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Chapter Text

Hunter looked about his room double-checking to see if he had everything he needed for tonight. Forbidden book of wild magic, his palismen hidden away, golden mask, and finally his staff. Slipping out of his room his main goal at the moment was not to be seen by anyone else of the Emperor's Conven which for the most part wasn’t that hard. In reality, he was just avoiding Kikimora after she grew suspicious of him after the events a couple of weeks ago involving the palismens. After passing a few patrols and using a secret entrance he slipped out of the castle grounds and was able to take flight to his destination. It didn’t take him long to reach his destination a secluded spot in the woods just outside Bonesborough there he waited a bit gathering firewood and starting a small campfire. He sat by the fire and waited again until he heard the sounds of twigs snapping and the rustling of bush pointing his staff in the direction of the sound; quickly lowering his guard when he noticed who it was.

“Hey, Hunter.” The person said.

“You’re late Luz,” Hunter told her.

“I’m not late, you're just early.” Luz told him as she brushed off the leaves from her pajamas “You know some of us don’t have magical staff to fly us here.” 

“And some of us don’t have to sneak out of a secure castle every night with the chance of getting caught and imprisoned,” Hunter said back.

“You know that wouldn’t be an issue if you just left the Emperor’s coven.” Luz shot back as she took a seat next to the campfire. Hunter was about to say something back when he heard the aggressive chirps of his palismen.
“Sorry, Rascal,” Hunter said as he pulled out the cage containing the bird.

“Why do you still keep him locked up in that cage when you know he likes to be out.”

“It’s not like I like putting him in the cage but it’s for his own safety. If Belos gets a hold of him that’s it. The cage keeps him from being detected.” He told her as he released the cardinal from his cage. The cardinal chirped with glee as he flew around before landing on Luz's shoulder and gently nuzzling her cheek.

“Aww I missed you too Rascal,” Luz said gently rubbing the bird's head.

“I still don’t get why he chose me when you two get along so well,” Hunter said, removing his mask and setting it aside.

“I told you before they work off of your deepest wishes and desires.”

“But my desire goes against everything that these little guys stand for.” 

“Maybe you desire something more than just helping Belos.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know but maybe Rascal here knows you better than you do.” 

“Maybe he does. Oh, I brought something that might interest you.” Hunter said, pulling out the Forbidden Book of Wild Magic and handing it over to Luz

“What is it?” Luz asked as she took the book from him.

“It’s a copy of the Forbidden spells by wild witches. I was thinking you might find something that could help cure the Owl lady or at least find something useful in it.” 

“Oh wow that’s amazing, how did you get this?” Luz asked, flipping through the page.

“Well I am the Coven leader so I get access to the forbidden archives of the castle.”

“Wait Hunter I got it. I know why Rascal chose you.” Luz said, shutting the book close.

“Why?

“Knowledge.”

“Knowledge?”

“Yeah, the pursuit of knowledge. When we met you were curious how my magic worked even if it was wild magic. You told me you read about such things before stopping yourself from going into detail. Even throughout our little meetings here you're curious about everything, even how the human world is. When I first met Rascal he was curious as well leaving the nest and coming to me. Both of you are curious about the world you live in” Luz explained to him.

“The pursuit of knowledge. Eh, you might be onto something Luz,” Hunter said as he held out his finger for Rascal to land on. “Is that what you're after too, Rascal Knowledge.” The bird happily chirped away in agreement.

“See I told you they know you better than you do,” Luz told him.

“But what about you Luz. Have you figured out what you want yet?” Hunter asked as he played with Rascal.

“I-I-I still don’t know what I want. I want to be a witch but I also want to go back home to my mom. Even if I did know what I wanted none of it would matter since I don’t have a way back home.” Luz told him, holding back tears.

“Hey now don’t say that Luz. You rediscovered Glyphs in this world. I'm sure you can find a way back home.” Hunter said putting a comforting hand on her shoulder 

“Thanks, Hunter,” Luz said, placing a hand on his.

“It’s no problem, it's what friends are for right?” Hunter said 

“Yeah,” Luz said with a smile. The two sat by the fire and talked for a bit about wild magic until it was finally time for them to go their separate ways.
“It’s getting late Hunter, I should get going,” Luz told him getting up from the campfire 

“You know I could give you a ride back to your place,” Hunter told her.

“It’s tempting but I’m not sure Eda or the others would appreciate me hanging out with The Golden Guard,” she told him.

“That’s fair, I thought I might as well make the offer. Same time tomorrow?”

“Yeah, same time,” Luz said as she walked towards the woods.

 “Byeeeeeeeeee” He called out before flashing away. The trip back was pretty uneventful just the same, dodging some patrols and sneaking back in using the secret passages. Just as he was about to lie down for bed a knock came from his door. Hiding Rascal and putting on his mask before opening the door seeing his favorite little demon Kikimora standing there.

“Good you're here I need to talk with you.” Kikimora said bargain into his room.

“Sure come on in.” Hunter said, slamming his door “What is it you wanna talk about? It's late and I’m tired.”

“It’s about you and these late-night walks you've been going on.” Kikimora said. It was moments like these that Hunter was glad he always wore his mask.

“Alright, you caught me. I do enjoy a late-night flight every now and then.” He told her, raising his hands.

“That’s funny, almost as funny as you letting the human go with the palismen the Emperor requested.” Kikimora said with a chuckle.

“Not as funny as when the Emperor finds out you tried to kill me while I was on my way back with the palismen.” He shot back with his own chuckle

“Just remember the Emperor graciously gave you your magic and he can just as easily take it away from you. Especially if he finds out that his precious Golden Guard has been meeting with the human, giving her forbidden knowledge and secrets.”

“ Are you threatening me Kiki?” He asked, trying to keep his calm.

“No no not at all just reminding you of where your loyalty should lie. You are the leader of the coven after all. Now have a good night.” Kikimora told him as she left the room.

“Damn that little demon,” Hunter said to himself as he threw his mask against the wall. It was gonna be a long night.

Chapter Text

Hunter didn't get much sleep by the time he calmed himself down and closed his eyes it was already morning. He could hear the scream of the morning clock going off which meant it was time to get to work. Getting up and starting to get ready for the day. He showered, put on his uniform, grabbed his mask along with his staff, and was about to leave when he heard Rascal’s chirp. 

“Sorry, Rascal but I have my job to go do.” He said moving Rascal from his hidden spot and feeding him some seeds. The bird just angrily chirped at him waving their wings up and down.

“ I know I know but I can’t risk Belos catching you. It shouldn’t be a long day so we can go flying later I promise.” He told the little bird before hearing a knock on the door hiding him once again. Opening the door he was greeted by a guard.

“My Captain the Emperor requested your presence in the throne room at once.” The Guard told him.

“Understand you're dismissed.” He told the guard as walked past him, locking the door and adding another locking spell on it. He made his way through the castle being greeted by other guards and members of his coven until he reached the doors of the throne room before going in he took a deep breath and mentally prepared himself for another day of work. Opening the doors to the throne room he was greeted by the familiar faces of the other coven leaders along with his favorite little demon Kikimora.
“Morning everyone.” He said waving at them. He got some mornings back but mostly just looks.

“Morning Golden Guard. I see you're still wearing that drab uniform.” Darius told him

“As I tell you every time I see this is the standard uniform for the Emperor’s coven, I can't change it. I’m barely lucky enough to get the different mask.” He said, patting Darius on the back. He made his greetings with the coven leaders skipping the ones who didn’t feel like chatting.

“Zoltar, you see how the weather's gonna be this week?” Hunter asked the witch with the mustache.

“Haha, that joke gets funnier every time you say it,” Zoltar said shaking his head in disappointment

“Oh Golden Guard, how are you feeling today? Any lasting effects from your crash?” The witch with the visor asked.

“I’m fine Morgan, thank you for the medicine it helped with the headaches,” Hunter answered as he felt something crawling on his back.

“Eberwolf, what did I tell you about crawling on me without permission?” Hunter asked, grabbing them by the scruff of the neck. Eberwolf just shrugged their shoulders before being dropped by Hunter. The Leaders mingled for a moment until Kikimora announced Emperor Belos' entrance. All of them knelt before his majesty as he took his seat on his throne before signaling for them all the rise.

"Kikimora you may begin.” He told her.

“Yes my lord. The day of unity grows ever closer with each day and with that our need for more magical energy and manpower also grows. That is why Emperor Belos has asked you ten to help with the recovery of troops and the capture of wild witches.” Kikimora told them as she handed out their assignments. Hunter was surprised to see that they need the coven leaders to start hunting down wild witches as well. They must be really desperate for their energy if his Uncle just let him study wild magic he was sure he could find a better way to power whatever it was they needed the energy for in the first place. The rest of the meeting wasn’t anything too important, just logistics, how many guards they had at their disposal, how many injuries had occurred, and things of that nature. Afterward, the meetings ended as the other leaders disbanded to go to their assignments, and judging by some of their faces they didn’t like where they had to go. Lucky for him he knew a shipment of palismen were on their way and needed to be overseen. As he opened his assignment he was shocked that he was also on capture duty and out in the middle of nowhere. He waited until he was sure everyone had left leaving only Kikimora The Emperor and himself in the throne room

“My lord, there seems to be a mistake in my assignment. You put me on capture detail.”

“That’s not a mistake, Golden Guard. You’re put on capture detail because that's where you're needed at the moment ” Kikimora chimed in.
“ I wasn’t talking to you runt.” He told her before looking back to Belos “I know there’s a shipment of palismen coming in and I need to oversee it. I’ll take that assignment and Kikimora can go on capturing detail.”

“No. Hunter you failed me once when it came to obtaining palismen and I can’t have you failing me again when we are so close to the day of Unity. Kikimora will oversee that the palismen get to me.” Belos told him. He looked over to Kikimora and could tell that she was enjoying the sight of him being talked down to.

“Okay, then but I need a detachment of troops to come to assist me. These are pretty infamous witches and I’m gonna need help.” Hunter told him.

“No.”

“No. What do you mean no? I can’t take on a group of witches this strong without help.” 

“We do not have the manpower to spare hence the need of the Coven leaders to also hunt down other witches.” Kikimora explained

“But,” Hunter said before being cut off

“No. You are the leader of my Coven and my Enforcer if you can’t handle this then I might have been mistaken in hearing the titan calling in you” 

“Uncle I can do this, I just need a little help.”

“GO!” Belos yelled as he lost control of his body once again striking at Hunter. He immediately felt the sad but familiar sting of pain on his arm grabbing it and doing his best to stanch the bleeding.

“As you wish my Lord forgive me for my stubbornness,” Hunter said, giving him a bow before leaving the throne room. 

“He’s not gonna show up again is he?” Luz thought to herself as she kindled the campfire. It had been about a week and a half since she last saw Hunter and Rascal at their meeting spot. She could understand if he missed a day or two just being a leader of the coven was busy work and was something she wished he would just leave behind. Luz lost her train of thought when she heard something rustling in the bushes nearby. She prepared a glyph and slowly walked over to the bushes ready to defend herself.

“Show yourself or be prepared for a fireball,” Luz called out.

“Wait, it's just me Luz.” A Familiar voice called back.

“King! What are you doing out here? You know you get grumpy in the morning if you don’t get your full 10 hours of sleep.” Luz told him as she watched him crawl out of a bush.

“I know but I saw you sneak out of the house for the last couple of nights. So I decided to follow you out here.” King explained.

“You were spying on me.”

“ No, not like that, I was just worried. You would come back with a sad look on your face. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Oh King that’s sweet and all but that’s still spying.” She said picking him up and carrying him over to the campfire.

“I’m sorry Luz I won’t do it again but why are you out here?” King asked as he curled up in her lap.

“Just waiting for a friend I haven’t seen in a month of Sundays,” Luz told him as she scratched his fur.

“A friend? But you see Gus Willow and Amity at school all the time”

“A different friend, King. One I don’t get to see all the time and that worries me”

“Well, I’m sure he’s fine Luz,” King told her as he let out a yawn.

“Yeah, I hope you’re right,” Luz said as she gently coaxed King to sleep. She waited out there until the fire she made was just embers now telling her it was time to go. She carried King back home and tucked him to bed before going to hers. 

“I hope you’re okay Hunter,” Luz said to herself before closing her eyes and joining the rest of the house in sleep.

Chapter Text

“Luz hey Luz wake up.” A voice whispered. Luz opened her eyes slowly and saw Gus standing beside her.

“Gus, what time is it?” Luz grumbled as she raised her head and rubbed her eyes.

“It’s Lunchtime,” Gus told her

“What really? I just closed my eyes for a second. Wait why didn’t you wake me? Better question: why didn’t the teacher say anything?” Luz asked, stuffing her books in her bag.

“Well you seemed tired lately so I decided not to bother you and for that second question here is how you didn’t get caught.” He said, showing off an illusion of Luz sitting beside him.

“Thanks, Gus,” She said with a yawn “We should get going Willow is probably waiting for us.”

“Right behind you,” Gus said following Luz out of the room. Once in the cafeteria they spotted Willow waving them down and joined her at their table.

“You uh doing alright there Luz?” Willow asked.

“ Yeah I’m doing alright, why do you ask?” Luz asked

“Well for starters that sandwich you're eating still has the paper around it.” Willow pointed out. Luz looked down at her sandwich, seeing the bite mark and spitting out the paper from her mouth.

“Alright, it’s just I've been having trouble sleeping lately,” Luz admitted unwrapping her food and eating it.

“That mouse is still giving you trouble?”

“Yes, it shows me everything but the important parts. I’m tired of hearing how beautiful the flowers look at this one hill that’s not gonna help me get back home. On top of that, I have other things I’m worried about”

“Like not knowing what you want for your palismen.”Gus chimed in letting out an oof as Willow jabbed his side.

“Yeah, that too Gus.” Luz said as she nibbled at her sandwich.”

“Well, I have news for you that might make those nights a little bit easier for you.”

“What do you got Gus?” Luz asked

“Okay so you know how you told us you ran into the Golden Guard not too long ago,” Gus told her seeing her head perked up at the sound of his name.

“What have you heard, Gus?”Luz asked 

“Well I was looking for a lost book and thinking I left it in my Dad’s study and as I was looking I came across a report he got from an anonymous source. Apparently, the Golden Guard has been missing for about a week now.”

“Missing?” Luz asked, feeling her heart start to race.

“Yeah, the report said he was sent out on a mission and hasn’t come back yet.”

“What kind of mission was he sent to do?”

“It didn’t say most of the important information had faded out before I could read it but what I could make out was he was on a solo capture mission. Hey, that's one less obstacle for you to worry about.” Gus told her.

“Luz, what’s wrong?” Willow asked

“Wrong nothings wrong I’m fine,” Luz told her.

“Are you sure you're shaking quite a bit?” Willow asked. Luz looked down at her hands and saw them trembling as she held her sandwich. She knew what was gonna come next already feeling her chest start to tighten. She needed to get out of there before she caused a scene.

“I think I’m done guys, you can have what’s left of my food if you want. I gotta go.” Luz told them as she rushed out of the cafeteria. She needed to find somewhere where she could be alone and this feeling could pass. She thought about using the secret rooms of shortcuts but knew Viney and the others would be there. That’s when she saw that the janitor's closet was nearby the perfect spot for her. She quickly entered and locked the door behind her tossing her bag to the side and sat down pressing her knees to her chest.

“Remember what your Mom taught you, Luz in out nice and slow. It’s gonna be okay, he's okay. He's just been missing for a week. Lots of people go missing and come back.” She said to herself steadying her breathing.

“Luz are you okay?” A familiar voice asked through the door.

“Amity uh what are you doing here” Luz called out as her breathing started to pick up again.

"Well I saw you run in here, are you okay?” Amity asked her.

“I’m fine Amity no need to worry about me just going through a human thing is all.” Luz stammered.

“Are you sure Luz? You seemed pretty upset. What's going on? Amity asked, jiggling the handle on the door.

“I’m fine Amity, really I am, you can go,” Luz said, trying to keep her voice from shaking.

“C’mon Luz I know you're not okay. Let me help you as you helped me.” Amity said, trying the handle again. 

“Okay, you can come in,” Luz said, opening the closet door and quickly dragging Amity in.

“Now can you tell me what's wrong?” Amity asked before getting tackled by Luz who started to quietly sob into her chest.

“Shh it’s okay it’s gonna be okay,” Amity told her not really knowing what was wrong but doing her best to comfort her friend. 

“No, it’s not he’s missing.” Luz cried.

“Who’s missing Luz?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“ Luz you can’t just say someone is missing and not tell me who. How am I supposed to help if I don’t know where to start?” Amity told her, patting her back.

“If I tell you, do you promise not to tell anyone?” Luz asked

“Of course Luz you can trust me,” Amity told her

“So you know the new leader of the emperor’s coven.”

“Yeah, The Golden Guard, what about him.?”

“Okay so during the whole palismen he tried to take them for the Emperor but I managed to stop him then we had to work together to stop Kikimora from taking them. During that time I got to talk to him and we have a lot more in common than some would think. So after everything that happened we started seeing each other.” Luz told her.

“Wait wait, you’re dating The Golden Guard?” Amity asked confused and shocked

“No no no not like that seeing him.” Luz stammered as her face became red. They weren’t together in that way but they did spend a lot of time with each other almost every other night. Maybe no she spent time with a lot of friends like that didn’t mean they were together.

“Explain,” Amity told her.

“Okay okay, so one of the palismen from that night snuck back to the owl house. I thought he was lost so I followed him to make sure he was okay and that’s when I ran into him again. At first, we both were ready to fight it out, but the palismen convinced us not to. We just sat there wondering what the palismen wanted. Eventually, we just started talking about wild magic then the human world. Since then we have been meeting with each other sharing what knowledge we learned or had.”

“Oh wow, you really can make friends with anyone,” Amity told her

“Yeah but now he-he’s missing,” Luz said as she felt tears start to well up.

“Hey hey c’mon now I’m sure he’s fine I mean he is the leader of the Emperor’s coven after all.”

“Yeah yeah, you’re right Amity, maybe I’m just worrying for nothing.”

“Well, not for nothing you obviously care about him,” Amity said, patting her on the back.

“Y-yeah I do care about him,” Luz said, feeling herself blush.

“We better get going, we still have classes to attend,” Amity said getting to her feet and helping Luz help.

“I think I’m just gonna go home still not feeling alright,” Luz told her as she hugged her.

“Alright then I hope I helped you out even if it was just a little bit,” Amity said, hugging her back.

“You did more than just a little thanks, Amity,” Luz told her as she walked out of the closet and started her journey back home.

The walk back to the Owl house was uneventful. All she could do was think about Hunter and wonder if he was okay. She was so lost in thought she didn’t notice she was already home until she felt Hooty’s face against hers.

“What are you doing here Luz, aren’t you supposed to be at school,” Hooty asked, rubbing his face against hers.

“ Hooty, we talked about personal space.” She told him pushing him away.

“ Sorry Luz but why are you here?” Hooty asked again.

“Just not feeling well is all,” Luz answered

“ Does it have to do with your late-night adventures?” Hooty asked.

“ How do you know that?” Luz asked, covering Hooty’s beak.

“ Luz I am the Owl House. I know who comes in and out of me at all times even when I’m sleeping.”

“Really?”

“Nope, I followed King who followed you.”

“ Well can you not tell Eda about that then?”

“ Hoot hoot can't do that  Luz.” He told her

" Why not Hooty?" 

" Because I already know," Eda said, opening the door and greeting Luz.

" Eda I uh uh." Luz stammered not really knowing what to say.

“ Let’s go, you and I are gonna talk,” Eda told her as she headed for the couch

“ Yes, Ma'am,” Luz said following Eda to the couch.

“ So are you gonna tell me what's wrong or are you gonna make me guess with your human anatomy?”

“ No Eda, just not feeling well is all.”

“Is it because of these late-night excursions of yours?”

“Yes,” Luz said looking down

“Luz I’m not mad about you sneaking out, heck I encourage you to do it but these trips are starting to affect you.”

“I know.”

“So tell me why you keep going out. Is someone making you go out hurting you or blackmailing you to leave?”

“No Eda, I'm just worried about my friend.” 

“The one from Latissa.”

“Yes I haven’t seen him in and I’m starting to worry.” 

“I understand Luz trust me I do but worrying yourself to death isn’t gonna help them. You have to take care of yourself.” Eda said, placing a hand on Luz's shoulder.

“I know.”

“So here is what we are going to do. You are gonna stay tonight and get some well-needed rest. No going out tonight okay.” 

“But what if he...” Luz was saying but was cut off.

“No buts Luz,” Eda told her.

“Just one more night then I promise I’ll stop going out,” Luz begged

“Luz are you really gonna have me put Hooty on guard mode to keep you from leaving.”

“No, Eda.”

“Good now go get some rest and if your friend is as gifted as you say he is then I’m sure he’s fine,” Eda said, patting her on the back.

“Night Eda,” Luz said as she left for her room.

After flying for what felt like an eternity Hunter had finally made it back to the castle. He’s been missing for a bit and it showed as he walked through the halls he could hear the whispers and gasps of other guards seeing him alive. After a few minutes of navigating the halls, he reached his destination pushing the guards guarding the throne room and entering. There he saw his Uncle and Kikimora talking before looking at him.

“Ah, Golden Guard I was begging to worry about the task I had given you was too much.” Belos told him “Kikimora you may leave us.”

“But sir we still have to go over the plans” Kikimora argued.

“I know Kikimora we will but I said you may leave,” Belos told her.

“As you wish, forgive me.” Kikimora said before walking by Hunter.

“No Hello for me Kiki?”Hunter asked as she walked past him.

“It’s nice to see you alive and well, Golden Guard,” Kikimora told him before leaving the throne room.

“Emperor Belos I’m sorry it took me so long to get back to you. There was some complication with the task given to me.” Hunter said, kneeling before Belos.

“No need to be so formal Hunter, it's just you and me,” Belos said getting up from the throne and walking down the steps.

“As you wish Uncle,” Hunter said standing up

“Now how did the task go?”

“As I said, there were some complications but I was able to overcome them. I apprehended the wild witches, dropped them off at the prison, and obtained their palismen.” Hunter said, handing his Uncle the bag of palismen.

“Wonderful, you managed to restore my faith in you,” Belos said, patting Hunter gently on the head.

“Thank you Uncle if I may, can I return to my room?” Hunter asked.

“Yes, you may. You earned your rest.” Belos told him. Hunter bowed before taking off towards his room. There he saw Kikimora standing by his door.

“How?” She asked

“How what?” Hunter replied

“How did you survive?”

“Oh, that well it wasn’t easy especially if you have a little runt of a demon leaking information to the wild witches,” Hunter answered her.

“I knew I shouldn’t have trusted those witches to get the job done.”

“You’re right you shouldn’t have trusted them because they were smarter than you think,” Hunter said, pulling out a letter from his coat. Kikimora’s eyes grew wider as she saw the familiar stamp of her sigil.

“How did you get that?” She asked 

“Oh, you know how. They never read this letter so your little spell never went off destroying this one.”

“He will never believe it was me who leaked the information,”  Kikimora told him

“Wanna try that Kiki cause we can still go and bring this up to him right now if you want,” Hunter said, calling her bluff. Kikimora just stomped her feet before walking off. Hunter finally entered his room after being gone for a week and let out a breath.

“See Rascal, I told you it would work. ” Hunter said as his palismen flew from out of his cloak. Rascal just happily chirped as Hunter laid down on his bed and felt his body ache all over. 

“That really was a tough one. I don’t think I would have made it without you buddy.” Hunter told him. The bird just chirped again.

“I know Luz is probably worried about us. Look, let me get some rest, and when it’s time you wake me and we’ll go visit her okay.” Hunter told him. Rascal happily chipped again at that.

“Night Rascal,” Hunter told him before falling asleep.

Chapter Text

Hunter awoke to the chirps and tiny pecks of Rascal on his chest. He looked out his window and saw that the sun was already down. It was almost time to meet up with Luz again after being gone for a bit. He hoped she wasn’t going to be too mad at him for being gone and not telling her. Also hoped that she wouldn't give him that look of disappointment again when he first thought about betraying her with the palismen. He didn’t even know her that well then but that look from her hurt more than anything he experienced.  Getting up from his bed Hunter took off all his ruined clothes and looked at himself in the mirror. He was going to need to visit the healing coven in the morning to take care of his body. It was bruised and beaten all over after his mission of capturing the wild witches. His face was surprisingly in better shape than he thought the mask really did protect him some but he still ended up slightly bruised with a black eye and a few cuts here and there overall not bad.

“Well, Rascal seems like the mask is gonna stay on this time,” Hunter said, putting on a new mask. Rascal chirped tilting his head confused.
“I don’t want to worry her if she sees me like this. It would either make her mad or sad knowing I’m out doing dangerous work and I don’t want that.” Hunter explained. Rascal chirped again landing on his shoulder.

“Yeah, I missed her too buddy. I missed that cute smile of hers or the way she gets excited explaining a new magic theory. I just missed her.” He told Rascal. The bird just chirped, pressing himself closer to Hunter’s cheek.

“Don’t tell her I said that though it will go to her head.” He said, rubbing Rascal’s head. Rascal turned his head and tweeted.

“Well I did miss her, I just can’t let her know that I missed her. It would make things weird between us.” He told him and Rascal let out another tweet.

“It does make sense, you just don’t understand,” Hunter said, grabbing his tech staff. Rascal gave him another chirp.

“I know we should get going before we’re the ones who are late.” He said, opening his cloak for Rascal to fly into. “No cage this time so we gotta be extra careful.” Leaving his room Hunter cast a variety of lock spells on his door knowing Kikimora would be after the fake letter once he had left his room. Again he made his way through the halls avoiding all the patrols he could and forbidding anyone who saw him from speaking about seeing him. Making it to his secret passage he was able to get clear and fly off.  As they flew Rascal came out and flew beside him enjoying the time to spread his wings.

“Do you think she's gonna be there?” Hunter asked as flew across the night sky. Rascal let out a tweet as he flew beside him.

“I mean it has been a while. What if she stopped going?” Hunter said Rascal let out another tweet.

“Yeah I guess you're right, maybe I’m just overthinking this. I’m sure she’ll be there.” Hunter told him as he kept flying until reaching their spot. Landing at the spot he looked around and saw that nobody was there. Rascal landed on his shoulder before letting out a small chirp.

“Yeah, I guess we are a little early. I’ll just start the fire up.” He told him as he looked around for some firewood for a small fire. After lighting the fire he sat down waiting and listening, waiting for her to come. He waited a good hour past their usual time but no one came.

“She’s not coming is she?” He asked Rascal poking the dying fire. The little bird just chirped landing on his shoulder.

“I guess we should go then. Try our luck tomorrow night.” He told him as he mounted his staff. Rascal chirped furiously and grabbed his cloak trying to drag him in the direction of the owl house.

“I can’t do that. She didn’t want me to go there last time. Plus they have that bird demon guarding the house 24/7.” Hunter told Rascal as he pulled against the dragging. Rascal chirped again, continuing to drag him.

“Wait, you snuck into her room before,” Hunter said stopping completely. Rascal nodded his head.

“Alright, I’ll go only if you can sneak back in again. I don’t want to try and explain to her house demon why I’m there.” Hunter told him. Rascal happily agreed to that and the two headed towards the Owl house stopping just outside the clearing.

“Alright, I’ll be waiting by the window you said was her room. Just wake her up and point her to the window.” Hunter told Rascal. Rascal nodded his head and flew out of sight as Hunter flew up to her window. He looked through the window to check to see if Rascal was right and he was right Luz was sleeping. Confirming the room was the right one he quickly looked away not wanting to invade any more of her privacy but he did have to admit she did look kinda cute as she slept. After a few minutes, he heard noises coming from her room and guessed Rascal had made it there successfully. He saw the window open up and took that as his sign to show himself and flew upwards until he was in view of Luz and Rascal.

“Hiiiiii.” He said feeling like he should have opened with something better. He watched as her face went through a range of emotions ending in a smile as she leaped from the window landing on his staff dropping it sharply before he got ahold of it again. He took this as his chance and flew back to their usual spot just in case the house demon woke up. As they flew awkward silence filled the air between them. He expected her to say something witty to him or anything for that matter but she was silent the entire flight only resting her forehead against his back. 

“Uh, we're here,” Hunter said bringing his staff down for a landing and getting off but still Luz was silent as she got off. He turned to look at Rascal hoping that he could help him but he didn't know what was going on either.

“Luz?” Hunter called out before feeling her push him.

“Where were you?!” She yelled as she shoved him again.

“Luz I..” Hunter tried to explain but was cut off.

“ You just left didn’t tell me anything. Not even a note or a letter, just nothing for a week!” Luz yelled again as she started to gently hit him. Hunter didn’t know what to do. He wanted to say something but he felt like she needed to do this. Soon the hits stopped being replaced with her hugging onto his shirt.

“I was so worried. I didn’t hear anything from you and rumors started popping around. I thought you died.” Luz said as she started to cry into his chest. 

“I’m sorry Luz I didn’t mean to worry you.” He said as he held Luz in his arms as she continued to cry. He held her like that until she stopped crying and afterward they just stayed that way for a bit until Luz spoke again.

“Where were you?” Luz asked, looking up at him. 

“I was on a mission,” Hunter told her then he felt a small peck on the back of his head. “To prove myself to the Emperor."

“Why would you need to prove yourself? From what you told me your past missions have been successful." 

“It doesn’t matter how many successful missions I do. I failed him on the most important one he assigned me.” 

“I’m sorry but I couldn’t have let you take those palismen, you know that,” Luz told him as she broke away from his hold and sat next to him.

“Luz we talked about this before already. You did what you had to do. I don't blame you, remember that. Since Rascal came into my hands I stopped thinking of them as a tool and started to see them as companions.”Hunter told her as he gently petted Rascal.

“I guess spending time with me has started to have an effect on you,” Luz said, resting her head on his shoulder.

“I guess so,” Hunter said as he laid his head on hers, surprised at how touchy they were getting with each other compared to their last encounters. Again the two sat together in silence as Rascal flew around before Luz spoke again.

“Why are you wearing the mask again?” Luz asked

“What do you mean I’ve always worn my mask,” Hunter said dodging the question.

“You know what I mean. You would usually take it off at the start of our meetings.

“Well, sometimes I like to keep it on,” Hunter told her touching his mask.

“C’mon what are you scared of? I've seen that ugly mug of yours before, it's nothing special." Luz teased as she reached for the mask.

“Hey, I want to leave it one,” Hunter said, gently pushing away her hands but that didn’t stop Luz from trying again. As Hunter was distracted by Luz he didn’t notice Rascal coming in for a sneak attack and couldn't do anything to stop him from knocking his mask off. Everything went quiet when the mask fell and the only thing he heard was the small gasp coming from Luz when she saw the state of his face. He expected her to chastise him for not showing her but instead, he felt her warm touch on his cheek so soft and gentle, completely different from the touch of his Uncle’s whose touch was cold and callous. Hunter couldn’t stop himself as he pressed himself closer to Luz's hand to feel more of her warmth.

“Hunter, did he do this?” Luz asked as she rubbed her thumb against the boy's cheek.

“No, it was the mission. It was tougher than I thought.” Hunter told her as he took her hand and gently moved it off his face.

“Hunter, you know you don’t have to do this anymore. You can leave it all behind and join us. I’m sure Eda wouldn’t mind. We have plenty of space. No more missions, no more getting hurt, no more having to prove yourself to anybody.” Luz told him, holding his hand. Hunter thought about it. A life without all of that just living like a normal teenager. No responsibility, no more needing to prove he was good enough, no more attempts on his life by a little demon with an inferiority complex. Just a normal life it was so tempting to have but he couldn’t do it no matter how much he wanted to.

“Luz, I-I-I can’t do that. I owe him everything. He took me in after the accident. Saw potential in me even The Titan itself saw something in me. I can’t just leave it all behind to go live a normal life.” Hunter told her letting his hand rest in hers.

“Why? He hurts you and sends you on missions that could possibly kill you. He makes you prove your worth to him after you fail once. It doesn’t make sense why you do all this.”

“It’s because he’s my only family member left, Luz. It’s why I do it all.” Hunter told

“You’re Belos’ son.”

“No, I'm his nephew.”

“But if he still treats you like a tool, that's not family Hunter,” Luz told him

“Even if he is using me as a tool Luz I can’t leave him. I care about him even after everything he’s put me through.” Hunter told her as he stood up and grabbed his staff.

“Hunter,” Luz said hugging him “You’ll be here tomorrow right?”

“I’ll be here,” Hunter said, hugging her back. As he hugged her he saw Rascal in front of him pecking a log. It took him a minute to figure out what his friend was trying to tell him but he got it. Hunter placed a kiss on top of Luz’s head before breaking the hug and putting his mask on to hide his embarrassment. 

“Byeee,” Hunter said flying away quickly leaving Luz to try and process what he just did. As he flew Rascal flew beside him and let out a happy chirp.

“I can’t believe you told me to do that,” Hunter told him. Rascal just let out another chirp of happiness as the two argued as they flew back home.