two said, no words coming to mind as she tried to put together her thoughts. Then, an idea came to mind, “what if you left with me, through my door?”
He stayed silent for a few seconds before responding, “...we could try. I dunno if it would work, though.” His palm reached towards the door in front of them, hesitating before twisting the handle. “You ready?”
Luz nodded, ghosting her hands over Hunter’s gloved ones, and helping him rotate the golden infinity symbol. The door swung open, and the two cautiously entered, scrutinizing their surroundings.
The brunette tapped her foot against the muddy ground as rain pelted against her back – quite annoying, in her humble opinion. She definitely would have preferred a less murky car to follow up the last one, but she could make do.
Trees hid away the sky, and what little bits Luz could make out were obscured by dull clouds. The forest that surrounded them was rather grim itself: there was hardly any color or variation in flora. Out of the corner of her eye, Luz could have sworn that she saw somebody, but when she focused fully, she couldn't make out anything.
“I think there’s something up ahead,” Hunter interrupted her perusal, dragging her attention in the opposite direction. She could piece together some rubble, and what appeared to be a crumbling archway. “Let’s go, maybe we can get out of this rain.”
“Yeah,” Luz nodded. All in all, she was a rain type of gal: back home, she loved sprinting out the back door as soon as the clouds turned gray, eager to feel the first few drops of rain in her hair. But this wasn’t home. These weren’t the forests she traversed, in search of treasure and good sticks to make forts with.
This was a freaky train, and for all she knew, it could be raining acid or something.
So, she followed Hunter to the edge of the ruins, trying her best to comprehend the countless loops and patterns scrawled about. The boy made no effort, simply crawling inside between the crevices made by fallen stone.
After a moment’s hesitation, Luz followed in his footsteps, stumbling into near absolute darkness. Sconces with torches lined the walls, yet their flames were so dim that they barely illuminated the murals surrounding them.
“Do you think the door is in here?” Luz whispered. Something about this place was off; she felt as if she were too loud, something would rise and come for her head. As she carefully stalked deeper into the darkness, her arm clutching Hunter’s, she felt something brush against her shin.
She froze.
With great trepidation, she glanced down, scared for what she’d find. Hunter was rigid, noticing Luz’s demeanor. He followed her gaze.
At her feet, coiled into a ball, was some sort of scraggly bone-dog looking thing. She dragged her foot away from it slowly, trying her best not to disturb it, yet her attempts proved fruitless as it stirred.
It blinked, looking up at her and opening up its eyes wide.
It was the most cutest thing Luz had ever had the honor of setting her eyes upon.
“Ay, que lindo!” she couldn’t help but gasp, which immediately received an elbow to the gut from Hunter. The bone dog scurried to its feet, standing on its hind legs as it pointed an accusatory finger towards her.
“You two! What are you peasants doing in my castle?” it (he?) demanded, adjusting his posture so he appeared taller than he was, which was still only about a foot, (maybe two, Luz had never been good with estimating measurements) give or take a few inches.
She knew full-well that she should answer his question, but there was just one small, miniscule, detail that she was hung up on; “you can talk?”
Hunter nudged her in the ribs (hard!) again, apparently deciding now was when he should take over the conversation.
“It was raining outside, and we were lost. We found these ruins and decided to come inside for shelter,” he reported rather simply. “We’re only looking for the exit from this car, can you help us?”
“Hmm, I dunno. I don’t really help strangers,” the bone thing (boy?) frowned, tapping his paw against the ground. “But, if you help me first, see, then we won’t be strangers anymore, see?”
“Sure, whatever,” Hunter rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.
“Let’s introduce ourselves! I’m Luz, and this grumpy guy is Hunter,” she decided to enact the teensiest bit of revenge, slapping a hand against his back (albeit not actually, both because she didn’t have the heart to do it, and she didn’t want Hunter to come for her).
“Weird names,” the bone boy mumbled. “ I’m King, a name fit for a ruler!”
Something in the back of her mind was heavy with doubt – what kind of ruler didn’t have a kingdom, or subjects? The forest was vacant, and this castle was in shambles. Something… didn’t quite add up.
It wasn’t the time to mention it, though. So, she lied, instead.
“I see, I see,” she nodded over-enthusiastically. “So, what is it that we can help you with, your majesty?”
“Ah, respect! I like you, hehe,” King snickered, placing his claws on his hips and stomping towards the murals that lined the walls. After a second, Luz and Hunter trailed behind him. “See these paintings?”
The torches were still dim, but Luz could make out more detail now that the drawings were immediately in front of her face. Hunter’s eyes scanned over the intricacies, clearly searching for clues or hints towards their exit.
“Yeah,” Luz affirmed. “ Er, your majesty.”
“Good,” King addressed, pointing at the painting in front of him – a portrait of a creature akin to him, albeit much taller and more filled out. An older version of King, maybe. Luz ignored the way her hand itched and burned ever so slightly. “This is me, before my crown of power was taken away.”
“Where was it taken?” Hunter stopped his analyzing, turning his attention back towards King. Luz spared another glance at the murals, then at the thing in front of her – if anything, he just seemed like an imaginative kid.
“An act of cruel and vicious mockery,” King scowled. “It’s at the top of the tower, where I can’t reach. My memories are a bit buzzy, but I remember it, I remember the deep roar of power, and then I was falling. My powers… gone.”
“Aw, I’m sorry, King,” Luz cooed, an attempt at comfort. “But hey, it sounds like it’s still in here, right? We can help you get it back, and then you’ll have all your power back!”
“...you don’t believe me?” King’s expression became crestfallen. His posture hunched just a bit, and Luz’s heart dropped to her stomach. “It’s up there! One of my guards, he betrayed me! He took it away! I just know it, I don’t need all the memories to know! Just look at all these murals, they’re me.”
“No, no! I believe you!” Luz shot Hunter a look as she tried to save face. “I was just, uh, lost in thought trying to figure out how we can help you get up there! Uh, your majesty!”
King didn’t look fully convinced, but he seemed content enough to not question it further. He pushed a few feet past the two passengers, pointing up towards the ceiling.
There was a large circle in the stone, clearly meant to be the entrance to the tower King mentioned, but it was above stacks of rubble and ruin – it looked dangerous. Hunter rolled up his sleeves (yet his gloves stayed on) and he approached the debris.
Luz watched him test his weight on some of it, seemingly trying to figure out a safe path upwards. She wasn’t quite sure how they’d manage it – all of the rocks were taller than not just King, but her too. She felt the small creature scuttle up her side, settling himself on her shoulder.
It was a bit unnerving how easily he managed the task, but she wasn’t in the best position to question things at the moment.
“I think we can get up this way, but it’ll be a bit of a climb,” Hunter announced from a bit further up ahead. Luz made her way towards his voice, groaning at just how much of a climb it looked to be. She avoided gym class for a reason, thank you! Then, Hunter interrupted her thoughts, “I’ll give you a boost.”
“You sure?” she raised an eyebrow, sparing a glance at King, who was still clinging onto her shoulder. “Maybe we should look around down here, first. What if there’s nothing up there and we get, like, stuck?”
“I’m telling you, it’s up there! My powers!” King bapped her nose, a tad bit aggressively.
“Okay, okay! Sorry,” Luz apologized, although she knew deep down that she didn’t fully mean it. Her palm stung. “You’re right. Let’s head up and check it out. I’ll take that boost, Hunter.”
He looked at her skeptically, but didn’t question it. He folded his hands together, offering it as a step for her to take. Once her foot was firmly planted, he raised his arms up, catching her off guard for a second.
Luz was quickly able to figure out her balance and climb on top of the rock. King hopped off of her shoulder, searching for the next thing he could traverse. She leaned down, offering a hand towards Hunter.
The blonde didn’t take it, instead taking a running start towards a close-by rock and using his momentum from that jump to grip onto the rubble.
She couldn’t help but compare that to one of those crazy parkour videos you’d see on YouTube. Luz would have to beg him to teach her at some point, it looked so cool!
It was no longer ‘so cool’.
After Luz put her blood, sweat, and tears into making her way to the top of the tower, Hunter managed to get up without breaking a sweat. King had long since abandoned her shoulder for her acquaintance’s (friend’s?).
The second she made it to the landing, Luz collapsed onto her stomach and groaned. Her joints ached, and she was very, very, aware of why she refused to take a physical education class at school. She was a nerd. With weak little nerd arms. Noodles. Luz was a noodle.
Never would she ever want to learn any form of physical activity. Ever. The gym (or wherever you learn parkour) was no place for a noodle.
“I can sense its power, it’s close!!” King was near-squealing, clapping his paws together excitedly. Luz could still only groan in response. While her face was pushed into the floor, she heard a foreign scuttle. Luz assumed King did too, based on his, “oh no.”
“Oh no?! What do you mean oh no?!” Luz screeched, sitting up quickly. A cursory glance across the landing showed some creepy looking spider boomerang creature, and it absolutely did not look friendly. Like, at all.
“That’s the thing that took my crown! I know it!” King shouted, pointing at it angrily. “Traitor! I am your lord, you obey me!”
Luz rose to her feet, rushing towards Hunter and grabbing his shoulder, glaring at King. “No! No, I’m done! This castle is in ruins, there are no people here – no guards, no subjects, nothing! You’re not a ruler, you’re an over-imaginative kid, and now we’re all going to die because you wanted to play pretend!”
“Luz,” Hunter hissed, his face colder than she had ever seen it. “Stop. Your number–”
The anger within her dissipated, and in came a feeling of dread. She looked at King, truly looked at him. His eyes glistened with unshed tears, his paws intertwined together.
Then, she looked down at her palm. The green glow was shifting like a slot machine, eventually settling on a simple two hundred and thirty one.
“I…” she trailed off, unsure of what else she even could say. She swallowed thickly, but was cut off once again by Hunter, who grabbed her wrist and started sprinting.
Suddenly, she remembered the sleep paralysis demon looking thing with them.
The three of them arrived at a sealed door, with no visible means of entrance; it wasn’t red or trimmed with gold, like the other doors she’s seen on the train. A quick glance behind her showed that thing rapidly approaching, which urged her to figure out the ding-dang door faster.
Before she could even start overthinking it, King placed a paw on the stone, and it glowed, sliding open. The group stumbled in, the doors shutting behind them, sealing away the monster.
At the other end of the room was the exit.
But on this end there was a very upset kid (and at this point, possible ruler. Who knows!), and it was her fault. King leapt down from Hunter’s shoulder, taking a seat on the ground.
“King…” Luz trailed off. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said any of that. Can I sit here?”
A subtle nod.
“I was frustrated, tired, and scared. That doesn’t justify anything,” she started, sucking in a deep breath and sparing another glance at the boy next to her. “I didn’t believe you. I think that in of itself is fair, because we just met you, and some things are hard for me to believe. But I shouldn’t have lied about it.
“Of all people, I should have known that. I’ve been bullied so much for my interests and likes, and so many people have lied just to hurt me. I shouldn’t have done the same to you,” Luz began to chew on her lip, tapping the heel of her shoe against the floor. “I know this apology doesn’t fix what I said, but I hope it’s a start. I’m sorry, King.”
“...I suppose it will suffice,” he mumbled, staring at the exit door. “But, there’s one condition.”
“Yeah?” Luz tilted her head curiously.
“Let me come on your adventures!” King stood quickly, approaching the door and ghosting his paw over it. He was too short to reach the handle. “It’s… it gets pretty lonely here, ruling, all alone.”
Luz shot a glance at Hunter, who shrugged in response.
She turned back towards King, standing up herself and scooping him up into her arms. “I don’t see a problem with that. Wanna do the honors?”
As King turned the handle, she felt a warmth in her palm - one that wasn't itchy or like a flame. Gentle, like a hug. Luz didn't need to peek to know that this was the right decision.