Chapter Text
Luz should hate the Golden Guard.
It's not like she didn’t have enough reasons to dig her dagger on his dark, dark heart.
As she lied on the beach, healing her wounds from her battle against him, Luz began to think of all the reasons she shouldn't let him live.
He's the right-hand man of the Emperor. He's the perfect example of what a "perfect" witch would look like under his rule. A cold, mindless drone who only knows how to follow rules and to not question anything. He knows, he should know, about all the horrible things Belos had done. The lies, the illegal petrification process, the countless deaths of innocent palismen whose only crime was simply existing, the experiments conducted on young basilisks, children no older than him. And yet he never did anything to stop it.
He had shown to be as cruel and heartless as Belos when he wanted to. He used her and Eda to kill the selkidomus, a beast and a mother who was just protecting her offspring. Did he care? Probably not. He probably knew what it was guarding and smiled at the thought of a poor baby creature being left an orphan by his hand. He had also stolen the palismen from the Bat Queen's care. He knew what Belos did to them, killed them and drank their blood, and he was more than willing to do that. He probably did the same, why wouldn’t he? Had it not been for Kikimora's lucky attack on them, the Golden Guard would have gotten away with his plan.
And of course, he-
A rattling sound broke Luz's concentration. She stopped drawing the healing glyphs on the few sheets of paper she had left and drew her dagger. Luz stood up and slowly walked towards the Golden Guard. He laid on his back, his face twisted in pain and Luz realized the weird position his arm was in. It was obviously broken and hurting like hell. A small, dark part of herself was glad to see him like that. But another, kinder part scolded herself for thinking like that.
She grabbed one of the glyphs she had drawn and, after quickly putting the Golden Guard's arm in the correct position, she put the glyph on his arm and another one on his chest.
It only took a couple of seconds for the glyphs to begin to work. The boy's face immediately relaxed, and his breathing became steadier and calmer. Luz smiled when she saw him smiling peacefully. But that smile disappeared once she remembered the reason she had fought him in the first place.
The Key.
He had stolen the Key which had brought Belos a step closer to his goal. Even after her Amity fought so hard for it, he had only won by cheating and threatening her life. She had heard the story many times, as Amity liked to tell it. She, King and Eda went to the Knee looking for Eclipse Lake, found the Golden Guard, avoided Kikimora's henchmen and found nothing but a dried pool and broken dreams. After finding out the Portal Key had some Titan's Blood a fight ensued. A fight Amity had almost won if it weren't for the Golden Guard deceits and his threats to harm Luz and her friends. Luz knew Amity only wanted to protect her and was left with no other option than to give up the Key.
And now the Emperor was closer to his goals.
And Luz couldn't do anything but ask herself why she had saved the life of the very person who wanted to destroy hers.
He was evil, a wicked boy working for a villainous Emperor. He knew nothing about friendship or love or caring about someone else. He was selfish, cold-hearted, and cruel, just another pawn on Belos’ game.
And yet it wasn’t entirely his fault.
He had showed her another side of him. And according to Amity, he was more than just a mindless follower wishing for power.
Luz felt conflicted about him.
He was the enemy. The foe she had to defeat to face the Emperor and go back to her mom. She knew that if she wanted to fulfill the promise she had made to her, she would have to face both the Golden Guard and Emperor Belos. And if she just ended with his life there, it’d be one less thing to worry about.
But her mom hadn’t raised her to think like that. It didn’t matter if she could return home, Camila Noceda wouldn’t be glad to know what her daughter had done. After all, he was just a kid, who just wanted to help the only person who had been kind to him.
Was it really his fault that the world had shunned him and treated him like trash? And that the only person to ever show him love was a monster?
Probably not, Luz thought.
Luz finished drawing a couple more healing glyphs and put them on her legs and chest. She was immediately filled with the relief that came from her healed wounds and her restored energy. She felt so much better and could think more clearly.
She knew what to do next. She would go back to the Owl House and tell Eda everything she had learned about the Emperor and the Portal he had built. Then, maybe they could come up with a plan to steal it or use it before he could do it. That way, she would see her mom sooner than she had expected and could solve all her problems at once.
Smiling, knowing that everything was going to be better, she looked at Hunter and knew in her heart that she didn't hate him. She couldn't.
Of course, she should hate Hunter. She had repeated herself all the reasons behind that train of thought.
But Luz realized she couldn't. Because she didn't feel the burning touch of anger when she saw his tired face, his golden hair, or his beautiful, crooked nose. She didn’t feel angry when she thought about Hunter kidnapping King and making her kill the poor selkidomus or when she thought about him stealing the palismen and letting her go only because he got distracted by Kikimora’s attack. And as much as she wanted to hate him for fighting and blackmailing her girlfriend, she couldn’t. She didn’t feel angry at him.
She felt pity.
Pity because the poor boy didn't know better. How could she expect him to leave the man who took him in, who took care of him and loved him in his own, cruel way? It was everything he knew. A world where he had to prove his usefulness or be forgotten and cast aside like a broken toy. No, he did what he had to do the same way she broke into the Emperor's Castle looking for a way to heal Eda and then into the Conformatorium to save her. Luz realized Hunter wasn't that different from her. Maybe in another world, in another life, it could have been she the one to do morally dubious things for the person who loved her like a daughter.
Luz also felt sorrow whenever she looked at the scars on his face and arms.
Sorrow that he had to endure living with such a cruel man and still think of him as a loving figure. That he had to hide the stuff he was passionate about out of fear of getting hurt or worse. That his own conception of being worthy of love depended on how much could he do for others instead of just being loved for who he truly is. That he had done so many things just to justify his existence.
And Luz also began to feel something else, something for which she felt afraid. She had tried to deny it at first but seeing Hunter laying on his back, hurt but at the same time relieved that he was no longer under the Emperor's grasp, made Luz realize she...
"Wha-?" Hunter opened his eyes, confused about his whereabouts. He was surprised to see Luz sitting next to him, watching him, and smiling as if they were just a couple of friends hanging out.
"Hey, you. You're finally awake." Luz said in a calm, relaxed voice. "Are you alright?"
"What... What happened?" Hunter asked. He tried to stand up, but Luz put a hand on his chest before he could do it.
"Don't. You're still weak and... Well, I'm not in the best position to help you." Luz let go and stared at the afternoon sky. The orange colors made her feel at home. She could almost smell the food her mom used to make every day after work.
"You. We were fighting and then..." Hunter stopped, his mind trying to remember everything that had happened. He had discovered Luz spying the Emperor at the Castle, then he had chased her across the Isles, the human was fleeing using that owl staff and he was using his old staff instead of… Why he hadn’t…?
"Yes, yes. We fought, we fell, we were hurt. I woke up first and made some healing glyphs. I healed you and myself. And I hope you don't mind, but I threw your staff to the sea." Seeing his horrified face, Luz was fast to rectify. "Not your palisman, I meant the old one. The ugly one."
"Why?" Hunter sounded down and gloomier than before. His voice lacked any kind of energy.
"I already told you. I'm too nice to just leave you here to die." Luz smiled at him, trying to be friendly but stopped when she saw some tears flowing from his eyes. "Hey, it's okay. Your arm will be fine and once we go to the Owl House, Eda will-"
"You should've thrown me to the sea too, Luz."
The human was left speechless by his words. He had spoken like that before, as if failure meant a fate worse than death, and it probably was. But Luz also wanted to help him, it hurt her to see him so defeated and worried about failing.
"Hey, don't say that. Belos won't hurt you anymore." Her words, however, didn't have the desired effect.
"You know nothing, Luz Noceda." Hunter looked at Luz with a bitter and angry face, tears were still flowing from his eyes, but Luz could see sadness and pain that nothing had to do with his broken arm.
"You're right, I know nothing." Luz reached out to him, but Hunter turned his back on her. Luz felt a pang of hurt on her heart. "But I want to help. I know I can. You don't have to go back; you'll be safe with me. With Eda and King and-"
"I don't care!" Hunter shouted at Luz, scaring her, and making her stand up. The boy felt the familiar guilt creeping up his throat.
"Sorry." He closed his eyes. He had never felt this tired before and his broken body did nothing but worsen everything. "I... I didn't mean to shout."
"Hunter." Luz sat down in front of him and carefully grabbed his face with one of her hands. "I want to help you. And I'm serious. You don't have to go back to Belos. You may think you owe him everything, but that's not true. He's been using and abusing you for all your life. He may have given you a purpose, but that doesn't excuse him to do all that crap to you."
Hunter stared at Luz in awe. He had begun to consider his position and his relationship with the Emperor ever since he first fought Luz for the palismen. And his little adventure at the Knee had done nothing but increase his confidence in his own decisions. But the human didn't know everything. She didn't know about the events of the last couple days. Then again, maybe talking to her would help.
"Hunter?" Luz asked, her face closer to his, Hunter could smell her breath. Apples and yellow raspberries. He used to love eating raspberries when he was a kid. It had been ages since he last felt like a kid. "What's wrong?"
"I... I can't go back." He finally admitted. He saw a glint of happiness on Luz's eyes and felt guilty when he spoke again and shattered that same happiness that had eased some of his pain.
"My uncle... The Emperor... He will kill me if I ever step into the Castle again. He was very clear in that. I was supposed to take you down with me but... I failed. I failed him again and I'll never be able to come back."
"I'm sorry, Hunter." Luz stepped back a little, noticing the disappointment on the boy's face when she did. "But that may be a good thing. You and your palisman can hang out with me and Eda at the Owl House. She'll love to have more company and... Oh no, what's wrong?"
Hunter had begun to cry once he heard Luz's kind words. The human worried she had said something offensive, but when she reached out to touch him, he threw himself against her, hugging her as tight as he could. Luz was left speechless by his sudden actions but hugged him back, a dreadful thought stuck in her mind that told her the reason behind his sudden outburst and his suicidal actions.
The sun soon died and gave way for the red moon to show up mighty and proud on the night sky.
"Did something happen?" Luz asked quietly. A small part of her didn't want to know the answer, but another part of her wanted to help Hunter in any way possible.
"You know what he does to the palismen, do you not?" Hunter broke the hug and Luz was left horrified by his teary eyes and the bags under them. She could clearly see new cuts on his face, cuts he had tried to heal but failed to.
"You're saying that he..." Luz couldn't finish her question. The pathetic whimper Hunter did was the only answer she needed.
She stood up and offered her hand to him. Hunter looked at her with his big, teary eyes. Luz had never felt this sad for someone. Once she saw the little rascal had left after her adventure at Latissa she had a clear suspicion of where it had gone and after Amity told her of her fight against the Golden Guard at the mines, it became clear Hunter had gotten himself a palisman. Luz had hoped that it would help him to see things in a different light.
But like always, the Emperor had ruined everything.
"Come, let's get out of here." Luz didn't wait for him to grab her hand. She grabbed his and pulled him up. Both teens stayed too close to each other for a couple of seconds before Hunter stepped back and looked at Luz curious and confused for what she had said.
"What are you talking about, human?" Hunter sounded tired and fed up with everything. Yet, there was a strange kindness on his voice.
"My name's Luz, if you've forgotten already." Luz on the other hand, tried her best to sound as happy and positive as always, even if she too was affected by Hunter's situation. "And I told you, we're going to the Owl House."
"Why?"
Luz was relieved that he hadn't denied her proposal. "You need a place to stay and I'm not letting you stay on the streets. Eda will-"
"No, why are you helping me?" Hunter interrupted Luz. He wasn't angry but rather sad. "I hadn't done anything to prove I'm worthy of your protection, human. And if I'm with you, the Emperor might hunt you and the Owl Lady down."
"Please, as if we weren't criminals already." She tried to dismiss his worries as if they were nothing. "And... Crap, I can't live with myself knowing I left you all alone in the woods without the means to protect yourself."
Hunter stared at her, his face showing an array of strange emotions he hadn't felt before. But at the same time, the same old feeling of uselessness became present in his self. He accepted her hand and squeezed it tightly.
"Thank you, Luz. I promise, I'll pay your kindness back even if it means I-" He didn't continue, Luz's face went dark as soon as he began speaking. "D-did I say something wrong? I'm sorry I didn't mean to."
"Hunter, don't." Luz put a hand on the boy's shoulder and squeezed it softly. "You don't have to do anything to pay me back."
"But I..."
"I'm serious. You'll be living with me and Eda now. The only thing I want from you-"
"Yes?"
"Is that you begin to live your life. Not for the Emperor, not for me, but for yourself."
With these words, Luz grabbed Owlbert and told Hunter to climb on the staff. The former Golden Guard did as he was told and went to his new home with his new friend. His life had begun to change. He wasn't sure if it was going to be for the best or if it even was going to last long. But he was determined to make the most out of it.